Realizations

So, since I am finishing out my final few weeks of my last semester, I've come to a few realizations.  Realization the first: I am sick of academia.  Last week, there was a Hijab Day on campus.  The Muslim Student Association hosted a series of presentations lying about what the function of the garment was for the culture, and how it was a choice to wear it.  They also had scarves and Muslim girls to teach the Western girls how to wear them, and selfie booths.  They complained, the day after, about how few people bought their bullshit were interested in what they had to say/try on the mark of being considered subhuman. 

I also have to walk on eggshells grading the papers of minorities, or trying to get anyone to question their assumptions (or even admit that there are unstated assumptions underlying claims that may make them absolutely the opposite of persuasive to those who do not share those assumptions). 

I am, and have been, sick of the atmosphere on campus for years, now.  I'm sure that the Soviet Union was worse, but only because they'd actually kill you for holding a dissenting opinion (though I'm sure Berkley would like to head in that direction). 

Realization the second: my Office suite comes to me through the university.  I may have to either switch to Open Office, despite not liking it nearly as well, or hope that I can continue using it for a while.  Because I can't buy a copy right now. 

Realization the third: One of the reasons I've not been writing is that I simply didn't have the energy, mental, emotional, or spiritual, to write.  The other is that I was so damn miserable that I was reading instead of writing, retreating into places other than the one I was in.  Part of that was the awful health problems (not resolved, but mitigated, and managed to the extent they could be), part was the horrid neighbors that moved in next door in '15, and part was dreading going back at the start of each semester.

Realization the fourth: Teaching takes a lot more out of me than I thought it did.  I'm capable of doing a lot more if I am not also in front of a classroom for six hours a week, interacting with students.  I don't know if it's the social interaction draining me, or if it's the way I teach (active, all over the classroom, and hanging over shoulders during group and individual worktime, monitoring how my students are doing and offering suggestions and help). 

Realization the fifth: I can be writing a LOT with it set as my fulltime "job."  I can do around 1500 words per hour.  If the story's coming well, I can do somewhere around 4-6K words per day, before I'm fried.  And my endurance may climb after a while.  And I've got work enough for a while--I have a LOT of ideas I just haven't had time or energy to develop. 

Well, now...

I got an email, last week, from the head of the English department of the university I work for.  "We regret to inform you that, due to a really tight schedule, we don't have any classes for you to teach in the spring semester.  We'll keep you in mind if we need to open more sections."

God's looking after me. 

I've known for the past year and a half that I can't be a good wife, good mother, good teacher, and write.  I've known for the past year that I can't be a good wife and mother as well as a good teacher.  I wouldn't have quit, but my standards for taking care of my family were sliding.  And my health was getting harder to manage a decent balance with.  And my mental well-being was slipping with the lack of writing. 

It's not an issue anymore.  Took a push, but I am not worried (much) about it.  I'll miss the classroom, and I'll miss the students, but I sure won't miss the atmosphere or the grading. 

(I now know what the constant fear of someone reporting something you say as wrongthink feels like.  Academia apparently thought Orwell's 1984 was a How-To manual for controlling people's very minds.  And the university where I work is nowhere near as bad as many others.)

Teaching is a HUGE energy drain.  It's actually more of an energy drain to teach two classes than it is to do three household chores (dishes, laundry,* picking up clutter throughout the whole house) AND do shopping.  Takes longer to recover from, and that's before you add in the grading...which is an energy drain in a different way.  I just...can't do it anymore.  And I fully admit that.  I also fully admit that without the energy drain of teaching, without that weight of dreading the next set of grading, I may well have an easier time of recovering--maybe even to the point of the CFS going into remission. 

If I am offered a couple of sections at the last minute, I'll likely take them.  It is going to be a stretch, financially not teaching--we can manage, but I'd like a little more of a pad, so I'd take the sections.  But I do think it'll be the last classes I'd take. 

*Laundry means getting the load back and into the washer, then into the dryer, then going for another load into the washer. As current energy expenditures stand, I can't move stuff from the washer to the dryer--wet clothes are heavy--and have enough left in my energy budget to do ANYTHING else. 

My department head is a racist.

He doesn't even realize it. 

Tuesday, my second plagiarism case came to talk to me.  They showed me that while yes, they did plagiarize, they didn't plagiarize the whole paper--just the abstract of the paper.  And they did their best to analyze the paper. 

They thought that the research project was choosing a research paper and analyzing it. 

No, I don't know how they reached that conclusion. 

But it got me thinking.  Wondering if the other one had done the same thing.  Sure enough, they had. 

So, I set about emailing both plagiarists to come talk to me so that we could work together: I'd explain the assignment again, and help both of them with the planning stages, then they could redraft the entire paper for a grade. 

Students satisfied. 

However.  Come to find out, both students had gone to my department head to complain. 

My department head emailed me and told me to find an unofficial solution to the issue.  Because my students are brown, Middle-Eastern, and can't possibly be held to the same standards as the white, American students. 

Okay.  Message received. 

Message.

Received. 

No more treating all students the same, and expecting the same levels of professionalism from all.  I'm supposed to expect less from non-native and minority students, set them up for future failure, and set them up so that others' expectations of affirmative action hires are perpetuated. 

Good to know.  Makes my job easier, knowing that no matter what, some students will be getting A's, so I might as well not bother grading their work. 

