What’s Up, Thursday?

Because we’ve had a bunch of pre-scheduled posts in a row, I wanted to do a quick “currently” post yesterday (The title “What’s Up, Wednesday?” just sounds SO MUCH BETTER), but I kiiiinnnndddd of let yesterday get away from me.

It all started when I started trying to find the text of the eyewitness testimony by John S. Smith about the Sand Creek Massacre to share with my students. Then before I realized it was happening, I found myself in the middle of a four hour primary document bender.

Historian problems. Psh.

But anyway, better late than never, I guess.

Currently I’m…

…working on: some book reviews for on here. It’s astounding how out of practice at that kind of writing I am, and how hard it is for me to even begin to sum up my opinions on a book without getting all history-teachery and finding myself doing EXTRA research instead of just telling you what I thought about the damned thing.

…listening to: Irish Music. Valentine’s Day is over, so it’s officially time to get into St. Paddy’s Day Parade Mode. (St. Paddy’s Day is uhhhh… kind of a big deal in the NEPA region. The nearby city of Scranton hosts one of the largest in the country, actually.) Even though I think I’ve finally reached that threshold of adulthood where I won’t be participating in “Parade Day” – all our friends who used to host parties have either moved into quiet neighborhoods or out of the city entirely – it’s still an exciting time. Mainly because I LOVE Irish music. I don’t know why. I don’t even have a SPECK of Irish in me. I just love it – there’s such joy, and pain, and a complicated relationship to a difficult history contained within so many of these songs. I can’t get enough.

…watching: Parks and Recreation. Jim and I started this a couple weeks ago, and I’m in love. Leslie Knope is everything I could possibly want in a female lead. She’s strong, she’s determined, she’s smart, but she’s also not perfect – she’s nerdy, and goofy, and can be awkward, and basically I just love her. It’s killing me that we promised each other not to watch it unless we’re together (so that one of us doesn’t get ahead of the other), because I seriously can’t wait to see each new episode.

…feeling: numb. Literally numb. I just got back from a trip to the dentist to have several cavities filled, and I can’t feel half of my face. Ugh. And I have to go back next week to get one more taken care of. Moral of the story? Not having dental insurance really shouldn’t have stopped me from going to the dentist, because it only made it worse once I finally went back. Ugh. And I’m so hungry too…

…obsessing over: Disney Tsum Tsums. Oh. My. God. They’re seriously the cutest things I’ve seen in yearrssss. It started when I found the mobile app, which is a dangerously addictive game… but when I found out that these little adorable balls of Disney love were REAL THINGS?? Oh god. It’s supremely lucky that I found them when I did, because my bank account is still shockingly empty from the holidays, so I can’t get out of hand collecting them. Jim ended up getting me my favorite one for Valentine’s Day (see above – isn’t he cute???), but I can’t buy any more. I can’t, or else this would end up as a problem VERY quickly.

…reading: Letters to Jackie – Condolences from a Grieving Nation. It is exactly as harrowing to read as I thought it would be. But so good. The most touching are the letters from children, and from people who actually very much disliked Kennedy and his policies, but still mourned along with the nation anyway.

What have you all been up to?