Where does the time go?

Well, my goodness! It's already June! How did that happen? The year is slipping by.

My current exploits: I'm teaching an ESL class at NOVA. It's a low-level reading/writing course. Our first class was Thursday, 6/2. I'm excited to work with these students! I'm also publishing a new blog: Cat Lady Kate. It's for cat lovers, and it deals with all things cat-related. I've included ads & links to Amazon on that blog; I'm hoping to earn some money to donate to animal rescue organizations & other animal welfare causes. So when you stop by Cat Lady Kate, please click on the ads! There's also a Cat Lady Kate facebook group. Please join!

I'm still reading a lot. No surprise there! I recently posted a recommended reading list on The Book Junkie and the Book Junkie FB page. In addition to book reviews & book lists, I'm hosting two drawings on the FB page. Once we hit 100 "likes," I'm going to do a random drawing. One winner will get to choose a book for me to read & review. Another winner will get a Book Junkie bookmark. (The bookmarks are pretty cool! I have a lot of experience with bookmarks, and know what makes the just-about-perfect bookmark. Mine are designed to fit that criterion.) I also plan to (eventually) offer bookmarks & other book paraphernalia for sale. A portion of the sales will be donated to literacy projects. I'll let everyone know when that's up and running!

In addition to that stuff, I'm putting together a collection of stories & poems that I'll be publishing as an e-book available for Kindle & Kindle apps. That should happen pretty soon! Once that's done, I plan to get back to focusing on my novel. I may post excerpts of the book as I make progress; we'll see how that goes.

What's new in your life?

Definition

I’ve had an eventful life. But that doesn’t define me. When I was 11, I was told that I’m diabetic. A few months later, I had a stroke. I missed a lot of school. I was in a wheelchair, and I had lots of physical therapy. I’ve had surgery to correct problems with my leg. I’ve had car accidents. I’ve had horrible jobs. I’ve also had wonderful jobs, and I’ve had amazing opportunities. I have a wonderful family & awesome friends.

And none of those things define me. I am not “the girl who had a stroke.” I’m not “the girl in the wheelchair.” I’m not “a diabetic.” I’m not “that kid who went to Germany.” Nor am I “a woman with a degree” or “the lady who drives a PT Cruiser.” I’m not defined by those things; those events, those experiences, or those possessions.

What does define me? I am a teacher. I am a Christian. I'm a nature lover. I'm an animal lover. A book lover. A music lover. A writer. A singer. A cook. A moderate. A volunteer. I love thunder storms, coloring books, poems, stories, crosswords, taking naps, blowing bubbles, and chocolate. I love to give my cats catnip, then play laser tag with them. I laugh. I love my family, my friends, my students, my pets. I love to loll in bed and daydream. It makes me want to cry when I see how much time we spend hating each other rather than helping each other. I give money to beggars when I can. I smile at strangers I pass on the street.

I don’t bother with makeup or styling my hair. I say it’s because I’m lazy and I’d rather have the extra two minutes in bed than take the time to fuss. That’s part of it, of course. Really, though, it’s that I won’t let it define me. My appearance doesn’t identify me. I feel artificial if I spend too much time fussing. What I look like doesn’t define me; what I know defines me.

I might stay up until the wee hours reading. Or grading papers. Or planning lessons. Or finding activities to engage my students and make them enjoy learning. I might take a nap to make up for lost sleep. I might go to bed early. I am innately cheerful, even when I’m sad. This defines me.

I love Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter, Nora Roberts, and Robert Frost. I am a rebel who wears mis-matching socks. I lived in England, and I loved it. I love flowers and trees and mountains. I seek opportunities to learn and experience. I am not the girl who had a stroke 19 years ago; I am the girl who was too stubborn and too defiant to let it defeat or define her. I am not, God damn it, defined by the events in my life.

What I choose defines me. How I spend my time. My thoughts. My loves. The time I spend playing with my cats, planning lessons, searching for answers, and praying. My sense of wonder when I look at the sky defines me. These things all define me.

I define me.

For my students

Writing: It's not just for college

This one goes out to my College Writing 2 students. "I Love You Period" by Dan Baird:

I love the fact that he makes something nerdy (being a good writer) into something cool (which being a good writer already was, but how many of us really think like that?). Let's face it--if you can't punctuate your love letters, how far do you think you'll get in life? Okay, so the song is still full of geek, but it's a fun example of why we should care about punctuation ;)


Here's a song with an opposite take on punctuation: "Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend

"Oxford Comma" points out the ridiculosity (it's a word. I may have just made it up, but it's a word) of how uptight we tend to be about language. (The English teacher in me needs to remind everyone that, while language changes and we need to be flexible, PUNCTUATION IS STILL IMPORTANT! Remember those love letters from the first song?)


Now, one we've all experienced: "Writer's Block" by Just Jack (a fun Brit-Hip Hop take on the curse we all know).

See? Even rappers know what it's like.


And here's the ultimate song for writers. From the Beatles:

Writing. It's hip. 

Hands, Explanations, and Wile E. Coyote

Can you tell I've become obsessed with slam poetry?

Here's some Def Poetry. I really like the way this young woman presents herself. It's a cool topic, and she talks about it honestly, beautifully, ironically, and makes it cooler.

And here's part of why slam poetry is so awesome (warning: this one is almost 15 minutes. It's selections of poetry interspersed with commentary):

National Poetry Slam Director's Cut

And here's some nostalgic poetry for us Loony Toons fans:

Yeah, I know, it makes a point about addiction. But really, it's about Wile E.

More Poetry Slamming

This one is about being pretty. I love it!
 

 

What I love about poetry slams: the intense philosophy crammed into just a few minutes.

And speaking of poetry slams, there's a restaurant/bookstore/fair trade market in DC called Busboys and Poets. I've never been there, but after seeing several videos of poetry slammers recently, I looked into local events, and found this place. They host a monthly poetry slam on the second Friday of every month. I'm going to go and check one out next month. They also have weekly open mic nights, which should be pretty cool. 

Who wants to start going to poetry slams with me?

Why We Teach

This is a poetry slam performance, so don't be shocked by this guy's vehemence!

He sums up why teachers teach in a 3-minute performance. Pretty impressive.

Long time, no write!

It's been a long time, but I'm finally back! (Cue groans and boos) The last eight months have been good, but very busy.

August and September were filled with pet sitting. I spent a lot of time taking care of some lovely kitties (other than Hide and Seek)! I also had Jane's birthday, Jane's homecoming anniversary, Mom's birthday, and a novel that I've started writing. I got some writing done during August & September, but that fell off dramatically after...

A trip to the ICU in September. I had an insulin pump malfunction (which was partly user error!) that caused me to go into DKA. I wasn't getting enough insulin, so my blood sugar went high, I started barfing, etc. When I talked to my endocrinologist, he said to get to the ER--so I did! They got me stabilized, but I had to spend three days in the ICU while they fixed the issues with my blood sugar, insulin and various chemicals the body needs (there was something with potassium and phosphorus). It turns out (I discovered at the end of my hospital stay when we were trying to figure out what caused the DKA) that there was a tiny kink in the tubing of my insulin pump (hidden beneath the little plastic disk where it enters the body, so I didn't see it when I looked for problems), which meant that I wasn't getting the insulin my body needed. Well, lesson learned! I now know to check ALL parts of the tubing. Immediately after my Insulin Adventure, life got really cool when...

In October, I started a new job. I'm now teaching at Westwood College! I teach College Writing and Reading courses. After teaching at NOVA last summer, I discovered that A) I'm good at teaching and B) I love it. I got an email from Westwood in September in response to my Craigslist resume. I interviewed with Amanda, and got the job. Westwood is a career college that focuses on helping students succeed in the world of work. It takes three years to get a Bachelor's degree. There are five 9- to 10-week terms per year, which allows students to get through the curriculum more quickly than a two semester per year program. The work is interesting and challenging; many of our students come from school systems that don't do a good job teaching the basics, so we give them those foundational tools to build on to.

I'm now in my second term at Westwood, and I still love it. I'm an adjunct professor, which means that I'm essentially part-time. I'm hoping/praying that this will turn into a full-time position. Being a full faculty member would be a dream come true.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to for the past eight months.

Teaching and petsitting and weddings, oh my!

It's been a busy few months, and as we all know, time flies. (I would like to point out that time flies whether you're having fun or not. Which is not to say that I haven't been having fun, but time would be flying regardless.) Anyway, Summer's here--almost over, in fact--and I've been a busy bee.

Starting in mid-May, I taught an ESL class at NVCC. It was Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9:00-12:00. After class, I'd go straight to my full time job at PRD. It made for long days, but I LOVED my class, and it was totally worth it. The class was an advanced reading class, so I was teaching academic reading skills, vocab, and general college reading stuff. We went through two text books and a novel in 8 weeks. I felt sorry for my students, because they had so much to keep up with! The novel we read was Ernest Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying, which is one of the most beautiful & moving stories ever. Anyway, I had a lot of fun teaching. Class ended on July 12.

On July 3, I had a Very Important Event--Kara's wedding! It was beautiful, and a TON of fun. The weeks leading up to the wedding were busy, not surprisingly. One of the highlights was our trip to Doukenie Winery on the Tuesday before the wedding. It's a really nice place, and the wine was excellent (this is from me, a non-wine drinker). As bachelorette parties go, I have to say, this was a winner! It was a great day.

After the wedding, we had a small family gathering on the 4th. After the recent Big Events, it was quite lovely to have some quieter time. The evening of the fourth, I started a couple of pet sitting jobs (I pet sit through a pet sitting agency) that went through the next week. The week after that, I was on staycation, but had two additional pet sitting jobs to keep me from being too lazy. I've had pet sitting gigs consistently through the whole month of July (and it should keep going into August). Whew!

Now that life is slowing down a little bit (maybe), I've started some behind-the-scenes volunteering for Homeward Trails (that's the organization that Rachel & I fostered through when we roomed together. Rachel still fosters dogs with them). HT works with several shelters in the area, including King William County's Regional Animal Shelter. What I'm doing is reposting animals from RAS's petfinder listings to HT's petfinder listings (and then posting on Craigslist) to get the animals more exposure--and hopefully help them find fosters or adopters. It's a bit heartbreaking to see all of the homeless, helpless, abused, abandoned, etc. animals out there (and to know that many of them won't make it out of the shelter), but knowing that I might help a few of them makes it totally worth it. And frankly, it's easy. I just have to go to the library (or Starbucks, if I have my laptop with me), go online, and essentially copy & paste info. I hope I make a difference in some animals' lives!

So, that's me. What's new with everyone else?

Imagine...

This is from Sara and Brian Brandsmeier's blog, Ephphatha Poetry, originally from Tim Wise. It's incredibly thoughtful, not to mention thought-provoking. It's also very true. I believe whole-heartedly in freedom of speech, as well as the other freedoms protected in the First Amendment, but I also believe in respect, tolerance, and love. The behaviors that Wise addresses in this essay, while protected under the First, fall short of respecting, tolerating, and loving our fellow humans.

But isn't it great that we live in a culture where we can protest, say offensive and objectionable things, disrespect others--and call each other out on that behavior? I can't approve of saying or doing these things (I can, however, approve of protesting against them!), but thank God that we have that right. 

Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black