Lucy Says Hi!

Just kidding. She doesn't say hi.

Lucy couldn't care less about me or you or this blog.

Life is great for her these days because no one is ever home. She doesn't have to, you know, socialize (read: put up with lovins and kisses on her nose).

Life is pretty crazy for the humans, though.

The good news is that there's really no time to eat. So the 3 pounds I gained over the holidays is slowly coming off.

The bad news is that there's really no time to sleep. And that realllllllly cramps my style.

I've decided that everything - the entirety of my life and all my meaningful endeavors - would be balanced perfectly if (1) I didn't have to grade, and (2) I didn't have to write papers. If I could eliminate those two things but keep everything else, BAM, done.

You interested in helping me out? How about a couple of King Sooper's coupons?

TGIF, people!

That's interesting.

But it is not the book I'm looking for.

Catching Up!

Lordy, what a week. It's 5:30 and I'm in my pj's with a load of laundry in the washer and the latest episode of Real Housewives of Whatever on in the background. But we need to catch up. Let's do this bullet point style.

* BOTH of my classes are great! At the beginning of the semester, I hope and pray for "normal" or "OK" or "fine" or, Lord help me, "not psycho." But my classes are great! I'm sure there will be some issues here and there (that's life) but already they are opening up and coming to see me after class and one student has already visited my office! I can do this.

I try to start the semester off on a stricter note than I eventually maintain. I'm still funny and enthusiastic and jokey, but I run a tight ship at first in the hopes that I won't have big discipline problems later. I try to be like this.

But the students laugh at me (which can be a good thing!) and it makes me feel like I look like this.

*After the chaos of last semester I worked very hard to arrange a day off. And that day is Friday. I'm a genius. Of course the day will usually be full of grading and prepping for class and doing my own reading/writing, but still.

*We had our first date night this week! We went to a real restaurant and paid good money for a good meal. There was wine and cheese and appetizers and desserts. I could get used to this. Even in the middle of a crazy week.

*The date night is a big goal of mine, and speaking of that, I haven't done many other things lately, goal-wise. The first couple of weeks of class are like that. The big goals are rolling along and I'm making progress, but remember the daily goals? One small change each day? Hahahahaha I haven't done that in like 10 days at this point. So, you know, that's gotta start up again soon. Like, tomorrow.

The best alcoholic coffee EVAHHH.

*I've watched two really good movies lately. Put these on your list immediately:

The Martian

The Spy

And that's all I got. I'm going to enjoy this weekend because from next week until May I'll be grading like a mofracker.

The First Day

I survived the first day of class! This week is typically pretty easy and I only have to work part-time at the writing consultant job, but hey, survival is survival. Next week is when it hits the fan.

I stood up in front of 25 students who looked at me like this:

Another sweetie from the Stock Show.

25 more stares like that tomorrow.

So far so good.

Kicking Off (pun!) Winter in Denver

When I first moved to Denver (in my old career) one of the guys I worked with told me that the way to kick off the winter season is to go to the National Western Stock Show. I was like, it's not, you know, skiing? No, it's not.

The Stock Show is an enormous event, lasting about 16 days and bringing thousands of people to Denver for expos, farming business, rodeos, and networking. We go for the animals, the people-watching (hey! People are watching us, too! It works both ways.), and the rodeo.

Why, yes. I come for the people watching.

One of our favorite booths to visit is the bird rescue one. They tell you all about their birds and let you look at them for as long as you want. (<-- it occurs to me that that sounds creepy. We're not bird stalking or anything. They're just really pretty and kind of hypnotizing.)

Yesterday we learned why our national emblem is called the "bald" eagle. The early American (English) word for someone with white hair was bald. So, it's not that they didn't think the eagle had any feathers on its head, it's that they were totally white. It was completely white-headed, so it was called "bald."

We roamed around and looked at all kinds of farming equipment, animals, educational booths, expo booths, furniture, food (!), jewelry, art work, etc.

Look at the snow tracks. This thing was listed for almost $24,000.

 

Then we went to the rodeo!

It occurs to me that, to someone who is unfamiliar with farming or with rodeo culture in general (is that a thing? Rodeo culture?), it can look like a bunch of people who are exploiting animals (at best) and treating them unethically and cruelly (at worst). In my experience, that is not the case at all. My papa had a farm and rode horses and trained (broke) wild horses as a side business and hobby. Because of that, I grew up quite literally under foot and got very used to these big animals and their personalities. We use the term "work horse" for a reason; historically, people and horses have worked really well together not only to accomplish tasks but to form important bonds and survive together.

To see cowboys riding a bucking bronco or bull can be quite a shock but the animal is just fine. Perhaps mildly annoyed. But they have all the power and leverage, and they know it.

Look closely at the picture below. See the guy flying through the air? Yeah, didn't even make it out of the gate. The bull just looked around like, are we done here?

Until next year!

TGIF, people!

The End (+ Book)

I haven't posted lately because I've been too busy skulking around the house and whining that my holiday break is coming to an end. The past few days have included errands and check ups and lots and lots of copies for the first weeks of class.

I'm not the only one whining. Loo Loo Bean has been on a "devil may care" cage schedule which basically means that she's had full run of the living room for days on end because I've mostly been around. She couldn't believe it when I actually closed her in last night. See the look on her face? We call this picture, "The Captive."

Today my writing consultant job starts up. <<sigh>> I was complaining to telling G that it's not that I dread going back to work; I really don't. I just dread the intellectual endurance it takes. My brain has turned to mush and all I'm capable of talking about is The Real Housewives of Fill-in-the-blank.

But! I managed to finish one last book (Rapper L, I owe you an email about this one):

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I wish I could take a class on the Bronte sisters. While Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) is still my favorite, Jane Eyre is much more accessible and easy to understand. Also? I feel a little weird even talking about this book because I think I'm the only person in the world who hadn't read it until recently?

Anyway. The plot is about an orphan who survives the horrors of a "charity" school system and becomes, at the age of 18, a governess for a rich family. There are weird sounds coming from the attic and hushed conversations behind her back and unexplained fires around the house. In the meantime, she is falling in love with the master, Mr. Rochester. Imagine her surprise when, on their wedding day, she finds out that he's married to a lunatic who lives in the attic.

Yeah.

I like the darkness of the Brontes. I also like the psychological realism, which is one of the note-worthy aspects of the novel. Here we have a woman who gives us access to her interior space as she thinks through difficult situations. We also have a woman who says what is on her mind despite outrageous opposition from, well, just about everyone she encounters. Jane has a moral core and self-confidence and thinks through problems to arrive at reasoned conclusions.

I'd like to study this book in order to see what Bronte is doing with Christianity because it's everywhere. But alas, that will have to wait until the summer. If, on the odd chance, you haven't already read this book, it's a good one! Be prepared for a long read, but that's what the winter is for.