Not a great day....

Today needs to rewind and start over again. In addition to things that can't be mentioned, today included:
-Me falling apart in class, and the professor pushing me to process it publicly.
-Me running into a former student on my "pull-myself-together" walk after class with a still-puffy face.
-PMS and cramps, which have somehow managed to co-occur.
-My husband's car breaking down
-My husband getting into a fender bender after having the car fixed. (He's fine!)

I'm just really disgruntled today. GRRRRRRRR....

Keeping Kitty Cool...

Heh...the following steps were taken to assess the kitty's condition:

-The vet was called
-He was monitered for drooling
-The contents of his litterbox were examined
-His demeanor and gait were monitored
-His gums were checked for purplish hue

The following steps were taken to cool off the kitty:
-We put out about fifteen bowls of water, so that he had water no matter where he was in our very small apartment.
-We soaked a bathtowel and laid it where he likes to sleep
-We continuously re-aimed the fans so that they continued to aim at him
-We put bags of ice on his favorite chair
-I dipped my hands in water and petted him until he was soaked. (He would not tolerate simply being hosed)
-We froze bottles of water, then put them up against him. (This produced wild purring, I might add.)

Freaking hot!

And not in a good way.

It's in the 90's again today, with day number 2 of an "Ozone Air Advisory". People like me aren't supposed to breathe at all. I'm left with little choice, though, but I am definitely not getting enough air. It's hard not to yawn all the time, which poses a problem when I'm in session. But, hey.

In worse news, my little kitty has heat exhaustion! (This tells you just how hot it is in our apartment!) He was drooling all over himself, was staggering a bit, and (sorry for TMI) had diarrhea. Poor little guy! My husband is currently ministering to his needs. The latest report was that he is under the bed with the fans aimed at him, lying on a wet towel, and licking ice cubes. We called the vet earlier, and they said that he definitely had heat stroke, but didn't need to come in unless he got worse. I feel so bad for him, and I've been calling every hour to check on him.

Two more down...

I took a few days off, but I finished Gender Trouble and Ethics and Infinity.

This weekend, I'm hiking with classmates, hanging out with a friend whose boyfriend is about to return from Europe, and Working My Butt Off. Yup.

The class is back on. Well, whatever, it's three credits in three weeks.

I got my TEQ's back yesterday (teaching evaluation questionnaires). I like that it's to the point that the feedback is now things that I refuse to do. My first few semesters, it was actually good feedback. I needed to use the chalkboard more, pause longer for them to take notes, etc. All of that was helpful feedback. It seems that I've resolved that stuff, because now the "suggestions" column is full of things that I won't do.

I received a short essay on why I should not require participation. I could, if I so desired, name the student who wrote it. He was, shall we say, displeased with that policy from the get-go. I run a feminist classroom, and it requires participation. I'm not going to change that.

A few students commented on the way that I review for exams. That, too, my dears, is not going to change. I give them a review sheet that I entitle "fair game for exams". I don't put anything on the exam that is not on the sheet. The class before the exam, I hold a review session. I tell them ahead of time the deal: they come in with questions that they have after reviewing their notes. They try to resolve it collaboratively. If they can't, I answer. Students want me to actually re-teach the entire 5 week unit. Not gonna happen.

Two more students want me to make up notes from my lecture and hand them out. Nope. I am, again, perfectly willing to repeat myself and slow down, but I am perfectly comfortable with you actually writing things down yourself. I'm not actually going to do ALL of your work!

Then there are the contradictory reviews. I have precisely two students who commented that I moved too quickly through the material, and precisely two who commented that I moved too slowly.

Overall, they were sweet reviews. I appreciate their perspective even on the things that are dear to my teaching philosophy.

We'll see how this cultural diversity thing goes! I've almost completed my teaching packet for the semester, so... e-reserve, here I come. (I received the helpful suggestion from my supervisor that using e-reserve means that students don't have to pay money AND I'm not violating copyright law. This is nice, because then students can't try to blackmail me!)

Alright...yoga and bed....

Class Frustrations

So, I might have a class that starts on Tuesday. From 9-12:15, Tueday-Friday for three weeks.

I've been planning on it: getting ahead on comps, that sort of thing.

Last week they told is it might be cancelled due to low enrollment.

Today the dean cancelled it. So, I started thinking about renting a movie tonight and maybe visiting a friend in D.C. before comps.

And then, half an hour later, there's an e-mail that the prof is trying to get it to run.

Well, okay, cool.

But it's driving me nuts! I don't mind if I have class, or if it's cancelled, but it's frustrating as hell to keep going back and forth. Not to mention, I'm telling my clients "well, look, let's see what we can do here...yeah, umm...well, I might have this class, but then again, I might not." I'd assume that I have the class, but it's legitimately difficult for some people to change their time, so I hate doing it if I don't have to...

Comps Update

I've decided to motivate myself by making myself actually see and post my progress. I think I'm doing alright, but that's only after getting my butt in gear these past few days.

Articles Re-read:
The Mirror Stage as Formative of the I Function
Applied ethnography
The practices and politics of interpretation
The Seventh moment: Out of the past
Performance ethnography: A brief history and some advice
Ethnography and ethnographic representation

Articles Left:
None!

Books completely re-read:
Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
Black skin/White masks
Madness and Civilization
Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black
Reflexivity: A practical guide for researchers in health and social sciences.
Women’s Ways of Knowing

Books partially re-read:
Ethics and Infinity
Gender Trouble
Speech and Phenomena

Not started yet:
The Lacanian Subject.

State of the position paper:
One completed draft...partially edited...still rough as hell.

Okay, this is possible, right? Class starts on the 11th, and comps are on the 14th of August. I have edits for a journal article due on the 15th of this month.

*Feels panicky*