So I go away for three and a half days with highly limited computer access (just a brief chance on Friday to check email). I come back to over a hundred personal emails, not quite that many work emails, various and sundry forum postings at the Glass Haven, bunches of Tweets, and over 350 things in Google Reader. The emails are caught up, as are the forum postings, but Google Reader is only down to 217 entries. Of course, when you get 150-200 postings to Google Reader on many days, it’s no wonder that’s taking a while to catch up.

It doesn’t help that I came back tired from not enough sleep in a strange bed. That led to essential naps both yesterday and today. Nor does it help that my fabulous purple suede ankle boots were never meant to be worn for a sixteen hour day spent mostly on my feet on hard floors or walking back and forth across a college campus. My feet are still trying to recover from the resulting blisters and major swelling.

Then there’s the grading. Let’s not even talk about that, ok?

How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time, my friends, one bite at a time.

…I haz earned dem today.

Since my lovely colleague showed up to attend the state curriculum meeting, I was free to be Dee’s flunky and go-fer for the morning. The conference registrar was not there by registration time (second time in three years this has happened), so I was handling as much as I could of registration.  At lunch we got an email from him that there was a “crisis” on campus and he wasn’t coming. So I stayed at the registration desk most of the afternoon to handle everything possible rather than attending the keynote and paper sessions.  Shoot, I can read the papers in the proceedings anyway, can’t I?

I think after tonight’s Steering Committee meeting I may have his job for real. Well, I did volunteer to replace him if K decides to fire him. I might as well.

So I get in good with the Karma Fairy for being my usual self and filling in where I was needed, plus I got some exercise running back and forth across campus doing some fetching and carrying.

I think a glass of wine will be definitely in order once we get back to Dee’s, though.

Quick drive-by post before I head out to Augusta hoping to beat the afternoon rush-hour traffic.  It’s going to be tight.  The state curriculum meeting starts at 9 a.m., the CCSC conference at 1 p.m., and the programming contest, god help me, at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.  After spending the last 1.5 hours listening to my programming team “strategize” in the back of the classroom, I have a feeling it’s going to be “interesting.”  I may well NEED my share of the four bottles of “Two-Buck Chuck” in the back of my car after that is over.

Hopefully I’ll get computer access to post tomorrow and Saturday. If not, oh well, and I’ll get back to NaBloPoMo on Sunday!

Seven years ago to the moment, I was sitting on the floor in a crowded TV lounge in the GPC Student Center with dozens of fellow faculty and students, watching in horror as the news replayed video of the World Trade Center towers burning and collapsing, of the gaping and burning hole in the Pentagon, over and over and over, searing itself into our memories.

I have not forgotten.  I will not forget.

The blogosphere has been quiet of late, but here’s a few reading items for your enjoyment:

• Amy Kuzcewski (aka PyroPagan) explains the various types of “soft” glass in layman’s terms.
• SDuffy, full-time IT professional and part-time photographer, shares his thoughts on taking great photos with a point-and-shoot camera (thereby showing it’s not the equipment, it’s the person behind the camera, that makes the difference).
• At the Art Bead Scene, Tari of Claybuttons talks about self-promotion materials and where to find them.
• Finally, Beading Daily interviews our own Kandice Seeber!