Nicole Peeler

Odds and Ends . . .

First of all, I’d like to say congratulations to Wolfgang Hinck, who won the whole shebang in the Prof. of the Year.  I’m really chuffed for him and jealous of his heavy, heavy award.  It was, quite honestly, the heaviest award I’ve ever had to muscle.  Congrats, Wolfgang!

After the awards, I was speaking to another first-year colleague who was also nominated, and we both felt so honored to have been in the top 20 this, our first, year at LSUS.  But it was strange, at the same time, because people kept coming up to congratulate us and talk to us about how, as new professors, we’re the fresh blood the school needs, etc.  Which is such a dangerous compliment, if you think about it.  After all, the whole nature of being new is that you get old very quickly.  This was my very first year teaching as a “real” prof, and I’ll never get it back.  I’ll never by really new again.  And I will be a boring old professor in her second year, next year.  So the trick, I’ve come to realize, is not to be satisfied with being new and shiny.  The trick is to maintain my enthusiasm for teaching and maintain my interest in my students.

But I also realized how quickly this term is ending (only two weeks left!) which means Summer is Afoot, and mama don’t have to teach no summer school.

Can I tell you how excited I am for my summer vacay?  First of all, I get to be a Real Writer again, which is good because I’m apparently not very good at balancing my two identities.  

Secondly, I’ve got a friend coming in from London.  I’m picking her up in Dallas, where we have been invited for dinner and Rock Band with the Rockingest Rockstar EVAH, Dakota Cassidy.  and then we’re going to NOLA after hanging here in Shreveport, a bit.  Then we’re driving to Chicago, via Graceland, where we’ll hang with my peeps.  And then, NYC, baby.  I’ve gotta wedge in a trip to Boston, at some point, to see my dear friends and my surrogate family.  And I also really want to go to Seattle, as my good friends are spending the summer there and it’s Very Tempting to visit.  Oh, and I really want to go to Maine.  And . . . . . . . .

Traveling, apparently, is What I Do.  I roam, cause I want to.  What are you doing this summer?

8 thoughts on “Odds and Ends . . .”

  1. Jessica: That sounds fun! And there's nothing better than swimming and barbecue and BFFS! 🙂

    And yeah, being a teacher ROCKS for the summer. Rocks.

    Nancy: Sorry to hear you have to teach summer school! I'm so glad I don't, with the books. Good luck in May with the writing! 🙂

  2. This summer will be boring! No vacation for us, at least not a weeks worth.

    We’re planning a trip to Hershey Park. We try to got once a year. Other than that it’ll be barbecues at the house, swimming at the bff’s house, and chilling in the A/C!

    We’ll also be hosting my sister-in-law and her family for a week or so. They are teachers too and come up to stay with us every year. It’s good times.

    I wish I got the summer off. That’d be so awesome.

  3. I get the whole balancing act of teaching and writing–hard to do! Glad you don’t have summer school and can write and rest (although it sounds more like traveling than resting:)

    I have to teach this summer, but not until June. So May is writing month.

  5. Oh that sounds like a blast! I don't actually know if I'm teaching summer term or not this year. It's one of those deals where it's on the books but it might or might not make. Do you tend to find that all the time in academia conflicts with/hampers your fiction voice?

  6. Wendy: That sounds fun! I wouldn't mind hanging out in Monteray. 🙂 I hope it's great and your child enjoys the sleepaway camp!

    Kait: It's a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I have a kind of OCD personality that makes it hard for me to switch my academic and writer hats. So that is difficult. That said, it's also great to be around younger people and their language. My students are exceptionally colorful, to say the least, and I learn so much from them. I've been reading a series, which shall remain nameless, that I really enjoy and this is wonderful. The one thing that does sort of jar with me in the series, however, is the slang is soooooo bad. It's super old-fashioned. It's not a big deal, at all, but I'm hoping it's something contact with my students will help me avoid. Anyway, that ended up being a long response. 🙂

  7. Thom: I need to start putting together my summer schedule. But Seattle is high on the list . . .

    And I am a very entertaining tippler, to say the least. 😉

  8. Nicole, you have to come to Seattle for a summer visit. You can hang out with your fellow UF authors.

    Also, it would be fun to watch you get drunk 🙂

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