Well, it's 11:20, and I've managed to finish up the scariest To-Do item of my morning. We're leaving town in just over 2 hours, and I still have plenty of tasks left on my list (pack for all 3 of us, take Nika out for a good thorough jog, etc., etc.), but none of them intimidate me the same way as finishing up academic projects, which take thought as well as just physical doing. But I've managed to put together, at long last, a new, semi-polished version of my harem article that I actually like (who'd have thought it?) to send my supervisor before we leave--and this despite having to make an unexpected trip into the university (1 hour there, 1 hour back...grrr....stupid bus system) to sign some forms for Human Resources.

And hey, I found out I'm going to have a photo shoot! Not as glamorous as it could be, but still... The wonderful Special Collections fund at the university library paid for my research trip to Vienna last year, and now they want me to help advertise for them. Why not? I may even get a haircut--or at least get Patrick to trim my bangs so that I don't look so much like a myopic sheepdog, peering out through them at the world...

Sadly, no writing yet today. Sigh.

My two favorite songs right now:

"Sand River," sung by Beth Gibbons, from her album Out of Season

and

"Hallelujah," sung by Rufus Wainwright, from---? I can't track down which album this one comes from, but I love it. Those two songs, played over and over again, have pretty much gotten me through this morning.

Happy nearly-weekend, everybody!