First things first--the semester is done! I posted grades today for my students and was able to view my own grades as well.
We moved recently out of a house and a bad situation. We are renting our own place now and are much happier. While the drama is not completely done and packed away, it has reduced to almost nothing. The only thing left for us to do is to clean up our old place, but that will likely be difficult given that our former roommate still lives there. Hopefully we will be able to go over and clean without running into him or even having to speak to him really. BLAH!
I got a puppy for my birthday and his name is Alfonz. We call him Fonz or Fonzie. He is a mini-schnauzer that we got from my mom. He's pretty mellow for the most part, loves to play and loves to cuddle. His favorite things are chewing on rawhides and chasing bugs.
This holiday season has been rough on everyone. We chose to move at a time that was not the best for us financially, but we were able to come out in the green for this month anyway. This will make next month feel pretty awesome, since we won't have to pay extra fees associated with moving.
As break has officially begun, I am quite excited to be able to do a whole lot of nothing for a day or two, then get back into the swing of writing or I might read a book for fun--not for a class. Strange I know.
Today we did some Christmas shopping and I had more fun doing it than I thought/remembered. I am looking forward to Christmas this year, even though money has been tight. Maybe the government will get its stuff sorted out and then the whole nation will be better off. But that may never happen since this nation as a whole is so money-oriented. At the same time, the whole world is tripped out on money, so that complicates things even further.
Ah, oh well. At the moment, these are things I have no way of fixing, and so rather than stress myself out about them, I will set them aside (not ignore them, because that doesn't solve anything) for now and return to them later when some of my brain power has been returned.
In the meantime, I am trying to think of what to do for my thesis. I really have no idea. I wanted originally to do something with the elements of resistance and submission of victims in vampire fiction, but that seems awfully broad and potentially overdone. Then I thought of doing something regarding the use of laughter as a literary tool, specifically maniacal laughter. However, this topic may be too difficult to research. Then I thought of something regarding linguistics or language acquisition. Those are definitely fields that I could easily become a part of, and likely have a career set out before me for the rest of my life. With additional studies I am sure that it would be a fulfilling career too. However, none of this means that I have given up on my dream of writing creative fiction and being a published author. Teaching is also a viable career option, and not out of the question. However, if I do teach, I would like to teach an upper level kind of class in a collegiate or university setting. While community colleges are great, they are not exactly a place I dream of teaching at.
While I feel like I have a lot more to say since the last time I posted, most of it is stuff that has either been resolved or no longer matters that much.
Ciao for now.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
#54--A More In-Depth Study of the Fall Semester
When I started school this semester, I was pretty nervous about teaching. I didn't know if I would be any good, or if I would really even like it at all. As it turns out I enjoy teaching quite a lot, and after the mid-term evaluations, I think I'm doing pretty well.
I've met some cool people and been able to become more acquainted with others that I knew before. Kari is a fun character, frequently singing quietly (and quite well!). Kat and Josh are siblings that have entirely too much fun together for siblings, and are quite the tricky duo. Eric I knew from undergrad, and of course Lindsey as well. Overall it is a fun time.
As GTAs, we have a lot of fun. I have learned how to play the cauldron game. I am not much good at the game, however, but it is still great stress relief. We also had our office remodeled lately, and now that the renovations are finished, we are all moved back in. What was just an office for English GTAs is now an office for the English and History GTAs. The room is quite broken up, but seems more or less okay. Since the remodel, the center of the room has a sort of island of five desks and the printer area. As a result, one could run a circle around the island if they wished.
Let me insert a small story here. We moved the mini-fridge and the printer from Roosevelt back to Plumb yesterday, and we used a small rectangular cart (really just a plank of wood with four wheels screwed to it) to move the items over. The fridge was quite a challenge to get to the other building, but I think the printer went easier. The cart was in the new office, waiting to be returned to it's owner. Becca decided to lay on her back on the cart, just to be silly. I saw this as an opportunity for her and I to have a lovely adventure. So she pulled her knees up to her chest and I pushed on the bottom of her sneakers. We made one full tour of the room, and I'm sure we were quite bemusing to one of the history GTAs, Nigel. Becca was laughing so hard that she couldn't breathe very well, so it took her a little while to recover once we had reached back to the finish line. Lindsey thought we were crazy. Which is to be suspected. I'm sure I've been crazy for a long time now.
