Happy Holidays

I want to take a moment and wish everyone Happy Holidays! I’m spending the school break with my family at home. We’re enjoying over 14 inches of snow at the moment by cross-country skiing, sledding, snowboarding (the boys, not me!) and building snow forts. 

We’ve already had a Harry Potter-a-thon, during which we watched movies 1-3 in one sitting, and then movies 4-5 the next afternoon. My family has concluded that the Sorting Hat would, most likely, place me in Slytherin, unless of course, I asked to be put in another of the houses at Hogwarts. I’m still not sure I agree, but hey, I am ambitious, and it would be foolish to deny that.  

We’ve also been listening to the books Eragon and Eldest on CD. I believe the author, Christopher Paolini, was 17 when he wrote Eragon. I’ve enjoyed the pair of fantasy novels much more than I thought I would. It’s been very interesting to find the many similarities between the Harry Potter series and the Eragon series.

I’m also catching up on my reading. For the longest time, I’ve been reading Conversation: A History of a Lost Art, by Steven Miller, published by Yale University Press. I actually find the premise of the book fascinating (that the art of conversing is dying out), but I seldom have time to read for pleasure since I read so much for work.

I’ll be back to work on January 5th. I am hoping that all of you who’re reading this—and who want to be back to work—will have courses waiting for you, as well. To be sure, many colleges are meeting budget shortfalls by trimming back adjunct faculty. However, it’s equally true that just as many schools are dealing with their budget woes by increasing the number of part-timers hired to teach courses. 

Look for a new issue of Adjunct Advocate during the first week of January, as well as a new Podcast Interview.