Pic Post: Return to Bloomington
I'm back. The day after I got here Bloomington got snowed on pretty heavily, and I got snowed in. Moreso than I would have been in the place on 2nd St., because now I live in the woods. Deer wander up to the windows and peer in. There are lots of birds at the birdfeeder. Since it's a little on the isolated side, I've idly given the woodland beasties names, as it makes them more like company. There are a pair of squirrels (Nick and Nora), a pair of cardinals (Bellarmine and Bellarmina), a huge red-bellied woodpecker (Ron Jeremy), and lots of tufted titmouse (titmice?) and Carolina chickadees. There are a lot of deer, but I've only been able to consistently identify one of them because of his damaged antler - he's a young buck, I think maybe four point, and his breezy nonchalance about me rounding a corner in the breakfast nook (which startles the does and makes them run) cracks me up. He's like "WHAT. WHAT."
The house is a late 60s/early 70s job, mostly open plan, with a LOT of glass and skylights.
I like it. I love the living room and the sun room in particular; I moved the kitchen table into the sun room so I can work in there during the day. The professor cleared out his office for me, too, so I'll work in there in the evenings when the sun room is really dark and hard to light. There's a Hermann Miller chair in there. Aeron. Mmm, comfy.
It took a few tries, but eventually I managed to get a roaring fire going in the fireplace, with glowing embers and everything. It was really nice to spend an evening writing my syllabus and reading my book and drinking a nice cab and feeling fire warmth, which is in every way more comforting to the soul than blowy heating register warmth, plus with nicer sound effects. I was surprised at how quickly the wood burned - no fire tonight, maybe tomorrow. I need to bring some in from the woodpile to warm up and dry out. It's from fallen deadwood so it's seasoned, but sitting in the snow hasn't exactly increased its flammability. I wish I could buy a small quantity of round hardwood to burn. The bundles of splits are kind of expensive and they burn too fast. I found a guy on craigslist who was selling ricks for $35, but if you call him, suddenly it costs $50. I'm going to contact some of the other guys and see if someone will do half a rick for $25. That would be worth it. I do like a fire. When I can get one going.
In the 48 hours since I got here I've mostly been caught up in the flurry of pre-semester confabs and communiques. Plus just resting after a really long drive and kind of pulling myself together after a semester when I was definitely not pulled together. You know how it is. Being someplace so quiet and solitary and open and bright feels good, but of course I really miss C. - the peace and contentment and good company. I think we'll be able to stay close by means of modern technology over the semester, and it's not such a long absence, one semester.
Speaking of semesters: they cancelled the other AI for the lecture course for which I'm doing discussion sections, so it's down to me and one other AI for 140 students. That is going to be a metric @*#&ton of grading, my droogs. We were told to write syllabi for our sections - but we don't yet know which sections we have (place, time, day), or the points for the sections, or what kind of deliverables the students will have to produce in sections, or dates for the exams. So... Um. Yeah. That kind of leaves you with a section on not plagiarizing, doesn't it. So I'm kind of writing a Mad Lib style syllabus, and hopefully will get everything filled in on Monday when we meet with the prof. Considering that the first class is on Tuesday.
Sigh.
The house is a late 60s/early 70s job, mostly open plan, with a LOT of glass and skylights.
I like it. I love the living room and the sun room in particular; I moved the kitchen table into the sun room so I can work in there during the day. The professor cleared out his office for me, too, so I'll work in there in the evenings when the sun room is really dark and hard to light. There's a Hermann Miller chair in there. Aeron. Mmm, comfy.
It took a few tries, but eventually I managed to get a roaring fire going in the fireplace, with glowing embers and everything. It was really nice to spend an evening writing my syllabus and reading my book and drinking a nice cab and feeling fire warmth, which is in every way more comforting to the soul than blowy heating register warmth, plus with nicer sound effects. I was surprised at how quickly the wood burned - no fire tonight, maybe tomorrow. I need to bring some in from the woodpile to warm up and dry out. It's from fallen deadwood so it's seasoned, but sitting in the snow hasn't exactly increased its flammability. I wish I could buy a small quantity of round hardwood to burn. The bundles of splits are kind of expensive and they burn too fast. I found a guy on craigslist who was selling ricks for $35, but if you call him, suddenly it costs $50. I'm going to contact some of the other guys and see if someone will do half a rick for $25. That would be worth it. I do like a fire. When I can get one going.
In the 48 hours since I got here I've mostly been caught up in the flurry of pre-semester confabs and communiques. Plus just resting after a really long drive and kind of pulling myself together after a semester when I was definitely not pulled together. You know how it is. Being someplace so quiet and solitary and open and bright feels good, but of course I really miss C. - the peace and contentment and good company. I think we'll be able to stay close by means of modern technology over the semester, and it's not such a long absence, one semester.
Speaking of semesters: they cancelled the other AI for the lecture course for which I'm doing discussion sections, so it's down to me and one other AI for 140 students. That is going to be a metric @*#&ton of grading, my droogs. We were told to write syllabi for our sections - but we don't yet know which sections we have (place, time, day), or the points for the sections, or what kind of deliverables the students will have to produce in sections, or dates for the exams. So... Um. Yeah. That kind of leaves you with a section on not plagiarizing, doesn't it. So I'm kind of writing a Mad Lib style syllabus, and hopefully will get everything filled in on Monday when we meet with the prof. Considering that the first class is on Tuesday.
Sigh.