First Week of Classes

I've met all my classes more than once by now.  One of the sections is huge;  I don't have a good sense for them yet, other than their demeanor being friendly until Friday and then losing their attention.  The others all seem eager to please.  One class is all freshmen, so that isn't a big surprise.

Not much grading yet, but I still feel behind for no particular reason.  Maybe I always feel behind and that's what pushes me to prepare as much as I do.  There's something for further reflection.

Stress at Home

My wife is under a lot of stress, at work and from her family (the death of her aunt, worries about her parents).  She's been taking a lot of it out on me and the kids lately.  It's not been much fun.

Back from Travels

Well, I'm back from a conference.  It's always abrupt.

I get so lonely when I'm out of town by myself, but I do so enjoy the autonomy.  It is so hard to go back to being so responsible when I return.

At least I don't need to worry about staffing any more.

Conference

I'm at another conference.  I've heard a number of good talks, gave one that was pretty well-received.

I look forward to being on my own at these conferences, away from the many many constraints of my home life.  When I'm at a conference I never feel as free as I'd like.  I don't sleep well;  I feel drowsy enough to be even more anti-social and tend not to network.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

In My New Office

A little claustrophobic with boxes, but I'm back in my (newly renovated) old office building in a different office.  This office is a bit smaller (but there are smaller still so I shouldn't complain) which provides me with a good excuse for getting rid of a bunch of stuff.

I am impatient to be unpacked;  I'm switching off between emptying boxes and doing regular work (class preparation, writing, correspondence).

Trying to Focus

It is so hard to focus on work during Summer Break, when all the other faculty are out playing in the sun.

That's being facetious.  To be honest, without structure I have a much harder time staying disciplined.  I guess that I mean external structure, since I could easily schedule how much I want to get done when.

I am trying to do class preparation and write.  I've hardly written anything, but at least I'm getting somewhere on having all of the first week of class stuff ready to go.

I do like teaching a lot more than writing.

Writing

I'm working on a talk that I'll give next month.  I started it then set it aside and then really started avoiding it.

Even this post is a way of avoiding working on it;  at least I've got an outline in development from the abstract that I submitted.

The transition into creating is hard to make but when I do get going it is hard to stop.