Days in the UK: 29

Amazing students: 16

Wonderful assistants: 1

Books finished: 13

Hugo ballots cast: 1

Nandos meals: 4 (6 total this year in the UK)

Colds: 1

Lamb servings: 9 (11 total this year in the UK)

Catch ups with friends: 4

Essays evaluated for a journal: 1

Essays approved for publication: 0

Atwood meetings: 1

Vaults and Gardens meals: 3

New spaces explored in Oxford: 2 (St. Mary Magdalene Church; New College)

Oxford Comedy Events attended: 2 (The Loremen; Annie McGrath)

Oxford Comedy Events I had tickets for that I was too tired to attend: 2

Oxford Comedy Events I had tickets for that I too sick to attend: 2

Oxford Comedy Events I had tickets for that got cancelled: 2

Museum exhibits in Oxford: 1 (Treasures of the Bodlein)

Museum exhibits that included a Lisa Simpson figurine: 1

Actual ranch dressing servings (homemade, at Dirty Bones): 1

Books ordered from Blackwells: 1

Purses I bought for this trip that fell apart right away: 1

New, superior purses acquired: 1

Movies: 18 (Julie, Julie; Lawrence of Arabia; Persuasion; Shaun of the Dead; Shaun the Sheep; The Third Man; They Shall Not Grow Old + its documentary about making it; About a Boy; Jurassic World (twice, but not because it was good); 28 Years Later (aka Naked Lunch); A Fish Called Wanda; Hard Truths; Ex-Husbands; Paddington 2; Much Ado About Nothing; About a Boy; Ahir Shah: Ends)

Times it turned out to be a good thing I’d already seen Jurassic World, so I could help a water-phobic student get through it: 1

UDCE meetings: 1

Pizzas: 3

(Winner for best pizza: White Rabbit)

Guest Lectures for my class by Dr. Liam: 1

Wine Tastings: 1

Mulberries from a tree in London: 3 (the ripest one burst)

Meh pastas: 3

Times I discovered I don’t like authentic carbonara: 1

Times I realized I shouldn’t have expected to like authentic carbonara, since I don’t like runny egg yolks in any form: 1

Plays: 1 (Intimate Apparel, with Samira Wiley)

Dishoom meals: 2 (4 total this year in the UK)

Threading appointments: 1

Roasts: 2

Ben’s Cookies: 3

Books signed for my niece by their author: 2

Extended discussions of how awful America is with Brits: 3

Fish and Chips: 5 (7 total this year in the UK)

(Winner for the best Fish and Chips: Tas Pide, surprisingly)

Falls: 1

Bruises: so many

Times I became an accidental tour guide to other tourists: 3

Paddington hats sought: 1

Times a shopkeeper told me he didn’t have a Paddington hat for me: 1

Times I left the shop, only to be chased down by a guy on a bicycle a few blocks away, who explained that he was a fellow shopper tasked with finding me, as the shopkeeper realized he had something that would indeed work: 1

Oxford Daleks encountered: 1 (2 total for the year in the UK)

Irish Whiskeys available at the local Oxford pub I can’t get at Safeway at home: 0

Meals from the George St. Market: 2

New spaces in London explored: 2 (Temple Church & the Embankment Gardens)

Osteo appointments: 2

Massages: 2

Tequila days celebrated: 1

Ice cream days celebrated: 1

Pistachio-based desserts: 3

Meals at Chutneys: 4

Duck servings: 5 (7 total while in the UK)

Trips to Abingdon: 1 (Explored: The Nag’s Head; The Abbey Gardens (with ruins); the local museum; the grounds of the oldest remaining church; the few Abbey buildings that survived Henry VIII; the Unicorn Theatre)

Days my IBS made life difficult: 31

Times I had diarrhea in a building Henry VIII was once in: 1

Letters of rec written: 3

Cotswolds trips planned: 1

Cotswolds trips cancelled by the agency the afternoon before: 1

Excursions with the students: 5 (Botanic Gardens; Magdalen College; Stonehenge; The Wilton House; Oxford Castle)

Pubs: 7 (Head of the River; The Oxford Retreat; Turf (3x); The Lighthouse (2x); The Wine Cellar (3x); The Plough Inn (4x); The Castle)

