I feel like I’m juggling blogs—I started to get into my research blog… which is fun. It’s thinking out loud (how’s that different from here, you ask?) about the boring parts of my study that only very select nerds are interested in… so select that hardly anyone in the English department has looked at it! But I made it pretty.

And after a week or so without independence days to worry about, there’s a sudden barrage of them coming up.

Tonight I’m meant to be starting a series of workshops for the Liberal Studies students. I’m looking forward to them—but I don’t know if I got the word out soon enough for tonight’s workshop, so I don’t know if I should expect anyone to come. Oh dear. It’s supposed to be on “the conventions of academic writing”—to which I should could add (in the American context), since it’s so different for the British. Talk about re-learning. Old dog. New tricks. That’s me. Except, I’m not that old. 29 is the new black.

What’s not the new black? Well, at this stage, the bail out.

Oh my. As further evidence that a combination of work and world history have taken over my life, the Independence Day Project is about to overtake poor miss kate, underground or otherwise, in its number of postings.

I realise that there are a lot of countries and territories in the world, and September has been a busily Independent month… And July was just insane. I’ve just been realising how, being so busy suddenly (aftermath of illness?)

They’re trying to bring back a Galapagos tortoise from the dead. I don’t know how I feel about this—scientists thinks they can “tap into” this particular extinct Galapagos tortoise’s DNA from descendents, and recreate the original. Have these people read Jurassic Park? Okay, I do find it really interesting—and in truth I love turtles and tortoises, especially giant ones… But this makes me feel a little uneasy.

The election is starting to get to me. Sarah Palin is getting to me. (Her smugness in that interview with Charlie Gibson: Gibson, basically respectful; Palin, “oh, yes, Charlie; oh, no, Charlie; In what respect, Charlie?”—I know it’s his name, but I found this so, so forced.) And where is Biden? I’m hoping to go out to see a viewing of the first debate—and I spoke with a friend today about finding some bar full of politicos on 4 November to sit and watch the results coming in.

Wow. I’m already planning for 4 November.

Oh. 15 percent of meals eaten today in America are eaten in cars. I’m glad I don’t have a car.

My second birthday in DC. I have, of course, talked to my mum. And, since it’s my birthday (as well as Independence Day for Mali and Bulgaria), I’m trying to ignore the whole economic crisis thing going on. I mean, I know in some quarters people were feeling ye olde “cautious optimism” on Friday, but I’m just waiting for the next thing to fall apart. And I’ve been worried about global warming for 22 years. Wait, it’s my birthday. That’s a day off worry, right?

I read some Coleridge this morning that I really loved. It was exciting, as I thought I was in the Wordsworth and Coleridge class all for WW’s sake. No, it turns out I can be a sucker for Coleridge, and perhaps I will be.

I’ve just started a research blog for my thesis project. This means that I have basically become the queen of blogs in the English department. I don’t think that’s a cool thing—just a fact. Anyway, since it’s messy, it’s pretty much a closed blog. But if you’re interested I can register you to read it. Send your details on a piece of batter pudding… Oh wait, this isn’t The Goon Show (damn it!). Email me.

And I read a bunch of Nelly Sachs on the weekend. Wow. Also, a bunch of Brecht’s poetry. Obviously in translation as my super high school German skills from year 8 and 9 don’t reach to reading… well, anything—beyond “Hi, my name’s [insert name here] and I’m from Australia.” I can also say that I study geography, even though I don’t. It’s sort of like how I can say in Auslan (that’s Australian sign language for those not in the know… and yes, Australian sign is different from American) “I have a duck.” Life skills.

So, I’m turning 29. What’s happening? Well, there’s been some nice news on the poetry front. My book will come out sometime next year, I’ll have a piece in Best Australian Poems and there’s another anthology that wants me to send some work. I also had an odd dream about a journal I could submit poetry to. I wonder if it exists. Maybe I could dream it into existence, just like, apparently, people in ancient Greece could go to a certain temple to dream their own cures.

I have to get into Serious Attention to School mode. With a side serve of Serious Attention to Writing. Any day now. Life keeps being unexpectedly busy.

I feel like it’s been quite a week, but I’m not sure if that’s true. I’ve been doing quite a lot of stuff—but I think I’ve also had quite a bit of down time. Knitting, admiring Luke Perry, sitting on the floor… But today I did some proper reading, and started to make lists in my head about the sorts of things I need to get done. And whoa! Do I need to get things done.

Yesterday, though, I had a bit of a time out from all the university stuff. My friend Marie works for a senator, and she took me on a tour of the Capitol. Now for some reason I thought it would be a drama for me even to get in, but no—no passports, fingerprints, background check… Just the normal walk through a metal detector while we scan your bag.

The tour was pretty interesting—especially since we cut through lots of little corridors and underground passages and things. I’m more interested in the unglamorous shortcuts, I guess. I got all sorts of things—and asked some probably strange questions. I wondered how many of the statues in the building featured people in Confederate uniforms (thanks to my father and our recent civil war tours…) and when Marie pointed out a chandelier and told me that before it was at the Capitol it had been in a church and a theatre, I found myself wondering what denomination the church was—I mean, it’s in a pretty central room (if I remember rightly, next to THE central room) so I think it’s significant. Marie didn’t know, but her husband thinks it’s an ex-Methodist chandelier that has pride of place.

Also, when I saw the place where presidents lie in state, there was a list next to it of the presidents who had lain in that very place. Alongside the presidents, there were unknown soldiers: obviously one from World War I at the end of the war, similarly one from Vietnam at the end of that war. But also—1958, Unknown Soldier World War II and Korean War. This puzzled me—if it was one soldier, well—he was unknown, so how could you know he was in two conflicts? If it was two soldiers, what state was the World War II soldier in in 1958? And why would you wait until 1958 to decide to give an WWII Unknown Soldier lying in state status?

