8/31: hearing
...a whippoorwill this evening, something I don't remember having heard as late in the year as this before. Chris noticed it first and called me out onto the porch so I could listen too.
8/30: figuring out
...(or at least hopefully figuring out) the due dates for individual assignments for the Picturebooks class--quite a puzzle!
8/29: making collages
...in class with the Picturebooks students as we tried out Molly Bang's principles for how images work.
8/26: starting
...my evaluation dossier. It's something I've been putting off, but now I have to do it. It's due in a little over 2 weeks, and I'm glad it's now underway.
8/25: hearing
...the Vulgate students' thoughtful responses to some questions I gave them about their reading practices, uses of memory, and reactions to the physicality of books.
8/24: unexpected
...agreement in my department about a possible change in policy. I thought it would be contentious (and hence stressful), but wow it wasn't. Things may get thorny as we propose the change beyond the department, but at least this first step was smooth.
8/23: meeting
...my Vulgate class for the first time. I know all of the students in there, though they don't all know one another. I'm looking forward to our gelling as a group. Today they asked good questions about the course in general and worked intently on some Latin Scrabble boards (not playing for points, just getting back into the swing of Latin).
8/22: reading
...Press Here by Hervé Tullet with my picturebooks class and hearing their thoughtful responses.
8/21: returning
...a new pair of glasses that wasn't right for me and ordering a different pair. I wasn't excited about doing it, but I had to (the glasses were giving me a headache), and it wasn't as awkward or difficult as I anticipated.
8/20: losing then finding
...a stack of postcards. I had put them in logical-yet-unlikely place. Usually I get very angry at myself when I misplace something like that and can't find it. Today I worked hard not to get as rattled. It was nice that it worked out, but it's also nice to know that I would have been okay if I hadn't found the postcards. It was also a wake-up call that it was high time for me to do some office organizing, particularly of my photo postcards, so I did.
8/19: a syllabus
...and syllabub. I finished writing a second one of my syllabuses this afternoon, and to celebrate I made syllabub with vegan cream, lemon, and violet liqueur.
8/16: receiving
...a little handmade bag from my neighbor as a thank-you for loaning her son a book he needed for a class. (It's rare that being a Classicist can be helpful to a neighbor!)
8/15: going out to lunch
...with Chris. We haven't gone to a restaurant together since late February or early March 2020!
8/14: spotting
...a large moth when I went outside with Chris after dinner to look at the fig trees. The moth was hanging on one of the fig leaves, and the "eyes" on its wings had silver dots in their centers.
8/13: enjoying
...serendipity. I was reading an article in an old Artforum about Ulla Wiggen, and the writer (Ina Blom) mentioned Young-Girl theory. I had to look it up, and I found an overview online (link). As I read it, I couldn't believe the way it resonated with--and added to--some things I had been thinking about Taylor Swift. Not that Taylor Swift comes up explicitly (the original piece was written in 1999), but the connections seemed uncanny (or all too canny). It felt really gratifying to have different parts of my experiences intersect in such an unexpected and timely way.
8/12: finishing
...listening to all of Taylor Swift's albums in order. I had only known a handful of her songs, but she's been in the news so much this summer that I thought it might be interesting to take myself through her recording career. Thanks to the first-month-free deal from Spotify, I was able to listen to each album over the past week. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but I definitely know her sound now, and there was a pleasure in setting myself the project and then finishing it.
8/10: getting mail
...from someone I haven't corresponded with in a long time. A nice surprise to find in my mailbox just as I was heading to school for my first back-to-school meeting.
8/9: taking pictures
...while moving. Usually on my walks I stop to take photos. Today I took them as I was in motion, and I really like some of the effects I got that way.
8/8: a photograph
...of two grown-ups dressed as ghosts on a walking path flanked by yellow trees. I don't know who they are. A post-friend from sendsomething sent the picture to me; they had taken it, and I don't think they knew who the ghost-people were either (though the ghost-people were obviously happy to pose for the camera). I set the picture up by my desk; it will keep me smiling for some time to come.
8/5: working on two pamphlets
...today. They've both been in the works for awhile--one since this past December and the other one for years--and now I think they're ready to go into "production."
8/4: morning, afternoon, evening
Morning: making a collage I really like, then walking while beginning to listen to Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron.
Afternoon: doing the Trollope glosses I assigned myself for today, then having time to quiet-write after that.
Evening: organizing a kitchen drawer with Chris, then working on a pamphlet that I've been thinking about for years (and letting go of a part of it that seemed crucial but would ultimately be distracting).
8/3: being grateful
...that I'm still in "summer." Today I:
- read articles in Artforum- reworked a pamphlet
- walked- wrote Trollope glosses
- texted with a friend who was writing at the same time this afternoon so we would be writing buddies
- made chocolate mousse using some leftover dairy-free whipping cream- read a few chapters of Moominvalley in November out loud with Chris- put together a collage- finished listening to Provenance
- did some laundry
I like the spread of activities that a summer day can hold.
8/2: being so pleased
...with the postcard-sized prints of the collages which Chris and I did together. They look really great, and I'm excited to send them out!
8/1: being stopped
...from saying "good morning" today. That might not sound like a good thing, but when I first walked into the main room, Chris said something like, "Wait. Don't say anything until you say 'rabbit rabbit.'" Then he explained that it was good luck on the first day of the month. I'll take any luck on offer! And after that I wished him a good morning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)