Academic integrity: just another victim to SJW bullying.

What the fuck is wrong with this country? 

Dear plagiarist,

No.  No, I will not--cannot--reconsider. 

Considering that I explained many times, all semester, the difference between your work and someone else's, I do not believe that you didn't understand my policies on copying someone else's work and turning it in as your own. 

You fail the class. 

I understand that you feel you shouldn't fail the class.  I feel the same way. 

However.

You copied a medical journal article, and turned it in as your own.  That isn't accidental plagiarism that I can give you a zero on the paper for.  That is deliberate, that is against university policy, that is against departmental policy, and my hands are tied. 

You fail the class. 

There is nothing you can do about it.

There is nothing I can do about it, without getting fired.  I am not tenured faculty.  I am semester-by-semester, at-will, contract employed. 

No, excuses won't work.  No, plays for sympathy won't work.  No, sob stories won't work.  No, tears won't work.

I have an eight year old son, and a six year old daughter.  It doesn't work for them; it won't work for you. 

I cannot do anything other than follow university policy.  I am not tenured faculty.  I do not want to lose my job.

I will not hold this against you if you take my class next semester (but I will be a lot more wary of you doing it again, and check every one of your papers, line by line).  This semester will not affect your grade for the same class next semester.  The university doesn't expel white American students that do this until they show a pattern of behavior; they certainly won't expel you. 

No, I cannot give you a zero for the paper and a C for the course.  I cannot deviate from policy. 

I do not enjoy dealing with pleading students for fifteen minutes when there is literally nothing I can do, and no way for me to change things. 

You fail the class.  Be an adult.  Take it again next semester. 

Sincerely,

An adjunct.

Counting down.

I have this week and next week scheduled for my classes' last paper.  This week, we're going over APA citation format in class, and then having a research day on Thursday.  Next week, they're freewriting on Tuesday, and workshopping/peer editing on Thursday. 

The week after, we move from papers to blogging for two weeks (four posts, total), and then we're absolutely done with class; final exams are scheduled for the next Tuesday for both classes (5/9), and will be nothing but students emailing me missing work during the time set aside for the final exams.  I won't be on campus for that.  And by the end of the day, I can and will be turning in final grades.

I am tired.  I'm ready for summer break from trying to cram new writing skills and bring out the ones present in my students. 

Fall semester's going to be rough.  I'm going to have back to back 75 minute classes.  I'll be done with the teaching by 10:45, though, and should be able to set office hours to be done by 1:00...which will give me a little while to go run errands, or crash until it's time to pick up the kids. 

Today, I'm working on grading paper 4 and revisions of paper 3 that were turned in.  I just wish the course site would cooperate more, instead of taking more than a minute to load the paper to grade, be sluggish on scrolling down as I read the papers, and take another minute to record the grade, then yet another to maybe load the next paper, or maybe just put me back on the gradebook's main page...where I have to select the next paper myself, and wait for it to load.

Needless to say, that is NOT the way it's supposed to work. 

I'm still working my way through the ones turned in through the course site for my earlier class; the paper copies are still in my bag, awaiting attention...and I forgot my freakin' pencil.  And I'm not comfortable grading in pen, because I tend to get nasty tempered and snarky with students who repeat the same corrected mistake from one paper to the next to the next.  And many do, even if more learn.

I'm still playing with the fountain pens I got for my birthday, last month, and despite loving my Conklins, I absolutely adore the lime green TWSBI Eco I got.  I'm DEFINITELY spending more on one of their Diamond 580s for the next pen I get (and one of their special ink bottles that make filling the pen a much less messy proposition).  The Eco holds a TON of ink, writes smoothly, and is just an all-around excellent pen (even if, as a piston-filler, it would NOT be a good pen to fly with filled).  It also doesn't really like to be carried on its side, jostled around.  It burps into its cap.  Doesn't do that if you carry it upright, though. 

I do plan to get either one of their vac-fill pens (which also have a special, less-mess ink bottle), or another piston fill eventually.  However.  Before that, I DESPERATELY need a new coffee pot--my current one takes fifteen minutes to brew 12 cups, if it's been freshly cleaned.  Otherwise, it takes longer.  And a brown-out will cause it to lose the clock, so pre-setting it the night before doesn't really work well.  That's fine for over break and summer, because I'm not in a hurry for it, but I have to be AT WORK by a bit before 8:00, for my first class.  And that's a bitch.

I miss my Cuisinart Grind-n-brew.  Fast, power blinks didn't wipe its clock settings, and I could put beans in and not mess with a separate grinder.  That's on my list for fall. 

A rant.

I had one of my students tell me one of the most horrifying things I've ever heard, today.  My student was talking about the full semester class that replaced the six week college orientation class I took: 1 credit hour replaced by 3 credit hours, with no useful information actually covered therein.  They told me that the instructor went on a rant that their entire generation was stupid and you can't fix stupid, so the instructor wouldn't even try. 

What the actual fuck? 

I have...issues with that. 

First of all, the stupid cunt nugget said that out loud, in the class, to the students that were their responsibility.  And it is patently obvious that said cunt nugget had forgotten that what you practice in front of a mirror is what comes out of your face in class, even when you're still talking to the reflection you saw during practice. 

