mimsy and outgrabe

I don't know if anyone was holding their breath for it, but I took last week off from the blog. The college's spring recess was last week, and while I did attend to some grading and house-cleaning I also wanted to treat those few days like the period of rest they were supposed to be, so I gave myself this little reprieve. Mostly, I just wanted to sleep a little longer in the mornings. Because sleep is lovely. What's also lovely? Blocks of time to read. I had an amazing Sunday at the beginning of the break, so amazing it almost felt like a practical joke -- I kept waiting for something horrible to happen and undo all the good & happy of the afternoon. A. and I went to lunch sans children around noon (they were at their aunt's house hanging out with cousins)  and then -- you guys -- I sat on the couch under a blanket and read for three hours . No joke, I haven't done that in YEARS. That is not hyperbole. And it is not exaggeration to say it felt quite mirac...

Still working on that damn sonnet. I suspect I'm the last person who should be writing in the sonnet form, simply because I lose track of my arguments so damn quickly. Also, I stop caring about making the argument. That combination isn't great for someone working in a form that is, quite often, rhetorical. Nor is it good for someone who is about to teach rhetoric in the fall.  Anyway, as more proof that I'm the world's slowest writer, I've spent each of my mornings this week reworking the sonnet at a rate of two lines per day. It's not great nor is it extremely productive, but at least it's consistent writing practice.  I was very close to shutting everything down this summer -- no more blog, no more submissions, no more participation in the shit-show that is publishing in the U.S. (Not that I have any kind of international publication chances; it's just that publishing here seems fraught with more nonsense than in other countries.) I'm...