Back in the Saddle

Thanks for some of your kind messages...
No, I'm not missing, I've just been wicked busy...I know not an excuse...perhaps more importantly, I've actually been out of the habit of writing on here, which can easily become a problem.

I don't know if other people experience their blogs extrovertedly or introvertedly, that is, whether they see their blogging as primarily a public event and imagine their audience while writing, or as a private event, in which they are writing mainly for themselves, and others just happen to be looking over the shoulder of their psyches.

In my experience, blogging is a very extroverted event. I can't help but imagine others' reactions, attempt to be just a little more erudite or witty in their virtual presence -- basically, when I'm writing on here, I'm "on". Previously, this was not a problem, since I spent large portions of my day alone at my desk, and so even virtual contact was better than no contact. Now, however, I live with 400 19-21-year-olds, and spend much of my day in their company. Even my time with my bf has changed; no longer can we have nice, relaxing meals sitting next to eachother reading the New Yorker and the Atlantic, with the occasional harumph crossing the table; instead, we have students to the right of us, students to the left of us (students in front of us, volley and thunder...). I'm definitely enjoying it, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of being a mentor and role model (none of my students has become an axe-murderer or a Republican donor...yet), but it has been far more emotionally draining than I thought it would be. The greatest surprise of this change has been remembering how much of a constitutional introvert I am. More to follow...I'll try to keep including the rest of y'all at the table...