Sandals dance at my feet

[austin_dern]

I spent quite a few hours in the office on the off chance someone would come see me during the Open House. They didn't, but I did get a grading key written, figured out the next assignment for another class, fixed a pesky exam, and got nearly caught up on e-mail. I'm forced to the slightly horrible conclusion I'm more productive on the weekends. I also noticed I already know what letter grades my students are getting, the advantage of small classes. So why bother with the assignments from here on in?

It's customary here to take one's shoes off on entering a house or apartment. Since it's never gotten below 67 Fahrenheit pretty much everyone wears sandals anyway, so a row of sandals outside front doors are normal. Some people take them off by office doors. Still I was thrown to see that sitting by themselves on a thin, sidewalk-like patio around the fourth floor of the class building across the street, was someone's pair. They weren't by the entrance, nor near any office particularly; they were just left there. All afternoon. I'll have to look for them Monday.

The walkways surrounding the older buildings are a bit of a mystery; the only good use I imagine is to clean the outside windows. It still, after years here, startles me during class when someone walks past the 5th floor window. There's something Chuck Jones about the sight. (``A janitor! Up here?!'')

Trivia: The Franklin Gothic typeface was named in 1902 after Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the first in North America to manufacture type. Source: Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Walter Isaacson.

Currently Reading: Pluto and Charon: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System, Alan Stern and Jacqueline Mitton.