n'importe quoi
Has it really been more than two months since I last posted? Even I am surprised. Or not surprised. Things, life, have certainly gotten in the way of the words - and everything else - this semester. More so than any other term I can remember in the recent past. These things and life are not much different in the literal sense (same teaching load, same busy-ness), but for some reason, I've spent these last few months unable to fully - no, even partially - surface. Most unpleasant, the sensation of constant breathlessness. I am beginning to think I need some time management lessons. I'm set to start teaching (what essentially is advanced comp/rhetoric with a public speaking component thrown in) at RU in the fall, four sections of it in fact. I'm nervous, both about the content and how I will possibly balance everything. This new teaching may also help me get to a place which no longer involves much technical editing consulting work; that would be really good.
Today I'm reading my students' final blog entries and discussion board posts. As challenging as this semester has been, this has been the most instructive nature & environmental writing course yet, for everyone. And reading their final ideas on the class, hearing just how much an impact this (the class, the genre, the assignments) has had, universally, is just so rewarding. Knowing that I have made some difference, both small and great, helps make up for some of the challenges.
We're set to move into our much-smaller-but-bug-and-mice-free place in less than two weeks. Coinciding with the end of the semester, it's much more daunting than moving usually is. Getting rid of as much as possible, but it's still just a Very Big Task. Somehow, moving across town lacks the excitement and anticipation of moving someplace new. Downsizing and simplifying is good though, and necessary. We're scaling back in as many ways as possible (so far, am not the least bit missing our digital cable - but I'll be sad when 'True Blood' starts up again). Too much stuff, too many complications.
It's been a good publishing year so far. Two pieces - both leftovers from my thesis (though one piece has had the Sequoia edited right out of it) - accepted into anthologies. And there's one more out there in the waiting-to-hear netherworld (The Mouse Essay). I am not holding my breath on that one, knowing the journal like I do (Creative Nonfiction & I have very different artistic visions) and learning upon getting my first issue in the mail (included in the money I had to pay to submit my essay) that they're now publishing many fewer creative pieces. I won't hear anything for another few months probably. But still, two new publications in a year, that is wonderful validation indeed. Now if I could just get to the business of new writing!
Today I'm reading my students' final blog entries and discussion board posts. As challenging as this semester has been, this has been the most instructive nature & environmental writing course yet, for everyone. And reading their final ideas on the class, hearing just how much an impact this (the class, the genre, the assignments) has had, universally, is just so rewarding. Knowing that I have made some difference, both small and great, helps make up for some of the challenges.
We're set to move into our much-smaller-but-bug-and-mice-free place in less than two weeks. Coinciding with the end of the semester, it's much more daunting than moving usually is. Getting rid of as much as possible, but it's still just a Very Big Task. Somehow, moving across town lacks the excitement and anticipation of moving someplace new. Downsizing and simplifying is good though, and necessary. We're scaling back in as many ways as possible (so far, am not the least bit missing our digital cable - but I'll be sad when 'True Blood' starts up again). Too much stuff, too many complications.
It's been a good publishing year so far. Two pieces - both leftovers from my thesis (though one piece has had the Sequoia edited right out of it) - accepted into anthologies. And there's one more out there in the waiting-to-hear netherworld (The Mouse Essay). I am not holding my breath on that one, knowing the journal like I do (Creative Nonfiction & I have very different artistic visions) and learning upon getting my first issue in the mail (included in the money I had to pay to submit my essay) that they're now publishing many fewer creative pieces. I won't hear anything for another few months probably. But still, two new publications in a year, that is wonderful validation indeed. Now if I could just get to the business of new writing!