From Point to Point, news that brings me temporarily out of hiding: The Oxyrhynchus Papyri being read.
While not as stimulating perhaps as Willie, certainly exciting and heartening news as literature of the past is read for the first time. I could imagine the thrill of it all and envy those who are working on this project.
Well, I am shocked to find (but then again, it does relate to my decision to stop blogging for a while):
| You May Be a Bit Borderline … |
 |
Had to try this one:
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Your Linguistic Profile: |
| 45% Yankee |
| 40% General American English |
| 10% Upper Midwestern |
| 5% Dixie |
| 0% Midwestern |
Got a case of the blogging blahs and need to look into other directions I’ve been avoiding, so I’m taking a break though I may pop in now and then if something exciting like Willie walks my way.
God help me, if I weren’t so close I wouldn’t do it, but I registered for the final summer course.
Some days you just want to give it all up; it’s going nowhere but it took a large chunk out of you to get there.
Then someone says "Nice job on otto," and I get back up and dance again.
I’m sitting here, facing 25 pages of papers for Western Civ, and probably another 15 – 20 for Creative Writing, and while of course I’ll do it, the feeling is that I want to stop having to do it.
I don’t know how the kids do it; go through sixteen, sometimes eighteen or twenty straight years of school and testing and writing papers. Being judged every day except for summertime. Getting graded.
Of course for kids, it’s a necessary learning segment of their lives–at least up until they’re sixteen, hopefully at least through high school. But maybe because of my age, my enthusiasm is starting to wane. I’ve enjoyed or at least was interested in the majority of the classes all through elementary and high school, and these two stretched out to four college years. But I’m tired of it. I’m tired of working my butt off for deadlines and having someone stick even an A on my forehead.
We’re judged every day of our lives in one way or another, but we’re not given grades as such, although most companies do have an established evaluation system which continues the stress beyond scholastic achievements until retirement. No more "you’re doing a great job and will get a raise this year" or "you’ve been warned about your work and I’m afraid we’ll have to let you go." We’re all on paper, shown the paper with the grading system.
I’m probably toughest on myself–both in comparison to others’ opinion of me and my opinion of others. I’m just tired of having to measure up to their standards when I have a hard enough time measuring up to my own that are of a completely different value. Though of course, some of them are related. Right now, my writing is horrible. Everything I’ve written, every word, phrase, sentence and paragraph is blah and uninspiring, until tomorrow. Tomorrow maybe I can write well enough to be satisfied.
But I sure don’t feel like it will be.
In all my fifty-some-odd years you’d think I’d come to learn it. New England weather still can surprise me and delight.
This weekend predicts seventy degrees. Ten years ago, a foot of snow on April 12th. The sun though, rules. Birds know best somehow and build their nests regardless of the date. They fly ahead of warmth, hunker in through snowfall, and eggs don’t freeze in cold spring nights nor boil in unexpected sunbeam heat.
And yet, a human never really gets it.
"1 oz = 437 1 /2 grains"
This may mean nothing to you, but thanks to the internet, the easily found information above allowed me to easily determine the postage and return postage for the submissions I sent out a few weeks ago.
You see, some lit journals accepted up to three short stories, some only one or two. I sent different stories or combinations to each of twelve or thirteen places, so each story had to be weighed along with the appropriate envelopes. I don’t have a dieting problem so I don’t have an ounce scale in my kitchen.
But, I do have a grain scale for weighing wooden arrow shafts. Thus, the weighing and conversion could be easily accomplished. Honestly though, after a couple of envelopes-full, I brought the stuff to the post office and let them do the work for their 37 cents for the first ounce, 23 cents thereafter.
Sometimes I feel like such an idiot. Other times, I’m a genius. It’s when I’m thinking I’m a genius and turn out to in fact be an idiot that it’s the worst.
It recalls with fear the changes as we get older. Am I the little old lady who stares in awe at the counter while the computer screen brings up the exact item she was seeking for years? "Oh my, can it do that?"
I bounce around with all the joy of discovery, thinking I’m hip and cool, and "look what this can do!" when all around me are going, "Yeah, so?"
Either I have to get more with the program here, or learn to hide my enthusiasm better and go with the "I knew that" smug expression. Or, just accept appearing a bit dotty and hopefully cute in an elderly sort of way.
Quite a good meeting tonight. A good showing, and diverse workshopping.
We did a story, and as one member mentioned, we all seemed to be on the same track with what we read and where the story was going. Some good and helpful feedback, we hope.