Times I was mistaken for a manager of The Head of the River: 1

Summer puddings: 1

Times I realized the St. Brice Day Massacre’s episode involving burning down a church with Danes inside happened in Oxford: 1

High Teas: 1

Servings of Eton Mess: 2 (3 total this year)

Pimms Cups: 8

New recipes made: 1

Times I realized I lost even more files than previously thought in last month’s computer debacle: 1

Planned outings with friends that my body wouldn’t let me go to: 2

Times Hannah and I met a woman who happened to be from Hannah’s hometown and discovered they’d graduated in the same year: 1

Times the woman and her boyfriend ran into me again: 1

Days I did “smokey eye”: 0

Guys who thought they could chat me up by talking about crypto: 1

Times I was telling an Oxfordian that I was taking my students to the castle, only for him to remark it was really small, before I had to remind him my students and I are from a country with no castles at all: 1

Favorite thing a student said: “He really puts the Florida into Florida Tech.”

What I’m watching: Funny Woman; The Bear; Miss Austen; Q; Bridgerton; Too Much; Zero Day; Stephen Colbert; The Daily Show; MurderBot; Seth Meyers; John Oliver; Queen Charlotte; Acapulco; Resident Alien

What I’m listening to: This is History; Savage Love; This American Life; Morning Edition; All Things Considered; Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me; Working it Out; Side Door

Days in Great Britain: 8

New recipes made: 10 (Honey Za’tar Salmon with okra and corn; Salatet Malfouf (Lebanese Coleslaw); Pesto Ravioli with Zucchini; Peri Peri Pork Burgers; Pork Souvlaki Burgers; Pad Prik King (Red Curry Chicken); Lebanese London Broil; Butter-Soy (Velveted) Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry; One Pot Zucchini-Basil Pasta; Frisco Sour)

Movies: 8 (Jane Austen Wrecked My Life; The Phoenician Scheme; Nonnas; Everybody’s Fine; Murder Mystery; Paddington in Peru; Crazy Stupid Love; An Education)

Last intentional meals before going abroad: 3 (last catfish, Mexican, and American-style breakfast)

Stand-up comedy shows: 2 (the student club’s graduating senior show; Randy Feltface)

Requests from Cengage to reprint one of my articles: 1

Classes said goodbye to: 3

Upper endoscopies rescheduled: 1

Divorce lawyers found: 1

Being kicked out of our department’s offices for three months for renovations: 1

Catch ups with friends: 8

Catch ups with former students: 1

Letters of rec written: 4

Letters of rec not written, due to having nothing good to say: 2

Initiations of a niece to Labyrinth: 1

Plays: 6 (Goodnight and Good Luck; Advice; Here We Are; The Girl From North Country; Giant; Elephant; the last four were over three days)

Atwood books spotted in the Elephant set: 1

Avid Reader Midnight Release Parties: 1

Faculty lunches: 1

Reappointments to oversee the Upper Division Comp Exam: 1

Students I was worried may become unhinged about their grades: 1

Meetings devoted to dealing with the rise in AI cheating: 1

Wine tastings: 1

Events ruined by migraines: 2

Dinners at Nandos: 2

Servings of lamb: 2

Servings of duck: 2

Meals at Dishoom: 2

Servings of okra: 4

Lavender lemonades from the Borough Market: 2

Know-it-all Tories at plays sitting behind me who were wrong about everything, including where their seats were: 1

Plays missed because of IBS: 1

Courses started: 2

Ridiculous bus conversations: 1

Phones, driver’s licenses, debit cards, and cards about how I have weird blood stolen: 1 (each)

Phone calls to Bank of America (BOA), in which they insisted I deal with their AI on the app: 3

Arguments with BOA AI: 3

Problems solved on the phone or the app with BOA: 0

Daleks escaped from in London: 1

New favorite ice creams: 1 (soy sauce ice cream at the Banana Tree)

Purses I bought to use overseas that fell apart immediately: 1

Scary ads in the Underground: 1 (“Humans Were The Beta Test”)

