July 31

A parvum opus*, not a magnum opus.

1966 (Mexico)

13 days left. Juan took me to the University. He kissed me many times, and walked with his arm around me. I like him, but I don’t like his “girlfriend”. 

I went bowling with Pati and some of her friends. I got a 90 - the highest. On the way home we met about 8 or 10 boys who followed me to the house.

I’ve got problems. I like Juan, but I like Raul very much. Juan is the one who kisses me.

1979

It’s ironic that so much of my summer has been spent planning my time and trying to stick to it. It’s an ongoing battle. There’s so much I need to learn about the sensible use of time! If I want to get anything done (that’s Anything) accomplished its a skill - - a habit - - I must acquire. Profitable use of time must become automatic. Weather is a factor; this hot, humid weather is killing my ambition. Feh. Only a few weeks until classes start. Then it should be easier to get things done. (Yo- ho, easier indeed!) At least I have no classes to take this year. What a relief.

1986

Just went in and looked at Kiddo. Four years later, watching her sleep is still magic. These days I find myself including her in my activities more and more. Traveling with her is easier, she stays near me conscientiously, and she is a marvelous, fun-loving companion. The “terrible twos” seem so very far behind.

I’m over half-way to my due date. Grow well, Kiddo 2. We’re waiting for you!

1996

Kiddo 2 and I are in Williamsburg, VA., at the end of a very pleasant short stay. We arrived Monday, did some shopping, had ice cream at Friendly’s. Kiddo watched TV in the room while I worked out and swam. Then we had a fabulous day at Busch Gardens. I brought work along, which was incredibly DUMB. But the weather was uncertain; I thought I would get something done if it rained. 

1997

I worry too much about getting things done. It is part of my procrastination tool box. I complain about having too much to do, when in fact that burden is the result of:

Offering or setting out to do too much, and

Spending more time thinking about doing things than doing them.

I biked with Kiddo 2 today. Thank you for such a good companion!

2005

Jim leaves tomorrow for Denver; Jannik is going to work at a basketball camp this week. It’s not quite like having my office back, but it will do for now. I will have the car to myself for a week, which will be wonderful!

I need to find time to work out.

I just wrote a check for Kiddo 1 that I couldn’t afford. Yikes

2006

Another fragment of an idea: instead of “courses”, located in a department and taught by people connected to that department, how about a consortium of American Studies departments offering online and hybrid courses taught by people wherever, granting credit from the “host”, sort of like study abroad? Or how about me offering short courses on American culture, either as self-paced, free courses or for credit, through summer or winter term. Or how about an American culture site with constantly updated, interactive content, which learners could subscribe to? Or how about giving my AMST 201 students a choice between and generic news feed/podcast page and building their own, on a topic of their choice?

Comment 2023

Or how about you calm down, disengage from the academy for a while and see what things look like after the dust settles?

2016

Sunday. The end of July. What a long month! I am going to church this morning and will take my notebook along. I watched SRK’s beam about fitness on Fame yesterday. His matter-of-fact talk about his injuries was disarming. I am behind in my re-watch reviews. And I am now having trouble finding some of his more obscure films. But oh, well.

I am too often getting sucked into political conversations on Facebook. I need to back off from the big group I just joined.

My mind is drifting again to work and writing. And again, to my to-do list. Writing even these two short morning pages is so hard most days. I think about exercise, I think about writing, I think about sewing and weeding and reading and the STUFF I need to do that I am not doing enough of. I HATE WEEDING. It never ends.

I think I will make strawberry rhubarb pie next week for the party. I need to cook more in my beautiful kitchen. I need to start the laundry.

I do worry about what is going on with my body. Not the wrinkles, not the sagging, but the invisible stuff. All the mysterious, “something’s going on inside” premonitions. I’d like to live another 30 years and be healthy for 29 of them, with a last slow year to watch all the seasons, then leave with the first snow.

2022

Just sent my email declining Bloomsbury’s invitation to submit a proposal for a book about gender and fashion.

So ends my career as a “dress scholar”. With a poignant, wistful tapering off, rather than a magnum opus. I find myself more curious about “what now” than I am about “what next”. Today, not tomorrow. Filling this moment seems more worthwhile than planning my next decade.

Alternate title for something I might write:

I was gorgeous once. I just didn’t notice at the time.

Comment 2023

The thing I am working on now (not this, that Other Thing) is a sly obituary for my brilliant career. Not a sad obituary; the somewhat cheeky kind that you sometimes see making the rounds on social media. A parvum opus*, not a magnum opus. If my publisher approves, it will be a book. If not, I’ll just find another way.

Alternate title for something I might write:

It was mostly luck and timing.

In the meantime, thank you for reading, whoever you are. 

*[ˈpar-vəm-ˈō-pəs] from Latin. Noun. : a little work. : a small but meaningful work of an artist or writer.