Just so you know.

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I have this genius plan, whereby I get up super early every morning this semester, do the requisite teeth-brushing and contact-lens-in-putting, and then plop myself down in front of the computer for at least one hour, and conceivably two, of working on my own writing—and nothing else—between the hours of 6 and 8.  This is to be followed, many days, by running or some other exercise form, and then by getting ready and toddling off to the office.

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The thing is, it’s not that I don’t want to go back to teaching.  I’m fairly well prepared for my classes, and I think they’re going to be a lot of fun this semester.

It’s that I don’t want to go back to my administrative life.  And so I’m resisting the start of those tasks, which are already piling up.  The byproduct is that I’m also resisting a number of research-related tasks (writing a CFP; putting together the paperwork on a conference panel; writing an abstract) that feel too administrative to me.

There’s something in my head that is pretending, with utter conviction, that by god it is June, and I don’t have to do any of that if I don’t wanna.

Here’s hoping that admitting my state of denial is the first step toward actually getting some of this nonsense done.

Remember the buying spree I had the luxury to go on this summer?  A quick recap: under the auspices of a collection of small grants, I got to purchase some new equipment and some software that I’d been meaning to pick up for a while.  All has arrived, all is installed, all is in beautiful working order.

Among the software packages I purchased was a copy of Macromedia Studio MX 2004.  I had been running a, um, borrowed copy of Studio MX for eons, and knew I needed to make an honest woman of myself, so I happily purchased the full (though academic) version, rather than an upgrade.  I installed Studio MX 2004 on July 5.

I’m a little behind on the news, apparently, but the day I left for Hawaii, Macromedia announced the imminent release of Studio 8, with what appear to be some fairly significant changes (not least, the dumping of Freehand, balanced by the inclusion of Contribute).  And they’ve simplified their pricing structure, particularly with regard to upgrades:  no matter which version you’re upgrading from, you pay the same price.  And they’ve included a free-upgrade policy for folks who’ve bought Studio MX 2004 recently.

Recently.  Meaning since July 8.

Grrrr.

So I’ve still got Six Feet Under on the brain.  Spoilers, below the fold.

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Djever find yourself wondering exactly how the penny got into your garbage disposal?

Tribble’s still got me thinking, folks.  Not about the propriety (or lack thereof) of academic blogging, but about the anonymous Chronicle rant.

Witness yesterday’s Chronicle Careers piece:  a pseudonymous “newly tenured associate professor at a large Midwestern research university” writes of the perils of the listserv, and the ways that his colleagues, past and present, fail at moments to grasp their technological workings.  A closer look below the fold.

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As in, pandering for my own anxieties, yes, apparently, I was.  I’ll post about the anxieties that produced such pandering in the morning.  In the meantime, thanks for letting me know you’re still out there.  And thanks, in other comments, for the good wishes.  It was a good birthday, all the way around.

Today began utterly unceremoniously, with a trip to the eye doctor.  Things were not looking good when I arrived; the waiting room was completely full, and about fifteen minutes into my wait my eye doctor herself appeared and began calling patients back into her exam rooms.  Perhaps because she was so overloaded today, however, she decided not to do the full dilation and refraction, despite the fact that I hadn’t been to see her in a couple of years.  Actually, she did a couple of other tests before determining that it wasn’t necessary, so I don’t feel like I’ve been blown off or anything.  And I don’t have to spend the day squinting.  And the copayment was a mere $15.

And I have nothing on my calendar between now and 3.45 this afternoon, so I plan to take my birthday officially OFF. 

And what’s on my calendar at 3.45 is a massage, courtesy of R.

And tonight a couple of my pals are coming over and cooking dinner in my fabulous kitchen.

If you’ve got to be 38, there are worse ways of going about it.

So I’m wondering:  have I completely alienated what little audience I ever had, such that no one’s reading this thing except for the bots and the crawlers, or have I somehow cowed everyone (except for a few hardy souls who know me personally) into silence?  If you’re out there, speak up; inquiring minds want to know.