Granted, I co-taught an intensive 4-day class over Spring Break last week, which required more planning than I had anticipated (teaching always does) but how have 3 weeks gone by since my last academic conference and now my next one is in two weeks?

This Vampire Weekend song is what I’ve been using to try to relax lately.  I’m not even a huge New York booster, but I find this song lovely and evocative.  It’s fun once you realize that the song is about the act of making music — the main hook, the title, and a bunch of other references are about other songs and musicians that have influenced the band.  I love the line, “Maybe she’s gone and I can’t resurrect her.  The truth is she doesn’t need me to protect her.”  For the Internet’s take on the references in the song, check out Rap Genius.

Also, not unexpectedly given I’ve been getting less exercise and haven’t been tracking my foods, my weight has plateaued and is possibly creeping back up a bit.  I’ve set my Loseit App to send me meal tracking reminders, so we’ll see if that helps.  I was 181.4 this morning, and have been mostly in the 181-183 range the past few weeks.  I’m trying to get over the artificial nature of the BMI scale and to not discount the progress I’ve already made.  If I do make it to 170, it will be the thinnest I’ve ever been at my adult height and within the “normal” BMI range — and guess what, I still won’t be “thin” by any conventional standard.  But is “thin” really the goal?  Not so much.  So why does it even bother me that at best I’ll be a size 10/12 and still “big” even after losing over 30 lbs?  (An aside, I went to go buy work shirts last weekend and ended up getting a size 10/12 at Coldwater Creek.  Hurray for women’s sizing.)