Heidi

Video discussion response posted. BOOM! Edited to add: as long as I get a 41% or better on my final paper, I've got an A. Friends, I have never felt better.

You've hit the nail on the head, Friend. I'm glad to be exploring public philosophy again. I'm glad to be doing the research that I'm doing, and I feel blessed to be doing it with Philosopher James. I met with James this afternoon over lunch to do philosophy again, and we're coming to a good space about what it means to do philosophical research generall and how this fits my particular investigation. All of this feels satisfying and good. He's very adept at helping draw guardrails around the dissertation work and also identifying what we've come to refer to as Dr. Heidi In The World work, things like articles on the nature of access to information and how that has an impact on education, how AI will impact that, and what that means for pedagogy in a post-AI world. I met him initially in the public philosophy rooms, and he is like-minded. He sees the way that I'm crafting public philosophy into a revolution in education, and he digs it, but more importantly he gets it.This is helpful. Today I need to read the posts of my fellow classmates' discussions and make my final video post as a response. I'm actually looking forward to it, which is new. There's a lot of snippiness going on with Vivian's dad, shocking no one. It's all so predictable that I literally caught myself yawning while I was reading his latest missive, and that made me laugh. It's all such a farce, but it won't come to anything, really. The train has left the station. I have my first appointment with the new famiy counselor tomorrow (he tried to cancel it yesterday, and the office manager called to let me know that it was canceled and I asked if I could retain that appointment, please and thank you, and of course we did). I wrote to let him know that it was still scheduled and that I didn't appreciate or understand his continued dedication to stopping or delaying family counseling, but in any event, he is welcome to join me at the appointment tomorrow. His response: "Do not make appointments for my household. That has never been and will never be appropriate," which is when I caught myself yawning. I might make lemon rosemary chicken tonight and put together an IKEA bookcase. Might just nap. Life is good. ❤️

I don't know how to do things, otherwise. I have a weekly and monthly check-in with This Week's List and the Master List, but other than that, I can't hold all the everything in my head while also working on what's right in front of me. I hope you find some clarity, balance, and peace. I think you're doing great. WOW! I had never heard of this before either. It sounds like a blend with alpaca will be gorgeous. What weight will it be when spun up? Also, I love this fiber craft. I don't spin, but I swear I could watch someone spin for hours. It's like a hearth fire for my soul. I do, and am doing, this too. Right now I have four (five?) bags of ToBeSorted items stacked in front of my bedroom door in the hopes that they will get in the way enough to get sorted. Most stuff needs to get donated. The sad truth is that these moving bags all sat under my bed in the previous apartment for a couple years, and clearly I wasn't using anything in them, so in theory I could just walk them wholesale to a donation spot and be done with it, and never miss what's inside. Having sat for so long, I I have no clue what is in them and I'm intimidated to even open the bag's zipper. Thank you for your reveiw of A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind by Shoukei Matsumoto. It was on my TBR list, and the assumptions you point out are disappointing and, in what I've read of many such books, all too common. Concensus is hard work, and it seems to take daily shoring up, which is its own full time job. It's exhausting, and so often it's less work to just be the one to clean up instead of making everyone else fall in line with their chores. I'm cheering you on and commisserating with you in equal measure.

Same! I love the jellyfish non-scale win. Looking forward to Sovalis Washi tape doodles, if that inspiration hits. ❤️

So often I find the Hanged Man to be reflective of exactly this "you don't know what you don't know" moment. Here's a dude who has to hang upside down and crosslegged to see things differntly / better. It's not just a transition moment to me, but a perspective shift, and not really one we can always enact for ourselves, but one that has to be imposed on us by the universe or some external source (like reading a book or seeing a movie, or hearing the garbage get picked up -- the Universe is weird and random and often makes use of mundane details because --gosh! -- there are just so many of them). Air / Swords / Intelligence can always cut the weilder, and when taken with the (what was it, Hawthorn? I forget now, but you know which one I mean) ten card that represented burnout, I think this is indicative of a new perspective coming to you. I honestly think you've been through a seriously fertile few weeks, and that this lacuna of no-houseguest, no-Dave is exactly what will allow the perspective to percolate. Be easy with yourself. Throw away half-eaten things that were never for you inthe first place; eat good ingredients weirdly mixed; let the adulting happen in spurts and fits as it will. You are grand and the Universe loves you. ❤️

Maybe the Universe wants public philosphy and writing my novel to be my second job. I'm going to sit with that (while listening to Broken Boy Soldiers). I will have ten Star Trek & Philosophy one-sheets prepped and ready to go, with a page of Notes To Self on each one for things to remember when guiding the discussion. I am pretty certain that I could put this together as a "portfolio" and write a local group and ask for $15,000 to run it monthly (which would cover the cost of renting a room at the arts center next door, advertising and printing supplies, and my TA level salary). This has merit. I love the way the GroupThink happens here. ❤️

#DruidApproved.