The actual teaching aspect is an adventure all in itself. On the first day I was quite nervous. I had no idea what my students would look like, even though I knew their names from the list I have on my teacher page. Every now and again I still get nervous about teaching, for no apparent reason. Mostly, it is a fun time, and I enjoy helping them learn how to do new things, or practice what they already know. I didn't think I would like teaching as much as I do, but it is pretty awesome.
On a very different note: My ex-friend has been making an appearance in my life, mostly in passing-by, which shouldn't bother me but it does. It isn't so much that she goes to school here still, or that she's around, but what bothers me is that she sees me, and pretends like everything is fine, like nothing ever happened. I could claim, "O! The injustice!" but it would be to no point. I don't care that she's chosen to make the decisions she has. I don't care if she's miserable for the rest of her life. The only thing that gets me is that she smacked me in the face, stabbed me in the back, and 1. I don't know why she chose to do that and 2. when she sees/speaks to me, she acts like there is nothing wrong. I don't think I can ever be her friend again, and I don't know that I want to be her friend, especially after the way she has treated me. If she ever decides to come crawling back to me, she can forget it. I'll have nothing to do with her. That is all I have to say on the subject.
Back to happier thoughts: My cousin is getting married this weekend, which is very nice. I would go except that I'll have a lot of work to do this weekend in terms of catching up on homework, making lesson plans, and celebrating my one-year anniversary on Sunday with Alex. (I mentioned in my last post that we'll be going to Santa Fe for the *real* celebration over fall break, and I will reiterate that I am very excited about this trip). I am disappointed that I will not be able to go to the wedding and remain productive over the weekend. Since I would have to leave tomorrow afternoon and wouldn't come back until Sunday, I would really be killing most of my weekend that way.
Coming up is Halloween, and my birthday just before. In November we're having a piano burning, which will be a ghastly but wonderful event all at the same time. I'm really looking forward to that, even though some folks will be sad at the death of the piano.
Because it is the fall season and the leaves are turning, the witchy part of me wants out, and so that means I need to fix my dress. It is a dress I got at the Renaissance Festival last year. The strap came undone where it attaches to the main part of the dress. However, I feel it is an easy fix (I only need to find my needle stash and my black thread). I am anxious to wear it. I feel I need to find a good amount of accessories to wear with it, and I'll go as a witch again for Halloween this year. I can't remember the last time I was a witch for Halloween, but I do know it has been a long time since I even dressed up.
But for now, I have to go, as Alex's homemade pizza is finished and I am hungry enough to eat a medium sized mammal.
I've met some cool people and been able to become more acquainted with others that I knew before. Kari is a fun character, frequently singing quietly (and quite well!). Kat and Josh are siblings that have entirely too much fun together for siblings, and are quite the tricky duo. Eric I knew from undergrad, and of course Lindsey as well. Overall it is a fun time.
As GTAs, we have a lot of fun. I have learned how to play the cauldron game. I am not much good at the game, however, but it is still great stress relief. We also had our office remodeled lately, and now that the renovations are finished, we are all moved back in. What was just an office for English GTAs is now an office for the English and History GTAs. The room is quite broken up, but seems more or less okay. Since the remodel, the center of the room has a sort of island of five desks and the printer area. As a result, one could run a circle around the island if they wished.
Let me insert a small story here. We moved the mini-fridge and the printer from Roosevelt back to Plumb yesterday, and we used a small rectangular cart (really just a plank of wood with four wheels screwed to it) to move the items over. The fridge was quite a challenge to get to the other building, but I think the printer went easier. The cart was in the new office, waiting to be returned to it's owner. Becca decided to lay on her back on the cart, just to be silly. I saw this as an opportunity for her and I to have a lovely adventure. So she pulled her knees up to her chest and I pushed on the bottom of her sneakers. We made one full tour of the room, and I'm sure we were quite bemusing to one of the history GTAs, Nigel. Becca was laughing so hard that she couldn't breathe very well, so it took her a little while to recover once we had reached back to the finish line. Lindsey thought we were crazy. Which is to be suspected. I'm sure I've been crazy for a long time now.
