No, it's not really the end of the week, but it's the end of my week in University City, which will, until December, see me there from very early Monday morning until very late Thursday night...
- That constitutes observation #1. I'm tired. I got home at 5:30 (about 6 hours earlier than I will, once classes start) and slunk down in front of the TV, and now am having a nightcappish drink at 7pm. Not exactly how I normally live my life. And I haven't even taught yet! I have to say, I'm apprehensive about four long days in a row - and they will of necessity be long days because of my bizarre all-evening teaching schedule (yes, three nights a week, two of them in a row) - in University City, staying in someone else's home. Especially because I'm always lugging shit around - my neck hurts, too. I don't think this year is going to be easy on the body.
- Really, though, I am so lucky. Going into next week - the first week of teaching - I reflect on the logistics of my year. Last year, my first, I had 130 students, three new preps at a time, and completely alarming first-year students in an Intro to the discipline. This year, I have 50 students, two preps because I teach the same class twice, one class per term that I've taught before, and only third- and fourth-year students. I wonder if I will ever have such a good teaching year again.
- One of my new departmental colleagues pulled me into her office for a nice chat the other day. She is, as is everyone, lovely. She brought up the tenure-track posting the department will have this year, telling me again I'd be well-positioned for it. I did make a wee blunder - I told her I prefer teaching upper-year students, which prompted her to tell me that I'd have to teach the Intro if I were here in the long term. Of course, I said - I would expect to have to teach the Intro wherever I end up. And I mean that - I wouldn't expect to be exempt from that as a junior faculty member. Anyway, anyway, I hope she wasn't put off by that. They keep telling me about this position. I can't help but get my own hopes up. Eee.
- As per my decision to take up another form of dance now that I'm not doing The Activity - a dance form - anymore, I looked into a bunch of options. There are many more choices in Home City, but they don't really work with my schedule, since it would have to be on the weekend and I'm going to be away constantly in the fall. So I was leaning toward the default, adult ballet (ballet not being my first choice) in Uni City on Tuesday nights. I was waffling, though, because of my fatiguing schedule. In my waffling yesterday - just before I was about to leave the office to go and register - I noticed for the first time the directive on the dance school's website that in the teen and adult ballet classes, you must wear a black leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet slippers.
That made my decision for me. No way. And it's not really a question of what I'd be wearing (though I really, really don't relish a leotard), but rather that I can't stand having a uniform dictated like that. For beginner classes, for chrissakes. For adults. I'd rather wait till my schedule opens up and be able to take dance at what is really the best possible place in the country, in Home City, with no sartorial requirements whatsoever. Down with dance fascism!
Off to finish my nightcap and read some blogs. I'm so liking reading blogs these days - all about the first days back, new roles, old roles redefined...
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Driving and advising
So what of the first-year advising I wrote about the other day? (Thanks to folks for your suggestions, by the way – especially Bardiac!)
Well, I needed to get up at an ungodly pre-dawn hour, after very few hours sleep (due, I guess, to subconscious nerves that I have been unable to source) to get my way to the Greyhound station yesterday morning, which would get me to New University City (NUC) with plenty of time to get to the university and plan out what I would say to these poor new students. Except as it turned out, the bus schedule changed on Tuesday, and I missed the bus to NUC by 5 minutes.
There was sobbing in the bus station, let me tell you. This was my first real obligation at this new job where I want to keep options open and show them what a valuable and committed faculty member I am, and I was going to miss it!
Then I remembered that there was a car rental place around the corner. Now, you may remember that last Tuesday, I was unwilling to make the rented-car drive to NUC on my own – I’ve never really driven alone, and certainly not on the highway! – and so made someone come with me to drive the terrifying, fourteen-lane part. This time, there was no such person on the horizon. The clock was ticking, and I needed to get there, dammit. So I waited, still teary – this time more from fear than anything else – until they opened, and then rented myself a small car and drove here!! By myself! Granted, I didn’t use the major highway until I got lost on the back-road highway that was slowing me down, but I did use it, in the end (when it was down to six lanes)! And I even sped a lot (naughty me) and I got here in one piece, and with three minutes to spare.
The funny thing was, I entered an unprecedented Zone of Calm on this drive. Normally I am such an anxious driver that it becomes, potentially, dangerous. I think something in me knew that I would die – or at least not make it – if I didn’t calm the hell down. So I did. I demonstrated grace under pressure, which I didn’t, frankly, know I could do. In fact, I drove a thousand times better than I usually have – I usually do some erratic things. Those were banished. Forever, I sense.
This might sound like nothing to those of you who’ve been driving since you were sixteen. But it was a huge triumph for me. Yay, me!
The bad part was that because I arrived three minutes before my advising session began, I had had no time to plan what I was going to say. And the nerves and adrenaline that I had suppressed during my entry into the Zone of Calm all flared up as soon as I got out of the car and realized what I had just done. So I was, ahem, not at my best. And anyway, half my group didn’t show up to this supposedly mandatory session. But I’m taking Bardiac’s advice and maintaining regular contact with them over email, and I have strongly urged them to come and meet with me one-on-one over the next week. I could tell a couple of them were really scared – one looked to be on the verge of tears – but not wanting to admit it in front of each other. Seeing me alone might make it feel easier to talk about that.
