open doors

Today was a day of open doors. My building was full of them, leading--I knew--to colleagues I haven't seen since the departmental holiday party nearly a month ago. So I stuck my head in most all of them to say happy new year and to see how everyone is doing. I heard descriptive and woeful tales of traveling and staying here. It took one colleague THIRTY SIX hours to get back home from Los Angeles, and another regaled me with the most horrifying description of her spouse taking a nasty spill courtesy of the Christmas Eve ice storm WHILE they were waiting for the emergency 7.5K furnace replacement. We're talking staples in the head. Yikes. Got to see these colleagues too, which is always a treat. Everyone seems more rested and generally cheerier. That's because classes don't start for a couple weeks yet. 

I also had the pleasure of going to three libraries today--including our main university one (where I did a little research on ancient mirrors in the Classics library), and the two public libraries, which are just plain awesome. I am the first to request Stephen Berlin Johnson's new book about Joseph Priestley (thanks E!), but I am 78th on the list to receive Gladwell's book on Outliers. The irony is of course not lost on me.

Oh! Speaking of Priestley, word of an article acceptance arrived early this morning from London (the article is half about Priestley), as did a query (also from London) about whether I want to go to Morocco this spring. Yay and yes. Love it when those doors are open.