So we meet again, blog.
It’s 7:30, and I’ve just sat down at my desk to start my night of work. I was anticipating being a little more busy today, but this morning I got the very pleasant surprise of getting my paper deadline extended until Monday. So now I actually don’t have anything due this week – just two papers to finish by next week. Life is good.
This morning I gave my cognitive neuroscience talk, which was the thing I was dreading most all quarter. I practiced it three times this weekend, and looked my slides over with Lewis already, and I think it all paid off. I felt very comfortable giving the talk, and I think I sounded like I knew that I was doing. There was only one question from the audience, which was the part I was really dreading (the students in this class are a little… brash and cock-sure sometimes) and it was only to ask if the scan parameters I quoted was really what they did – which it was, of course. So yay! I also got to go first, so it was really great to get it out of the way, and be done for the rest of the morning. And nearly the rest of the quarter!
I’m at the point where I can list all the places I need to be and all the things I need to do: two Ling 1 lectures to attend, one to collect homeworks, and one to hand back papers, one section to teach, one study session to help run, one informal paper discussion to give, and two papers to hand in. And in 8 days, I’ll be completely and totally done until nearly October. Incredible, isn’t it?
The only other piece of news on the Laurfront is that I seem to have contracted Davis allergies. Yesterday on the way home from sushi, my eye sort of itched. By the time I got home, my eyelid was all poofy. I washed it off and it went away. This morning when I woke up, my *other* eyelid was swollen. It felt like it was twice the normal size, and I had trouble looking in all directions. But I took a shower, and by the time I was done, it was pretty much gone. Same thing happened this afternoon – suddenly itchy eyeball, which puffs up as soon as you scratch it, and goes away 15 or 20 minutes after you wash it. Yuck! I haven’t the faintest idea what it is that’s setting me off like this, but I’m putting my money on pollen or dust of some kind. Davis is well renowned for being one of the most allegry inducing places you can live, and I guess my allergy-free self finally met her match.