Random Thoughts

I recently submitted a proposal to the Modernist Studies association, proposing a panel for the fall conference in Chicago. It was a rather last-minute proposal as the idea for it came out of a "rejection" from someone else's panel. This guy emailed me and two other submitters, suggesting that we put together our own prosposal. So, I decided to take the ball and run with it. I posted a call for papers (CFP) and received some really great proposals. I was very pleasantly surprised by both the quantity and quality of the responses, particularly given the last-minute nature of my CFP. I was in the lucky position of choosing papers from several really prominent scholars and, though the decision was difficult, I think the final panel will make for a great mix. Now I'm waiting to see whether MSA likes the proposal. I'd sure like to attend, particularly given that I've never been to Chicago. O.K. I've been to O'Hare airport about a dozen times but that doesn't count.

Today was a stressful day as I had to have two meetings with students who did not successfully completed my course. Though I won't go into the details about why they didn't pass, let's just say they were both very difficult conversations. I felt completly exhausted after two hour-long conversations. As I explained before, I'm often too emotionally invested in my students' progress and situations like these ones cause me almost as much anguish as my students.

I also went to the gym today as I"m determined to get back into my running routine. It's so sad how quickly one can lose stamina and speed after only a brief hiatus from running. By the end of last summer, I had built myself up to running one 14-mile long run a week and even my "short" runs were at least 5-6 miles. It felt totally realistic to expect to run the NYC marathon in the fall. Unfortunately, I didn't get picked in the lottery and I lost some of my motivation. I also went off to Cornell to participate in a seminar for 6 weeks and it was almost impossible to keep up my running routine given the grueling schedule of the seminar. I started to run more constantly again in the winter but once my schedule got ridiculously busy at the end of the semester, and I got sick with multiple cases of the flu, I totally abandoned my whole exercise routine. . Well, there are all my excuse and I know they are all lousy. Today I felt winded after 4 miles and that sucks. Running regularly totally helps me manage my stress and my migraines so from here on in I'm going to get back to my routine and list my running/exercise accomplishments at the bottom of my blogs.

Distance: 4.2 miles
Time: 40 minutes
Location: Indoor Track