Ah, the Weekend...

This has been a fairly relaxing weekend. Except for the heartbreaking emails I've had to send to students, the unnerving nightmares I never completely remember but still feel unnerved by, and the grading I ended up doing, though I told myself I wouldn't.

Tomorrow's a short day--one class, one advising hour, and however long I want to stay in my office doing the grading I've been trying to avoid this weekend.

Tuesday is a regular day, except that I'm taking off after work to head home for Thanksgiving. Hard to believe--it'll be here before I know it!

Today is Pierce's birthday. I'm still not sure what we're going to do to celebrate. I've cloistered myself in my room most of the day.

Except when I went to the park for two glorious hours. Were it not for the fact that my bladder was urging me to get back to the house, I could've stayed in the park all day reading Dos Passos.

Have I mentioned that I really love Dos Passos? I don't recall Manhattan Transfer at the moment, but I remember liking it a lot. Well, I should clarify: I think I remember it, but some of the literature from that time period (Modernist) is pretty similar. And I've read a bunch of it. Maybe I'll just Google the novel to see if it's the one I'm remembering.

I just love reading in the park. If only I had more time to do that...

Additionally, I worked on a cross-stitch project! I usually don't have time for crafts, but today I was able to. I have several cross-stitch projects in progress. Two for friends and one for my mom, and some others for my cousin. I'm hoping to get the ones for friends done by Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath. I thought I'd get them done for last Christmas, but obviously that didn't happen. And I wasn't even working that much back then. I'm not sure where my time goes, but it seems to really get away. I think it has something to do with having too many hobbies.

Still Waking Up...

And now it's Saturday. Not sure what I'm going to do today. Have a bunch of papers to grade, but I've been doing that all week! Want a little time off. I have plenty of things to do today, it's just a matter of deciding which to do, rather than wasting the whole day.

Yesterday was a big day. Taught class from 8-11:50, then had a meeting from 12-2. Then in my office from 2-4. At a little after 7, went back to the college to hear my cousin and some others in the music department play a recital from 7:30-9. Pierce played some of his own compositions, as well as some Classical (opera?) pieces and the very impressive "Winter Wind" etude by Chopin. I'm totally at a loss on Classical music, but I really enjoyed "Winter Wind." It's haunting and a little creepy in places. If I'm going to listen to Classical, that's how I like it. Haunting.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is coming up. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family. I have a lot of things planned for a very short handful of days, but maybe we can make it all work. I'll probably be so busy that I won't get rested up before I have to come back to work! But then, there will only be the last few days of classes left before we get another break--Christmas!

I can't get too excited about Christmas though, because I haven't started shopping yet. And I have a bad feeling that I won't have much time to shop during those last weeks of classes.

Anyway, I'll probably call some people today, play a little music and read my Dos Passos book. I'd like to do some embroidery, but I seem to never have the time. It is a very time-consuming hobby. But then, I guess I don't have to do much embroidery at once. We'll see about the grading.

P.S. Tomorrow is Pierce's birthday. I wonder what we will do to celebrate?

Where's the Red Bull When I Need It?

I love Wednesdays, but I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed with work. Not that bad yet, but I know I'll be getting more essays tomorrow. And probably even tonight. Been grading, grading, grading, and listening to Grateful Dead music courtesy of archive.org. One of my former professors introduced me to the site. I'm really glad he did because, though I don't get to listen to it very often, I've found some great concert music on it.

Well, I guess Thanksgiving is coming up--a week from tomorrow. Hard to believe. Tying back to my previous post (was that just yesterday?) about time, where did 2009 go?

Tuesday's Gone... with the Wind

Thank you to Lynyrd Skynyrd for that awesome lyric. And all apologies for ripping it off. I was rereading some of my old posts and some from my friend AG lately. They reminded me of the "old days." I put this in quotes because I'm being slightly facetious, but not too much, when you think of it. My college days have come and gone and sometimes I find it hard to believe that I'm out of high school. I think this is because when I was a little kid (and too much of a thinker), I used to think things like, "Wow. In the year 2000 I'll be 16 and have a car! In 2002 I'll graduate high school!" It seemed like the magic turn of the millineum was an event that was too far in the future the ever happen. Plus, when the 19's ended and the 20's began, well, we all just knew that was going to be the end of the world. Anybody remember stocking up on rice and beans and/or buying a generator to outwit, outplay, and outlast the dreaded Y2K?

But nothing happened. It was just life as usual. I guess what blows my mind is that the 2000s are almost over and the teens are going to begin. In the naughts, I have graduated high school, community college, university, and graduate school. Not only that, but I have also seen all my employment during those years. In a way, it seems so short. How did all that happen in a mere 9 years?

But then, you say, 9 years isn't anything to sneeze at. Nine years is 1/10th of 90 years. And 10% can go a long way. But seriously, what can I say about the '90s? A whole heck of a lot more. I started school, met all the milestones, and even became a teenager. The 1990s were a strange time. They somehow linked the 1980s with the 2000s. To me, that's a major feat.

