SUNDAY. 2:45 PM. New month. Not much to say right now. Though there's been a bunch going on. I'm tired. The weather's been pretty dog days hot and humid. Work has been draining. And things are changing pretty fast around here. I'm still not sleeping particularly well. I've been having a lot of very strange dreams. I just need to get back to center and chill out a bit.

My sister's off to Taiwan. Hopefully she's settling in, getting her bearings, and safe. I miss her already.

More later.

WEDNESDAY. 9:07 PM. Life is extraordinarily simple--if you let it be.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty conflicty for me. I have run the gamut of feelings, worries, desires, and distractions. I sometimes take a teeny step back and realize how much I have been procrastinating, complicating, and full-on denying in my day-to-day. I haven't been feeling particularly like myself lately. I aim to set that right soon.

July has come and gone. The last month of summer vacation is already nearly a week past. I really have to sort and sort quickly, efficiently, effectively. My headspace is a mess. Someone needs to call a cleaning service.

I have a really bad case of the doldrums. To extend the sailing metaphor, I just don't have any wind in my sails. I think the weather is partially to blame. It's summer in Maryland. After a very mild June, July finally warmed up. Now it's hot, muggy, hot, muggy, hot, and muggy almost every day. The dog days really make me sluggish, sleepy, tired, irritated, and plain unmotivated. Expending any extra ergs just makes it seem hotter. I've been coping by going to work a lot to be in the AC or just hanging out at home where it's cool in front of the TV. Unfortunately, my home office is not air conditioned, which makes it difficult to be motivated and get any work done when the room is stifling.

I've just been in a weird place. I have really bizarre and stressful dreams. I don't sleep particularly well. And I'm compounding the issues by not eating particularly well, over-indulging things I really should avoid or at least moderate, and working a whole lot. I know I'm just trying to fill my time, fill my mind, fill my hours, and fill my mouth with as much stuff as I can so I don't have to worry, to deal, to sort. Of course, playing the denial and displacement game only means the stuff just surfaces elsewhere.

I predicted at the start of summer that this would be a year of significant change. It certainly has begun. And not just simple, gradual, easy change. It's full-blown, in-your-face, paradigm shifting change. I'm just too much of a Taurus to really accept it, handle it, and work through it gracefully. As much as I want to keep a smile on my face and be at peace, all I can seem to do is grimace and bear it.

More soon.

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SATURDAY. 12:09 PM. Recap: two weeks... approximately...

• The last couple of weeks of July were pretty rough at work. They were the last two full weeks of orientation, and there was a lot of general frustration and tiredness in the muggy summer air. A full day of advising would leave me totally drained. I would come home and just go into slug mode. Students are frustrated because there aren't any good classes open so late in the summer. Advisors are frustrated because students have no idea what they want. But it's done for now. There are two weeks of late transfer orientations at the end of August that will prove to be hellish. Till then I'm enjoying slug mode.

• On Thursday, July 22, Alenda had her farewell dinner at La Madeleine in Bethesda. About twenty or so folks came out to see her and wish her bon voyage. Most of them were her high school and college friends. There was a small contingent of grad school friends, too. It was a nice, good food evening (though a little bit rain-soaked). She's got a great extended family of friends.

• Two Saturday's ago, on July 24, I attended the big summer party at the big gay mansion in DC. Emily from school invited me a second year in a row. I had a blast at the "charlie's Angel Meets James Bond" party last year. This year's theme was "Buddha Bar Bash." Basically, the house was tastefully draped in fabric, gently lit, accessorized by fabulous pillows and pieces from Asia, Inda, and the Pacific Islands. People were encouraged to costume themselves in Buddhist garb or in the guise of a famous Buddhist or anything in-between. For the grad student in me, it was the height of orientalism. But I had fun anyway. Actually, I had a lot of fun -- who cares what Said said. (Hee, that's funny.)

