20100509.0802

I suppose I ought to begin with the obvious: Happy Mothers' Day! And before you get on me about doing something else, all of the people my wife and I need to call about it are in another time zone; it's a little early to be on the phone with them, yet.

It is not too early, though, to say "Thanks" to them for the mothering they've done. Sonya, of course, was a model child, but I know for a fact that I was a pain in the ass to raise.

Now, I'm just a pain in the ass, having already been raised.

And now, more regularly for my Sunday notes:

Classes at TCI started up again this past Thursday. My schedule is such that I have no classes on that day (not that I have class at any time), and only teach the one on Friday. Of course, that one is a five-hour block in the evening, but every semester at TCI has had me doing so; it's a bit old-hat anymore. And the first class meeting went pretty well. Some twenty-one of the thirty-three students that were enrolled showed up, which is not terribly bad for a first class meeting. I do not know if that number will improve, or if adding any more students to the room--where the class is English Composition I--counts as improvement. But the pay is good and the students do more or less well, so I'll not complain too much.

My summer schedule allows me to have a three-day weekend every weekend--except when it's longer due to class re-scheduling. It will be nice to have such a thing, actually; I should be able to get a lot more reading and writing done. And since I have a paper coming up for SCMLA, in addition to the continued work on the dissertation, I have more than enough of both to keep me happy and productive for a long time.

Often, being productive helps me to be happy. Whether because of "grad-school guilt" or an earlier-seated work ethic, I find it difficult to be pleased with myself when I do not spend my day doing things that leave some visible result, whether that is pages of paper written or, say, new fencing put up in the backyard (I am still happy with my work on that). It is not impossible, certainly; I enjoy the bejeezus out of aikido, and that does not always leave a visible result (unlike judo, where the bruises tend to prove it). Same with reading (aside from the occasional papercut).

I gather that such is a common feeling among those in my line of work at around my level in it. A number of my wife's colleagues share it. I have less contact with my own colleagues than I would like, so I cannot verify how it is with them, but from what I remember (particularly about finals weeks), it was so.

Hm. I probably ought to get back to work now.