I knew I wouldn't be able to take a walk this evening because I had a Zoom lecture on my calendar, so I went kayaking in the morning and enjoyed the light. I took a lot of photos! Here's one:
9/30: morning & evening
9/28: good things
I had a difficult day, including, I'm sorry to say, a mini-meltdown in the hour before lunch. But there were good things about the day, too, and I'm so grateful for them. A colleague immediately reinforced an email I had to write about something our department chair did wrong. Since the colleague is also on sabbatical, I would have understood if she hadn't written; it was very nice that she took the time so I didn't have to be a lone voice. Chris talked with me on the phone when I was having my meltdown and then went grocery shopping with me in the afternoon. Throughout the day I made progress on a pamphlet-formatting problem that's been vexing me for weeks. The evening air was perfect for a long walk, and I enjoyed watching the sky's colors as I listened to my audiobook. I'm listening to The Owl Service by Alan Garner, and in this evening's installment one of the main characters has her own meltdown of sorts and a friend helps her through it. It made me think about how good Chris is to me when I have troubles.
9/25: adapting
I was looking forward to Crystal Bridges' paper-sculpture workshop to be held via Zoom this evening. I had had a kind of frustrating day with some work-related issues and some problematic papers at an online conference, and this workshop was going to be a kind of compensatory treat. As a bonus, Chris said he'd join in too, so we would be doing something together. But when the time came, it seemed like there were technical troubles on the hosting end, and we couldn't connect, though we tried several different ways. I was disappointed, so we found a paper-sculpture tutorial on YouTube and did it instead.
9/24: learning
...that Ellsworth Kelly used chance to determine the arrangement of squares in Colors for a Large Wall.
9/23: trying out
...a kind of digital collage this morning, using a somewhat aleatory Odyssey remix I did yesterday evening. Both the digital collage and the aleatoric approach were new to me, and I enjoyed them. They made me feel like I could breathe better.
9/21: another year
...of good things. It's my blogiversary, and I'm glad that this blog has given me a daily nudge to pause and remember something positive over the past 12 years. As a celebratory treat I'm eating a packet of Annie's Sour Bunnies, which are sweet as well as sour, and that seems fitting for the blog's project and perspective.
9/20: morning and evening
I went kayaking in the morning and walking in the evening. It was great to be out and about in the early-autumn air.
9/19: baked goods
Today I finished the last of the flaxseed raisin breakfast "cookies" I had made. I enjoyed eating them this week and look forward to making them again soon. This afternoon I tried a new-to-me recipe for lemon shortbread. I think it's my favorite of all the shortbread recipes I've used over the years, and I look forward to trying it with some other flavoring and spices.
9/17: noticing
...the clouds more. It reminds me of the days when I photographed clouds rather than water.
9/16: this evening
I had an off-kilter afternoon, but this evening I got a boost from writing cards to some Cheyenne Elders and listening to Messiaen's Oraison for ondes Martenot.
9/15: smooth
Re-editing and reformatting the Trollope commentaries has taken much longer than I anticipated, but I've been enjoying thinking about all the novels at nearly the same time. (The original commentaries were done across the course of more than a decade.) Today's commentary on Dr. Wortle's School was especially smooth, and it was great to remember moments from that novel, the students who wrote the commentary with me, and instances of Trollope's smartness and goodness.
9/14: picking up
...a paint pen I had in my campus office so that I could work on a page-altering project at home.
9/13: ordering
...prints of photos. I stopped regularly ordering prints over a year ago, and now I'm trying to play catch-up. It's interesting to go through all the pictures I've taken in the gap and choose ones for postcards. I put in a big order today, which gets me mostly through the 2019 backlog and into early 2020.
9/11: a night sighting
...of some spiderwebs. When Chris saw them, he called me out to see them too, and he held a flashlight while I took some pictures.
Chris also shined the flashlight further into the yard so I could see the glinting of a spider's eyes.
9/10: finally
A little over two weeks ago, I went to the doctor to get my annual prescriptions renewals. There was bureaucratic/computer trouble with one of the prescriptions, and the rigmarole was stressing me out because I couldn't fix the situation myself and the resolution was taking much longer than it should. Today it finally worked out. I now have my medicine and can cross trouble-shooting the prescription off my to-do list decisively.
9/9: signing up
...for a folded paper sculpture online workshop later this month. I'm excited for it already.
9/8: a good afternoon
...with words. First I edited commentary for Trollope's Bertrams, and then I put together a cento of sorts using William Cullen Bryant's translation of the Odyssey.
9/7: creative connections
In the morning I talked with a student on the phone about her Odyssey alteration project.
In the after I set aside a little time to do my own erasure of an Odyssey passage.
In the evening I wrote some prompts which students can use for their Odyssey alterations, and I enjoyed listening to the online recorded concert by the Praeclara Ringers.
9/6: remembering Roman Holiday
I was reading Rick Riordan's Mark of Athena on the porch this morning, and the set-up of one scene reminded me of Roman Holiday. A few paragraphs later, it became clear why: Riordan explicitly presents Rhea Silvia and Tiberinus as if they were Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck from the film. It was such a sweet and unexpected touch.
9/5: hinges
I'm working on two pamphlets that use hinges to add pages to an accordion fold. Hinges are so useful but also vexatious. Among other things, they can bulk up a project, and that's one of the things that was getting me down. Then I tried using onionskin to make the hinges, and that de-bulked them! I'm really happy with the results so far, and I hope the exclamation mark on that last sentence isn't premature.
9/4: waiting for me
I went to campus today for the first time in a long time, and mail that had piled up in the campus post office had finally been distributed. There were three notes from students (one current, two alumni) waiting for me. What they wrote was kind, wonderful, and unexpected. I am so grateful. If I'm honest, I think I really needed those comments, and that adds another layer to my gratitude.
9/2: drawing
...with my eyes closed during an online workshop. While the session wasn't exactly pitched for me (it was better for people who are used to doing representational drawing and wanted the "freeing" experience of drawing without watching what they're doing), I'm glad I gave it a go, and I'm kind of charmed by my sight-free drawing of an eye.
9/1: "sick toys"
There was a box of special toys and stuffed animals that my mother would give us when we were ill. Today my under-the-weather-ness got the worse of me and I couldn't do much. But I did read a lot of Rick Riordan's Son of Neptune, and the harpy Ella felt like a new "sick toy" friend.
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