In the morning the air was cool and fine. We drank our coffee on the piazza as the peddlers passed below in the street.
As I rode back from the biblioteca, the driver of an Audi hesitated when the train crossing gates came down, then sped under them as the train approached. I waited until the train had passed before cycling on.
In the afternoon, in the cafe, the music was loud, and the young African-American boys moved to it as they drank pop and ate ice cream. I wrote 1100 words and it was good.
Later we drank a cold clean bottle of wine on the piazza and watched the birds circle in the evening sky.
Cooking dinner tonight (superb, worthy of any restaurant I've been to in this city*) I was thinking of a meme: what five out-of-the-ordinary ingredients do you like to have on hand at all times?
For me:
1. fresh parsley;
2. fresh lemons. Now that I have lemons, I won't use bottled lemon juice any more;
3. those "Stackers" pickled red pepper slices in the jar;
4. microwave popcorn (we live on it); and
5. fresh tomatoes, any size, as long as they are ripe.
What are your picks? Comment below!
*pan-fried tilapia with a cayenne/basil crust and mango salsa; basmati rice; corn-off-the-cob salad with tomatoes, parsley and celery.
Well, I got a fulltime job in the East, and the pay is pretty respectable (exceeded expectation, anyway).
Then, less than an hour after the phone call cementing the details, I got a call from the town where I'd applied for part-time work and had to turn them down. Ah, it's good to feel wanted.
So much to do: finish dissertation; keep up with lecture notes and clever activities for my course; prep TWO new courses; pack stuff and move. I really haven't the faintest idea how it can possibly be done. I try to compare it to moving out here: after B came out with his little pickup crammed with the basics, I packed up the rest of the house. Some stuff went in the garage and some into the ABF truck. All while I was working fulltime. It took about three weeks, and I was right down to the wire.
When we moved into this apartment from across town, we probably packed up everything in about 2 weeks. We didn't have to be as careful, though, and there were lots of trips in the car as well. But, that was while school was still in session. My thought is that if we spend two full weeks doing nothing else, that should be plenty of time.
Interesting review in the June 3 NYT book review section about a new book on Modernism in architecture by Nathan Glazer: From a cause to a style. I am trying to find a concise, scholarly precis on the ideology of Modernism to use for my dissertation chapter on socialist ideology.
Searching MNCAT for his work, I found another that would be useful to read: The public face of architecture : civic culture and public spaces, Macmillan, 1987. This might be quite useful for a course in urban history, or urban geography focused on civic engagement.
From the rest of his extensive catalog (49 entries) I infer that he is a professor who studied urban race and ethnicity and its relationship to public policy, and then moved to studying higher education.
I'm getting repetitive: still no final answer on the whole job thing. Tomorrow I must call my prospective employer and see if (without being too pushy) I can get some action.
Meanwhile, B has a line on a job - teaching, which is good; part-time, which is not so good. He has to finish his thesis to get it though, so that's some powerful incentive.
I am spending a lot of time trying to augment the knowledge in the textbook for my class. I enjoy it - but there is a certainty in my heart that I should stop that and focus totally on my writing. I was in the E Lake Library today to get a book - that might be a nice change of venue from time to time.
We are closing in on some resolution about the next step in our lives. I've been offered a full-time (albeit temporary) position at one of the MA state colleges. The details - salary, benefits, etc. - are still to be discussed and resolved; one of the deans or AVPs or whatever is supposed to call me next week.
I'll be teaching three courses (2 preps) in the fall and might have some choice in the spring semester.
B looked into some moving options yesterday. Prices seem to have escalated quite a bit since we came out here. And, we have more stuff, even though we are getting rid of some things. It's gonna be a busy 6-8 weeks!
Fortunately for the administration of this fine institution, you need to log in with your U password to learn under the heading "Pretigious Faculty" on the MyU page that "the University, its faculty, and alumni are renowned for their many achievements."
I'm guessing that use of spell-check isn't one of those achievements. Pretigious, indeed.
Possible resolution of the job search thing tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Still no job resolution. Maybe I should tell Continuing Ed I might be staying here. Maybe B will get the job in Wisconsin. Maybe I should apply for that job at the Humphrey. Maybe I should beat the bushes about teaching in my home department (where I am off the funding list because I cockily thought I would graduate this summer and be gone by September 1).
I applied for another part-time job in MA, and there are two more I should try for. I didn't think of going back into planning but one must eat and pay the mortgage.
B's surgery went well yesterday; the doc is already excited about the next things he can do to create the perfect feet. Better living through scalpelry.