Summer writing math...

31 August 2022: Just under the wire (last day of August), I finished the last entry on my Summer Writing List. From May to August, some math: 

• 16: entries written
• 33,297: words written
• 47,487: words total (since the project started)

GWST 201...

30 August 2022: Did my introductory lecture/discussion for GWST 201 today, the last time I'll teach them until October (my colleagues in Sociology and History are up first). It was so much fun. Great class, great participation, and I think I did a great job, too. Just in the zone. And talking about these ideas with that particular population? It's such a pleasure.

(Once again, wiped out this evening. Yikes!)

First day, take two...

29 August 2022: Twelve hour day on campus, which isn't great for someone who should be taking it easy, but it is what it is. It felt great to be back in the classroom--as always, the best part of every day. 

Holy cow, though: I am wiped out. Sheesh. 

Tiny triumph...

28 August 2022: Managed to check the last item off of my weekly "book to-do" list, which is, I think, a tiny triumph given the challenges the week brought me. Of course, I immediately undercut that by doing the quick math on all I have to do stay on track long-term, but I do that a lot and then talk my self out of panicking. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

Still finishing that list feels pretty good right now. 

Freedom...

27 August 2022: Since my symptoms have been improving, today marked the day I could leave isolation so long as I was masked around people. Used my freedom to dash through the supermarket (still anxious about contaminating folks) and do a long shift of work in the office. Predictable, I know. Still a bit tired and congested, but feel like normal is edging its way back.  

Nurse Wesley

26 August 2022: Last day of isolation. Feeling okay-ish. Glad to have had this faithful attendant.

Cold and bubbly...

25 August 2022: Hard to think of anyone who has done more to support me lately than Hannah. And "lately" is a purposely vague term, I think. She's just always there to help and it's amazing. Exhibit 1,000,000,000: the Diet Coke from McDonald's she just dropped off. Because she knows a fountain drink is just better, even when you can't really taste/smell. 

Another example of how I hit the jackpot when it comes to friends...

One year...

24 August 2022: One year without my orange boy. I still really miss him. He was the cuddliest of my cats, great for taking a nap on me when I read or watched TV. He loved a good scratch and pet. And he was just so...so essentially Bing. 

The emergency hospital sent me a card after he died with one of those cards you plant that allegedly has seeds that will sprout. I say "allegedly" because they don't tend to grow for me. But these did--with lovely orange flowers.

Quarantine pop-over...

23 August 2022: My parents are in the area this week and Erin and the girls drove out to have lunch with them today for my dad's birthday. Of course, I couldn't join them, but they all swung by after so we could exchange gifts (my gift for my dad, "Annie and Sugie's" birthday gift for me) and they could drop off a take-out dinner. I stood on the porch in my mask and my parents stood in the driveway, with Erin and the girls on the lawn by the sidewalk. It was nice to see them because (already!) I am feeling a bit lonely. "Over three more days to go?" I said to myself not too long ago?

Of course, I am not alone completely. Had a good phone conversation with Vogel, texts from friends, and Wes is always here. (BabyCat also lives here.)

Speaking of BabyCat, this gift (again, "from" Annie and Sugie) is a custom-made depiction of my reticent little queen. It's a reclaimed slate from a barn in Beverly, MA (where Lucy Larcom is from!).

A most unusual first day of classes...

22 August 2022: Holding up okay today--congested, scratchy throat, and a bit of a headache, but not too bad. Even got to take a long walk this morning, waiting until after the kids had gotten on their buses so I wouldn't get too close to anyone. (So it looks like the streak will at least hit 971 days.)

Then I did some reading, attended a Zoom meeting on a search we're doing, and taught two classes via Zoom. I let each class vote on how to handle the rest of the week and they voted for discussion boards over Zoom. Carrie (over text) told me that's probably because they felt bad for me. 

And then I crashed. Too much talking/performing. So now I am resting and might be done with work for the day. 

But here, even feeling like crud and missing the normal rhythm of the first day, I am grateful that so many people have been kind, offering to help out if I need anything, sending me well wishes. Blessed, blessed, blessed. 

It got me...

21 August 2022: Well, it was a good run, but I tested positive for COVID this evening (after a negative test yesterday). Figure I got it at the concert, which makes me feel all kinds of ways. Very worried that I might have passed it on to people on Friday--and I saw so many people.

