Trivia and Triumphs

editorgirl trivia question: How many times has eg bought herself an obscenely priced meal to celebrate the "completion" of the fall 2004 inscape? And for a bonus point, what did eg buy herself today to celebrate the (fingers crossed) final completion of the fall 2004 inscape? Answers at the end of this post.

Today has been one of small triumphs, although it didn't start out that way and the day is far from over.

I woke up at 7:50 a.m. to my sister telling me I had class in ten minutes. (LaLa had come upstairs to see if she could get a ride to campus). I bolted out of bed, washed my face, told LaLa that her hubby would have to play chauffeur today, grabbed the first clothes from the floor (so not instuctor-appropriate), swiped on some mascara, and headed for my car, which of course was buried under last night's pseudo-snow.

I made it to class by 8:15 a.m. and I proceeded to sit there with a slightly-more-than-blank look on my face until the connection between Wendell Berry and Levinas clicked and I got to play the scary grad student again. Great, great fun.

When class ended at 9:15 a.m. I realized that I had about twenty minutes to figure out what "paradox" was and how to teach it to my 218 students. Oh, and I needed an exercise for them to do in class. So I did what any person in this situation would do--I called my mother. We chatted for a bit and as we chatted, I came up with an exercise that I thought just might work. So I tried it and it worked and then I got to sit back and enjoy the rest of the class period. (Read: party in my head. I went out to the hall to dance for a minute. Seriously.) That, and SHowe told me my outfit was fine for a Thursday class.

That brings us to 11:00 a.m. WIM: Writers Instructors Meeting. Yuck. But today was different. Pat Madden was talking about the personal essay (even though they're getting rid of it next year). And LadyJane was there. And life was good. And then I started writing.

My creative writing theory class this semester is focusing on works that don't fit in prose or poetry--they have features that accomodate or reject both genres. Prose poems, poetic prose, short shorts, etc. And none of those titles really work. But the discussion yesterday opened up a new thought pattern in my head of writing. That, and I had a good IM session with Tolkien Boy last night. If it sounds like therapy, well, it kind of was. I finally realized what it is that I need to do (provided I get up the nerve to do it, I'll explain in the near future). But 617 combined with that realization allowed me to write a new kind of poetry--all the way through WIM.

Basically I'm just happy because this means I have something for FOB tonight. Can't go empty handed.

editorgirl trivia questions answers: You know editorgirl can't count. Who knows? Bonus point: Carl's Jr. Guacamole Bacon Six Dollar Burger. Yummy.