February 25
If there’s a pattern here, I can’t see it yet.
1965
I'm going to the C.Y.O. dance. Bob found out about V - he read my letter to Cousin Brucie. He told Mom. He didn't tease me. At least he "approves" of V - he didn't like R. Then again, neither did I. He was just a boy who liked me. I do like V - I don't care who knows it. The rehearsal was lousy. Only 3 acts showed up. I got a sore throat, so I'll rest up.
1978
Not a bad week, now that I have a chance to look back. But I can only have a glance- - there’s more to do, still. This weekend I need to make bread, develop a grading sheet for my class, work more on Jim’s shirt, my own course reading, go to the campus library for research and write some letters.
I don’t mind being so busy; the history readings seem useful, even the ones that are excruciatingly boring. The class I am teaching is much better this semester. That students last semester agreed that more organization would be welcome, and I’m trying.
1982
A very nice thing happened today. Actually, several nice things.
This morning, Jim told me that after I was asleep, he reached over and felt the baby move. I’ve been hugging that image all day. Then, I had a productive hour in the library, and went into the department. One of my students came in and we had a good consultation about her exam, which evolved into a conversation about migrating and being a stranger. She’s from Iran, and she moved here during the revolution, when she was about fifteen. It was one of those experiences I love about being at a big university near a major city.
1997
I awoke last night (or in the dark before dawn) filled with pain and worry. My hips, shoulders and back hurt again, despite the exercise. And the concerns of all my busy demands are pressing in. I need to do some big things to remove them from my mind at night.
- San Antonio research and reservations
- van for Baltimore
- $$ for women’s retreat
- job description to Charlie
Comment 2023
Hey, 1997 Jo! Maybe your hips, shoulders and back hurt because of the exercise! What a doofus.
1998
This looks like a busy several days ahead, and my mind is zipping ahead madly in four or five different directions. Zip! Zap! Get matches and create paper and seeds for Boy Scout dinner. Whirrrr! Research… What's my next move? I should spend some time writing. Buzzzzzz. When to make treats for Suite Treat? Crank crank crank, when to see Kathy and get the cookies? And then, like cockroaches, there are a zillion tiny tasks running around my feet. The only time I really notice them is when I accidentally step on one and it crunches.
In a perfect world, I would secretly love to be a writer and illustrator of books about clothing and fiber arts. My concrete goal would be to complete a book, exhibit or article about a craft or object I love. In five years I would like to have several articles and a book of this type, and be able to devote my summers and winter break to this work.
Comment 2024
Who was this person, who wanted to write about material objects? Looking my CV, I can tell she checked out fairly quickly. I blame the cockroaches.
2005
Another thin envelope this week. I was turned down for a Carnegie Fellowship. It was along shot - over 300 applicants. But I thought I wrote a great proposal; I guess it wasn’t great enough. So I am feeling sad and sorry for myself. Boo hoo hoo. So it’s still fallow time. Or should be.
2023
Ice packs and ibuprofen are working wonders for my latest bout with trochanteric bursitis. (That’s bursitis in the outer hip, a thing I have learned in my old age.)
I have only one big thing on my to-do list: revisions and illustration permissions for a book chapter. The revisions are done, but I have been waking up and worrying about how to get the permissions for the two images I need. With the March 1 deadline looming…BUT WAIT!…I re-read the editor’s email and it is not due until MARCH 27!
For the curious, the chapter is for a book about men’s clothing and masculinity. It’s about the gendering of boys’ clothing in the USA since back when they wore white baby dresses and Lord Fauntleroy suits. Lucky for me, Little Lord Fauntleroy is in the public domain. Here’s an article I wrote a l-o-n-g time ago out the lad and the fad. (There is a weird stray paragraph in the beginning that was not in the original article.)
2024
Last night we entertained a few friends with snacks and a viewing of Martin Scorsese’s brilliant film “The Last Waltz”. Lately I have been drawn to learning more about music and musicians. It’s been random - completely unplanned. Listening to Springsteen’s “Nebraska”, watching the opera “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” (I know hardly anything about opera, much less modern opera), “Last Waltz”… If there’s a pattern here, I can’t see it yet.