Filed under: General
Saturdays excepted, of course.
It may seem counterintuitive, given that Tuesday is the only day of the week that I have class. I have two classes in the same room, back to back. Essentially, I sit there from about 2:00-7:00 with a couple of breaks.
However, it’s also the only day of the week that I don’t sit in the library and read all day. And, to be honest, class isn’t that bad. My Civil War class seems to spend a lot of time discussing historical “what if’s”–as in, “What if South Carolina hadn’t bombed Fort Sumter?” And my historiography class generally provokes a lot of really good discussion.
Today (Wednesday), I woke up at 8:30, got to the library around 10:00 and left around 4:00. With a couple of short breaks to read the New York Times, I spent the whole time reading. On a typical Tuesday, I wake up around the same time, but I take my time in the mornings, head to the gym, and then spend a little while reading the paper before class. And besides, Tuesday night is Emily’s night to cook, so when I get home, there’s usually food waiting. It’s pretty phenomenal.
Filed under: General
Week One? Check.
So the first week is done, and on reflection, I was pretty good in terms of going to campus and getting my work done. My goal was to work all day so that I could relax in the evenings and live similarly to a normal human being. So far, this is working out nicely. I still have to research things at night (skimming books, looking up stuff on the web, etc.), but I can do this while on the sofa watching TV so it’s not so bad.
However, the workload is atrocious. I’ve been in Tuscaloosa for about a week. In that time I’ve read probably 800 or so pages for school. Great fun. With my two classes and my research seminar, things could get hairy, but hopefully I can maintain some perspective. I’m really excited about my research, I just need to make time in my schedule to actually do it, especially when the time comes to start visiting archives and such.
Emily and I are doing dinner and a movie tonight. About this, I am very excited. The plan for tomorrow (my day off!) is as yet undetermined. Perhaps we will make a trip to Birmingham. Perhaps we will just drive around town. Perhaps we will sleep all day. All three sound perfectly wonderful.
For those of you who want pictures, keep on the lookout. I plan to upload a bunch of photos from my adventures in Virginia (and elsewhere) over winter break. Eventually.
Filed under: General
After a lengthy blogging pause (perhaps my lengthiest), I’m back in action. And back in Alabama.
Emily and I got into town yesterday after spending three very relaxing days in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The trip down provided us with what will likely be our only snow of the winter. We hit a seeming blizzard around Blacksburg, and just south of there, we ran into a dead stop on I-81, as there was an accident involving multiple tractor trailers about five miles ahead of us. After driving the wrong way down an on-ramp to get off the interstate, we crawled along a two-lane highway for about five or ten miles before we got back on the interstate just south of the accident. It was nice to see some snow, but I’m not sure it was worth the two-hour delay.
Once we got to our cabin, we mostly sat around and watched TV (“The West Wing” and “Grey’s Anatomy”), though we also made the requisite outlet mall trip. And I tried to get a jump-start on my first week’s assignments for school, but I didn’t really get much accomplished. I will be scrambling to finish that up in the next couple of days.
The reading, though hefty, promises to be more interesting this semester. I’m taking two classes (in addition to a research seminar), one on the Civil War and one on American history since 1865. Both are very much up my alley. The research seminar, which will (theoretically) culminate in the writing of a 30-page scholarly article-type paper, is on the South since 1930. I only have class one day a week, so I’m going to try to get on a library schedule starting Monday.
Last night and today were mostly spent unpacking, de-cluttering, and decorating the apartment. Emily has been here for just over 24 hours and already the place looks 100% more homey. It’s amazing what something as minor as magnets on the refrigerator can do for the mood of a place.
We are settling in nicely. I’m a bit homesick, but not coming back to an empty apartment really helps. I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine, although check back in about a week–I’m sure I’ll be sick of school already.
I graduated from college and finally got a new car, received a fellowship to get my Master’s degree at someone else’s expense, moved to Alabama, and pretty much sat around by myself for four months, reading and writing every day. And of course, I got engaged. So, it’s been a year of big events: some joyous, some less so, but overall, I have little to complain about. I look forward to 2007, especially as Emily is moving to Alabama with me.
Who knows where I’ll/we’ll be a year from now? Perhaps still in Alabama, as I finish up my degree. Perhaps in Alabama, as I finish up my degree and teach at the same time. Perhaps somewhere completely different (probably Virginia or North Carolina), as I teach and plan to finish up my degree in the summer. We shall see–check back in 365.
Whatever the coming year holds, I’ve made quite a few resolutions. Eleven, in fact–and let me tell you why. I’m usually pretty good at keeping them for a month or two, but then things get busy and I start slipping. I hold no illusions–I will probably not follow through on most of these, but I think if I keep up with two or three of them, that will be pretty successful. So here they are, separated into two categories but otherwise in no particular order.
Health/Fitness
1. Play basketball twice a week
2. Bike/row/run twice a week (in addition to the basketball)
3. Maintain my weight (after losing a bit of holiday weight first)
4. Eat at least three salads a week
5. Floss daily
Personal
1. Read for pleasure at least 30 mins./day
2. Take time to call an old friend every week or two
3. Write a letter (old-fashioned handwriting style) once a month
4. Spend 3-4 hours/month volunteering
5. Explore my surroundings in Alabama–rediscover my native state
6. Wear my class ring every day
Some of these seem of little importance, and I’m sure but I think they reflect what I want to be in the next year: a healthier, saner, less isolated person, and a better friend. And with better oral hygiene and pride in my alma mater.
I’m going to try to revisit this post at the end of every month–take inventory of how I’m doing, so to speak. But I’m not actually making that a resolution, so I probably won’t even attempt it once.