I went in some white, flowy, linen garb and a "Hello, My Name Is..." name tag that said I was MADDOX JOLIE. Ms. Angelina is a self-professed Buddhist. Her son is from Cambodia. And he's been known to sport a blue mohawk. Close enough, eh? Can't you see the resemblance? Most people got it. It's good to be the son of Angelina Jolie. The party was a blast. Over the top as usual. Fabulous as usual. I headed down to the city with Scott, who was good enough to DD, and Tracy. We met up with a bunch of folks from school (shout outs to Megan, Brandi, Amy, Deb, Jody), ran into people from last year's party, and got to know some new folks. Pictures here. More pictures of the party can be found here.

• The last week of July was rough. The early part of the week was taken up with work and then running errands with my sister. She needed to get things together for her trip to Taiwan. I guess it really isn't just a trip. It's for 11 months, after all. I guess it's a move. We went clothes shopping, shoe shopping, insundries shopping. Then, on Thursday, July 29, I drove down to my sister's place in Ashburn, Virginia. I finished a day of advising and then braved rush-hour traffic. We hung out for her last night in the States. Alenda, Brian, and I went to dinner in downtown Leesburg at King's Court Tavern, a British-style pub with pretty good food (particularly the fish and chips). Then we had coffee and dessert at a nearby restaurant. Overall, it was a good night. Sad, though.

• Friday, July 30, Alenda left for Taiwan. She called me in the afternoon to say she was on the way to the airport. Twenty-some hour flight later, she landed in Taipei. It would be several days before she got to an internet connection to send me an email. She's doing well. She's busy, but well taken care of by the Fulbright people. She's going through orientation, training, and getting settled. Eventually, she'll be assigned to a particular school along with her colleagues. It's still a little weird to think about the fact that she's halfway around the world, a twelve hour difference. I really miss having her around and accessible. I think it'll be tougher once the school year starts because then I'll really notice that she's not immediately in my life.

• Friday night, I went into the city. I was invited to a birthday party for my friend and fellow blogger Chris's 30th (or his second 29th according to him). The party was in the "basement" of Larry's Lounge (1836 18th @ T NW). It's a small, colorful, decidedly "old school" gay bar -- plenty of locals, regulars, rainbows, and friendly kitsch. I had a good night. Everyone was in good spirits. I got to see Nancy, Meghan, Jenn, and even a few people from school (Megan and Brandi) and work (Mr. Chris). Many thanks to Brandi who gave me a ride back to College Park.

• Last Saturday, the last day of July, Archaea came out of hiatus. The game hasn't been active for a couple of months. So we took some time off. People got the word out. And we tried to come back with a "New Player Appreciation Day" event. The weather was really fair. We had about two dozen or so people show up, which is nearly three times as many usually play. I was a little underprepared for the number of people, but the event went well. I think people had a good time. Now we have to see how many of the newcomers stay.

• The start of August was spent doing work stuff. On August 2 and 3, I had day long trainings for teaching UNIV100. The training was held at UM's golf course at Mulligan's Grill, a bar, restaurant, club house, and meeting space. The training was pretty low-key, not particularly helpful, but it was nice to be out of the office getting free food.

• The rest is, alas, more slug mode.

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MONDAY. 7:51 PM. Wow, August is half over. Damn. I have two weeks till the semester starts. Two weeks. And, of course, I have a bunch of things I need to get done between now and then. Where has all the time gone?

The past week has been full of work and sitting in front of my computer. I've got that personality type where if I latch on to a project, I usually don't let it go till it's finished. Call it Taurean. Call it obstinateness. Call it anal retentive. But I decided at the beginning of August that I was going to get the Tellings revision done. So, I've spent the last week up to my mohawk in paper, notes, files, ideas, and pages and pages of revised material. I've made pretty good headway. I know I'm in the zone when I go to bed thinking about the revision, when I wake up thinking about the revision, and when I'm doing anything else I'm thinking about the revision. I definitely inherited a bit of the workaholic thing from my mother. Mix that with a few doses of perfectionism, and I'm pretty much nose the grindstone and trying to make myself and the people around me proud and impressed. Sick, isn't it?

