I am working on regaining my Spanish. It is very lost and I am having to search long and hard for it. This evening I read two short stories for intermediate Spanish students and it took me somewhere between half an hour and an hour to get through twelve pages. However, I did learn some new words and I was overall able to follow the story without looking up everything.

So I am keeping myself busy with Spanish, not even counting all the work I need to do with my grading. However, I have made priorities. Spanish is the priority. Getting grades back in two days is sufficient.

I also am writing proposals for the big national convention next January. I wrote one and it turned out, when I read the long call, that what I thought they were asking for was actually totally off topic. Of course, that may be true of other things since the big conf keeps the CFPs short.

I sent one off already (on teaching Old English texts) and I am working on another two (one on postapocalyptic literature and one on adjuncts as professionals).

I figured three attempts I ought to get one yes out of the bunch. But actually maybe I should do more. Unfortunately you can only get two yeses, and I wouldn’t want to turn a bunch of people down, which is why I was thinking three.

I will be sad though if none of them is accepted.