And my department and little hallway continue to be glorious places of fun and chat and loveliness…
So it’s all good…And I’m a Real Live driver, now.
Well, I needed to get up at an ungodly pre-dawn hour, after very few hours sleep (due, I guess, to subconscious nerves that I have been unable to source) to get my way to the Greyhound station yesterday morning, which would get me to New University City (NUC) with plenty of time to get to the university and plan out what I would say to these poor new students. Except as it turned out, the bus schedule changed on Tuesday, and I missed the bus to NUC by 5 minutes.
There was sobbing in the bus station, let me tell you. This was my first real obligation at this new job where I want to keep options open and show them what a valuable and committed faculty member I am, and I was going to miss it!
Then I remembered that there was a car rental place around the corner. Now, you may remember that last Tuesday, I was unwilling to make the rented-car drive to NUC on my own – I’ve never really driven alone, and certainly not on the highway! – and so made someone come with me to drive the terrifying, fourteen-lane part. This time, there was no such person on the horizon. The clock was ticking, and I needed to get there, dammit. So I waited, still teary – this time more from fear than anything else – until they opened, and then rented myself a small car and drove here!! By myself! Granted, I didn’t use the major highway until I got lost on the back-road highway that was slowing me down, but I did use it, in the end (when it was down to six lanes)! And I even sped a lot (naughty me) and I got here in one piece, and with three minutes to spare.
The funny thing was, I entered an unprecedented Zone of Calm on this drive. Normally I am such an anxious driver that it becomes, potentially, dangerous. I think something in me knew that I would die – or at least not make it – if I didn’t calm the hell down. So I did. I demonstrated grace under pressure, which I didn’t, frankly, know I could do. In fact, I drove a thousand times better than I usually have – I usually do some erratic things. Those were banished. Forever, I sense.
This might sound like nothing to those of you who’ve been driving since you were sixteen. But it was a huge triumph for me. Yay, me!
The bad part was that because I arrived three minutes before my advising session began, I had had no time to plan what I was going to say. And the nerves and adrenaline that I had suppressed during my entry into the Zone of Calm all flared up as soon as I got out of the car and realized what I had just done. So I was, ahem, not at my best. And anyway, half my group didn’t show up to this supposedly mandatory session. But I’m taking Bardiac’s advice and maintaining regular contact with them over email, and I have strongly urged them to come and meet with me one-on-one over the next week. I could tell a couple of them were really scared – one looked to be on the verge of tears – but not wanting to admit it in front of each other. Seeing me alone might make it feel easier to talk about that.
And my department and little hallway continue to be glorious places of fun and chat and loveliness…
So it’s all good…And I’m a Real Live driver, now.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Advise me on advising?
Tomorrow I have to Advise. I have to advise first-year students in a group, and later in the week, one-on-one. I’ve never done this before, this formal advising thing, nor did I ever have to participate in it myself as a first-year undergraduate student. But New University has an intensive first-year advising system in place, which requires all full-time faculty and staff to be responsible for a handful of incoming students, tracking them through the year.
Now, I have tips on what to talk to them about tomorrow, but I’m interested in starting to think about what this role means, represents, and how I should approach it in a larger sense. Last year, in my first year of full-time teaching, I had a goodly number of my own students come to me informally for advising-ish functions – students told me they feel comfortable talking to me about their lives. But that was haphazard, and I never felt as if I knew quite what to do or what to say, or just what my function was supposed to be. It seemed to work; they were happy, and gave me grateful cards and such – but I didn’t like that I was doing it without clarifying a sort of philosophy of advising for myself.
If any of you who are more experienced advisors have any tips for me on the kinds of things you see as central to this advising experience, from the perspective of professor, I would love to hear them. Also, if you have a sense of what I might say to terrified first-year students tomorrow – besides “it’s important to go to class, do the readings, hand in work on time, and drop courses instead of failing them,” as I’ve been instructed – bring it on.
I’m sure I will post on this again, as I develop the role throughout this week and the year, and figure out what it means to me to be an advisor…
Now, I have tips on what to talk to them about tomorrow, but I’m interested in starting to think about what this role means, represents, and how I should approach it in a larger sense. Last year, in my first year of full-time teaching, I had a goodly number of my own students come to me informally for advising-ish functions – students told me they feel comfortable talking to me about their lives. But that was haphazard, and I never felt as if I knew quite what to do or what to say, or just what my function was supposed to be. It seemed to work; they were happy, and gave me grateful cards and such – but I didn’t like that I was doing it without clarifying a sort of philosophy of advising for myself.
If any of you who are more experienced advisors have any tips for me on the kinds of things you see as central to this advising experience, from the perspective of professor, I would love to hear them. Also, if you have a sense of what I might say to terrified first-year students tomorrow – besides “it’s important to go to class, do the readings, hand in work on time, and drop courses instead of failing them,” as I’ve been instructed – bring it on.
