New Photo

Regular readers will notice that there is a new photo. I'm down to a size 16, which is still fat for some people, but thin for me. This isn't the most flattering photo. No make-up, no hair-styling. Just raw old lady.

Yesterday I gave a Faculty Colloquium presentation on Detective Fiction. It was reasonably well attended, about 30 people, and I enjoyed myself. I'm taking over the Colloquium next year, so it seemed fitting that I'd be the last presenter for this school year. The presentation made me recall how very much I love detective fiction, especially the history and the feminist approaches to the literature. None of my criminal justice students came, but I put the PowerPoint up on their home page for our class.

I'm working on a couple of conference proposals right now, too. Busy, busy.

Today is actually as wonderful, weatherwise, as yesterday was. I actually had to turn on my car air-conditioner for a short while yesterday. In a little while, I'm going to go outside and take a couple of short videos of the few signs of spring that we here in Western Michigan are experiencing. My husband drained the gasoline out of the snow blower (actually, he ran it out by letting the machine sit and whine in a most annoying manner). Let's hope that we don't have any more snow. If we do, it's unlikely to need to be "blown." I hope. Knock on wood. Cross your fingers.

I finally told Betty I wouldn't be back this coming fall, but I did not tell her that I've taken a studio apartment in town. She's a wonderful human being, and she couldn't be a better friend or landlady. But I need more privacy, including a bathroom I don't have to share. I also want to be able to come and go without disrupting other people, and that's not really possible at Betty's. I'm an early bird, but I don't want to wake up half the house by getting up at 5:30 a.m. to shower. It bothers me that I lacked the courage to tell Betty the complete truth, but it's hard to tell people things that may strike them as "fixable" when I don't want them to change their lives just for me. She's got a bunch of people waiting for the room anyway. And I know that she and I will remain friends.

We're going bowling with my husband's department tonight. Yeehaw. I'm not going to bowl, more than likely, as my left knee is still causing me grief. Still, I used to love to bowl and would like to get back to doing it. Maybe one day....