Tread Water

November 2, 2009

The cruel time of the semester arrived, as usual. Long-time readers have come to expect these longer-than-usual gaps between posts in late October and all of November, just as happens in April. Non-students probably don't think of April and November as particularly cruel, but those of us either producing or processing stacks of exams, papers, reports, and homework assignments know that the lolly-gagging of September always gives way to the dogged run after Columbus Day.

It's not just that I don't have time for a post (though that's absolutely true), but I don't have the brain for it either. I can't seem to notice pithy details or remember witty conversational exchanges. I did listen to an interview about the founders and president of Google on the radio driving home from a lanyard workshop in Spring yesterday, which I thought at the time was interesting and memorable. Maybe it was, but I have nothing to report.

I have permission from Davis to write an update to the Davhee Repore about Ripstick Love, but not only have I thought of nothing beyond the title, I fell asleep on the couch at 8:00 last night and forgot to return his phone call where we might have discussed some ideas. Ack!

I can report that I am six stickers short of being about to provide the women at Phoebe's home eight brand new skillets, thanks to everyone's contribution of Albertson's bonus stickers. And that we have almost two full months left to continue collecting. Keep collecting.

I can also report the arrival of a box of beads destined for re-purposing from Indiana! and continuing interest in beading popping up in various locales. Keep collecting.

Beyond this, I am merely treading water. I am hoping that my former skill of focusing and pushing through the piles in a systematic and orderly way returns soon, because treading water doesn't get the papers graded, the floor swept, or the blog written. For your own good, if I owe you a response to an e-mail, maybe you should send me a reminder. Otherwise, if you haven't heard from me, you can assume it was lost in the shuffle of that cruel time of the semester.

ADDENDUM: I did get to celebrate that I finished I, Claudius finally. Shortly after, I learned that there was a sequel, Claudius, the God. That discovery just reminded how much crueler November could become if I made a bad selection for our next Mother-Daughter reading Club Selection.

Thank goodness for seasonal chocolate or all might be lost.