notes taken in day three of advanced editing class

poetry, poetry translations

coding for poetry: how to make clear for typesetter
in the eg: code for poem same whether in spanish or english: The Other = the first poem (poem title one). same code for the spanish original and for the english translation. [coding doesn't come out in blog post. weird. < PoT1 > the other < / PoT1 > (maybe spaces will help)]
leave notes for the typesetter about facing pages, line numbering, coding conventions
look up the Mistral poems: mad women.
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work on grammar etc.
diagram sentences. maybe 1-2 hours/week? [if i get virgin: 35/mo and then I can maybe get voice lessons, too...; structure week; make new syllabi]
go through logic book. Perhaps: spend 2-3 hrs/week on logic and sentence diagramming.
can I get my chalkboard hung on the wall? would sam hang it for me?
move desk?
get rid of couch?
file fafsa!
pay sprint bill
sign up for indexing course. advertise among faculty!

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start taking editing tests
make a checklist of all the tasks I have to do for each conferral period
find and save my thank you emails from students. build a portfolio so that I can make a case for making my assistantship a staff position; outline the advantages of making my position long-term staff (half-3/4 time)
--do this 1 hr each day in office until finished; metropolis with iced tea for an afternoon.
look into starting in magazines. [still, how/where?]
book production--easier to find a job in a publishing house; good for someone who is organized
work on foreign languages; also, consider reading lists as job prep for editing (not just catch-up reading for my own edification): the more culturally informed I am, the better editor I can be (consider my responses to MUW)
study parts of book, stages of book production; vocab, names
teach: editing and teaching are very similar. teaching adjunct will help with editing; editing might help me to get teaching gigs
talk to erich about building a website
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get heavier weights. just do it.
build a new blog: offer to edit, index, and advise on all and sundry matters; link to facebook
homestead.com
offer samples of work. try to find lady's webpage (the woman to whom I sent editing assignments in class) janine/jeanine
see if I can really get a job at ben's company: freelance or part time edit from home.

resume: simple. no bells and whistles. too fancy: looks like they have lots of money and time; looks like all fluff, no substance. should look sleek and professional but not fancy (how would mine look?). No typo anywhere. Majority have them. Majority have at least one. Recheck mine. Change typeface. When applying for editing jobs: sense of proportion. Don't make it look like editing is my fallback from academia.

write to Real Simple about their etiquette person. I should have an advice column.
learn how to use spreadsheets (does maria know? maybe she can help?)

Formatting presentations: tell students to google their questions. Remind them that what they need to do is doable and easy to find. 
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one must not wait to be inspired to work (at office; freelancing; on dissertation; working out--everything)

just get a watch. go to fossil store today?

can email instructor for whole ms: how long does it take me to complete a whole manuscript? do this. goal: 100k word book in 75–100 hours.

definitely do voice lessons for well-being. so go with virgin.  t-mobile.

these classes are very stimulating. should consider taking (cheap!) classes frequently just for the change of pace, new thoughts, increased drive, creative thoughts re: whole life.

do I really need a kitchen table?

If I am going to freelance/ adjunct/ part-time--must stay very healthy so I can work for a very long time: I don't have any retirement funds! More reasons to exercise very regularly, get heavier weights, exercycle, stretch, do pushups, and walk.

nov 17–19: editing electronically. then I'll be done.

Thanks, Anne Lamott

And we are put on earth a little space.
That we may learn to bear the beams of love.

silentium

still searching for megalopsychia but right now the search requires silence.

halfway through the month

And I have used my credit card on eight out of fifteen days. Wow! So much for "no credit card" month!

rules

It is very difficult for me to keep track of all the decisions I make. I have started my style sheet for my dissertation. It includes rules like these:

• no contractions
• .3 inch tab
• indent first lines of footnotes
• level 1 subheads: bold type, centered, sentence-style caps
• ragged right margin
• dictionary: Merriam Webster 11th ed.
• check punctuation for correct usage (en and em dashes and colons); serial comma.
• check footnotes: terminal period? full citations at the beginnings of chapters?
• call out promises and recollections: do I fulfill the promise to come back to item A? Do my vide supras match up?
• check verb tenses. All match?

I should make a style sheet for my life, too:

• no sugar before noon or after five
• may not skip exercising for two consecutive days
• may not use cell phone if I have consumed more than 1.5 alcoholic drinks
• may not eat barley for more than three consecutive days
• may not eat beans for more than two consecutive days
• clothing must cover knees
• monthly clothing budget may not exceed half of monthly rent amount
• must pay bills before they are due
• must be out of bed before 8 am
• must eat vegetables every day

My rules are solid. What I need is an editor who will impose deadlines.

changing my environment

Last weekend I had a spring cleaning kind of weekend. I did a lot of housework, all of which was necessary and satisfying. The best part of the weekend was cleaning around and behind the oven and the refrigerator. I unplugged the fridge, pulled it away from the wall, and cleaned it all up. I vacuumed the floor, sucking up years of dust, a pile (?!) of cat food, and several cat toys. I found two corks from forgotten bottles of wine (were they even mine?). I vacuumed the back of the refrigerator which had grown fuzzy with dust, cat hair and cooking grease. I scrubbed the floor beneath the refrigerator.

I moved the oven away from the wall and swept first, discovering charred kale, a burnt mushroom, layers of borax, and a wooden spoon. Then I vacuumed, and then I scrubbed.

I've been avoiding just these tasks for some years. I've been afraid of them, worried that what I would find around the oven and behind the refrigerator would be disgusting, possibly even frightening. It wasn't. It was only mildly embarrassing--I waited so long, and for what?

Now my kitchen is wonderfully clean. It is a pleasure to stand in front of the stove. I have not dreaded getting out of bed so much these past mornings. I feel more relaxed at home, even in other rooms.

The relief I feel in having a clean kitchen has had an effect elsewhere. I am prepared to overhaul my outline for chapter three, for example. I am prepared to let go of Northanger Abbey and, just maybe, to take up Antony and Cleopatra instead. I'm sailing the Pequod to Egypt. I don't think I could have done so if my kitchen hadn't been clean.

the dubious pleasures of self-knowledge

One of the memoirs I read just after Christmas (the first book I bought for my kindle) was Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. I liked it a lot and check up on her blog every now and again. On Wednesdays her blog posts offer tips or a quiz.

There is one quiz I keep taking, hoping for a different result. The result is always the same. The quiz is "do you make other people unhappy?" and my result is always "yes."

I've given Sara Maitland's memoir about silence a lot of credit for my increased solitude this year. That book did indeed help me to acknowledge my own need for solitude, silence, and reflection. However, I should credit Rubin's quiz for this solitude as well.

It isn't that I don't enjoy being around people. I do. And things are much more comfortable when I spend time with people one at a time, or in very small groups--I come much closer to earning a negative answer (a positive result) when I spend time with people in that way. This quiz has given me a way to interpret something I had sensed but had a difficult time understanding or discussing, and this increased awareness makes me more reluctant to spend time with others. I may be able to see that I have a negative effect on group dynamics but I don't know what to do about it. If I can't provide the antidote to my own poison (a somewhat harsh metaphor, but work with me), then it seems that the kindest action is to withhold the poison in the first place.

I think this realization still smarts a little. I know in my head that any one person cannot be everything or have every good attribute. Eventually I might be able to accept the necessity of this solitude and perhaps even to enjoy it.