Spring Break: What I'm reading

OK, so in the week-plus of silence, I have neglected to blog an excellent St. Patrick's Day party with actual Irish folks (including some drunken folk songs, corned beef dinner, and a big ol' Irish breakfast). I have also omitted material on a visit from my mother, who is doing much much better (thanks for the kind wishes). I have not blogged about the conference or the plenary within it, and I have not written on the major overhaul stuff going on in the department. I haven't talked about my itchy anticipation of more sunshine and nicer weather, or the yard work that I actually seem to want to do (or at least have done). I haven't talked much about the way that next semester is shaping up so nicely (despite the load of work I'll have), nor about the trouble I am having teaching the material closest to my research.

But it's Spring Break, and if you wanna hear about any of those things above, just ask. I might pick one or two of them to post about in the next days anyway.

Instead, I'm going to talk about what I'm reading on my Spring Break. because it seems that this is what Spring breaks are supposed to be for.

• I'm reading blogs: catching up on material from around teh intertubes that I've gotten behind on. I'm even managing to comment occasionally, though I hope to do more of that.
• In one bathroom, I'm reading back issues of the New Yorker. Loved the Erdrich story from January, and am about to start the Alice Munro story from early Feb. Why is it that I'm always two months behind on the New Yorker, but polish off Entertainment Weekly within hours of its arrival? Don't answer that.
• In the other bathroom, I'm poking my way through Chuck Klosterman's Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, which is funny and light, and perfect for digesting in one-paragraph bites. He's such a guy though, which I always find a little off-putting.
• By the bedside, I'm reading Angela Carter's The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman, which features prominently in a dissertation I'll be reading. I really really like Carter. Really. I'm just trying to figure out which Carter I'll be teaching next semester in the 200-level contemporary lit course. Probably just some stories from The Bloody Chamber, but I want to teach more! More!!!
• Quizzes from the survey (so far purely speculative--I've so far read none of them, though they are mere inches from my left hand).
• Response papers from the grad class. Ditto on the speculation.
  
• On the coffee table: Doug Wright's I am my Own Wife, which is on the grad syllabus for next week. I like this play a lot, and am excited to teach not only the play, but accompanying criticism from my blogfriend, Nels Highberg.
• A slew of articles and columns on college basketball on ESPN.com. Because I am not-so-secretly a bit of a sports geek, and we've done well in March here at BRU. Plus the undergrad alma mater got to dance for the first time. So that was nice.
• Maybe, but probably not, some further research for the plenary-talk-that-will-become-an-article.
  

OK, so I shall quit boring you with such details, but that's what's