An update of some optimism

Everything I've posted has been rather depressing lately, so I want to assure everyone that things are FINE and going WELL in Ohioland. We had Bessie, Van of Love, repaired. The side window is now tinted a little darker than the rest, but at this point I don't really care about the cosmetics. I like to pretend she now has a rakish eyepatch. My students this quarter are sharp as little sharp things, for the most part. I've just graded their first assignment and the lowest grade I gave out was a C+, which is a bit unusual for me (although I've never failed anyone). Their rough drafts of the second paper look promising, too. It seems like they actually understand the readings and what I'm teaching. I don't mean to sound disparaging about our nation's youth, but the course is difficult and it usually takes students more effort and time to really grasp what we're (I'm) trying to do with their writing. All in all, this just makes my life easier, which is a great and wonderful thing. I spent last night working on the 'ol PhD application writing sample. Let me preface any mention of this by saying that it was a horrible paper when I turned it in for a class last year. I was finally being treated for my anxiety at the time, and between the medication and the anxiety itself, the Spring quarter was a very odd one all around. I'm amazed that I turned out such an awful paper, and horrified that my brilliant professor had to read it. Anyway, I finally just buried myself in it last night and Got Things Done. I even made little check marks in green pen beside my professor's comments on the paper, to give myself that smug feeling of making progress. I translated a homily passage that I've been meaning to do all summer and corrected lots of silly grammatical errors that shouldn't have been there in the first place. I came no where near finishing, but with one more night's work, I think it will be in good enough shape to hand back over to professors for more revising. Also: I saw ducks yesterday. quackquackwaddle