All To Myself

I have the house all to myself in...I can't even remember how long. The Mister and his cousin are out for the evening so I'm headed to the library to get books, then the grocery store for some ice cream, and then home to spend an evening spoiling myself. Maybe even paint my toenails if I get ambitious.

Man, did I ever need this.

Photo by Chris Gen

Accessories Make the Outfit

This season's hottest fashion statement? An "I Voted" sticker proudly displayed on a University of Oregon t-shirt. Early voting is awe-sum!

Side Trip to Tassie

We're taking a 3 1/2 day trip to Tasmania. I have a co-worker who just moved back to the States after 3 years there, so she's given me lots of recommendations. It looks like we're going to be spending most of our time in Hobart and Port Arthur. Port Arthur was one of the penal colonies, now a museum. Our day at the museum includes a 20-minute harbor cruise and a ghost tour!

One of the big draws in Hobart is the Salamanaca Market. This website has several pictures. There's also the Sydney to Hobart yacht race--our plan is to watch them depart, then fly to Hobart and maybe catch their arrival.

Less than two months to go! Mentally, I've already checked out. In a rare moment of self-preservation I ordered my swimsuits and am now awaiting their arrival.

Photo by Nathanael B

Pictures from the Summer

Big goofy dog named Gus. Part Lab, part St. Bernard, part big slobbery mess. I wish I could claim him as my own, but he belongs to the Mister's aunt and uncle.

Sunflowers, goats and pumpkins at Miller Farms. I have a fondness for all three, but especially goats.

Instructional Methods

Wow! Word gets out that you want more teaching experience, and contracts start coming out of the woodwork! Starting in January I will be teaching Instructional Methods. It will be good experience but also a good reminder--my methods are rusty! I'm also co-teaching another Educational Research class starting in 2 weeks.

No word from the student from the previous teaching post. I had withheld her grade so she would be more motivated to call me. Unfortunately, she's disappeared from the class. I've followed up with an e-mail to see if she's OK.

Image via h-e-d

Teacher Quandary

Huh. How do you handle a student who uses a racial slur in their history paper? For reasons of confidentiality I can't go into the details, but I believe this student used the word out of ignorance. Still. It is common sense to avoid using a word in a paper if you don't know its meaning. My other thought is that she might have quoted an historical figure and didn't cite the source--in sum, she plagiarized. What's worse?

I have asked this student to call me but haven't heard back from her. The disadvantage to teaching online is that you are at the student's mercy to respond to your requests for communication.

Perfect Dinner

After a hard day of work in the yard, in the Mister's opinion there's no better dinner than...

...pancakes and Reduced-Sodium Spam.

Mmmm-mmmm.

Image by Lotse

Australia Update

Everything's booked except a rental car in Hawaii (we have a layover) and purchasing a new swimsuit. Ack! I'm putting that off until the very last moment when I'll frantically order 4 on the internet because I can't find one in December in the stores. None of them will look good, but one of them won't look too bad, and that's the one I'll be self-consciously wearing on Bondi Beach.

I know myself well.

Image by Molecule Mike.

I'm A Slacker

I've been reading a lot, just not posting much. Several projects/dreams are starting to come together this fall, both personally and professionally, so there probably won't be a lot of time to post. Either that or I'll be the most faithful poster ever because sometimes my compulsion to do everything can't be tamed.

Finished three excellent books at the end of September: unChristian, Eat, Pray, Love and The Bell Jar. As of this writing I've finished 48 of my 52 books for the year.