Second, it's patently false.  Ignorance is not stupidity.  These kids may not have the same base knowledge we have, but they have something we didn't at their age: an encyclopedia/calculator in their pockets.  They've got different cultural expectations of education and knowledge than the cunt nugget's generation did.  They expect to be able to look up anything they need, and are in the process of learning to discern which sources are and are not credible for that purpose.

Third...you don't SAY that to students.  True or not, you just don't.  Why?

Students live up to--or down to--stated expectations.  If you tell them that they're stupid, they'll believe it, internalize it, and become it, especially if that's followed by the message that they're not worth the effort. 

Stupid cunt nugget needs to be fired.

From a fucking cannon. 

Musings

I wish my university would tell me whether someone has been dropped involuntarily for non-payment, or whether they have voluntarily dropped my class from terror/not wanting to work.  It would make filling out my roll book way easier if I didn't have to add names out of alphabetical order because of an accounting mistake.

Ever have a day where your child is standing there, eyes and mouth wide open, because they can't remember what to do next in their morning routine?  The morning routine that they've been following for two and a half years?  There are times I find it harder than normal not to swear at my children...

I know you're not supposed to change the dog food around, but what if your dog hates the food and won't eat?  Do you make them keep eating the food they hate, or do you switch around until you find something they like?

I didn't vote for Trump in either the primary or general election, last year, but if he keeps doing the same job he's been doing for the past six days since inauguration, I may well vote for his reelection.

Finally found some of my draft books, yesterday--the one with the random-ass short stories* I've been working on when I get stuck on something else, and the draft book for The Schrodinger Paradox. Since my classes are working on writing their papers, today, I will be working on getting stuff transcribed from the draft books, and more written. 

One has to wonder how Lzzy Hale of Halestorm can possibly channel rockers who are still alive like she does.  I mean, the dead ones make sense--how does she channel the souls and capabilities of those still living?

One also wonders about the soul-destroying apocalyptic break-up voiced by Starset's new album Vessels.  Is it metaphoric, or literal?  And did it happen between albums, or was it a formative event in the lead singer/songwriter's life?  Either way, it's a gorgeous, powerful album that you cannot judge without listening to the whole thing. 

I currently have five students doing their writing in the classroom, two drafting long-hand, and three on laptops.  All the rest took off to go find a computer elsewhere, or a comfy spot to write. 

Shadow the cat wound up getting her wish, a few nights ago.  We forgot to retrieve her from sleeping on her boy.  She had mild regrets in the morning--a full bladder and an empty belly will do that--but not enough that she hasn't tried to repeat her accomplishment.

A few weeks ago, I made a knitted wool-blend yarn headband for the pixie in Lion Brand's Wool-Ease (worsted weight) Rose Heather.  And my mother in law asked me "Where's mine?"  So, I made one for my mother in law.  Then my mother, sister, and all three aunts asked where theirs were...so my sweaters are going to wait while I make smaller projects. 

I have one sweater almost finished (Wool-Ease Avacado green), but messed up counting rows on the sleeves.  The left one is an inch too short, and the right one is an inch shorter than that.  Thankfully, it's a pretty simple thing to undo the cuffs, and add a bit.  I just need to finish the projects for family, first. 

I still need to remake a couple other sweaters I messed up on, too...

I got the pixie a plastic loom for Christmas (then had to get her a better one, since there was no way to keep the nylon loops from flying off of the one I gave her while she worked).  The imp was so intrigued by it that he went and spent his own money to get one of his own.  They're both doing excellent work on their various projects--and have finished about four or five apiece.  (Or rather, I've finished off the projects for them, since they lack the dexterity to bind their projects off.)

Last week, I tried easing back from taking an equivalent amount of Aleve tablets to equal prescription strength naproxen that I'd run out of.  My body says, "I'm sorry, I can't do that, Dave."  Come to find out, chronic, systemic inflammation is part and parcel of CFS/ME, and I wind up feeling like somebody hit me with a Mack truck.  So, it's back to the full dose.  I hate taking pills...

I need to stop procrastinating by writing the blog post, and start writing fiction. 





*Short stories are being gathered for another collection, tentatively titled Normalcy Bias.  So far, I've got about 25K words, plus a few more stories I need to transcribe (and one I need to finish). 

AAR for the semester

I've come to a few conclusions:

1. Until I can get my brain with a working de-fogger, I need to go back to the routine I can teach in my sleep.  This past semester was no better than the one before.  I mean, yeah, there is call for teaching more than MLA style, but I'm not sure I can do it.  Not right now, at least.

2. Three classes per semester is too hard on me right now.  I've got too many balls in the air as it is.  Yes, the extra income was nice, but I just can't handle the extra workload right now.  Maybe in a few years if I can get this mess to clear up. 

3. It seems like this semester's classes were far less prepared for hard deadlines than any of the other classes I've had the past few years.  I've had a lot of people simply not turning in stuff, or not participating in workshop.  Zeros are not good.  I had a lot of people simply not paying attention to directions, and a lot more that just...didn't do the work.  I've had more of the bottom half of the grades continuum this semester per class than I've had even in dumb classes.  And these weren't dumb classes.

