Orphan Black Returns!

14 April 2016: Today was a kind of long and weird day. Nothing bad...just a bit strange. So perhaps it's appropriate to end the day by watching the first episode of the new season of one of the weirder (and terrific) shows on TV.

First set of capstones

13 April 2016: We've got some terrific students graduating from our department this year. On Wednesday evening, the first group of them gave their capstone presentations. What a treat it was to listen to them talk about their culminating projects! And man, I will really miss some of them so much.

A toast to Wesley

12 April 2016: Look who's 12 today! Wesley celebrates by taking a big old drink...from my water glass. Good thing he's cute.

Bonus points to Baby Cat for her laser eyes in the background. No doubt she's wondering what she's missing out on and if she should shove her head in the cup when he's done.

Slooooooow progress...

11 April 2016: So Veronica is still much more into Bing and Wes (especially Bing) than she is to me. It's not always great for my self-esteem (ha!), but I get it. Every once in a while, though, there are bursts of progress. Today, she jumped up on the ottoman and relaxed a bit, even giving herself a little bath. She probably sat there for a good five minutes. I caught the tail (ha) end of this bout of proximity on video. (It's not a very good video, but you can see her cuteness.)



Patience is a virtue, right? It has never been one at which I excel, though.

Brain Games

10 April 2016: Today my friends Cyd, Amy, and I volunteered to help with Brain Games, a trivia tournament that raises money for a local adult literacy program. Amy and I helped out the quiz writer/head judge, a five-time Jeopardy! champion, as his assistant judges. Usually I am on the competitor side of a trivia game, so it was neat (and less stressful) to be on the other side. And fun, too.

Sleeping in...

9 April 2016: On Saturday morning, I did something I haven't done in forever...slept in until 10:30. It was decadent and amazing.

Medea

8 April 2016: Friday was a day filled with options for the "good thing." Shepherd inaugurated a new president, for instance. But what I enjoyed the most was what happened after: Tim and I had dinner with some of our favorite former students and then we all watched the Rude Mechanicals' production of Medea. A great night all around.

"It's Quiet Uptown"

7 April 2016: Like so many others, I remain under Hamilton's spell. Today while taking my walk through Morgan's Grove Park and when this song came on, I found myself weeping. And yes, that might sound like a weird thing to say about today's "good thing," but it was a lovely moment, I think. Grief like the song explores is the "unimaginable," the ineffable. And these lines got to me in a way they hadn't before:

"There are moments that the words don’t reach
There is a grace too powerful to name
We push away what we can never understand
We push away the unimaginable"

So yeah, this sad and beautiful song is today' good thing.

Smooooth...

6 April 2016: I recently bought myself a kitchen gadget for smoothie-making. Wednesday's breakfast creation was quite good: kale, oranges, a banana, and almond milk. Yummy stuff. Good way to start the day!

Now an opening day post...

5 April 2016: Wrote a bit this morning, mowed the lawn, got some other work done. Now I am grading papers and watching the Yankees play. That's my kind of day.

Good PR

4 April 2016: Today's good thing is this press release about the conference Tim and I took students to over Spring Break. It's nice to see some recognition for our students' efforts.

P.S. You KNOW that I wanted this to be a post about Opening Day, but the Yankee game was rained out. Shucks.

Call the Midwife

3 April 2016: Today's good thing is the return of one of my favorite TV shows, Call the Midwife. Sundays can make me a bit blue, especially Sunday evenings, so having this lovely show to look forward to it just wonderful.

Escape Room Live

2 April 2016: What an amazing day Saturday was! First, Amy and I had our presentation for Accepted Students Day, which went really well. Then I took a long walk along the canal, headed home and got some work done--all before heading out for the real fun: to celebrate my friend Emily's birthday, some of us gathered for dinner (at Founding Farmer's--delicious!) and then went to play a locked room game.

That game was was so much fun. We lost, but came sooooo close. Now I fear we are addicted. But a great day all around.

Dinner meeting

1 April 2016: Another busy but good day. This one started to wind down with a dinner meeting with my friend Amy. We needed to finish planning for a presentation we are doing tomorrow for Shepherd's Accepted Students Day. That's my idea of a nice way to end a week: a bit of productivity, a good dinner at one of my favorite places in town, and (once the work was done) some great conversation.

Sans Merci Release Party

31 March 2016: Thursday's good thing is a yearly ritual--attending the release party for Sans Merci, Shepherd's literary and art magazine. It's always a lovely night: you get to view the students' art and hear them read. To me, it always signals that spring has arrived.