Barely Out of Tuesday...

Days off are best when at the end of the work week. Even if they're not really "off", just "off-site." Conferences on Mondays disrupt your rhythm for the next four days.

I'm stumbling through my off-center Tuesday, trying to pick up the slack that's gathering in piles at my feet. A few extra hours here and there should do it.

Yesterday was wast-- I mean, spent, at a conference that cost my department a couple hundred dollars, but provided only some stale breakfast breads under the exaggerated guise of "continental breakfast". And I was bored through most of it. I tried, let me assure you, I tried to be excited about this thing, but it ended up being a waste of time. And a big fat negative eight hours of work accomplished for the week. So I'll be stomping on slow-moving baby tomatoes all week. (I tried really hard to make that Pulp Fiction reference work... pity.)

There are a few meaningless things I could share. The last episode of "Ed" was one of the odd ones, a bit unusual in tone, and the level of humor dipped a bit. But it was the last one, and the last five minutes were worth the curious fifty-five previous.

I watched a pretty good Austin City Limits on Saturday--Chris Isaak and Norah Jones (a split episode, not a duet).

I saw the hockey movie "Miracle" this weekend. Good flick.

For the first time, I believe I'm feeling fiction burnout. I think once I finish all my reading-in-progress, I am going to leave fiction for a while and chew on something else. Philosophy, biography. Ideas. I have a few volumes of C.S. Lewis that I've been meaning to read. Of course, I'm not abandoning fiction by any means (how could I, if that is my path?). But I think a brief absence will help me appreciate it again.

There are more meaningful things I will discuss...eventually. But they deserve more time than I can give them here.

I got a call from an old roommate. It was good to hear from him, even though he kept me up much longer than I should have been awake. But I've been meaning to get in touch with him regularly. Hopefully, he'll start blogging regularly, too. (That's your hint, Trev.)

I notice that the blogs I enjoy most have the highest reading level, and take on the characteristics of essays rather than conversations. I have really let this blog go, as far as structure and substance. Too conversational. Some of the posts in the last few weeks could have been written by someone much younger. If I don't do something to abate the rising tide of poor grammar, I'll end up substituting numbers for letters and using "smilies" to convey my feelings. If that doomed day should ever occur, please do me the service of pulling the plug.

In the future, I will do my utmost to "kick it up a notch" while maintaining my humor and the occasional foray into weak wordplay.