Welcome to the SJB Sabbatical

Today I joined Twitter for an hour. Then I deactivated my account. It is the prerogative of any dubious social media user to change her mind.

At any rate, all I really wanted to do was catalog my sabbatical.

But before I discuss all that, let's go through the ground rules:

1. Yes, I have been granted a paid leave for a year.
   
2. No, I won't be teaching during that time.
3. No, I won't have any other official campus duties (advising, committees, etc.)
4. Yes, this is an amazing thing.

Yet there are certain expectations for this sabbatical, both formal and informal, that I've discussed with colleagues, friends, family, and encountered while trolling through the discussion forums on the Chronicle of Higher Education. Here are a few:

• Recover from the previous three years, relax and meditate. Repeat as necessary.
  
• Publish. Publishpublishpublish.
• Read.
• Travel. Vacation-wise, conference-wise, research-wise.
• Resurrect a hobby, volunteer, exercise, cook, fix things around the house, sort out previously-marginalized life issues.

I'm sure there are others, and I've set some broad goals for myself, too. But one of the big questions remains: how do all these things filter down into the day-to-day of an unscheduled year? I'm making my way through it, and thought I'd try to keep track of how.

So... welcome to my sabbatical.

Next up: Sabbatical kickoff!