The actual teaching aspect is an adventure all in itself. On the first day I was quite nervous. I had no idea what my students would look like, even though I knew their names from the list I have on my teacher page. Every now and again I still get nervous about teaching, for no apparent reason. Mostly, it is a fun time, and I enjoy helping them learn how to do new things, or practice what they already know. I didn't think I would like teaching as much as I do, but it is pretty awesome.
On a very different note: My ex-friend has been making an appearance in my life, mostly in passing-by, which shouldn't bother me but it does. It isn't so much that she goes to school here still, or that she's around, but what bothers me is that she sees me, and pretends like everything is fine, like nothing ever happened. I could claim, "O! The injustice!" but it would be to no point. I don't care that she's chosen to make the decisions she has. I don't care if she's miserable for the rest of her life. The only thing that gets me is that she smacked me in the face, stabbed me in the back, and 1. I don't know why she chose to do that and 2. when she sees/speaks to me, she acts like there is nothing wrong. I don't think I can ever be her friend again, and I don't know that I want to be her friend, especially after the way she has treated me. If she ever decides to come crawling back to me, she can forget it. I'll have nothing to do with her. That is all I have to say on the subject.
Back to happier thoughts: My cousin is getting married this weekend, which is very nice. I would go except that I'll have a lot of work to do this weekend in terms of catching up on homework, making lesson plans, and celebrating my one-year anniversary on Sunday with Alex. (I mentioned in my last post that we'll be going to Santa Fe for the *real* celebration over fall break, and I will reiterate that I am very excited about this trip). I am disappointed that I will not be able to go to the wedding and remain productive over the weekend. Since I would have to leave tomorrow afternoon and wouldn't come back until Sunday, I would really be killing most of my weekend that way.
Coming up is Halloween, and my birthday just before. In November we're having a piano burning, which will be a ghastly but wonderful event all at the same time. I'm really looking forward to that, even though some folks will be sad at the death of the piano.
Because it is the fall season and the leaves are turning, the witchy part of me wants out, and so that means I need to fix my dress. It is a dress I got at the Renaissance Festival last year. The strap came undone where it attaches to the main part of the dress. However, I feel it is an easy fix (I only need to find my needle stash and my black thread). I am anxious to wear it. I feel I need to find a good amount of accessories to wear with it, and I'll go as a witch again for Halloween this year. I can't remember the last time I was a witch for Halloween, but I do know it has been a long time since I even dressed up.
But for now, I have to go, as Alex's homemade pizza is finished and I am hungry enough to eat a medium sized mammal.
#53--Two Months Later, Three Days To Go
Well a lot has happened since July and my last post. Some things I was on top of then have fallen out of my higher priority list (KAFE being one of those, unfortunately).
As far as the lunch thing went from before, it was alright. Outside of that, the person has received quite an injury due to some negligence on the boss's part, and is laid up until who knows when. Maybe for quite a long time. There is nothing I can do about all that.
School has been quite an adventure so far... Between teaching and taking classes, there is a lot to be learned. I just had my mid-term evals the other day, and 99.9% of comments were positive reflections of my class times and efforts therein. I found this to be quite encouraging.
In three days it will have been a year since the wedding, and I am excited to achieve that milestone. We are going to Santa Fe next week to celebrate (during fall break). That trip should be quite lovely as well, since my bro-in-law says the weather down that way is beautiful.
That's as much of an update as I can give right now, since I need to run to the store for pizza toppings. That's right--homemade pizza by Alex. :-D It is always quite tasty.
Ciao!
As far as the lunch thing went from before, it was alright. Outside of that, the person has received quite an injury due to some negligence on the boss's part, and is laid up until who knows when. Maybe for quite a long time. There is nothing I can do about all that.
School has been quite an adventure so far... Between teaching and taking classes, there is a lot to be learned. I just had my mid-term evals the other day, and 99.9% of comments were positive reflections of my class times and efforts therein. I found this to be quite encouraging.
