Day 35 - LA County enters yellow tier
I finished this book today…
6/6/21. Sunday
10:30-11:00 - I’m up around 6:00, then 8:00, then 9:30 and I finally get out of bed around 10:30. I go downstairs to greet the animal, but she’s already awake and waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, wagging her tail. She jumps on the couch and rolls over on her back so I can rub her tummy three times, then she grabs her toy and we go outside. She chases some birds, then finally goes potty. Return inside and coffee for me; pepper-jack cheese for her. Kitchen duty and I go upstairs.
11:00-1:00 – I read All that You’ve Left Behind
2:00-3:00 – I microwave some fish and rice that I froze 6 months ago and finish All That You’ve Left Behind.
This is an excellent memoir, written by David Carr’s – the great David Carr – daughter, Erin, after his sudden death. I read Carr’s memoir, The Night of the Gun, several years ago and have followed his journalism career. Now, his daughter is following in his footsteps, although her true craft is making documentaries. The memoir is a discussion of Carr from Erin’s perspective and, although a mostly loving father, he could be quite harsh and cutting. For example, he and Erin’s step-mom, Jill, believe in financially cutting off your children at age 18. They refused to help Erin when she had just graduated from college and was a struggling intern in New York, making almost nothing.
The family dynamic is made more complicated when Jill and Carr have a child of their own, Maddie, whom Carr seems to love more than Erin and her twin sister, Meagan. After Carr’s death, Jill removes the keys to the New Jersey family home from Erin and Megan, while still allowing Maddie to keep hers. This is in light of the fact that Jill has raised Erin and Megan since they were 10 and has been in their lives for the past 20 years.
Erin is an excellent writer in her own right. Highly recommend.
3:00 – 6:30 – I prep the garage and resume painting. The other side of the soffit still needs to be painted and I need to do a second coat on the entire right side of the garage, where L.’s art studio will eventually go. Hopefully, she can paint some sort of mural or other design on this wall to add interest – it’s similar to a large canvas. I listen to Southern Fried Crime, The Cost of Care, and No One is Coming to Save Us.
6:30-7:30 – L. has a homework assignment for her watercolor class and needs to take pictures of some of the homes around our neighborhood. She asks if I want to walk around the lake with her and scout out photo ops. I break from painting and we take the dog. L. gets some good shots.
7:30-10:30 – Resume painting. I listen to Case File and The Fall Line.
At 10:30, I finish. There is a small space that runs the length of the garage door that still needs to be painted. Once this is completed, I’m done.
10:30-11:00 – I read a Money Diary, before transitioning into my workout, and eat a few apple slices and almond butter. I’m going to pay for this weight-wise – it’s too late at night to be eating – but I need to eat something so I can get through this workout.
11:00-12:00 – I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I’ve started Part II of the Insanity franchise so this one is titled Insanity – Cardio Max. I have a hard time keeping up and have to take several breaks. The athletes in the video are also pausing, but I feel I should be better than this. I’ve been doing regular Insanity workouts for three months – why is Insanity Max kicking my ass?
12:00-1:00 – Recover. I have a glass of champagne and work on blog posts
1:00-2:30 – I get started on my last French Cinema assignment. It’s a paper on the differences between French and American cinema. Could the prompt be anymore vague? I’ve had ‘writers block’ on this assignment for some time now, but I’m able to get one page down. I check email at College No. 2 and respond to a few students.
I check the Review Snap website and see that my evaluation is posted. It’s on the short side, but that’s okay. My evaluator says nice things about me, assigns me a “Satisfactory” rating, which is what I needed in order to continue teaching, and gives my Dean the green light to renew my contract [every semester] until 2023, when I’ll be re-evaluated again. I hit the button acknowledging I’m in receipt of my evaluation and this 12/16 week nightmare [it actually wasn’t that bad] has ended. I’m done.
2:30-3:30 – Nighttime routine. I listen to The Daily.