Wednesday, January 16, 2013

How to have a completely stress-free semester

Ha ha!! Just kidding! I have no idea how to do this. Do you?

Did you know that iCal (a mac thing) actually has a function in which it color-codes your calendar in year-view based on how much you've scheduled yourself to do? Yellow is "You've got some stuff to do," orange-y is, "Hey, this is a pretty busy day," and red is apparently, "Honey... are you gonna be okay?"

Here's what last spring semester looked like:


But, anyway... even if I don't know how to have a stress-free semester, I know what can make it better, and what makes it worse. In that spirit, I'm back to my once-a-month resolutions. January is, as always, "clear the decks." In that spirit, this week has been devoted to syllabus preparation, returning long-overdue library books, and getting the home and work offices cleaned and organized (the latter takes place twice a year), and the e-mail inbox cleared out.

Is it working? Am I more organized and prepared? Well, I think one good indication is the fact that I'm only posting my January resolution when the month is half-done.  Yeah. But every day is a new opportunity and all that.

But enough about me: How is your new semester going? Any intentions you've set up to help keep yourself from being in the weeds, come March and April?

Thursday, January 10, 2013

An Excellent Start

Now that's the way to start the year!  Here are excerpts from an e-mail in my inbox this morning, regarding a grant I was awarded in 2011:

I am happy to be able to report to you that the grant you were awarded in 2011 will be sent out today. [...] We are sorry that this took so long, and appreciate your patience.  I am sure you are all aware of the economic situation in [funding country]; I imagine that many of you may had given up hope that you would ever see your grants, so I hope this news brings a bit of good cheer to your new year.

Ha! Because you know, just yesterday I had resolved to give up on this grant. The money was spent, so... whatever. And now? It's like money fallen from the sky!

Also: I recently found out that my book (its story to be found here) got a prize. So, that's also nice.

No... it's better than nice. Blogger doesn't support GIFs, so I invite you to click here to see a truly excellent happy dance.

Here are a couple of pictures from what I was doing in between panels at the AHA. As you can see, I need to go back with more time, and more lenses.

French Quarter, 7:15 a.m.
Portrait of frequent commenter "Susan"

New Orleans has the world's coolest cemeteries.

Happy 2013!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Resolving to be a more consistent blogger

...but right now, I've got to catch a plane for the AHA. Until I return, here's a picture:


Happy New Year, everyone!