I’m sure I will post on this again, as I develop the role throughout this week and the year, and figure out what it means to me to be an advisor…
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Clothing-Related Issues
Some random clothing observations from my week:
- What was with that awful outfit Jennifer Lopez was wearing at the MTV Awards? Good lord. I practically had to shield my eyes...what was that?
- I went to a faculty event at New University on Thursday at lunch. My Dean was there. She was wearing Birkenstocks, capri pants, and a very deep tan. I was so surprised that I had to go back and look at her picture online to be sure that was really her (I didn't meet her). Sure enough, it was. What can I say? Though I like dressing up a bit myself, I find it heartening to see a Dean at a faculty/staff event in clothes like that. Talk about approachable.
- GF and I went out shopping for a couple of hours yesterday. She wanted to buy me some new clothes, as she has often done as a kind of back-to-school gift. Such a sweetie. Anyway, I found the early part of this trip distressing. I hate, really hate, the 80s thing that is in full swing now. I know many of you love it, skinny jeans and all. But I can't stand it, especially the skinny jeans. And all I was seeing, at these cookie-cutter stores, was 80s fashions in this grey, black and white palette. Ugh. I mean, I like grey, white and black, but I also like some colour - and not red, which reminds me, when in combination with black, grey and white, of 1986! I descended into bitchiness until we got to an area where there were finally some different kinds of things by local designers. Lo and behold, colour! References from decades other than the 80s ! I came away without finding badly needed new pants, but did pick up these two tops by local folks, both of which were inexpensive, and which I love a lot:
This pink one is fairly casual, but I think I could pull it off with either the pants or the skirt of a pink suit that GF had custom-made for me as my 30th birthday present. And hey, if the Dean goes around in Birkenstocks and capris, why not me in this shirt?
- What was with that awful outfit Jennifer Lopez was wearing at the MTV Awards? Good lord. I practically had to shield my eyes...what was that?
- I went to a faculty event at New University on Thursday at lunch. My Dean was there. She was wearing Birkenstocks, capri pants, and a very deep tan. I was so surprised that I had to go back and look at her picture online to be sure that was really her (I didn't meet her). Sure enough, it was. What can I say? Though I like dressing up a bit myself, I find it heartening to see a Dean at a faculty/staff event in clothes like that. Talk about approachable.
- GF and I went out shopping for a couple of hours yesterday. She wanted to buy me some new clothes, as she has often done as a kind of back-to-school gift. Such a sweetie. Anyway, I found the early part of this trip distressing. I hate, really hate, the 80s thing that is in full swing now. I know many of you love it, skinny jeans and all. But I can't stand it, especially the skinny jeans. And all I was seeing, at these cookie-cutter stores, was 80s fashions in this grey, black and white palette. Ugh. I mean, I like grey, white and black, but I also like some colour - and not red, which reminds me, when in combination with black, grey and white, of 1986! I descended into bitchiness until we got to an area where there were finally some different kinds of things by local designers. Lo and behold, colour! References from decades other than the 80s ! I came away without finding badly needed new pants, but did pick up these two tops by local folks, both of which were inexpensive, and which I love a lot:
This pink one is fairly casual, but I think I could pull it off with either the pants or the skirt of a pink suit that GF had custom-made for me as my 30th birthday present. And hey, if the Dean goes around in Birkenstocks and capris, why not me in this shirt?
Friday, September 01, 2006
Friday Recipe Blogging: Best Banana Muffins
OK, so what is it about being at home - cleaning floors, and doing laundry - on a Friday night that I like so much? I think it's that I'm here alone...GF is out at a party to which we were both invited, where neither of us really knows anyone. I said, "uh gee, sounds like a barrel of laughs, but no thanks", knowing that I always like the Friday-night-at-home-alone thing -- even with housework, which I don't generally like. Although I don't have a regular 9-5 workweek, the world's appreciation of Friday nights definitely factors in to this - it feels like stolen time, or holiday...
So I'll also blog tomorrow's breakfast, these muffins This is my standby muffin recipe - when I first discovered it, I made it at least once a week. So, so delicious. It takes about two seconds and uses things I always have on hand (including a freezer full of bananas). It's adapted from The New Lighthearted Cookbook, by Anne Lindsay, which is generally a pretty blah and uninspiring "heart healthy" cookbook - but for these.
WHOLE WHEAT BANANA BRAN MUFFINS
NOTES: I always use three good-sized bananas, and always from the freezer (I thaw them in fridge overnight or microwave on the day). I think this ends up being a fair amount more than the recipe calls for, and is what makes these so moist and yum! Also, my oven bakes these in 18 minutes, not 25. Watch out!
3/4 cup wheat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup mashed banana (remember, 3 bananas!!)
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk or plain, low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup canola oil
In bowl, combine bran, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda; mix well. Add bananas, egg, buttermilk or yogurt, and oil; stir until just combined.
Spoon batter into paper-lined or nonstick muffin tins. Bake in 400 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch.
Makes 12 muffins.