So, I've just been working at the office and and working at home all this week. I had a couple of more trainings for the UNIV100 course I'm teaching this fall. I have to get all of that stuff squared away pretty soon. I don't even have a syllabus worked up yet. But I did manage to get my English 101 syllabus done (now I have to update the website and get Movable Type installed so my students can blog for the class).

• Last Wednesday, I hung out with my young friend Jason, whom I know from Archaea. He's a cool fellow. We got some food. We sat and talked. I helped him make a couple of pieces of garb--a tabard and some pants.

• I went to the coffee house this past Friday to hang out with Cate. I took my Tellings stuff and worked there for a couple of hours. It was good to hang at the Perk. It's been a while. I'm sure once the semester starts, I'll be there all the time again. Chrissy was working. So, that was a nice surprise to see her. Then, later that night, I was pried away from my computer by Cate and Skinner to go see the The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. I had put the idea in Cate's brain. So, she ended up getting Skinner to go and invited me, too. It was okay. Seeing the movie with a theatre full of little kids sucked. The movie was a little low-brow and cobbled together. The first one was much better. Chris Pine was cute but had bad, bad hair.

• Saturday was spent working more and more on Tellings while waiting to see what hurricane Charley was gong to do to the area. A little rain was all we got around me. I was supposed to run Archaea, but I cancelled for fear of stormy weather (and for lack of sufficient RSVPs for the event). Saturday night, I took the Metro into the city to go to my friends' Meghan and Jenn's going away party; the two of them are moving to San Diego. First, I met up with my friend Casper at Local 16, a swanky bar and restaurant where hipsters and indie kids work and play. Dinner was on the pricy side (on a graduate student's budget) but tasty. Casper and I ate, had a couple of pints, and talked and caught up. Meghan and Jenn's party was upstairs at Local 16. Convenient, eh? The party was fun, relaxed, cool, and interesting. There was food and a lot of picture taking and cake and beauty pageant sashes and and beach balls and fun people. Nancy was there. Chris was there. Megan, Brandi, and Erin from school came, too. It was a good night. I left shortly after midnight to catch the train home. It's sad that Meghan and Jenn are leaving for the Left Coast (I'm jealous), but I'm sure I'll get to visit them in San Diego.

• Sunday, more work on Tellings. See, I told you I was obsessed. I did finish enough of the revision to make a reader's copy. I tried heading to campus to see if I could dash off a few copies at work, but the building was closed. Poo. Then I went to Kinko's to get passport photos taken, which didn't cost as much as I thought they would (running at only $13 for the pair) and which were taken by a cute, lanky college kid. Then there was gaming later that afternoon and evening.

Today, I took off of work. I just need a little break. Plus the rest of this week is jammed pack with stuff to do. I have an campus advising conference all day tomorrow (which will undoubtedly be less than stellar though it is free food and I am part of a "new advisor" panel). Then the rest of the week is late transfer orientations.

I started the day off with a cold shower. My building has been having issues with the hot water heater as of late. In the last month or so, the hot water has been on and off. This weekend it was off. But there's nothing like brisk water to get your day started. I didn't sleep in, though. I needed the day off to do stuff. First, I went over to Saturn bright and early to get my car's oil changed. It was due. I walked in to get a twenty dollar service and walked out with a near $800 itemized list of things that needed to get done. The big line item was the replacement of my brake cylinders--the service guy basically said fix these or die. It was not a great way to start the day. I'm already having issues about trying to save money and now I'm suddenly down hundreds and hundreds of bucks. From the dealership, I went to the post office to apply for a new passport. It didn't take too long. I waited in line for about forty-five minutes, and the actual processing of forms takes less than ten. But the passport cost another $85. Then I dashed into work for a second to grab a package, a book I bought for one of my sister's colleagues in Taiwan. Then I packaged the book and went to another post office to ship it overseas.

