4/20: What I Accomplished Today

1. Went to book group. We read Alice Hoffman's Skylight Confessions for tonight. We liked it better than Ice Queen, but not as much Practical Magic or The Probable Future. Next month, we're reading About Grace, which I read several years ago. My recollection of the book quite a long time after I've read it is that it was very watery; I'll have to refresh myself as to what my memory means by that.

2. Worked on this week's Pogo badges. I usually divide them into fourths or fifths so that I have things to do each evening while we watch television. If I divide each badge into fifths, then I finish them on Sunday and have a few days to work on Premium badge, or to work on games I haven't yet earned the first badge in, or to play games I just like.

3. Watched some television; I think we watched My Name is Earl and something else on Tivo. Since I don't remember what it was, it can't have been that interesting.

4. Read a little. Literary Society is having its meeting on Wednesday, and one of the authors of American Prometheus, the Oppenheimer biography, is speaking. I'm interested in Oppenheimer, but the focus of the volume is a little quirky; every event in Oppenheimer's life is evaluated in terms whether or not he actually was a member of the Communist Party. Since that means something different in 2007 than it did in 1937, yes, I understand that this is a sensible, important lens, and given the end of the story, yes, of course, this needs to be evaluated. It's a really slow read, though, because frankly, I don't think that's the most interesting thing about Oppenheimer. Same crud every year of his life: he met these people, X of whom were Communists. He wrote X pamphlets, and he donated to X, and he hosted X meetings or fundraisers. X organizations may or may not have been Communist front groups. And of course, the most ominous thing for me when I read books about this period and topic is that who factually joined the Party or what groups factually were Communist fronts really didn't matter; the innuendo was enough.

5. Made an appointment about setting up my business website. We'll see if I actually get this done. At some level, it's really scary; I have a nice, safe, tenured job that pays. But students tend to be just so dang proud of their own blessed ignorance, like toddlers happily smearing the wall with their own feces. And what's to be done about that? There's little point scolding or yelling or nagging about how little they know; that's never accomplished much. I try to help bridge some of the gaps--but imagine trying to span San Francisco Bay with Legos. At a certain point, you wonder if the effort is the best use of your time. And do I really plan to spend the next 25 years of my life reading one wretched, half-assed essay after another? True, occasionally I get a gem. But I'd rather spend grading time reading this (for me) rather ponderous Oppenheimer biography. So we'll see if I actually have the ovaries to do this. If I don't at least get the site up, at least make the effort, I'm always going to wonder "what if." Better to at least get more information and fail than not do anything at all and someday wish I had.

6. Got my Draenei Warrior to level 22.

7. Checked out the BigFishGames game for the day (actually the game for tomorrow, but you get to preview the next day if you belong to their discount program). The game is called Lego Fever, and I wasn't even going to look at it (I don't most days), but then I realized that I had enjoyed Lego Boutique, so I should at least try it. It's an interesting puzzle game with quite a bit of variety; it's part three-matchy-game (but without the constraint of the bordering box), part platformer, part path construction. Nice mix of different activities. I doubt I buy it, but it was certainly an enjoyable hour (although the trial didn't end cleanly; I had to end the application).

8. Set up this blog. Somebody said to me last week, "You should have a blog," which is a thought I'd had before, so I decided to try it for awhile.

I did eight things today. It felt like a throwaway day, but I'm suddenly feeling quite productive, even exhausted.