is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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I Must Do What's Right.
You would not believe how much work I have gotten done in the last week since I got back to Pennsy. Well, maybe you would. Correction, I cannot believe how much work I�ve gotten done. I finished a 45-page paper on Levinas and Liberal Democracy (for an upcoming book of collected essays). I wrote a 10-page response to Elaine Scarry�s plenary paper for the American Political Science Association conference this weekend. Today I wrote a 15-page paper on Levinas and Sartre (it is far from the perfect product I would have it be, but, even though I don�t have to present it at a conference until October 27, the organizers wanted the full paper NOW? Whatev. So here it is! It will be Even Better in October, when it should be.). Tomorrow I will decide which eight pages of my 40 page paper for the APSA conference I will present at the panel. That will involve lots of painstaking cutting and pasting of different sections to try to make sense of a huge argument in fifteen minutes. This last week I also began deciding which pages of which books we will read in which order for my upcoming fall class. I also got an email that if I want to be considered for publication for another volume I have to have my paper handed in by September 1. What? That�s the thing I supposedly did not have to finish until September 15. And, let�s be honest. I might not make this September 1 deadline. There is only so much I can do!
Keep in mind that WRITING IS TORTUROUS. Also, in order to do all this writing I have to read lots of things and quote lots of things and, oh, I'm sleeping now.
Too much typing. My wrists and arms hurt. It makes me wish I had my trusty blind cat typist back. Have you never had a blind cat typist? (That one�s for Caroleen.)
On Thursday I attend panels all day at APSA. Friday I have to give papers at 10:15am (my paper) and 4:15pm (commentary on the Foundations of Political Theory Plenary). Then it�s Miller time. Except that I hope I�ll be sipping something better than Miller. The conference also happens on Saturday and Sunday, and my, that is a lot of days in a row.
It's one of those HUGE conferences, that fills up five large hotels and takes place in a convention center. I don't like those conferences so much. But maybe no one does.
Oh. You know what I haven�t done since I got home? UNPACK! My clothes are everywhere. Except in the chests of drawers where they should be.
The good news? My car is not actually broken. The mechanic guys just had to hit the mechanism around a few times and oil it, because it was rusty and got stuck. The shop owner called me and said all I owed him was a pizza from Bertucci�s. I thought that was a metaphor for how cheap my repair was. Turns out, he didn�t charge me any money. He just wants me to order them a pizza from Bertucci�s tomorrow. And so I will.
Also, I won my new/old couch cover on eBay for $20! Plus $15 shipping. So now maybe someday I can also have a new comforter for my bed. And maybe even an extra blanket in case I have a guest. It�s a good thing Hans Blix is so cute, and companionable, because otherwise I might want to toss him in the garbage can along with all my ruined textiles.
No, of course I would never do that, even if he were not cute, nor companionable. He is a living creature for whom I have accepted responsibility, and I know I must do what�s right, sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus* above the Serengeti.
About one thing we can be clear. Hans Blix has gained weight. I think I�m going to have to put him on a diet, which means maybe he�ll start trying to kill me again. Luckily when he tries to kill me, it's with teeth, not urine. (How often in a girl's life will she get to say (or commit to writing) that sentence, and mean it?) Right now his frame is tending toward the Fluffylicious, iykwim.
Speaking of large, I have a whole collection of photographs of LARGE INSECTS stored up in my digital camera, for a future entry called Large Insects With Which I Have Had To Deal Since Returning To Pennysylvania.
*There is disagreement about whether Kilimanjaro, in its rising, is like Olympus, or a leopress, or an empress. I don�t care. But if you do, and you have conclusive proof that you have the right answer, do feel free to tell me.
11:30 p.m. - August 28, 2006
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