I also so the room of the first supreme court. It kind of gave me chills. And the room that is featured in Mr Smith Goes to Washington.

When I noticed the number of Barack Obama’s senate office, I walked by it. Marie told me one of her friends had gone in and talked to them—they gave her a signed photograph. Now I didn’t go into that office, but the idea was rolling around my head. We “cruised” a couple of other senate offices (and I saw what had been JFK’s office) and then I decided to be brave—or just get over how daggy it was—and get a couple of signed senator photographs. I started with Ted Kennedy, and since that went smoothly, I got John Kerry to. Then I thought, “hey! I could get a Democratic Convention set!” I stopped in at Hillary Clinton’s office, but they’d run out. They said I could go to the website, put in the details and they’d send it to me—but I guess I have a short attention span. Now I’m kind of over the idea. Still, I’m pretty pleased with my Kennedy-Kerry duo.

Oh, and can I just say that Sarah Palin makes me angry? So, so angry.

Spoke to my mum this evening—wonderful! I love speaking to my mum. I’m a mama’s girl.

I’m still on my alarming 90210 kick. So I’ll just say Donna Martin Graduates!

Squash it.

My first experience of a tropical storm today… though I suppose I didn’t experience it much. It was warm and a little humid, and I popped on my yellow gumboots (or, as they call them here, galoshes) and went to Baked and Wired. I intended to do a lot of work there, but instead found myself chatting to the crew for—well, I’m ashamed of how long I chatted to the crew. Long enough to get given a small cup of mocha free after my two coffees were long gone…

But I started drawing ideas about my thesis on the big piece of brown paper I’ve stuck on my wall to map my thoughts. I did some knitting. I looked at photographs taken during the Russian invasion of Prague in 1968. I jumped in a couple of puddles.

Which is to say, I’ve had a relaxing, yet not entirely unproductive, day. And I’m still going. About to read a little poetry (Coleridge… and potentially Wordsworth if I get to both) and maybe write a letter (I’m very behind on my correspondence. I blame Luke Perry.) I’m sure there are social things that I could and should be out doing, but after the last couple of weeks it’s honestly such a pleasure to hole up at home on a Saturday night. Knitting, listening to podcasts, eating porridge or somesuch treat… there’s really no bad.

For now, I’m out of doctor’s offices for a while. That’s going to be nice—another follow up in three months, but that’s pretty much it. Cyst was benign—there was really very little chance it wasn’t going to be—and I got to see some good photos of my insides. My liver looks healthy, but the photo also made it look like it has teeth. Hopefully at some point I will have these photos to put on the blog. Which I imagine might not be a big hit, but… they’re my insides, people! Sibley Hospital accidentally put two sets of photos in my file at the hospital instead of giving me the spare set like they were supposed to. I wonder if this is how the civil war general who constantly visited his own leg bone in Washington felt?

So, fingers crossed that I’m going to have a lot less drama in the coming months.

I’ve been rereading The Beauty of the Husband and starting to make notes and bibliographies for myself. I’ve got some other reading to get done for Monday—in fact, Monday is going to be a very busy day this semester. Thinking of trying to get out to some of DCs free stuff this coming week, and I’ll be going to see the Silver Jews play next week. I’m also hoping to see Juliana Hatfield on Tuesday—I’ve loved her, in probably far too dorky and devoted a way, for nearly a decade now… Without counting my love for her My So-Called Life so-called angel appearance.

Oh, and I’ve watched a truly shameful amount of old-school 90210 lately. You know what? I choose me. (Jeremy Jordan—alright!)

So I’ve been underground for a while. It’s been a fairly overwhelming month—finishing up teaching, going straight into ER visits, painkillers, surgery. My wonderful parents being in town, and then all of us going out of town the moment I was well enough, and then the day after getting back, straight back into the university life, with the welcome party for the next academic year, and meeting with Carolyn (Forché) who will be my thesis advisor over the next year, as well as attending her undergraduate class on the poetry of witness.

I guess I got a little down when I was sick—I felt drained at the end of teaching (full of self-doubt as to whether my students felt that they had learned, and whether I am, in fact, a capable teacher) and had wanted the couple of weeks before semester to relax, do some reading, prepare myself emotionally for the final year of this particular degree… (I feel like I’m going to be endlessly juggling degrees, though I hope sometime my place will become more obvious.)

What’s actually been nice in the past few days to take my mind off that slight depression has been helping out a friend. Having someone to check up on regularly. Also, knitting helps. Television does not.

So I’ve been starting to think out my Anne Carson project. An initial discussion with Carolyn yesterday has had me thinking through some ways to focus, which has made me happy. I will get there in the end. I have some Wordsworth and Coleridge to read too… No shortage of things to do!

I feel like I’m going to get some writing done sometime—sometime. I’m going to try to have at least a day off each week, and to try to get some writing bits and pieces done as well. Try. Who knows if that will ever happen…

Tomorrow I’ll sign up for my writing center hours—and hopefully it won’t take too much longer to find out which Liberal Studies class I’m working with so I’ll have a real idea of what my schedule is going to be. And then I guess I’ll have to block out my study properly. I was so good about that in Melbourne last year. I feel like I haven’t been quite as good here, but I’m going to start working on it.

So I’ve been reading mostly poetry, and trying to get Independence Day Project bits and pieces written.

It’s sad that my parents are gone! It’s only three days since they left, but it has been feeling like an age.