Had lunch with a friend, then went to affinity group meeting for LGBTQIA+ folks from AASHE, and now I'm super sleepy, but I've got a (virtual) meeting with a student in 15 minutes I need to be awake for!

TEXAS friends, heads-up!

I don't NEED another cup of tea. But I WANT one. And I have the kettle in my office and the fridge holding my soy milk, so it would be easy to do. I'd just have to get up and go to the kitchen to fill the kettle. But I don't NEED another cup of tea. Such a dilemma.

Went to a candidate forum for county commissioner for precinct 4 this afternoon. It was good! I definitely know who I want to vote for in the primary now.

just putting this here no reason

We're not supposed to work during snow days, but I have approximately 8 billion student emails to respond to.

I KNEW I hated the way Southland ended, but MAN did I HATE the way Southland ended. It's maybe a good thing I didn't remember details? Although remembering details might have kept me from rewatching season 5, which I pretty much detested from the first episode.

Some people become clergy because they like the pomp, the authority, the quiet life of Sunday services and hospital visits and being called "Reverend." But that's not the job. The job is to fashion your life after a man who was executed by the state for what he taught and who he loved.🧵

Cause for celebration: #Southland is on Netflix!

OMG changing all the due dates and writing down the access codes and uploading the schedules & syllabis & About You form & picture & We Can Do Hard Things & Building a Community of Leaders for all the classes is driving me nuts! SO MANY EXAMS AND ASSIGNMENTS.

Back to school week is nuts. Trying to wrestle 8, 12, and 16 week schedules. Maintenance workers sitting in the lounge all day talking loudly. Had a 3 hr and 15 minute faculty meeting yesterday. At least I've got my office hours figured out and uploaded to Lighthouse?

Seriously, do this when you have a minute. Take a break from the horrors and tell people you like them or like things they do or make. Tell people about cool stuff and thank the people making cool stuff. Spread joy even when—especially when—things are bleak. #MoreJoyDay

Yay!!!

Getting hair cut and colored at Urban Betty this time. So far it’s going well!

The key mystery is solved: I didn't actually have a key to my new office yet. It's waiting for me at school. So that's a relief--I could not for the life of me figure out how I lost it!

Taking down the Xmas tree is such a pain in the ass. I've managed to break the string of lights I bought just this year, and I can't seem to wrestle the pieces of the tree into their bag. Also, I thought I had next week off but it's intersession so I have to be there & I can't find my key.

Never give up on your dreams. Case in point, heres a ( very nice ) rejection letter i got from Marvel some 32 years ago. It would be another 14 years until i was a published comic artist and another 9 before I was published by Marvel themselves. So never give up. 2026 might your year.

Happy New Year!

Any guesses on how late the fireworks will be going off tonight? I'm guessing it'll be until at least 1 am.

Timezones are so weird. Australia is in 2026, Canada is in 2025, and the United States is in 1939.

bye 2025👋

My mother is trying to convince me to extend my stay bc there's going to be bad weather tomorrow. I keep telling her that if my flight is canceled, they'll rebook me and pay for me to stay in a hotel by the airport. She's not pleased by my answer. I just want to get home tomorrow as scheduled.

Gingerbread 2025 Dumpster 🔥

Greeting Xmas Eve morning with the wonderful holiday mix from @kutx.bsky.social. I've been looking forward to it for months!

It's 3:30, and we have had a lovely lunch to celebrate my dad's birthday, as always (I miss him so much this time of year), and then picked up groceries at Plum Market. I *could* make Xmas cookies now, but I think I am content to sit.

Flight is delayed, oh yay.

My kitties do not want me to get back to getting ready to leave. And it's hard to get up when they're cuddly, because I won't see them for a week!

It's raining and I'm achy and I don't want to go move a bunch of stuff today. At least I'll have some help.

Y'all, I have CLOSED THE BLACKBOARD TAB on my browser. My grades are in both places they need to be, and the incomplete forms are uploaded as well. If I didn't have to move offices tomorrow, I would be done.

TFW you're waiting for one last student to take the optional comprehensive final so you can update their grades and get the last set in already.

Please Support my efforts to #ConnectTheDots Widespread immune damage from Covid is evident. Flu is Rampant, and Covid is rising. It’s time to act. We have to warn people now.

Brutal but effective public health messaging from New York Public Health. The CDC is compromised. They’re no longer a reliable source of information. They push anti-vaxx & anti-science grift. Get your vaccines. Wear a respirator. Clean the air Get public health advice from experts, not RFK Jr

This defeatism doesn’t help anything. We are all aware of the challenges in Texas. But the idea that you simply don’t try because bigotry is a defining feature is wrong

Buying my new car, which I will pick up on the 30th!

I have SO MUCH grading to do (I didn't do any over the Thanksgiving break). But in exciting news, I'm getting a new car!

You can also get a sore throat with the flu which is expected to be very bad this year.

There was a Thanksgiving potluck at work today and I am SO FULL of delicious food! Next potluck will be Thursday for the feed the neighborhood gathering--I am excite! Lots of groceries to pick up tomorrow.

Trump's Education Dept wants to 'declassify' nursing as a professional field. In its proposal, the department is changing definitions of professional degree programs & excludes nursing altogether. Changing the definition blocks nursing students from federal loans & loan forgiveness programs👇

You mean the company that's currently being struck by its workers and the company that's currently being boycotted because of its terrible DEI policy rollbacks? Why not just call this the Chocolate Mint Racist Scab Frostie?

Every time I go to a community meeting I learn more about how Tesla has fucked us. #fareastaustincdc #hornsbybend #neighborhoodmeetings

At the community meeting for my neighborhood and they have breakfast tacos, so this is already starting well. #austinscolony #fareastaustincdc

Voted today, go me. Lots of TX constutional amendments.

I'm teaching until 7:30 tonight and I just spilled my late lunch/early dinner of mac and cheese all over the place. At least I ate the apple first? Wish me strength making it through 2 more classes.

Interview went okay. I felt like I was repeating myself and stumbling over my words more than I have in previous interviews, but it is what it is. Hopefully will move on to the next round!

HEB delivered a brisket queso dip to me by mistake and I have no idea what to do with it (I don't eat meat). They did refund me, which was nice, but I do not need this large thing of food I won't eat.

I have my interview today and I am sooo sleeeepy! Just made myself a third cup of tea; hopefully that will help!

I am so tired and I still have a 2 hour pharm class to teach that begins in 27 minutes.

Just...fuck you Joss Whedon.

I am at the airport, at the gate, and ready to be done with other people. There are people on the phone and families and just plain PEOPLE EVERYWHERE and I am ready to be done with being surrounded by talking strangers.

Back in front of the fireplace at the Hyatt.