Hello, Blog

I'm a little surprised to see how long it's been since my last visit. I have been busy.

I did a Harry Potter presentation on Halloween. That was fun. The best part was that I got mentioned on a blog called The Chocolate Frog, which should be everyone's aspiration in life. I know this, of course, because I did a vanity Google.

I'm also pushing ahead with my oral history project. I've been working with The Good Dr. Sloan at USM, and I'm getting very excited about the whole thing. It looks like there might be some promising grant opportunities, and I am very much in favor of any activity that has me playing with microphones, talking to old people, and passing it off as an academic accomplishment. :)

I'm looking forward to presenting some of my project at the Cs.

I've also had students doing some oral histories, and I've been very pleased with the motivation levels. I'm even downright astounded by the degree to which the writing improved when they began to really care about the subject matter and about taking it home to show their grandmothers in the end. It was heartening enough to even make wading through six sections of essays at once a good experience.

I'm a little bit on the overbooked side for spring. If I show up for everything, I've got four presentations scheduled so far. All on different topics, of course. That might be stretching things even for someone whose entire social life consists of drinking coffee in public places while grading papers. I might have to sub-let some of my students.

That's about it. In my next incarnation, I'm going to have a blog called "The Haphazardician" because I know I'll always have periods of neglecting any blog I try to start up a relationship with.

Take care, everyone. Stay warm and caffeinated for the upcoming grading crunch.