Pardon me, I'm going to sit in awe of the sheer solidarity that this statement represents.

You are so right. I have a lot of sympathy for Spinoza who turned down the offer of being a professor and chose to remain a lens-grinder and counted that as freedom. After I read Kim Tolley's Professors in the Gig Economy (a collection of really great essays), I had an a-ha moment that it wasn't just me and it wasn't just this town and or that organization -- academia is in its death throes and I would be better off launching my public philosophy series and writing a grant based on its success. This is not hyperbole: A community college adjuct professor in my town earn $750/credit hour or $2,250/course (IF the class doesn't get canceled, in which cse the lion's share of prep work and time commitment has already happened, but the professor gets paid nothing). A Teaching Assistant at my University makes $12,000 a year (and also gets tuition forgiven, but I don't really care about that since I'm nearly in a post-tuition moment). I could easily write a grant for the public philosophy series that is more in line with a TA income than an adjunct professor, and that's the moment that I knew that I would likely never join the academia circus. My long term plans were never about being "an academic," thank goodness. The only reason I'm a grad student now is becuase I have a sense of real urgency about the timeliness and importance of what I'm researching. I am looking forward to going back to having my intellectual investigations be a hobby amongst friends. You know how I love the Raconteurs, especially this album. Have you heard the live version of "Level?" It just blows me away, every time.

DANGIT!! How? How did so much happen in the last few weeks that I thought the challenge was closed and Reflection Week was nearly over? Okay, Universe, I hear you!!!! Anyway, steady is the course for the next ten days as we do the rest of the work that is in front of us. ❤️

Nic helped me put together one of the red bookcases on Sunday evening, and that means that now only have seven items left to assemble. I'd like to have these done over the next couple weeks. I also have a few furniture pieces that have no home, and probably need to get given away. I'd like to play with the arrangement of things once everything is assembled and see if these pieces are useful or need to find a new home. I miss having an herb garden. Just in general, I love having herbs around, but specifically lemon balm (for heat relief) and basil (becuase basil). I have some window box planters that are empty and I think I might set up some herbs in them and place them near the dining table or at the back of the kitchen counter between the sink and the living room space. Happy full moon! It's officially the end of eclipse season! What has been revealed to you or culminated into fruition since March 25th? I can't believe that was only a few weeks ago; it seems like ancient history. I like to go to a favorite farm and pick strawberries at the end of April / beginning of May as a way to put the semester behind me and welcome in summer, and I invited Nic to come with me on Saturday to pick strawberries. I'll likely need to have the afternoon and evening to work on the novel and the legislation spreadsheet, but I'm looking forward to having a whole mess of local strawberries. I wrote another 750 words yesterday on the novel (total is now 11,900; goal is 90,000). Keep watching for word counts, since this is a big project that needs to come into the world. I have an agent at Folio who asked for a full manuscript, and I'd like to deliver it in August or so, definitely by the end of Challenge 6 (September 1). The beginning work of writing always seems impressive (look, another thousand words!!), but that's because it is like starting a campaign with a first level character. Going from level 1 to 2 is a lot different than leveling up from 11 to 12. I had given up on acupuncture, with the Other Acupuncturists not really fitting my needs after My Acupuncturist retired. When I met with my Jedi Council (Quaker small group) yesterday, one of them mentioned a new-to-town acupuncturist that he really likes, so I made an appointment for next week. Fingers crossed. I fell asleep at 8:30 last night and slept until 6. I woke up with a headache (weather changes -- it's downright cold this morning) and read some news before logging in. The president of my university is floating a proposal to absorb the faculty-driven senate into a trustee-driven body, effectively stripping the faculty of any policy voice in what seems to be an obvious power grab. I wrote to my advisor and asked for some time to discuss this next week, since it seems unthinkable to me, and yet it is likely to pass. Academia is broken, and it seems to be crumbling in real time around me. I am very much looking forward to completing my degree. I don't know if I'll continue with the library degree afterwards, though since it's essentially a vocational degree, it seems to be a program that fits well in the new-Academia™ model. The current timeline looks like Qualifying Exam in the summer of 2025, then dissertation the year after, PhD awarded in May 2026. I imagine the academic landscape will look measurably different by then. The weather has mee sleepy and wanting to hunker down under blankets, despite the good rest of last night. I have a much-needed massage later this morning, otherwise I would still be in my flannel nightgown. Chances are good that I'll come home from the appointment and take a shower and be right back into the nightgown-with-tea mode, and I'm looking forward to it.

