Not quite 6 months.

Warm day today even though no sun, though one can't complain about warmth in the absolute least.

Yesterday was sunny and my friend Mark and I ditched the library, where we've been all week, to go on a nice drive toward the Yorkshire Dales. We stopped and had coffee and scones with jam and cream at a little ruin called Barden Tower, then visited some caves (but didn't go in because of the fee) and then walked along a river and graveyard in a town named Grassington. We skipped stones on the river like little kids -- and the fresh air felt like heaven. Mark and I have gone on a few of these little adventures -- he always knows I'm up for exploring any little town anywhere anytime, because there are just some places you can't get to by train and there are just some places that wouldn't ever be explored otherwise. He knows a lot about the countryside and I learn a lot from him telling me what he knows. And he knows how much I love the sun -- it didn't take much convincing to get me to leave the library.

Starting last week, next week will be another hell week -- 2 essays due in Thursday and Friday and probably the hardest I've yet had to do. I've been at the 'brary all day today and will be for the next however many hours it takes me to get the work done. I'm drowning in books at the minute. I got about 2 weeks behind due to The Great Illness of 2009, so I'll also have to manage my schooltime around worktime during the weekdays that I need to make up to get back on schedule as far as April rent is concerned.

I'm going to start teaching weekly poetry reading workshops at the Peach and Pear (that little cafe in Hyde Park). I would have started 2 weeks ago, but had to cancel because of TGI 2009, and then last Wednesday when I tried to resume it, everyone forgot so it was just me and Mark. It'll grow, though, I have faith that it'll grow.

Consistent writing on the poetry front, though, surprisingly. I never did believe in "Writer's Block", but I did always think drier spells would come around more often than not -- and, not surprisingly, I've learned that "Productivity" is just as active. The Scribe is launching into editing process, something I'll take the handles on a lot more this semester because Mark, the editor, is working on a dissertation and asked for more of my help, which I'll give gladly (a much pleasanter option than schoolwork). I'm excited to see where this edition goes. Last issue was so beautiful that I can't help but imagine one just as nice and just as accomplished. Tuck journal-editing under my belt and enjoy the process.

But, library books and vitamin-D deficiencies and worn-out shoes and language translations and domestic concerns (laundry) aside, carrot soup or cous-cous for dinner is now my main concern.