omg wtf xkcd

Hovertext: well, sex is like a velociraptor: despite your movie-fueled lifelong neurotic obsession, unlikely to be found in your house.
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Now that it's getting cold out I'm remembering how annoyingly cold my fingers get when I type for extended periods in a house below 68 degrees. Though the semi-numbness from the chill does distract from the tingly-numbness from my compressed nerves. Look, I know I keep whining about this, but it's really fucking annoying. You know how if you *really* hit your funny bone - not a slight ding but the full-on slam into something that feels so incredibly not-good that you'd almost rather be in actual pain than have that feeling - the tingling in your last two fingers and the twinge in your elbow linger for a good while afterward? It's like that except in both arms any time I type for more than half an hour at a time. So. Lame. I'm getting an MRI next week (for reasons that aren't clear to me, but whatever), but I know that it'll boil down to "do these exercises and take Advil," only one of which I'll actually do on any regular basis, eventually leading to God knows what other kinds of issues. So yay.

In other news - I never thought I'd say this, but I really did enjoy reading my students' first papers. Why is that so surprising, you ask? Because they were personal narratives. With other components as well, but still - largely personal stories. And they were interesting (for the most part anyhow - this isn't MagicLand where everything is perfect and I have six ponies to pull my bejeweled carriage and a cushy tenure-track job)! I have some sharp-ass kids this semester.

[sings] Just blog-post while you work, doo dee doo doo doo dee doo...

Some work-related thoughts!

- "Of course, those students, like students today, say that they aren’t influenced by advertising (or song lyrics or any other aspect of popular culture that one attempts to bring into focus so it can be studied)." - Judith A. Wooten, on the popularity of asking students to analyze ad jingles back in the 80s. I found this quote today in Judith Wootten's 2006 CCCC address, and god damn it's the gospel truth. It's like once you ask them to analyze how something's going about fulfilling its goals, they instantly regard all such attempts as inherently flawed and ineffective, regardless of whether it was written by FDR or Charlie Sheen on a coke binge.

- How did I forget for so long what a bee I have in my bonnet about the limited role given to student voices in comp pedagogy scholarship? Oh wait - because I realized that unless I put in some massive reading time to back myself up it was too risky, as nothing pisses people off like being told by an unremarkable grad student they're irresponsible and exploiting their discourse position.

- This week feels really weird, with everyone gone for CCCC (Cs/ C's/Sees/Seize/ however the fuck one best expresses that in brief). Tomorrow and Friday especially - it's very strange to have nothing on Thursday except teaching, and two Fridays in a row without a staff meeting? I feel like I'm in BizarroDepartment.

- Some of my students did amazing work on this last project. True, I might have wished that the best project didn't forcibly remind me of my online dating experiences, but I suppose one can't have everything.

- Scene from my office hours today:
Me: "So I think that's pretty much it...do you have any questions for me?"
Student: "Yeah - what's on your shirt?" *points directly at my chest*
Me: "...Ben Folds."
Student: "Cool. Now I can stop staring."
*awkward pause*
Me: "...alright then, see you in class."

Thoughts from today

1. The clock turned to 9:00 just as I looked up at it to see if I needed to go to the liquor store. God damn Madison and their stupid laws.

2. I went to the gym today! (This was #1 until the wine thing. Friggin' A.) I'm genuinely proud of myself. I've been saying I'll go practically every single day for weeks now, but last night I was like "...alright, you can do better than this, Becca." And so I went. Even though I almost had a panic attack in the locker room because I'm getting anxious about my own work and my students are crushing my spirit in every way and I  hadn't worked out in ages and was scared I'd be shockingly weak. And as pretty much anyone including myself could have told me, it was great. I'm not even as criminally out of shape as I thought. So Imma try and make that a thing. Going again tomorrow...

3. As mentioned above, teaching is kiiiiind of killing me lately. I feel like I've spent a quarter of my waking hours this semester commenting on papers, I've genuinely spent hours and hours planning and preparing for this class - but lately it's just...not good. There's a few kids who just are clearly not taking the class seriously, a lot of them aren't reading, and this week I just...couldn't think of what to do about it, let alone what to do *with* them in class. Sigh. I just emailed their grades on the first paper back though, and I suspect that the attitudes of some of them will change fairly quickly. Surprise! Just because I said I'm always willing to work with you because I want you all to do well does not mean I'm going to give you an A for slapping five new sentences in your draft and calling it a revision - especially since 3 of them are run-ons. Sheesh. I know I'm chill in class, but come on.

4. As a result of #3, I'm not commenting on any of their (new) drafts tonight. I can't handle any more right now. I need them done by Monday night, but that's doable even so. So soon I will call it a night and attempt to pretend the beers in my fridge are something other than Pabst. Pabst Light. (Stupid, stupid Madsion...)

5.  My cats are particularly awesome lately. They often cuddle, but lately it's just been a whole new level of affectionate adorableness. And I was incredibly pleased by all the attention they got at my party last weekend - especially from AK, who validated me in a huge way by saying that Polo smells particularly good for a cat. Though I'm less charmed by Penny's new habit of opening and closing the cabinets loudly in the middle of the night. We've been Scotch-taping them so far but that's not a viable long-term solution, so I'm going to have to go around and screw child locks into them all at some point. Because I've just got SO much time on my hands that I needed another home improvement project.

6. I still need stuff on my bedroom walls in a major way. I bought some frames cheap at Target to work on the problem, but the major issue - above my bed - remains unresolved.  And I'm not happy with the furniture layout yet either. The bed's new spot is good, but now I think I need another night table to create some symmetry. And another lamp for it. The windows also need at least a basic white curtain. I'm still not sure how best to do it with the three of them together, but I'm leaning towards a basic valance and two extra-long white tie-back panels. When this will all happen I have no idea, but it's a semi-priority...I don't like not liking my bedroom. At least 2/3 need to get done this term.

7. Community is hilarious. I'm working through season 1 and I'm so hooked. I find it strangely realistic for something so over-the-top...taken alone, all the characters are eerily plausible. Except Senor Chang. And the dean.

8. Going to NH for Thanksgiving! I'll be gone a few days longer than is responsible, but I haven't had a Thanksgiving with the entire family in a long time, so I'm excited.

9. I think at this point I have to just accept and embrace the fact that there's something about Brandon Flowers that I am powerless to resist. Or his voice and general musical aesthetic, anyhow. His solo album? Couldn't tell you if it's actually any good. Don't have any favorite tracks so far, after 4-5 listens while working. But I know I don't not like it.

10. I still need to buy those damn Ben Folds tix