The paper is done! Well, not exactly done. For me, a paper is never truly done until after it has been read in public for the last time. Despite the agonizing I do about committing words to paper in just the right way (for my academic writing anyway, not my unedited blog), these papers remain fluid objects until they evaporate. Several other things have succeeded in raising my mood somewhat about my presentation on Friday and my academic life in general. First, another of the paper deliverers emailed the rest of us feeling panicky about the state of his work after he discovered that Friday�s paper run-through had been advertised to the entire department. I attempted to console him by informing him that my own paper needed a good deal of revision that wasn�t likely to get done by Friday, but that I was still glad to have the chance to try it out and suggested we introduce the session with a preface that our papers were all works in progress. Suddenly the floodgates opened and everyone began a cathartic confession of their anxieties about Friday. Sometimes it doesn�t pay to worry about these things too much. It�s now looking like an afternoon that we�ll spend working together rather than an afternoon where we all worry about being torn apart. Graduate school, at least for me, has been a constant fluxuation between the attempt to stake out one�s own territory and the desire for community collaboration. It�s one of the things that makes it interesting.

The other thing that has changed my outlook for the better is that the professor to whom I spoke frankly about my Latin studies (click back to yesterday�s entry if you want more info) was extremely supportive, and suggested that since my vocabulary was good but I was running into trouble with the grammar complexities of Latin that I try Italian, which is much simpler and which I�ve always wanted an excuse to study. My husband, who is of Italian extraction, has wanted to learn too, so we�re planning on assembling some books and other study materials and working a little together every day. It should be fun. If anyone has any materials to recommend, I�d love to hear about them.

AJ has been enjoying school lately too. Today his class had �black and white day,� which AJ�s been looking forward to for weeks, mainly because he knew he would get to bring Oreos for snack and wear his White Sox uniform (the latest in a long line of White Sox apparel gifted to AJ by his Uncle G.) to school. When I arrived to pick him up after school, the kids were playing �Duck, Duck, Goose,� pounding each other on the head and running around in circles shrieking with laughter. AJ explained the game in great detail when we got home (despite the fact that we were already familiar with this particular pastime) and we made a bold attempt at playing it with three people, which thrilled AJ to no end, and gave my husband and I headaches. We�d probably still be playing now if I hadn�t insisted on lunch and a nap for one of us and aspirin for the others. AJ�s on vacation until next Wednesday. I wonder how many more games of �Duck, Duck, Goose� we�ll be playing before then? Maybe I�d better invest in a helmet.

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