December 31, 2007

Somewhere in the World, It's Midnight

And so I'm going to bed. Call me old, call me jet lagged, call me a party pooper and a wet blanket. Call me whatever you like. Just don't call me again before 10am.

Happy New Year, everybody.

Posted by sally at 10:36 PM | Comments (2)

A Note to Those Planning Trans-Atlantic Air Travel

As you prepare for your trip, take a moment to consider the needs of your fellow passengers and shower before you get on the small steel tube you will be sharing with them for the next nine plus hours. Contrary to what you may be thinking, Eau de Natural is not appealing. Especially when it appears to be several days' worth of "natural". The woman in the seat behind you and your aromatic companion is not enticed by your odors, either individually or as a team. Your personal musk does not make me wish to fuck you, rather, it makes me wish to fuck you over, much as you have done to me this flight. I'm thinking maybe by tying a towel dipped in skunk over your nose and mouth. In order to share with you the same sort of experience to which you have treated me.
(Excerpt from my personal journal dated 12/30/2007.)

December 30, by the way, thanks to the miracles of modern air travel, lasted a full 25 hours for me. And that was just the part I was awake for. I slept through the first seven hours. Then again, December 20 was only 16 hours long. Of which I slept roughly 40 minutes. I love jumping halfway around the world or almost that much. And this time it only took me three days to adjust to GMT, unlike the two weeks it took me when I moved there for a semester in 1988.

I should point out that I was feeling a bit guilty about judging people based on my snooty American standards of hygiene until I heard the two guys in the row ahead of us talking. At which point I realized that they were American too. I can judge them all I like. And really, when you're going to be in an enclosed space for that kind of time, it's just not right to smell that bad. I kept cringing every time the guy ahead of me moved, because it would send more horrific B.O. my way. Even though I had my little air vent blower thingy going full blast the whole time. It was really awful. If he'd reclined his seat, I might have had to barf on him.

To change the subject (sort of) and as a little tease while I go do things like pick up the mail and buy food, here's a couple of shots of what we walked by every day of our trip. The second one is a bit out of focus because, as I explained to Dave, I am not a biathlete and so am not capable of stopping my heartbeat in order to hold the camera perfectly still to take a longer exposure. And there wasn't any place to rest it on that side of the embankment.

Posted by sally at 11:14 AM

December 30, 2007

I Have Been Awake for 24 Hours

I woke up at 7am GMT. It is now 11pm PST. There is, for those of you playing at home, an eight hour time difference. Subtract eight from the GMT time to get the corresponding hour for the Pacific Time Zone.

In the between times, twixt awakening and now, I rode a London cab, a train and two airplanes, picked up my checked luggage twice, went through two security checks (because apparently the one they do at Gatwick isn't enough) and immigration once. Then I rode in a car through blowing snow over broken snow floor for a couple of hours. (That part was especially fun.)

Oh yes, and I watched Casablanca.

But now I'm completely unpacked, the plants are watered and the cats are fed, their litter has been changed--thanks, Dave--and they are relaxing into having us home again. (There was some yelling at first, once they'd welcomed us back and then felt comfortable telling us how they really felt about the whole abandoning them for ten days thing. Even now they're all still fairly chatty.)

And just exactly why was I at Gatwick? And travelling by so many different types of transport? For those of you who didn't know, Dave and I left for London, England on December 20. It was a ten day celebration of our 40th birthdays and tenth wedding anniversary. We got back home about 90 minutes ago. It was a fantastic trip. I'll tell you about it (and share pictures) over the next several days. In the meantime, however, I need to get to bed.

Posted by sally at 11:00 PM

December 19, 2007

On Holiday

I'm taking a brief planned hiatus from the blog. As opposed to the many,many unplanned breaks I've taken this year. I thought it might be nice to have some time where I didn't actually have to do anything. I've been responsible to so many people for the past year that I decided to focus for a bit on being responsible to no one but myself and Dave (and the cats, of course).

