Priorities

I'm watching the first episode of The Walking Dead (itself a commentary on my priorities) and amidst the zombies, mayhem, shoot-outs etc I find myself most in awe of how incredibly warm and pleasant the weather there looks. That seems like the most unrealistic thing.

Practice Spontaneous Acts of Quasi-Humerous Passive Agression

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm going to go on record as someone who kind of loves heated gradlist discussions. I'm a big fan of their increased frequency lately, and if someone doesn't make a Follies sketch about that shit it'll be a damn shame.

Just Like Old Times - Plus Cats

Sitting at my desk commenting on papers and listening to Jamie on Radio Clash. Oh, memories.

I've been here awhile, huh? Weird.

The Absence of the Picture of Dorian Grey

The empty space over my bed - or more precisely, the question of what belongs in the empty space over my bed - is starting to feel vaguely symbolic. I'm not sure what that means exactly... it's both mildly unsettling and a bit affirming. A sign that my life has a plot, even if I'm not able to see what it is.

Why I Will Always Love Kingdom of Loathing: An Example

Epiphany comes but twice a year

Today I had one of those awesome moments of clarity that allow me to pretend for 10 months of the year that I secretly enjoy the end of the semester. I still have 17-20 pages to write, but I can see the entire path now, all the way to the end. I know where I'm going. It came late this term, but damn it still feels good.

I also discovered that Mike's syllabus requests a "20 to 30" page paper rather than 25 pages, as everyone's somehow come to believe. This was a joyous discovery, and led directly to the aforementioned flash of insight.

I will finish. There will be a life after this semester. It sounds stupid, but it's like driving in a lot of fog - everything feels less oppressively endless if you can see where you're headed.

[sings] "99 Horrible Tasks on My List, 99 Horrible Tasks..."

Take a few down, deal with their shit, still plenty of horrible tasks on the wall!

So I finally "[went] to the motherfucking bank like an ADULT," as Ali of hyperboleandahalf would say, and (surprise surprise) it turned out to be relatively painless. To my delight, my first instinct about the mystery charges proved correct - they were not mine. Apparently sometimes banks make adorable little "keying errors" and clear checks from your account that were not in fact written by you. This is what happened to me, leading to overdraft charges and overdue payments for those charges...but while it was a bit time-consuming, the man who helped me was very nice and dismissed all the charges, so I will not in fact have to ride my bike home for Christmas. (I did think he should have been a bit more apologetic, though - I mean, the name on the check was "Dominic Daniels" or something, pretty clearly not me.)

I also managed to get some smaller-scale things done today despite having very fragmented time chunks, something I don't usually excel at. I read the relevant essays out of a book I just got for papers, wrote up feedback on 4 of 5 student presentations from yesterday, wrote my WC records for tonight (it's slow)...not too bad. When I get home I will endeavor to write up the last presentation response, then go to sleep because damn I've been staying up too late.

So several major stresses are dealt with now, leaving me that much more energy for paper-writing goodness. I might even be able to get into a groove this weekend where I can enjoy the process a little. We shall see.