4. I've also had a lot more NAGGING this semester.  "But...can't I do this to improve my grades?" "No."  "How about that?"  "How about we wouldn't be having this discussion if you'd been paying attention to the deadlines, and/or your grades, and/or instructions on how to turn shit in all fucking semester, shitbird?"  "Can I...?" "No." 

Just...no. 

Just thinking about this is exhausting.  Think I'm going to go make a pot of coffee. 

It sucks.

It sucks big time. 

"What sucks?" you may ask.

Simple.  You have students that you KNOW are plagiarizing.  You have students who can barely compose a comprehensible email (reads like it was written in their native language and put through Google Translate, including the email the paper was attached to), can't comprehend English, and turn in a paper that's an A.  You KNOW they didn't write it.  They aren't CAPABLE of writing it. 

But...prove it.  Prove it, or be called racist and fired. 

I'm not an ESL teacher.  And an ESL teacher is not going to be able to help a student turn something like that out without writing it for them.  Not in four weeks.

It sucks. 

*headdesk*

Two weeks ago:

Student S: I don't understand.  What is annotated?  what is bibliography?

I get it.  I do.  The title of the assignment--annotated bibliography--is scary, but it's really stupid easy.  So, I walk the student (who doesn't understand spoken English well) through how to do it. 

Last week:

Student S: I don't understand.  What is it I am to do for this assignment?

It's the annotated bibliography.  You put together the bibliography, and summarize the sources in six lines or less.  Basically, it goes source, summary, source, summary until you're done.

It was due Friday at midnight.

Today:

Student S: I did not understand.  I did not turn it in.  I am not sure it was correct.  I will bring it on Friday.

No.  Just...no.  It was due last Friday.  It was 15 points of credit/no credit.  It didn't have to be perfect--I did give feedback on what they didn't do right, when they needed me to do it.  Everyone that turned it in got credit.  I DO NOT TAKE late work. 

Can we re-institute a rule that tests the spoken/written comprehension of a non-native English speaker before permitting them to take UNIVERSITY classes?  Please?  I'm getting REALLY DAMN TIRED of this shit.

Especially with Saudi males.  And especially in September.

New ideas in teaching writing

Last semester sucked.  I really shouldn't have tried what I did while I was disabled upstairs.  Trying to do multiple research papers and styles while I couldn't think straight...well, it wasn't an unmitigated disaster, but it was damned close.

I have a better idea how to do it, and do it right, this semester.  I'll go ahead and teach the four styles of argument (definition, causal, evaluation, proposal), but I'll match them up with the styles (Chicago style, Council of Science Editors, Modern Language Association/MLA, and American Psychological Association, or APA).  Pretty sure science would be best matched with causal, and Chicago style (journalism) would be best matched with either a definition or the evaluation (in the form of a movie review).  If you've got ideas, feel free to let me know in the comments.

The main point is this: English and foreign languages are the only majors that use the MLA format beyond basic core classes.  Why is that the only style English departments are teaching?  Neither the CMS nor the CSE styles are remotely similar in anything but the bibliography.  APA is pretty similar, but for the use of copyright dates in the in-text citations.  But even APA isn't more than just glossed over.

I have most of the parts of my textbook done, I just have to assemble it correctly.

And this semester, this fall semester, I have arranged to teach two comp 2 courses...and one comp 1.  I got an email from the new department head asking me to take an extra section.  On the one hand, that's a nice little extra in the income.  On the other...that's an extra two dozen papers to grade every few weeks, and an extra number of office hours.  I think my requirements will be up to 7.5 hours on campus (2.5 office hours per class taught).  So, two hours in the morning every day I'm on campus, and half an hour after classes.  Or maybe an extra 25 minutes in the morning before classes...I'll have to think about that.

And...I haven't taught Comp 1 in about six years.  I need to redo my book.  I'm honestly thinking of two papers plus a lot of other little assignments to add up to about 5,500 words that I grade (one is going to be a unit on how to email a teacher...probably the first one).  I'm planning six weeks of blogging while I do an intro to research unit, and a unit on spin and how it's done (gotta get them suspicious of politics and advertisers before November...).  I may do a unit on how to put together a powerpoint presentation, since I don't think anyone else really does that.

(Yes, I'm sort of thinking out loud, here.)

If anyone has any suggestions on what else they think I should do, feel free to chime in.

This semester...yeah, it's gonna be rough.

How much clearer can I possibly be?

"You have the two hour block set aside for your class's final exam time to email me anything you didn't turn in over the course of the semester."

"Email things to me.  I will not be on campus during finals week."

"The last day I will be on campus is the last day of classes, Friday, May 6." 

"If you haven't turned in anything over the course of the semester, you have one last chance during [this two hour block] on [this day] to email it to me, because I will not be on campus during finals week."

These things have been iterated and reiterated on a daily basis for the past fucking month, both verbal and written.  I still have students trying to find me on campus, to turn in hard copy, and not during the set final exam time.  I have students sending me things three or four hours late. 

I'm heading into Friday's surgery with a fuck-ton not finished up around the house.  The living room is a fucking disaster, as is the kitchen, and the master bedroom/bathroom.  I do not yet know what time I am supposed to show up for surgery, nor can I find out before Thursday when the hospital calls me.  I have the kids to plan for, the landscapers to watch for, and a whole mess of other things relevant to my LIFE going on.  I cannot handle whiny-ass students who don't fucking listen and fucking pay fucking attention on top of all the other shit I've got going on. 

