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With their latest interface redesign, Facebook dished out a little explanation. Here’s my rewrite:

I got nothin’ against interface changes, and some of these are probably improvements. But too often I get the feeling that Facebook is just fiddling around. What happens if we put this here? Whee! And should a web site really need this much explanation?

Delicious is having database issues. Here’s one of the symptoms:

For the record, I don’t think I forgot my password; I think it was zorched by the database issues.

I hope this gets fixed soon; I have a new issue of Composition Forum to index…

This is what happens when you leave your MacBook outside in winter:

137 runs, 5d 0h 24m, 786.1 mi
51 bikes, 1d 7h 18m, 491.6 mi
7 swims, 0d 5h 09m, 6.7 mi

total 193 workouts, 6d 12h 52m, 1,284.5 mi

Here’s the data, and a sparkline (up = running, down = biking).

Though I fell short of these goals in a few ways, I’m happy that I:

• ran a great half-marathon;
• added mileage, with 360 miles more than last year;
• worked out 26 more times in 2009 than 2008;
• had only two weeks with fewer than three workouts, and 27 with more than three;
• suffered no injuries–the best part!

Obviously the weak spot here is swimming. Perhaps I’ll be able to swim more in 2010. Goals soon.

Another good year for my family and me:

• Jan: the Gators win their second football championship in three years, largely due to Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow.
• Feb: we celebrate, realizing Amelia’s sleeping isn’t a fluke. (And we are celebrating still!)
• Mar: we travel to Florida to see family; I enjoy a very productive CCCC.
• Apr: a quick trip to southern Illinois; my brother and his wife meet us for hiking with the girls. Rainy but fun.
• May: we travel to Florida again, seeing different family this time, and friends in Gainesville too.
• June: I get tenure and a raise, and present at MEA with Jeff and Thomas.
• July: we get a new roof and gutters. I present at WPA.
• July: the girls and I spend a long week in Michigan, enjoying beaches from Grand Haven to Traverse City.
• August: We finish our kitchen upgrades.
• September: I ran a personal best in the Quad Cities half-marathon: 1:49:17.
• October: Madelyn and Amelia turn four and one.
• November: WIU approves my request for AY2010-11 sabbatical, not long after my summer stipend is funded as well.
• December: Amelia starts walking! And I finish 2009 with travel to Philadelphia to present at MLA. (More on that soon.)

Once again, a great year, and 2010 looks even better.

As I’m writing my proposal for research at the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) archives in Worcester, MA, I’m compiling lists of relevant items in their collections. Here are some of the things American writers “made easy” before 1876:

• Related to writing: Elocution; Grammar; Logic; Penmanship; Rhetoric; and Spelling.
• Other academic subjects: Astrology; Astronomy; Arithmetic; Chemistry; Geography; History; and Music (Psalmody).
• Household: Baking; Dress-making; Housekeeping; and Washing.
• Trades: Carpentry; Engraving; Horse-training; Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing; Surveying and Mapping; and Tanning and Currying.
• Other subjects: Acting; Bookkeeping; Chess; Christianity; Chronology; Courtship (Matrimony); Cribbage; Drumming; and Magic (in several forms–Prestidigitation; Black Arts; Conjuring; and Legerdemain).

Careful readers will note the seven liberal arts are all taken care of here. And there may be more subjects of note; the AAS uses the WebVoyager catalog, which is not, well, easy to use.

The goal of my research is tracing the trajectory of development of ease in American culture, particularly writing, as part of my revival of the long-dormant book project that was my dissertation. In my fellowship proposal, books related to writing are the focus: primers and schoolbooks targeted at children, as well as texts intended for teachers, like John Walker’s The Teacher’s Assistant in English Composition. But because I’m interested in the development of ease in American culture at large, not only in composition, I’ll be looking at texts in the other areas represented here as well. The research will happen whether or not I can visit the AAS, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to include their archives in my work.

It’s been about four years since I gave the design of this weblog serious attention. Time to correct that. So if things look or act funky, bear with me as I update, extend, and experiment a bit, hoping to integrate more completely with the rest of my web presence, mainly my WIU web site–which is next on the fixin’ list.

In my experience, matching the look and feel of a web site to a WordPress theme is easier than tweaking WordPress to make it look like a given web site. So off to the theme directory I go…

Ran 10 miles today. Not much wind, 30°, a little slippery, more ice and snow on the road once I got out of town. 1:26:00 (8:33/mi). That’s my longest run since the half (gawd). Even after my shower, I’m sore. I had to keep on my toes to prevent sliding around, and I moved around a lot to stay out of the ice.

Happy winter solstice, everyone. Tonight, it is dark very early. But tomorrow will be three seconds longer than today.

We decided to do our own Christmas picture this year. 125 photos and 90 minutes later, Erin decided a composite was best.

Outtakes and more on Flickr, including this gem. I have no idea what was going on there.

Now that it’s winter and many of us are running indoors more, it’s time for my runners’ guide to other track users:

1. Stinkers: dudes whose “workout clothes” really need to be taken home and washed. Only annoying at close range, and usually not on the track very long.
2. Power walkers: walk fast with full arm movement. Leaning, intense, often breathing through the mouth. They look funny, but stay on the inside and seldom double up. Good track companions.
3. Pass-me-nots: runners who, if passed, will immediately speed up and try to counter-pass. Fun to toy with them during speed work.
4. Wrong siders: walk on the outside despite the multiple signs which say WALKERS STAY INSIDE PLEASE. Some will correct their behavior if asked. Others get attitude. Just shoulder them a bit while passing (with cordial apologies, of course).
5. Faders: start very fast, then slow down gradually, then walk. (Different from runners doing speed work) Usually harmless, except for those who stop suddenly without warning.
6. Breakers: do a lap, take a break, do two laps, take a break, etc. Often only on the track for a few minutes. Amusing, and if they are also Faders, gone quickly.
7. Audiologists’ future boat payments: wear earphones which can be heard halfway across the gym. Impossible to warn them when passing; just do it. Often appear as #1 or #11.
8. Phoners: talk on the phone the whole time. Most dangerous when dialing. Easily shamed into hanging up or leaving the track (just yell “ON YOUR LEFT!!!” before passing).
9. Finger walkers: walkers who count laps on their fingers. (How they can do this, I don’t know. I have to use a stopwatch.) Usually good companions, since they are concentrating.
10. Talkers: women who walk two or three abreast, talking loudly, and grudgingly move to allow runners to pass. Blasting between them occasionally usually fails to make any point, but can be fun.
11. Flirters: teenage girls not really interested in walking or running, but rather attracting the attention of teenage boys playing basketball below. Often come in groups as Breakers, Phoners, or Talkers. Thankfully, they usually stay on the inside, even when they stop to coo at would-be Romeos.
12. Fraidycats: runners afraid to trouble other people. They will break stride or slow down to avoid trapping a passing runner, or when Talkers get in the way.
13. Me: none of the above.