Good Things, Random Bullets, The Dissertation, . . . and a some other bulleted stuff.
Good Things:
- The Bundle came home for Thanksgiving (her quarter break).
- The Bundle has now gone home . . . heh, "home" . . . her place.
- The house is fairly clean and laundry is done. Good enough for now.
- The blogs that students created this semester are terrific. Most students wrote most of the time, and they wrote thoughtful and careful posts. I'm so proud. :-) NaBloPoMo helped keep everyone accountable.
- The fireplace works just fine . . . as long as I leave one window open. (It's not quite cold enough here for a fire.)
- The grading is done (almost) . . . just a few late arriving pieces.
- The social-networking tools I use frequently . . . what a great way to stay connected to people I enjoy and care about.
- The end of the semester in about two weeks. This one has been surreal.
- The RSA Summer Institute. I registered, and it should be just awesome. One seminar and one workshop are directly related to the work I am doing and the work I'm planning for the spring/summer.
- The iPod and "shuffle" music
- The dinner at my sister's . . . playing poker with the fam is always fun.
- The classes I'm slated to teach next spring excite me greatly: Intermediate Composition (rhetoric and documentary film), Sophomore Seminar (Writing through Photography), and Advanced Composition (multi-genre writing) -- those RSA seminar/workshop will be useful for future studies.
Random Bullets of Crap:
- Using the Geo-phyzz bath bomb from Lush Products is mighty fine. Relaxing. It makes for an expensive bath, but worth it.
- Stressing just slightly that I have only heard from a handful of places from this current job search. The wait is expected, but still difficult.
- Checking the rhet/comp wiki too often.
- Feeling sad for the young widow who lived behind me (she moved out today). Her husband passed away a few days ago (he was 36). She now has no job (he was the family provider) and three young children. So sad. She's gone home to live with her parents.
- Feeling a bit disappointed in some folks I know quite well who said nothing (not a word) about my own illness this semester or my sister's death. But then, they did the same thing when my mother died a few years ago. Par? Maybe. Disappointing, nonetheless.
- Learning that Patti Smith was awarded an honorary doctorate from Rowan University this past May. Good for her and good for Rowan! A bit of a site note: Rowan sent me a very, very nicely worded rejection letter.
The Dissertation
- Wondering why it's not done yet . . . it's not like I have anything else to do (besides, you know, teach 9 million students and read 19 gazillion essays). Truly. The date they gave me to make the corrections the rogue committee member demanded is 12/3 (Wednesday).
- Wondering if I am close to being done? Not on your life. The more I change, the more that needs changing.
- Wondering when "enough" is "enough"?
- Wondering "what if" they (or this one person) still has issues with something that's taken me two years to write?
Other stuff:
- Headache. 'nuff said ... I've had this headache for weeks (months), and it won't go away. Sometimes it's mild; sometimes it's not (like now). Nothing seems to help.
- As much as I like working with student-athletes, realizing that having 80-90 percent in one class (or in two classes, actually) makes it almost impossible to keep on a schedule . . . some group of them is always gone. The lack of a consistent schedule has been hard on everyone . . . but guess who's course evaluations will suffer?
- Patti Smith appears frequently on my iPod shuffle. I'm not complaining, mind you, just noticing. (I really love the B&W image on her site.)
I suppose I should end on a positive note:
The semester is almost over, the diss will be finished before too long, MLA (and San Francisco) is coming up, I have some really great students this term, I'll be teaching classes that I'm excited about next term, my daughter is healthy, and there is money in the bank. Life is good.