Sunday, March 16, 2008

Can you get a charley horse from grading?

'Cause I think I did. Seriously, the back of my leg is tight like nobody's business, and it keeps cramping up. Who knew that you had to stretch to safely achieve Couch Nirvana? That sucks, since I've never been much of one for yoga. (Obviously, or I might be able to sit still and grade without hurting myself. What a dork!)

Hopefully its actually due to the changes in the weather. I couldn't sleep last night and I have a headache today --- either because of the huge change in air pressure or the relentless wind is bringing in pollen. After a week of beautiful, warmish weather, I put away my extra blankets and space heater, which caused the nighttime temperatures to promptly plummet had me shivering confusedly all night. (I wake up, but not enough to process the logic whereby I could get up and get more blankets to not be cold! I just go back and forth from thought A (why am I awake?) to thought B (why am I cold?) and never actually resolve the issue.)

Oh, and I bought new plants to replace the ones that died outside my front door. They died from the night temperatures dropping to right above freezing, so as you can see, I really tempted fate three different ways. In related news, my dad had people come and clean the windows at his place, which explains the rainstorm currently moving through the Bay Area. Don't even ask about the family history of camping.

Sigh --- I need to get back to my piles of papers. Especially since I took a long nap rather than grade my quota yesterday, so I have extras to push through today. This morning's batch was neither particularly good or particularly bad. Which makes me neither particularly interested nor particularly uninterested in coming back to them. Although I guess there will be the relief of crossing that off my to-do list for today. But on the other hand that just means that I will have them back on the to-do list when I wake up tomorrow. Sigh. There are disadvantages to being able to take the long view of things.

I would work much more productively (as in, at all) if I had an appropriate reward for finishing my quota --- got any good suggestions? Maybe you could leave me funny stories in the comments along with ideas for rewards. Or put something lovely and entertaining on your blogs. Or dear god, do something --- I've emptied my bloglines and my emails and I'm going to need something for a short break between essays 3 and 4!

So leave comments, bring chocolate, every little bit helps, people.

7 comments:

Dr. Crazy said...

Can you get a charley horse from grading? Yes. Yes you can.

Not that I've ever had that happen to me or anything. :)

Good luck with the grading! You can do it, Sis!

Mike Shapiro said...

If you're at all a podcast junkie, then here is a possible reward: The 3/9 New York Times Book Review podcast with Antonio Skámeta, Jennifer 8. Lee, and more (mp3 link, iTunes link). Nary a word about the whole Margaret B. Jones affair, but plenty of actual discussion about literature.

If you've already listened to that (and the Ethicist, and the Ethicist's Times Talk lecture [iTunes link]) and you're interested in British political humor, this week's Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 is delectable (especially Marcus Brigstocke's rant about global warming and polar bears).

kermitthefrog said...

I tend to search YouTube for old Fry & Laurie and/or Muppet Show sketches when I'm down, if we're talking internet rewards.

Also, it's strange, but I sometimes use showers as rewards. The metaphorical cleansing of paper detritus and all that.

Mike Shapiro said...

That's an awesome suggestion, Kermit.

Two of my H&L favorites:
* Hugh sings "Mystery"
* Shakespeare master class (When H&L were undergrads at Cambridge!)

Maude said...

the ford ka--evil twin ads on you tube are hysterical! short, but i watched them more than once. check out the ikea dildo ad--a riot, and "wrong handjob instructions." all funny stuff.

i have two lush bathbombs that are my reward for whenever i turn in chapter 5. i mean, i won't use them both at once, but i have them sitting on my desk to remind me that as soon as i turn in chapter 5, i get to have a bath bomb bath.

good luck! and for god's sake, stretch!

kermitthefrog said...

I hadn't seen the Shakespeare Master Class one before, but it's extremely appropriate coming on the heels of the "why?" post!

Sisyphus said...

Thanks peeps!

Of course, I was _suggesting_ that I love to read highly entertaining and juicy-gossip-filled blog posts most of all, hint hint!

But I'll take polar bear podcasts too.