I can tell because I woke up naturally and happily at 6.19 am and was home from my 2.3 mile run by 7.30 am. I am disgustingly happy as a morning person. I got a leisurely morning and I’m at work before 8 am. SDA and I had a powwow discussion about our travel goals for the year last night. We debated the merits of the shorter more intense trip (3-4 weeks on the move bagging archaeological sites and museums everyday) and the longer more residential trip that would involve steady writing routines and with the topographical experiences intermingled, say 4 plus months. We did two months in Italy last year and it was wonderful but hard to get the right balance of routine writing/research and adventure. Single me used to be able to go and bang out huge amounts of research/writing in a library in month. That model doesn’t hold the same charm without my partner in life.
I also decided these edits must die. I mean end. This chapter doesn’t deserve more than a week of my life.
Weird, I now think of a week being five days with weekends being nearly sacred family time. Single me used to think weekends had no meaning in the academic life: breaks came as projects allowed and as events tempted me.
Anyway. That’s my first self imposed deadline. Let’s see how I do.
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I am trying not to edit these posts but my use of powwow disturbed me. The thing about racially insensitive language is that rarely the user of that language thinks of it as such. I’d never say ‘he jewed me down’. I’m even uncomfortable typing it. But I spent many years saying “jiped” without ever realizing that it slurred Roma and others identified as ‘gypsies’. Native American references in our colloquial speech are wider than one might think. I used to think that the giver in ‘Indian Giver’ was the colonial oppressor who didn’t keep their promises or who tricked the indigenous peoples. Similarly I thought an ‘Indian summer’ was called that because of how beautiful it was. Americans use ‘Indian’ the way Romans used ‘Punic’. Native Culture is no more a thing of the past, than Punic culture was post 146 BC. I know damn well what a powwow is and have no business appropriating or generalizing the term.
Liv Mariah Yarrow 