Manic Bookstore Cafe

This is the week of the year when one should sit and reflect -- what good came of the year just ending? what adventures did we have? what mishaps might have been avoided? what conclusions can be drawn, and how might we proceed more wisely into the year to come? And for what, and whom, do we feel grateful? One of my friends has launched what she calls "The 2013 Gratitude Project" -- twenty-five acts of gratitude in 25 days to mark the year passing. We were excited to receive a "gratitude" package consisting primarily of Christmas cookies, with a lot of love to go with. We made the list in part because I had shared a pot of borscht with her and her family. (I love Darra Goldstein's vegetarian borscht, which includes almost every vegetable you can think of, more even than Molly Katzen's version , and every time I make it I think of how grateful I am to have a Cuisinart, and how useful it would be to have an army of serfs to do the chopping if one didn...

This week my university, Ohio State, starts our second academic year on semesters. My 19th year at Ohio State. Yikes. But it doesn't really feel like the second time. Last autumn I was working half-time at the Graduate School and only taught one class -- my students and I met three times a week to talk about Russian poetry. It was fabulously fun, but it doesn't really help me with starting this week. In spring semester I was in Warsaw -- again, great teaching experience, but I taught two courses which met once a week for 90 minutes each. Not particularly helpful as I prepare to teach my two undergraduate Russian literature courses this semester -- especially since the autumn semester will actually last about 16 weeks. One thing from last autumn will help -- I remember telling my students that as compared to quarters we were bound to experience several lulls, when we became sick of each other and the course material. I do feel that it's important to prepare -- and control...