the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell

1. It's spring. Really, truly spring. Yeah...we'll probably have more snow before summer rolls around, but green grass is appearing and the mornings are warm, the skies are blue, and Michelle's starter plants--vegetables, herbs, and flowers--in the spare bedroom are growing so fast that you can see the difference between morning and evening of the same day. 

2. I've adjusted my Elliptigo so it's more natural (and thus, fun) to use. Why this did not occur to me earlier, I do not know. I wish I had a paved road to use it on, but it works well on packed dirt; I just have to keep it clean. I have a wicked spring break cold, so I'm more limited than usual, but I can still use it. 

3. Michelle has been doing contract work from home, which makes us both very happy. She is using her hard-won skills and making her own money again, and once again has the pleasure one can get only from a job well done. 

4. I am more relaxed now than I've been in months. We did a "staycation" this year for spring break, wherein we ate out a couple of times, got some spring sunshine, cleaned off the ping-pong table (!), and oh yeah...I did a lot of reading and lesson prep work. I also spent a lot of time working on a book review* for War, Literature and the Arts, the Academy English Department's literary journal.

* I'm doing this because I love the book. I'm fascinated with its ideas, so I want to talk about it and perhaps get more people to read it. Also, it's just a wonderful excuse to read the book again. It is called All the Light We Cannot See (by Anthony Doerr). It won the National Book Award in 2014. Doerr spent ten years writing it, and it is...well, you just have to read it for yourself, don't you? ;) 

5. On that note, I may only be writing a book review, but it feels good to be writing. (I generally don't consider blogging to be "writing." I don't do polished work here. This is just--as Dave says--my "core dump." :D ) I've been seriously considering doing some fiction, as well. The idea of fiction grows on me more and more every year. Not only do I read more fiction with each passing year, but I have more friends each year who are published authors, and the goal seems so much more reachable for me now than it ever has. 

6. I'm also tossing around the idea of doing some contract editing, as well. I mentioned this to a colleague (as a way to make some extra money or even support herself), and she said it would feel too much like grading. :) But I've done editing for friends (and a stranger or two who asked me nicely) here and there, and I find that it isn't like grading at all. When I grade, I must point out what is wrong and try to find ways to teach the student why it's wrong, etc.; when I edit, though, I feel as though I've been given a ball of clay and I can and should make something of it. When I edit, I get to correct and improve the prose, play with it, be creative.

7. A year from next month, I'll be eligible to retire from the Air Force. This reality is more real to me as the months slip by, and I'm excited about the prospect of starting a new life. (The only potentially scary part is paying bills, but we have managed our finances so that we can meet our needs on my retirement paycheck, anyway, so there's nothing truly frightening left. Hence, excitement.) 

8. I haven't been depressed in quite some time. I was sad when we had to say goodbye to Gracie, but that isn't depression--it's sadness and grief. Depression is an all-encompassing feeling of pointlessness and emptiness, and thanks to my medication, I'm back to a more normal outlook on life.  

9. I'm past teaching the books I don't like this semester; all that is left are the books I selected myself: Dispatches, by Michael Herr, and A Rumor of War, by Philip Caputo. Both are Vietnam books--the first is journalism and the second, memoir. 

10. In addition, I have an exciting list of recommended books that await me this summer. To wit: 

- The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield

- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 

- The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Richard Flanagan

- I Would Walk With my Friends if I Could Find Them, by Jesse Goolsby

- The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, by Kristopher Jansma

- The Slow Regard of Silent Things, by Patrick Rothfuss

There are more, but those will get me rolling. 

11. I've been in touch with my parents lately and we're enjoying a regular exchange of letters. It's nice. 

12. Coffee was napping in the morning sun, so I shot her. Check it: 

What are you excited about today? :D

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