2/28: inscribed

A picturebook I had ordered arrived in today's mail.  The book is no longer in print, so I had to buy a used copy.  I chose this particular copy because it contains a handwritten note from the author:  "To Katherine, a very sweet girl who loves to read books!  Your friend, Kathryn Hewitt Nov. '90"  And below this note Kathryn Hewitt drew the face of a cat named Goldilocks who appears in the book.  It seemed melancholy to me for this book to be without a home, and though I'm not Katherine, I love to read books and want this one to have its home with me.

2/27: work as relief

Much unpleasantness in some aspects of my life these days (alas), but doing my schoolwork today distracted me and was even fun.

2/26: a little time

...to do a little art project.

And then in a sweet coincidence, when I logged on to write this I saw that Meri posted on her blog about spending some time with her daughter and art.

2/25: reader-response theory

Today I read a really lovely account, written by Lois Tyson, of various reader-response theories.  Tyson was so clear as well as personable in her prose, and it was very interesting to think about what kinds of reader-response practices I incorporate into my classes as well as my own reading (and writing-about-reading) habits.

2/24: an afternoon of other things

I finished my schoolwork in the morning, and so my afternoon could be otherwise occupied--with Trollope, walking on the ridge (and listening to Holly Black's Doll Bones), and passing a few words with a kind neighbor.

2/23: sweetness that stops me in my tracks

Walking on the ridge today, I smelled the first blooms of the winter honeysuckle!  I had to pause and enjoy before moving on.

2/22: postcrossing

March 1st will be the 7th anniversary of my joining Postcrossing.  I haven't been as much of a sender in the past two years as I used to be, but I still enjoy it, and I want to get back into the habit of sending cards regularly.  Today I wrote 15 cards--a nice break after a day and a half of too much un-fun thinking.

2/21: brackets and before the weekend

A meeting on a tense and unfortunate topic went about as well as it could have.  I'm glad I managed to have the meeting before the weekend.

And before the meeting I got a lovely (unrelated) email, and after it I got another lovely (unrelated) email.

So something bad was not as bad as it could have been, and it was bracketed by goodness.