Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year

Remember that sick day post from November?  Welp, I've just about recovered from that illness.  The family and I have been taking turns being sick ever since, and we're just now clawing our way back up to normalcy.  I work in a building with 800 other people, my wife works with close to twice that, and our kids are in day care.  This adds up to a household of frequently tested immune systems.

In order to increase the number of times I get sick in a year, I also decided to punch school in the face and wrap up this degree, so that I can move on to the next one.  I'm currently taking 7 credits, leaving 3 to go in the Fall before having another degree/certificate to toss on the pile.  At the moment, I'm studying 18th Century Nonfiction, and to counterpoint it, Young Adult Literacy.  This means I get to read Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year (published 1722) and John Green's Looking for Alaska (published 2005.)  These books, respectively about mortal illness and being a teenager, are designed to  make me feel terrible.

In the first place, I am just now getting over "The Crud."  I do not need to spend any more of my time reflecting on how it feels to feel awful and maybe die.  Secondly, I have found it surprisingly enjoyable to not be surrounded by teenagers for a living, and don't need to spend any time not being able to yell at them (because in this case they are fictional) about the (fictional) choices they are making.

To cap off this semester-long exercise in Severitation, I get the opportunity to take a 16 hour course on the English Department.

The same department I have spent the last 15 years in, and will be leaving in 3 credits.