Category Archives: Reading

The Salt Eaters

Posted on 28 November 2009 | Leave a comment

I spent the better part of today rereading a book that I read last spring semester. I had been warned that I would one day open a book that I had read in graduate school, one that had my notes and everything in it, and forget that I had read it. I didn’t expect, however, to forget the contents of a book that I just read last semester. I know I read it. I remember because I remember the bus driver and being just as confused about what was going on with him and driving the bus into the marsh. I simply have no idea how the book ends or what is really going on it. I seem to remember that it all comes together in the end.I am just happy that there is so much about healing and wholeness in the book.

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I am thankful for the healing of my foot. It seems to feel much better today.

Exercise: walked the dogs 2 miles

Food: banana, juice, strawberry Belgian waffle with whipped cream, spinach and spring greens salad with poppyseed dressing, sunflower seeds, and cheese, cheese cube and piece of bread, tomato soup, grilled cheese on homemade bread, two long carrots

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Posted in Food, Reading, School

African Studies Conference

Posted on 6 November 2009 | 3 comments

The conference went off without a hitch. My paper turned out pretty well, and I am happy that I got it finished and that it was not a horrible paper. I am not sure why my ideas take so long to congeal, but I wish they would learn to do it a bit more quickly. At any rate, the coordinator of the conference, Dr. Patton, said she had burning questions for all of us, and congratulated us on our papers, so that is a good sign, right? Our panel chair, Dr. Peterson, engaged each of us in the discussion afterwords, which was enlightening and helpful. What interests me about conference presentations is that even when the papers are not written around a certain theme, they still seem to take on similar qualities. For example, our presentation were all on entirely different ideas, subjects, or themes, but we were able to see definite similarities between the three of them. In short, I think we made BSU look good.

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Posted in Literature, Reading, Writing

It’s Official: I Have Over-committed.

Posted on 26 October 2009 | 1 comment

This week is the first week of my life in which I am absolutely uncertain about how I will logistically finish everything I need to do. Here are the work-related things I need to accomplish by next Monday at 9 AM:

  • Plan lessons for Tuesday and Thursday English 103
  • Plan midterm review for Thursday for American literature
  • grade 50 English 103 essays (Sunday through Tuesday)
  • write an American literature midterm
  • grade 23 American literature midterms (next weekend)
  • grade 23 American literature comic assignments (next weekend)
  • write a twenty-minute conference paper (Saturday and Sunday)
  • work on my dissertation proposal and have something to show Debbie (Saturday and Sunday)

These are the fun things I am doing during the same time period:

  • Going to see my friend Kimberly on Wednesday morning
  • Reading some of the new Judith Butler book, Frames of War
  • Spending Halloween Evening with Ed, Abs, and Iz (Saturday evening)
  • Running a 5-mile trail run at the Mounds with my brother (Sunday afternoon)

My life is pretty hectic right now. In fact, I need to really pare down. I keep saying that and then not doing it, but I really need to do it. I keep forgetting appointments, meetings, and coffee dates, which is not responsible or admirable.

Over this past weekend, I got a great surprise. Bec took me to Vera Mae’s with a gift certificate she got for her birthday from Advantage. This wasn’t the biggest surprise. The fact that my pasta primavera was actually good was a huge one! Typically, the pasta is not delicious nor is it primavera. On their menu, the dish is called Ravioli Primavera, which is supposed to be “tender ravioli stuffed with portabello mushrooms and topped with crisp, spring vegetables in a garlic butter white wine sauce.” What usually comes out on the plate is about ten raviolis with some white sauce slapped over it. This time the ravioli was actually covered with vegetables and the sauce was fresh not clumpy and thick. The dish was actually savory. However, I failed to realize that they changed the sauce from an alfredo sauce to a white wine sauce.

Remember, I am not supposed to have grapes, raisins, or anything of that nature because of my Nazarite vow. When I realized my mistake, I looked up what was supposed to happen when someone breaks a vow of this nature. The vow is supposed to begin again with a re-dedication and a cleanly shorn head. I thought about starting over, but then I figured that my consumption of grapes was unintentional, so I am probably okay with just continuing my vow as is. However, I did find a source that said even if someone falls down dead next to a Nazarite, through no cause of his own, the Nazarite is supposed to be re-dedicated. I am still trying to decide what I should do. I want to honor my vow, but I don’t want to start over.

I had another surprise over the weekend. My friend, Amy, came over from Cincinnati to meet me for lunch on Sunday. We toured Muncie, looking for a restaurant that was open on Sunday afternoon. After driving downtown and finding the Blue Bottle closed, we went to Wishbone gifts and looked at the disc golf discs, glass pipes, hookas, and jewelry. Then we went down Walnut to Sketchy Thai, which was also closed on Sunday. Finally, we settled on Johnny Carino’s after we went through BSU’s campus so I could show Amy the amazing room I teach in. We had a great time, but I realized that I am sometimes a horrible friend, which stems back to the fact that I am ridiculously busy. There were several life-events that I had forgotten to tell Amy. I thought I had told her, but apparently I hadn’t. I can only say that I suck right now.

I think part of my problem is Facebook. I am an addict. I checked through my old posts, and I get on to check it approximately three times an hour. My problem with this addiction is that I don’t want to get rid of it entirely because I have made contacts with old friends who I don’t want to lose contact with and it’s a great resource to connect with my students. However, I am not adept at self-control, so I say I am going to stop using it, but I don’t. I continue to check it constantly. It’s ridiculous.

So, here I go. On with my week.

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Posted in Dissertation, Reading, Relationships, Running, School, Teaching

10K. Another 10K. Italian Food. So Much of It.

