Ughing.

This is a profoundly frustrating and disappointing moment. Everyone in the Kansas legislature, the KU administration, and the incoming student body seem committed to pretending the delta virus either isn’t happening or isn’t dangerous. This is somewhat true in certain ways some of the time, but no one seems to be making their decisions based on the science; and further, in the case of the administration here, it seems wilfully nonscientific, as though the real agenda for in-person classes has nothing to do with learning outcomes or what is healthiest or best. (Imagine that.) Some of what we are being told is incorrect, some seems to be illegal, and a lot of it is unethical. I am starting to make new plans for the future. Wish me well.

I’m not going to go into the details of trying to design a class in this situation. It is actually worse than last year, just as KU’s response to the situation is worse this year than last. Luckily, I have taught these classes before, so I can fall back on past practice, even if the present and future seem opaque and confusing.

My personal takeaway is that for my mental health, I will need to disengage as much as possible from my dayjob, and instead I will want to invest in my creative work and my non-KU teaching, which I can control. This is too bad, but hey, if I can do it, I can write a LOT.

So, what is there to talk about? I still like my friends. I am still waiting for my editor to finish up with American Tour, so I can revise it and pass it on to the artist. My cat’s still cute. I want to start working out, which means signing up for something online. Soon it will be fall, and the cooler weather is always exhilarating. I was starting to think about where I want to be in the next 3-5 years, anyway. I have 28 class days this semester, and after 9:30 tonight, I will have 27.