Ulysses

As you may know, James Joyce's Ulysses documents a single day in the life of his protagonist.  It's reputation is that it's fascinating but difficult to read (and exceptionally long).  I don't anticipate that this post will be of a length to rival Ulysses, but I thought some of you might wonder what my regular day to day life is like as an overcommitted grad student this semester.  And since I am nearing the end of this crazy, harebrained day, I imagine my prose will make about as much sense as Joyce's but will be must less intentionally obfuscating.

I woke up at 5:45am with Billy because I had to get work done this morning.  Most mornings I try to "sleep in" until 7am, but having to get up early is not an unusual occurrence.

I tried to start the day by reading the essay I meant to read yesterday, but which I didn't have time to get to.  I read the first three paragraphs before deciding it was really important, and I needed to take it seriously, and thus had to push it off until Friday.

I read an article for my Thursday afternoon class because though I'd read the novel assigned, I hadn't read any secondary texts yet.  I had meant to get to them, but I hadn't had time.  I chose the one that was about modernism, and wrote the required post on the discussion board online, which was another thing I had thought I wouldn't get to.  I felt like I had a productive morning.

I drove to work in the pouring rain.  I got to my office, loaded up my bag, and went to teach my freshmen.  Fifteen minutes into class I realized that I'd forgotten all of their handouts, so I had to trek back across campus in the pouring rain to get them.  I had to teach the rest of my class in a clammy, wet state.  It didn't go well.

I went back to my office again.  I ran into a friend I haven't seen in months and couldn't talk to her for more than a few minutes.

I went to the library to read a letter recommended to me by the curator of the Katherine Anne Porter collection.   It was really fascinating and will be useful to my research, but I didn't have time to really think about it.  I made conscious effort to stop and remind myself that this is why I want to be in grad school, even if I don't have time for it this particular semester.

I picked up lunch on my way back to my office and ate it while I met with a student who had asked for help with his writing.  He is writing about net neutrality, so he seems to be speaking a different language, but I am optimistic that he'll be able to help me understand it and I'll end up learning quite a bit from his research.

I went to my own class from 3:30-6.  My professor started class by suggesting that she hadn't gotten a chance to read any of our discussion posts.  Later in the class she said that the essay I read (the only essay I read) is a terrible essay, and is an example of how not to write a critical essay.  I tried to comfort myself by reminding myself that I'd pointed out something I thought was missing from her argument.

I went back to my office to begin this blog entry, but only got about four sentences in.  Katie stopped by and she took a few photos of me for the SSG blog. 

Then we went to our 20th Century Reading Group meeting.  I wanted to go to be with "my people" and to hear my professor talk about his new book.  Plus, there was pizza.  I knew two students were presenting papers, but I assumed my professor would go first and I could leave.  (No offense, ladies, but I'm exhausted!)  I was wrong.  I didn't get out of there until after 8:30 and didn't get home until around 9:30.

I got home and Oscar sat on my lap while I watched The Big Bang with Billy and Vickie. 

I came upstairs to look at the photos Katie took for the SSG blog and they're all blurry.  I answered an email from a student who did not turn in a major assignment today even though I have a policy of not answering emails after 8:30pm.  I realized that I left the powercord to my macbook in my office, so I'll be without a laptop until Tuesday unless I want to waste nearly 2 hours driving there and back to get it.

I sat down to finish this blog post.  And now I am going to bed without even reading through it again.  Every day is not like this.  Sometimes I don't even leave the house, and I get to sit around reading all day.  Saturday I will get to take some time off to go to the Navy game.  But if you happen to catch me on the phone, online, or in person, and I tell you that I have so many things going on that I feel like I'm not doing any of them well, this is why.

Tomorrow's a new day, though.  I'll get up early, brew some coffee, and hopefully the essay I pushed off until tomorrow will remind me why I love grad school despite days like today.