Another Thanksgiving in O'Fallon, Illinois. Very little writing, very little grading of student papers, and very little anxiety over tenurewritingdeadlinesuniversitypolitics. And I was thankful for *the absence* of that trio of real-world realities.
Since our O'Fallon pals have three small children--younger even than my siblings-in-law and most of my nieces and nephews--we immersed ourselves in kid culture. A little Go Fish, a little Dinosaur Dominos, a little bit of cruising around to look at the Christmas lights illuminating suburbia. And a weekend double-feature of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (the best HP film so far) and "Chicken Little" (Q: is it possible to be "extremely mediocre"? A: yes).
I knew Thanksgiving had to be a real, albeit short, break. The winter hiatus will be a whirlwind, thanks to a January 1 deadline on the book manuscript (not to mention a self-imposed new year deadline on the working-class poetics article), interviews with job candidates, and a new syllabus to finish.
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