Early draft of my part of a panel proposal got done, and coordination of the “Defining Class” workshop is proceeding well, with some kind and enthusiastic feedback from folks who might participate, and some really helpful comments. In between these two conference-organizing activities, I think I’ve received and answered more e-mails in the past week than I’ve done all semester. For a shy person and an introvert like myself, that’s a pretty big deal, and takes some not inconsiderable psychic energy. Still, the weather’s improved — seventy degrees! — and it feels like things are moving forward.
My favorite part about owning the new boots from San Antonio is getting back into the regular rhythm of polishing them. Casual shoes don’t require as much care as boots, but the care that you give boots gets rewarded: I still have my twelve-year-old pair of basic training combat boots, and the leather has come to fit my feet absolutely perfectly. There’s something relaxing and almost zen-like about the physical movement of polishing a boot; of cleaning it with a lanolin-based lotion, then applying the Lincoln wax with a dauber, and brushing out the wax, buffing it with a soft, dry cloth, and finally taking it to a high gloss shine with just the tiniest bit of lotion on the cloth.
The boots were expensive, but I anticipate I’ll have them twenty years or more. That’s far better than any rubber-soled shoe I’ve ever owned.
Not much else to tell. I’ve been reading and enjoying Greider’s The Soul of Capitalism, but haven’t been taking notes. The dissertation still has that days between stations feel.
Recent Comments