So I'll also blog tomorrow's breakfast, these muffins This is my standby muffin recipe - when I first discovered it, I made it at least once a week. So, so delicious. It takes about two seconds and uses things I always have on hand (including a freezer full of bananas). It's adapted from The New Lighthearted Cookbook, by Anne Lindsay, which is generally a pretty blah and uninspiring "heart healthy" cookbook - but for these.
WHOLE WHEAT BANANA BRAN MUFFINS
NOTES: I always use three good-sized bananas, and always from the freezer (I thaw them in fridge overnight or microwave on the day). I think this ends up being a fair amount more than the recipe calls for, and is what makes these so moist and yum! Also, my oven bakes these in 18 minutes, not 25. Watch out!
3/4 cup wheat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup mashed banana (remember, 3 bananas!!)
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk or plain, low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup canola oil
In bowl, combine bran, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda; mix well. Add bananas, egg, buttermilk or yogurt, and oil; stir until just combined.
Spoon batter into paper-lined or nonstick muffin tins. Bake in 400 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch.
Makes 12 muffins.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wee bit o' whining
So, not to worry - I am still feeling warm and fuzzy and pretty great about my new position.
However, the reason I am blogging at this moment is because I am not on a Greyhound bus traveling back to Home City. Oh no. And why's that? Because the city bus that was supposed to arrive at campus for 1:45, getting downtown at 2:15, in plenty of time for my 2:45 Greyhound, did not arrive on campus till 2:00. The driver then proceeded to have a smoke for twelve minutes. Then we had a lovely little 10-minute stop by the side of the road, halfway into the journey, while the driver finished his coffee and we waited for a change of drivers. So I missed my bus. I mean, I love it here and all, and it's nice that I'm in this friendly cafe with wireless Internet. But I'm hot and lugging bags, and I'm supposed to be going home! And every bus I have gone on this week has been late. Grr -too much!!
Anyway, also - since I'm whining - why not whine about education students? Actually, this isn't about the students, per se, as much as about the culture of education faculties and programs, when they are considered simply "teacher training". They make me crazy! I thought of this because I was surrounded, on my very late city bus, by tiny little women who look about sixteen, and act like it too - talking all excitedly and giggling about their first days of their education degree this week. What? These people are going to be teaching children in one year?
I developed a bit of an allergy to this whole culture last year, when my office at that university was surrounded by three Education classrooms, where the students sat in little groups of four at low tables, and all I could hear, all day long - even with my door closed - was:
However, the reason I am blogging at this moment is because I am not on a Greyhound bus traveling back to Home City. Oh no. And why's that? Because the city bus that was supposed to arrive at campus for 1:45, getting downtown at 2:15, in plenty of time for my 2:45 Greyhound, did not arrive on campus till 2:00. The driver then proceeded to have a smoke for twelve minutes. Then we had a lovely little 10-minute stop by the side of the road, halfway into the journey, while the driver finished his coffee and we waited for a change of drivers. So I missed my bus. I mean, I love it here and all, and it's nice that I'm in this friendly cafe with wireless Internet. But I'm hot and lugging bags, and I'm supposed to be going home! And every bus I have gone on this week has been late. Grr -too much!!
Anyway, also - since I'm whining - why not whine about education students? Actually, this isn't about the students, per se, as much as about the culture of education faculties and programs, when they are considered simply "teacher training". They make me crazy! I thought of this because I was surrounded, on my very late city bus, by tiny little women who look about sixteen, and act like it too - talking all excitedly and giggling about their first days of their education degree this week. What? These people are going to be teaching children in one year?
I developed a bit of an allergy to this whole culture last year, when my office at that university was surrounded by three Education classrooms, where the students sat in little groups of four at low tables, and all I could hear, all day long - even with my door closed - was:
--Education professor: "Good morning, Section 7". Chorus of adults, for chrissake, replying to the teacher in singsong unity: "Good morning, Mrs. X"
--Endless rounds of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and its ilk
--The following, sadly representative exchange between education professor and education student (which I have committed to aggravated memory): Professor: "Let's talk about the book about clay. Julie?" Julie: "It was just about clay, and I liked it." Professor: "Good."
I mean, come on! This is how we prepare people - who are so infantilized by the culture that they don't even seem like adults - to do one of the most important jobs in society? I find it infuriating. And it wasn't even just me being curmudgeonly - I overheard several conversations outside my office, between bitterly disappointed and sometimes angry education students, complaining that they weren't learning anything at all. It was just busywork. I have several friends who are second-career teachers - who have done their teaching degrees in the last few years - who tell me outrageous stories about the dumbed-down environment.
And we wonder about the skills - or lack thereof - of the undergraduate students we teach in BA programs? The inability to think critically, to interrogate things, to sit comfortably with questions instead of pat answers? It really seems to me that it's a vicious cycle...that they aren't learning these skills because the people who are teaching them often haven't been taught that that's their job, as educators.
This isn't to say that there aren't brilliant, critical thinkers in education faculties, and that some of those faculties aren't innovative...I know of a couple like that in Canada, where grad students and faculty are doing really interesting work. But this challenging work doesn't seem to translate at the "teacher training" level, for the most part - and those B.Ed programs largely remain nine-month-long factories, indoctrinating students in provincial policy, and not thinking.