Posted on 11 October 2009 | 1 comment

On Saturday, I ran my first 10K. For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know that means I really jogged a 10K, but saying jogged isn’t nearly as sexy as saying ran. So, I ran my first 10K. I finished. Last. Dead last. All said and done, the run took me an hour and twenty-four minutes, which is approximately 13.5 minutes per mile, not so bad for a fat kid. I came in third in my age group. I won a ribbon, a ribbon I promptly lost on the way home. Because I don’t have a car and so my legs wouldn’t be rubber today, I rode my bike to the race. On my way home, my ribbon fell out of my sweatshirt pocket. I am not sure where. I didn’t bother to go back and look. I love it that I came in dead last, but still got a ribbon! Magic. And all good things.

Today is Bec’s fiftieth birthday. The big 5-0. We celebrated by spending time with Ed, Abs, and Iz yesterday and by going to the Salamonie Reservoir to hike about 5.5 or 6 miles today. We started this new tradition last year when it was almost 80º. This year it was less than 50º, but the hike was still excellent. Actually, it was perfect. We walked along the tree trail, which is a trail that has all the tress marked for the students who are supposed to do leaf collections for school, and then cut over to the Kon-Ti-On-Ki Bike Trail. I suppose Kon-Ti-On-Ki is some pseudo-American Indian name, but I think it means Government Mind-Fuck or Big Brother is Watching You because the trail just folds over on itself again and again. Each time we walk it, I swear there is someone hovering slightly above the trees, checking to make sure we follow the path. I am waiting to get shocked for stepping out of bounds.

Once we finished hiking, we drove to Fort Wayne and had dinner at Casa! Ristorante. The food was fantastic, but there was so much of it that we both have at least two meal’s worth of food left over. Right now, I am sitting here watching the Travel Channel’s Extreme Pigout and wondering why we find it necessary to make foods like the ones shown. One restaurant offered two pancakes, each a foot in diameter, topped with a half pound of strawberries, two bananas, and a half-cup of chocolate chips. The order of pancakes is over 2000 calories. For breakfast.  Do we need to wonder why people keep getting fatter? When did it become cool to stuff yourself silly? I mean, the Romans did it once in a while at an orgy, but overindulging every day for every meal is almost certainly an American invention. I get tired of going out for dinner, paying an exorbitant price, and then having food left over that won’t taste anywhere near as good the next day. Pasta and pizza are passable, but most foods are simply not edible (or tasty) a second time around. I would much prefer to pay a bit less and get an actual portion of food. And one that tastes delicious. Don’t get me wrong, our food today was great. In fact, it was one of the best Italian meals I’ve had in a long time, but there was so much! It’s in the fridge now for tomorrow’s lunch. And Tuesday’s lunch.

The coming week is sure to be less hectic than the last, but I am sure it will have its own busy moments. I have several social meetings this week, as well as a couple of new school-related appointments. Tomorrow, I am having coffee with a woman from church after Abs and I have our first meeting for our creative writing group at Burris. Tuesday, I am meeting my friend, Stephanie, at the Blue Bottle for coffee if I don’t forget again! I am supposed to have narrowed down the books I plan to use and start a literature review for my dissertation, so I can meet with Debbie in a week. I know I need to read one book, because I think it will fit in well with my proposed topic. Finally, I need to get the book, Judith Butler’s Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable?, for the group I am in so I can start reading it. Also, I just finished grading my students’ first set of papers, and their second set is due on Tuesday. Just when I thought things would slow down, they have sped right back up again.

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Posted in Dissertation, Fat, Food, Reading, Running, School, Teaching

I Believe…

Posted on 3 September 2009 | 4 comments
  1. people are inherently good.
  2. in smelling flowers.
  3. in watching butterflies.
  4. that if everyone rode a motorcycle, we would be a much more peaceful planet.
  5. in God.
  6. tattoos make skin beautiful.
  7. in sleeping for at least 9 hours each night.
  8. that tragedies happen for a reason.
  9. that we should share what we have with people who don’t have as much.
  10. in feeding homeless people.
  11. people live the best in community.
  12. in running.
  13. reading helps us to understand each other on a deeper level.
  14. what we eat matters.
  15. that beer is good.
  16. everyone should get paid the same amount.
  17. there should be no racism.
  18. that gay people should be allowed to marry.
  19. we should think for ourselves.
  20. people should say please and thank you.
  21. we should revere our elders.
  22. we should train our children up in a calm, guiding manner.
  23. in grace.
  24. people should listen when other people talk.
  25. people should answer the question, “How are you?” with an honest answer.
  26. you should be able to make change out of the offering plate at church.
  27. vanilla malts with frosted flakes and mini marshmallows are next to heaven in loveliness.
  28. I could eat pizza for every meal.
  29. swine flu is a government scare tactic to keep us paranoid.
  30. people should be able to dress comfortably for all occasions.
  31. clothing designers should learn that not all fat women are busty.
  32. we should spend time discussing ideas and not people.
  33. each year people should have to donate their most prized possession to a homeless shelter, domestic violence shelter, or children’s home.
  34. most ill-feelings can be cured by walking in the woods.
  35. squirrels really are out to get us.
  36. when people swim they release their stress into the water with each stroke.
  37. hormones kill brain cells.
  38. most good music was made in the late 60s, early 70s.
  39. diamonds are not a girls best friend.
  40. we should still talk about AIDS and other STDs in health class, and talk about ways other than abstinence to prevent them.
  41. every child deserves a happy childhood, but does not need to be spoiled to accomplish that childhood.
  42. in equal rights for all people.
  43. we throw away too much. We should be more frugal.
  44. Chuck Taylors and Five Fingers are the world’s most perfect shoes.
  45. in gleaning out of dumpsters.

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Posted in Beer, Fat, Feminism, Food, Grace, Motorcycles, Politics, Queer, Reading, Relationships, Religion, Running, School, Teaching, Writing