WOOHOO!

Thank you. I'm thinking that we need to watch all of Drumhead and have a conversation about it. It's an excellent episode, and dense with ideals. And timely.

Hi, friend. I'm getting squirrely about the debts and taxes and things. I've decided to throw some leads out to the Universe to see if there's a part-time remote job that I can work along with the regular job over summer. There will not be any non-remote work in my life, but perhaps the universe can help me find something that will slay the debt-dragon a bit. I'm doing okay, actually, but the debt-load is starting to wreck my sleep, which makes everything worse.

Thinking about what worked this challenge, and thinking about what's coming for the next round, starting on Sunday (or more likely Monday, becuase that's when I usually start). Here's a bit of whiteboard space (spoilered because it's a lot of moving parts). Skill 24.03 2024.04 Focus Activity May 6th - June 9th, 2024 Reflection Week Jun10-16 Constitution 12 Carry forward: Walking: 2+ miles a day New goal: WATER (drink it; log it) Stretch goal: Sauna? Look for a walk to the Farmer’s Market on Thursdays, daily walks on purpose, and overall increase to activities that happen to involve walking. I’d like to be more mindful and intentional about drinking water and eating salads. Getting back to the sauna would likely do wonders for my sleep and my sense of presence. Strength 15 Carry Forward: Going to work Stretch goal: Second job? New Goal: Lift - anything that weighs more than a loaf of bread If I can find something to add to the cash generation, it’ll go directly to the debts. I’m doing just fine, of course, but I’ve noticed that the debt tally is taking a toll on my sleep, so if I can find a remote temp job for a few hours a day over the summer while I don’t have classes, this would be some Wisdom as well as some strength. I’m hesitant to increase this to 16 while I still have the debt-millstone around my neck. Intelligence 16 Carry Forward: Philosopher James 2x/week New Goal: Work on the novel. 1,000 words a day. Stretch goal: One Sheets and Fliers for upcoming Philosophy Sessions. I still have a massive Legislation Spreadsheet to finish on Sunday (stay tuned!) and a final paper (also Sunday) and final post (Wednesday) this week for Research Class, with some interviews along the week to use for the paper. Philosophy with James is going well, and we've stayed the course even as real life has tried to play cat-and-mouse with the schedule. This is good; this is the Way. I'm always hesitant to increase beyond 16, but there's some real proficiency being wrought. Dexterity 18 Emotional Balance and Mental health Schedules & Calendars Marching Band Camp Summer Visitation Football Calendar Counseling sessions Wisdom 18 Stretch Goal: Spending Fast Continue forward: Aggressive Car Loan payments New Goal: Sort out the taxes mess Pay off the car aggressively -- 2 extra payments Charisma 16 Alliances Continue: Time with Nic, Emily, Erica, (Kathi & Tim ?) New Goal: Women's Pinball League Summer (June 10-August 5) New Goal: Star Trek & Philosophy Sessions May 17, June 14 Continue: Home-making: Assemble furniture, Finish Vivian's Room SOPHIA Roanoke Make the Star Trek flier Make the SOPHIA Roanoke web page Choose the calendar for the coming session; schedule the Parrot Room for June 14, July 19, August 23. Consider writing a grant proposal for the Rice Room at the Jefferson Center and running the sessions. [If we move to the Jefferson Center, make it Philosophy Fridays at Four. Serve Tea. Consider an informal dinner location after the event.) Belles & Chimes Post Calendar on website Finalize Summer League Dates with IFPA? Maybe not necessary Website Login Spreadsheet for scores Out & Abouting Shakespeare Community Concert Coffee House Mornings Farmer’s Market Pick your own strawberries (Saturday! 🍓 🍓 ) Stamina 7 Continue: Rest, Healing New goal: Resume Acupuncture Stretch Goal: yoga? Good sleep schedule, once again Yoga on Friday morning? A friend recommended a new-to-town acupuncturist, and I made an appointment for next week. Fingers crossed that it’s a good solution.