The week that was this week was an especially hectic one, as the first week back to campus after spring break inevitably is. Dear fellow denizens of the Blogosphere, I’ll be honest: over a break, a person gets used to having entire mornings, afternoons, evenings, and nights over which to spread writing, reading, re-writing, grading, re-reading, revising, re-revising, and, yes, even sleep and catching up on gloriously terrible television. With the end of the break comes a mad rush to prep and grade and prep and teach and advise and prep and grade again. It’s a bit to get used to, both on the side of the professor and the student. However, spring break also marks a turning point for me as a teacher: it’s the point at which all of my classes are in workshop, which means it’s the point at which I get to read writing from every student I have — which means that things are, in a word, awesome. Let’s take a look at the photos from this hectic, glorious week.
Day 75: One of my major goals during the break? Get some submissions SENT. OFF. Here, I've set up my craft table for some serious submitting. Somehow, Lana Del Ray's album seemed tailor-made for this. NOT PICTURED: Gertrude Stein, who continuously tried to steal my seat, and Alice B. Toklas, who continuously chewed on various cords, papers, envelopes, stuffed animals, terrarium lids, and pants.
Day 76: This photograph shows the most brilliant plant transportation method I have ever devised. It also shows that I am bound and determined to try to grow orchids again. FLASHBACK: back in the day, when I was living on the dorm floor at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, I somehow magically managed to grow the most beautiful and majestic orchid in history. Over fall break, I took it home and put it out of my cat's reach -- or so I thought. I woke up from a nap one morning to find him standing on top of my chest of drawers, his mouth over one gorgeous and exquisite bloom. He ripped off the flower, turned his head, spat it out, and looked at me. The orchid never bloomed again -- and this time, I'm keeping them under glass.
Day 77: Wouldn't this be an awesome album cover? Apparently, picking out album covers is my new hobby. Now I need a band. Preferably one called Fire Exit.
Day 78: Here, Alice B. Toklas concentrates on Bridezillas. I think hers is the appropriate response.
Day 79: This was my first day back on campus after the break, and it left no doubt that it is, indeed, spring. Let the requests to hold class outside commence!
Day 80: This is my third straight month in The Grind, a poem-a-day project. At this point, my brain is constantly in full poem mode. However, I am sometimes too tired to actually use words, so a lot of my poems are planned in stick-figure drawings scrawled in my bedside notebook when I wake up groggy and half-blind at 2 a.m. Case in point? This drawing.
Day 81: Here's a confession: Real Simple magazine? I love it beyond just about anything. A few years back, I saw an article about storage solutions for the, well, scatter-brained, which is, well, me. I covered a piece of foam board in fabric, framed it, found some straight pins, and voila! Necklace storage and art!
Day 82: I took this photo on Thursday, shortly after I sent my mother a long text about how awesome it was that it was Friday and received a text back that said "For the rest of the world, it's Thursday." I then realized more caffeine was necessary. Diet Coke, once again, you saved me and my paperwork.
Day 83: Look at these. Just look at these. I mean, really. How beautiful are these? I planted them sometime last summer, and -- well, forgot what kind of flowers they were? Somehow, they managed to survive through the winter and through a month without water, and have started to bloom -- beautifully -- again. Maybe it's just the Epsom salt, but I think there's a pretty good metaphor in that. Excuse me while I use stick figures to figure out what it is ...
