Almost three months have passed since I have posted anything to my blog. The fall semester shouldered just about all else aside. August passed in a flash of putting final touches on my application for promotion to full professor and launching my classes, including a new prep, for the fall. September brought a family medical emergency that required a pause in all but the most essential work. Keeping my head above water was all I could manage for about two solid weeks. Now I find myself on the other side of October, having marked and commented my way through a pile of essays, midterms and assignments; enjoyed a remarkable weekend getaway with Trisha over Fall Break; and more or less staying on top of everything else related to teaching and service.
Time for research has been scarce, but I’ve managed at least a little bit of something most weeks. I have about two weeks before another front of heavy grading pushes in that will likely be more or less persistent until the end of the semester. It will be drafts for one class, followed by sixty projects in another, paving the way for the last wave of final essays and exams. I’m going to do my best to log some decent research time before then.
The blog and my hopes of posting a couple times a month were casualties of busyness, I guess. Posting just wasn’t on my mind as other things crowded in. I don’t think I could have done anything different, really, but I have had doubts about whether this dry spell has been a sign that maybe blogging isn’t for me, that it is one thing too many in an already overstuffed life. Other times, though, I’ve craved the opportunity to at least draft some thoughts or excerpt an article I read that prompted an idea.
Now that some parts of my professional life have eased up a bit (for the next two weeks, anyway), I hope I can protect some time to nurture some thoughts and chip away at some other obstacles that have contributed to this dry spell.
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