<1812>

Ack, tomorrow is December! I'm so far behind in everything!

I've been watching this hostage situation at the Clinton office this afternoon. It just makes me really sad. They guy just surrendered as I'm typing... if the story is accurate and he's tried to get help for his ongoing mental issues and hasn't been able to get anything, that's just awful and yet far from unusual. This isn't the first story of someone doing something awful after reaching their wit's end with the mental health care system in this country. It's just one more way we've all failed each other.

Uh, in other news, Thanksgiving was fun and entertaining in NJ. I've been a total slacker this week and I need to get on the ball. I also need to lose 5 pounds so my bridesmaid dress fits reasonably. Ugh, fat.

<2107>

We wanted to go to the outlet mall today, but we opted for work instead, whcih was probably smart, since I am one paper away from being done grading, so I can do other things tomorrow. We did make awesome past fazool, though.

<2313>

I've been grading in dribs and drabs all week, which has meant overall unproductive procrastination. Boo.

Wednesday night we made the best tomato pie yet... it was so crispy and thin and delicious. Then we went up to Towson. I got a pepper grinder and some pajama pants for Joey at Marshall's, and there was also a bit of Target in an attempt to find my favorite sponges, which I eventually had to just order from drugstore.com. Thursday night we had champagne and watched the Democratic debates, which were stupid because they asked mostly stupid-ass questions about nothing, and when they did bother to ask about issues, they didn't even ask the top candidates. Which you'd think would be helpful to the neglected-tier candidates, but not if there is no way to compare their answers to the top pollers. Dumb.

Last night we had Chinese in Belvedere Sq and then went up to Macy's because they were having a preview of their one day sale. Which we thought meant we would just be able to see but not use the prices, but it turned out the sale was effectively on. And what a sale! I bought a bunch of sweater-shirts at half off, half off bras, and two pantsuits (not flame retardant, sadly) for an insanely cheap price. It was very productive. Today we went back up to B Sq for Middle Eastern food and the bookstore, which was actually the plan last night before we got multiply derailed.

Tomorrow? Assload of grading, and then we're going to make Pasta e Fagioli, aka Pasta Fazool.

<2254>

Boston was fun, even though it would have been great if Joe could have come. The Foundation meeting was good times, even though it was early. The tailgate was great and I talked to lots of folks I hadn't seen in a while. After the game, some of us went to Shay's, and then we headed over to The Cellar to watch the Sox. That was good for a while, until like an entire party of people in full costume showed up and filled the place until we could no longer see. It was like a bad joke. Anyway, Court and I went home, and the game lasted a fuckillion years until we were falling asleep. I had to get up ass early the next day to get my flight.

That next week was crazy busy with various deadlines and grading for my first term class and starting up the gargantuan second term persuasion class. Ninety people. It's nuts. By the following weekend, Joey had had enough of Baltimore and my apartment, so after a party stop-off for green chile stew, we went to New Jersey. We got there in two hours only to find that the power was out. Apparently some recent grad wrapped his car around the power pole, killing more than just the power. NJ was fun -- we went to Franklin Mills and Columbus Market and made tomato pie for Joe's mom. On the way back we stopped to see Gwen and Paddington, but not Afsheen because he just got there this weekend. Oh, also Joe's parents got a new dog, Rhoda. She was really timid while we were there, claiming a corner behind the chair as her hiding space, but she's apparently gotten used to the place and is fine now, as I suspected she would be.

This weekend we went down to Georgetown on Saturday night, which was fun. Yesterday we made eggplant parm with pencil points (penne) and gravy (tomato sauce). It was so delicious I can't even tell you.

Bracketing this weekend was managing lots of student emails, holding lots of office hours, and even reading a few drafts for the massive class's first paper, due tomorrow. The questions will end, but the grading will begin!