Today, I sat behind a desk for 11 hours. Today I made sure that serial commas were not used, that words were spelled correctly, that m-dashes were used instead of hyphens, that each story stressed the benefit to the reader (hey, I'm not in news and I'm allowed to edit). Today my boss bought us pizza for working overtime. Today I made $18 an hour—a career high for me—for three hours. Today I got home at 8 o'clock too tired to make dinner for my husband and too tired to read. And this is what ...

Bad things with close proximity: 1. Gaelen died driving home from mountain climbing. 2. H didn't get the Most Awesome Job in the World (and, to date, the only interview he's been confident about). 3. Glen, quadriplegic*, finally died. Only I wonder if this is good or bad. Good things with close proximity 1. I had an interview today. Only I wonder if this is good or bad as it's for a job I don't really want, but rather, simply need. Maybe it's good that H and I are in good health (we...

Did I ever say I hated my students? Did I ever call them dumb? They're not--as of today, they're officially great. That's been two days in a row with good in-class discussion, and lest my ears deceive me, a compliment or two to boot. Considering that we're discussing poetry, about which I feel much more qualified than, say, the literature of Kipling or Sophocles or Ghandi, I'm wishing we were going to spend the whole quarter on it instead of three days. Alas, the book review is calling all our...