Everything is Rhetorical
WPArgh!
Phoenix from the Ashes
013 years
Things have been pretty crazy here IRL. Months have gone by and there have been various and assorted illnesses brought home from baby school (or just brought on by too much work, too little time), more traveling than I care to think about, good times, bad times, etc. But one of the most active parts of my professional (online) life has been Not Your Mama’s Gamer. Last night we recorded and posted our 6th bi-weekly episode and I have to say that it was one of the best yet. NYMG is time consuming, but I have to say that it is one of biggest joys in my professional life right now. It gives me a chance to talk with folks about the things that I am thinking and writing about in a less stifling and academicky context. That means, of course, that this blog suffers. But there is so much that I need to share here that I can’t bring myself to do away with it completely after 11+ years of blogging.
In terms of an update, I have gotten much better at limiting my WPA duties so that I can get more scholarly stuff done. This is something that I have known for a long time that I was going to have to do…especially if I ever expect to be promoted. I take the WPA hat off ever afternoon and even if I stay in my office I have gotten very good at telling people that “I will work on that tomorrow”, really I have. I mean it. I know most of y’all don’t believe it, but you do have to see it in action…it is a thing of beauty. Of course there are lapses…for instance today is a non-WPA day and I came in “just for a minute” so that I could handle a couple of pressing WPA issues. They were quick (and elevated my blood pressure significantly) but they are done and I have moved on to blogging and printing some stuff for the book chapter that I am writing with one of our graduate students on female gamer podcasters and counterpublics. It is fun and fascinating stuff to say the least! I can’t wait to see how it all works out in the end. There is empirical data and all!!
So now, I am going to print one last article and chill out for a bit before I run away with the circus! L8r!!
Just, Wow!
013 years
I wish I could even begin to describe how busy I’ve been lately. There has been madness galore…and lots of Peanut to make it all worth it in the end. I have (too) many active scholarly projects all going at the same time and no time to get them done!
When the semester started I promised myself that I would work in the office until noon and then leave to go and work on my own writing…yeah right. It’s December and I think I have yet to do that. I find myself dealing with the madness of WPA-land until I leave to pick Pea up from baby school every day at 4:00-ish (usually closer to 4:30). My one saving grace has been that for the last month KL and I have been meeting from 10-3 on Fridays to just sit together and write. Since she usually gets there at 8:00 I could squeeze in another hour or two if I could just get my butt into gear (ok, actually Pea’s butt) in the mornings. I am promising myself all over again that next semester I will find time to work on my own writing every afternoon and not just one measly day a week!
Now to spend a little time working on a proposal before heading off to bed. And I promise that I won’t spend that time playing Fable III or Torchlight (which is $5 on Steam this weekend) which is my new obsession!
First One’s in the Books
014 years
So the first week I finally over. Things were blissfully quiet at baby school to make up for the continued week of craziness at work. By Friday I was fighting a monster migraine and missed my Service Learning meeting because I couldn’t drive on the meeds 🙁
Saturday we went to the Farmer’s Market as usual yeah, that was a but more eventful than I would have liked. I did get some okra to make the yummy curried grilled okra that we had at Mike and Tammy’s last week. My iPhone took a Vitamin Water bath and is now chillaxing in a bag office and hopefully drying out enough to work until I was planning on replacing it at Christmas. Oh yeah, then a fire broke out behind the Coney Island downtown (which was right where we were parked yesterday) and while I got Pea in the car quickly so that she didn’t have to breathe in the noxious smoke I did get to breathe in just enough while I was loading the day’s haul and the stroller to….you guessed it…trigger another migraine. The worst migraines of my life have been associate with the inhalation of charcoal smoke from a grill and this one was right up there! This, of course, ruined the day that I was supposed to have with visiting friends but I did get some sleep while Pea ran them crazy in the backyard! That kid is a wonder, but I may be a bit biased.
Today I have to find the time to prep for class tomorrow on top of the regular Sunday stuff. I am hoping that I can talk folks. Into coffee and crepes at Greyhouse after church (and hoping that they are finally serving. Food again) because I am jonesing for a crepe fix!!!
Ok, now back to some classic play theory in prep for Virtual Worlds tomorrow. Maybe some gaming tonight….got to do my homework, right? 🙂