Spring 2021 Grading: DONE!

30 April 2021: Just submitted my last grades for this semester. Thus endeth the strangest academic year of my life. I don't want to think too much about the work ahead of me right now. Instead, this calls for a bit of chair dancing to the tune of this bop that Hannah introduced me to earlier this week.

   

Cute distractions...

29 April 2021: When you are trying to work from home but the residents of Dr. Hanrahan's Home for Geriatric Cats have other ideas. And make no mistake about it: their age makes this much more manipulative. And when they team up? Very hard to resist. (But I did.) 

Peeking through...

28 April 2021: The cherry tree blossoms are done and dogwoods and redbuds are winding down, but now it's lilac time. The past few mornings on my walks, when I get to Rumsey Park, I've smelled the lilacs on the hillside by the river before I see them. But there they are, popping out of the thicket. I actually like that I smell them first--a reminder of what's to come. And I actually like that they're a bit hard to spot in the brush, another reminder that some beautiful things are a bit harder to see, but still there. 

"Somewhere Only We Know"

27 April 2021: 

"I came across a fallen tree

I felt the branches of it looking at me

Is this the place we used to love?

Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?"

It's been a pretty good day: gorgeous weather that made it feel like summer, lots of items checked off the to-do list. But still lots of room for Big Thoughts and conversations with myself. Partial blame goes to an episode of Mark and Sarah Talk about Songs, which has had me thinking about this song--and this passage in particular--all day. 

A little bit of everything...

26 April 2021: Little bit of everything today: grading, course prep for the summer, committee work, conferences with students, a college meeting, and even a bit of research/writing stuff. The highlight might have been those student conferences, both with ENGL 204 students who wanted to talk about their final exams. It still gets to me sometimes how much fun it is to talk with students about their writing and help them see the smart ideas they've got in their heads. One guy, for instance, is writing about four poems whose concision and diction opens up meanings for readers. Such a delight to talk to non-majors about this stuff. 

"The blues have always had me too..."

25 April 2021: Still digging Brandi's memoir so much. I find myself relating to so much of what she says about family, work, religion, love, figuring out who you are...just everything. And then there are these insights on her songs, like this one. I've always liked it, but hearing her talk about it made it speak to me in a new way. Perfect soundtrack to a Big Thoughts Sunday. 

Every once in a while...

24 April 2021: Every once in a while Veronica jumps up on the ottoman and it's not about begging for food. She did it today while I was grading. Cue a long stretch of me trying to be cool and not make any sudden movements. She stuck around until she heard Bing in the kitchen. As always, she's way more into him than she is into me. And so it goes...

Promising Young Woman

23 April 2021: In a bit of post-vaccine normalcy, Hannah came over after work today and we got dinner and watched Promising Young Woman, a heck of a movie that I'll have to think about a lot in the coming days. After it was over, we sat and talked for hours. Lovely to recognize "normal" more and more. 

Never do the math...

22 April 2021: "Never do the math," I always tell myself when I think about what's left to grade each semester. But I always end up doing the math anyway. I ran the numbers today and boy, does it seem manageable right now, helped by:

• Good planning (spacing things out) 
• Smaller than usual classes, a consequence of COVID room restrictions and weird scheduling
• Only teaching three of them, thanks to my course release for Senate). 

Here's what's left:

ENGL 406 Critical Essays (12-15 pages each): 5 of these (got one done early!), coming in tomorrow

ENGL 204 Final Exams (essays and short answer): 12 of these, coming in on Wednesday

ENGL 301 Final Exams (essays and short answer): 8 of these, coming in on Monday

ENGL 406 Presentation Grades: 6 of these; quick and easy; a week from tomorrow

So this math makes me feel pretty good, which I appreciate since the math involved in "what I've got to get done once the semester ends" is a bit terrifying...

Broken Horses

21 April 2021: Started listening to Brandi Carlile's new book last night and again this morning while on my walk. I opted for the audiobook since she includes 30+ songs with it. Today has been a long and stressful day--where each email or call that came in almost made me laugh because I was so overwhelmed--but starting my day with this book no doubt helped me get through it.  

I am especially enjoying learning that Brandi was a serious and weird little kid. I love weird little kids and I think I was myself, a very serious kid, at least inwardly. It's strangely comforting to know there are more of us "I was a weird and serious little kid" folks out there. 

A bit of justice...

20 April 2021: Relieved to see George Floyd's killer convicted. Sad for what the world lost and what it took to get there. Hopeful for some change on the horizon, but certain there is so far (too far) to go.

Sorrow and Bliss

19 April 2021: It's hard to put into words exactly why, but I didn't sleep well last night, feeling tense and anxious. That put me in not the best mood all day. And it was a long day, complete with a 2.5+ hour Faculty Senate meeting.

When I got home, it was still lovely out, so I took my book, Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss, outside onto the back deck and finished the last few pages. Just that 30 minutes of pausing and doing something fun did helped me relax. Not quite sorrow and not quite bliss, but a good way to segue from "ugh" to "that's better."

The book itself really grabbed me. It's a funny and moving story of a woman's experience with mental illness, family, love, and moving forward when you've made mistakes. I found the narrator's voice particularly powerful. I was also struck by how compassionate the book was, surprising me with those turns. 

Mamma Mia

18 April 2021: Went to Program Board's drive-in movie screening of Mamma Mia. Still a delightful, fun, and silly movie.

Here I go again, indeed...

Accepted Students Day 2021

17 April 2021: Excited to bust out this bit of bling for the first time in over a year, welcoming new Rams for our in-person (and safe) Accepted Students Day.

Live theater!

16 April 2021: Had my first live theater experience since COVID attending the Rude Mechanicals' production of two English majors' plays. The seating was socially-distanced, the audience and the actors wore masks, but for the most part, it felt like the good kind of normal.