changes

Has the listserv run its course as a means of communication? I dunno, but I need a break. I don't get anything from professional listservs that I don't get from 1) reading blogs, 2) facebooking, 3) emailing and even, gasp, talking to people, and 4) looking shit up independently. The WPA list has been rehashing the same conversations for years now but staying on the list was a way to get calls-for-papers, follow gossip, and absorb info about the job market (which is just another way of saying "follow gossip"). I have plenty of folks I keep in touch with (mostly through facebook) from my graduate program and my first teaching job, not to mention friends I've met over the years at 4Cs and elsewhere. I've unsubscribed. Felt good.

Mostly disconnected from the listserv break, I'm generally trying to decrease negativity in my life. I'm pretty good at working out 3-4 times a week. I do a decent job eating healthy foods (though I still struggle with binge moments). I think I balance diverse pursuits and activities--writing, doing the community-based work that means a lot to me, staying involved at church, working with students, taking my Italian class, taking time just to read and enjoy a warm beverage at the cafe, consuming pop culture (ok, I do too much of that...). But I need to get more pro-active about getting rid of sources of negativity. I'm trying.