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I'll Say It Once, & I'll...



I have said this before, but to me it is amusing so I will say it again in a slightly different way. I am sitting here daydreaming while I am proctoring an exam for my upper division endocrinology students. And the daydreams are much as they always are for me. First I will tell you what they are NOT and why and then tell you what my daydreams ARE:

1. I am NOT daydreaming about having sex. When I first began to proctor exams (and hence daydream during them) as a graduate student long, long ago, I would often daydream about sex, but VERY quickly learned that was not a useful or COMFORTABLE avenue for my thoughts during those times. If I had to stand or sit or move during the exam, it would be quite discomforting. So, very early in graduate school I quickly learned to think about something else.

2. I am not thinking about work (I define WORK as the b*llsh*t meetings and related crap I do here at the U.) (it is too dull and too damn annoying).

3. I am not thinking about research (just not in the mood).

4. I am not thinking about teaching or developing teaching (not feeling the creative juices flowing at the moment and I do not have the access to stuff I would need in my office at the moment).

5. I am not thinking at the moment about my wife and other members of the family (lately, when I am away from them, I get too melancholy if I think about them).

6. I am not thinking about drinking (just not in the mood).

What I am daydreaming about:

7. Smoking my pipe. Quiet moments like this make the thoughts of indulging in a pipe so beautiful and pleasant to me. I dream of the process of filling and lighting my pipe, and the sweet flavor of the leaf. Then I imagine the creamy feeling as I inhale a plume of the rich smoke and feel its gentle effect on my mind. It all feels so joyful, even just THINKING about it here.

8. Being on a warm, desert island, relaxing in the sun. It is such a departure from the weather in my neck of the woods it feels so comforting.

9. Sleeping. At times like these, being curled up in bed with quilts and blankets atop of me seems so serene and beautiful.

Oops, here comes a student with a question. Logging off.

PipeTobacco