April 5, 2026
Something I thought about:
- I did a much better job of staying offline last week, which was good. I also reflected a bit on goals and projects (it’s a new month), and I realized that this is not the right time for me to try to turn my dissertation into a monograph. I don’t currently have the time or mental bandwidth to tackle a book-length academic project — maybe once the school year is over, and I have fewer commitments. I’m still organizing/coordinating/launching a couple of things between now and mid-June. The dissertation material is dense, and I’ll need a couple of weeks of full-time work to really grapple with the structure and to assess what needs to be added and removed — and then there’s the lit review of recent publications. Once I have a plan, writing should be fairly straightforward, but I need to do some deep, focused work first. For now, I’m going to try some smaller projects. I would like to work on some maps, an audio project, some shorter pieces of writing, and a craft project or two. There’s always a queue.
Something I did:
- I went to Olin and worked with some students in person. That was really lovely.
- I had a productive committee meeting and worked on some related tech infrastructure. We’re making good progress there.
- I met a neighbor’s new puppy, and that was delightful. We all descended on their yard on a beautiful afternoon for an impromptu puppy party.
Something I read:
- More of my current slow read: Roots by Alex Haley
- I’m catching up on my Poetry magazine backlog. It’s National Poetry Month, after all!
- I read a stack of flash fiction to put together some readings for students — and read some student work.
- Katrina Goldsaito’s new picture book When Cherry Blossoms Fall — once again, she does a beautiful job of translating a quiet, Japanese concept through story.