In the part of Canada where I live, at least, this comes down in part to political shifts, which have seen the provincial government embrace a really retrograde approach to curriculum.
So yeah - as sweet as education students almost invariably are, they remind me of something more sinister.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
First Day Here
So can I tell you about my fantastic day yesterday…?
After finding my lost glasses in the least likely of places, I set off to the car rental place nearby to pick up a car I’d reserved…to drive my carload of books and files to my office in New University City. This plan had been a source of apprehension for me, since I just learned how to drive and am a very nervous driver, having only rare opportunities to practice. I was terrified to drive it alone. I was able, in the end, to wrangle my best friend, S, into coming with me. S, sadly, lives in London now – but is here and staying with us right now. And he knows New University City well, having spent a fair bit of time there…So we were able to set off on this little road trip – exactly the kind of time together he and I needed. It also enabled me to get there in normal time, because it wasn’t just skeert me taking the back roads.
The drive there was wonderful, hilarious – S and I were in our “on”, “us” mode, with me behind the wheel laughing so hard, so giddily that I learned the dangers of driving under the influence of hilarity. We arrived at the university and instead of unloading, were told by the very kind departmental secretary to sit tight and wait twenty minutes, because the folks from physical plant would be there to move me in. What? Good lord. I didn’t have to lift a finger to move into my own office.
I went in to say hi to the Department Chair, who greeted me with a hug and fresh baked goods…She’d stopped off at the best bakery in town that morning, she said, to pick me up a muffin and cookie, fearing I’d be flagging after my (actually not terribly long) journey. The treats were ridiculously delicious. We chatted about our dogs. Again, what heavenly sphere have I entered?
Then the departmental secretary handed me a package – the appropriate number of syllabi for each of my classes, all copied and ready to go even though classes don’t start for two weeks. My jaw dropped.
My office is huge and beautiful, and has a wall painted a rich, deep green (my favourite colour), and two windows. I am sharing it, and it is so spacious and so liberally bookshelved that it will be hard for my new officemate and I to get in each other’s way (though we won’t be using it at the same time).
S and I then went downtown for lunch at a place I remembered fondly from visiting friends in this city when we were undergraduates, a long time ago. To celebrate the greatness of it all, the luck of my being here at this place I’ve dreamed off, I reveled in the decadence of afternoon drinking. We met up there with a friend of S’s, a lovely gay boy who says he and I should hang out soon at one of any number of excellent coffee shops. Yes, please.
Then S was on his way and I came “home”, to the house that I’ll be staying in for the four days a week that I’m here, with two dear friends of mine and their gorgeous, eighteen-month-old daughter. This child kills me. Kills me, I tell you. She is the sweetest, most gregarious, and funniest toddler I’ve ever met. And she’s my roommate!
To top it all off, the four of us went out for noodles. I love noodles very, very much. And this dish was noodle perfection – the dish I dream of.
I couldn’t have imagined a better first day in New University City. All bases were covered – work, friends, food…No matter what comes of this appointment, I’m so lucky to be here.
Today has so far been a frustrating day...bureaucratic hassles as I try to get settled in...and the apparent implosion of my iPod. (Fuck you, Apple.) But I still have the remains of yesterday to float on...so off I go to empty files into cabinets and books onto shelves.
After finding my lost glasses in the least likely of places, I set off to the car rental place nearby to pick up a car I’d reserved…to drive my carload of books and files to my office in New University City. This plan had been a source of apprehension for me, since I just learned how to drive and am a very nervous driver, having only rare opportunities to practice. I was terrified to drive it alone. I was able, in the end, to wrangle my best friend, S, into coming with me. S, sadly, lives in London now – but is here and staying with us right now. And he knows New University City well, having spent a fair bit of time there…So we were able to set off on this little road trip – exactly the kind of time together he and I needed. It also enabled me to get there in normal time, because it wasn’t just skeert me taking the back roads.
The drive there was wonderful, hilarious – S and I were in our “on”, “us” mode, with me behind the wheel laughing so hard, so giddily that I learned the dangers of driving under the influence of hilarity. We arrived at the university and instead of unloading, were told by the very kind departmental secretary to sit tight and wait twenty minutes, because the folks from physical plant would be there to move me in. What? Good lord. I didn’t have to lift a finger to move into my own office.
I went in to say hi to the Department Chair, who greeted me with a hug and fresh baked goods…She’d stopped off at the best bakery in town that morning, she said, to pick me up a muffin and cookie, fearing I’d be flagging after my (actually not terribly long) journey. The treats were ridiculously delicious. We chatted about our dogs. Again, what heavenly sphere have I entered?
Then the departmental secretary handed me a package – the appropriate number of syllabi for each of my classes, all copied and ready to go even though classes don’t start for two weeks. My jaw dropped.
My office is huge and beautiful, and has a wall painted a rich, deep green (my favourite colour), and two windows. I am sharing it, and it is so spacious and so liberally bookshelved that it will be hard for my new officemate and I to get in each other’s way (though we won’t be using it at the same time).