The rest of the day was spent working on, you guessed it, Tellings. Then I popped up to the coffee house for a short bit to meet up with Cate and Skinner to give them their readers copies.

Now it's time to sleep.

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SUNDAY. 11:14 AM. Sometimes the start of a new semester is like staring down the first fall of a rollercoaster. I sometimes look up at the calendar and say to myself, "Fuck, where did all the time go?" I cannot believe that there's only a measly week left before classes start. A lot of my energies are now bent toward getting ready for the coming semester and preparing to go back to school.

In the end, though, the rollercoaster ride is fun, bumpy, and sometimes exhausting. But it's worth it.

The past week has been a blur. The more I have to do, the more that time seems to whirl by. I guess that's normal.

Work is back in full swing with late summer freshmen and transfer orientations. We're dealing with all the students that were admitted at the last second off of wait lists or whatnot. I cannot believe the university takes people this late in the game, and I cannot believe students are willing to scramble to come here, find classes (the lists of open courses is dwindling), find housing, and pay for it all. But I guess the university wants the squeeze the last bit of blood out of a stone and some students have no other choice.

Last Tuesday, I went to the university's 9th Annual Advising Conference for campus academic advisors. The one thing about higher ed you can count on is day after day after day of professional development events. It was an okay day, though not particularly useful. It was a good chance to meet other advisors, pick up a few resources, listen to a bunch of presentations, and of course eat free food. I was actually conscripted by my office to be part of a panel in the afternoon sessions. The session was called "If I Only Knew Then What I Know Now...: A Primer for New Advisors." We basically talked about what it was like to be a new advisor and what about our experiences would be useful to incoming advisors. It was pretty relaxed except for one audience member who bad-mouthed my department. She wouldn't look me in the eye as she criticized Letters and Sciences. I immediately replied, "I would like to respond..." But the moderator didn't let me get into it. Ah well. I was ready to defend the honor of my office.

Last Tuesday night, I found some energy that hadn't been drained out of me by my professional development and went into the city for my friend Deb's farewell gathering. Deb graduated from the MA English program this past spring and is headed to Seattle. So, she had a little get-together at The Flying Scotsman (233 2nd Street NW @ Constitution). There was a whole crowd of people in the pub -- I think they were a couple of softball teams or something. Deb and party were crammed into a corner near the golf video game machine. We hung out. We had a few cheap beers. We had some food. It was nice to send Deb off, to see Amy K., and to hang out with Megan, Brandi, and folks. Many thanks again to Megan and Brandi for providing transportation to the car weary Ed.

On Friday of this past weekend, I went to my second Guerilla Queer Bar, which was held at The Riverside Grille (note the fancy extra 'e' at the end of 'grill') down at the waterfront in Georgetown. Shawn came with and we took the metro into the city. We got on at College Park, took the green line down to L'Enfant Plaza, where I realized I really, really, really had to pee. So, we jumped off the train. Of course, metro stations no longer have public restrooms because of "security reasons." So, I had to leave the station. L'Enfant Plaza is a big collection of office buildlings with very little open after eight at night. I ended up peeing on the street -- another story for the record books. Fortunately, I finished my business just shy of being discovered by a station officer. Whew. If peeing on L'Enfant was the start of my night, then the rest of the evening would be an adventure for sure.

Shawn and I ducked back into the metro station (paying yet again), jumped on the Blue/Orange line, and headed to Foggy Bottom/GWU. Leaving the George Washington University station, we had no idea what direction to go. The metro station is right near the GW hospital. We asked a DC cop with a Boston accent for directions. He pointed us Georgetown-ward along K Street. Unfortunately, I got confused and the direction didn't seem right. So, against better judgement, we backtracked and went the opposite direction. I was wrong. The first way was the right way. Since we had walked a bunch of blocks already, I just hailed a cab, who took us right to the waterfront in Georgetown. The cabbie charged us only for one zone even.

