Good News, Fedora!

Here's how my day went: I woke up early this morning after not being able to sleep last night and then realized I forgot the student's papers I needed to put feedback on at my office, so then I had to drive to campus despite being exhausted and having no other reason to be on campus today, and it was pouring, and when I was parking this curb that has a kind of sharp edge tore a hole in my tire, so I had to lie in a puddle of cold water and change my tire in the pouring rain, and this nice saintly Mexican guy offered to hold an umbrella over my head and then proceeded to criticize my tire changing skills until he wound up doing it himself, which was really nice of him but then I felt bad because I got this total stranger soaking wet and I was already wet and would have got the tire changed eventually if less efficiently, and then I had to drive back to Easthampton, where I live, on a donut in the pouring rain on the winding back-roads of Western Mass, and I kept hydro planing on the stupid donut and almost went off at least twice, and then when I took my car to the tire place they said my alignment was out of whack and that my rear right tire was about to go too and so I had to get both tires replaced and a factory realignment which wasn't cheap, and then for no reason also my trunk stopped latching.

How's your day been, Fedora?

Xoxoxoxo,

The Marlin

Good News, Fedora!

Good News, Fedora!

My new favorite flavor combination is: Goat Cheese and roasted red peppers. This supplants my previous favorite flavor combination: bacon and anything you put with bacon. Which probably means that my real new favorite flavor combination is bacon with goat cheese and roasted red peppers.

Xoxoxoxo,

The Marlin

Good News, Fedora!

This happened:

Followed by this:

And then this:

Xoxoxoxo,

The Marlin

Good News, Fedora!

I live in Massachusetts now. It's very hilly. I've quickly realized that prior to this moment I had no earthly clue what a hill really was. That the slow sloping affairs of back west hardly even qualify as beginning to count as the starts of actual hills. Or something. Point being, shit be steep here, yo.

Other things about Massachusetts you should know if you plan on visiting: It's not actually possible to find your way around out here. I mean, they say it is, and they have maps that supposedly can show you where to go (some of these maps are available on the internet), but this is all lies. Or maybe I'm just getting used to a system of streets that are set up along 300 year old wagon trails and property lines that pre-date the formation of the United States of America. Basically, travelling from one spot to another consists of completely ignoring the cardinal directions and clinging like hell to route 9, because that takes you just about everywhere eventually.

This is where I live, as seen from outer space:

And this is that it looks like sometimes on the ground:

But I should point out that I didn't take that photo and it's not even close to being the view from my apartment, so don't get your hopes up, Fedora.

Another thing is that I am lesson planning my first ever class. I am debating the merits of having students read a short essay about Chicago by Charles D'Abmrosio or a longer(er) essay about Lobsters by David Foster Wallace. Both get across, I think, my point. Or maybe I should skip assigning an essay on the first day? But I don't want to. I want to make them read and read and read. And write. I'm supposed to teach them how to write. They (the people in charge) have stressed this last point profusely.

Also, let's not get too worked up over Taylor Martinez now. Yes, he looked good in game one. Considering the opponent, this is not saying much. End of husker football talk.

Xoxoxoxo,

The Marlin