What does all this have to do with the title of my post? I honestly haven't a clue. Maybe I'm just thinking about how it blows my mind that Spring 2010 is rapidly approaching. Maybe I'm having another quarter-life crisis. Could be related to being on the 30 end of my 20s now. Maybe it's because I teach some dual enrollment classes and I see high schoolers almost on a daily basis. Sometimes I forget that it's been years since I was there age. About 9 years, to be exact. And why is it that that pesky numbah noin, numbah noin, numbah noin, keeps popping up, anyway?

Like that reference just then. I wonder how many (if any) of my students would have a clue that I made a reference to the Beatles just now? If they even read this blog. Which I hope they don't. I sometimes forget that I'm supposed to be out of the loop. The only time I remember it is when I truly am. High school. It's been an eternity, but it just happened yesterday. And what really freaks me out is that these students were little kids when I was their age.

Anyway, I think the moral of this story, if one can be distilled, would probably be something like this: Tuesdays tend to wear me out. But this week, it's over. Maybe the tie to my childhood is my subconscious or my unconscious or whatever not-entirely-conscious-but-sorta part of my brain trying to tell me that high school is done. Over. Fin. And so is college.

But wait! While rereading the first part of this (whatever this is), it came to me. I miss the old days when AG and I had just begun blogging. I felt so full of inspiration and creativity back then. I also had dreams of being published. What happened to those dreams, anyway?

My Evening, in a Nutshell

I just made a cheese bread out of a refrigerated pizza dough. It wasn't the greatest, but it'll do. Chased it with a Ferrero Rocher and a Coke (they've already put Santy Claus on the cans) and I felt pretty good. Somehow I've been really tired lately. Think it might have something to do with the cold front and the overcast days.

Maybe I just haven't fully recovered from my birthday last Tuesday.

I wanted to go to the park, but by the time I'd eaten, it was getting dusky. Plus, I'm really too lazy to get out. It feels good just to lie down. Problem is, I have so many hobbies that once I'm done with work, I rarely have time to do them because I'm usually too tired!

Hmm, let's see... I played a bit of "Wish You Were Here" on my guitar. Heard a guy in a restaurant play it over the weekend, so I went home and practiced it. I'm not great by any means, but I can at least play it.

I would have played video games, but I only have one game. And I got through it in just over a week. Too cheap to buy another at the moment.

I do have a copy of The 42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos. It's so refreshing to be reading modernist literature again. Don't ask me why stories of industrialization and socialism in early 1900s America is so appealing to me.

Our book club is going to tackle one of my favorite books of all time: To Kill a Mockingbird. Even though I've already read it umpteen times, I'm looking forward to reading it again. But my heart yearns for Dos Passos. I'd like to read the entire USA trilogy, but we'll see how much time there is for that.

Right now a nap sounds like it might be in order. I'm sure I'll hate myself later for sleeping my evening away, but I'm just so tired.

Update

Hey y'all...

Can't stay long today--been super busy lately. Have to fill you all in on everything when I get a chance. Anywho, just wanted to give a heads-up that I enabled comment moderation, but only on posts older than two weeks. Hopefully this will cut down on/eliminate the spammy comments I've been getting on posts that are nearly four years old. If it doesn't, though, I'll turn on comment moderation for all of them. Wish we could just blog without fooling with all that nonsense. Have a good day, everyone!

Catching Up

You know, it just occurred to me that I haven't updated this blog since Bob Weir's birthday. Let's see... how to recap the past few weeks into one post?

In no particular order...

I bought Halloween candy for all my students. That cost a pretty penny. I then handed out candy to trick-or-treaters here in the 'hood. That was fun, though I'm not very good with kids.

Courtesy of a joint co-operation between some of my students and Urban Dictionary, I learned the gaming term "teabagging." 'Nuff said on that one.

I read four essays from students telling me that PS3 is better than Xbox 360.

And one that World of Warcraft is better than City of Heroes/City of Villains.

I made gnocchi for the first time. It wasn't the disaster I feared it would be.

Got observed for work. Same day, a student brought his guitar to class and played "Dust in the Wind." During the break, of course. That was pretty cool. Speaking of guitar, I've been practicing mine almost every night. Mainly Grateful Dead tunes, but I occasionally mix it up.

I bought my own video game system. Betcha can't guess what it was! I also bought a Blu-Ray of Woodstock stuff and a Grateful Dead scrapbook. Early birthday gifts to myself.

Having four (4) parties at school next week to celebrate my birthday. Two of the classes really got into it and seem really excited.

Finally watched In Cold Blood, Dead Poets Society, and the original Stepford Wives.

Anyway, my birthday is coming up on Tuesday. I'm sad to see 25 go--it was such a good year. Andre says that 26 will probably be even better. I hope she's right.