So for the next two weeks, I am going to do my very, very best to be media- (ie. Internet) free. I may check my email once in a while, but I'm going to try to stay away from the laptop. It's not because I don't love you. It's because I need to love myself better. I need some time to recharge and remember who I am.

In the meantime, for those of you who celebrate it,

MERRY

CHRISTMAS!

I'll see you in the New Year, folks.

Posted by sally at 03:50 PM

Festivity

Katala went to the vet for subcutaneous fluids today. She was in her crate when they brought her back out to me, so I didn't get a good look at her until we got home and she scurried out of it and into the kitchen. Which is when I laughed out loud. Because someone had adorned her.

As Dave pointed out, she looks quite jaunty, though not overly amused about being photographed.

Can you believe this cat is three months shy of 17?

Posted by sally at 03:42 PM

December 16, 2007

I'm Not Making Any Promises...

... but I think I'll be finishing up the grading today.

At least I saved the best for last. I'm grading student artwork. So far, the stuff I've seen has been passionate, interesting and beautiful. Even the one student who doesn't like to present things that aren't perfect and so always turns in art that is highly polished but all surface took a risk. I don't know whether he realizes it, but several things in his piece suggest that his rigid control is slipping. Textures, shapes and the stuff that he usually keeps tightly under wraps is all starting to poke through. If he comes back to our class next semester, I think he'll have an amazing breakthrough. He's right on the edge of it now.

Speaking of breakthroughs, one of our toughest nuts, a student who adheres to the strictly intellectual whenever possible, turned in a drawing in oil pastels that was so personal and passionate and alive that it made me cry. Had you asked me at midterm whether she would be capable of it, I would have said no. I didn't think she'd let her guard down enough to dive into the deep emotional places. Something changed right after the midterm, though, and she's been taking more and more risks in her work. This final piece is absolutely gorgeous. I'm tearing up again just thinking about the power of it. I can hardly wait to show it to my teaching partner. I only wish that student was coming back to our class for the spring. She's not. Scheduling conflicts within her major won't allow for it, which is a pity. I hope she can keep exploring on her own.

I spent the morning sleeping in and doing some artsy stuff. Nothing exciting, just going through Christmas catalogues for images to stick in my files and going through my files for images to stick on a book cover. I think I found some useful stuff. Not exactly what I wanted, but I'll deal. Maybe I'll have a creative breakthrough myself as a result of the restrictions. That happens sometimes.

Yesterday I finished grading exams and then cleaned my office. It was so nice to have it back to the tidy cozy space it began as, rather than the crazy, messy cave it had become over the past few months. Last night I bought some office supplies so I can update my filing and organize things a bit more. It's really annoying to me that Office Despot has such limited assortments of things like bookends. They're so much more convenient to get to than Staples (where I almost always end up anyway, I should just go there first), and now I have to make a second trip.

I also need to go to a building supply store. My office is so hot most of the time that the front 1/3 of the formica has peeled off the top of my desk. I need to bond it back down. I figure that will be one of the last things I do before leaving it for several days, so that it can outgas and cure while I'm not there. That will be Monday's project, I think.

Right. Time to shove the cat off my sweatshirt, put on my boots, gird my loins and head off to campus to finish the grading. I'm actually looking forward to it. In all honesty, it's really a sweet deal. I'll put some Zelinka on the laptop, make myself a mug of tea, and pore over souls put to canvas and metal and paper.

Posted by sally at 11:06 AM

December 15, 2007

Out

I passed out on the couch last night.

There I was, horizontal, playing an innocent game of sudoku on my laptop, and it just sort of snuck up on me. In that, "Maybe I'll just close my eyes a lit... woah... need to stay... don't fall asl... don't... hhhnkkkhhnnkkhhnnkkkkzzzzzzz... zzz... zzz... zzz..." kind of way.

It was a power nap of the deepest and most intense kind. I woke up blearily at one point to discover a cat sleeping on my shoulder and one on my legs, the laptop still resting on my thighs. And then I went under again. I slept for somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes. Hard. Not surprising, given that I got up an hour earlier than usual so I could give a 7:30 final. (I know the university has to work very hard to cram them all into a week, but, Dude, the humanity. Who can take a test at 7:30am? That's 15 minutes before I get up.)

