I’m at cornell for a workshop. Classes for me ended last Friday, though a great deal of writing remains. And I haven’t been able to get into that groove yet. In part, it’s been that a number of things popped up at the OPL that I felt I needed to give my attention to. But it’s also that I feel like I need to revisit a lot of texts before I can really start. That said, I really don’t have enough time to do that. So, in the Nike sense, I just have to do it… or rather write it.
As the title suggests, a lot of my time is being spent trying to balance my life in Ithaca and my life in Rochester. The core of this balancing act is layed out at the top of every page of this site:
PhD Student at Cornell, Researcher at RIT
Add to that husband and pet guardian, and there’s a lot to manage. And difficult decisions to make. I feel like a major ongoing life lesson that I am learning is how to say “no” to things (admittedly, its not going so hot right now). Its also leading to some tough decisions.
Up until this week, I’d be back and forth between Rochester and Ithaca, coming down for class on Monday morning, staying until afterclass on Tuesday night, returning to Rochester and working Wednesdays at RIT, travelling back to Ithaca on Thursday morning, and coming back to Rochester on Friday night. It amounted to eight hours of driving a week.
Last week, Dre and I came to the really tough decision that the commute was unsustainable. I was falling behind in my work at Cornell and bringing home way too much work on the weekend. So we made the tough decision that I’d stay in Ithaca from Monday afternoon (Monday mornings are spent at RIT) to Friday. This is the first week that I’m on the new schedule.
In many ways its good. I have more time to work and I’m rapidly getting caught up on work. By my heart is in Rochester and I miss Dre so much. These are going to be a long two years.
2 months rent down the drain, but the car is running better than ever!
I’m back in Ithaca at the Library and watching/taking part in a meeting on Social Advocacy that’s taking place in Ohio at the excellent Midtown Brews forum. After that its on to the Debate. All of this will be watched online — it’s a brave new world.