S and I then went downtown for lunch at a place I remembered fondly from visiting friends in this city when we were undergraduates, a long time ago. To celebrate the greatness of it all, the luck of my being here at this place I’ve dreamed off, I reveled in the decadence of afternoon drinking. We met up there with a friend of S’s, a lovely gay boy who says he and I should hang out soon at one of any number of excellent coffee shops. Yes, please.
Then S was on his way and I came “home”, to the house that I’ll be staying in for the four days a week that I’m here, with two dear friends of mine and their gorgeous, eighteen-month-old daughter. This child kills me. Kills me, I tell you. She is the sweetest, most gregarious, and funniest toddler I’ve ever met. And she’s my roommate!
To top it all off, the four of us went out for noodles. I love noodles very, very much. And this dish was noodle perfection – the dish I dream of.
I couldn’t have imagined a better first day in New University City. All bases were covered – work, friends, food…No matter what comes of this appointment, I’m so lucky to be here.
Today has so far been a frustrating day...bureaucratic hassles as I try to get settled in...and the apparent implosion of my iPod. (Fuck you, Apple.) But I still have the remains of yesterday to float on...so off I go to empty files into cabinets and books onto shelves.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Update: Blogging an important lost thing
Update: Things looked pretty dire last night, as I searched high and low for my little glasses. But this morning, as I opened the door of our only general-use, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink closet, they clattered to the floor. WTF? Anyway, thank you, blogspirits, for your compliance in this matter. For today is the day that I am driving my carload of office stuff to New University City, moving into my new office and my new life there. I couldn't have done it without my chic little glasses.
I have lost my glasses...I haven't been able to find them all day...I know people swear by blogging their lost objects as a means of finding them...so, sorry. Where are you, glasses? I have been very sad without you and had to resort to my old glasses, which, while quite nice in a retro kind of way, weight oh-so-much more than your lovely, light selves.
I command you, show yourselves!
I have lost my glasses...I haven't been able to find them all day...I know people swear by blogging their lost objects as a means of finding them...so, sorry. Where are you, glasses? I have been very sad without you and had to resort to my old glasses, which, while quite nice in a retro kind of way, weight oh-so-much more than your lovely, light selves.
I command you, show yourselves!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Goals for a new year
So funny that New Kid, following others, had a post on resolutions for the academic year! I've been writing down scraps of goals for the new year for the last month or so, planning just such a post this week. They include:
Teaching
I am still new at this game, last year having been my first year of full-time teaching. I had a great year, overall - learned a lot and boosted my confidence about 1000% - but I was aware, all along, of so many things to work on. Like these:
- Stop being a pushover. I tend to be too nice to students and tolerant of their disorganization and disrespect around issues of lateness, etc. I need to be firmer from the outset. I find this challenging; I fall for it all.
- Stop over-preparing. I did this for some of my classes, I think because I felt I needed a crutch. I need to trust myself more, trust my own ability to think on my feet. In May I taught a course in my own subfield, and was able to start being more spontaneous because of my comfort with the topic. (I get to teach it again this fall at the new university.) I hope to carry this over into the rest of my teaching. This isn't about cutting down on workload; it's about learning to be a better, more flexible teacher.
- Stop getting frazzled with technology in the classroom. Last year I taught one of my courses in a room that was really ill-equipped; it took me weeks to figure shit out, and I kept on having to chase down tech support in the middle of class. (Other classrooms worked fine, so it wasn't just me; I'm really not that tech-challenged, honest!) It was truly awful - because I was new and nerved out in general, I would lose my mind, become semi-hysterical in front of the students. Then feel humiliated and lose sleep. Since I'm at a new uni, the system will be slightly different, and I'm sure my adjustment will be a bit bumpy. I must stay calm!
- Enact strategies for managing all the students in my discipline, described here, who run off at the mouth and intimidate their peers, dominating conversation with their unique form of academic monotheism.
- Employ creative strategies for discussion in my third-year core, required course - don't just read about these strategies and think about them; spend the time to work out how to apply them.
- Said third-year, required course is the theory course for the discipline. Most students think they don't like theory; they're scared of it. Always keep that fact front of mind, and plan class in ways that emphasize the usefulness and attractiveness of theory.
- Lastly, revise approaches. I am teaching the theory course twice: once at the main campus and then the next night at a satellite campus, with a smaller group. I want to use this as an opportunity to reflect on my teaching; think hard about what didn't work and try out something different the next night.
Research
- Most important: stop being precious about my research time! Stop thinking I can't read and write unless I have a whole day, or at least a half-day; that ain't gonna happen very often. So, learn how to approach my research for an hour here or there. I like New Kid's resolution to do research/writing five times a week, even if just for fifteen minutes at a time.
- Establish some sort of reading group - or reading dyad, as I'm talking about doing it with just one other person from my former PhD program - to keep thinking and talking regularly with other scholars about some issues that are relevant to my research but not so much, currently, to my teaching; I am loath to become rusty in this stuff I love.
- Write this conference paper that I'm to present on October 13, by September 22. Using comments from conference-goers, revise and expand it to submit for consideration at journal by December 15.
