July 23, 2022

Saturday Check In

I spent the morning copyediting Lipton’s on the ReMarkable. I think using the device is actually making this tedious job a bit more tolerable. We also got an email from the TLS editor we’re working with, and our selections from Lipton’s will be published next month. That’s exciting. I just wish we were closer to having the actual book ready-to-go. Still, it’s coming along.

Speaking of the RM2, I purchased two templates for it: a weekly planner and a digital notebook. I’ve begun using the former, and it’s really cool. The latter will come in handy for meeting notes, like the GSC this AY, and keeping notes on reading, say a notebook on Mailer, for instance. I like the RM2 more each time I use it.

I turned in summer grades yesterday, and I continue to work on fall syllabi. Of course, ENGL 1101 is the most time-consuming, as it will be teaching. ENGL 2111 will remain basically the same, though I decided to add weekly seed questions to Packback. My students this summer were not reading the background materials, so they had no clue about the background concepts when they appeared on the tests. Hopefully, by including them in my questions, they will at least have seen the material.

I did not get the position I applied for. I am not surprised, and when I really consider it, I’m a bit relieved that I wasn’t hired. This way, I can continue to concentrate on what’s important to me professionally. Our new chair says she wants to “get me back into graduate studies” somehow, so we’re supposed to meet next week to discuss it. That’s my consolation prize, I guess, but it could be good.

I’m still reading Alastair Reynolds’ short fiction. I have one more novella to go until I can pick up Redemption Ark. It’s engaging, ranging from solid space opera, to intrigue, to body horror. His characters tend to be interesting, albeit a little flat. I’m not sure I ever root for any of them (I had a similar experience with Revelation Space’s characters), maybe with the exception of Inigo and Weather in “Weather.” I like Nevil Clavain, too, who apparently returns in Redemption Ark.

I finished the first season of Severance last night. It’s a surreal, high-concept allegory about the deleterious affects of capitalism on our souls. The amorphous corporation os the evil, and it has its minions working on the protagonists. It’s a good watch.