Hit the gym, hit the weights, hoping they would not hit back. Sometimes they do, and that’s embarrassing if there are a lot of serious gym types around.
Fortunately I timed it right and visited during amateur hour. No one noticed my struggles, for they were busy overcoming their own struggles, or bypassing them altogether. I like to think of that as that nice feeling of topping a hill, knowing you’ve reached that little summit and realizing you still have a little more in you. That’s a nice little feeling.
I could use one of those in the gym.
Talked about news stories in progress today. Prepared a lecture (with musical accompaniment by Wilco, so there’s a big guitar solo midway through) about story structure. Also, it proved a little bit long, which is more welcome from Wilco than from a lecture, but the more you know, right?
One of my favorite parts of class, aside from giving spelling quizzes that the students all look forward to, is when I let them go for the day. Someone will stick around to chat for a minute. It’s a nice moment to get away from the professor-student, lecture and lab dynamic and get to know people a tiny bit. I like hearing stories.
Like this one:
How many family memories are wrapped up in that chifferobe drawer? That’s a beautiful piece and it really stands out in the daylight. Is it going from one house to another? Did it just get refinished? Sold?
It made me think of similar pieces of in my own family, where they are popular mementoes. Some dates back generations. Easy to see why. Suppose that piece has a mirror inside. How many days did some old aunt or grandmother pull out a shirt and glance into that reflection?
No wonder someone wants to keep that nice piece of furniture.
Those are the random pieces of blocks stories can be built around.