I'm about ready to turn in all grades, my grade books, and everything, and tell the stupid shits that think they're adults to go fuck themselves with a fucking cactus impaled on a reciprocating saw. 

Well, damn.

I had thought I had a smarter bunch this time.

Not so.

A smarter bunch wouldn't have tried to turn in papers late without having first asked for an extension.  This bunch?  Two Muslims and a theater student have all tried it.

I do not take late papers.  Not even turned in one class day late, before I've really managed to get much grading done.  I've offered them three ways to turn papers in on time: in person in hard copy, through the class site directly to the grade book, and by email attachment.  Electronic copy is due by midnight of the due date, which gives an extra thirteen or fourteen hours, depending on which class it is.

Still.  Three zeroes.

Yeah, I'm irritated.  REALLY irritated.  Because two of those papers?  Will be C papers at best, and aren't worth my time and effort due to outside issues preventing them from being capable of better.

The other one is an A student who "forgot," because she's the stage manager for both one of the university theater department's plays, and one of the local city little theater plays.  At the same time.

Yes, they have a chance to do better--I have a policy that late papers can be turned in during the two hour block of time set aside during finals week for our class.  That means, however, that they cannot revise that particular paper.

I cannot bring myself to care that that means that two of them will likely lose their scholarships and be sent home.

I cannot bring myself to care that that means that the other will likely lose a potential letter grade from her potential final grade.

They're supposed to be adults.  I cannot let myself care about whether they succeed or not.  They have to learn to do this on their own.

Or not.

Random ramblings

No, I'm not dead.  Just...yeah.

A week ago Thursday, I had the appointment with the ear/nose/throat specialist...then got sick with a mild, short lived bout of something that had me aching all over and spiking a fever, but fine the next day.  

This week alone has been horrifically busy: the kids were out on Friday (but I wasn't).  I arranged with my mother in law to meet her at the halfway point between their house and ours, and hand the imp off for a couple days' overnights.  Then Friday morning, I ran the pixie up to my mom's before busting ass to get to my classroom in time to hold class. 

We had a parent-teacher conference with the imp's teacher on Thursday.  She says he will be thoroughly ready for 1st grade this fall.  The pixie's teacher said that she didn't feel a conference was particularly needed at this point, so...yeah.

Today, we buzzed around getting a few things, looking around at a few things (like the baby chicks, ducklings, and guinea fowl at a nearby farm supply store), then Odysseus went to the halfway point to snag the imp.  I managed to get the dishes done (well, loaded--the imp actually put the soap in and started the dishwasher for me). 

Tomorrow?  Last Monday was Odysseus's birthday.  We'll be going up to my mom's so she and my sister can stuff him with pork roast sandwiches, butter and herb potatoes, and chocolate cake. 

The cats have been...well, cats.  Cricket's still nervous and jittery, but incredibly affectionate, and Shadow's still fat and lazy.  Shadow is currently curled up sleeping on the imp.  Cricket's as still as I ever see her, stretched out sleeping on the arm of the couch.

So far the semester has been rather...uneventful.  The students are better writers than last semester, with a few exceptions that aren't so bad as to be notable.  They've reassured me a few times that they love the idea I had to change up the class.

Over the past several years, English departments nation wide have started complaining that the rest of the university seems to think they're...irrelevant.  Horrible thought, I know.*  Part of the reason, I think, is because of how we teach writing: English departments seem to think it's adequate, timely, and relevant to all majors to teach research papers...done only in MLA format. 

I don't agree.  The only departments on campus that use MLA are English and foreign languages.  No one else.  Social sciences use APA, history and journalism use CMS, and the hard sciences use some variation of CSE.**  What are we doing to help the students majoring in other disciplines write better in their own? 

Not much.

I'm trying to change that in my class.  This semester, I'm teaching three research papers--one each in MLA, APA, and CMS.  Next semester, I'll add CSE to that. 

Right now, I'm trying to rewrite my textbook.  I've gotten some of it done, and gotten most of the chapter over how to do an APA paper done.  I still lack an explanation of the different parts of an APA paper, and the sample essay.***

Unfortunately, with the textbook, I've not had time to more than rough out one of the handwritten drafts for one of the stories.  All of my writing time has been focused on trying to fix things for my students, with regards to teaching them what they actually need to know.

*Not really.  As it just so happens, it's actually true.  English departments that do what mine is doing--shoving writing instruction off onto the other majors to teach to their own requirements--are more and more irrelevant.

**APA--American Psychological Association; CMS--Chicago Manual Style; CSE--Council of Science Editors

***Yes, I have to learn three new styles so I can write the chapter for them.  And so I can write a sample research paper actually using said style.  If anyone would like to offer me a persuasive paper in APA, CMS, or CSE for inclusion as a sample in my textbook for my students, leave me a comment with an email addy where I can contact you.

Random ramblings

We went up to my in-laws' house, yesterday.  Odysseus's much-older sister and her grandson (our kids' second cousin) visited yesterday, too, and the bigger boy brought water guns.  He'd obviously put significant thought into matching his water blasters to my kids' sizes.  The three kids had a blast, although the pixie wasn't happy with the aftermath: she got stripped down to the skin, and dry shorts put on (with no underwear).  She told me she was "terribly not comfortable" and wanted to go to the store for dry panties.

