The View From Kalamazoo

On Wed., instead of trading upper body/lower body days as I had been doing, I started super setting, or circuit training, or whatever it’s called. I call it PAIN. In 35 minutes I did the following:

pecs: M 50 lb. 2/12

traps: M 50 lb. 2/10

upper back: C 50 lb. 2/12

biceps: D 15 2/12 doubles

triceps: D 10 lb. 2/12 singles

abs: M 110 lb. 2/20

inner thigh: M 70 lb. 2/15

outer thigh: M 90 lbs. 2/15

quads: P 90 lb. (per) 2/12

calves: P 90 lb. (per) 2/12

glutes: one-leg squats at bar 2/10 (each leg)

obliques: roman chair ‘crunch’ holding 10 lb. weight 2/12 (each side)

(M: Magnum machine; C: cable; D: dumbells; P: press; K: Keiser machine)

MY LEGS STILL HURT. (but weight was 267.5!)

So, today, I focused more on upper body, tried a new (better!) ab abuser.

pecs: M 50 lb. 2/12

delts: C 20 lb. 2/10 standing

traps: M 50 lb. 2/10

upper back: C 50 lb. 2/12

biceps: D 15 2/12 doubles

triceps: D 10 lb. 2/12 singles

abs: something the trainer I asked for help called the bi-angular machine. it worked more like an accordion crunch, but no leg action like the nautilus so it really targeted the upper abs ONLY. 25 2/12. I should have done crunches and worked more on lower abs, but ran out of time.

glutes: one-leg squats at bar 2/10 (each leg)

obliques: roman chair ‘crunch’ holding 10 lb. weight 2/12 (each side)

(M: Magnum machine; C: cable; D: dumbells; P: press; K: Keiser machine)

Work whine: We’re hitting deadline hell…9/15 deadline for General Sessions, 10/1 deadline for Special/Sponsored Session organizers (including me..and have I gotten everything together? uh, …..)…and my Program ad deadline is coming up soon…and let’s not even go NEAR the joy of budget hearing time, accounting havoc, and that ninth level of…

Paper, paper, paper..I’m all for a bonfire.

I need to clean my desk – I’ve lost my expanse of teak again.

So last year the Special Session I organized, Medicine as Magic, Magic as Medicine, was a huge hit. I had all of my abstracts in no time flat, I had to turn abstracts away, the room was packed (and with Important Medievalists, even), and everyone gushed about how I should organize it again for 2004, enthuse, enthuse, enthuse. Dandy. So I do, and I was coming into mid-Sept. with NO ABSTRACTS. Soooo unhappy.

I strong-armed (well, pleaded and nagged. heh) one of our grad students into giving me an abstract, and one of our alum. I even picked through the General Sessions submissions (perk). *sigh* I may have to give a paper for my sission to round our to three – it wasn’t part of my Grand Plan for 2004, oh well. Transformative, transformative…must think of something good on magical/medical transformation (we’re getting more vague and general on the topic the more time passes. not that it’s at all unusual, or even that off-mark – it’s amazing the contortions I’ve seen from organizers!)

So as I mentioned a few days ago, I have been looking at studying at (lots of places, including) New Mexico…but I have heard back from Tim Graham by email, and talked to him on the phone. Timothy Moy is mainly a 20th century man – darn it all. Anthony Cardenas is in the dept. of Spanish and Portugese, and while that would be OK if I was tied to someone in History, I don’t want to apply to that dept. as I don’t do Iberian linguistic studies (don’t *do* them, you understand). We chit-chatted about my list of possibilities and he had helpful advice – there are days I wish I specialized in Anglo-Saxon manuscript studies so I could continue working with him! He was my rock during my masters thesis ordeal process, a continual point of calm and reason at the Institute (having formerly been Assistant Director here), and an all-around wonderful person to work with. Advice, advice – I love good advice! 🙂

I must be an adult. I read The Chronicle when I can, and I watch The Weather Channel.

If you must go to grad school

And, along the same lines…it’s a Thomas Benton lovefest:

Five virtues of successful graduate students

So you wanna go to graduate school?

And for something completely different, but very much Fun with Archaeology, A gardner in the UK found a Roman magical tablet. (His roses were never lovlier!)

So last week I had my Borgess Vacation with my small blonde daughter, and then Bri’s grandmother was in the hospital in Battle Creek freaking out from prednisone – so more time spent in hospital cafeterias. If I were to rank them, I’d say Battle Creek had the worst food – while I’d rank Ann Arbor (U of M Medical Center) the best over all for quality, selection, and stick-to-diet-ability (of course that’s the biggest, and BC the smallest.)

