Recovery

Okay, I'm into my last week of winter break and I finally feel like I'm on break... except for the fact that I now have to prepare for classes that start this coming Tuesday. Man, oh, man. My sister visited us for Christmas--which was nice--but she arrived on the 20th and I still had an exam on the 21st, so I didn't get to finish grading finals until after she left, around the 28th. Sorry to my students who may have received their grades a bit late.

So after finishing up the grading and then puttering around the house--tighten some faucets, do maintenance on the fan in two bathrooms--I finally caught my breath sometime this past weekend. I even went to see a movie--A Night at the Museum--at Tyson's Corner. The theater is beautiful and huge, but expensive for a poor professor-type like me. We went mid-afternoon to watch a matinee, but I learned too late that on weekends, matinee prices apply only to shows before 12 PM. Now, who goes to see a movie before 12 noon?!? That is pretty bogus. If I had known that, I would have gone elsewhere... maybe... I think... but those seats were so nice and the stadium seating allows M--who is very short--to see the entire screen no matter who sits in front of her, even Shaq. Well, maybe if Yao Ming sat in front of her she might have a problem--as an Asian he has the short leg-long torso syndrome we all suffer from.

Anyway, so now I'm working on next semester's classes with very little time invested in recharging my batteries. But thanks to fyzle, I did learn that I could recharge my brain if I stop drinking. Apparently, ceasing alcohol intake can lead to a degree of brain cell recovery, according to this article sourced from Oxford University. Now, I have stopped smoking for six years, and the longer I am off the cancer sticks, the more I am convinced I made the right choice. To give up drinking seems like another tough choice. I just love beer and wine but do find myself more forgetful and just basically slower than i once was. If I can gain some of my brain function back--short term memory, quicker analysis--then this is something I would need to consider quite seriously. I am, afterall, in the business of "thinking".

Well, we'll see. I'd make it a New Years resolution, but I've come to the realization that resolutions are made to be broken, so why make something in the first place?

Now what was I talking about?