Well okay then.

All my grades are entered (but two, which are both waiting on late paper-things that will come in this weekend). My K'zoo paper is mostly done. I have met with weepy plagiarists--whom I actually believe to have been unintentional in their plagiarism, if frighteningly ignorant--and cleaned out some of my folders. I have done other things, such as getting my oil changed and trying unsuccessfully to figure out why we need to pay for the church's organist if he can't actually play at our wedding (although we'd like him to). Tonight is an end-of-the-year potluck and tomorrow I drive off for Kalamazoo. So let me organize myself with a to-do list, as thusly:

• clean the filth out of my house
• make yogurt to use up big jar of milk
• make granola so that I have something to eat for breakfast
• water garden and potted plants
• finish revising K'zoo paper
• gather things together for K'zoo
  
• perform some kind of exercise--yoga or jog
• go to office to do something or other (what is it? Oh yeah--I need to mail back some papers, turn in a form or two, etc. etc.)
• walk through the Lilac Arboretum
  
• go to the store and then make lentil salad for potluck
• think very seriously about what to wear at Kalamazoo. Do I dare to try out my new Fluevogs?

I apologize for the tediousness of this post, but actually I do enjoy reading other people's to-do lists, so I trust that you will enjoy the same. And now, I will conclude with a picture of said Fluevogs.


See some of you very soon!

You know?

Clothes from [letter] [letter] [legume] are fine. Really. I own a couple of things--a coat, a sweater--and I like them. Sure.

But I despise their catalogues. The people in them: with their sweeping blond hair and matronly khakis, the button-down shirts tucked all the way in, reclining stiffly against a railing while smiling fondly at the antics of dogs--or laughingly trekking across a mountaintop in a sweater-set and "barn coat" (whatever that is)--the men grinning bashfully at the attractively leaf-strewn ground whilst running a hand through their tousled hair, their chinos neatly pressed and their flannel shirts well-starched--oh, they make me itch.

Yes. Okay. Had to get that out of my system.

Desperate Clothing Query

Okay, all you people with much better fashion senses than I, I have a question for you.

For this upcoming campus interview, I'll need two days' worth of suits. I have two suits; unfortunately, they are not of equal merit. The first is fine. Comfortable, flattering (I think), what have you. The second--well, the second was supposedly tailor-made to fit me, but the pants have never ever been comfortable, and they just look funny--they bunch up in the front, strain across the back, and are generally ill-fitting and cheap-looking. Can't wear those for the job talk. (The jacket is OK, if not as nice as the first jacket.)

The plan is to wear the nicer suit for the first day (when I'll be doing most of my interviewing and my teaching demo), and then Something Else for the second day (when all I have scheduled is a breakfast, a library visit, a lunch, human resources, and my job talk).

So here's my question. Or questions, I suppose; it's more of a two-parter.

1) Would it be okay to wear the solid-black jacket with a pair of black pin-stripe pants? The blacks in the two garments are close enough that there wouldn't be an obvious clash, but it would be obvious that these items didn't originally belong together (because, of course, one is pin-striped and one is solid).

2) If not, can I wear the better-fitting suit pants with the other jacket? They're both black, but not quite the same black, and someone might notice that I'm wearing the same pants two days in a row. Not sure if that matters. Or if anyone will be paying such close attention to an innocuous pair of black pants that they would detect the repetition.

Or life could be easy, and I could wear the same suit both days (with different shirts), but that doesn't seem right. (Or is it? Can I do that?)

Any other options out there for me? I am in possession of very little formal attire: I have some long skirts and button-down shirts and a variety of rather eccentric sweaters. Long skirt + button-down could make me look reasonably professional, but it isn't a suit. And none of my skirts go with my suit jackets. At all.

Should I switch things around, and wear the questionable outfit on the first day--when I'll be making first impressions and will generally be more visible (in the teaching demo)--and save the nicest suit for the job talk, when I'll be meeting the entire department? Actually, no, I'd rather not do that. I'll be writing on the board and gesturing a lot during the teaching demo, and the better jacket is definitely preferable for that kind of activity.

Bear in mind that it is, literally, impossible for me to procure any new clothing between now and the interview. Unless I make a run on the local thrift store on Tuesday morning, and I think it would be best for everyone if I didn't do that.

Help!