an idea I want to think about

Whatever limitations may come our way, the important thing is that we find ways to live as fully as possible, both together and as individuals.

from Barbara Crafton

That's what a young person does: he builds a self. Then he spends the second half of his life learning how to take it down again, how to take it apart and examine the pieces of it, when to surrender a part of it that no longer makes sense. Each of these is a sacred vocation. All of us must do both. One is preparation for life. The other is preparation for the survival of meaning in the face of death.

hospital

My husband had outpatient surgery today, general anesthesia and all. We got to the hospital at 8 am and left about 2:30 pm. All went smoothly and he is not feeling too horrible this evening. Certainly not as badly as my daughter did after having her wisdom teeth out--his was laser surgery, which apparently reduces the trauma a lot. I hadn't expected it to be so long a day, and it wasn't like I could go far because I had maybe an hour and 45 minutes between when they took my husband to the operating room and when the doctor came to talk to me and then about an hour after that they brought my husband from the recovery room to the room where I was waiting. Tomorrow I have to take him to the doctor's office to get the catheter out.

done

Yesterday I ran a mini-conference on Empire/Science/Technology, which went very smoothly. But it was awfully stressful putting it together. It turned out just right--about 30 people. I just bought too much food. And I wish I had taken some pictures.

It is a relief to have it all over, though I enjoyed very much the Indian professor who was here for a week.

super tuesday

I'm intrigued by a story from Yale about students voting for Hillary on pragmatic grounds while their parents were voting for Obama. I voted for Hillary most of all because as a feminist from the mid 1970s I never dreamed we could have a woman president so soon, but also because I think she knows how to get things done. But I was glad Obama won South Carolina because I wanted young people and the African-American community to have their dream. So I find it very interesting that some young people were more practical and my generation more the dreamers. It is an exciting race.

too much travel

This past weekend I was in Baltimore for a conference. I got out of the hotel only twice, for a nice run around the inner harbor and one expedition for authentic crab cakes in a smokey bar. But I hope I will get a published paper out of the conference.

The weekend before I gave a talk and consulted at University of Oklahoma and then went up to Boston to see my daughter and for a friend's son's Bar Mitzvah. A lot of time on planes, but the travel all went smoothly, which is doing well in January.

Now I get to stay home for a while but I have an international visitor all next week and that will keep me busy.