My science skills are rather limited, but I am a huge fan of Albert Einstein nonetheless. (Check out the movie IQ. My favorite line is when Einstein soars down the road on a motorcycle, hands in the air, joyfully shouting “Wahoo!”) Six months ago when I started this blog, it seemed like it would take forever before I started My Year Away. And, now it’s July; I have begun my sabbatical year. If this isn’t proof of the Theory of Relativity, I don’t know what is. As Einstein said, “When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”

I am no longer an administrator. I’m a professor.

Monday was my last day as the head of the journalism school. I signed some papers, listened to some griping from faculty, spoke with my administrative assistant about strategies for scheduling classes. But mostly I just packed up and moved to my new—-and much smaller–office. It was a remarkably uneventful day. Except to me.

So now what do I do?

Well, for starters, catch up with sleep. Slept 12 hours Monday night. Check. Get ready for 4th of July company. Check. Get organized for the year. Oops. Needs work.

I have a full year to reignite my scholarly life. That seems like forever. But the Theory of Relativity tells me it is not. Better get at it. My Year Away has begun. Wahoo!