Three hour walking tours with the students during a heat wave: 1

Times I found out my current assistant was formerly Stephen Colbert’s intern: 1

Getting recognized in my Oxford Wine Shop: 1

Lavender festivals in Woodland: 1

Days it took a bruise I got from wearing compression socks on the June 22nd-23rd flight to fade: not sure; it hasn’t completely faded, though it was nine days ago

Museum exhibits: 2

Times I wanted to book a reservation at a restaurant, but couldn’t make one when I said it was for just one person: 1

Times I changed the reservation request to 2 people: 1

Almost completely restaurants I showed up to: 1

Servers who didn’t properly check me in (failing to note I had a reservation): 1

Pissy emails from the restaurant, accusing me of not showing up for my reservation: 3

Direct text messages (at 10:37 p.m.!) from the restaurant asking why I didn’t show up: 1

Nearly perfect Oxford flats: 1 (no toaster; weird door lock)

Books, novellas, novelettes: 15

New cathedrals explored: 1

New Recipes Tried: 17 (Diane sauce; Lemon-Tarragon Shrimp Scampi with Orzo; Elderflower Martini; Meyer Lemon Roasted Chicken (Air Fryer); Lemony Asparagus Salad with Shaved Cheese and Nuts; Air Fryer Lemon Garlic Roast Potatoes; Arugula Salad with Peaches, Goat Cheese, and Basil; Shrimp Fra Diavolo; Stir-fried Corn with Basil and Leeks; Ravioli with Tomatoes, Asparagus, Garlic, and Herbs; Asparagus Frittata with Goat Cheese; Banh Mi Burgers; Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce; Leek Mac and Cheese; Chicken Francese; Curry Pork Burgers with homemade curry ketchup; Meyer Lemon Salmon with Creamy Cucumber Salad)

Mentoring meetings with students: 3

Times I realized that my husband was somehow the administrator of my home office computer and asked him to change it on his way out of my life but then the computer decided that meant it was new so all of my settings disappeared and then the computer thought it should sync all of my devices and in doing so blew out my Google storage and I had to buy more so I could send and receive emails and now my whole file organization system is ruined and it’s going to be irritating and fucked up for a long time because I do not have the time to go through the now 17 billion copies of every file and figure out what’s the newest one: 1

Live Plays: 2 (Nosotros La Gente; Unseen)

Live Comedy: 2 (Ismo; the student club)

Movies and filmed stand-up comedy: 12 (Grown-up Best Friends; Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life; Love Hurts; Mickey 17; A Nice Indian Boy; The Big Wedding; Fountain of Youth; Summertime; The Four Seasons; Randy Feltface: Purple Privilege; Thunderbirds* (aka What About Bob?))

Old white guys at a work meeting who reminded me that some people definitely need “woke training” when they claim that women who report being stalked must be “overreacting” because of something that happened in their past, as he assumed with no evidence (as opposed to THIS stalking being the thing that will become their difficult past later): 1

Servings of potatoes on International Potato Day: 1

Servings of whiskey on International Whiskey Day: 2

Servings of whiskey on International Potato Day: 2

Smug assholes at the show who came in my students’ comedy show late, decided to interrupt a routine by sitting front row center, answered a fucking phone call, and picking his nose: 1

Jewelry sales at the Davis Senior Center: 1

Pieces of jewelry I got for a dollar and loved but then broke and then I paid way more to repair it than it’s worth: 1

Notes from my doctor saying I can’t do jury duty this year due to my crippling IBS: 1

Endoscopies scheduled: 1

Mammograms: 1

Results of the mammogram, explaining I have something colloquially called “breast mice”: 1

Nerve burns in my lumbar spine: 1

Academic daughters who have graduated from vet school: 1

Doctor Who episodes I showed her to turn her into a fan: 3

Books and novellas and comics finished: 18 (What Moves the Dead; Happy-Go-Lucky; The Tusks of Extinction; The Worst Ship in the Fleet; Signs of Life; Three Faces of a Beheading; Annihilation; The Butcher of the Forest; The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain; Birding with Graeme Gibson; Service Model; Alien Clay; Barfly #1; The Alternates 1, 2, & 3; Welcome to Twilight; Someone You Can Build a Nest In)

Signed graphic novels a former student got for me after attending a talk: 1

Purses that match the book perfectly: 1

Beloved friends I’ve known forever who finally became Continuing Lecturers: 1

Amazing Simpsons composers who died: 1

Whole Earth Festivals attended: 1

Wine tastings in Winters: 2

Orientations for the Oxford class: 1

Plants my ex’s brother accidentally stole when trying to move out the last of my ex’s things: 2

Catch ups with friends: 5

Deliveries of yard roses: 1

Handmaid’s Tale series’ finales enjoyed: 1

What I’m listening to and reading: The New Yorker; Discover; The Smithsonian Magazine; National Geographic; Morning Edition (often through UpFirst); All Things Considered; Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me; This American Life; Savage Lovecast; New Music Friday; The Moth; American History Tellers; American Scandal; Fresh Air; This is History; Working it Out; Levar Burton Reads; Asimov’s; Sidedoor; Behind the Bastards

What I’m watching: Doctor Who; Seth Meyers; John Oliver; The Daily Show; The Handmaid’s Tale; Hacks; The Simpsons; Leverage: Redemption; The Last of Us; Murderbot; The Four Seasons; Lower Decks; Sisi; Poker Face; Dying for Sex; Elsbeth; Bob’s Burgers

Times I have watched each Murderbot episode so far: 2

As my students are preparing their term papers, I explain they have to do foundational research. One example I give is of a student who proposed amending a law about Puerto Rico, except she didn’t look up how to do that, and instead spent a page explaining how the Constitution gets amended…

Another example I share is how a student argued UCD should have a mental health awareness day. She hadn’t Googled, so she didn’t know UCD has a whole month, much more than she was asking for. This student was present for those discussions.

Topic proposal day: UC Davis should allow X.

My comment: It already does. Here’s a link to the form.

Thesis workshop day: Student: UC Davis should allow X.

Me: Ummm, we already do, as I explained already. You could argue for a modification, but you can’t argue they should allow something they already allow.

Full paper workshop day: Student: UC Davis should allow X.

Me: Last warning: as I’ve noted twice now, they already do. This thesis won’t work.

Finished essay: Student: UC Davis should allow X.

Me: [checks this box in the essay rubric]: The student may not have done the fundamental research for the paper, leading to inaccurate statements. In other words, the paper may, intentionally or not, provide misinformation.

Yesterday was the birthday (1882) of John Holland, my great-great-grandfather. Although we never met, we were briefly alive at the same time.

John’s daughter, Bessie, helped raise me when I lived with my grandparents. Her house was across the dirt road from theirs. I ran back and forth across that road all day, and I got to have her in my life into my twenties. She got to be a great-great grandmother for several years.

One of my favorite paintings my Grand(Daddy) did is of John, his grandfather. In January, when we discovered a cache of hidden works, Daddy’s preparatory drawing of the painting was among them. It was one of the pieces I was able to get in our family raffle.

The artist working at the local frame store helped me choose the absolute best frame, one that brought out both the silver and the brown in the original. The finished work is in a place of honor, directly across the room from me as I type this (the picture below is from before I hung it).

Times Donna Apidone said I made her day in March, but I forgot to put it in that blog: 1

New Recipes Tried: 11 (Summer Chicken and Pepper Stew; Roasted Salmon with Peas and Radishes; Air Fryer Hasselback Potatoes; Open-faced Tuna Melt Sandwiches; Chicken Mayo with Parmesan; Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Cake; Skillet Gnocchi with Miso Butter and Asparagus; London Broil; Yamitsuki Cabbage; Bang Bang Chicken and Potatoes; Pasta Aglio e Olio)

Months-long cravings for Lemon Meringue pie satiated: 6

Stand-up performances with my students, in which I floated a new catch phrase: 1

Migraines: 3

Plays: 2 (Dr. Strangelove; Mrs. Krishnan’s Party)

Catch ups with friends: 5

Childhood crushes who died: 1 (Val Kilmer)

New classes met: 2

Learning a former student has inspirational quotes on her walls and a couple are by me: 1

Movies: 7 (Willow; The Penguin Lessons (which, being about a totalitarian government disappearing people, was terrifyingly relevant); Tombstone; The Ballad of Wallis Island; Sinners; G20; The Room Next Door)

