Sunday, January 01, 2012

So Resolved

There's a been, for me at least, a flurry of posts these past few days, and for this new year, my first resolution is to either post or close up shop. For reasons that will either become quite clear or remain a complete mystery (depending on the course I take) there's a lot cooking, and this space will either fit perfectly, or be singularly unsuited. We'll see.

The other resolutions are less about the new year, and more about the new sabbatical, a one-semester research break I've got for the spring semester. We'll see how I do with that one, especially since I've agreed (foolishly, perhaps, but still) to retain some major service commitments through the spring ( a large search committee, the College curriculum committee, and PhD job placement director).

Still, I'm resolving to set weekly goals, at least through April, and perhaps through August, that look like this:

Each week, I will:
  • Accomplish one major writing goal (appropriate to the writing project at hand)
  • Accomplish one project around the house
  • Exercise three times
  • Post at least once to the blog

Not too overwhelming, I don't think, but given what I already have written and in process, I hope to end my sabbatical with four articles and some progress toward the next book project. Depending on what happens for the summer and beyond, I hope to finish that book by the end of summer 2013 (fingers crossed).

About this space: Now that I am more secure in my academic position, this blog might shift in tone a bit; for what audience, I'm not sure I know. But among the new things this year, I am likely to take on something of a leadership role in the church of which I am a member, and so it's possible that I may take a break to ruminate on matters metaphysical, about which I'm sure I have very little original to say. But we'll see. Onward to 2012!

1 comment:

Nels P. Highberg said...

Sounds great! My goals for the spring sabbatical are much like yours. One I also added is that I am not allowed to think about teaching until May. Otherwise, I'll just read books about teaching or that I want to teach and not get any scholarship done. And since I'm on a 3/3 load, I plan to spend May working on one class for the fall, June working on another, and July working on the third.

If you ever want to share work by email or Skype over the spring, let me know.