And not only did I tumble out of bed an hour earlier than usual, I was go-go-going all day. Yesterday was a day of final-giving and grading and other projects from 7:30-5:30. In other words, yesterday was LOOOOOOONG. It was a Very Long Day at the end of a VERY Long Week. So I was pretty wiped by the time I got home after dinner.

Anyway, however needed, it was an ill-timed snooze. I fell asleep sometime between 10 and 10:30. When I came to around 11:30 I did not feel refreshed and alert. I never do after naps. Which is why I don't take them. That, and I usually can't just decide to grab a quick sleep and expect to do anything other than lie there on the chosen piece of furniture and think about all of the things I could be doing instead of lying there.

Another reason I don't take naps is the contact lenses. I cannot sleep with them in. They suction themselves onto my eyeballs and it takes time and fluids to undo them. They were seriously attached last night. I had to do four rounds of wetting drops, wait five minutes, wetting drops, wait five minutes before I could skootch them off my eyes. Which means that due to the nappage and the annoyance of the contact lens removal process, I was WIDE AWAKE when I finally crawled into bed just before midnight.

But then I turned off my alarm, and once I got to sleep, I slept until 8:30 this morning, which was very nice indeed.

I have to go in to my office today and finish the grading. (This is my hope,anyway.) I've done the grading for all but one of my classes, so this is--kind of--the final stretch.

I'm almost done with the final exams. I think I have four left to grade. (I needed to meet David for dinner, so I just left those four undone, despite being so close to the end. I really hate leaving a project unfinished, so it was a bit of a wrench.) And then I just need to grade all of their art projects and response papers. Thirty-five of each, I think. I hope I can get them all finished today, because it would be really, really nice to not have the grading hanging over my head anymore. I've got other stuff I'd like to do. Like clean my office(s) and do the reading and build a syllabus for next spring. Oh. My. God. Does it ever end?

Posted by sally at 10:38 AM

December 12, 2007

For the Love of All That Is Holy

I am trying to get it all done, okay? Today is about taking care of all the stuff that hasn't been dealt with in the past few days yet must be this week.

And yet, the deadlines they are creeping up on me. I'm about to miss a big one. And there is nothing I can do about it. My schedule just won't allow for me meeting this thing. I forgot about it for a couple of days and by the time I remembered (last night around 8pm), there wasn't anything I could do.

I'm going to try to get as much of it dealt with as possible this morning, though, before yet another final. At least this one is all performance-based. As of 2:30pm yesterday, no one is allowed to give me any more stuff to grade. So the piles should start getting smaller at some point.

**UPDATED** 1:19pm

The deadline came and went. I sent a frantic note this morning and got a reply with a useful option. It took a little over an hour to do the stuff I needed to. And in the meantime, I watched a set of final performances and had a nice chat with a student who had some useful questions.

I should get the rest of the finishing touches put on my project and then maybe eat something other than crackers. My head hurts and I expect it's related to the whole not eating because I'm busy doing shit thing.

And then maybe, what the hell, I'll do some grading. Just for a change of pace.

Posted by sally at 08:47 AM | Comments (1)

December 11, 2007

The Train at the End of the Tunnel

One set of final projects (and tons of grading) out of the way. Another set about halfway finished. Two finals today, one I administer, one I just sit around and collect. A chunk of papers to grade. Final performances to watch. And one more final to give on Friday. (Though my teaching partner will grade that one.)

Somewhere in there I have to do life-related stuff like buy cat food, take in my dry cleaning and clean my office.

Whoosh. Maybe if I duck low enough, it'll pass right over the top of me...

**UPDATE** 11:58am

First final is out of the way. Assignments returned, grades disputed and somehow I now have twice as much to grade as I did at this time yesterday. I'm not sure how that works, but it seems wrong.

