killin' (trees) in the name of...

I pulled out one of my little blank Moleskine notebooks, and started a to-do file for myself this morning. Given that this is my last day in the city before classes start, I want to make sure I get all my nitpicky tasks straightened out before Monday. Anyway, I quickly filled the page with things-to-do, and nearly every entry begins with the word "print" or "copy". Clearly, although I've gone all-digital in terms of my personal documents and research, I haven't figured out how to conduct a class the same way.

I'll be ready for the first day, but just *barely*. The class I wanted to have a whole semester's worth of reading guides done for? Half done. The new course that requires me to basically "GM" a historical role-playing game? I have quickly skimmed the instructor's guide. The course that should be my most important foundational science course, but instead is a last-minute after-thought every year? I just tweaked the syllabus as a last-minute after-thought.

The thing is - I have a couple of courses that could be REALLY GOOD this semester. That is, if I wasn't also teaching two OTHER courses, mentoring 3 senior research projects, doing consulting work, and being distracted by the siren song of the sabbatical on the horizon. Oh, also, there is a chance I could be chairing one of the most important committees at the college.

If I can stay ahead of it all, it could be a decent semester. If not, it could be a fucking nightmare.

Place your bets, kids...