What a strange week that was! Between the (disappointing) National Championship game and the two snow days, I only had a three-day week on campus, but I swear to dog it felt like ten days. I’ve got a million bits and pieces today, so here we go in list form:



School: Teaching is going to be busy and different this semester, with four honors classes. I think I like my young whippersnappers so far. The Big New Thing, though, is that I am working with two groups of grad students who are in the midst of writing their dissertations, helping them form productive writing groups and mentoring them. (Not to be confused with advising them academically, as an academic adviser would, which is a whole different can of worms, and not part of my job.) Anyway, this is a very exciting thing for me to do — let’s hope it goes well and I can really help them with their writing projects!

Music: Are you psyched about The Decemberists’ new album? You had better believe that I am. The Decemberists track I included on the Winter 2010 mix, “Down by the Water,” is from the new album, which (I happen to know already) rocks. Lots of harmonica and steel guitar and whatnot. You can stream the entire thing here. At the moment, however, I happen to be listening to the new(ish) Kanye album. Say what you will about the man and his behaviors and attitude, but try to deny how great this album is and you will fail.



Football: So, as it turned out, watching the Oregon-Auburn game was significantly less fun than I predicted. At least I was well dressed! Heh. I thought I would be delightfully bemused the entire time, happy with whatever the outcome was (while quietly rooting for the Ducks). As it happened, I was stressed beyond belief, and totally sad about the outcome. Only on an intellectual level am I able to muster any happiness for Auburn’s win. Sorry, Auburn people. I tried.

Food: This coming week is the last week of the current CSA season, which is also a sad thing. It’ll be back to grocery-store produce for me after that. I’m also kind of wondering if I’ll be able to join up again for spring, since I am trying very hard to save all my pennies for moving into a new apartment in the summer. I will have to look at my food budget and see if it’ll be feasible. In better food news, I am currently caramelizing onions on the stove top while roasting garlic underneath. If I could bottle the way my kitchen smells right now, I would.

Sports: I’ve been attending a lot of yoga lately, which has been wonderful. I’ve also been fitting in some body pump (weight lifting) and RPM (spinning) classes, which are also challenging and great. But my running just has not been happening as much. At first, after the marathon, I had to rest until my knee felt better. Then, I was hitting the treadmill for very short (2-3) mile runs, which occasionally brought back the knee tightness, so I eased off. THEN I got sick and couldn’t do anything at all. Not running is not fun.

Today, though, today! I was on my way around town, getting groceries and running a couple of other errands, and it was the most gorgeous day we’ve had in forever. I do not exaggerate. It was about 50 degrees, sunny, and beautiful. So many folks were out hitting the roads — I saw runners everywhere! “MEEE TOOOOO,” screamed my brain. I had to get out there. I wasn’t sure if it was wise, with the lingering knee tightness and the fact that I’d only been on the treadmill lately (for more stablity and less impact following my injury). But I was sick of holding back.



I strapped on my Vibrams and hit the road for one easy mile, just to test them out. It was surprisingly easy and almost effortless to run in them for the first time. I felt great. But I didn’t want to overdo it in the new, weird shoes, so I stopped back at home and switched into some “real” shoes and went back out for another 2.5 miles. Amazing. Glorious, perfect, perfect run.

Seems like a good note to end on. How about you guys: what’s the haps in your week?