The imp...well, we had recently watched Guardians of the Galaxy with him.  He loved it.  Loved Groot, and loved Rocket.  The other boy had the refill bucket covered, and squirted the imp every time he tried to reload.  The imp, however, was using a watergun with a magazine.  Odysseus showed him how to detach it, reload it in the garage bathroom sink, and put it back.  The imp slaps the magazine home 'til it clicks, gets this huge smile, and says, "Oh, yeah."  Just like Rocket in the movie when he got ahold of a blaster (which the imp's watergun resembled). 

It was hilarious.

The imp also had a milestone this week: he lost his first tooth.  Poor little guy lost it at recess, and lost it in the rocks on the playground.  He bawled.  A lot. 

(The tooth fairy left him a note that she'd found his tooth on the playground, and brought him money anyway.)

I ordered a 10 pack of Hero 616 pens.  They arrived this last week--some of the nibs are slightly off-center with the hood, and in one or two, the nib tines were misaligned, which will make them scratchy and unreliable (but which is easily fixed).  I have two of them loaded with ink--green and red--and I'm very satisfied with the quality.  The pens themselves are slightly smaller than the 616 my mother bought for me, and have stainless steel nibs, rather than gold (like the one my mom gave me has).  They write incredibly well, and seem like they'll be nice, reliable writers. 

The cats are still trying to adjust to a different lifestyle and schedule of most of us being gone most mornings.  Sometimes, Shadow gets clingy, and sometimes she gets mad and won't interact with us at all.  Cricket...I'm not sure she remembers we've been gone after we get home. 

I've picked up my first set of papers from my students.  No, I haven't started grading yet.  I'll be working on grading starting later this afternoon; we'll be going to the local range after babysitting gets here for the pixie.  After that, I'll be much more relaxed, and in a far better mood for actually figuring the grades (which is the part I HATE).   We'll also likely be watching Clint Eastwood comedies later this evening, after the pixie goes to bed. 

I've got about four pages handwritten of The Schrodinger Paradox.  I've been too busy this week to sit down and type them up--the handwritten bits were written during a few minutes snatched here and there, while I was waiting for something, or when I had the draft book at hand and nothing else that needed done at the moment.  I should hopefully have some time for transcription this coming week.

random ramblings

The kids had a good week, this past week.  The imp is really shaping up, behavior wise.  I'm really proud of him.  His new kindergarten teacher knew him last year, and says that there's a huge difference in his emotional and mental maturity and readiness for school.  I'm thankful for that.

The imp is settling into his new routine fairly nicely; however, he's starting to get up at five thirty or earlier to play before school.  And he gets just loud enough to wake the pixie so that she comes to play with him. 

It's not as big of a problem on school days: I get up sometime between 5:30 and 6:00.  However, he also did that this morning.  And got loud enough, more than once, to wake us up.

I put him down for a nap when I put the pixie down.  And I explained to him that he'd gotten up far too early for him to have gotten enough sleep.  He isn't happy, but I think he gets it.  And he grew about an inch over the summer, when I was making him take naps every day, so...yeah.  I think he's not getting enough sleep, not because his bedtime is too late, but because he gets up too early. 

The pixie managed to hurt her foot--she tripped over one of the imp's toys, and managed to scrape between her littlest toe and the slightly bigger one next to it.  She's been subdued and whiny, since--apparently, it hurts.  A lot.  Most of the time.  Whether she's playing or sitting still. 

Last weekend, we got a laser pointer to try to get the cats to play a bit more (especially Shadow, the fat one).  It was...a dismal failure.  Even Cricket didn't care to play with it.  I might take it up for my sister to try out on her cat. 

I have two classes full of engaged, interested students, this semester.  I'm pleased.  I'm much less pleased to have three or four single Muslim men between the ages of 17 and 40 in my classes, partially because I trust them a whole fuckton less than my colleagues do, and partially because they don't understand, speak, or write well in English.  I mind them a lot less when they have no problems understanding the lecture, and can write a decent paper, because then I can interact with them a lot less.

So.  This week was rather non-productive for office hours.  Monday, I had to spend the first forty-five minutes rushing to the department to sign my contract, then back to the library...only to find that there was already a Comp II class in my classroom.  Wednesday, I needed to run to IT, but couldn't on foot (and wouldn't in the car because campus is batshit insane for the first three weeks or so).  It was raining.  So, I scouted around and found a good place for office hours.  It's the same as a couple of semesters ago, a cozy nook in the bottom floor that's fairly quiet and out of the way.  Friday, since it was dry, I had to run over to the IT department and get them to set me up with internet access.  Took up the first hour of my office hours again, but worth it.

I'll be starting standard office hours--and back into the writing--as of Monday.  I'll have next week to go through and write, and then the week after, I'll be picking up papers.

Tuesday and Thursday, I drop the pixie off, come home, do housework that I can't do with "help" quickly or efficiently, then go pick her back up at noon.  I haven't gotten caught up with that to the point that I can write, yet.  I'm sure I'll eventually get there.

Yup.  Routine.  Settling.  Getting frustrated, because the most I've been able to write is a few words here and there in my various draft books on three or four different projects.

