Done, done, and done. With grading, that is. Final essay exams, weblog posts, homework questions, chat participation. I’ve made my list, and I’ve checked it twice. I had a number of students who did really good work this quarter. And, unfortunately, several who ignored a large part of the course requirements and are likely to be extremely displeased with their grades. Tomorrow morning I’ll electronically “bubble in” their grades, and then brace myself for the onslaught of “how could I get a…” that will result. By waiting until tomorrow to formally submit the grades to student records, I delay the grade announcement emails until tomorrow night, after commencement (though the students can see their final average via the courseware gradebook function if they look). By then I may have recovered sufficiently from grading-induced sleep deprivation to manage the barrage gracefully.
Part of why I haven’t been posting recently is that I’ve been busy—end-of-quarter work, faculty meetings, 72 hour trips to the west coast, taking care of a sick husband, etc. But part of it has also been that overall, life is good, and that isn’t really fodder for interesting blog posts. Christine Lavin, one of my favorite singer/songwriters ever, has a song called “Please Don’t Make Me Too Happy,” with these lyrics:
Please don’t make me too happy
Because if you do
My songwriting will suffer
From the bliss you’ll put me through
Nothing’s quite as boring
As two people this in love
We’ll be so blinded by the stars in our eyes
We won’t see the stars above
There’s something to that, really. Angst is a great source of creativity, and I’ve been awfully short on angst lately.
The LA trip was lovely…had lunch with Allan Karl, and dinner with with someone I’ve known since kindergarten, but had fallen out of touch with. I also met with folks from USC’s Annenberg Center about a potential collaborative grant project, and then got to go to the pre-SSAW party before heading back home.
I think I’m still in denial about the upcoming move, despite the fact that it’s less than a month away. That’s going to have to change, soon.
We’re mulling over car purchase/leasing options, as well as house refinancing options, as well as necessary home repairs before we leave. Ack. While next year we’ll be in good shape financially, the dual salary won’t start ‘til July, and there are going to be a lot of expenses before then. We’ve got some juggling to do over the next few weeks to make it all fall into place.
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