I wish I could go back to bed and just sleep through today. I’m just tired today, but thankfully, tomorrow will be a working from home Friday, and I can sleep late if I want. However, today, I have work that needs to be done, and there’s no rest for the weary. I wish I could be a cat and just sleep the day away like Isabella does. In this Isabella pic of the week, I’m getting the side eye from Isabella for disturbing her even though all I did was take a picture.
When I was growing up in Alabama, we didn’t have snow days. We were more likely to have hurricane days. Today, we are expecting 3-5” of snow. That’s not enough snow to cause a snow day at work. In fact, where I work rarely ever has snow days. I think twice in the last nine years have we had a delayed start, but never the full day. Since I’ve moved further away from work, I have had to take a few “work from home” snow days because there was too much snow to get to work. Today will not be one of those days. It hasn’t snowed enough so far to make it difficult to get to work. Yesterday had more of a chance in at least making me late for work because we were expecting snow squalls and whiteout conditions around the time of my commute to work, but it never materialized where I was. There was just some light snow on the way to work. So, today, I’ll be heading to work as usual. Besides, I have things I need to do at work today, so it’s off to work I go.
It’s Friday, and I’m back on my regular schedule of working from home today. It is so nice to be able to log into my work computer with my cup of tea in hand, in sweats and a t-shirt, knowing the weekend is just around the corner, and I don’t have to get out in the cold this morning. Working from home is more than just a shift in location, it’s a chance to set the tone for a productive yet relaxed day. It’s easier to focus without the buzz of the office, and the flexibility means I can finally tackle the laundry piling up. Mostly though, I will spend the day preparing for next week’s classes. I’m just glad I can do it while being more relaxed from home.
I feel bad for all the government workers out there who have lost the privilege of working from home. In this first week, the new administration in Washington has already begun to dismantle America, whether it’s revoking job offers and laying off all government employees who have worked less than a year to allowing ICE agents to invade schools to take away students. In the United States, don’t kids have enough to worry about with school shootings and not feeling safe in school, but now worrying that armed agents of the government are going to burst into classrooms and drag them away?
You haven’t heard much about the new administration on this blog because I find it so disheartening and depressing. It’s not like there isn’t a lack of things to say. Since a fascist oligarchy has assumed office on January 20, the new administration has enacted several policies that have raised concerns about the erosion of human rights and democratic principles:
Each of these actions have been widely criticized by human rights organizations and advocacy groups as undermining civil liberties and democratic norms. Legal challenges are anticipated as stakeholders seek to uphold protections against discrimination and preserve democratic principles. My fear is that with the current makeup of the Supreme Court, these policies will be upheld no matter how blatantly unconstitutional and undemocratic they are.
I wish I could stay home this morning, but I have a few things I need to be at the museum to do. If I had my work computer here, I’d call in sick. I left at lunch yesterday because I had a migraine. This morning, it’s not much better, in fact it’s not better at all. I may only go in for a partial day. I need my work computer to do much of what I need to do today. I have a school group coming today, but my boss could handle that. However, I need my computer for the rest of what’s on my agenda. I have some emails to answer; I need to prepare for my classes next week; and I need my computer to be able to work from home tomorrow. I could do all that at home on my personal laptop, but it only has Microsoft Word, not the rest of the Office Suite. I could access it through the online Microsoft 365, but I hate using Office through my browser. It always feels clumsy to me. Anyway, I’ll go in today for whatever length I need to, then, I’ll work from home tomorrow.
Here’s your Isabella pic of the week:
I’d rather be doing this today: laying on my couch with Isabella on my hip. I wish she’d lay in my lap or down my chest and stomach, which she’ll do on rare occasions, but her preference is my hip with me laying on my side. Sometimes, this is how I fall asleep at night, with her on my hip.
I don’t have much to say today. Yesterday was a long and busy day at work, and I came home, plopped down on my couch, and felt like I just melted into the cushions. Part of it was the cold outside and the warmth in my apartment helped to make me relax. It’s even colder today. Currently, it’s -4 degrees. I dread leaving my apartment today. I wish I could just go back to bed, but I can’t really do that. I have a list of things to do at work today, but I will be happy to get back home and just relax with a book for the evening.
On this very cold January 20th (It’s currently 6º F and it will drop to -4º by midnight tonight.), we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, honoring the legacy of a man whose fight for justice, equality, and love transformed the world. While Dr. King’s work focused on the Civil Rights Movement and dismantling systemic racism, his message of universal dignity resonates deeply within the LGBTQ+ community.
Dr. King believed in the interconnectedness of all struggles for equality, famously stating, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” His words remind us that the fight for LGBTQ+ rights is part of a broader movement for human rights and liberation.
Throughout history, LGBTQ+ activists have drawn inspiration from Dr. King’s nonviolent approach and his unwavering hope for a more just society. Bayard Rustin, one of King’s closest advisors and the chief architect of the 1963 March on Washington, was a gay man who lived his truth despite societal discrimination. Rustin’s vital contributions to the Civil Rights Movement show the shared stakes between racial and LGBTQ+ justice.
On this day, we reflect on how Dr. King’s dream challenges us to continue the work of building a world where everyone is free to love, live, and be their authentic selves. His legacy urges us to fight against hate and discrimination in all its forms and to envision a future rooted in compassion and equality.
As LGBTQ+ individuals and allies, celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a reminder of the power of solidarity, courage, and the belief that love truly conquers all. Together, we honor his dream by continuing to create a world where everyone can thrive.
It’s Friday morning. Isabella started trying to wake me at 4:30 am, but I held her off until 5 am. Instead of bounding out of bed with the usual determination, I found myself wanting to hit snooze, or at least going back to bed after feeding Isabella, but I know I can’t. Isabella is not a patient cat, few cats are, and I have to get ready for work. Fridays have a funny way of testing my work ethic, whether it’s when I’m working from home and know I can work at my own pace, even taking a nap if I want, or having to go to the museum for work like today. I’m very ready for the weekend, but there’s still a to-do list staring back at me. I have next week’s class to prepare for, a class to teach for another professor this afternoon, and a physical therapy appointment this afternoon. So, I’ll hop in the shower, get dressed and head out the door. I just don’t want to do so. At least, the weekend is very near.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! We just need to get through Friday first.
I have an appointment on Friday, so I switched my work from home day to today. I like having the longer weekend at home, but I can focus most of my day on preparing for my class tomorrow. My class is a 75 minute class, and if I had given the full lecture I had planned, it would have been about a 90 minute lecture. I had to hurry through one part of it, but I had purposely put it at the end of the lecture so that I could skip it if necessary. Several of my students have remarked about how they are enjoying the class. They said they knew it would be an art history class, but they found it interesting that it was also a class about travel. I hope they continue to feel that way at the end of the semester. This class is a lot of extra work, but so far, I am enjoying it. I’m glad that I have today working from home so I can work on it without any interruptions. It also means that if I want to take a nap after lunch, I can.
It was very difficult to wake up and get out of bed this morning. It’s mornings like this that make me thankful that Isabella is so insistent about being fed early in the morning. If she had not been telling me to get up, I might still be asleep. I’m not exactly sure why I have been experiencing so much fatigue the last several days, but I felt exhausted on Saturday, and yesterday, I took a nap that lasted a good part of the afternoon. Hopefully, I can become more awake and have a productive day at work because I have a lot I need to do and much of that is preparing for class tomorrow. However, I wish I could just go back to bed.
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Joe
The Closet Professor 