The positive line showed up so quickly this evening that I almost laughed. But having not had anything resembling an actual cold in 2.5 years, the feeling was pretty unmistakable.

Just texted Hannah that it is kind of hilarious that my next entry--the one I'll start working on tomorrow--is on "The Yellow Wallpaper."

So far, just some mild symptoms. Fingers crossed that they stay that way and that everyone else stays healthy. 

Saturday before it starts...

20 August 2022: Slept in a tiny bit today, but have been kind of going non-stop since then. Mowed the lawn, did some housecleaning and laundry, and then headed to campus around 1:00 and worked there until around 6:00. Then ran some errands in Martinsburg. 

I am completely ready for classes on Monday and got caught up on some emails that flooded in yesterday, but I am not where I want to be on this Alcott entry. Since everything else on my list is done, I am going to push myself to just focus on that tomorrow. 

Time now to do a few more tasks, maybe give my draft so far a read through, and then chill. 

Class of 2026!

19 August 2022: A couple of pictures from today's convocation and opening picnic. A pretty darn good day with one of the largest incoming groups of English majors I can ever remember. 

Brandi Concert #4

18 August 2022:

[Catch-up post...]

So excited to see Brandi Carlile again last night (this time with Allison Russell and the Indigo Girls). Happy to have Tish come along, too.

"a real good vortex"

17 August 2022: In 1868 letter to her sister Anna, Louisa May Alcott wrote, “You ask what I am writing. Well, two books half done, nine stories simmering, and stacks of fairy stories moulding on the shelf. I can’t do much, as I have no time to get into a real good vortex" (59).

I think it is very meta that the only part of my Alcott entry that I had time to write today was the introduction, where I use this anecdote.  

Work Cited

Alcott, Louisa May. The Selected Letters of Louisa May Alcott. Edited by Madeline Stern, et. al, Little, Brown, 1987.

Ready for them to be back...

16 August 2022: Sitting at home this evening, after a 10 hour day on campus, I could hear the Ram Band (mostly the drums) practicing over on campus. This always makes me smile. And I realized that having the students back and having classes start up will make my mood, my mind, and my existence a lot better.* Will it also be busier and more frantic? Sure, but the rest of it more than balances that out. It is, as I always point out, the best part of the job--the reason the whole job exists. 

*I do feel--like I have most recent summers--like I didn't do enough for fun or even take a real "break." It's hard not to be sad about that, why it keeps happening, and what it says about my life, but no need to prolong summer just so I can spend more time with nothing fun to do. 

Three shows...

15 August 2022: Some not-great vibes today and find myself pausing to be grateful for some entertainment that helps sustain me even on not-great days. Three TV shows coming to mind right now:

1) The new A League of Their Own series, which I devoured this weekend. It's been on my mind all day today, too.

2) Reservation Dogs: just finishing up the latest episode. How is this show so beautiful and so funny? What a privilege it is to watch it, learn from it, and appreciate it.

3) Better Call Saul: the final episode starts in a few minutes. In my mind, there's no question that the prequel has surpassed Breaking Bad, which is an amazing feat. It's that good. And I want to name a cat Kim Wexler. 

Lena and Aspen

14 August 2022: Was delighted to attend the wedding of Aspen and Lena, two former students. It's just a lovely thing have witnessed, including the times they spent on campus.  

Basking a bit...

13 August 2022: Still basking in the good vibes from yesterday. Another absolutely gorgeous day (70s, nice breeze), a bit of sleeping in, and a decent amount of work done all helped, too. Oh, and the new A League of Their Own series. 

Even some external (and internal) attempts to screw up my mood have kind of fallen flat when I put them in context. I do wish a lot about me and my life could be different. That's just a fact. But it seems like now's a time to just happily sit with some gratitude.

45

12 August 2022:

[Catch-up post]

Birthdays always make me so grateful for the people who have been such blessings in my life. People just being so kind, from all the different phases of my life. Two long conversations with two of my favorite people, Vogel and Carrie. Randomly bumping into a former student and her two girls. A lot to love and be grateful for. 

And I got to have dinner with these absolute VIPs. Perfect.

