"The Meaning of Zero: A Love Poem"

30 June 2019: Spent most of today basking in (and recovering from) yesterday's festivities. With summer school, summer advising, and now the party all in the rear view just as June comes to an end, I find myself in one of those weird spaces between phases. Which also sometimes means BIG thoughts.

Anyway, here's a poem I spent some time thinking about. Not bad at all.

Celebrating...

29 June 2019:

[Catch-up post...]

Last night reminded me again of how fortunate and blessed I am. Two amazing members of the Shepherdstown community hosted a wonderful celebration of my Professor of the Year award. What a joy to look out into a beautiful space filled with so many people you love, respect, and admire. I am profoundly grateful.

These are the jokes...

28 June 2019: Yesterday I made myself laugh saying, “I am seeing Yesterday tomorrow.” Today I had fun saying, “I saw Yesterday today.” Tomorrow I will no doubt say, “I saw Yesterday yesterday.” With this kind of material it is amazing people still hang out with me. (Also, the movie wasn’t bad!)

P.S. The post's title is a reference to Veronica Mars, of course.

2019 A&R: Done!

27 June 2019: This A&R sessions (which are now technically called "Orientation: Step One," but old habits die hard) seemed to fly by. As always, I got to work with a great group of advisors. Now onto the next thing...the rest of summer!

Douglas

26 June 2019:

[Catch-up post...]

I snapped this sunset photo (which doesn't even come close to capturing how pretty it was) after Amy and I saw Hannah Gadsby's new show Douglas at the Kennedy Center. It was amazing.

Session D

25 June 2019: Celebrating the end of Orientation Session D ("D for DONE!") with Hannah.

My kind of list...

24 June 2019: This weird piece of paper won't mean anything to anyone else. Just lines of crossed-out text. But at the beginning of the semester break, these thirteen lines listed thirteen deadlines of all sorts: for letters of recommendation, for reports, etc. The last one--June 30--was for a conference abstract. Got that done and submitted today.

Still lots to get done this summer, including a research trip up to Massachusetts and two more syllabi to write and revise, but right now? Feeling pretty good.

...and the living is easy...

23 June 2019: Today felt like a perfect summer Sunday. Got some reading done in the morning. Took a long walk. Wasn't too hot. Saw a stupid scary movie. Cooked out on the grill. Played a couple rounds of Pandemic. Watched some fireflies. Just lovely.

Summer 2019 Grading: DONE!

22 June 2019: Just hit "submit" on my final grades for my summer class. The class went really well--even better than I could have hoped. But, as always, it feels good to be done.

It's a gorgeous day out there and I've got some "fun" reading to do, some plans for a good long walk and a movie, and an urge to do some good old chilling. First, of course, comes the chair-dancing.

"Summer Stars"

21 June 2019: Driving back from some shows at the Old Opera House, I found myself looking up at the night sky and feeling grateful. Summer solstice vibes...

Expired...

20 June 2019: This fell out of one of my books today. The real tragedy is not the expired coupon, but that my first reaction was, “Oh boy—this expired over ten years ago!” Then I remembered how math works…

Posting it on Facebook reminded me an expired gift certificate I posted about last summer. Weirdly, that was exactly one year ago!

"Perhaps the World Ends Here"

19 June 2019: Very excited to hear today that Joy Harjo was named Poet Laureate. Here's a link to one of my favorite poems.

Wrapping up the summer class...

18 June 2019: There's a lot going on here today. My new floors are being installed (funding courtesy of my WV POY award) and the cats have been locked up in my bedroom or bathroom since about 7:00 a.m.

Here's BabyCat hiding in the closet before I moved her to the bathroom.

I also spent a portion of the day grading Major Projects from my summer students who are wrapping up all of their work this week. That "wrapping up" includes some closing blog posts, which have been so good. Check out this one, full of writing tips I might use in my classes going forward.

Doing my own reflecting on the class, I think it went very well. So much of that is due to the terrific (and funny) students I had who responded so well to the material and to the online environment.

Teaching online will never be my favorite--not even close--but I am grateful for this experience with these students.

Session C: DONE!

