Sunday, March 09, 2008

Time to Get Back to It

So I took the occasion of the snowstorm to totally blow off every single thing that I probably should have done. I could have worked on the article, I could have cleaned my house, I could have read a book I need to read, I could have graded.... Suffice it to say there were any number of things I might have done.

Instead, I talked on the phone (for a total of approximately 12 hours or so - and no, I'm not kidding), and screwed around with this game. Oh, and I'm rereading the Potter. It soothes me. One of my phone-talking pals (*cough* the Muse *cough*) asked when I was going to stop rereading the Potter. I explained that this would happen when something else came along to replace it. He wondered whether this would be possible. It strikes me now that I'm not worried about that because I've done this with books since I was about 7 years old. It all began with the Ramona books, and then I graduated to Little House on the Prairie, and then it was Anne of Green Gables (for like 10 years), and then there were the embarrassing Krantz years (hey, there's fashion, there's mindless intrigue, and really, judge not lest ye be judged), and then, now, The Potter. And sometimes I recycle old favorites, and there are a few books that I reread pretty regularly to mix it up a little, but yes. I'm a rereader. And I'm certain that a new series will come along. What I wish would happen is that Rowling would do a new series in which she talks either about the Hogwarts founders or in which she talks about the wizards of the Hallows. That would rule.

But I digress. And I procrastinate. And today I cannot continue on this path, as I really do need to complete a good many things in the next 7 days. So on the agenda for the afternoon is to dig my car out and go into the world for some supplies (and just to get out of my house and away from the computer and the phone) and then I *must* make my to-do list (which will be more detailed than anything I'd put here, for making a list is really a very intricate process for me) and begin to accomplish some things on it. This needs to be a big week, and I can't afford to piss it away.

Briefly, what is on the agenda?

  • Gather all materials I need for my article (some stuff is "filed" away - i.e., thrown crazily into a bin that holds all of the crap for one of the authors on which I work).
  • Finish reading materials and theory for article.
  • Complete a draft of the article.
  • Work on an abstract for conference that will be happening in the fall and that I'd like to attend.
  • Grade midterms for one of my classes.
  • Clean. (I plan to do this once the draft is done, as if I were to do it before that would be procrastinating and I suspect I'd ruin all of my handiwork during the writing anyway.)
  • Laundry.
  • Rescheduled dinner party.
  • Gym. (The goal is to get there 3 days out of the 5 between M and F.)
  • Some prep for the week after break.
  • Work on materials for faculty award for which I've been nominated. (It's not impossible that this just won't get done. The problem is, if I don't start on it I'm going to be insane in a couple of weeks when they're due. That said, well, this is something I'm not going to beat myself up for letting slide should it be necessary to do so.)
Looking at the list, this looks like a great deal, but I think it's manageable. And since I'm not counting Monday of next week in my calculations, it wouldn't be a tragedy if I put off Laundry and all teaching-related stuff until then. The reason to make the big push and to get the article draft done is so that I've got two weeks to sit with it and to edit and revise as necessary before I send it off. This does mean, however, that I cannot continue to be an idiot and to talk on the phone and play computer games like a teenager. So, time to get dressed and to see if I can unearth my car from the pile of snow that encases it.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

8 comments:

k8 said...

If you have fond memories of Little House, you probably don't want to reread it as an adult. However, if you like HP, I highly suggest Diana Wynne Jones' books. Howl's Moving Castle is a lot of fun. Or, Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence is rather nice, as well. And of course there's always Dahl for good snark! And The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede as a more feminist choice than Potter.

I got a little out of control there - sorry about that. I really get into the children's lit. And, I am a compulsive re-reader too.

Sisyphus said...

Hve you tried the dark materials thingy yet? My friend is dipping in to them and really likes them, finds all sorts of Milton refs. But not so much that she, a non-Miltonist, is annoyed.

And is that conference the fancy one I am also planning to go to? I hope to see you there!

Dr. Crazy said...

Thanks for the many recommendations! I haven't encountered any of yours, K8, so I'll have to check them out! As for the Pullman, yep, I've read them... probably 3 or 4 times each. But I can't quite read them over and over and over again, regardless of mood, the way I can with the Potter. I think it's because (imho) they are better than the Potter. Or something. Too literary perhaps? Not in an annoying way at all, but not good for when I'm avoiding the literary, as it were :)

As for the conference... you know, I've never been to this one, so I don't actually know whether it's fancy (though of course, it may be.... it does sort of have that vibe about it....) At any rate, it's not MLA, but the acronym has two of those letters in common. (Don't know why I'm being so coy... I suppose it's that I try not to talk about my period - as if that's in some way more identifying than any of the other crap I write on here :) )

Dr. Crazy said...

In place of "period" put "specialization." I just reread this comment, and realized how totally gross that sounded :)

Kjerstin said...

So relieved to hear about the rereading! I often find it difficult to justify my rereading, when there are so many great, unread books in the world. But sometimes you just know exactly what you want, and exactly where to find it, and I love that. I even still reread Anne of Green Gables, and just the other day I discovered that the books I've been reading to pieces since childhood, are in fact ABBREVIATED CHILDREN'S VERSIONS. So now I've ordered the original versions from Amazon, and I'm a great deal more excited about getting them than I like to admit.

Lesboprof said...

I am a re-reader, too, and Potter is my recent fav as well. It goes along with the re-watching of movies, especially ones that are not too emotionally challenging or taxing. I watch that damn "American President" everytime they put it on, along with the Potter movies and many many others. I will also watch "Crimes of the Heart" endlessly. And I have a "Charmed" obsession. I rationalize that these repeats help balance out the intellectual in me!

k8 said...

I love the children's and YA lit! And I'm always happy to share my [literary] loves.

Canada said...

I love know other people are rereaders, too. My neighbour just looks at me like I'm insane whenever I say that I need to buy certain books, because I know I'll reread them. Harry is one of them. I used to read the Narnia chronicles yearly, in order. There are several series that I do that with, depending on my mood. Sometimes, I do it because I have to be reading something, but need to be able to put it down because I'm busy with other stuff, too.