Thursday, May 13, 2010

Kvetch

It's the end of the semester and I'm insanely busy these days. I'm up at 6:30 AM and I don't get home until about 10PM most days.

I actually like my work. I like my colleagues and my students. There's just so damn much of it.
I really miss my studio and my art work, and I won't be able to touch it until June. After that, I've got about 3 weeks off before teaching summer school. So that's 3 weeks to do a year's worth of work in. I'll probably get one picture finished and another started in that time, and that will be it for 2010.

And when I'm not commuting, teaching, administrating, etc., I'm tired. I'm mentally better able to handle the workload at my age (the 30 year old me would have panicked), but at 52, I'm starting to feel my knee joints and crave mid-day naps. Age and asthma make my voice go in and out after the second class of the day.

Thank God for this blog thingy. It's become a very necessary outlet for me. All the others are unavailable to me these days.

So, until I can post something more substantial, you can ogle flavor-of-the-month Kellan Lutz. Lovely, isn't he?




Complaining is good for you. In dear old Texas, we were supposed to bear everything silently with manly stoicism. Whining was for girly boys. After awhile, we'd start developing nervous ticks. And then finally we'd crack and take out a Luby's or a Seven Eleven with a Glock while yelling "This is what Bell County did to me!!"

This sort of thing does not happen in New York where complaining is a way of life.

Kvetching is healthy.

So I'm kvetching.

9 comments:

Rick+ said...

I feel your pain Doug. I also am 52 and have taught elementary school for 30 years. Often, I wonder what other people do if they aren't grading papers in the evening. At the end of this year I am retiring, and have been hired as a part-time priest. I'll miss the kids and my colleagues, but not the unrelenting pace.

Counterlight said...

That's the other thing about teaching, there's always homework. Every moment I'm always nagged by the questions, "What am I forgetting? Shouldn't I be reading student papers?"

I'm told that this load will get easier as time goes by. I hope so, because my hopes for tenure depend on my being able to get into my studio and spend time there.

Counterlight said...

Rick, I hope going into the priesthood doesn't turn out to be going from the frying pan into the fire. I always imagine the priesthood to be very stressful.

Leonard said...

Oh my, a bevy of Kvetchsters to start off my day...I´m running into our Capitol City for a month-after-eye surgery review...I know, I know, you´ve heard this before but honestly fellas, the really heroic part/test may be later (I loved my fifties and didn´t even feel daunted by my age...that is, until 60...yikes, oldness!!!)! Well, I guess there is nothing left to do but see the whole adventure through and keep my eyesight intact as best they can...it´s a fascinating ride (seat belts required as we ALL know from *other* adjustments).

Yes, and thank you Doug for your ¨outlet¨ here, it´s a wonderful site and I always feel your good energy and mood altering sharing...thanks.

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

All the best for you, dear Counterlight!

susan s. said...

Yes, if I may say so, he is lovely! We all need a little diversion now and then.

Unknown said...

Kvetching, whining and venting are all good for you! It can take the pressure off, or at the least release a little bit of that steam! :-)

David G. said...

At least you have a job.

Counterlight said...

Indeed