Last Tuesday I was talking to Wayne about what I'd done so far with my few days off and what I hoped to accomplish with those that remained. "I had to run some errands and take care of some stuff on campus today," I said, "and I've been trying to get through these batches of papers I collected last Friday, but I'm not done yet. I've got all this reading to do and I need to start working on my syllabi for next semester. And I really should do my taxes--if I don't do them this week, I don't know when I will. I was thinking I'd do some cooking, too, so I have some stuff in the freezer for later, but...."
"Good god, Holly!" Wayne finally erupted. "Do you ever think about the serious side of life? No, it's all fun and frivolity with you, all the time! ‘Grade some papers! Do my taxes!'" he mimicked, his voice becoming clipped and shrill. "I wish I could be so carefree! Holly, will you never acquire some sense of duty and obligation?"
It was a good point, but frankly I was too busy this week dealing with shit I had to do to devote much time to character-building exercises like acquiring a sense of duty. Maybe I can work on that this summer....
Anyway, today is the first day back in the salt mines after a nine-day long hiatus. The pathetic fallacy is working for me right now, in that there's a nasty gray sky spitting angry rain down on a sodden, sullen earth--ain't nothing glad about going back to work today. I really would love another few days off, but at least I accomplished a few of my primary goals. Here's what I got done:
*Graded all the papers in two classes, by Wednesday, so that I didn't have to think about grading once during the last half of spring break! Not only that, but I don't collect work in these classes for another week and a half, so that crap is off my plate for a good long while!
*Figured my federal taxes, including itemizing my deductions. I always sort of like doing my taxes, once I can bring myself to start the task. I'm definitely more of a word nerd than a number nerd, but I still kind of like adding things up. I'm getting a respectable refund this year, which always makes the math more fun.
*Whipped up a new tiered skirt in a print of red and orange paisley on a dark brown background.
*Took my car in for an oil change.
*Stocked my refrigerator and freezer with tasty, nutritious, vegetable-laden food.
*Made no-bake cookies.
*Read four of the books I'm teaching over the next six weeks: The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (I know she's all the rage but this just didn't work for me), Borrowed Finery by Paula Fox (I quite liked this one, a memoir by Courtney Love's grandmother, and she's written a sequel, entitled The Coldest Winter, that I really want to read as well), Waterland by Graham Swift (I absolutely loved this the first two times I read it in the early 90s, but this time I didn't like it so much), Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal (lively and fun and ideal for a class on women's literature).
*Discovered two new Ben & Jerry's flavors (I hope they're new, not "limited edition"--B&J has a nasty habit of retiring my favorite flavors): Neopolitan Dynamite, which is Cherry Garcia and Chocolate Fudge Brownie side by side; and Vermonty Python, which is coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. Yum!
*Hung out with real live friends in actual social situations.
*Devoted many hours of quality time to bonding with my new television significant other, Miss Veronica Mars. I love this show! There are ways in which I think it's even better than Buffy.
*Had a chiropractic adjustment, a massage and an acupuncture treatment.
What I didn't get done:
*Failed to answer all my email (my apologies to my correspondents).
*Didn't send any work out to journals, but I will do that this week.
*Didn't figure my state or local taxes, but I always wait until the federal stuff has been submitted before I work on that.
*Didn't transcribe my notes from season II of Buffy for the paper I'm working on.
*Didn't scrub down my refrigerator (except for the vegetable drawers, which couldn't be ignored), even though the whole thing has started to smell a bit funky.
*Didn't attend to a few minor tasks I might not attend to this week either.
*Didn't exercise every day (weather was too crappy).
*Didn't write the backlog of blog entries, on topics ranging from niceness to sex, I keep meaning to write.
All in all I'm still reasonably happy with what I got done. And there are only eight more weeks in the semester, so I am confident I can survive it comfortably, especially since I am smart and frontload the work every semester. I find both I and the students are much happier if things get easier rather than harder as the semester progresses.
"*Hung out with real live friends in actual social situations."
Um, excuse me, but is that permissible? I may have to report you to the blog-patrol... ;)
"*Whipped up a new tiered skirt in a print of red and orange paisley on a dark brown background."
Cooking and sewing - please don't tell my mother! I've told her writing doesn't allow room for any practical arts.
"my new television significant other"
Hehe, what a perfect way to put it!
"*Discovered two new Ben & Jerry's flavors"
Ah, Life IS Sweet.
Thanks for sharing your wild and crazy days with us! :P
Wow, your life is busy. I thought some day my life would be less busy, but no luck. So it's real important to have fun as you go along.
You mentioned a wide range of important things, and I'd like to write a long, rambling comment touching on each. Hey, wait...did you say that there are two new Ben and Jerry's flavors?!?!?
Um...I have something urgent that just came up.
Do you think that there's any significance to the fact that two of your favorite shows are set in California beach towns? Or do a disproportionate number of people in TV-Land live in sunny, sandy places?
John--it's not just that two of my favorite shows are set in California beach towns. They both feature sassy blonde high school students who save the world from evil while spouting fabulously witty one-liners.
At some point I will work on a comparison of the two shows. I almost wish I were still in grad school, so I could write my dissertation on them.
Hey, wait a minute.... I am sassy, blonde and high, living in a California beach town, spouting evil and saving the world from witty one-liners. Is that why you like me?
Saviour Onassis wrote Hey, wait a minute.... I am sassy, blonde and high, living in a California beach town, spouting evil and saving the world from witty one-liners. Is that why you like me?
You got it!