Grading Hell: For the record, I am still alive, despite being buried under a heaping pile of papers and the outbreak of swine H1N1 Flu. There’s only been one case of flu in my state, but our University has a big ol’ story on its website. Paranoid much?
Cheater-Cheater: Plagiarism Kid coped to his/her sins. It took all of three minutes. In a moment of pity, I just flunked the student for the assignment. That said, I did the math in my head — and I bet I’ll be seeing PK the next time I teach the class.
An Apple Anyone? I went to Neighboring State to the South to give a lecture to The Coach’s AP class. The boys in the class presented me with an apple. Isn’t that cute?
Recession Garden: There is now a giant mudhole garden in my backyard. I planted lettuce, pole beans, corn, radishes, carrots and — my very favorite veggie of all time — okra. My front porch has buckets of tomatoes and peppers and pots of rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, cilantro, parsley, and lemon balm. Now I have to pray to Gaia that my garden will grow.
To the UP, Well, Maybe: Vacation plans keep changing. We thought about driving cross country with the dogs in tow, but common sense has intervened. I keep picturing the Little Dog taking a flying leap out of Sally as we roar down I-80 in Wyoming. New (and very tentative plans) include Sleeping Bear Dunes, Picture Rocks and Keweenaw National Lakeshores/Historical Sites in Michigan … along with a two night stay on Mackinaw Island. We’ll see if this idea sticks.
Speaking of Vacations: We’re trying to put together a trip to The Netherlands at Christmas time. Woot! Time to practice mijn Nederlands. Right now, I am trying to decide if it is worth burning my frequent flyer miles or if I should seek out cheap ass airfare.
I Feel Dirty and It’s Not from My Garden: Oh Lord, have mercy on my soul. I am reading Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer for my Overly Ambitious Program of Intellectual Self-Improvement. Oy vey. Talk about dirty, dirty language. Aside from The Vagina Monologues and Cunt, both of which are on my very feminist bookshelf, I have never seen the c-word so many times in print. I tell you what though, that book gets pretty boring, pretty fast. There’s only so many sexual references a person can take before the novelty wears off. Only 200 more pages before I can trade in Miller for a book from my favorite genre: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
Funniest Swine Flu Reference of the Day: Okay, B. is one of the funniest bloggers out there — and she tweets, too! Today, she writes:
Somewhere in literary heaven George Orwell is skimming the swine flu headlines, shaking his head, and saying, “I tried to warn them…”
I nearly snorted my Diet Sprite (yeah, gave up that pesky insomnia creator, caffeine) onto my computer keyboard when I read that. Hell, I even shared it with my class today. Of course, if you are really worried about the H1N1 virus, you can always track its progression through higher education at this site. Or we can wait and see if TQE becomes Patient Zero for Weimer.
Now, I am all for being prepared, but damn, isn’t there anything else that the media could talk about? Statistically, the 90 or so cases in the United States aren’t even a blip on the map.
And now, I must return to the flames of purgatory — grading. You know, if there were actual flames in my office, I might grade faster instead of taking time out to play stupid games on Facebook or blogging or talking to Huey P.
