Chilling Out

For the first time in our long winter break, I feel like I'm actually on break. Between grading, writing evaluations, pushing very hard on a writing project, and also writing a grant, I've been keeping busy. Doreen and I went away for a few days before Christmas, but I had work with me and although it was a nice change of pace, it didn't quite feel like a break. I now have a few days to chill out before winter term starts. I've still got stuff to do, of course, but I feel like I can let up for a little bit.

Currently I'm enjoying an insanely good beer while watching the cats try and get into trouble. The woodstove is hot, and while the house isn't exactly warm, it is rather cozy.

Elegy

Sounds like the Copenhagen summit has ended very badly. This video from the American Natural History Museum seems like a fitting elegy.





If you have a fast enough computer, watch it in full-screen mode by clicking in lower right.

Op-ed and Depressing Comments

Doreen and a COA student have an op-ed piece in the Bangor Daily News today about the Copenhagen climate negotiations. The comments on the piece make for interesting—and depressing—reading. The venom and animus is alarming. It's not surprising, it seems to happen on every article about climate change these days. E.g., here and here. It's rather disheartening.

port-royal

Two nice port-royal videos for grantwriting on a wintry day.

Sudden Transition

In just a few days it seems to have gone from early fall to mid winter. Four or five days ago it was almost 60 degrees. Saturday night we got around 8 inches of snow. Today it was all winter. Grey, cold, and snow on the ground. We got a little more snow tonight. And it gets dark really early. Winter is definitely here. We've transition to the time of the year when we need to consistently maintain a fire in the woodstove, and the parts of the house away from the stove are always a little chilly.

I'm almost done with writing evaluations from fall term. Then I can focus solely on writing projects for the next few weeks. I'll be glad to have the time to work on other things.