the trolling continues

I haven't written because I keep reading that damn forum.  I'm obsessed with how unbelievably mean people are to perfect strangers.  It's rather addictive, much like bad television and trashy novels written in a weekend that lack editing.   Somehow I can't get enough.  

Yesterday I returned a stack of books to the library.  I have a knack for arriving on campus at inopportune moments.  A crowd of Knights of Columbus was assembled outside the library steps, and I nearly plowed right into the newly ordained Cardinal (Donald Wuerl, formerly Archbishop of the Washington-- not sure what he'll be now, but he can wear red).  He was celebrating his first Mass as Cardinal- I was depositing a mountain of READ books at the library.   It was a day of high emotions for all.

My current quandary has to do with  the nature of my sources.  I've come upon some books with rather intriguing titles, but they are very mass-market and seem to lack scholarly credibility.  I've vowed to load these books onto my Kindle and read them "in my free time" (i.e. skim them while brushing my teeth one morning).   My advisor has agreed to meet with me before Christmas, so with any luck, that meeting will inspire me to write the introduction.

Keith, thanks for making sure I didn't burn the Tater Tots this time.

phone interrupts productivity

So I consider it totally legit that I interrupted my study session today to talk to Jessica since she just had a baby three weeks ago and we've barely gotten to catch up since then.  Some very serious catching up was in order.  The dissertation work sits neglected on my bed.  Oops.

Weekend = semi fail

Currently Jack is sleeping through our next door neighbor's construction crew hammering the other side of his bedroom wall.  I ask myself how my child can nap through this and yet wake up if I happen to drop a spoon on the kitchen floor.  His napping-through-pounding has allowed me well over two hours of (boring) reading on Counter-Reformation culture in Spain-- reading that suggests that people stupidly believe things they hear from preachers if said propaganda happens to be enveloped in a cloud of fiery fear-mongering. 

This reminds me of how the weekend got off to its not-so-productive start: in the name of restoring sanity (and keeping fear alive and well), Jenn, David, and I ventured down to the National Mall with our friend Rachel B from high school (visiting from New York) and our children in tow.  As we approached the sea of chaos, we began to wonder if perhaps pregnancy had officially damaged our brain cells because schlepping toddlers around in a crowd of 250,000+ people all walking in different directions is not what you might call bright, educated, well thought out, or intelligent.  That said, we got in a solid walk (probably a total of 7 miles) while pushing strollers and enjoyed a nice lunch in the cafe of the National Gallery of Art.  Rally = fail, lunch = success.  

And an agent wants to see the house- so long, blog, it has been nice procrastinating with you for the last five minutes.