Agly

That's how my best-laid plans "gang" the last two days. (OK, my Scots isn't up to snuff here: I know that "gang agly" is present, not past, but damned if I know how to shift the tense.) The "agly" plans are because I insist on dancing, despite the abject panic about the reconfiguration of courses. I keep meaning to get to campus to see if by some miracle I saved the photocopied poems I used last time I taught 265 (in fall 2005! no wonder I can't remember anything about it): if I have at least that much, it will be infinitely easier to put together a syllabus. But yesterday all the getting my feet clear/life maintenance stuff I did in the morning took longer than I anticipated (always does), so I had to choose between a trip to campus and dance class (guess which won); then I thought I'd get into Manhattan well before my dinner date with Kristin and could sit in a coffee shop (even the hated Starbucks) to chip away at the syllabi I can do (101, 102)--but between the route I took to get from Queens to Upper West Side and the driving around looking for parking (I hate driving in the City), I ended up only having about 20 minutes to spare. So I got exactly zero work done--but I had a very nice day, got some good exercise and good friend time, well worth the lost productivity.

I could not bring myself to set the alarm for this morning: Last night I was almost wound down enough to sleep when the downstairs neighbors came home drunk and had a screaming fight that included slamming something (a door maybe, but sounded more like flinging something very heavy), shaking the entire house. The fight didn't last all that long (I'd have called the cops--except among other problems I won't go into here, he is a cop), but still, that meant very late getting to sleep. So now, the morning is gone and I have done nothing but feed myself and the cats and wash myself and the dishes. And I'd start working on syllabi, but by the time I start rolling I'd have to quit to go to dance class--and I refuse to miss today's classes. By the time I get home, it will be about 5 p.m., so once again, it's unlikely I'll get any work done. A colleague has asked me to read a screenplay he's written (we've done this before: he pays me to read and give him feedback--and it's kinda fun), so I'll probably do that tonight instead of doing "real" work. At least that will be one more thing out from under my feet.

I won't be going to campus tomorrow, either, as my car has to go into the shop for an oil change and about 400 other little dinky problems that need attending to (which will probably end up costing me about $5 per problem...). But that means a day at home, which in turn means I can at least get 101 and 102 nailed down. It will take all day (possibly more), and on Tuesday, I have to be in the campus area anyway for a doctor's appointment, so, maybe.....

I will have to cut back on the dancing however, pretty soon. I won't be able to devote so much time to it once I also have homework and papers to mark, not to mention committee crapola to tend to. Ah well. Somehow this will all sort itself out and everything will end up getting done. Including the promo folder--which now has another piece to add, since my book review just got published in Green Theory & Praxis: The Journal of Ecopedagogy (an online journal--and a very good one, I think). Those of you who are also my friends on Facebook already know about it, but for anyone else who might be interested, here's the link: http://greentheoryandpraxis.org/journal/index.php/journal/article/view/88/88

And now time to brush teeth and put on my dancing shoes. Literal, not metaphoric.