Babies and a buddy

Been busy, busy, busy -- and thus, no recent blog entries. I have a few "on hold" 'til I take some corresponding digital pics -- which hasn't happened. (This includes the nifty gifties from Tara: apologies for the delay in my public grattitude...!)

My new job is pretty swell. I've taught a fair number of times across two different universities, but this time around I'm feeling disoriented and uncertain. At all the other places, you're given a 3-4 sentence summary of the course, and it's up to you to select the readings, work up the week-by-week schedule of topics, and such. Thus, a fair amount of start-up costs **if** you've never taught it before. But if you have, you just plug in the stuff you've done before, and it's not a problem.

Here, it's the opposite: the courses are heavily pre-structured. The lectures are mostly pre-written; the readings are pre-selected; and etc. BUT -- it means that you have to figure out someone else's angle, catch up on the readings (which may be as unfamiliar to yourself as they are to your students), and generally figure out what someone else did the last time around. Plus, this university is far more "centralized" than what I'm used to.


On the plus side: I'm really getting along well with my co-workers. In all the other places I've worked since moving to Brisbane, I've had co-workers that are nice enough -- but no one I'd want to hang out with after work. One guy, however -- mapping guy -- and I share a fair number of personality quirks. For example, today I found out that he keeps a running list of things that would make a good band name or album title...

Unfortunately, he doesn't really play a musical instrument. So I guess he's not **perfect**.


Anyhow, I'm a bit tired. Eeach of the twin boys -- once each per kid -- decided to wake up in the middle of the night and cry uncontrollably and for no apparent reason). So, I was wandering around the house in the wee hours, trying to soothe him -- eventually falling asleep in the spare bedroom with a baby on my chest (took them out of our bedroom so as to let my wife
sleep). First one kid -- and then, a few hours later, same thing but with the other kid.

On the plus side: they're starting to do the whole "eye contact" thing, which brings them from the realm of "things" into "real people".


--GG