1/31: reading

...students' thoughts about images of Penelope which I asked them to respond to.  Two of the images were ones I often use, but I added three other ones (which were a little more challenging), and I especially enjoyed reading their thoughts about those.

1/30: easier

...swallowing.  Yesterday and earlier today it hurt to swallow, an effect of my cold and/or the medicine I'm taking.  But this evening it doesn't hurt as much.

1/29: a lost voice

...literally.  I caught a cold and so can't talk much.  While that isn't a good thing in and of itself, it made cancelling my in-person class and office hours an easy call.

1/28: playing

...a kind of fort/da game with Simon the Cat.

1/27: using

...a new handbag for the first time.  It's been years--perhaps a decade?--since I bought myself a new bag, but the zipper on my old go-to gave out (months ago), so it was more than time.  It felt spiffy to be carrying something new (and not broken) as I did my grocery shopping.

1/26: Chris said

...that we should make a cake, so we did.

1/25: resting

 ...from the week.  And no new work arrived in my email.  (There's plenty of old work I need to address, but I'm glad for a day when something new isn't added to the pile.)

1/24: calling

...the physical therapy clinic and saving myself a drive across town to do paperwork.

1/23: thinking about Hephaestus

...in preparation for the Myth class today.  He's a figure I hadn't spent much time with, and it was good to move around in some new-to-me ideas.

1/22: geese

 Snow geese on the lake.  Canadian geese in the sky.

1/21: coming home

...to pierogi casserole after a day at school that kept getting longer and colder.  The sun had set by the time I made it to the parking lot to drive home, so it was chilly and late.  All I needed to do was heat up the casserole for some quick comfort.

1/20: seeing

...a comment from a longtime blogging/mailing friend when I signed into the blog today!

1/19: adding

...to a book review I wrote last week to make it better.

1/18: the company

...of Chris, the cats, and books on day when vertigo kept me mostly in bed.

1/17: meeting up

...with a former student for a late-afternoon chat.

1/16: inside

...our house:  Emma the Oldest Cat grooming Simon the Newest (But Not Very New) Cat.

...a neighbor's house:  beautiful art of all sorts.

1/15: getting

...the first appointment slot so I could see the doctor before the daily back-up of patients began.

1/14: colors

...for eyes and ears.  I watched the sunset at the lake while listening to the Bloom app.

1/13: writing

...a quick review of Deer Run Home while it was fresh in my mind.

1/12: another trio

Morning:  Reading Deer Run Home by Ann Clare LeZotte pretty much immediately after I learned about it (and its mention of the myth of Iphigeneia) and finishing it in one go.

Afternoon:  Doing more shoveling while finishing listening to Clear by Carys Davies.

Evening:  Welcoming Chris home (!) and reading Artforum after he went to bed.

1/11: trio

Morning:  getting caught up in a new pamphlet idea.

Afternoon:  shoveling the driveway to clear the low wall of snow made by the plow.

Evening:  sweeping.

1/10: organizing

...my browsing and archive copies of Cuckoo Grey pamphlets.  It was kind of amazing to see them all at once.

1/9: falling snow

...in the afternoon, so I got myself motivated and took a walk.  At first it was just me outside.  Then a neighbor came out with her two toddler children, and it was great to hear them laugh as they played.  A little later her spouse was walking down the street and we remarked on how great it was to be in the weather--its prettiness and quiet.  You could hear the flapping of birds' wings when they darted from bush to bush.

1/8: the heated birdbath

...was popular with the neighborhood birds this afternoon since water elsewhere outside is frozen.  Bluebirds, chickadees, woodpeckers, finches, and more.

1/7: tinkering

...with pamphlet ideas, not with entirely successful results, but with gratitude for a day spent in trying.  I watched some Jeff Baena films as I worked, and that seemed right.

1/6: all four

...cats lined up in the sun coming in through a south-facing window.

1/5: mundane & musical

Mundane:  cleaning the bathroom.

Musical:  listening to The Dawn of Everything by Brian Eno and (in a $3.99 splurge) downloading the Bloom app.

1/4: using a compact keyboard

...to type texts via Bluetooth on my phone.

1/3: picking up

...the copy of Dom Sylvester Houédard: FrOg pOnd plOp that I ordered and reading it as soon as I got home.

1/2: not attending

...the annual Classics convention this year.  I gave presentations (online or in person) for the past 4 years, and I was ready for a holiday that didn't include finalizing a paper, fretting about professional interactions, and/or traveling for work.  Vertigo has been a real problem for me recently (especially today), so I am extra grateful to not have to be on a plane.

1/1: spending the morning

...writing about some highlights of 2024. It was a tough year, and I didn't make it through it gracefully.  Still, there were good things, and I'm glad I made myself revisit some of those.