Monday, May 8, 2006

Assorted

I. Deadline was last Friday for my GEO781 paper; already, papers have been returned to our mailboxes and final grades are in the MySlice system. Already! And I have yet to turn in either of my other two papers, although one is Done, and the other is Nearly Done. Now what I appreciate about the first course is the openness about this certainty: the paper I could write by May 5 is an exact match in quality with the paper I could write by May 13, only with one week less fretting about a troika of impending deadlines. I hereby propose the second week of May be officially recognized as "Done" Week. Come Friday, that's how I hope to be celebrating it, anyhow.

II. Went to the Syracuse SPCA this afternoon to see the dogs. Very strange to be alone at a kennel at two in the afternoon. I could easily see which ones were the runaways let loose (or lost/escaped) from cushy homes and which were the chew-your-leg-off types. Distressing scene, the dog pound: despair in the air. The barkers--whether stirred by fright or by rage--fill up the space with such mayhem that the cool-styled dogs, if they have any glint at all, sit in the corner, repressed and with full-body shakes. Panicked.

III. Hey, so it's off my chest, I have this to confess: I just killed a hornet with Tactics of Hope. Pop! (I'm allergic). That said, it would only be fair to offer up a word of praise for Mathieu's book. I read it early last week (for what was going to be our penultimate class session in 712...now postponed). Good stuff in there on strategic vs. tactical projects when undertaking community-based literacy programs.

IV. I spent most of the day Saturday at the Syracuse Black Odyssey Conference and co-led an hour-long workshop on weblogs. Stopped home for a few minutes before tracking up to the soccer fields for a NHS JV vs. varsity spring soccer scrimmage. Ph. and the other JVers shocked the older group, 4-3. So what if the JV coach was the field judge? Looked fair to me. Oh, and Ph. knocked in the second goal. Which reminds me, he needs a new ball for dribbling and juggling around the house. Which also reminds me, anyone interested in joining an '06 World Cup pool? Coming late May: I'll set it up if I can find a host.

V. Back to the orthopedic today. Why can't I walk on the stairs, Doc? It's been four stinking months since I spoiled my left knee in a pickup game. Walking has gotten better, but no jogging and no stairs without pain. The pressing matter: a basketball camp in early June. I'll be flying to Phoenix, bussing out to Whiteriver, Ariz. And I'll need to be able to jog. Not run. Not play full bore. Not dunk. But jog (or else it'll be colossally embarrassing). So Dr. Here're-Your-Options told me I could a.) prefer modified activity (a.k.a. no jogging), b.) take a shot of cortisone or c.) miss the camp altogether and surgically raze the cartilage ulceration or d.) surgically bore out the ulcerated area and patch it in with a piece of non-essential tissue from elsewhere in the knee. Answer for today: b.

Posted by Derek Mueller at May 8, 2006 9:30 PM to Unspecified