It's a good thing Jed's arriving tonight instead of last night, 'cause I wouldn't have been any fun at all this morning. Although I suppose if Jed had been here, I would have likely been in a better mood. And he might have figured out the cold/heat thing faster than I did. When I'm really cold, I just kind of sink into suffering/enduring mode and I don't think so good. I think by now both Kevin and Jed (and probably David) are better at noticing when I'm cold than I am, and making me either put on another layer, or socks, or turn up the heat. Weird. Maybe I'm really a lizard. Slow-thinking and slow-moving in the cold.
I did have a nice day yesterday. After morning work, I talked to David for a while, ran errands (got a $40 pair of sneakers for $6.50, woohoo!), and then went to a seminar with poet David Mura and Ginu Kamani. Ginu was fabulous, as always -- I really recommend her book, Junglee Girl, to you, if I haven't already (or even if I have). Great short stories, with fascinating takes on class, race, sexuality, culture, childhood, shame, etc. and so on. She reminds me of Nalo Hopkinson -- in conversation with them, I always feel my understanding of what's going on with sexuality, etc. being pushed further than I normally get on my own. I think they're both about ten years older than me? Somewhere between five and ten, anyway. I hope it's just the extra years thinking about it that makes their thinking so much more sophisticated than mine; I'd like to get there someday.
After the seminar, some of us went to Kim Hall's house for dinner. Kim was in my MFA program at Mills, and knows Ginu from there; Ginu's collaborator, Joel Tan, made us all fabulous Filipino food. His chicken adobo was astonishingly good (I have some in my fridge; dinner today!), and there was a yummy long bean chili-coconut curry, pretty similar to Thai green curry. Dessert was cassava cake; so delectable and bad for you, as all good desserts should be.
Today I have various academic tasks to do (work on conference stuff, revise my list and send it out to my committee in preparation for my Monday list meeting), but mostly I need to get my house in order. All the packing has made it easy to let the whole place get pretty sloppy, and it's starting to get to me. I cleared the dining room this morning; I need to do a thorough job on my kitchen, though. Especially because I have to do some cooking today; Ginu asked me when I was going to make her Sri Lankan food -- I said, "Friday lunch?" And she said okay. So she's coming by then, along with Jenn (who was at the conference and is interested in talking to Ginu more), possibly Joel and his partner Troy, and of course Jed will be here. Lunch for six. I think I may try to cook most, if not all of it, today; it'll just get better for sitting, and that way I don't need to rush around like a madwoman tomorrow morning and can laze about with Jed instead.
This evening, I need to get pretty (tough with the dark circles under my eyes, but that's what makeup is for, no?) and go downtown to introduce Ginu at a reading she's giving. Should be fun. Reception first; I think I'll head down around 6-ish; the reading's at 7. I'll be home long before Jed arrives (he's coming very very late.)
So, various and sundry. Laundry, too. I'm feeling less cranky already -- it's hard to be cranky when you know there will be a Jedediah in your house before bedtime. :-) Will probably post again later, my dears. Have a good day.