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
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.
1/27: 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.
1/25: 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.)
1/23: 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.
1/21: 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!
1/16: 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.
1/12: 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.
1/5: 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.
1/3: 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.