Happy weekend!

And what a weekend it shall be! I'm predicting a three-day stretch conspicuously bereft of Fernet, Jaeger, and tortilla chips ground into Hook's area rug. (Wait, that sentence didn't make as much sense in person as it did in my brain, but I think you get the drift: there will be no powdered corn products dusting Hook's living room floor.) Yessiree: I have no plans for this weekend, other than a haircut at noon today (yea!) and a possible viewing of "I Am Love." Also, going to Nordstrom to return this North Face fleece I got online (during the Anniversary Sale, people! It doesn't count as shopping if it's on sale.), and by "return" I mean "exchange for the correct size." Also, cleaning the hell out of my room, poss. involving the use of Lysol and a power washer. (Note: my room is really not dirty -- certainly not dirty enough to warrant the use of harsh chemicals and heavy machinery, but I'm feeling dramatic this morning. There are a lot of errant issues of Runner's World that need to be re-stacked, however.) Also, I want to get a donut. I've been hankering for a donut so badly for the last week.

Plans seem to be forming themselves as we speak.

***

Sad news: Circus Bear has passed on. For those of you who are unfamiliar with my plants, Circus Bear is the Croton Banana plant I bought at the Galesburg Target during the spring of my sophomore year at Knox. He grew from a tiny (4") sproutling into a majestic mini-bush, and he survived several cross-country trips. At the agricultural checkpoint at the California border, the DNR worker commented on CB's impressive spread, noting too a bit of sun damage on CB's outer leaves (a prediction of the doom to come, perhaps?). I'm not sure what ultimately felled my plant; Hook suspects poor soil quality and possibly too much light, though I think Croton Bananas prefer high light conditions. I have suspicions that the clover that set up shop in CB's pot is some sort of parasitic species that diverted nutrients from my plant, suffocating it. I'll never know for sure. Now, I'm left with the sad task of depositing Circus Bear's corpse in the compost bin and cleaning the pollen leftover from the hell-clover. Sigh.

***

In other news, I want to go here.

Indeed, it is that point in the semester where it's all I can do to prevent myself from constantly obsessing about the impending winter recess. The days are getting shorter, the air is ass-cold, the workload gets heavier by the hour. Yeah. I'm staying in Western MA for winter break, and I'm not predicting that this stretch of time will be, in and of itself, awesome. What will be awesome is the cessation of most formal duties. Amen! Already, I'm planning little projects for myself: some knitting, some crafting of Xmas tree ornaments (from felt). Some other stuff? I recently found a recipe for phyllo dough Apple turnovers that I'd really like to try, and come to think of it, I'll probably do that this weekend, not this December.

This upcoming recess is my potentially last winter break ever. I say potentially because, from time to time, I toy with the idea of applying to various other advanced degree programs, once I get the heck out of here. In the event that I enroll in another program, the cycle of academic holidays will reinstate itself. But for now, work in the real world looms on the horizon: a real world without winter break.

Right now I'm reading Oliver Sacks' "An Anthropologist on Mars." I'm a big fan of Sacks not only because of my fondness for "pop" psychology (& related areas), but because of his approach to writing about neurological disorders: rather than focusing on the negative aspects of the disorders he studies - which would be easy to do, given the symptoms of some of them - he writes about what new abilities (creative, perceptual) these neurological changes engender in his patients. Of course, Sacks doesn't deny the real pain these diseases cause his patients, and fairly portrays the hardships his patients must endure en route to recovery; but that he can find positives at all in brain trauma is admirable.

Beyond tonight, weekend plans are nebulous. I'm stuck on this turnover idea, though: so maybe the pastries will materialize.

Evening plans.

James Tate is reading tonight(!), but before attending this event, E. and I are going to have a picnic on the lawn at UMass. (Which lawn, we're not yet sure. I'm not even familiar with all the knolls & grassy patches on campus and I think, in fact, that there are even picnic tables by Herter. So there's a good chance that we won't be sitting on the grass at all.) Picked up salami, cheese (sharp cheddar and Laughing Cow, for me), watermelon, and a mini mini chocolate cake. Some beers, which will have to languish in the fridge 'til later.

This weekend may = a strange calm before the storm. I'm done with my own classes, and my last day of teaching is Tuesday. Even then, I'll just be having a party for my students, so there's no need to lesson plan...Yikes! What to do with this sudden, brief, & lovely stretch of free time? Any suggestions for things to read, recipes to try, crafty-type projects?

Indeed: I may work on fixing an old necklace, making a new one, updating the scrapbook (which, like those beers, has languished: but for months). The bead store here relocated to a bigger/more out-of-the-way location, and I have yet to check it out.

Also, and totally unrelatedly, the aloe sprouts I transplanted last weekend don't seem to be doing well. (I successfully resisted the urge to use a sad-face emoticon. Congrats, right?) I thought their roots were long enough, but maybe not?