A little tradition

First day of classes here (even though I've already had several e-mails begging to be excused - or rather, asking forgiveness rather than permission to be absent - from people who traveled to the Totality Zone for the eclipse).

Anyway, I used to have a little tradition of posting a version of Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture" (a favorite piece of music and also one that, when I was younger, stupider, and more idealistic, encapsulated some of my romantic dreams of what academia was like).

I didn't last year. But 2016 was an annus horribilus in many ways, and a lot of things I once did got side-tracked that year and I'm only slowly coming back to them.

So anyway. Here's hoping for better times ahead, even though my nature is to prepare for the worst.

This is, I think, a different version than I posted before. It's the CSO with Sir George Solti conducting.



I have gotten back to some "older" ways of doing things, which are maybe better ways:

1. Getting up early to work out. This has a couple of benefits - first, I am doing what is honestly a rather boring process while I am still slightly asleep, so it seems less boring. Second, as I said the other day, it drains away some of the nervous energy I seem to build up and helps me cope with the lowgrade anxiety that always seems to accompany me these days. And third, even if I accomplish NOTHING else in the day, I can say "At least I got a workout in." And based on a sample size of a couple days - I seem less likely to hurt myself first thing in the morning, I don't know if it's because I don't push quite so hard or maybe my muscles aren't tense from the day.

2. Trying to actively decouple from the internet in the afternoon/evening and knitting instead. I have maybe 1/3 of the back of the Augusta cardigan (just plain stockinette here) knit because I watched a movie ("The King's Speech") Sunday afternoon, and also because I just sat and knitted. I have too much yarn ahead and too many things I want to make not to be knitting in my free time.

3. Going to bed MUCH earlier, reading for 1/2 hour or so, and going to sleep earlier. This is necessary for my slightly-before-5-am wake-time for exercise, but maybe Ben Franklin had this one right, I don't know.

I'm still working on Moby-Dick and am determined to finish it this fall. (Again: I have too many books not to spend time reading them)