Little book pause...

11 August 2022: Long but good day today. Pressed pause on book work today except for about 45 minutes of source searching. Instead, got work done on Senate stuff, Asst. Dean stuff, advising, and just getting things ready for the semester. Ended the day having dinner with a scholar who is going to teach an honors seminar for us in Spring 2023. Kind of cool to spend a day doing all different parts of my job, having some fun, and making progress all around. 

42K+

10 August 2022: With the completion of the Dickinson entry, I have crossed the 42K word mark for the book, just a bit shy of 1/3 done, I think. Feels good, but "miles to go" and all that. 

Since "She's Like the Wind" was playing on Pandora when I added the Dickinson entry to the larger document and ran the numbers (as I sang along, loudly--no one else in the office suite today), and since this song/movie/singer means so much to me, I am including the video. Ha.

Frolic time...

9 August 2022: There's a certain time in the morning--a narrow window it seems to me--when the rabbits are out frolicking at Rumsey Monument Park in town. I am so happy whenever I hit that sweet spot and see them there. "Frolic away, bun-buns," I said (very quietly) when I stumbled upon three of them this morning. 

Turtle squad

8 August 2022: A moment from my walk this morning: a guy doing some road maintenance (a town employee, I think?) stopping what he was doing to walk a bit further up the hill alongside me so that we could both cheer, encourage, and sort of shoo a box turtle across the street. A team effort!

What a town!

" the extraordinary, wonderful, beautiful things that happen when we share one another’s burdens..."

7 August 2022: “I think that we as a society, we as Americans, have gone almost as far as the pendulum can swing in the direction of materialism, rabid individualism, and a kind of indefensible selfishness. And when that pendulum finally starts to swing back, there’s going to be no better guide for us than the work of Louisa May Alcott because her writing is about caring, it’s about self-mastery and not self-indulgence, it’s about the extraordinary, wonderful, beautiful things that happen when we share one another’s burdens, and when we set aside our sort of vain material wishes and wants in the name of a core of values that is much more human and much more kind…Louisa May Alcott is always going to have innumerable things to give us, but that message of mutuality and sharing and love has got to be at the top of the list.” –John Matteson, on season 2, episode 7 of Let Genius Burn. 

I listened to this episode while mowing the lawn this morning. It's so hot and humid out there that I was kind of soaked, but when I stopped to wipe my face, there were a couple of tears in there in response to Matteson's words. 

When I think about what I've learned while writing this book so far--the things that I've learned that matter to me, that will stay with me, and (God willing) will shape me and make a better person--the clear moral example of Louisa is near the top of the list. 

Dinner with Heidi

6 August 2022: Had dinner with my friend Heidi ("Heidi the Great" as she calls herself) tonight for the first time in so long. It was so nice to catch up, give each other sympathetic ears, and just share some time. Love being reminded of the people who mean so much to me.

Twenty years (!?!)

5 August 2022: Back home in WV this evening, thinking about how lucky I am to have had Vogel in my life for twenty years (!). I told her today that I think so much of who I've become in those decades (the good stuff anyway) is because of her friendship and support. What a gift. 

Pool time...

4 August 2022: 

[Catch-up post]

Spent a big part of the day at the pool at the hotel. Very chill, very relaxing. Just perfect. 

Reunited!

3 August 2022: 

[Catch-up post]

I can't even say what it meant to be reunited with Vogel for a couple of days in Cape May. Drove down on Wednesday (though this photo is from Thursday). 

Still feels cool...

2 August 2022: Every time I have a publication come out (not that it happens that often), it still feels very cool. I was just reminded of this one, which actually came out in June, when the editors emailed the volume's authors, asking us to spread the word. 

Towards the end of this very busy day in the office, the reminder and the feeling it brings out is quite nice. 

Frustration...

1 August 2022: Some good things: got my Brightspace pages set up for my classes. Hammered out an outline for the Dickinson entry. Got some other stuff done.

But it was also a frustrating day in lots of ways. Got stood up for an important meeting. The Dickinson entry is going to be a bear to actually write (I think?). Got some frustrating emails. Just bad vibes, as the kids say. 

Trying to push through it tonight. Better Call Saul and a bath and bed. Hoping to wake up in a better mood tomorrow.