i won't worry

This morning, I left a month of sweet Alabama home time, and drove back to school and work. Only one class today, so not that bad. I'm not teaching this semester, and while I'm pretty sad about that, I'm also energized by the thought of more time to devote to school work. I'm in a fiction class this semester, which is highly exciting (would be more exciting if it didn't have a Friday class . . .). I like writing fiction. Why? I don't have to be good at it! Writing a poem is sweating blood and crafting and cutting and putting back in and basically agony. Writing a story is like making mudpies.

So it's back to the flatlands and the cozy apartment, which is only made cozier by the wind-sharp drizzle outside. And above, you get to see a little glimpse of how lovely and homey Jannell has made the apartment. And how I clutter it up, as demonstrated by the two black blobs on each sofa (my coat and blanket, respectively. I have a bad habit of dragging around in blankets, especially in the morning. It makes me look like a depressed hobo. Which is terrible, because all true hobos are happy and lighthearted. I would be too, if I had a campfire and songs every night. "I'm a singin' hobo, not a stabbin' hobo." Name that quote!).

The maps are courtesy the history department via Dr. Brown, via Alan and Lee who told me about them and led me to the room where we chose and cut and rolled and went away happy with our spoils a few years ago. I have a map of the Balkan states from 1683-1914! I love the Balkan states. True riches.

Tune in next time for the first half of my reading list for 2011. Suggestions welcome/appreciated/needed!