In three days it will have been a year since the wedding, and I am excited to achieve that milestone. We are going to Santa Fe next week to celebrate (during fall break). That trip should be quite lovely as well, since my bro-in-law says the weather down that way is beautiful.
That's as much of an update as I can give right now, since I need to run to the store for pizza toppings. That's right--homemade pizza by Alex. :-D It is always quite tasty.
Ciao!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
#52--Was It Worth It?
Maybe. I can't tell yet.
Lunch, which I thought was good. I felt the air was cleared. Or at least more clear than before.
Evening, which is tense. I don't know why. I can't even carry on a decent conversation. Talking goes both ways.
I can't decide if I'm ashamed or disgusted or upset or sad. But at what part?
I am a trusting person, and a forgiving person too. Does this mean that I have made the wrong choice? I saw/heard/read something recently that said something like "There is no *wrong* choice. Only another choice." I don't remember where that is from. It might be from the new Captain America movie. I'm not really sure.
*sigh*
Shooting An Elephant, George Orwell http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1SMRd5/ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79e/part4.html
Lunch, which I thought was good. I felt the air was cleared. Or at least more clear than before.
Evening, which is tense. I don't know why. I can't even carry on a decent conversation. Talking goes both ways.
I can't decide if I'm ashamed or disgusted or upset or sad. But at what part?
I am a trusting person, and a forgiving person too. Does this mean that I have made the wrong choice? I saw/heard/read something recently that said something like "There is no *wrong* choice. Only another choice." I don't remember where that is from. It might be from the new Captain America movie. I'm not really sure.
*sigh*
Shooting An Elephant, George Orwell http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1SMRd5/ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79e/part4.html
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
#51--"Always A Reason To Smile"
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8QPXfG/www.globalone.tv/profiles/blogs/16-rules-to-try-to-live-by
My husband sent me this link, probably because I am often in need of staying on track and remembering that life isn't always all about work (though work does help). I read through the list and I found that all of these were helpful to me, and that some of them could be used in multiple different aspects of my life, or in regard to different goals that I have for myself.
The last week (or so) has been pretty rough around the edges, and there is not a whole lot that I can really do to change things. People have died, others were married, and still others made their first appearance into this world. But that's the process of life, really.
Moving away from that which could very quickly become quite depressing, I still have school on my mind and I am still quite excited for orientation and the upcoming term. I am diving into literature that I haven't read since high school. It is a grand adventure all over again. I should also probably do at least a glance-over of some of my textbooks from my undergraduate semesters, just to brush up before I jump headfirst into teaching and taking graduate classes. I have a strong feeling that I am going to be quite busy this semester.
And next year we are hoping to be able to go to Australia! I am not sure if I have previously mentioned this on my blog, but there it is. As of right now there are four of us who are really planning to go, though four or six more have been invited to join in our escapades. I am not sure if the other six will be able to go due to some scheduling. Right now it is looking like the best time to go is in August. I am very excited for this trip. Number one, it's AUSTRALIA. Number two is, culture! and I think Number three is the bit about how I'm writing a story/novel/series that takes place in Australia, and so having the experience of going there and seeing everything firsthand will really be a benefit to my writing (and this will be the first official trip someplace where I am also using what I will see and learn to directly fuel the setting for a piece of my work). This is not to say that I do not use my other experiences in building the setting for my written works, it just means that most of the settings I have to pull from are of the midwestern influence, with a chunk of London and a small splash of Canada. I am truly looking forward to the vast differences that Australia has to offer, but that plane ride! Whew!
Well I suppose that is about all for now. I have some DDR on PS2 to get back to. Yay home workouts!
My husband sent me this link, probably because I am often in need of staying on track and remembering that life isn't always all about work (though work does help). I read through the list and I found that all of these were helpful to me, and that some of them could be used in multiple different aspects of my life, or in regard to different goals that I have for myself.
The last week (or so) has been pretty rough around the edges, and there is not a whole lot that I can really do to change things. People have died, others were married, and still others made their first appearance into this world. But that's the process of life, really.
