Winter wonderland

Six inches of snow, the kind of candy-shell snow that coats the trees thick and turns their branches into coral reefs, whiter than bone. The kind of snow that defies gravity, sprayed onto the sides of fences and walls and tree trunks like powdered sugar. The city is painted in white, black, and brick red beneath an alien glow.

I went to the gym this morning with Emma. I realized that the last time I went to the gym, it was because it was too hot and humid to run outside. That was depressing. It sure felt good to work out, though. There are worse ways to start the morning than with some Billy Idol and a half-hour of cardio.

I spent eight hours on my China take home. I could have easily done it in six if I'd been worried about time, and maybe four if I'd studied beforehand instead of during the test, but whenever Rowan Flad says "it shouldn't take more than three hours of your time," he means of his own time, were he taking the test, which he constructed himself. Rowan is a dear, but wow. On the other hand , I think it was the most enjoyable final exam I've ever taken and the one I expect I will retain the most information from. When I am a teacher, instead of making the kids memorize a bunch of facts and spit them all back out in one (three-hour) moment of truth, I'm going to allow them to go back through their notes while answering the questions. This way they can learn the salient information by re-incorporating it into essays and re-reading power point lectures while not freaking out because they got confused between Xiaotun and Xibeigang. Kudos, Rowan. I might actually remember something about China now. Though I guess when you spend EIGHT HOURS on something, you remember it.

I've been sleeping really badly, which is odd, because I'm less stressed than I have been for awhile. It may be because I have so many fun tasks to plan on the horizon. I don't know. While reviewing Chapter 4 of Bodies in Flight, I was disheartened by how weak it was, and I considered eliminating an entire scene, which at the time felt humorous but now just comes across as kind of weird and pathetic. But I can't decided if I should polish the scene and ask people for feedback to see if they agree, or if I should just go ahead and cut it.

I quite like it here.