I can’t put it off any longer – Must…Go…Back…To…Gym

So I worked out this morning – upper body only, no cardio as I’m still trying to hack up a lung. I am tired, sick, and haven’t worked out in a week and a half so I’m hurtin’ now, let me tell you. I kept the weights the same, but cut a couple of 2/12s back to 2/10, a little wimpy. Ah well. After all that time sitting around hospitals on MFA and eating (let’s all recoil in horror together, shall we?) HOSPITAL FOOD I only gained 1/2 lb. – today’s weight 268.

Thanks to mirabilis.ca for this: Anglo Saxon warrior queen unearthed

Boadicea, indeed! And I get to see it all when the Time Team episode finally airs over here…!

No workout – cold has moved into chest. *hack* *wheeze*

Suuuucks. I thought I’d, at least, lift this morning and not do a long or intense cardio, but I was just so wiped out when I woke up I decided it wasn’t worth it. I need the rest more. Monday I reacquaint myself with discipline and focus. Bleah.

So the Great Hospital Adventure with Emma earlier this week clinched what I was trying to do slowly and gently – weaning The Boy. We were already down to twice a day – and so I didn’t take The Pump with me. Moo no more. Once we got past the “Oh Boy! Mom’s Home!” excitement we’ve hit a few moments of great sadness and frustration with Mom from Colin who doesn’t understand why the booby-buffet is now closed. It appears this has broken his wittle heart, not that I don’t miss it (a bit) either. It *is* nice having my body back, however. He turns a year old on Sunday. He’s walking (some), grinding his new teeth in the most annoying fashion, and waving gleefully at passing cars. I admit (and I feel a little embarrassed, although I’m not sure why) I’m feeling the need for a Moment of Silence and a tissue for the tear as I acknowledge my baby’s transition into toddlerhood. I wasn’t this silly with Emma…maybe it’s because we’re certainly not planning on more children, I don’t know. Hm. And for Something Completely Different, whilst catching up on the blogs to the left I read a fine bit from Tightly Wound that really sums up my position on the A word. I’ve never been against it, politically, but I’ve never been *for* it, if you catch my meaning. Very nice.

So I’m *quite* done with the MA, made it through the first year of my Son’s life, and decided that as near and dear to My Chosen Profession my clerical caper is if I don’t move on soon, I may be ranting about what an Important Historian I Might Have Been with my teeth in a cup on a nightstand to an aide who wouldn’t know a manuscript from a manicure changing my soiled drawers in some Home. Perhaps I’m being silly and paranoid since I’m not even settled into my mid-30s yet, but perhaps not – I swear this place is the LaBrea Tar Pit … I feel like I’m being sucked farther and farther under with each passing year. (She’ll never return, no she’ll never return…no singing, nevermind)

Anyhoo, so despite continuing to give papers and organize sessions (and meaning to clean some things up to submit to a few journals that I never seem to get cleaned up or sent) I feel like I need to get my happy fat ass in gear and send out applications this year. Must. I’ve come up with a list of possibles to whom I will send a request for information (the web is useful, but some sites are damn near unnavigable..and I like hard-copy. Paper. OOh.) and then pare down to 7 to actually send applications (more and we’d not eat. we still might not with 7. ugh).

They are (right now..maybe I’ll add a couple. Anyone with suggestions or invitations are So Very Welcome to comment or email!):

Kentucky (Bruce Eastwood and Gretchen Starr-LeBeau)

New Mexico (Anthony Cardenas, Timothy Moy and Tim Graham, if he’ll have me)

Virginia (Erik Midelfort and Anne Schutte)

Pennsylvania (Edward Peters and Ann Moyer)

Michigan (Diane Hughes or Valerie Kivelson and Helmut Puff)

Indiana (History and Philosophy of Science, Ann Carmichal and William Newman)

Northwestern (Religion/History combo program, Richard Kieckhefer and William Monter depending on how retired he really is)

Saint Louis (Christine Caldwell)

and WMU (who knows!) for a grins and giggles back-up plan, although if I do another degree here I’ll appear a three-eyed inbred on paper. (if I don’t get in anywhere with funding, however, I may decide to do a second masters in Educational Technology here while I’m biding my time. Couldn’t hoit, yaknow?) I’m not really considering California anywhere, Hawaii anywhere…Brian wants to move to Texas – I resist. Maybe I should add Arizona (Monica Green) to the list…maybe I should stop while I’m ahead.

We’ll see. Since I’ve such a weird hybrid of interests (“My academic disciplines are history: social/intellectual and science/technology/medicine, and my focus is inquisition, magic and magical texts, and the heresy of witchcraft (particularly as it relates to women).” from my bio page) I could sort of fit with quite a few, but really and truly fit with very few, indeed.

Oh, and let’s see how much fun it will be to do all of this with a family and have to move them somewhere (and Brian find a job, and manage our health insurance, and switch my kid’s school and the daycare issue, and, and, and…)…am I NUTS?!?!

Of course, add to the list of Things To Do the grad one-year revisitation of the thesis from hell. I think the editing papers for journal submission sounds like more fun, frankly.