A Grain of Wheat

This morning, I went for my first outdoor run after several weeks of trips to the gym for workouts on mechanized equipment.  The weather was just too great to pass up, and one of my classes did not meet last week, so that has allowed me the chance to make some headway on getting ahead instead of feeling like I am constantly behind.  As soon as I got onto the trail, I noticed that I was in the middle of an official race.  And because of where I'd started, I was just behind the leaders.  This was made me laugh to myself until I got a cramp.  I got to see firsthand just how fast the winners of these events run as they sailed past me, one after the other.  I did get a few cheers at one point, though, from some people who I assume mistook me for the female leader.  Fortunately, after I'd finished my first mile or so, their route took them off the trail, so I got to enjoy my last four miles in (relative) peace.  I don't know how fast I ran, but I pushed myself pretty hard at the end, and it felt great to be out in the fresh air again.  It reminded me of a quote from A Grain of Wheat, by Ngugi wa Thiong'o which I read for class last week. One of the characters is running in a race during his village's celebration of Kenyan independence, and we're told "he used to run in all long-distance races.  He had even developed a theory about such races.  'They test how long you can endure hardship,' he used to say.  'You say to yourself.  I will not give up: I will see this to the end.'"  Indeed.  If I've already unlocked a Kenyan "theory" of long distance running on my own, I'm destined for a faster race pace, right? : )

Since my schedule's not quite as tight this weekend, I thought I'd take a minute to share with you all what I'm up to this semester.  It's a lot of work, but so far I'm enjoying all of it, so that keeps it manageable.

I'm teaching English 101, which is officially called "Introduction to Academic Writing."  I only have one section with 21 students, so I really can't complain.  It's not a literature based course at all-- it's the class the incoming students are required to take to prepare them for the writing assignments they'll have to complete thereafter in their academic careers.  The teaching model is based in rhetoric, so I get to teach some of the things we discuss in our department, but mostly I'm responsible for helping them learn how to become better writers.  All PhD students start out by teaching this course, and a lot of them complain about it because they'd rather be teaching literature and there's a lot of grading.  I like teaching writing, though, and since I'm only teaching one section, the grading responsibilities will not be as overwhelming as if I'd been required to teach two.

I'm also taking three classes.  On Tuesdays I'm taking a class about 18th Century Experimentalism and Natural Philosophy.  Or, as I might title it, "How science as we know it came to be."  I'm technically taking it because I slid through our MA program without taking enough classes in pre-1800 subjects (one of my professors changed the scope of his class at the last minute), so it's a requirement, but I've been wanting to take a class with this professor, anyway, so I'm enjoying it.  She tried to kill us with the reading assignments in the first two weeks, but now that I've accomplished those, I'm hoping it will be slightly smoother sailing for the rest of the semester.  Plus, we've finally gotten started on the literature written about experimentalism, so I'm starting to feel more "in my own element."

On Wednesdays I'm re-taking a class on American Modernism/Modernity that is similar to the one I took in Spring 09, which I might title "Whatever Liz wants to read."  Since we took the class with this professor last time he taught it, my friend Katie and I are taking it as a pseudo independent study.  We're attending class on days that address new texts and working with our professor outside of class that relate more specifically to our research interests.  It's really an ideal scenario for me, because it's precisely the type of literature that I want to be reading, and his flexibility with the syllabus will allow me to get an early start on working on the reading list that will ultimately serve as the basis for my comprehensive exams next year.  (Yes, I am always looking forward.  No use in standing still.)

On Thursdays I have a class in Postcolonial Literature and Theory survey course, which I could otherwise call "Books written by people whose names I can't pronounce."  I feel completely clueless in this class, because after we left Conrad and Achebe behind in week one, I've never even read any of the authors we're covering, not to mention the texts we're assigned.  It's supposed to be a survey, which means an "intro" to the field, but since it's the only postcolonial class offered this semester, a lot of people who specialize in this area are enrolled in it, as well.  The one saving grace for me is that I've read a lot of the critical theory that serves as the foundation for the field, so even though the texts are new, the ideas are ones I'm used to working with.

These seem like a strange hodge podge on paper (or online), but as always, they begin to grow together more than I had originally anticipated.  One of the articles I had to read for my PoCo class last week mentioned one of the texts I'd read for my Experimentalism class the week before.  And so it goes.

The final thing I want to mention is that I've decided to stop making this blog "searchable" via google and the like.  This means you'll no longer be able to type "Literature is where I go" into google and pull up the blog (I hope), so if that's how you're used to finding your way to me, please add the URL as a bookmark or put me in your blog reader instead.  I'm careful about what I write here, since I know I'm sending it out into the public world, but the blog is not really meant for consumption by those who don't know me personally, so I don't see any reason why people need to be able to find it in their search engines.

Hope you've all enjoyed a restful weekend, and that your week ahead is productive.  Vickie is set to return to MD tomorrow, and the new season of Glee premieres the night after that, so things are looking good for us this week.  No races coming up anytime soon, and a whole month before the next Navy football game, but maybe that means I can get even farther ahead in my studies!

And just for good measure, here are a couple pictures of Clara and Cash enjoying the brand new additions to their families:

Thanks for sharing the pictures, guys!