- By December 31, reread dissertation with red pen at hand, figuring out how to rip it apart, add to it, and sew it back together in radically different form as a book. Emerge with PLAN. I suck at restructuring my own work; I need to think about this not just as editing a dissertation, but as using it as the basis for a new project. (It's tempting to just file it away forever, but after thinking about it this summer, I think there's such a hole in the scholarship and it could be partially filled by this material.)
Job search
I'm on a contractually limited appointment at this university I've always longed to be at. This means I'm still on the market for something tenure-track. The folks in my new department keep telling me about the tenure-track position they hope will be opening up this year; it's hard not to suffocate from wanting that so badly.
- So, don't get too hung up on this, even though it's really my dream job.
- Cultivate nonchalance in my own thinking about my job applications; don't get too invested in any of the options I apply for, because that's only courting heartbreak. (Since we're looking at a much smaller market here, and in my discipline especially, you don't apply for that many things, and it is possible - as I discovered last year - to become really hung up on every possibility...)
- Stop looking at online real estate listings in the places I apply to!
Balance and Life
- Work out more regularly. I've never really stopped working out, but this summer has seen me exercising less than I like, what with relying entirely on running and no gym because I didn't want to spend the money. With income again, I can join a gym again - yay!
- When I do want to run, do it in the morning. This is hard for me; I am not a natural morning runner...but I made some headway with just-out-of-bed running this summer and I need to keep that up even as mornings get darker and colder...
- Take lessons in a dance form, now that I'm not going to be doing The Activity.
- Get better organized. I am quietly disorganized (although seem to have pulled the wool over people's eyes on this one; with the exception of uber-organized GF, who lives with me and sees it in action, people always think I'm so on top of things. They are wrong). The other night I was filing some stuff in preparation for my upcoming move of office stuff to New University City. What two disturbing reminders of my idiocy did I discover? One, a never-opened envelope, dating from last October, with a cheque in it addressed to me. Two, a fax I'd sent to the provincial birth registry requesting a new copy of my birth certificate. Did I remember doing this? No. Did I ever see the birth certificate? No. Do I know what the hell happened? No. Oy - I really, really need to get on top of things.
That's it for now. Lots to think about, but I'm energized for this new year and new university, so I'm ready for challenges galore.
Teaching
I am still new at this game, last year having been my first year of full-time teaching. I had a great year, overall - learned a lot and boosted my confidence about 1000% - but I was aware, all along, of so many things to work on. Like these:
- Stop being a pushover. I tend to be too nice to students and tolerant of their disorganization and disrespect around issues of lateness, etc. I need to be firmer from the outset. I find this challenging; I fall for it all.
- Stop over-preparing. I did this for some of my classes, I think because I felt I needed a crutch. I need to trust myself more, trust my own ability to think on my feet. In May I taught a course in my own subfield, and was able to start being more spontaneous because of my comfort with the topic. (I get to teach it again this fall at the new university.) I hope to carry this over into the rest of my teaching. This isn't about cutting down on workload; it's about learning to be a better, more flexible teacher.
- Stop getting frazzled with technology in the classroom. Last year I taught one of my courses in a room that was really ill-equipped; it took me weeks to figure shit out, and I kept on having to chase down tech support in the middle of class. (Other classrooms worked fine, so it wasn't just me; I'm really not that tech-challenged, honest!) It was truly awful - because I was new and nerved out in general, I would lose my mind, become semi-hysterical in front of the students. Then feel humiliated and lose sleep. Since I'm at a new uni, the system will be slightly different, and I'm sure my adjustment will be a bit bumpy. I must stay calm!
- Enact strategies for managing all the students in my discipline, described here, who run off at the mouth and intimidate their peers, dominating conversation with their unique form of academic monotheism.
- Employ creative strategies for discussion in my third-year core, required course - don't just read about these strategies and think about them; spend the time to work out how to apply them.
- Said third-year, required course is the theory course for the discipline. Most students think they don't like theory; they're scared of it. Always keep that fact front of mind, and plan class in ways that emphasize the usefulness and attractiveness of theory.
- Lastly, revise approaches. I am teaching the theory course twice: once at the main campus and then the next night at a satellite campus, with a smaller group. I want to use this as an opportunity to reflect on my teaching; think hard about what didn't work and try out something different the next night.
Research
- Most important: stop being precious about my research time! Stop thinking I can't read and write unless I have a whole day, or at least a half-day; that ain't gonna happen very often. So, learn how to approach my research for an hour here or there. I like New Kid's resolution to do research/writing five times a week, even if just for fifteen minutes at a time.
- Establish some sort of reading group - or reading dyad, as I'm talking about doing it with just one other person from my former PhD program - to keep thinking and talking regularly with other scholars about some issues that are relevant to my research but not so much, currently, to my teaching; I am loath to become rusty in this stuff I love.
- Write this conference paper that I'm to present on October 13, by September 22. Using comments from conference-goers, revise and expand it to submit for consideration at journal by December 15.
