it’s the end of the semester. i have to do. make. awash at sea never felt such focused seeing.
to-do list
addalogs 4-7
Finishing up my quest for time during the week. The latter half of the week was unusual due to my birthday, a broken car, and a trip to Buffalo.
Thursday
6:00-8:30 feed cat, make/eat breakfast and coffee, grading, email, get ready for the day
8:30-10:00 walk to school, meet with Derek and Joe
10:00-10:30 make copies, work on unit two plans
10:30-11:00 gather/organize stuff, walk to library
11:00-1:00 tutor in the APC
1:00-1:30 walk back to office, eat lunch
1:30-2:00 prepare for lab
2:00-3:30 lead lab guided study, gather stuff for home
3:30-5:30 eat snack, call/text/send messages thanking people for birthday cards/wishes/gifts
5:30-6:30 back and forth calls with mom about dinner plans, find out dad’s car broke down getting me a pastry, revise evening plans
6:30-7:30 drive home to be with family for birthday dinner
7:30-8:00 email, online shopping
8:00-8:30 pick up dad from dealership
8:30-10:00 birthday dinner and presents with family
10:00-11:00 dad prepares car for trip to Buffalo
11:00-11:30 drive back
11:30-12:30 begin packing, get cat care stuff ready for my parents
12:30-6:00 sleep
Friday
6:00-9:30 feed cat, make coffee/breakfast, grade, pack, get ready
9:30-10:00 walk to library
10:00-11:00 UWC meeting
11:00-11:30 walk back, give mom cat care directions
11:30-12:00 eat lunch, finish packing
12:00-1:00 grade, enter grades
1:00-8:00 drive to Buffalo
8:00-12:00 order pizza, hang out, watch movies
12:00-9:00 sleep
Saturday
9:00-10:30 lazing about, getting ready for the day
10:30-5:00 trip to the Cider Mill and neighboring graveyard for fall delights and pumpkin purchasing, exploration of Allentown by foot (book store and antique shops), lunch, venturing to downtown Buffalo a la pie
5:00-6:30 attempted to watch a story from “fright classic” DVD, checked email
6:30-8:30 walk/wait for dinner
8:30-9:00 walk back
9:00-12:00 watch horror movies
12:00-8:00 sleep
Sunday
8:00-11:00 get ready, pack, search/walk for breakfast places in the area, general lazing
11:00-12:00 causal breakfast
12:00-12:30 walk back
12:30-1:00 prepare the car for travel
1:00-7:30 drive back to Michigan
7:30-9:00 unpack, put away laundry and groceries, prepare living space for the upcoming week
9:00-12:00 grading, lesson planning, homework, catching up on email, development of conference presentations for WIDE-EMU
12:00-5:00 sleep
Despite moments of near insanity in which I counted minutes in between obligations/doings that I could have filled with work, I found myself searching for “free” time during which my attention could be divided. The biggest waste of time is certainly during periods of transit; these times are almost torturous as you have the time/space/silence to think, but not the ability to record this work. Something I think I may want to try is more structured note taking on the go or in between to prevent idea evaporation. Another take-away, more blogging. It leaves a trace of work, can be short, can give the illusion of accountability. I think daily blogging may be an integral piece of working through my MA project (and developing myself as an active scholar).
addalog 3
WEDNESDAY
5:00-5:30 feed cat, make coffee, eat breakfast
5:30-6:00 finish up today’s lessons/materials
6:00-6:30 shower/get ready
6:30-7:00 get ready
7:00-7:30 walk to school
7:30-8:00 meet with student
8:00-8:30 teach
8:30-9:00 teach
9:00-9:30 teach, return to office
9:30-10:00 meet with student
10:00-10:30 try to organize messy desk, talk with Joe about conference presentation
10:30-11:00 walk to writing center, look through free maps for interesting texts, eat snack
11:00-11:30 tutoring
11:30-12:00 tutoring
12:00-12:30 tutoring
12:30-1:00 tutoring
1:00-1:30 walk to office, look for readings
1:30-2:00 look for readings
2:00-2:30 scan readings
2:30-3:00 add to gradebook, organize collected materials and attendance to work on spreadsheet
3:00-3:30 lesson plan/talk with Becky for class
3:30-4:00 teaching with Becky
4:00-4:30 teaching
4:30-5:00 teaching, walk back to office talking about planning
5:00-5:30 update courseshell announcement, email class with work for Monday, upload documents
5:30-6:00 eat dinner, read for class
6:00-6:30 read for class
6:30-7:00 class
7:00-7:30 class
7:30-8:00 class
8:00-8:30 class
8:30-9:00 class
9:00-9:30 class, walk home talking to dad, discover fourth light bulb of the past two weeks is out
9:30-10:00 look for light bulbs, listen to music
10:00-10:30 email, try to figure out bill issue, text family members back for birthday wishes
10:30-11:00 play with cat, tidy up apartment
11:00-11:30 blog addalogs
11:30-12:00 blog for conference presentation 1
12:00-12:30 blog for conference presentation 2
12:30-6:00 sleeping
addalog 2
TUESDAY
6:00-6:30 feed cat, make coffee and breakfast
6:30-7:00 washed dishes
7:00-7:30 online bills, budgeting, and email
7:30-8:00 read for class
8:00-8:30 read for class
8:30-9:00 showered/got ready
9:00-9:30 got ready to leave house
9:30-10:00 walk to school
10:00-10:30 tutoring at the writing center
10:30-11:00 tutoring
11:00-11:30 tutoring
11:30-12:00 tutoring
12:00-12:30 tutoring
12:30-1:00 tutoring
1:00-1:30 walk back to office, eat lunch
1:30-2:00 looked for imagetexts for mean making lesson
2:00-2:30 teaching guided lab
2:30-3:00 teaching guided lab
3:00-3:30 teaching guided lab (until 3:15), class (3:30)
3:30-4:00 class
4:00-4:30 class
4:30-5:00 class
5:00-5:30 class
5:30-6:00 class
6:00-6:30 collect stuff, walk home, phone call
6:30-7:00 make dinner, hunt escaped cat
7:00-7:30 worked in Google Docs on conference presentation with Chelsea and Becky
7:30-8:00 worked in Google Docs
8:00-8:30 started a post in my blog for my phase two of WIDE-EMU
8:30-9:00 read about a concert I want to go to; spread the word to comrades to caravan to the event
9:00-9:30 discovered new music; fell into internet wormhole
9:30-10:00 tried to work on unit two calendar
10:00-10:30 tried to go to sleep
10:30-11:00 got up to get a book to read in bed (to try to go to sleep)
11:00-11:30 got up and started working on my lesson plan
11:30-12:00 lesson planning (finding imagetexts and building slidedeck)
12:00-12:30 lesson planning/making
12:30-5:00 sleeping
metaphors to move by-like a talking head
The last few days I have been feeling more like a hum than a person (whatever that means). So today I did things slowly. I went for a run and planted my feet on the asphalt slowly. I washed the dishes slowly. I walked the aisles of Meijer slowly. My goal was something sort of meditative, finding a kernal of zen within chaos, but I just ended up feeling like the way David Byrne carries himself (whatever that means).
I wanted to interact with the spaces and things that I use frequently with more than passing attention, or non-attention. I often say that I’m a ‘space cadet’ or ‘heady’ or ‘zoned out’, all of these denoting a state of being awash in thought without a particular anchor; so today I tried to use the space of my head as a sort of gallery or medical amphitheater – experience and interact with these (now) curated things taken for granted. All I really got was a good laugh. But, I will note, it did feel removed, like I was experiencing it in some sort of sensory exhibit (the next D). There’s probably a Radiolab on that.
life passes in lists
one: making lists of lists, both smaller and larger. consolidate, expand, and the subcompact to-do. rank according to priority, checks and bullets, red ink, highlights. summer slippage; july, I wasn’t done with june yet.
lists: a number of connected items, or scenes of combat/contest, or as a selvage of a piece of fabric, or as a want, and lastly as a lean (of a ship) to one side because of unbalanced cargo. definitions all befitting
two: I haven’t figured out better (not even best) note taking practices yet. This goes for getting myself organized and while I’m reading. I sat down today to write in my paperbound journal, and for the first time found myself questioning if it was a useful practice, as I increasingly find myself doing when I take notes on paper (this is probably exacerbated by the fact that I float from notebook to notebook with no rhyme or reason or trail of breadcrumbs).
three:
- I got a graduate assistantship, though not as a first year writing instructor
- I registered to take the GRE. The prep books arrived today, therefore it is (a) reality
- I miss being in classes
- After listlessly living at home for 23 months, I am making lists of apartments to rent near campus
four: bullet, vertical, horizontal, glossary, bibliography, discography, etymology, category, pros and cons
page tectonics 