Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.

That quote is attributed to Voltaire and is usually translated as, "The perfect is the enemy of the good."

I'm dispositionally anxious, but for some reason, I'm especially anxious about my intro classes this semester. It's like I'm going to a job interview every time I go to class. It makes no sense. This is the 10th semester I've taught the course here. These are my 17th and 18th sections of the course. I've done the course so many times that I keep track of the current date by thinking about what topic we're covering in intro that week. Also, no one will be paying any attention to my course evaluations for a while. And class is going fine. Yet right before class starts, I get that same feeling I used to get before gym class. That wasn't an excited, happy feeling, but more of a dizzy, pukey feeling. I thought I had left that dodgeball level of dread behind me.

I'm thinking it's a case of the perfect being an enemy of the good. When I spend too much time working, and when I spend too much time thinking about work when I'm not working, I lose perspective and end up obsessing over minor details about class sessions I could do in my sleep. If I could be less uptight about it, everything would be just fine--it might even be good.

What else is good? The following:

This fledgling, which pooped all over our car this past summer. Not the fledgling's fault. I was following it and making it nervous. It looks resentful in this picture. Sorry, fledgling.

Cinnamon rolls by Mr. Banality. When will he make these again, I wonder??

J's loyal friend. And J's loyal friend's loyal snowman friend, a jolly happy soul who does not suspect that J's loyal friend would like to chew him up in tiny, tiny pieces.

The best squirrel ever.

And can you believe life was ever actually like this here? (Note: This video will be posted for a limited time only to protect the innocent.)

Voltaire also said, "Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire," which means, "The secret of being a bore is to tell everything." So, I'll stop there.