The Riverside is swanky. The whole waterfront area is swanky. It's pretty much a yuppie, fratty, sorority, men in khakis, women in ruffled skirts zone. When we arrived there were only a few Guerrilas to be found. But, over time, the queers and their friends started filing in -- one tight t-shirt after another, one lesiban boy haircut after another. Eventually, we outnumbered the usual crowd (I think most of the uncomfortable straights moved to the other bar across the courtyard). There were drinks to be had (especially after we found Mary, barkeeptress extraordinaire who makes a rum and coke like a gay man). There was schmoozing. It was good to see some familiar faces. I even ran into a few UM folks. Alas, my co-worker Christopher did not make it (though he said he would) or we totally missed one another. I talked to a lot of people. Shawn even managed on his own. We met a German guy named Marcus, who looked like Jamie Oliver and his girlfriend and friend. Marcus et al gave me a few impromptu German lessons and said I had a surprisingly good accent. Prost auf der schwulen! Cheers to the gays!

The night was very cool. It as surprisingly mild. Everyone stayed outside at the outdoor bar. I was startled by the fact that the river is right there. No handrails. Boats parked right up against the boardwalk. Isn't that just asking for drunken trouble? Everyone was very cool. Of course, all of the compliments of the evening are from women (gladly accepted of course). My pink mohawk was a smash. There were many cute, indie boys in ironic t-shirts and rectangular glasses. But I had no luck with the laddies that night. Though, I got an email yesterday from a cool guy named Michael (whom I had met at other venues) who thanked me profusely for being instrumental in hooking him up with someone. He had been eyeing a lanky fellow with a rocker haircut. So, I walked over and chatted the boy up and brought him over for Michael to meet. They ended up talking the whole night and going home together. My pastlife matchmaker powers strike again. Alas, a matchmaker makes matches for others and not for themselves.

After the crowd thinned and the witching hour past, I had to take a very inebriated Shawn home. We had a train to catch. Originally, he was supposed to be the more sober one. But the Germans piled him with drink. So, we had a very wobbly walk back to the metro. Shawn was almost barred from riding because he was too wobbly. Two trains later, we make it back to College Park by three in the morning. No stopping for peeing on L'Enfant. But neither one of us were in any condition to drive home. I didn't pee, but I did throw up in the station parking lot whilst Shawn fell down on the sidewalk next to a bag of garbage. We were a sight for sure. Eventually, we decided to just walk back to my place. Drunkenness certainly provides for a certain amount of ambition (and lack of pain receptors). It was going to be a long walk. But even in the wee hours, I managed to flag down a passing cab. Somewhere in my brain, I had budgeted some money for a late night taxi ride. The cabbie said he was actually not taking fares because he was on his way to his job at 7-Eleven. But, for ten bucks, which is all I had left in my wallet, he'd take us home since it was in the direction he was headed. Many thanks to the kind-hearted cab drivers in the world.

The rest of my weekend was much more low-key and relaxed. I woke up yesterday morning a bit bedraggled. After shepherding Shawn to his car, I came home and just worked on school stuff till Cate and Skinner lured me into a trip to Michael's, Pier 1, and Target. I was dead tired and still a little queasy. But no red-blooded American gay man can resist such a shopping intinerary! Of course, I just watched them buy stuff for their TV room. I did not have the energy or the cashola for any goodies of my own.

Today, I woke up after a good long night's sleep (though it was punctuated by odd dreams that I don't remember). I went to the grocery store. I made some chicken and rice soup. Now I need to clean up, work on my UNIV100 syllabus, and get ready for gaming.

Then I have to face the last week before school starts. Save me.

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That's it. I'm done. Good night.