- By December 31, reread dissertation with red pen at hand, figuring out how to rip it apart, add to it, and sew it back together in radically different form as a book. Emerge with PLAN. I suck at restructuring my own work; I need to think about this not just as editing a dissertation, but as using it as the basis for a new project. (It's tempting to just file it away forever, but after thinking about it this summer, I think there's such a hole in the scholarship and it could be partially filled by this material.)
Job search
I'm on a contractually limited appointment at this university I've always longed to be at. This means I'm still on the market for something tenure-track. The folks in my new department keep telling me about the tenure-track position they hope will be opening up this year; it's hard not to suffocate from wanting that so badly.
- So, don't get too hung up on this, even though it's really my dream job.
- Cultivate nonchalance in my own thinking about my job applications; don't get too invested in any of the options I apply for, because that's only courting heartbreak. (Since we're looking at a much smaller market here, and in my discipline especially, you don't apply for that many things, and it is possible - as I discovered last year - to become really hung up on every possibility...)
- Stop looking at online real estate listings in the places I apply to!
Balance and Life
- Work out more regularly. I've never really stopped working out, but this summer has seen me exercising less than I like, what with relying entirely on running and no gym because I didn't want to spend the money. With income again, I can join a gym again - yay!
- When I do want to run, do it in the morning. This is hard for me; I am not a natural morning runner...but I made some headway with just-out-of-bed running this summer and I need to keep that up even as mornings get darker and colder...
- Take lessons in a dance form, now that I'm not going to be doing The Activity.
- Get better organized. I am quietly disorganized (although seem to have pulled the wool over people's eyes on this one; with the exception of uber-organized GF, who lives with me and sees it in action, people always think I'm so on top of things. They are wrong). The other night I was filing some stuff in preparation for my upcoming move of office stuff to New University City. What two disturbing reminders of my idiocy did I discover? One, a never-opened envelope, dating from last October, with a cheque in it addressed to me. Two, a fax I'd sent to the provincial birth registry requesting a new copy of my birth certificate. Did I remember doing this? No. Did I ever see the birth certificate? No. Do I know what the hell happened? No. Oy - I really, really need to get on top of things.
That's it for now. Lots to think about, but I'm energized for this new year and new university, so I'm ready for challenges galore.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Friday Recipe Blogging: Plum Cake
So last week Medieval Woman started her own little tradition, recipe blogging (and here is today's instalment). Since I'm not much of a poetry blogger, I'm following her lead.I'm just in the midst of preparing a dinner for some friends.
I've been so excited about all the local produce I've been getting at the neighbourhood organic farmer's market, so I'm using lots of that. Making this roasted tomato soup with the crazy tomato bounty I bought yesterday...also serving organic sheep's cheese from the market, with baguette (and then the decidedly not local-markety, but always awesome, lemon parmesan linguine).
And I've made this most gorgeous cake! I bought these plums at the market yesterday, too. The flesh is this startling deep fuschia colour...I've never seen anything quite like it. I've made them into this plum cake recipe that was in the Globe and Mail last Saturday...it sure looks freaking gorgeous...seriously, that colour! I don't even want to cut into it.
Will serve with *very* lightly sweetened whipped cream on the side.
Plum Cake (Globe and Mail, August 19, 2006)
2 pounds plums, quartered and pitted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cake:
2 eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup canola oil
3 tablespoons orange juice
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom of pan with parchment paper.
Toss together plums, 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Reserve.
Use an electric mixer to beat eggs, ¾ cup sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until pale and thick. Blend in oil and orange juice.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture, folding together until batter is blended and smooth. Reserve.
Spread batter into prepared cake pan. Artfully arrange plums over surface of batter and press them down slightly to partly submerge. Drizzle any juice over top.
Bake for 1 hour to an hour and 10 minutes in lower third of oven, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in pan. Slice and serve warm or cold. Serves 4 with leftovers for breakfast the next morning.
I've been so excited about all the local produce I've been getting at the neighbourhood organic farmer's market, so I'm using lots of that. Making this roasted tomato soup with the crazy tomato bounty I bought yesterday...also serving organic sheep's cheese from the market, with baguette (and then the decidedly not local-markety, but always awesome, lemon parmesan linguine).
And I've made this most gorgeous cake! I bought these plums at the market yesterday, too. The flesh is this startling deep fuschia colour...I've never seen anything quite like it. I've made them into this plum cake recipe that was in the Globe and Mail last Saturday...it sure looks freaking gorgeous...seriously, that colour! I don't even want to cut into it.
Will serve with *very* lightly sweetened whipped cream on the side.
Plum Cake (Globe and Mail, August 19, 2006)
2 pounds plums, quartered and pitted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cake:
2 eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup canola oil
3 tablespoons orange juice
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom of pan with parchment paper.
Toss together plums, 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Reserve.
Use an electric mixer to beat eggs, ¾ cup sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until pale and thick. Blend in oil and orange juice.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture, folding together until batter is blended and smooth. Reserve.
Spread batter into prepared cake pan. Artfully arrange plums over surface of batter and press them down slightly to partly submerge. Drizzle any juice over top.
Bake for 1 hour to an hour and 10 minutes in lower third of oven, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in pan. Slice and serve warm or cold. Serves 4 with leftovers for breakfast the next morning.
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