Wine shipments picked up all at once: 4

Times I saw Paula Poundstone and she briefly talked to me after asking if anyone in the audience was of Finnish Heritage: 1

Percentage of students who didn’t know why a base on Mars would be called the Bowie Station: 90%

Paintings/drawings by (Grand)Daddy that came home from the frame store: 4

Last seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale started / me being quoted in a news story about it: 1

Meetings about AI use in writing classrooms: 1

Upper Division Comp Exam Scoring Sessions: 1

Toe surgeries scheduled: 1

Back lumbar nerve ablations scheduled: 1

Pasta parties: 1

Panic attacks: 5

Times I was googling the ISBN of one of my books and the AI generator said I was a “public figure”: 1

Books finished: 4 (The Tainted Cup; Everything is Tuberculosis; Elder Race; Stories of Your Life and Others)

Times I complained to a new marriage therapist (after our last therapist fired my hubby) that hubby wasn’t good at communicating with me because he texted me serious stuff but then wouldn’t ever, ever take a phone call about it: 1

Times I got a text message from hubby, two minutes before the second therapy was supposed to happen, saying he wanted a divorce: 1

Times he talked to me on the phone this month: 0

Divorces I am happy to grant, as soon as possible: 1

Mass shootings in my current city: 1

Mass shootings at my alma mater in FL: 1

What I’m listening to and reading: The New Yorker; Discover; The Smithsonian Magazine; National Geographic; Morning Edition; All Things Considered; Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me; This American Life; Savage Lovecast; New Music Friday; The Moth; American History Tellers; American Scandal; Fresh Air; This is History; Working it Out; Levar Burton Reads; Asimov’s; Sidedoor; Pretend; Behind the Bastards

What I’m watching: Doctor Who; Seth Meyers; John Oliver; The Daily Show; The Pitt; The Handmaid’s Tale; Abbot Elementary; Hacks; Call the Midwife; Yellow Jackets; The Simpsons; The Residence; Leverage: Redemption; The Last of Us; Lower Decks.

An old pic of Dante and I on the quad at Florida State:

I got my first three degrees at FSU. It’s where I taught my first class and knew I would be a teacher for life. It’s where I co-founded a comedy sketch troupe. It’s where I played an epic prank on a Beckett scholar. It’s where I went through my first divorce. It’s where I created my Simpsons class. It’s where I worked as full-time staff between undergrad and grad school. It’s where my students insisted on calling me “Master,” while tittering, after I explained that “Prof.” and “Dr.” were yet the right words and that they should just say “Karma.” It’s where I took my mom to her first frat party. It’s where, in a poly sci class, I asked a question about Tibet and the other students didn’t know what Tibet even was and the teacher cried out in exasperation, “So the ACTRESS is the only one who follows world affairs?!?” It’s where I thought I was alone on the fourth floor of the library and a friend reached his hand through the stacks to grab me and I screamed bloody murder and no one came to check, which was concerning. It’s where I fell into and out of love a few times. It’s where I had some awful teachers, some meh ones, and some amazing one, all of whom informed the teacher I’ve become. It will be a part of me forever.

A couple of years ago, when my PCP (A) took a leave of absence, Doctor B was listed as my PCP. I never saw him.

I changed to Doctor C when Doctor A retired.

All insurance cards keep coming with Doctor B’s name on it.

This week, my insurance company sent me a letter that my insurance card didn’t have the right doctor’s name on it. You have Doctor D, it said, but her name is actually E.

I went into the insurance portal today, which claims I have never selected a PCP.

The Great Gatsby was published 100 years ago today.

While it was a flop at first, it captured its era well. I’m not talking about jazz, but about the nativist, racist rhetoric it critiques through Tom Buchanan’s portrayal. In 1925, the KKK had a massive parade in D.C., and Tom is exactly who would have participated (and likely made his employees go too).

(I’m not claiming the most successful book of the year or author was racist, but it’s ironic that the best selling book of 1925 was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes…)

Whenever I think of The Great Gatsby, though, I remember reading it for Eighth Grade English. Staring at the book cover one day, I noticed that eyes had naked female forms.

When I alerted the teacher to my discovery, he panicked a bit, asking us to not tell our parents. In our puritanical town, he could have gotten into a lot of trouble.