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They’ve managed to get all but one of my textbooks out on the shelves in sufficient quantities. And the one text that’s not on the shelves is absolutely, positively, not their fault (I’m looking at you, Penguin Custom Editions!).

Even the monograph we’re reading last in the Tudor Seminar (Paul E. J. Hammer’s Elizabeth’s Wars), that was supposed to be delayed a few weeks, is there on the shelves today.

Colour me astonished. I’m pretty sure, however, that some other hapless professor is suffering the bad bookstore karma I’ve avoided this term. Whoever you are, you have my apologies!

I received my paperwork from my home state of Indiana to apply for my absentee ballot to vote in this November’s federal election. Huzzah! Obama-Biden all the way!

But I might be going to the polls here in Canada well before that. Rumour has it (as does CTV) that Prime Minister Harper’s calling an election for October 14th.

Well, at least this might give voters a chance to kill that troublesome Canadian DMCA-clone, Bill C-61, that the Conservatives rolled out earlier this summer!

We made our last flying trip south to the big city. Now we’re back in town for at least six or seven weeks, maybe more. I don’t have any conferences lined up for the fall (the first quiet autumn in a long time, here) and it feels good to not think about picking up stakes anytime in the next little while to go anywhere much farther away than the mall at the other end of town.

Traveling? I confess that it’s not high on my list of favourite activities, in no small part due to anxieties about my family (whether they come with me or are left behind). I’m not phobic about travel for pleasure or for work. I’ve had some great travel experiences as an academic including two wonderful stints at the the Huntington Library (my personal scholarly nirvana). Even though I’m, at best, an honourary medievalist, I’ve never met a International Congress on Medieval Studies that I didn’t like. Read more »

Today I walked Ozzie for a brisk go around the neighbourhood. Except for five sharp corrections at the start of the walk, we did the entire circuit with me casually holding the leash between my thumb and forefinger. (The other end of the leash was looped in my right hand.)

This from a dog who pulls so much he’s broken my finger and dragged me flat onto the concrete.

The secret? Cesar Millan’s dog-walking tips. He’s my newest hero.

All three of my course outlines are complete and ready for the start of classes on September 3rd. I’ll only wait to copy the graduate course outline once we’ve determined a good time and place for all six of us to meet. That’s tougher than you think since the university has a definite lack of classroom/meeting space, especially in three-hour blocks!

I’ve staggered assignments so that I won’t be marking every assignment at once and I’ve worked around the one day that I know I have to travel to Toronto for a professional obligation. Everything is as well-organized as I can make it.

Now I wait to see if the long-promised custom reader actually arrives in time for the start of class. Penguin/Pearson Custom Publishing has not impressed me this time around, claiming troubles about an ISBN with a reader that’s been set since April. Gah!

But I’ll show them. If the readers aren’t here for the second week of class, I’ve rendered that week’s reading into a convenient handout form that I’ll make available to the students. No power in the ‘verse can stop me!

Term doesn’t begin until after Labour Day, but I’ve finally gotten smart. It’s not enough to prepare academically. One has to prepare physically for the rigours of term, serious and absurd. To wit, this week I’ve undertaken the following:

• wardrobe triage as I replace worn or aged office clothes
• hair cut and a vow to actually getting another during the next term (I often let this slide)
• planning my workout schedule (walking dogs daily and starting Six Weeks for a Hundred Push Ups which I’ll replicate for sit ups)
• trying to find a pair of blue flats or mid-heel shoes (why is everything black, brown or red?)
• researching new ideas for packable lunches and easy-to-fix dinners

What else is good to add to my Corpore Sano list?

Back from vacation (it was very nice, thanks for asking!) and the first post is pure pleasure! From brilliant blogger Belle comes this award

Aw, thanks! And the following instructions to carry out:

1. Put the logo on your blog. Done
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you. Done
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs. Done - see below!
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog. Done
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog. Done

I pass the award onto the following seven bloggers I know and love: Crystallyn, Muhlberger’s Early History, New Kid on the Hallway, Blogenspiel, What Now? Geeky Mom and Terminal Degree. Every one of you has created not just destinations but conversations in your blogs that are always on my “must read” lists!

Expect more substantive posts after I survive tomorrow’s theme park visit.