Hurricane Watching and Other Types of Observations

It's the part of the week and the part of the term when I feel a bit squeezed.  Let me record some bits and pieces.

--Because we now have Disney Plus, we watched Frozen Tuesday night.  It's a cultural artifact that I almost completely missed, aside from a few songs.  I wanted it to be more progressive, but wow, there are some problematic aspects:  Disney princess culture really has not evolved.  And lots of men putting hands on young women whether they say yes or not.  Hmmm.

--We watched Hamilton on Sunday and Frozen Tuesday night, and I had songs from both soundtracks going in my head all night as Tuesday moved into Wednesday. 

--I went to the public library Tuesday, and I thought about how delightful it must be to work in my local public library.  The staff always seems pleasant, and as I said to my spouse, people who hate books don't come to this public library.  The branch always has kids there who are so enthusiastic about books and reading.

--The last thing I need is one more possible career path as I age, but I did think that if my other career/job/money making possibilities don't work out, I'd be delighted to work in that library.  I don't want to get an MLS degree, but maybe they hire less credentialed staff for less pay.

--I have been making my own greeting cards, with sketches on old sketchbook pages (a spiral notebook that has been too bashed in to be a good sketchbook). 

I have taken to enclosing a fabric heart or a fabric angel into the cards--an extra stamp, and I hope extra delight.

I got an assortment of colored envelopes which delights me. Such simple joys, and I'm so happy that simple joys still bring me such delight.

--Knowing the delight that different colors brings me, I also got some colored index cards, and when my students come for conferences, I give the a midterm grade report on a colored index card.  The colors are random, except for the orange ones when work is missing.  It's a good system so far.

--I don't always know for sure that conferences are a good use of time, but some of my students who are missing work did seem to snap to immediate attention at that orange index card.  We'll see if it results in work being done.

--I am keeping my eye on Hurricane Helene.  I am so glad that we no longer own a house in a flood zone.  I am a bit concerned about weather conditions when I travel to Williamsburg on Friday.

--It has been raining, with intense bursts, for 12 hours now, and that's not even Helene.  If you came here hoping for some spiritual insights that come with storm prep, head over to this post on my theology blog.

--And speaking of rain, let me get ready to head down the mountain.  From 7-8:30, we have light rain forecast.  Spartanburg Methodist College has moved to remote operations on Friday, and today I have lots and lots of conferences scheduled.  If I had classes scheduled, I'd move them to online today too, but this many conferences would be impossible to reschedule.  It's easier to just go in.

--Many public schools are not in person for the rest of the week, so maybe the traffic won't be too bad.