I’m not done yet!

What I thought was my return to regular blogging in February turned out to be just a quick visit before I wandered off again. I thought I was ready, but the semester I just finished turned out to be a bit of a sleeper cell: innocent and calm, and then explosive. I had an odd schedule that turned out to be too fragmented to provide either a productive rhythm or any real respite from the work.

But As a Linguist was never far from my mind, and though I didn’t quite have the mental stamina to devote to teaching, studying and writing, I knew I would return in a more meaningful way as soon as the semester ended.

Lovely Lake George.

My work finally ended on Monday, 14 May. The next day, Buzz and I high-tailed it out of town and spent several days poking around upstate New York. Then I returned and started teaching my summer course on Monday, 21 May.

Now that it’s up and running, I want to turn my attention to reviving my poor neglected corner of the blogosphere. It’s time to shake things up a bit, so there will probably be some changes in the next few weeks. I’ll be working out a schedule that will help me stay creative and productive, both for As a Linguist and A Modern Day DinosaurAnd it may be time for some cosmetic changes at long last!

I’ve missed Blogland and am excited to get back in the game!

So, my question to you is, do you have any suggestions for changes or topics you’d like to see?

The dinosaur has gone live.

Last week, I hinted at a new project I was working on that would satisfy my desire to write about things that are not necessarily related to language or linguistics. I obviously have a lot to say about those subjects, and I don’t plan on giving them up, but I can’t ignore all the other ideas that swirl around my poor restless brain on a daily basis.

This morning, I posted the first real entry for my new blog, A Modern Day Dinosaur. Go check it out and tell me what you think!

The name of the new blog comes from the feeling that I have that I am somewhat at odds with much of mainstream society. I’ve long wondered why I always seem to be the last person on the block to get a new gadget or see the blockbuster movies. Sometimes I feel I’m missing out, but mostly I’m fine not being part of the vanguard of change. It lends me an objectivity, a different perspective on the behaviors and lifestyles I see everyone else participating in, and then I write to figure out what I’ve observed.

Now, I’m not saying that I have turned my back on society, gone completely au natural and am living as a hermit off the grid somewhere in the Badlands of South Dakota (as cool as it might be to live in a place known as ‘the Badlands’.) I love my computer and I use my iPod Nano on a regular basis. But it’s increasingly obvious to me that I’m not ever going to be waiting on line for the next version of the iPhone to be for sale, nor curl up on the couch to read for hours on a Kindle. I don’t even have or want a Kindle. I won’t say I’ll never have one, but I can guarantee I’ll be subjected to a lot of exclamations of, “WHAT? You don’t have a Kindle??” before I ever get one.

It’s okay, you can tease me if you want! I’m used to it.

The prodigal linguist returns.

Yes, I have been away for a long time.

No, I haven’t been gallivanting and blowing my inheritance on cheap booze, men, and gambling, though I do return repentant and ready to settle down and take on my responsibilities.

It appears that December and January are not good writing months for me. Semester adjustments are always time-consuming, but the winter transition is particularly thorny. After the insanity of final grades and holiday time has subsided, my brain shuts down. Because the winter interim between semesters is quite short, I barely have time to catch my breath before school starts again. Then the dust settles and I can start thinking clearly enough to resume writing. Continue reading