Those of you who are in denial will not want to hear this, but I'm gonna tell ya anyway. I was driving home from Utica last night and there they were: trees with red and orange leaves on them. Yup, summer is in decline, and I go back to work in less than one week. Moopy says it was cold last night in Idaho too, so it's not just a central New york thing.
You might not be feeling too sorry for me if you're the kind of person who doesn't work in academe, who doesn't have the summer "off," as non-academic types think of it. I have to say I've had the best summer in a long while. I wrote two articles, four poems, planned my work year at SUNYIT, and had some fun along the way. My family was healthy and relatively happy. And so, as summer dwindles and I look forward to facing two classes of freshmen I'm making some resolutions for fall:
1) be kind to them; they're new at this college thing
2) teach more grammar, but in fun ways, like using msword and messing around with it to reinforce syntax
3) be kind to my superadjuncts, who are delightful people
4) get the freshpeople involved in campus life
5) that's enough lovefest. I can't think of a fifth work-related thing. Oh yeah, get tenure -- yikes!
What are you gonna do this fall? Your answer doesn't have to be work-related. If you're gonna start a diet, that's cool, tell me about it. If you're gonna finish a novel (Lena) that's way cool. Whatchu got?
wouldn't it be nice if mine weren't parked in the snow?
yikes
My Pops, Vinnie Murphy
who'd a thought 97 could be so cute!
the Moms, aka Catherine Murphy
is my mama adorable, or what?
Mark Doty
Portland Santacon
Manda and me on Thanksgiving
trying not to crack up too much. I gotta say I love my family.
It won't look like this
He da man, oh yeah!
too bad his last book sucked
This?
Or This?
You decide
Better Days
My hero
She's cute, but she's nuts!
nice segueway, huh?
My Hero
I am
- Patricia Murphy, a resident of
- the Village of Clinton, New York, United States
- I'm a college writing teacher and graduate of Idaho State University's soon-to-be-defunct Doctor of Arts Program. I write poetry and read it sometimes at local venues. I like nice people, no matter what their age, race, orientation, whatevah. I don't want to embarrass anyone, but I have the most wonderful boyfriend in the world.
Yeah, this guy wasn't there
Astroland
Utica Erie Canal Fall
This is what I have to look forward to
Utica Winter
And then this . . .
Gotta Love Summer!
chillin' at D's house, minus the glasses
Jeez!
Can you believe I gave birth to these two?
Clinton, NY
town square
5 comments:
This fall, I have intense plans on getting our (mine and Nick's) life in order. If this means babysitting his aunt Sherrie's kids and living in her basement, then so be it, but I am thinking we might actually buy our first house!! We are really excited and I am really eager to get out of here. There is only so much house-keeping and cooking that you can do before you go nuts!!
I plan on working on my cookbook, creating new and innovative soups and wraps.
Spending time with this great person i have just met and living everyday with the most enjoyment possible, hopefully making some of my friends and new aquaintances happy along the way.
I wonder who this could be.
I plan on some risky business venture. We got the go ahead today to do whatever we wanted as long as it didn't cost an arm and a leg. We've decided it will probably cost a pinky finger and all ten toes. Maybe an eyebrow and an earlobe, too. But, it's an adventure I promised myself decades ago, and I'm going to give it a whirl.
I'm going to expand my character sketches into proper stories, and I'm going to send off all of short stories one at a time. Maybe someone will love them as much as I loved writing them. And if not, I at least will be able to say I have no regrets.
It's exhausting, though, this risky side of me I didn't know I had!
This fall(post-election)I am going to change my life...again!
My new focus will amount to going back to basics - to remembering how to just savor the fun and beautiful parts of life...
everything from breathing in the liquid coolness of the morning air with its promise of a chance to play in a brand new day,
to long-overdue solo visits to local and distant art museums,
to long and interesting conversations with old friends,
to reconnecting with my siblings,
to drenching myself in Patricia Barber's new Cole Porter CD (out in September),
to wading in the Oriskany Creek on hot summer days,
to a year of love and fun sex (not necessarily in that order)
to writing long, funny letters to old friends just because I can,
to heading North to the Adirondacks more often with kayak in tow,
to making the time to finally curl up on the sofa with a good book and a cup of jasmine tea for on a long quiet afternoon,
to expanding my repetoire in the kitchen beyond the one recipe I have for ice cubes,
to...
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