Interference

This is some of the most incredible, haunting music I've heard in a very long time. To the point where I am doing something I very seldom do: I'm looking for a way--any way--to get ahold of both albums, like, immediately. May have to get them as mp3 albums or something.

Oh yes, I will watch thees

See how many you can catch--

because this is all kinds of funny:

Bike update

Went for a 14 mile ride yesterday. Learned several things. First, it's been a while since I pulled up that long hill on the way home. Second, it's been a long time since I rode in 90-degree weather. Third, I need to start taking a camera with me. Fourth, Bicycling magazine gives me gear lust in a baaaaaaaad way. No matter how attractive a Scott CR1, it's probably not necessary for one with my skills (and income). heh.

But I would like one of these. Or these!

New Photos

so click through if you're interested. Featuring two little boys mostly.

Strawberries!

W & J brought home about 15 pounds. And they are goo-ooo-oood. Which means, among other things, pints & pints of strawberry jam, strawberry shortcake, strawberries & ice cream. Truth be known, she's kind of a strawberry fiend, and passed that quality along to The Little Boy.

All hail the Intarwebs

Managed to relatively painlessly administer cat eyedrops to Sidney, and fixed the water heater. Thanks to Google and all the helpful information you can find on d-i-y websites. Amazing: there's not a problem a homeowner confronts that hasn't been tackled by someone else--and discussed on an internet message board. huzzaah!

Phrases you never think you'll have to say

at the dinner table last night, from W to J:

Do not use your fork to scratch your foot, or any other part of your body.

In which Piers is saluted by the Grand Poo-Bah

I went out biking today for the first time in a month (seriously, I'm a slacker). It was a fine ride--I went down one of my favorite (dog-free) roads, covered a bit over 13 miles in 50 minutes. But the highlight of the ride was when I passed The Grand Pooh-Bah of West Tennessee Biking, the "I'm forty years older than you and could easily kick your ass," the legendary Phil Davis going the other way. And he gave me a wave/salute! I felt like a college girl getting a nod from Zac Efron or something!

Seriously, I never regret going out, as long as the weather permits. I'm afeared of going out when it's wet/rainy.

Thanks for the $$, Uncle Sam

We used almost all of it to cover the car repair. I guess we can look forward to another 110k miles' worth of trouble-free service!

110k miles in . . .

. . . the CR-V (Mollie) is finally costing us some serious money. Cracked radiator and timing belt. Bill is at $1600 and counting. I guess after almost seven years of faithful flawless service, we can grant her a multi-hundred repair bill.

Still, it makes me queasy.

Confession

I know that there are people for whom life isn't a struggle.  I also know that I am uncommonly blessed with a beautiful family, good relations with siblings and in-laws, a job I enjoy and find enormously satisfying, and dear friends who continue to enrich my life in so many ways.  

Yet here's the thing about where I find myself, at 34-1/2 years old:  there isn't a single area of my life where I don't perceive some struggle.  Living itself, from the getting up to the laying down, comes to me as a set of challenges, difficulties, problems to be confronted.  

Does something good happen, either by fortune or desert?  My reaction:  don't screw it up, Hill. 

Does the back yard look nice?  My reaction: better see if you can do something about those weeds over there--and remember, better check on the roses and the vegetables.  

Does someone tell me I'm impressive/wonderful/good?  My reaction:  thanks, but only if you knew the whole truth.  I'll try not to let you down, though.  

Do I enjoy a pleasurable moment with a loved one?  My reaction:  don't screw it up, Hill.

I can't remember a time when it wasn't this way, and only recently have I begun to realize that not everybody's mind works in these ruts.  Believe me, I'm not trying to claim any kind of mantle of advanced thoughtfulness or tortured artist syndrome.  Hayumbone always says that one of the ways to be the right kind of person is to know your own issues--so here it is.  One of my issues.  

I don't know why I decided to share this with you, but it's the truth.  I do try to be honest, at least.

Brentwood

Lovely, lovely Brentwood. One of the best places on Earth, yes it is. Second to Chapel Hill and Ocracoke, of course. Still, we always love being here. And the StarbucksBordersREIHarrisTeeterBarnes&NobleAllantiBicycleCompany, etc.

Meanwhile, back in West Tennessee, my grass is probably knee-high, my roses are probably eaten up by Japanese Beetles, and my herbs have probably all wilted due to lack of water. Yes, I'm planning loads of yard work for when we get back. It doesn't take many days on the road for my mind to be constantly back at home.

From Recent Reading

from Auden's New Year Letter, Part One:

O often, often must he face,
Whether the critics blame or praise,
Young, high-brow, popular or rich,
That summary tribunal which
In a perpetual session sits,
And answer, if he can, to its
Intense interrogation. Though
Considerate and mild and low
The voices of the questioners,
Although they delegate to us
Both prosecution and defence,
Accept our rules of evidence
And pass no sentence but our own,
Yet, as he faces them alone,
O who can show convincing proof
That he is worthy of their love?
Who ever rose to read aloud
Before that quiet attentive crowd
And did not falter as he read,
Stammer, sit down, and hang his head?

