An Open Letter to My Blog

Dear Beloved Blog,

I apologize. I know I made a commitment to you years ago to regularly update you, and I haven't kept up my end of that commitment.

In my defense, this has been a rough semester for me, with my teaching taking up the bulk of my energy and time. Paradoxically, the same classes that have been taking up most of my energy have given me the least back in satisfaction. Now that finals week is over and I can feel my fingers and toes again, I'm back.

I have been thinking about you! Many times, I have had experiences and thought "wow, I should blog that." Here are a few tidbits.

* I attended a small conference at the beginning of December that I haven't been to in several years. It's one I went to almost every year when I was in graduate school, and many of my friends from graduate school still go there. It was great to see so many old friends, and my presentation was fairly well received. But. I had some conversations about tenure requirements at different schools, and I have a feeling that the standards at High Plains U are relatively low, compared to the places my colleagues are getting tenured at. For a few days, this bothered me. But now I don't really care. The reality is that I have tenure here. I'm not looking for tenure anywhere else. And now that I have tenure I have the luxury to imagine my next really solid and long-term research project, without freaking out and grabbing every opportunity that comes along in order to get the requisite number of pubs. That's right: I'm talking about quality now, over quantity.

* As I mentioned, finals week is finally over. I made it through the semester, by the skin of my teeth, without cursing at my students. This I count as a success. Of course, I'll be grading until I'm about 80. Or until next Thursday, when grades are due.

* Today Slogger and I drove up into the mountains to cut down a Christmas tree. That was fun, but since he's still recovering from his heart attack, and I'm dealing with persistent lung congestion, we're both kind of pooped.

* My brother and his wife, and the triplets, are coming to visit us the week after Christmas. Did I mention that we only have one bathroom? And that the triplets are all 5-year-old boys?

So, that's it for now. I'll try to do better in the future, and I sincerely apologize for the past.

Taking a deep breath,

Dr. Bad Ass