« End of a three-day weekend

Whee!

Happy Nude Year!

A friend of mine--the same one who always would say "Happy VD!" on February 14th--would say "Happy Nude Year" at the appropriate time, as well. Because both are offensive and inappropriate for almost any occasion or audience, I've never been able to shake either out of my head. So there you go.

I've been on vacation for three weeks. I'm almost ready to face the new semester (and I will be ready by Tuesday, when I'm back in the driver's seat). My friend Jeff suggested it takes me two weeks or more to really decompress because I don't take enough vacations. Alas. He knows me well.

About three weeks ago or more, a poster (who I didn't know at the time) on my favorite discussion board asked for help revising a piece he'd written to go on the inside cover of his next album. Since I have a bit of a knack for that sort of thing, I took a stab at it, and he used almost everything I wrote. As a thank you/Christmas gift, he sent me a copy of his album ("Squaring the Circle"). I like it very much. He has it online here. This is exactly the sort of music I listen to for hours at work: I can't think with lyrics, but I need something...exciting enough to keep my mind alert. Give it a listen. :)

I have a couple of resolutions this year. Digression: I don't remember making resolutions for the new year as a child or young adult. I think I wasn't really aware of the custom; then when I was, it seemed silly. I've come to like it, though. Among other things, it's an uplifting mental exercise for the darkest, coldest time of year.

One resolution is to maintain the good habits I've formed since August regarding my students, my approach to teaching, setting aside time to exercise, and keeping my personal time and my home sacred (after a manner of speaking). That bit isn't so difficult. I already have four months of maintaining that under my belt. My second resolution is to spend at least a few minutes a day (30 or more, if at all possible) working on my French.

I took a couple of years of French in my undergraduate program because I was spending my summers in Belgium, had always liked the language, and needed a semester or two of a foreign language, anyway. As it turned out, I just kept taking it as extra (free) credits out of a desire to improve. But then I graduated and stopped visiting Belgium in 1999, and haven't had occasion to use French since then. It's a pity, because I'll need it for my PhD program (oddly, almost any school offering a PhD in literature requires either fluency in one foreign language or "competence" in two; I figure I have a better shot at fluency in one).

About 10 days ago, I found a discussion board in French which I can use for practice once I get the basics to a working level again (I was there once!). Meanwhile, there's Tex's French Grammar (a practice site hosted by the University of Texas), the Academy's software, and the French textbook from lo those many years ago. The whole pile is complemented with a dictionary, of course. I'm doing well. It's amazing how quickly 30 minutes comes and goes anymore.

Another resolution I've been doing well on is to limit my internet usage. You know the problem that most people have with television sucking up three or four hours of each day? I don't have a television problem. My time black hole is the internet.

I've learned that when I give something up, I must perforce replace it with something if I am to be successful in forming new habits. My replacement here is actual books (they're fun things!) and cooking. I've learned that I'm actually quite a talented cook (except when I put too much crushed red pepper in whatever I'm making, which is often; I love dishes spicy, but not everyone shares my fixation).

And that's enough for one year. Small, incremental changes are best, I think.

So...enough about my musings. Any new years resolutions from y'all? Good holiday stories? Hope you've all been well. :)

d

This entry was posted by diana and filed under home.

6 comments

Comment from: Hinermad [Visitor]
Hinermad

Diana,

Languages are great fun. I guess that’s why there are so many of them. I had a classmate at Ohio State tell me that he was an excellent speller until he studied French. Apparently it hasn’t affected you the same way.

The only New Year’s resolution I ever made that I actually kept was several years ago, when I resolved to quite making and breaking New Year’s resolutions. So far that’s working well.

I like your friend’s music. Some of it (the first track especially) sounds like it could be in a video game. Well, the kind of games I play anyway. I have the same requirement for working music. I can’t concentrate if there are lyrics, unless it’s a song I know so well I can tune it out and not miss anything. I keep a memory card with Beethoven’s 9 symphonies on it for my MP3 player at work, in case I need to hide from the local noise. (My cubicle shares a wall with a whiteboard in a busy aisle. I’m all for impromptu design meetings in the hallway, but they tend to slop over into my cubicle occasionally.)