Birmingham Report

This city wears like an old favorite shirt: it's not for going out, but comfy, oh yes. Driving by Homewood & Samford & the (much improved) Brookwood Mall, W and I are struck with all kinds of good memories. She claims I started driving like we were in Buffy (her old '85 Accord) again, but I dispute that. I was just driving like a regular ol' 34-year-old English professor. Samford is a lot different now, much more built up & developed. It's been 11 years since we finally left; doesn't really seem possible.

Anyway, it's the same and very different all at once. Pretty much like one would expect.

To Birmingham

We leave in a while. The yard: unmowed. The flowers: will be infested with Japanese Beetles. The cats: boarded at the vet. Gas: will be expensive. Piers: taking some books. No plans, now.

I've got a pain on my head

Where my dermatologist cut off a chunk, and then sewed up the wound. The Little Boy spotted the bandage in the first millisecond after I walked in the door, and of course wanted to know how I'd hurt myself on my forehead.

&%@*# skin cancer.

On the upside, we've been puttering in the yard & garden today. Which means more dreaded sun exposure, now that I think about it.

&%@*# skin cancer.

Oh, this is sobering.

A scary diagnosis ("moribund") and a scary call for change ("adopt the methods of the sciences") in my profession. I've got some thinking to do about all this, and by the way, the MLA has its head in the sand. Not that I'm surprised.

Mother's Day

Here's a brief film clip in tribute. There's only one person who can make either of the boys this happy. And it ain't Piers.

Jack Wilton's ordeal

Still not fully better. Helpdesk Man says he repaired it and it seems to be working better (it failed again yesterday after I posted that it was better), but he needs me to use it some to see if it acts up again. I'm at home, though, so I don't know that I'll get to it today.

The cherry: the three-year faculty computer rotation is now the four-year faculty computer rotation, so I'm not getting a new MacBook this summer like I thought. Blame the budget crisis, I guess. I just hope Jack doesn't have something terminal, like UNIX. haha.

Adventures With Students, Vol. 18

It's time to review some comments from evaluations! Here are the highlights:

• A laugh every class period is nice
• Passion and Enthusiasm in your lectures were amazing. You could make something boring exciting and look good while doing it. . . He is so willing to sit down and help without making you feel dumb for asking. Plus, he can totally pull of green pants!
• Penshurst BORING! (required)
• You're [sic] enthusiasm is contagious. The fact that you love what you are teaching almost forces us to like it.
• He does not talk down to his students; he is very easy going and eccentric in a good way.
• How can I not love a class that referenced The Princess Bride or Monty Python nearly every week? Not to mention the zombies.
• Group projects blow.
• I didn't really like this course [Utopian thought] at all. I find it foolish to study something that can't exist . . . It is foolish to divide an English class into groups. It's not like writing is a team sport. (I know who wrote this one)
  
• I didn't care for Plato . . . but seriously . . . who does?
• Dr. Hill was very funny. I would have laughed at his jokes if the class wasn't so early [8:00].

Jack's Back

sooooo, looks like I complained a bit too soon. They got it fixed in a jiffy. Huzzah for Helpdesk!

After the lights go out

For some reason, it has been extra hard to see this group of students move on and away for the summer. Even though I'll be seeing some of my favorites again in the fall. Oops, am I supposed to have favorites?

Jack Wilton, hospitalized

My faithful PowerBook, Jack Wilton, had to go into the computer hospital today. He'd been hacking for a week or so, and based on some research I did, I'm pretty sure it's an infection somewhere in his RAM.

So I took him in, and explained what I'd been doing to the guy at the helpdesk. Ruh-roh. Picture it: behind Sir Help Desk, two guys are playing GranTurismo on a shiny black PS3. In the corner a woman is playing WoW. Sir Helpdesk has Counterstrike on the XBox 360 behind *him.* And does he listen to a word I say? No. He asks for my contact information, and hands me a little printout. "It might be a while. They might have to buy a part."

Tech Support and bike stores: abandon hope of being treated like you know anything, all ye who enter.

And I'm without my computer! Is it sad that I feel naked without it?

Adventures with Students, Vol. 17

So here at the end of the term, you get the odd tribute or funny comment from one of your students. In a self evaluation from one of my composition students:

Dr Hill quote of the year: 'So help me, if you read those damn slides to me, I will crucify you.'

Glad to make an impression.

We got flowers

Planted Azaleas last year. Happy to announce that they're doing pretty well:

Adventures with Students, Vol. 16

I know that I talk a much tougher game than I actually follow through with. I know I'm a softie, giving students the benefit of the doubt more than I perhaps should. At this stage in my career, it's perhaps a good thing that I'm not completely jaded. Perhaps.

That said, when a student in an upper-level english class gives me two blankety-blank pages for a term paper, I begin to get a little frustrated. So, to vent (and in homage to the FARK):

In which Piers breaks his blog embargo

. . . but what does he have to say??

hmmm.

In lieu of insight, I present recent pictures of the boys: