Blahrg! Monday...

Current mood: busy

It's Monday, my cold persists, and the pace of the semester continues to escalate and doesn't look to let up until early November (if even then).  In general though, I must say the day isn't bad for a Monday.  Since I've taken on my new position, I don't dread Mondays with the same furious fervor as I once did.  In fact, I've experienced far fewer of what I call "Double-dip" and "Triple-dip" Mondays ("Monday" squared and cubed, respectively), both of which used to be the rule rather than the exception.  It definitely pays to love what you do...  It's not that I didn't love or excel at my previous position, but my new job is such a perfect fit for me that it doesn't even seem like work most of the time.

To provide an example of the monumental momentum of the semester as well as the benefits of having a great job, let's evaluate some of my duties in the coming weeks/months.  I'm currently preparing for 2 back-to-back conferences at the end of September and beginning of October.  The first, Work Colleges Consortium, conference is in Illinois, and I'll be helping our student participants plan a presentation on Berea College's sustainability efforts. 

The second conference focuses on sustainabilty in higher education, and I'll be presenting on not only the College's sustainability initiatives but also those of the broader community, many of which I'm also involved in.  Berea is way cool and progressive for a small town in Kentucky, and I get paid to tell people about it.  See why I love my job?!  The added perk for this particular conference is that I recently have reconnected with my long-lost friend Brian Love (yes, through the magic of MySpace) and will get to see him for the first time in over 12 years.

The middle of October is filled with the usual itinerary of meetings, tours, events related to ... sustainability at Berea College, of course.  Then I have 2 more back-to-back conferences at the end of October and beginning of November with a talk on "Faith and Ecology" on campus in between.  The first conference is in Hilton Head (woo-hoo!), where I'll be presenting on BC's efforts to integrate College-produced meat and produce (and other local food products) into its dining facilities.  I'm a little unclear about my role in the conference in Louisville at the beginning of November, but I think it's a safe guess that it will include something about... sustainability at Berea College.  Plus, I'll likely get to see one of my dearest friends Courtney while I'm in L'ville (plus she's graciously going to house me and transport me to the airport for my trip to Arizona).

To add to the list of travel adventures above, there's also a chance that I may be the Berea reprentative at some upcoming alumni chapter meetings in some cool places I've always wanted to go, such as Southern California and Boone, North Carolina.  The only concern that I have and that I hope to address is how to off-set my carbon consumption with so much fossil-fueled transportation hither and yon.  I'm learning more about this process because I think it's important not to compromise my overall commitment to sustainability (personally and professionally) for the sake of telling people how sustainable we are.  So thar!

[Backposted from MySpace 9/18/06]