17 June 2019: Session C of Orientation: Step One is in the books!

"A Case of You"

16 June 2019: Brandi's cover of this Joni Mitchell song has been on my mind since she sang it the other night.

Tree work...

15 June 2019: Today I did a bit of (very amateur) pruning of some little trees in my front yard. They hadn't really been trimmed since Ryan did them the last time I saw him. As I worked, he was on my mind. We're getting close to five years of him being gone. I don't have anything profound to say; I was just thinking of him and that's enough.

Brandi Carlile!

14 June 2019:

[Catch-up post]

Got to see Brandi Carlile in concert again, this time with my buddy Carrie. It was an amazing show--maybe even better than the last time.

Strength in faith...

13 June 2019: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." --Psalm 46: 1-2.

Spent the day thinking about and praying for my dad, who is facing some medical challenges. As I sit here tonight, I am finding strength in faith and grateful for that.

Morning inspiration...

12 June 2019: Graded short papers from my summer class students this morning and was delighted by these sentences that had me pumping my fist in the air: "It’s nice that they’re nice, sure, but people have been calling women 'nice' for centuries. What they need to start calling us is strong."

(The paper is an analysis of this piece.)

Sweet break...

11 June 2019: I can't remember a May/June where I have been so busy. It's a lot. Every day. But, but, but...that's not (always) a complaint. It's just been...a lot. So those moments of pausing? Of relaxing for a bit? They have been so precious. Here's one: today, after trivia, Amy and I went to Sweet Frog with Carol, Jeff, Jordan, and Kay. (They play occasionally and it's always wonderful when they do.) Three of those folks (Carol, Jeff, and Jordan) are moving soon so time with them is even more precious.

Session A: Done!

10 June 2019: One A&R session done, four to go. Today went very well, despite a few bumps in the road. I had great students, great parents, and a great A-Team leader. With that combination, it had to go well. We did the whole thing in one day (used to stretch it over two), so I am tired, but you know...still here.

Schitt's Creek

9 June 2019: Better late than never, but I finally got on board with Schitt's Creek. So much to love here. Just watched the episode below.

She's 4!

This little loaf is 4 today. She remains my constant, (mostly) silent, judgmental shadow, occasionally allowing a nose-boop before dashing away. Works for me.

Exhibit A in the explanation of why it doesn't bother me so much that BabyCat is aloof. Here's what it was like as I wrote the post above.

Back to camp...

7 June 2019: It's that time of year again--the workshop for Advising and Registration. It's always good to see my "camp friends," though some changes to this year's format will be...interesting.

I just went back through my blog and found this post from the first time I did it.

And I realized this is my tenth year. Wow!

House tour...

6 June 2019: Just like she did two years ago, Hannah went with me to the eye doctor all so that she could help me pick out new frames afterwards. But the real highlight of the evening came next, when we drove to the house that she and Cory are building. I had seen pictures. But in person? So lovely. So excited for them, two of my favorite people on the planet.

(Also, seeing her good taste on display just gave extra validation to my decision to make her my personal style consultant for things like new glasses...)

"Give It All We Got Tonight"

5 June 2019: Heard this track earlier today and thought it was a kind of perfect song for a lovely summer evening. And it was.

Then I got some anxiety-inducing news from NY (keeping it vague, I know) and what been an actually lovely summer evening took a bit of a turn.

Cue this song again...it's helping a bit.

Strawberry picking...

4 June 2019: Had a lovely time strawberry picking with Isla and Erin today.

Catch-up lunch...

3 June 2019: Always lovely to catch up with Cait, who graduated about 9 years ago. Today we met for lunch in Frederick and had a great conversation about her work, the classes she took with me, and (of course!) TV and movies.

"Follow You, Follow Me"

2 June 2019: Heard this song on one of my favorite podcasts today. Felt just right for what has been a lovely day and I've been singing it ever since.

Ma

1 June 2019: Checked out Ma, a crazy, fascinating movie, with Amy, Cory, and Hannah this evening. Afterwards, we had dinner outside at Mission BBQ and watched a gorgeous sunset. Felt like the best kind of early summer evening...