Random Musings from My Blogging Hiatus
Hello Internet! It's been awhile! I decided today to blow the dust off my blog and shake out the cobwebs that have been growing in my brain for the last two months. I'd like to say that life is boring enough lately that I have had nothing in particular to blog about, but the reality is that I feel like I've been going at a rocket-launch pace since early August. Since we are now 6 weeks into the semester, I finally feel like I can take a pause for a quick breath.
So, what has been going on since August? Well, maybe I haven't been devoting ALL of my time to developing the leadership of young adults in America as that last paragraph might imply. The simple truth is...two weeks in August consumed by the Beijing Olympics (loved it!), followed by watching every televised minute of both party's conventions. And, once those spectacles were over, Jon and I were swallowed alive for a solid week by The Office (all four seasons of it!). It's sad but true. My blog has been neglected, but our TV has not.
Seriously though, one of the reasons I love working in higher education is because I enjoy the natural rhythm and predictability of an academic year. I savor my downtime in the summer, but predictably get hurled off a cliff at 130 miles an hour somewhere around mid-August. My weekends have been spent away from home on student retreats more often than actually at home on my own schedule. It's always invigorating to spend that time with my students, but it also contributes to a nearly constant feeling of running on little more than fumes in my tank. It usually takes me until about this point in the semester to get used to the pace. I'm not complaining though. I love what I do!
I actually HAVE written several blog posts in recent weeks, but have left them all safely hidden within my drafts file. Some of my most profound works of literary genius lie in seclusion somewhere within the architecture of blogger.com. ;) Little inspires me to jump on my soapbox more than election season; however, I am self-censoring my writing for the time being. I love to discuss political topics at length in person, but somehow my writing neglects to capture the nuance in differing perspectives and simply screams frustration with what I see as apathy and misinformation. I am really passionate about politics and our individual responsibility to be engaged citizens of our communities (large and small), so when I feel like the sheep are simply blindly flocking behind the shepherd, it drives me batty. Perhaps, if I get enough courage, I'll work on refining my thoughts and post them for the world to see.
*******
Just for kicks, here are a couple random photos from events during my blogging hiatus:
Jon went to hang-gliding school for his 30th birthday. Next step will be dropping from 15,000 feet!
I learned that there is a big difference between me and my students - 10 YEARS! We climbed a NC mountain on one of our recent retreats, and it painfully reminded me that I'm not in marathon shape these days. The view from the top was beautiful and well-worth the climb though!
So, what has been going on since August? Well, maybe I haven't been devoting ALL of my time to developing the leadership of young adults in America as that last paragraph might imply. The simple truth is...two weeks in August consumed by the Beijing Olympics (loved it!), followed by watching every televised minute of both party's conventions. And, once those spectacles were over, Jon and I were swallowed alive for a solid week by The Office (all four seasons of it!). It's sad but true. My blog has been neglected, but our TV has not.
Seriously though, one of the reasons I love working in higher education is because I enjoy the natural rhythm and predictability of an academic year. I savor my downtime in the summer, but predictably get hurled off a cliff at 130 miles an hour somewhere around mid-August. My weekends have been spent away from home on student retreats more often than actually at home on my own schedule. It's always invigorating to spend that time with my students, but it also contributes to a nearly constant feeling of running on little more than fumes in my tank. It usually takes me until about this point in the semester to get used to the pace. I'm not complaining though. I love what I do!
I actually HAVE written several blog posts in recent weeks, but have left them all safely hidden within my drafts file. Some of my most profound works of literary genius lie in seclusion somewhere within the architecture of blogger.com. ;) Little inspires me to jump on my soapbox more than election season; however, I am self-censoring my writing for the time being. I love to discuss political topics at length in person, but somehow my writing neglects to capture the nuance in differing perspectives and simply screams frustration with what I see as apathy and misinformation. I am really passionate about politics and our individual responsibility to be engaged citizens of our communities (large and small), so when I feel like the sheep are simply blindly flocking behind the shepherd, it drives me batty. Perhaps, if I get enough courage, I'll work on refining my thoughts and post them for the world to see.
*******
Just for kicks, here are a couple random photos from events during my blogging hiatus:
Jon went to hang-gliding school for his 30th birthday. Next step will be dropping from 15,000 feet!
I learned that there is a big difference between me and my students - 10 YEARS! We climbed a NC mountain on one of our recent retreats, and it painfully reminded me that I'm not in marathon shape these days. The view from the top was beautiful and well-worth the climb though!
posted by Julie at 3:09 PM
2 Comments:
Post your election stuff! Folks are dying to see it.
So glad you're on The Office kick -- I am, too! I watched them all when I moved here and had a break... LOVE them. So many fun references to it here that no one understands... my cube is right next to the water cooler like Dwight, we consolidate birthdays here, and we talked about the notion of having diversity days in class yesterday.
Love The Office.
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