Moving away from that which could very quickly become quite depressing, I still have school on my mind and I am still quite excited for orientation and the upcoming term. I am diving into literature that I haven't read since high school. It is a grand adventure all over again. I should also probably do at least a glance-over of some of my textbooks from my undergraduate semesters, just to brush up before I jump headfirst into teaching and taking graduate classes. I have a strong feeling that I am going to be quite busy this semester.
And next year we are hoping to be able to go to Australia! I am not sure if I have previously mentioned this on my blog, but there it is. As of right now there are four of us who are really planning to go, though four or six more have been invited to join in our escapades. I am not sure if the other six will be able to go due to some scheduling. Right now it is looking like the best time to go is in August. I am very excited for this trip. Number one, it's AUSTRALIA. Number two is, culture! and I think Number three is the bit about how I'm writing a story/novel/series that takes place in Australia, and so having the experience of going there and seeing everything firsthand will really be a benefit to my writing (and this will be the first official trip someplace where I am also using what I will see and learn to directly fuel the setting for a piece of my work). This is not to say that I do not use my other experiences in building the setting for my written works, it just means that most of the settings I have to pull from are of the midwestern influence, with a chunk of London and a small splash of Canada. I am truly looking forward to the vast differences that Australia has to offer, but that plane ride! Whew!
Well I suppose that is about all for now. I have some DDR on PS2 to get back to. Yay home workouts!
Monday, July 11, 2011
#50--Dreams and Money; The Money of My Dreams
Each dream is a hidden desire, a passion within me that I do not actively recognize.
There is some sort of truth about them--they say things about me that I would not admit to be true,
or at least not to your face.
But dream I do, and dream I have,
And for all those things that I dream and deny,
I cannot pretend or cover them all.
I am lucky to remember that which I dream,
Just like I am lucky to dream at all.
And in my heart I know that they should lead me to some part of myself that is hidden.
And a million and one questions rise up out of the gloom of my subconscious,
Unconscious,
And I find the questions are more numerous than my answers.
I feel that will always be the case.
Sometimes my wish is to dream, and I do not;
Other times I do not expect it and then I do.
It is quite hard coming back from those alternate realities that can seem almost better than the dawning of the day
But I have to remember that while I may be a different girl in my mind,
the one I am out here needs sustenance too,
And I cannot abandon her.
So the girl I dream of being, dream that I am,
she travels from my mind to my hand to the paper and lives;
She lives for so long that she is a legend, a myth--
A dream.
And so she comes full cycle,
taking pride in her effortless work
While I am breaking my back and my bank just to live,
Just to have food and shelter and a smile on my face.
The dreams that I dream and the girl within, they fade
into myth and legend and dream;
and I wonder if I will get to fulfill the same things as she.
There is some sort of truth about them--they say things about me that I would not admit to be true,
or at least not to your face.
But dream I do, and dream I have,
And for all those things that I dream and deny,
I cannot pretend or cover them all.
I am lucky to remember that which I dream,
Just like I am lucky to dream at all.
And in my heart I know that they should lead me to some part of myself that is hidden.
And a million and one questions rise up out of the gloom of my subconscious,
Unconscious,
And I find the questions are more numerous than my answers.
I feel that will always be the case.
Sometimes my wish is to dream, and I do not;
Other times I do not expect it and then I do.
It is quite hard coming back from those alternate realities that can seem almost better than the dawning of the day
But I have to remember that while I may be a different girl in my mind,
the one I am out here needs sustenance too,
And I cannot abandon her.
So the girl I dream of being, dream that I am,
she travels from my mind to my hand to the paper and lives;
She lives for so long that she is a legend, a myth--
A dream.
And so she comes full cycle,
taking pride in her effortless work
While I am breaking my back and my bank just to live,
Just to have food and shelter and a smile on my face.
The dreams that I dream and the girl within, they fade
into myth and legend and dream;
and I wonder if I will get to fulfill the same things as she.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
#49--Heat Rising
What can you say about the middle of summer other than that it is usually miserable?
I had a lovely Fourth, though it didn't quite compare to previous years (which is good, while at the same time disappointing). Though I have more mosquito bites for having lit all the fireworks at night.
