Robinson Crusoe

As you may know, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is the story of a man who recounts the monotonous details of his life at an excruciating level of detail because, among other reasons, it makes him feel like what he is doing matters (though he is stranded on a desert island for much of the narrative).  In the spirit of this novel (often called the first novel ever written, depending on how you classify it), I thought I would follow up my last post about a slightly more harried than usual day on campus with a description of what I did yesterday, which was a typical work-from-home day for me.

I woke up at 7am.  I intended to start my day by getting my day's allotment of student paper grading out of the way.  I only made it through three of the six papers I had intended to grade before I gave up to move onto something else.  I showered and got dressed, hoping this would make me feel like my day actually started with the next activity.

Then I got through about 40 pages of Robinson Crusoe before I had to quit that, too.

I read two articles about Katherine Anne Porter's work and typed up their entries for the presentation I'm due to give on KAP on Wednesday.  I emailed the curator of the KAP collection to ask her a question about the letters I read last week, to which she promptly responded with a very helpful answer.

I graded the remaining three papers from the day's allotment.  I formulated a plan for dealing with an act of academic dishonesty and emailed the student to request a meeting.  I considered smashing my head into the desk but restrained myself.

I read 20 more pages of Crusoe.  I cursed Crusoe for feeling the need to be so specific.

I took a 20 minute nap.  It is nearly impossible for me to make it through a day of reading at home without laying down for 20 minutes.  I have been told that my grandfather was narcoleptic, and I don't know if there's a narcolepsy "spectrum" like there is an autism "spectrum," but if there is, I'm on it.  I don't actually need to sleep, really.  I just need to lay down and give myself permission to drift off into sleep, and then I feel recharged.  Usually I am asleep within two minutes and I wake up on my own before the 20 minutes is even up. Sometimes I have brilliant ideas while transitioning from sleeping to wakefulness, but yesterday was not one of those days.

I spent a few hours reading a chapter from Jill Casid's Sowing Empire.  When Billy got home, I reached a stopping point, and we went to the gym.  On the way home from the gym, we picked up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store.  I made a mental note that grad school is still better than working in a grocery store deli (I used to do this).  I made side dishes to accompany the chicken and Billy, Vickie, and I enjoyed dinner together.  (Verdict: Kraft's new "Homestyle" Mac and Cheese is still inferior to Velveeta Shells and Cheese.)

I finished the Casid article, then read 40 more pages of Crusoe.  Having finished 100 pages by 8pm, I decided I was quitting for the day.  I went downstairs to watch TV with Billy and Vickie until bed.  I felt satisfied that the only thing I had failed to accomplish in my plans for the day were the final 60 pages of Crusoe.  I questioned my level of sanity when I realized that I had assigned myself 160 pages of this dreaded tale in a single day.

In the midst of these activities I sorted, washed, dried, folded, and put away 4 loads of laundry.  It has also been brought to my attention that I ate nearly an entire bag (approximately 25?) chocolate mini-donuts.  I was not aware I'd eaten so many until Vickie and Billy independently lamented the missing donuts.  Over the course of the day I also glanced several times at the 300 page novel I am supposed to finish by Thursday.  I don't have a good feeling about the likelihood that it will be accomplished, but I feel okay about this, because it's a book I will actually look forward to reading over break.

Before I fell asleep I said a mental thank you to my old Graduate School Director, Kandice, for the double course release this year.  Teaching and taking three classes this semester is taking its toll on me, and I am thankful every day that I don't have to do it again next term.

And then I slept.  Well.