Back at the beginning of summer, I had to kill a 7 year writing project: my blog. This one started in its place, but ... something's amiss. It's not the same. I think I'm going to remove the subscribers only limit. All these limitations on my freedom are bothersome. The uni limits my actions and speech. That pisses me off. I think I'm going to remove the subscribers only limit. Maybe. If I do, I'll have to remove everything that mentions what's happened to me. That is yet another way of silencing me. More limits.
I've decided that I'm going to retire at the end of spring term, 2016. There's no reason to stay at a place that doesn't value my contributions or service. Teaching is important to me, and if I could simply teach I'd be okay. But even as they are telling me to do precisely that, they are expecting me to do more: more service, more 'counseling' (but no advising - go ahead and explain that separation if you can; they can't). So no.
Good stuff: The Alaska trip is shaping up, and we've had another friend sign on. It started with me and BFH (Best Friend Here). Then BFF (Best Friend France) agreed to join us. Now GFH1 has decided she'll join us too! This is gonna be fab.u.lous.
Madagascar also on track, finally. The only wrinkle there is that if 8 people don't sign up (counting us), it won't happen. I don't know when the cut-off date is, but I'm counting on 6 other people around the world saying 'oh hell yes, I'm going!' Fingers crossed.
Between the two, I'm property searching in Foreign Country (more self-censorship). Very excited about that, am also currently reviewing various floor plans and such. Amazing what people live with: toilets just inside the front door, with the nearest sink five doors away. Ick. No closets.
Went to something called a "Lifestyle Workshop" Saturday. Realtor-speak for 'think about what's important to the way you live before house shopping.' Fit in perfectly with what I'm already doing; I'd gone for a friend (co-sponsoring the event), won the door prize (first time in my life) and ended up learning a lot. This workshop was trying to get people to think about what they valued before deciding what style(s) they like. So, for example, I feel best in bright spaces, openness - both intellectual and spatial - is important. And I realized that my answers to her various questions kept coming back to light & space. And that my objection to 90% of the floor plans and houses I'd seen in the ads for homes in FC were all related to those things: spaces were small, choppy, dark. 2+2 = 4, y'know? I knew that? But it was coming at me in a different way at the precisely right moment. So it was a worthwhile experience.
So now I'm using pinterest to find and note things. And Evernote (thank you Janice!) to keep track of stuff, keep it organized. Ah, things are going pretty well. Dare I tempt the fates, and remove the 'invitation only' limits of this blog? Can I recover my blog-voice, or is it dead forever?
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