I was going to write something, but I need to go teach. Actually it is office hours that call first, then class. But of course, I need to stop and get some joe/java/umph before I get to campus. Before that, there is the long commute (about 40 minutes - whether I take the 25+ miles freeway route or the 10 miles city route) where I have to deal with Boston drivers. Seeing as to the fact that I am in sweats and a t-shirt, I need to change my attire prior to leaving the house. Brushing my teeth would be a good idea too.

I am not sure why I am going to go through all of this. No one tends to come to office hours and several students told me they would not be in class today because they need to go to a special lecture for some other class (there will probably be more absent because there are those who just do not say anything and then a few who will just skip class).

[Aside: it seems to me that students skip/miss class much more now than when I was in college. Maybe it was just that I was a such a nerd that I needed to be close to dying to miss class]

I had a cool lecture about food and national identity in Italy planned for today too. If only a few of them show up, should I treat them? Or should I just cancel class and do the lecture next week? The second option has the benefit of not having to prepare another lecture next week. Or maybe I will take them all out for a drink? No, I can't, I have some under 21 students.

Well, I guess I did end up writing something. Not what I was originally intending, but something nonetheless.

What I originally was going to write about was on how my career/professional life angst is draining my enthusiasm for teaching and how I "perform" in class. It seems like I can't focus. While I did not really write about that, I think that message comes across in what I did write instead.

I need a vacation. I need to get away from here and I need to get out from inside my head. Unfortunately neither is likely to happen.