Random ramblings

So.  Week one down of school.  Yeah, I know: two days is hardly the first week, but I think it counts.  Both kids did well, according to their teachers.  I'm hopeful for the rest of the year, in some respects, but the imp went into it sick and subdued (a cold), and the pixie picked it up from the imp as of yesterday. 

For that matter, so did I.  As I'm sitting here, typing this, an hour after the kids went to bed, I have a lemon and honey and honey whiskey hot toddy at my left elbow. 

I think the imp is settling into the new routine (and school is incredibly helpful with that).  Yes, he's still whiny and a little prone to weeping and tantrums, but it's lessening as the boundaries don't change, and he gets used to Daddy going to work just before he leaves for school, and getting home right around supper time. 

He's getting bigger, and some things that used to bother him worse in the past don't seem to bother him as much anymore.  Others...not so much.

One thing the imp is absolutely delighted by is his first loose tooth.  He spends a lot of time wiggling it.  

How is the pixie taking the changes?  Quite well, I do believe.  She hasn't seemed upset by anything.  In fact, she loves seeing Daddy in his work clothes: "Oh, Daddy, you look so handsome!"

I think she's also adjusting well to the five day per week pre-K.  She doesn't thrive in daily routines like the imp does, but it certainly does her no harm. 

The cats...are adjusting.  Both of them get a little bit clingy with the kids as soon as they get home, but that doesn't last too long.  I mean, yeah.  Cats. 

Speaking of cats, Cricket forgot how to cat yet again, yesterday.  She flung herself from the arm of the couch into the kitchen (crossing around four feet of carpet without touching the floor), skidded all the length of the kitchen, and body-slammed the bottom of a folded-up stepstool...which toppled over and squished a kitty.  I chased her down and ensured that nothing was actually hurt but her non-existent dignity (and it wasn't...seriously).  And after ensuring that she had nothing worse than bruises, I had a good, hard laugh at the scramble. 

Monday, I start back.  I've got both sites all set up, so all I have to do is get the kids dropped off, get myself in and parked, then walk across the campus--twice--to check in at the department, then go teach my classes.  Think I'm wearing these instead of these for that first day.  I also have the stuff I need printed already stuck in my class binder.  I'll need to take in a couple of books to leave in my classroom for student use and reference. 

I'll also need to figure out where I'm holding my office hours.  I do not want to share a large space with many desks and many leftist leaning, well-meaning morons with whom I get along (for the most part) until politics comes up.  I'd rather have a small room all to myself...maybe I'll talk to the library secretary about reserving one of the small study rooms for a couple of hours per class day...

I'm still working on writing.  It's taken a bit of a back seat to the mad scramble to get the new routines set.  And we're still working on that--it's a bit of a change to have to get up a bit before six to get myself ready, then the kids, then the kids' and husband's lunches (one kid eats at the school, the other in the car on the way home from school), and then get my coffee and catch my breath.  I've been crashing by ten or before for the past week, and that cuts into my kids are sleeping writing time.  Thankfully, office hours will fix that.

Once I get my music transferred from either the old laptop or the flash drive acting as a music player in the Subaru, that is.  I got most of it transferred, but somehow missed grabbing Starset's Transmissions album.

Random ramblings

So, apparently, my imp is way more perceptive that even I thought.  He's been really insecure and upset about the rapid changes happening around here, and spent all of last week testing boundaries.  As of last month, Odysseus graduated college with an accounting degree, and was employed less than two weeks after graduation in the accounting department of a large local employer.  I think getting into a solid routine will help immensely--if I can manage to not strangle him beforehand.

I can't tell whether the pixie has noticed the changes or not.  I'm pretty sure that the cats either don't notice, or don't care.

Odysseus starts Monday.  He's got to be in by 7:15, which means he needs to leave between 6:30 and a quarter till seven.  He should be home by about five, most days--enough time for me to pick up the imp, feed the kids small snacks, get homework done, and start supper.

School starts for the kids next Thursday.  We have a back to school night at six on Tuesday (which means my dinner plans will have to be fairly quick and easy, since Odysseus will get home around five), and then the kids start back at 8:05 a.m. on Thursday.  The pixie will have a four hour day, five days a week, and the imp has a full school day. 

And I will have those two mornings in a row to myself.  I'll need to get my class sites built before then so that I can use those days to work on housework. 

I start back the next Monday.  I'll drop the kids off, then go find somewhere to set up for office hours.  I'll have about an hour and a half per day, then two classes, and will be done to go pick up the pixie at noon.

Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll have free.  I'm planning on doing what I can to keep up with the house on those two days.  Grading and writing will happen during my office hours.

It's going to be a hell of a juggling act.  We'll just see how well I can keep the balls in the air.  Hopefully, it'll be easier with both kids in school every day.

As for writing...I have the first part (of three projected) of The Schrodinger Paradox nearly done.  I've got three more chapters, and about 27K words.  I think part 1 will be nearly 40K words, if it doesn't tip all the way over.  Part 2, I've got 2.5K words done on, and have it set up to really take off when I can focus on it.  It should be about the same length.  Not sure about part 3.  I've got it semi-mapped.  I'm pretty sure this is going to be my longest work, to date.  Also my most complex. 

