January 26th, 2013 → 8:38 am
“Since I received command to do this business
I have not slept one wink.” – Cymbeline
My son is going through another one of his not-sleep-through-the-night-at-all phases and it’s exhausting. 1:30 am, 2:30 am, 4:30 am cries, and then 5:30 am he’s up for good. My husband and I feel like we haven’t had a good night’s sleep in two and a half years, and, because we’ve never pawned him off on anybody for a long weekend, that’s probably true. Oye, the joys of parenthood!
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
January 10th, 2013 → 6:09 am
“I’ll put a girdle round about the earth
In forty minutes.” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
I get on a plane today to return to St. Louis. I wish the plane ride home only lasted forty minutes; instead, with a two-year old, it’s probably going to seem like forty days. Ach, wish us luck!
Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life
January 8th, 2013 → 6:18 am
“Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close;
And let us all to meditation.” – Henry VI, Part II
I’m not all that good at relaxing, so for the holidays I was given a book on meditation. I’ve read the first few chapters and mostly it seems to recommend closing your eyes, drawing the metaphorical curtain shut, and breathing deeply. I don’t know if it will work to help me let go of my worries and angst, but it’s worth a try. Here’s to meditation, and not just after a death (as in the quote above)!
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
January 5th, 2013 → 7:37 am
“Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands.” – Tempest
I’m on vacation with my family at the beach this week. And my two year old son is precious; tightly holding mommy’s hand as he tentatively steps into the waves, and then, suddenly backtracking into the sand to demolish daddy’s sand castle instead. I’m just adoring all the running, hugging and hand holding that is going on here right now…
Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life
January 1st, 2013 → 8:16 am
“Falser than vows made in wine.” – As You Like It
I’ve seen a number of Top Ten lists for New Year’s resolutions lately; they are all relatively similar and include things like: lose weight, go to the gym, spend more time with family, enjoy life more, read more, get out of debt, get organized, etc. Admittedly, I’ve made resolutions like these myself in the past, but you know what? I still need to lose weight, I still could use to go to the gym more, I should spend more time with family, and I definitely need to enjoy life more. Thus, I am not making any New Year’s resolutions this year. So there.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
December 13th, 2012 → 7:54 am
“Joy delights in joy.” – Sonnet 8
My son is really getting into Hanukkah this year. Every day now he wakes up and asks for the candles, by afternoon he’s wondering when it is time to light fire, and when we open presents the look of joy on his face brings joy into my own heart. Joy clearly begets joy.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
December 11th, 2012 → 6:32 am
“I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace.” – Much Ado About Nothing
One of my personal failings is that I have a hard time letting things go. How do other people do it? Just forget about and gloss over the abuse and obnoxious behavior other people commit? I know that religion and psychotherapy both tell me to let things go already because, in the end, I’m mostly hurting myself by agonizing over them. But I find it so hard! Sometimes I just can’t help being an honest, straightforward canker, rather than a superficial, sycophantic rose, in an idiot colleague’s presence. Will things ever get better?
Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life & Stupid/Evil People
December 6th, 2012 → 8:36 am
“…the very soul of bounty.” – Timon of Athens
The gifts have started to pour in for the holiday season. Packages from Grandma, UPS shipments from Montana, so much colorful wrapping paper! I have got to get my own gifts in order this weekend…
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
November 30th, 2012 → 8:53 am
“I see, as in a map, the end of all.” – Richard III
Another semester at school is ending and, as always, it feels weird. Weird that I won’t see the same student faces every Monday and Wednesday, bright and eager and ready with questions, weird that I won’t continue my lectures on these important topics… The semester always ends too early, just as I’ve gotten to know my students and begun a friendly rapport with them, just as some of our knotty policy issues have begun to unravel. It always feels so abrupt to me, that it just ends one day. But, as in a map I suppose, roads eventually do.
Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life
November 19th, 2012 → 4:20 pm
“[This] island of England breeds very valiant creatures.” – Henry V
Today was my trip to Stratford-upon-Avon to see Shakespeare’s birthplace, burial place, and the house he lived in in-between. Long exhausting day, but totally worth it. Shakespeare is one-of-a-kind. Whether he is valiant or not, I don’t know, but he is certainly worth celebrating. Below is a picture, not of his house (because that’s plastered everywhere), but of the guildhall where he went to school as a young boy:
Thought for the day:
Why can’t you watch online episodes of The DailyShow or The Colbert Report from Europe? It appears to be prohibited. How annoying.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life