SATURDAY. 8:54 PM. A night spent in. Different, huh? Actually, looking back, it seems strange to not have anything planned for a weekend night. A part of me was hoping to do a little partying before the semester starts on Monday. Crimony, the summer is over. Minutes, hours, just a few short days away.

I've had an okay week.

• I spent most of the last week of summer vacation working, actually. We had a few late orientations. The poor students coming in so late in the game didn't have a whole lot of choice in their fall classes. Work has been a little stressful. Kids are coming back to the area, moving in to their dorms, realizing that they haven't done anything for the fall semester. The front desk has been mobbed. I've dealt with more angry parents the past week or so than I have all year. I even got a very rude email from a parent of one of my caseload students that worked my last nerve. People have got to stop waiting till the last minute to do things, stop expecting the world to revolve around them, and stop taking out their anger and frustration on innocent bystanders. But, at the end of the day, I still like the job, the advising, the helping of students. So, it must be worth it.

• Tuesday night I hung out with two young friends: Jason and Will, both Archaeans who are breaking through the fourth wall and making friends with me.

• On Wednesday, I went to the university's Graduate Teaching Assistants orientation and professional day run by the Center for Teaching Excellence. I was asked to be on three panels that day. The first panel was an "Experienced TA" question and answer during the morning's plenary. The second and third panels were about "Classroom Management." It was a good day. I got to meet a bunch of TAs from all across campus, all across departments. People really seemed to enjoy talking to me, to a guy with a mohawk. I even got a very nice presenter's tote bag out of the day.

• I stopped by the English 101 professional day on Thursday. I was doing international transfers orientation that day and couldn't attend the 101 meeting. I've been to a million already. So it wasn't a big deal. But I wanted to mix and mingle. I ran into a bunch of old faces and met a bunch of new people. Alas, it doesn't seem like there are many new men coming in this year (at least not any that are teaching English 101). I had some free lunch. It was cool, very pleasant. Later that day, I hung out at the coffee house for a couple of hours with Jess and Joe. Then we went to Town Hall for a few beers. We met up with a bunch of English folks. I had my first Dogfish Head. It was on special.

It was kind of neat being back at Susquehanna, being back with grad friends, and hanging out at Town Hall. It reminded me of last semester. And it reminded me that I missed having the company of like-minded peers. I guess I'm a bigger grad school geek than I thought. Either that or I'm just feeling lonelier than usual. Probably a little bit of both.

• Friday was Letters and Sciences last official orientation. It was another tiring day of working the front desk (which is slowly reminding of my days working reception in San Francisco) and advising students. After work, I gave my co-worker and new friend Ranetta a ride home. I hung out and chatted with her at her apartment. She wanted some interior design help. So, we rearranged her living room a bit, talked about paint color, and overall home improvement. She was very pleased with her consultation. Hah. I've been told on a number of occasions this past year that I have missed my calling (or at least miss another of my callings).

• Today, Saturday, I got up and trundled into the city. A bunch of DC gay bloggers were gathering for brunch at Fox and Hounds. I really only knew two people there: Chris and Joe. It was nice to meet the rest. Pictures and list of attendees are posted at: BoiFromTroy, Sparkology, Inert One, Archerr, and others. Most people knew each other by reputation and blog name only. It kind of reminded me of my talker, online chat days when people went by handles instead of real names. It was a fun, warm day. Below is the sign-in sheet (image courtesy of boifromtroy, image map courtesy of me):

After bloggers' brunch, after some ice cream, I walked down to Dupont proper. I met up with Andrew and Josh, a couple of Friendsters, at Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe. Andrew's boyfriend Chris joined us a little later. We sat, hung out, had a little food, and chatted about all sorts of random things. I had a good time. Afterward, I hopped back on the metro and went home.

Now I'm tired. And hot. And still feeling kind of lonely.

More later.

