Extra hard, you might say, with a work companion like this guy. I swear he gets cuter all the time. The good news? All those hours spent staring at my screen yesterday are turning into a bit more productivity today. And that’s despite having an absolutely lovely handspun sock to work on:
This might be the prettiest sock I’ve ever knit. It makes me want to spin sock yarn. Which I’ll do. After I’m done with this prospectus. Back to it!
…well, not like this dog:
To be fair, before he fell asleep on me like that, he did spend some time doing this:
While I did this:
This summer session of TAing is keeping me very busy, but I should be back to regular blogging after it concludes next week. I have been trying to dip my feet in the lake each evening after a full day on campus — and last night I may have woven in the ends of my stripey shawl. I attempted what I’ll call “half-assed blocking” — I soaked it, and then instead of clearing off a table, finding my blocking squares, and pinning it out, I just tried to stretch it a bit and then draped it over the towel bar on the shower door. More on that when it’s dry!
(Oh my goodness, I just hit return and then started to sign this post as if it was an email. Sigh.)
The word “unpacking” gets used frequently in academic conversations: we “unpack” complex concepts, fraught words, and ideas or moments with contested meanings. I’m done with that kind of unpacking, at least for a little while. (Hooray!) Which means it is time to pack.
I considered only showing you this picture. Look — a laundry bag full of delicious, neutral shades of Cascade 220! This picture suggests a calm, orderly apartment (and packing process), everything under control. Here’s what the rest of the room looks like:
Yup. It is hard to pack up a small apartment. Boh is handling the disruption with dignity. I’m hoping to take a few carloads over tomorrow so that I’ll have enough space to pack up the rest of my stuff as the week progresses. Keys — and pictures (and knitting, I promise) — soon!
Last night I found myself making Boh’s face wrinkle (like this) and asking him, “Boh, what do you think about modernity?” For his sake, I’m glad my exams are over, and that I passed!
Here’s how we both feel about that: happy, relieved, and exhausted. More soon!
I may have attended a screening of Anchorman yesterday afternoon.
In all seriousness, though, Ron Burgundy’s words seem to have relevance beyond newsrooms and street-fights between rival news teams. Ethel Louise has an incredibly thoughtful post about yesterday’s response to the assassination of OBL. I know I don’t talk about my work very often here, but in a very broad sense, I am interested in narrative, in how we tell stories about what is happening/what has happened to us, in how we make (and remake) meaning. I, too, found yesterday’s celebrations disturbing.
I have a lot more to say about all of that — but I just don’t have the energy this week. I brought a bunch of boxes and bins up from the basement over the weekend to remind myself that I am almost there. I’m feeling tired and overwhelmed, and I just need to keep going. My orals are on Friday, and I just need to get there, and for my performance to be enough.
Or “three, already” in Lao. As in, three comprehensive exams written, and only the oral to go. Let’s celebrate with a Boh photo series, shall we?
More knitting soon.
My mom sent me an Easter care package: just what I needed. (Seriously. I would not be surviving without EmergenC, especially with all of the germs circulating on campus.)
Boh wants you all to know that he’s tired of reading and writing. We’re almost there, big dog, almost there.
This is how Boh subtly suggests he might like a belly rub: he lays on the ground near me with a leg up.
And here’s what he thinks (a) of all this rain and (b) of all this writing. I know, Boh. We are almost there.
Yesterday was windy, rainy, and grey. When it became clear that the wind was blowing at speeds that could easily overturn trash cans, I dashed outside and cut a mason jar’s worth of the daffodils which have just begun to bloom. These flowers helped me to get through most of the pile of grading I’ve been hiding from all week.
Boh is struggling to keep his eyes open this morning, which is pretty much how I feel. It has been a long semester, and I am so close to the other side of these exams. One more.
My last exam begins tomorrow, so today I’ll be doing my best to feel ready, by reading more, reviewing my notes, and organizing my thoughts. I’m also going to knit a few more rows on my stripe study shawl. Another row and a half and it will be time to begin the border. I should be able to finish the shawl before the oral part of my exams in a few weeks, and I think I’ll bring this with me as a tangible representation of all of the energy I’ve put into this process.
Onward.
You know what else (besides turning in exam #2) made Thursday a great day? It was a great mail day. Which reminds me of the excitement surrounding the mail — sent ahead, general delivery, to post offices in small towns we’d be riding through every ten days or so — on a cross-country bike trip I participated in nine (whoa!) years ago. The joke was that “mail” day was actually “male” day, a celebration of all things male. There was a long (tongue-in-cheek) list of the kinds of things that were acceptable on male days (I’m pretty sure trampolines were on the list). I hadn’t thought about that in years, but typing out “mail day” brought it back and made me laugh, almost a decade later.
Anyway, I had ordered — and then forgotten about — Heidi Swanson’s latest cookbook, Super Natural Every Day. I intend to cook out of this ALL SUMMER, and I have big dreams of modeling my lake house kitchen on much of what Heidi describes about her pantry, kitchen tools, and emphasis on a range of grains and better-for-me flours. I know I’m only moving across town, but I am trying to use up extras hiding in my kitchen cabinets before the end of May. This book is beautiful and incredibly practical. I want to eat everything in it.
This guy got his own “male” day of sorts yesterday. Instead of working last night, I cleaned out a kitchen cupboard, and found a bone I’d been saving (and then totally forgot about) for Boh. He watched it intently (pictured here), tossed it around a bit, and then ran away from it/came back to it several times before settling down to eat it. Male day, indeed.
I really need to get back into reading (and grading) mode this week in order to feel ready for my third exam, which starts a week from Monday. Here’s hoping for a productive day!
barefoot rooster 