Anyway, back to it as I get assignments graded that I was supposed to have finished by 12:30. What with the chaos that was the exam period we just finished and the ridiculousness that was last night's "simple little bit of data entry" (that was my expectation, nobody else's), I don't think it's going to happen. Well, people can just sit and wait if they want their stuff back that badly.

**UPDATED UPDATE** 6:12pm

One set of final projects graded.

One set of final papers graded.

One set of insignificant yet necessary to grade papers discovered in a pile of things I thought I'd already graded. Rats.

One walk taken in the 20 degree weather to clear my head and get some lunch.

One VERY LARGE cinnamon roll consumed.

One tired Sally now performing penance for her earlier cinnamon roll by having pitas and hummus for dinner.

I may do some more grading. I may not.

I'll keep you posted.

Posted by sally at 09:15 AM

December 07, 2007

Just How Tired Am I?

Tired enough that I just spent a tense two minutes standing next to a dark blue Chevy Impala in a darkish school parking lot, pressing my remote more and more frantically and wondering why the doors weren't unlocking before I realized that I don't actually drive a dark blue Chevy Impala. I drive the dark blue Volvo three spaces down.

Posted by sally at 05:59 PM

In the Thick of It

So. Much. Grading. Though I am beginning to find a way out from the bottom of the pile. I can see little glimmers of light between the pages and the art pieces. Thank goodness I had the foresight to make all of the finals and final projects interesting. Certainly for me, hopefully for the students as well.

Never again (if I can help it) will I assign five page research papers to 70 freshmen at the end of their spring semester. That almost did me in last year. As did the 12 page midterms.

Never.

Again.

(If I can help it.)

Posted by sally at 05:30 PM

December 02, 2007

Snowstorming

I'm in my office at school, working on various things I haven't had time to get to in the last week. I'm also trying to get some of the spring semester planning out of the way now so I don't have to worry about it while I'm holidaying.

As I walked into the building around one, a few flakes were falling. Half an hour later, I looked out my window and saw an honest-to-god snowstorm. Lots of little flakes whirling about in the wind. So many of them that the pine trees on the top of the next hill are out of focus. Two hours later it's still going strong. The road that runs along the back of my building is completely covered now, where before I could see bare pavement. The snow shows no signs of letting up. Good. I hope it does this for a long, long time. Though I also hope my parents missed it on their drive home. (They were up here to see Midsummer.)

Anyhow, it's kind of nice to be sitting here in my garret-y office, grading papers and designing final exams, munching on berry scones from the Co-op and drinking a nice, smoky tea, and listening to Zelenka's Sonata #5 in F Major while winter rages on the other side of the glass. Though I'm not much looking forward to going out into it when I finish up in a couple of hours.

Mom & Dad's visit was lovely, the gallery is fantastic--Oh. that's right. I haven't mentioned the gallery here. I keep meaning to post about the gallery of student work we opened on Thursday, but I've been too busy getting ready for the opening and then catching up afterward. My stress level is stilll pretty high, but I'm trying to get stuff dealt with so I can both calm down and have a really relaxing break. One more week of classes and then finals. Dude, it's been an insane semester. There is at least one week I don't even remember living through, I was that tired.

Whee! The power just went out. And then back on. That's what I call fun. Bet somebody hit a power pole. But. This means I need to get back to work in case something like that happens again. I need to have something accomplished today. I've already set the final and created the key and study guide for the one class for which there will be a traditional final. But now I need to continue grading. And then maybe I'll start working on some thoughts I have for next semester. Whoosh! So much to do.

Aaaaand the power went out again. Which means lights, printer and internet. Because it gets dark so early here, staying in my office was becoming less and less of an option by the minute. So I started cleaning things up. I decided to work on one more thing while I was here, so I wouldn't have to do it later, and as I was finishing up, Pooof! the power came back on. (And the storm has let up, which I personally find very sad.)

I'm not ready to leave yet. I'm getting a lot accomplished. So now it's back to the grindstone.

But first, I think I'll make myself another cup of tea. You know, while I can heat the water.

Posted by sally at 04:12 PM

Sallyacious

I am an artist. I am here to live out loud. -- Emile Zola