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SATURDAY. 9:39 PM. I just got a call from the local thirft store Value Village, which is not at all associated with these people. The woman asked for "Mrs. Chang," and I told her that there was no "Mrs. Chang." She then proceeded to ask me whether or not I had anything to donate because their trucks were coming around next week. First, why is she calling me so late on a Saturday night? Second, is tending to clothes and household items a woman's job, a wife's job? I swear I think people forget that we live in a whole new century, a whole new millenium.

I also forgot to mention that my friends Nathan and Wendy out in the Bay Area just had a baby boy! Maxwell London, which sounds totally like an international spy's name, was born late last night. First, congrats to the new shiny parents. Second, I had not effing idea they were having a baby much less concieved one. No wonder they've been totally incommunicado. I guess we have a lot of catching up to do.

That's it. I'm done. Good night.

TUESDAY. 7:49 PM. It's not even time for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy yet and I'm already contemplating going to bed. But I will persevere. I am just tired from the second official day of the new semester and my first official day of classes and teaching.

I opened this morning at work. Did a short one and a half-hour shift at the front desk (which thankfully was not nearly as busy and ransacked as yesterday). Then cut out a little early to walk over to the English building for my first class: ENGL454 Modern Drama. I'm taking an undergraduate class with one of my favorite professors Dr. Olmert. I'm allowed one 400-level class as a graduate student. The class looks like a lot of fun but also a lot of work: 20+ plays, 40 pages of writing, attend a performance, bibliography and short presentation on a playwright, and five quizzes. Fortunately, I'm unofficially TAing for Olmert and that work will exempt me from some requirements. It should be a rocking semester.

After class, I walked from Susquehanna over to the Architecture building (which strangely is still not named). It's been years since I've been in the building. And it's been over a decade since I've been in it as an architecture undergrad. Strangely enough, there are still a lot of ghosts in the building for me. (I did detour through the humongous and might I add way too swanky Van Munching Hall, home of the business school.) I got to Architecture early, had a little snack, and a drink. I watched as kids were let out of classes. I watched as the first- and second-years (and a few grads) hung out in the "great space," the central two-story area of the building flanked by classrooms and the studio desks. I remember being a first-year. I remember choosing one of those desks. I remember the jumble of junk strewn all over the space -- tracing paper, bits of cardboard or foam core, models from the year before stacked around. I didn't finish my architecture degree. I left the program after one very bad semester of studio. And there's part of me that wants to go back, repair, and prove that I could do it (much like I'm doing now my second time through the MA program). But I think I'll just have to let those ghosts fade or keep on haunting.

The first day of teaching is always fun for me. I'm nervous and excited and giddy and scared and anxious and anticipating. I walked into the room and asked if it was English 101. A few of the kids nodded yes. I put my stuff down in a seat at the front and left for a little while, a little stroll. Then, right at the start of class time, I walk back in and shut the doors to the classroom. A big signal that I'm more than just some freaky guy with a mohawk, which is blue and green by the way. Class went well. This year's 101s are a lot bigger than ever -- 25 students total. Budget cuts have forced this class, which at its inception was meant to have a cap of 15 students, to swell to an almost unmanageable size. Grading papers will be grueling. But my introduction went well. We went around the room and did a quick icebreaker. I went through the usual first day rigamaroll: course policies and syllabus, course expectations, what is rhetoric, and my brand-spanking new idea for the semester, the class blog.

I really loved the class blog from my digital studies class last semester that I decided I would employ it in my own teaching and with my own students. I hope that the class will use the blog to its full potential. I think it will add a neat and different dimension to the course.

After class, I headed home. Tuesdays are my short days. Soon the rhythm of the semester and the routine of work, reading, writing, and class will take hold. I have a lot on my plate (again) this fall, but I'm looking forward to it.

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TUESDAY. 11:38 PM. OK, I made it through QE: Sean K. -- totally cute, totally needs to be cloned to be my boyfriend, totally sweet (though a little iffy when he makes weird faces while chewing food).