I hate to say that I miss you first (WN33)

I missed a week, so consider this two weeks of week notes.

Doing

I was dead sick this week; I missed three days of work to some kind of upper respiratory illness that’s going around the school. I haven’t been sick in months, so maybe that’s a part of it, but this genuinely kicked me on my ass, and my mom ingrained workaholic tendencies in me so severe that I feel guilty taking sick days. Alas, I am continuously humbled by the reality of existing in a human body.

That sickness (and catching up on everything I missed in three days out) consumed the majority of my time and focus through the week. I did however finally buy a basketball, which is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while now. I played a lot as a kid and had an urge to get back into playing. I’m consistently running in a nearby park with a friend on Sunday mornings, and I am thinking of shooting some hoops afterward. I gave that its first test today and played for nearly two hours with my running buddy’s daughter. I am unfortunately quite bad, but for my first time holding a ball in 20 years, I’m content to accept that I’m simply out of practice.¹

Last week I fretted about my glasses. I am here to report that they do actually really help — especially for working on the computer — but that I am still a big baby about them.

Reading

I’m reading Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater for a school book club. I’m about halfway through and enjoying it; it’s a pretty quick, easy read, but it’s highly relevant to our students today.

For personal reading, I’ve picked Villette by Charlotte Brontë back up. I started from the beginning (I made it maybe 20 pages in last time) and am now about 75 pages deep. I think the very beginning in Bretton was hard to trudge through, but Lucy has now arrived in Villette and there’s more promise there.

Watching

In my sickness, I burned through the remainder of Downton Abbey. I enjoyed the last season or two more than I expected and am glad to have finally finished the show. I watched the entire first movie and a chunk of the second; I found them awful and do not intend to finish them unless I am quite desperate.

After quitting Downton Abbey, I was somehow struck with the urge to rewatch Weeds for maybe the fourth time. I’m in the third season right now and enjoying it, but I recall everything after season three being bad. I still find Andy and Doug insufferable and deeply problematic, but I adore Mary Louise Parker’s portrayal of Nancy and watching her descent into megalomania.

Playing

Joe has started playing Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix with me watching. I have a lot of fondness for the game (and history that I’ve mostly made my peace with). I haven’t touched Baldur’s Gate 3 in a few weeks now, which is equal parts being busy with school and not feeling compelled to go back to it. I would like to finish it, but I’m excited for (and preordered) the Final Fantasy Tactics remaster that releases in a few days.

Listening

A student told me to listen to Tyler The Creator. I’ve never listened to his music in any substantial capacity but have always felt I’ve known enough through word of mouth to know I wouldn’t enjoy him. Still, I emotionally blackmailed myself into believing that I needed to honor my students’ voices and listened through to Call Me If You Get Lost. I did not hate it as I expected but also feel no need to listen to any of it ever again. “Wilshire” was the only track I found somewhat compelling.

Otherwise, it’s been mostly shuffles for me. I briefly reawakened my “Moody Orange” hyperfixation and am determined to learn all of the lyrics (I’m close!), but I haven’t been able to find much time for music lately with the hubbub of school.