I write in my blog because sometimes it makes me feel relieved to have things out in the open. Granted there aren't many grand secrets shared here, but this is not the place for sharing secrets. And besides, if I did share them, then they wouldn't be secret anymore would they? I write on this blog so that someone may remember me.
Because after everything else in life, the only thing anyone wants is to be remembered. No one wants to be left behind or forgotten. I feel that a lot of life is based on a person trying to make themselves memorable. While there is nothing wrong at all with being remembered, it can be a treacherous road with many opportunities to go astray, or to be remembered in a negative light. I have no advice here, to offer the general public reading this as to how one should remain on the right path. And honestly, with each consecutive post I add to my blog, I feel a little more preachy each time.
I suppose that is a character flaw I will have to work on.
In other news, I am working on a project for a couple friends of mine, and while I have not spent too much time on it thus far, I am finding as I go along that I need more information than I have, and tools also, which are not readily at my disposal. What I shall have to do is make some time to go to KC so that I may use my mother-in-law's tools, or otherwise just have a craft day. I am excited to continue to work on this project, and the finished result should be quite impressive.
I am also working on my story "Morph" (working title), which I may have mentioned before. After a long conversation with Carol, I felt the need to make some changes, and from there I wrote out the general plot outline that I want to follow. I have also been playing Dungeons & Dragons recently, and I feel that is a great exercise for character building, and allows you to really get into the characters head. It nearly forces you to react and behave as that character. And while all characters have a little bit of ourselves in them, they will be almost completely different from their creator (with some similarities of course, either in behavior and habit of speech, or some such detail). I am wondering how that would work out in a classroom setting: to have each student create a character using a D&D character sheet and the rules thereof. It could make for an interesting exercise or segment of the class indeed. As a result of the D&D playing, I feel that I should make character sheets for my starring roles in Morph, so that I may come to a better understanding of how the characters would behave or interact. I say that I will do this for the starring roles because making sheets for 40 some odd characters would be SO intense. I'm not sure if I could handle that. But perhaps my writing would be better for it.
I picked up Rock Band yesterday with Carol and we played for several hours, until we started doing poorly on the songs/ran out of songs to play, and so we finally called it a night. And yes, my fingertips are particularly tender today, so writing this blog post has proved to be quite the challenge. However, I have made it this far and I feel that I am going to be just fine.
I have so many projects I want to work on its ridiculous. I have enough to probably keep me busy for the next two years at least, and who knows what kinds of new ideas will continue to be generated in that time. This fall I begin grad school and teaching, and I've been reading a lot more lately (fiction, of course) but I also want to get into a good autobiography or other non-fiction. Outside of that I am wanting to brush up on some textbook reading (gasp if you will, I feel compelled). I want to design outfits and other articles of clothing and then sew them and wear them around and post pictures of my creations online. Fashion seems to be a newer interest of mine, and I was never especially fond of keeping up with trends or giving them any value at all until last summer when I started working at F21. I also want to finish painting the upstairs room, which means we will need to get more paint (which of course costs money, but what doesn't cost money lately?). I very much need to organize my roll-top desk (yes, roll-top desk: an antique in fact!) and set up my desktop computer and re-organize my filing cabinet. And I need to do laundry and clean up the walk-in closet and vacuum the whole house and plan a Harry Potter Movie-A-Thon. And on top of all these ambitions and things I'm going to be doing, there is NaNoWriMo in November to think about, and Sigma Tau Delta (which I will pick back up with the school year), and I also want to try to get involved with the community as well.
This is a lot on my plate I feel like, and I'm hoping I can achieve even a fraction of it. But if i keep confidence in myself and my wits about me, while also managing my time and money in a more economical fashion, then I am sure that I will be able to achieve ALL of these things.
And what I'm saying here is, if you have something you want to do, and you've never been able to do it, then set your mind to it. Research what you need to do to achieve your goal, and then go out there and grab it. Don't let yourself get to a point where you can never accomplish what you dreamed of. Make that bucket list, and then cross everything off as you complete the task.
We only have one life here on this Earth (for all we know) so we might as well make the best of it.
I had a lovely Fourth, though it didn't quite compare to previous years (which is good, while at the same time disappointing). Though I have more mosquito bites for having lit all the fireworks at night.
