is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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No So Dumb. With Books, That Is.
No So Dumb. With Books, That Is.
I'm less dumb when it comes to the book larnin'. I've been putting off rereading the paper I'm presenting on Saturday, dreading the ways in which I might loathe it. But I just read it and it's pretty good. I mean, I already know some of the things that people are going to say either because they disagree with me or because they would have done things differently. And then there are the things they'll say that I can't possibility predict because I'm in my brain and they are in theirs. But I don't loathe this paper. I am not so dumb!
However, can you believe this? Today I went to Target to get four things: a screwdriver, some pepsi, some breakfast cereal, and my developed film from the trip. I went to Target. Then I went to Michael's Art Supplies. Then I went back to Target because while at Michael's I realized how to solve The Problem Of The Huge African Art. And then I went home.
And when I got home, what did I realize? I STILL HAVE NOT BOUGHT A SCREWDRIVER! Ha! This time it's actually funny. What is wrong with me?
Well, this is part of what is wrong with me: I am experiencing that exhaustion that comes from continually being surrounded by unfamiliar things. I've got a new job, a new house, and none of my friends around, and I only have about 1/4 of my possessions with me, and I've got to put out a bunch of work and teach a class and go to meetings with people I don't know, etc. It is TAXING. Even though I am surrounded by nice and interesting people. Still, when you're new somewhere, there is no such thing as a casual comfortable conversation with someone who shares jokes with you or who you know already knows your quirks and faults and likes you anyway. At least I'm not on a tenure track, and I don't have to feel like I'm under a microscope for years to come.
Plus my allergies are really bad here. I'm going to make an appointment to see a doctor and get back on the lovely lovely Zyrtec now that I have prescription coverage again, because Claritin sucks. I think it is contributing to the upsurge in the activity of the absent-minded professor part of my personality.
Today I did machine-laundry for the first time since leaving San Francisco (since I handwash 80% of my clothing anyway). The basement is SPIDERTASTIC beyond all previous projections of possible spidertasticity. Eeeeuw. Gross. Shudder! It's like a midwestern kid's idea of setting up a haunted house in the basement, but the webs are real. Just having emerged from the basement, I feel like my new name is Webasaurus Rex. I can't believe I have to go back down there to put the clothes in the dryer and then again to carry them back up.
But things aren't all bad. For instance:
The wasps are gone. A maintenance guy magically got rid of them while I was teaching today.
Plus, Max and John, the two Levinas scholars most likely to drink bourbon with me, are in town and we are going to caravan to the conference in a Smokey and the Bandit style convoy.
In addition, I'm typing this with my new wireless keyboard. It is as if words are magically leaping from the keyboard in my lap into the laptop computer on the desk halfway across the room! (This could also be part of the haunted house. An invisible person is typing these words!)
And, I've solved The Problem Of The Huge African Art. As you know, I've taken down all the art that was hung by the person from whom I'm subletting, and have replaced it with my own. Her taste and mine are not the same, though her art is certainly far from loathsome. She asked me not to take down one piece of Huge African Art because it weighs a lot and apparently she went to some trouble to have it hung securely, etc. (That's right. It's well hung.) Fair enough. And it is not a bad piece of art. It's just that it's huge and I've already spent all the time I need to spend looking at it. So it must be disguised. I am going to cover it with reflective silver paper and then hang sheer curtains over it so it will appear as if it were a window. Problem solved courtesy of Michael's and Target for approximately $25. (The Platonic Idea of it works. We'll see how the imperfect human attempt pans out. Perhaps you'll get some before and after shots.) Speaking of photos�.
Look at how pretty it is where I work and live. Here is Clark House, where my department is housed.
And here is Grosvenor House, where my office is.
And here is the front, back, and backyard barn of the farmhouse where I live. Scenic! And there are graves from the 1790s in the backyard. It occurred to me the other night, as I was laying in bed freaked out by insects, that it is strange that I am freaked out by insects and not by graves in the backyard. But let's be thankful for small favors on that one, OK?
I've got the trip photos all scanned, but can't upload them until next week, because I've got to go to Albany, NY for a conference now. That's right, I am a world traveller.
2:05 p.m. - September 15, 2004
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