So now that we’re nearing the end of the semester — well, actually, the semester has already ended for those of you teaching or talking classes — I’m starting to wonder why it’s been almost three months since I’ve made an entry in this darn thing. Clearly, life has gotten in the way. In some senses, I’ve been doing the things that I should be doing….
In the course of the last few months I’ve been hard at work at a job I love (can’t stress that last part enough). The ongoing projects are coming along nicely (Historical Thinking Matters), the older ones are wrapping up (Women in World History), and there are exciting new ones coming soon (check this space soon for news about The Object of History).
The journey from dissertation to manuscript is coming along — at least on the hardcopy version with all of the pencil scribbles on it. This has been a challenge for me. Simply making time to pay attention to my own work is always hard in the face of the mounds of work that I have to do for other people. But, the revision process has been a good one. I feel much better about the whole project than I did when I put it in the can a little over a year and a half ago. I tend to think that while I would have been better off procrastinating less, the manuscript has definitely benefited from the distance. We’ll see if the folks at UChicago and the anonymous readers feel the same.
In the midst of all this, there’s been little time for art or music or photography. And that’s a shame, because I generally think that paying attention to those cultural issues helps my writing immensely. During this time, I have seen one truly wonderful exhibit–twice–, and I’m still not sure I know how to write about it. Sean Scully’s Wall of Light show at the Phillips Collections is one of the most emotional and evocative shows I’ve seen in years. The color fields seem to exude warmth, and the underlying shades provide unexpected surprises. There is a softness about his work that makes it hard to turn away. In this sense, the Scully exhibit is the perfect show for the end of a long semester; it just lets your mind absorb it–no processing, just luminous warmth.
Visit before it’s gone. Return to your family and friends soothed and refreshed.