I write in my blog because sometimes it makes me feel relieved to have things out in the open. Granted there aren't many grand secrets shared here, but this is not the place for sharing secrets. And besides, if I did share them, then they wouldn't be secret anymore would they? I write on this blog so that someone may remember me.
Because after everything else in life, the only thing anyone wants is to be remembered. No one wants to be left behind or forgotten. I feel that a lot of life is based on a person trying to make themselves memorable. While there is nothing wrong at all with being remembered, it can be a treacherous road with many opportunities to go astray, or to be remembered in a negative light. I have no advice here, to offer the general public reading this as to how one should remain on the right path. And honestly, with each consecutive post I add to my blog, I feel a little more preachy each time.
I suppose that is a character flaw I will have to work on.
In other news, I am working on a project for a couple friends of mine, and while I have not spent too much time on it thus far, I am finding as I go along that I need more information than I have, and tools also, which are not readily at my disposal. What I shall have to do is make some time to go to KC so that I may use my mother-in-law's tools, or otherwise just have a craft day. I am excited to continue to work on this project, and the finished result should be quite impressive.
I am also working on my story "Morph" (working title), which I may have mentioned before. After a long conversation with Carol, I felt the need to make some changes, and from there I wrote out the general plot outline that I want to follow. I have also been playing Dungeons & Dragons recently, and I feel that is a great exercise for character building, and allows you to really get into the characters head. It nearly forces you to react and behave as that character. And while all characters have a little bit of ourselves in them, they will be almost completely different from their creator (with some similarities of course, either in behavior and habit of speech, or some such detail). I am wondering how that would work out in a classroom setting: to have each student create a character using a D&D character sheet and the rules thereof. It could make for an interesting exercise or segment of the class indeed. As a result of the D&D playing, I feel that I should make character sheets for my starring roles in Morph, so that I may come to a better understanding of how the characters would behave or interact. I say that I will do this for the starring roles because making sheets for 40 some odd characters would be SO intense. I'm not sure if I could handle that. But perhaps my writing would be better for it.
I picked up Rock Band yesterday with Carol and we played for several hours, until we started doing poorly on the songs/ran out of songs to play, and so we finally called it a night. And yes, my fingertips are particularly tender today, so writing this blog post has proved to be quite the challenge. However, I have made it this far and I feel that I am going to be just fine.
I have so many projects I want to work on its ridiculous. I have enough to probably keep me busy for the next two years at least, and who knows what kinds of new ideas will continue to be generated in that time. This fall I begin grad school and teaching, and I've been reading a lot more lately (fiction, of course) but I also want to get into a good autobiography or other non-fiction. Outside of that I am wanting to brush up on some textbook reading (gasp if you will, I feel compelled). I want to design outfits and other articles of clothing and then sew them and wear them around and post pictures of my creations online. Fashion seems to be a newer interest of mine, and I was never especially fond of keeping up with trends or giving them any value at all until last summer when I started working at F21. I also want to finish painting the upstairs room, which means we will need to get more paint (which of course costs money, but what doesn't cost money lately?). I very much need to organize my roll-top desk (yes, roll-top desk: an antique in fact!) and set up my desktop computer and re-organize my filing cabinet. And I need to do laundry and clean up the walk-in closet and vacuum the whole house and plan a Harry Potter Movie-A-Thon. And on top of all these ambitions and things I'm going to be doing, there is NaNoWriMo in November to think about, and Sigma Tau Delta (which I will pick back up with the school year), and I also want to try to get involved with the community as well.
This is a lot on my plate I feel like, and I'm hoping I can achieve even a fraction of it. But if i keep confidence in myself and my wits about me, while also managing my time and money in a more economical fashion, then I am sure that I will be able to achieve ALL of these things.
And what I'm saying here is, if you have something you want to do, and you've never been able to do it, then set your mind to it. Research what you need to do to achieve your goal, and then go out there and grab it. Don't let yourself get to a point where you can never accomplish what you dreamed of. Make that bucket list, and then cross everything off as you complete the task.
We only have one life here on this Earth (for all we know) so we might as well make the best of it.
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