And, we're off...

The last day of the 5th week. Dennis just took off for Houston to begin the spring semester at UH; I'm officially finished with vacation. I've got my spring schedule, my books, have had a look at old syllabi for the courses I'm signed up for (new ones not online yet), and I had a chat with Phil, the chair of my committee yesterday about entering the next phase of Ph.D. study, as I'll finish my coursework with a single class in the fall, a statistical methods course. So, I am excited about where I'm at, a little anxious about getting through another steamroller of a semester, especially with the outside commitments I have made:

1. OGC's System-wide eres/Bb analysis and recommendations


2. UT Austin's eres/Bb analysis and recommendations


3. UMUC's CIP workshop at the end of this month


4. UMUC's CIP paper to finish (Mass Digitization)


5. UMUC's spring conference


6. NYC Bridgeman symposium


7. CAA's Dallas conference


8. Theater Library Assn's Board of Directors' meeting in February


9. Texas Conference on Digital Libraries in June


10. Google's Book Search Library Partner's meeting in Boston in May
    

What on earth am I thinking? I can't possibly do all that, oh, I forgot about...

1. Phil's class, copyright talk on Eldred v. Ashcroft in January


2. Phil's class, copyright talk on licensing in April
   

I should be just taken out and shot. I'm insane. I am going to be so stressed out by the time this semester is over that I'll want to quit school, but actually, the classes part will be almost over, so maybe I will survive it all. Of course I will. It just seems crazy, but it's really not. I just have to completely ignore every other aspect of my life but school and copyright for the next 5 months. I can do that. I've done it before.

And that brings me to my New Year's resolution, and the photo above (found at Burningbird). I decided to learn, really learn, how to balance things this year. This will be the year. After May. I know that the secret to balance is not committing to things that require that everything else be given up to accomplish them, and of course, I've already over-committed for the spring. In the past it was always work that took too much of the days, but that seemed unavoidable. Perhaps I'm just thinking that once I have finished coursework, I have at least a chance to commit more reasonably. At least it's possible. Maybe it won't be hard when it's possible at all. Maybe that's all that it ever was, was impossible. We'll see, starting with what I sign up for for fall, what I do with my hours at work, what I commit to in moving my Ph.D. program forward.

So, I am adding one more thing to the list: a weekend Tai Chi workshop at The Crossings, taught by Heloise Gold. Next weekend (not this one, but the one after). A luxurious indulgence, but I expect it to set me up with a nice do-able Tai Chi routine for the year. Balance in all its aspects: physical, mental, emotional, psychological, spiritual. I know, too much to ask for...