I'm having a blast with it.  The problem is finding the time and mental energy (and right headspace) to write.  Thankfully, 90% of the time all it takes is picking up my draft book, picking out and picking up a pen, and drafting longhand. 

random ramblings

Odysseus had his last final exam this past week.  He is now finished with his Accounting degree.  I am incredibly proud of him--all of his classes were A's and B's, with two semesters of straight A's. 

We got a big box of sidewalk chalk a couple of weeks ago...right before we had a long period of mid 90s for highs, with heat indices in the low to mid 100s.  It's nowhere near that hot at either grandparents' houses, but it certainly is in town.

I took them out to go play with the sidewalk chalk anyway, yesterday morning.  Odysseus had a short telephone interview set up for yesterday, and the kids were really loud and restless. 

They did really well on the cleanup--there were half a dozen pieces left out, and the imp ran out and got five of those.  The last one was half-buried in the grass, and he just didn't see it.  I didn't see it, either, until we were getting back from doing grocery shopping late yesterday evening.

After the interview, Odysseus took the imp, the imp's bike, and two changes of clothes, and drove up to the barber shop that the imp likes--the one his grandparents take him to.  Both of my guys needed haircuts, so it seemed like a case of time and effort saved. 

Right after they'd left, one of the jobs Odysseus had applied for (not the one he'd interviewed for) called to set up an in-person interview.  And an hour later, the place he'd interviewed with called back to set up an in-person interview.  Either job would be fantastic, and either commute would be about the same length, where time is concerned.  Both jobs are simple, entry level positions, and Odysseus would rock either of the two.  

Needless to say, Odysseus feels lots better, and much, much more hopeful. 

Shadow has picked up an odd new habit: her spine is really, really itchy, and she loves having fingers dug through her plush-toy thick fur and given a good scratch up and down her spine.  She loves it so much her ears go limp, eyes fall half shut, and she starts licking the air.  If she gets an arm within reach, she whips around and starts licking the person doing the scratching, and purring as loud as she can. 

Cricket absolutely hates this, and will turn wrong side out, lash out with no-claw slaps, and run away to hide. 

The cats are nearly complete opposites where personality is concerned. 

My dog has begun trying to knock me off my feet as soon as she sees me, so that she can climb in my lap and roll over and over and over--it's a little weird.  I don't mean just rolling onto her back to get belly rubs.  No, I mean all the way over as fast as she can squirm, as many times as she can, until she gets dizzy from it. 

Dog is nuts.

Next weekend is our state's back-to-school sales tax free weekend.  So this coming week, I've got to try all of the imp's jeans from last year on him to see just how much too short they are. 

They go back to school on the 13th of August. 

I go back the next Monday. 

I'm finally caught most of the way up with the housework I fell behind on while I was sick, so my focus for reading and writing is returning.  I should be finished with the book I'm editing within the next day or so, and then will be getting back into my own writing.

random ramblings

So.  Sick imp was no longer sick when he woke up yesterday.  Ate two sausage links, and then ate well for lunch.  Which meant that we were able to go ahead and keep up with our plans yesterday to drop them off with Odysseus's parents, then go out for lunch.  He spent last night, and will be spending tonight, too.  And Grandma took them to the water park yesterday, and will be taking the imp (or already has taken, probably, by this point) back today.

Since the imp is at their grandparents' house, the pixie's here on her own.  I usually let her watch a lot of the things she likes that the imp doesn't, when he's gone, but today's a bit different.  Today, Odysseus took the pixie to her first movie theater movie: they went to see the new Minions movie. 

I've posted a half a dozen pens on my Etsy page.  Most of them are fairly inexpensive, but one is fairly rare, and it's rare to find another of the pens I've posted in as excellent of condition as it's in.  I've still got four more pens to fix (three to sell, one to keep as an exemplar of filler type).

My family has discovered the Dawn dish soap trick for fleas, and my little dog loves her bubble baths.  Mom says she huffs on the bubbles to blow them around. 

Shadow has been spending the early parts of nights sleeping on the imp for a while, now.  Last night, she spent most of the evening looking for her boy before she gave up and slept on his desk.  She's been sleeping on his desk for most of the day...and then decided she'd sleep on my recliner's footrest.

Cricket has been playing "the floor is lava" throughout the carpeted areas of the house.  Odysseus has three big, heavy plastic trunks in the hallway.  She jumps from the one closest to the living room doorway onto the pixie's desk, then from there to the back of the couch.  She jumps from the couch to the kitchen.  Does not seem to like carpet at all.

I've got just about one more month off before fall semester starts.  The kids' school starts on the Thursday before, sort of to give the kids a chance to get back into (or into for the first time) the swing of things.  And during this last month I have off (and once I've finally got this stupid UTI kicked to the curb), I'll see just how much I can get done.  The house has gone from debris field disaster area to a mere train wreck.  I'm not sure it's going to get better than that, given that I've got the kids following me and working on making new messes as I clean them up.  And eventually, I'll have to take time off and rework my textbook (again) and work on revising/revamping the class for next spring.  I've got a lot to learn for my plans, which should make my students better prepared to write in whatever their major is.

I'm just under a third of the way through the book I'm proofing.  It's slow going, because I hadn't been able to focus for long periods of time.  Too miserable.  I'm hoping I'll feel less like I have the flu tomorrow.

As for writing...I think I got through the most recent block, but I'm not entirely sure.  We shall see.