I did manage to teach yesterday, despite inauguration excitement, and I think classes went reasonably well. My students misunderstood the LeGuin exercise, which makes me think I may need to go over them before assigning them as homework. We'll see. And we finished up a bit early in the colonial class -- we just whipped through King Solomon's Mines, much faster than I expected. I think it's because it's still early enough in the semester that they don't talk so much. They'll learn. Maybe I need to move the lit class into a circle too (I already have the fiction class doing it). We'll see -- tomorrow, they have Said, which I suspect will go somewhat slower and more painfully. :-)
Quiet evening with Kavi, including fun bath -- that's become my new go-to plan for when we're both getting frayed and tired, because at this point she can happily entertain herself in the bath for half an hour while I sit next to her and quietly read. It's enough to make me think I need to get a beanbag or something that I can drag into the bathroom, so I'm not sitting on the toilet or the floor. She's got her little rubber animals, plus some foam shapes that stick to the wall, and a little metal tea cup that she likes scooping up water with, and a metal pail. She also got some tub crayons for Xmas, but they're still in transit from the in-laws' house -- hopefully. I'm a little worried that that box has gotten lost in the mail. Sad. I want to get her a few more tub toys, and then maybe I can stretch that half-hour to forty-five minutes, or even an hour. Is there any danger to leaving your child in the water for a whole hour? Can they get terminally wrinkled fingers?
Speaking of reading (which I did at the start of the last paragraph), Roshani informed me that there was a new Lord Peter Wimsey novel!!! Which arrived yesterday, and which I liked very much. Written by Jill Paton Walsh (who collaborated with Sayers on the final Wimsey novel, Thrones, Dominations), this one is smart, intriguing, and I mostly didn't figure out what was going on until the end, even though she gave plenty of hints. (Well, I figured out some of it. But definitely not all.) A Presumption of Death, recommended for all Lord Peter fans.
Today I went downtown early to do a bit of shopping; had a few items to exchange and a gift card to use at Macy's. Found three cashmere sweaters at 80% off, which I think is an occasion for gloating, especially since I'd gotten down to one cashmere sweater with a hole in it previously. I just know I'll be a happier teacher wearing cashmere -- and a happier teacher means happier students, right? It's all for the students, I tell you...
Now I'm on campus, about to go hear a colleague give a talk that I'm really excited about -- Madhu Dubey is speaking on slavery and speculative fiction, with a focus on Octavia Butler -- excellent! Can't wait! I need to go hunt up the bio-bibliography I wrote on Tananarive Due (black horror writer who wrote about slavery and vampires) to bring along and give Madhu a copy of, just in case it might be helpful. I'm also just pleased to be finally meeting her -- she's one of my colleagues who's not teaching in the department this year, so haven't met her yet, and everyone says we have a bunch of overlapping interests. So far, all the faculty I've met here in my field have just been so insanely nice and welcoming, it's like a dream. Love it.
Then back to my office, to try to do some writing before my 4 p.m. AARCC meeting. I volunteered to read some essays for a student contest, and this is the planning meeting. Not exciting, but in a good cause. Then home to snuggle Kavi and have dinner, followed by grading, prep. A busy day, but a happy one. I love my job.
Belated comment/question: did she mention, or did you mention to her, Le Guin’s Four Ways to Forgiveness? Some of the best sf related to slavery that I’ve encountered.