The Narratives’ new literary journal, "otto" was also workshopped, and it was agreed to go forward with it and plans were made to make it open to the public for submission as well as for marketing. I must admit I’m a bit proud of this endeavor and am excited about working on it, continuing as editor and with plans of building up a more genre-specific editorial staff. I’ll also see about marketing it, and opening up the "otto" website for submissions to and from the public. Right now, it’s at http://ottolit.blogspot.com
We also workshopped cover letters–those with a submission attached, and query letters–those that offer something prior to submitting. I threw in the cover letter I recently sent to a dozen literary journals with some short stories, and to my great relief, found that my cover letter sucked pretty badly and can now use that excuse instead of thinking my stories were no good when the rejections start coming in. (This rationale takes an honorable mention in my Silver Lining Awards.)
It was pointed out that my letter was too formal and businesslike (Susie Secretary emerges after twenty years in hiding), and too negative (I was born with this trait). It also failed to describe briefly in both an enlightening and exciting manner what the stories were about. This critique has really confirmed my own doubts about it, but under deadline stress and the fact that the cover and query letter is one of the hardest for the creative writer to put together, I sent it out without really seeking more advice, not wanting to bother anyone about a cover letter. Although I did ask one who had experience and she pointed out these same things, only I backed off in fear and general writer’s block.
All in all, another great meeting.
A trick of April grudgingly offers a morning or two that lies warm on the skin. Time to put away the jackets. Bare legs appear as pale as the green buds on lilac branches. Spring. Is Here.
But April fools for more than just a Day. Laughingly it sweeps down through the night and blows last Autumn’s leaves around. Scatters them to set the scene to trick the eye into September. And goosebumps rise with the stubborn clinging to the lies.
It’s just starting to dawn on me that I’m graduating next month and I really need to get my rear end going on deciding what I’m doing for the Fall semester. It’s probably already a bit late to register for the courses I want, especially when I’m not sure where I want to take them. I can’t really put it off because then I wouldn’t be starting classes again until spring of 2006 and I do want to just keep the cycle going now that I’m in the swing of it all.
Just another thing for my gottado list. But I’ll be sure to mark it with a star and "rush" markers.
As for the summer, I guess I’m stuck into having to make up that science requirement by taking that online nutrition course (note for gottado list–register for it quickly!). And, since Spain may not be feasible, I may treat myself to the Writing Workshop at Wesleyan in June as a graduation gift to myself.
Or maybe I’ll just write the three history papers and do laundry.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever mentioned it here, although I know I covered the topic in my small part at the writers conference presentation, but it occurred to me tonight that I am indeed happy with the use of a weblog as an academic portfolio.
While I started with a New Media category here at Spinning when I took that class last semester, for the Creative Writing course I’m currently in, I learned that it would be easier to open a new weblog for the course and set up the categories as outlined in the syllabus. Learning to Spin is the result of that endeavor, and I find it very easy to maneuver and do the work required within the blog. Weblogs are the perfect format for organizing the notes, essays or papers written, as well as separating out outlines or thoughts relative to the course and linking to the material used for resources. Drafts are easily retained to lead to a final presentation–I use links to files in Word–and comments and discussion can be helpful for student or instructor input.
Learning to Spin has worked out wonderfully for this particular course, and I’m wondering if it would be as manipulatable and organized for other courses as well. Obviously, if I could take the laptop into class and take notes directly into the blog, it would save much mere transcription time, and I could well see a classroom setup where computers are right there at each desk. The instructor in our Western Civ class very often writes on the blackboard–as does the Creative Writing instructor. How much easier and more accurate it would be if he wrote directly into the program to which all students were connected, and it would then be saved to that file. Movies and clips are often presented in class; these too could be saved. Referrring back to the notes and lessons would be a simple matter of going back through the archives and links to locate whatever is needed to prepare a paper for instance. While the adaptability could be subject to abuse, it would also allow an absent student to possibly attend class online by logging on during the classroom period.
I don’t relish a classroom where students are focused on a monitor and not interacting, but I do see how a combination of teaching methods could in fact be more interesting and probably more of what is being presented to the students by the instructor would be learned because the interaction with the computer program during the session would be imperative, as well as the material being available on a permanent basis for later reference.
Ah, it’s a brave new world out there.
See now, here’s where I am at least satisfied that what is being taught in our History class is getting through to some of the students. You teach about revolutions and pretty soon they catch on and implement it to overpower and take control.
After last week’s fiasco, in Western Civ tonight while the instructor was out of the room, the left side of the room threatened to deal harshly with anyone who dared ask the instructor an unrelated question. Eventually the rabble rouses itself into a unified front to demand their rights and regain control.
I love it.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology