American Crime: Season 2

15 December 2016: I am a bit late on getting on the bandwagon and singing the praise of the second season of American Crime, but I am there now, having started watching it a couple of days ago. I am up to episode 8 (out of 10) and I can't look away. It's amazing: powerful, sad, full of tremendous performances. It's a master class on acting. It's a troubling social commentary. It's timely and smart. It's important. Watch it.

Jadon and Anias

14 December 2016: I've been following this story since just before the boys were separated. So much about it captivated me: the loving parents and their brave decision, the riskiness of the surgery, the idea that they had never been able to hold their babies and the beauty of them finally being able to do so, the picture of the boys seeing each other for the first time, And now they are taking another step on their journey. It's just beautiful and hopeful and today's good thing.

Scorigami

13 December 2016: Look, I don't much care for football, but I loved learning about "Scorigami" on this week's Hang Up and Listen podcast. So much fun!

On the radio...

12 December 2016: Thanks to my neighbor, I got to be on the radio today, talking about Emily Dickinson. Not a bad way to start the day.

Great leap forward?

11 December 2016: It is amazing how many posts I have about the slow, slow, slow progress with Veronica. I mean, she's doing fine in so many ways: happy, healthy, playful, always out and about, follows me around, etc., but she still doesn't let me do much more than a nose bop and she hasn't slept on the bed since the morning I grabbed her and took her to the vet to be spayed (true story).

But when I went to sleep last night (and it counts as today's good thing because it was after midnight), she--out of nowhere--jumped right up when Wesley did and promptly went to sleep between my knees. And she stayed there for hours. I have no idea why or if/when she'll do it again, but that little leap is definitely the good thing for Sunday.

Peppermint cocoa

10 December 2016: Saturday's good thing was the cup of peppermint cocoa that Jane made for me after we spent the day shopping and just hanging out in Alexandria. It was my first cocoa of the season, which seemed noteworthy and the capper to a fine day with one of my favorite people.

Fall 2016 Grading: Done!!!

9 December 2016: Another semester in the books. This was a strange one, to put it mildly. But also a good one, to continue the string of vague adjectives.

Time for some chair dancing...

Accepted!

8 December 2016: Today's good thing? An acceptance letter from Appalachian Journal for my Ron Rash article. I have some revisions to do, but man, I am thrilled. This one feels really good.

I'll take it?

7 December 2016:

I will confess to never getting into the Harry Potter world, but this comment from an ENGL 101 student's portfolio reflection letter, is a good thing, right? It made me laugh.

"EHG 137: Going All In On The Family With This Is Us"

6 December 2017: A new episode of Extra Hot Great is always one of the best things in any day, but this week's episode, which featured a great discussion of This Is Us and of the infamous (crappy, horrible) finale of How I Met Your Mother really hit the spot on a cold and rainy day. I listened to it while I took breaks from grading to do some chores: clean the house, make some chicken soup (yup, looking for nature's medicine at this point...and I had some leftover chicken), balance the checkbook, etc. Always a delight to hear these folks!

Honey-lemon cough drops...

5 December 2016: Yeah, so today's post, combined with this one from a couple of days ago, illustrates a certain recurring theme in my life these past few weeks. I'm on the tail-end (I hope?) of a nasty cold, one that started up less than a week after another departed. Ugh. I barely made it through the final exam I gave today, having to get up every ten minutes (and often much more often) to cough up a lung. The only way I made it through? Lots of water, pacing the hall until I stopped hacking, and a never-ending stream of honey-lemon cough drops. After packages and packages of cherry-flavored drops, I am grateful for the refreshing change.

Doughnut dipping, Part II

4 December 2016: Sunday night brought yet another Midnight Breakfast at Shepherd, the event that kicks off exam week every semester. I was eager to be back at the same station as last semester, dipping doughnuts. And that's where I was, working the fixin' bar. It was, once again, so much fun.

Emily, Amy, and I before the students arrived--ready to go!

Robitussin

3 December 2016: Today's good thing and (let's hope?) MVP is Robitussin, which I am hoping/praying will get me through this nasty cough/cold, and more importantly, my friend's play tonight. I really want to go and support her, but I am dreading having multiple coughing fits. Here's hoping for an aisle seat, cough drops with wrappers that don't crinkle too much, and medicine that works. So far, so good--the coughing fits are getting a bit less severe and frequent. Time for a new dose!

Cats in bow-ties...

2 December 2016: I am not the kind of person who puts cats in costumes. But once a year, for the Sigma Tau Delta holiday party I host at my house, Bing and Wesley (briefly) done their sparkly red bow-ties. (Bing kind of likes his. Wesley tolerates it, but barely.) Anyway, this year's party was a success. The house was filled with bright, friendly, and gracious young people. Yet another reason to love my job...

Video of the day....

1 December 2016: Well, this video made my day. It stars, among others, two of my most beloved professors. There's Dr. Hanstedt, who guided me through my first major independent research project and helped me get into grad school, and Dr. Miller, who led my study abroad experience at Oxford. So yeah: they changed my life. And you'll also see the guy who taught my first ever college class at Roanoke: Computer Science 101, which met at 8:00 on MWF. It's hilarious. Go Noke!