It looks like the last time I wrote anything on here was June 25th, at the very early end of my travels. Hoo boy, what a month and a half it has been. I don't know if I'm up to writing a travelogue or not. I'm probably more inclined at this point to just start writing about what is going on currently, and maybe later, I'll want to write about my travels.
Current events include getting adjusted to my apartment life again in Los Angeles, cleaning, squaring away all the camping gear, getting groceries for the first time in weeks and cooking an actual dinner tonight, and generally trying to get some ground under my feet for the beginning of the school year, which starts with teacher meetings on Monday. I had the very odd experience this morning of waking up at 7 a.m., saying to myself, "I could use a little more sleep," and then passing out until 11. I haven't slept until 11 in years and years, really. I was incredibly surprised when I checked the time. It felt surreal. The whole day has felt dreamlike and weird, as a result.
I am concerned about the surge in COVID cases and wish our faculty meetings were remote, and actually wish our teaching were going to start out remote or hybrid, but it looks like it's full speed ahead, at least for now.
I ate a lot of sugary things while traveling, as I often do. I'm currently going through sugar withdrawal, as I try to reduce my carbs again. I gained a lot of body fat over the summer. It'll be good to get back on a regular workout schedule.
I was prioritizing for the coming year (when you are in a school job, the most logical "new year" is really August/September, as your whole life begins and ends around that academic cycle) and have the top three: Recovery/mental health' fitness/physical health (including some long postponed medical and dental things); relationship health. Those are the priorities. Not in that order necessarily, and of course they are intertwined. I have to check out AA and CoDA meetings and set up at least two or three a week that can be regular meetings. I do have a few days each week where there are odd time gaps in my teaching schedule, so maybe somewhere in the Wilshire neighborhood around the school there might be some noon meetings.
Meanwhile it feels to me like the country is just as insane as ever. I can't get over the general, palpable feeling of some kind of doom and chaos that seems to be in the air. It seems like the American habit of deep denial is the best we have been able to muster after an attempted coup and an oligarchical concentration of power. The oligarchy refuses to deal out any significant consequences, and the cult has been emboldened.
It's making ordinary life seem ridiculous, actually. Hard to explain. But there's a weird sense of futility. I am thoroughly unmotivated for the start of the school year, which is highly problematic, since it's just around the corner.
❤️