Mega-update: Chock-full of links, shout-outs, and complaints...

[ariadnequinn]

It's been a couple weeks, so I thought I'd post an update...


School stuff:

• The sheer number of students making up quizzes/tests from the beginning of FEBRUARY is staggering.  Yes, you read that right...I have students who keep telling me how hard they're trying, yet they allow 2 months to pass between the actual test date and when they take it.  And then they wonder why they don't do well...
• As such, I have TONS of things to grade on top of all of the labs/quizzes/homeworks they've completed this past week.
• I think that I'm going to stay true to my "make it up in 2 weeks or get a zero" rule next marking period.  I hate to just dole out zeros...but this is fucking ridiculous.  Especially for high school students.  Grow up.  Take responsibility.  The real world will not be as kind as I am.
• There have been 2 union meetings to address Governor Christie's budget cuts, as well as the likelihood of our town's budget passing.  Things don't look good...for me, for my fellow teachers, or for the public education system in general.  Please - no matter what town you live in, no matter what state, vote FOR your town's school budget.  Here in NJ, enough teachers, classes,  and after school programs/sports will be cut IF the budgets pass...if they fail things will be even worse, though I don't know how that's possible...
• I'm currently trying to enjoy day 1 of my abbreviated spring break (I have to go in Thursday and Friday)...

Fandom:

• I recently wrote an AU Syfy "Alice Fic" as my last entry to new_wonderland's Winter Wonderland Quarterly Challenge.  Inspired by the efforts of kelly1_watxm  and jellytea ...neither of whose suggestions I went with...but whose ideas helped get my creative juices flowing long enough to do a "Alice in 18th century England" piece a la Pride and Prejudice.  It turned out pretty good...am currently considering expanding upon it.  In the unlikely event you're interested, here it is:  I Am Not What I Am.
• While I'm on the subject of my own work, I've received a couple more awards from my peers at alice_contest .  They can be viewed in the "Awards" post at zomb_e_cons .
• Oh - "Alice"-themed Easter eggs THIS WAY...I'm actually quite proud of how they turned out.  Pretty cool.
• Saw "Clash of the Titans" in 3-D with my parents today.  Meh.  It was ok.  I was unimpressed with the 3-D part...I didn't think it was necessary.  Or particularly eye-popping.
• On the other hand...I also got to see the 2nd "Nightmare on Elm Street" trailer on the big screen.  I think my fangirl *squees* were sufficiently low so as not to embarrass my poor parents.  I can't wait until the end of the month...
• I'm in the middle of the novel Fallen, by Lauren Kate, which I picked up after reading luciademedici's lukewarm review of it.  I'll admit...it's the cover art that really drew me in, despite Luce's thoughts on the actual content.  So far, I'm intrigued.  I suppose I like it, but I can't tell.  It reads very...Twilight-ish, in that I feel it could have been written better.  And there's not one, but two gorgeous guys competing over a seemingly ordinary girl.  But there's enough mystery in it to intrigue me, so I'm trying to reserve judgment until the end.

Random Real-Life Stuff:

• A small group of people I spent the semester in England with (back in the fall of 1999) went out for brunch about a week ago.  There were only 5 of us, including me and the dean of the English campus. but it was wonderful to see them all again and catch up.  Those 3 1/2 months were quite possibly the best of my life (thus far).
• I'm not sleep well.  Again...still?  I don't know...I've been getting at least a good 8 hours of sleep the past few days, and still I'm exhausted.  I've also been taking naps (no more than 30 minutes a day).  Nothing seems to help.
• I had a nightmare about lithiumlaughter even though I've never met her in real life.  She accused me of plagiarizing her fanfic (even though I've never read her fanfic...honestly, I'm not sure she even writes any) - claiming that "I Am Not What I Am" (see above, under "Fandom") was taken from her own Pride and Prejudice-type "Alice" AU fanfic.  After being screamed at by her and her mother, I looked up the fic and saw how wonderfully thorough and amazing it was compared to my one-shot wonder.  Then I woke up.
• I desperately want to write a book...I have the first chapter done, as well as a couple middle ones...but I'm afraid that I'm not good enough...that I'm not up to the task.  So I'm continuing to write fanfic because practice makes perfect...and I'm seriously considering making a concerted effort to finish it over the summer.  Assuming, of course, that I'm not frantically searching for another teaching job...

And now?  Hmmmm...icons for the next challenge at alice_contest.  Or, perhaps, work on some icons of my own- specifically fave DC heroines/villainesses.  Work on fanfic?  Read more of Fallen?  Actually play one of my long-neglected video games?

Or should I just give up and go back to grading the HUGE stack of papers on my coffee table?  *sigh*

I'm thinking about going to karaoke tomorrow night...this whole "misanthrope" thing needs to give every now and again.

How are all of you doing...?