...because it usually means you are keeping busy and staying out of trouble.
Since last we encountered our rugged individualist, he has been engaged in the work for which he is best known and least appreciated: grading student writing.
First came stacks of papers (essays, mostly) from two composition classes, sereptitiously collected on the same day. This was followed, without ceremony, by the collection of papers from a research writing class. Then, before the actual grading could commence, the creation of a mid-term examination was required. Such examinations are then typically followed by the conducting of the examination, followed by the collection of and grading thereof said exams. This noble act was subsequently supplemented by the collecting of journals produced by two more classes of students.
A short trip to the Dream Land followed, which, by the secretive nature of such trips, shall need to remain secret.
Upon returning to the office in which he works, our hero once again set out to complete the tasks assigned to him with ardor and creativity, if not much enthusiasm. Now journals are graded and half returned. Research writing papers are graded and returned. Half the composition papers have been graded. Yet the process continues. Endlessly. The goal, as always, remains the same: to return papers to students before collecting the next set of papers.
Someday, however, the fiction shall return, and once again our rugged individualist shall blog.
