kernels

Little Red is 11 months old today. I'm not going to be a tiresome father, but I will say that it's amazing to see how much he is unlike his older brother.

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The only conversation that matters at work these days: where are the further budget cuts coming, and now: who's going to lose their job? I know my job is pretty secure--but the question is, what kind of institution will I be working in once it's all over?

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Simon was outside again yesterday, snooping around in an unauthorized fashion. It's like he knows his coming fate and just wants to get a head start on it.

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I'm surprised, but Ben Jonson appeared to draw more out of my students than John Donne. Maybe I'm just not remembering my first real stab at Donne, but I thought it would have been the opposite.

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One of my projects this past week was to recover a means for getting work done in a somewhat efficient and timely fashion. My skills in that area had slipped, and quite frankly I'm more distracted than I've ever been. I find it really hard to concentrate on anything for a long period of time. I think I actually did alright, especially for the first couple of days (the rest of the week was nuts on its own terms). Still, I need to do even more things differently--I'm looking for places where the crowbar and hammer need to be applied.

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I was standing outside yesterday afternoon, and yes, it happened: I began thinking about what work needs to happen with the yard. And the roof, blast it.

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I walk around every day certain that I'm an open book.