And I managed to fit in attendance at an American Antiquarian Society webinar this afternoon. It felt good to be learning (about The New-England Primer in this case), and the part of the presentation in the conservation lab was especially nice (because it's something one doesn't usually get to see).
Life in late capitalism can be vexing, alienating, fragmenting, and otherwise frustrating. There are many wonderful things in my life, but I'm more likely to talk about what's bad rather than what's good. I'm going to try to post one good thing here each day, and if you would join in by adding a good thing from your day in the comments, I'd love it--I'd absolutely love it. --RR
8/31: two things
I posted some overviews of recent class meetings in our course Team so that students who have missed for illness (yes, COVID on our campus, alas) can get a sense of what topics we covered. I'm glad that I got it done before going to bed this evening.
8/30: a student's connection
...between what we were translating in Greek class--the Infancy Gospel of Thomas--and the Twilight movies. It may seem a stretch, but the comparison she drew was very apt.
8/28: waking
...to an alarm, even though it was the weekend. This was the case all summer too, since we have to feed Tilde and give her her shot according to a regular schedule. Though part of me misses sleeping in and "natural rising," having a couple of extra hours in a weekend morning is nice. I used the extra time today to finish designing a pamphlet.
8/26: preparing Latin very early
...in the morning, while I was eating breakfast. And it's a good thing I did! When I left for school, I forgot my laptop, so I had to drive back home to retrieve it. But since my Latin was already prepped, it wasn't a problem that I lost a half-hour of office time.
8/25: working with
...the intermediate Greek students. I know them all from last year, and it is so nice to have a course in which they know one other as well as me and my ways. We collaborated our way through some of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas today, and it seemed like they felt good about our progress by the end of the class.
8/24: getting accustomed
...to giving Tilde the Cat her insulin shot. I was sheepish about it all summer, but I realized I needed to get comfortable with it now that school is back in session and Chris' teaching schedule means that he has to leave the house before it's time for her morning dose. Now that I've gotten used to it, I'm aware of how much I was being cowed by the idea of giving her a shot rather than the reality.
8/23: figuring out
...a way to keep a text-remixing activity in one of my courses that I thought I'd have to take out for scheduling reasons.
8/22: a thank you
...from a colleague for the upcycled notebooks I set out in my office building for people to take.
8/21: reading 3 articles
...about asemic writing. A nice way to spend some time on a Sunday morning.
8/19: realizing
...that I my wrist isn't up for all the handwriting I'd have to do if I made my usual semester calendar out of a blank book--so I went to the office supply store (where the aisle housing academic year calendars was busy!) and chose a 2022-2023 calendar with a royal blue cover and scattered gold stars.
8/18: learning
...some things about my individual advisees today during my one-on-one meetings with them.
8/17: meeting
...my new student advisees and their academic peer mentor, all of whom seem like nice people who are eager to have a productive and engaged year.
8/16: a good view
...from our deck this morning: clouds lit by the rising sun. I noticed just in time to grab my camera and head outside for a few pictures before the moment passed.
8/15: hurray!
I found the pieces of student artwork that I had lost sight of yesterday! And I came across them early in my search this morning, which put a prompt end to my vexation and worry.
8/14: half-full
Today has had some vexations: particularly frustrating have been a technological problem (computer/printer interface trouble) and a practical mishap (something I was really glad and relieved to find yesterday I can't find now, despite the small square footage of my school office). So that's definitely a half-empty perspective.
From the half-full perspective: I got to spend my morning, pre-technological problem, working on a pamphlet, and my office is now much, much cleaner than it was and ready for the coming week of meetings. (Hopefully the missing folder of student artwork will be rediscovered soon.)
8/12: binding
...160 notebooks for free distribution on campus. The paper is all upcycled, and most of the covers are made from manila folders otherwise headed for the recycling bin. I'd been saving up paper for a couple of years now, and though I made a slight dent in it last fall with some binding workshops on campus, there was much more piled up. I still have a fair amount of paper printed only one one side to work through, but as of now I've bound all the remnants I've saved from pamphlet projects dating back to early 2020, and that feels good.
8/11: slices
...of Milk Bar Pie in the morning (before my online meeting) and evening (after dinner). I made it yesterday so it could sit in the freezer overnight. Chris and I have been curious (for years) about it, ever since we saw it on Chef's Table, and I finally decided to give it a go. It's a recipe with more steps than my usual choices, and I don't think it'll become a regular of mine (too many steps, too many addictive tastes combined in high quantities), but it was more tasty than I thought it would be, and I'm definitely glad I tried it.
(I'm realizing that I post more about food than when I started this blog, and I'm a little self-conscious about that. But I've gotten more interested in making nice foods--partly because Chris and I exhausted the limited local restaurant options for vegetarians, and I felt I could do a better job of making the kinds of things we like; partly because it's a chance to disconnect from work and be creative in a very concrete way; partly because COVID has kept our activities more home-focused; partly because the internet makes it easy to find recipes with particular ingredients I like; partly because time spent with my mother a few years ago reminded me of how fun it can be to craft good meals.)
8/10: getting the recipe
...from my friend for her family's dumplings. She texted me back with it right away once I asked, and I'm excited to give it a try soon!
8/9: making dumplings
...for dinner. I was trying to replicate the recipe that my childhood best friend learned from her mother. I didn't succeed at that (their family recipe is much better, and I have to get it from my friend sometime), but it was still fun--to do, to eat, and to think of my friend and her mother.
8/8: having a book
...to keep me good company during an hour-long wait at the doctor's office. It was The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greeley, and it had me so absorbed that I was worried I wouldn't hear them call my name when it finally became my turn.
8/7: driving out
...to Woolly Hollow in the morning to take pictures at the creek. I haven't been there much recently, but I went near the start of the summer, and it seemed fitting to go today as a kind of bookend, since my first back-to-school meeting on campus is tomorrow afternoon.
8/6: giving
...Tilde her insulin shot. Chris and I have been dividing Tilde-related duties this summer, and he's been giving her her twice daily shots. With the school year schedule nearing, I realize that I'll have to give her her morning shot at least three days a week, so I have to start getting used to it. It's not hard practically speaking, but it is a little hard for me conceptually speaking. Now, though, I've done it once, and there won't be a first time for it again.
8/4: completing
...all the individual PDFs for the rest of this year's Heron Tree poems. Usually I stagger them, making one a week so that each one is done and reviewed by the author just before the week it's due to be posted online. But getting them all finished and okayed by the poets before the school year starts will give me a little more breathing room once classes begin. Having one less item on the weekly to-do list is a welcome prospect.
8/3: enthusing
...about romance novels with someone else in the waiting room at the hospital today. I was waiting for an MRI for my wrist situation; she was waiting for some test results and medication for a more serious chronic condition. It was nice to talk with her about why we like to read romances, and I think it was also good for me to have a reminder that I shouldn't jump to "woe is me" so quickly. Or at least I need to contextualize my "woe is me." My wrist trouble is no joke (and I'm kind of freaked out at the possible problems that could be causing it), but it's nothing like what this young woman is dealing with.
8/2: an assortment
I read an Artforum article about a show of paintings by Hayley Barker, and I was taken with the photo of one of the paintings that the article discussed: "Front Yard at Dusk with Visitor" (viewable by clicking here.) I sent it to a friend of mine, and she mentioned nice things about it; I showed it to Chris, and he mentioned interesting things too. I was grateful to hear about what other people saw and so see through their eyes a little.
After the utter (and, for me, not productive) bewilderment that was my last audiobook (Joy Williams' Harrow), I needed to listen to something different (and reliable) as I walked. I chose The Young Clementina by D. E. Stevenson because I loved Miss Buncle's Book. The first hour of the audiobook was bliss--smart, vivid, thoughtful.
My aunt in Nebraska sent me an unexpected and wonderful note about my pamphlets. Happy to have real mail in the mailbox! And a Facebook friend messaged me good words about a pamphlet I had sent him recently.
As usual these days, I had a hard time settling into work, but I enjoyed it when I managed to get into it. Among other things, I read a well-done article about the underlying pessimism of the speech of Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium.
After dinner I asked Chris to get my piano keyboard down from a closet shelf (my wrist wasn't up to lifting it). I have not played it in years and years! I'm not good at all--despite 8 years of childhood piano lessons alas. But I have an easy book with some traditional Scottish songs, and I played a few of those.
8/1: the return
...of my favorite soy milk! I don't know what happened: supply chain issues due to COVID perhaps? Whatever the cause, it had been un-gettable for a year (and not just in local stores--even online). I was so happy to see it back, and we bought all the cartons of it that were on the store shelf this afternoon in case it disappears again. Special thanks to Chris, who counseled buying the lot and then helped to pick up and carry the cartons (they were the "value size," hence large) so that I wouldn't strain my wrist.