Well, I've been sitting in the sunroom all evening. It's been a funny day, weather-wise; it's very humid but the temperature is in a range that makes the humidity downright pleasant. A few degrees warmer, and it'd be unbearably hot. A few degrees cooler, and the chill would penetrate right to the bone.

But it's not too hot or too cold; it's perfect. There's been a light rain falling all evening, accompanied by a breeze that makes the trees sing. It's so pleasant that I've set up the cot and pulled out my sleeping bag; this will be the closest I've come to camping since PALM.

It's been a busy week, followed by a busy couple of days. I managed to get all the FYComp papers responded to by class on Thursday, an effort that meant that I got about five hours of sleep on Wednesday night. (But I had to get them done; they're coming up on their second paper and I had to put the fear of god into them . . . ) Thursday was a wash, and Thursday night was useless - and then, because I hadn't gone to a mandatory meeting on Wednesday (I couldn't spare the two hours), I had to attend the Friday version, which began at 8 am. So I had to leave home at 6:30 am. Which is not a number I associate with the am.

Still, it worked out: Em came with me, and afterwards we had a nice lunch with Stephanie, in from England (but gone now). We've seen her three times this year! What a luxury!! And who knows when we'll see her again . . . I sure hope Emma doesn't take it into her head to live overseas . . . On the one hand, I applaud the notion, but on the other, I think of her AP English teacher, who went to Em's high school, and who lives on our block, and whose parents live two streets over . . . What's wrong with that??? One of the nice things about Ann Arbor, actually, is the number of people who grew up here, went away for a time, and then came back. It's a small town, but it has big ideas and big horizons . . . (Steph, that's just the Mother in Me talking . . . of course you [and Em] must do what you have to do . . . Kahlil Gibran, sap that he was, had it right: "Your children are not your children.")

Then I went to the keynote for the plagiarism conference, delivered by Lawrence Lessig. Pretty good stuff; he was basically arguing that ordinary types like teachers need to get involved in the Copyright Brouhaha. Personally, I think that there's an even chance that copyright will become extinct as people license their work with Creative Commons licenses (Lawrence's brainchild). Popular culture will cease to be defined by Disney and come to be defined by ordinary citizens + social software. More to say on that, no doubt . . . Ask me questions if you want more thoughts . . .

Nice dinner with Margaret afterwards, then home. Then the next day I spent the day cleaning in anticipation of Margaret's visit in the evening, which was wonderful. I really like her! Inkshed creates amazingly strong bonds between people, I've learned on more than one occasion . . . She said I needed to find a reason to come to Toronto, and so I'm looking for a reason that coincides with my spring break. I'm sure I'll find one . . .

And today has been relaxation in a clean house. I've done a mountain of laundry; I decided to be generous and do the kids' laundry (at 18 and 16 they can bloody well do their own, but of course, they don't; they just do what they want to wear tomorrow, which results in residual piles of incredibly smelly socks). (Crikey! How did I get kids so old???) I've done some reading, and done some coursework, and am about to tuck it in amid the rustle of the leaves in the trees, the crickets, and hopefully a thunderstorm or two . . .