It's already the middle of April

So, I stopped blogging for a long time.  I got side-tracked with work, and a general feeling that I didn't really have anything that I felt like sharing.  But, I'm back now.  Why I chose the end of my busiest semester thus far is beyond me.  Anyway, here I am.

I started using Google Reader back in January, and I love it.  It makes following all my blogs so much easier.  I've found some new ones that I really like--mostly on style/fashion and literature.  I was having lunch with some girlfriends last weekend, and we came to the topic of graduate school.  They were all curious to know what exactly I do on a daily basis and were generally shocked to find out that between the classes I'm taking and teaching, I read close to a couple thousand pages in a week.  I went home and thought about it...was I really exaggerating?  This didn't seem possible.  So, I sat down and figured out on average how many pages I'm reading per class in a week, and sure enough, I ended up with about 2000 pages.  It varies by week, and this does include suggested reading...not just the required reading.  But, one thing you learn in graduate school is that suggested reading is more than just suggested.  You, also, learn how to prioritize what you read very carefully and what you read somewhat carefully, and what you speed read/skim.  For me that's been the most difficult thing to learn.  I'm pretty Type-A and more than a little bit of a perfectionist, so I want to read it all and take notes on what I've read and have a chance to read through those notes again before class.  This was possible as an undergrad.  This is NOT possible as a graduate student.  Having to adapt my study habits has been very difficult.  Most weeks I don't read everything as carefully as I would have liked, and I feel like I'm not doing what I *should* be doing.  But, reading these other lit blogs written by graduate students and faculty members has helped me to realize that I'm definitely not along.  In fact, I'm actually in the same boat as most people.  So, why do I feel like I'm the only one?