I’m glad you enjoyed your holiday break; it sounds like you’re ready to start a new semester. Give ‘em heck, and Happy Gnu Year!

Dave

01/06/08 @ 10:50
Comment from: auntb'ann [Visitor]  
auntb'ann

Hmmm. Well, I’m doing more writing—and actually cooking more, too! Am working on “getting my house in order", LITERALLY! The piles of papers, books, etc. that have been with me so long are slowly disappearing into organized notebooks, etc. So the new year has inspired me, too!

Good luck with the French. I enjoyed learning it, but never had as much as you. You’ll do well.

Hope your new year is great, and that you can get this way sometime during the year. Love you!

01/10/08 @ 11:39
Comment from: Daddy [Visitor]  
Daddy

Well, my only new years res is to start using my hands and body again, after I get off work. I have managed a bit, and am getting a bit better as time goes on. Now that I have a new med to go with the anti-dep, I come home feeling a bit more spirited. That helps loads. Also, my sincere desire is to rid us of several of our house guests: 46 of them at last count. Problem is, you can never be sure, because they move around too much, and occupy roughly every liveable and non liveable room in the house. And they cost a lot to feed. :crazy: well, we’ll see how things go from here. Oh yes. Charles Gibson died yesterday loved one. Thought you might like to know. Daddy

01/10/08 @ 21:18
Comment from: [Member]

Ah. It seems I forgot that I set posts to be moderated before they’re posted on my blog, then promptly forgot. Apologies. :)

Tomorrow, I face the new munchkins for the four class day. That’s already 1/10th of the semester! It all goes so quickly.

I’ve missed a few days with the French already. I come home mentally drained, then slap forget I have something more to do. However, it helps that I can sometimes find a French channel on the treadmill at work (it’s a bit too slushy, crunchy and windy to run outdoors at the Academy right now), and I work with a woman who earned her PhD in France. She speaks to me in French from time to time, and answers any question I have, and generally reminds me to stick with it. Bless her. (I enjoy it very much when I get going; it’s getting started that’s the problem.)

We have a three-day weekend coming up, and I have a book to read and a paper to draft. In December, I submitted a proposal to a local conference and was accepted. The conference is in March. This is my “getting my toes wet” presentation at a conference, and it is also a paper I’ll more than likely include in my PhD application package. However, I’ll try to take some time and blog a bit (for the five of you what wonder what I’m up to :D).

d

01/15/08 @ 18:30
Comment from: Judy (cousin) [Visitor]  
Judy (cousin)

I am pleased to find another family member with my love for the French language. I studied it, too, and got to use a small amount when I visited Paris/Versailles in 1998. My HS French teacher used to say that Paris was no more French than Houston was Texan, though… :)

I wish you the best in fluency - I can’t say that I have ever been fluent. :)

As for resolutions - for the first time in years, I didn’t really make any personal ones. 20 years ago, I didn’t believe in making resolutions in January - I thought the beginning of the fall semester was more apropo. (did I use that word correctly?) :)

In between I made the kind that had to be checked off each month: try a new recipe, read a new book, finish a project. I learned to cook rather well, read 3x as many books as necessary, and never really finished the projects anyway. Well, I do love to read. :)

Jsh

02/28/08 @ 08:19
Comment from: [Member]

Judy!

Nice to see you here. :) You’re into French? Sweet! (Paris is no more French than Houston is Texan, though? Hmmmmm.)

I don’t know that I’ll be fluent. That would entail an understanding of aural French and the ability to speak it. Maybe someday, but probably not for the PhD. Thanks for the well-wishes, though.

I quite like your approach to New Year’s Resolutions: one thing to check off a month. I seem to share your “don’t often finish projects” problem, interestingly. I wonder if it’s genetic? :D

d

02/29/08 @ 15:19


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