Temp Check 10/13: This is ridiculous.

So, if I weren't so scrupulously honest I'd consider giving up on the tally sheet off to the right there. It has not stopped being too busy and too warm and I have been off my pace for too many weeks. I was so busy today that I didn't even have time to write this post in advance, and i don;t even have time to finish it properly!

Well, we have three weeks left to try to make a comeback. part of my busy-ness today was getting my grading completed, so summer quarter is officially over, and that will help. Of course, the three new preps for September won't do me any good... but neither will bellyaching.

I have a half-a-book report to share. I was reading The Violinist's Thumb by Sam Kean, a wonderful explication of DNA that careens from Deep Science to Wacky Anecdote. Kean is a good explainer and has a great way with the vernacular; some of his turns of phrase are delightfully jarring, like neon signs in chapel. Before I had to turn the book back to library half-read, I learned the following:

• DNA and genes are way more complicated than most things we read make them sound
• Retroviruses are totally scary
• There was a guy who was at both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic blasts - and survived

This week also held campus time, pub trivia (my team came in second!), two RPG nights, a morning spent wandering downtown while the car was being serviced that was extremely pleasant until it went on too long, an evening of circus arts, and some angel duty. See what I mean? Busy!

Artsy picture of a crane reflected in a building.

(The one on the right is the reflection.)

Temp check 9/13: Verily, we stumbleth onward

So, it is beginning to look like this prediction is going to be only as accurate as the stereotypical weather forecast - which is to say hardly at all. I haven't run the numbers yet, but just eyeballing it, it's a pretty good bet that we're not hitting 91% green on that chart off the right.

As I sit here in the still exceptionally warm summer air, after having spent all morning on campus and all afternoon online with my students' work, I'm not going to sweat it - well, maybe literally, but not metaphorically. I'm not sure what's different from last summer to this summer, but my lack of participation in my self-designated activity areas has had little to do with doing little: it seems I am as busy as I ever am. It's just hard to figure out with what, exactly. I have spent more time on campus this summer than I intended, but not too much; we've had to pull some angel duty more often than we expected, but not a whole lot; I have been gaming a fair bit, but not that much more than normal; we've been socializing, but no more than we have in past summers.

It seem that things like re-arranging the living room furniture so the coaxial cable could reach the TV, or arranging for and then sitting for Coco's new tattoo, or tripping over a home inside the Seattle city limits that we could actually afford and dropping in on an open house - these all just seem to take up more time than they should. So be it.

This summer is going great. And based on my meeting this morning with my new dean, I expect fall to be awesome. And that is some fantastic art that Coco got: