Hey Wiscon32, that check was good!



( Read more... )

I just heard from the illustrious slushmaster that Realms of Fantasy will be taking my short story, "The Radio Magician."  I think that means I'll be in Realms two issues in a row since they took "The Light of a Thousand Suns" at the end of October.

The entire new TOC is here.

Here's the assignment (instead of a traditional essay):  My honors 10th graders finished reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, a book that is so cool that almost every teacher in the department teaches it (replacing one of the other choices, Bless Me Ultima, Tom Sawyer or Catcher in the Rye). 

The students had to find a quote from the book that they would like to illustrate.  This is the easy part since you can hardly open that book without finding something arresting to contemplate.  Then they illustrated it on a piece of poster board with the quote included.  Doing the art is fun and a nice change of pace from the other ways we have worked with literature, particularly since we are at the end of the year.  The payoff in the assignment, though, is when they present their quote to the class in a sort of show and tell of their poster. They have to connect the scene they chose to illustrate with a theme in the book.  I've included one their posters here.

I spend a lot of time talking about theme as just what a work says about its topics.  So, Romeo and Juliet, for example, has numerous topics, like friendship, love, violence, revenge, etc.  But a topic is not a theme.  It doesn't become a theme until you make a statement about the topic.  "War" is only a topic, but "War is hell" is a theme.

I also stress that there really is no such thing as the theme in a work.  Works have multiple themes, including some that appear to contradict each other.  A teacher who says, "This is the theme" in a work is expressing an opinion, not a statement of fact.  A theme, to be valid, must be supportable from the text, so just any old statement about a story isn't necessarily a theme, but there are many ways to look at text.

At any rate, most of the kids find it kind of liberating that I'm not expecting them to find the "right" answer for theme, and that if they can support their interpretation, their expression of the work's theme can be valid.  Most honors kids get the idea that all literature is essentially metaphorical.  That we tell stories because they are meaningful to us in some way.  If they weren't meaningful, we'd be left when the work is done scratching our heads and asking, "What was the point of that?"  A discussion of theme is just a way of asking what the work says about the universe or the human condition.  Some stories have such familiar themes that they hardly seem worth discussing, like "love conquers all," or "athletes who are pure of heart can defeat stronger or faster but corrupt competitors."

Something Wicked This Way Comes presents interesting themes in unfamiliar ways.  The discussions of the posters so far have been wonderful.

Tonight was my last night for the college creative writing class.  I end by giving them the "everything I wish other writing teachers had told me but didn't" lecture.  We talk a little about growing as writers and publishing.  I end with this pep talk about why writing is good for them, whether they decided to write for publication, or just tinker around on their own.  It's kind of a pep talk that uses an extended simile.  I stretch the simile quite a bit by the end.

Writing does for the head, what jogging does for the body.

• Like jogging, writing requires dedication & a consistent schedule to be the most effective  (three thirty minute sessions a week will do more for you than one four hour marathon on Saturday).
• Like jogging, writing must be fitted into a schedule that already looks full--the benefit is writers organize their time better (The best time for me to write is between 4 & 6 am)
• Like jogging, a writer must work her way into it, but with time and training, impressive efforts are possible (Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in one forty-eight hour period, but he'd been training for years).
• Writing helps the writer lose brain fat and build the thinking muscle--the fat caused by consuming the junk food of television, and the predigested pap of People Magazine.
• Writing fights the build up of cholesterol on the arteries of imagination.
• Writing improves the efficiency of the heart of the intellect.
• Writing clears out the lungs of thought.
• Writing keeps us young (imagination & creativity are the hallmarks of youth) 
• Writing encourages us to give up mentally unhealthy habits (not thinking about what we hear, accepting written words as gospel, keeping us open minded)
• Writing improves our sex lives--nah!  probably not (though some people maintain that half of good sex is thinking about it, and who is a better, more practiced thinker than the writer?)
• Writing helps us live longer:  by stretching our subjective lives, we both notice more about our own past and pay more attention to our present.  You know how sometimes you can be reading in a book and realize that you have no idea what the last couple of pages said?  Our lives can be like that too, although the "couple of pages" can be a couple of days or couple of years.  I think that lost time happens less frequently to writers.  They are more aware more of the time.

____________________________________________________________________________

Really Cool Phrase for the Day: Caledonian Antisyzygy, which means "a combination of opposites."  I found it while doing some reading on "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

Kind of a bad/good/meh news day.

The hardcover for Valentine's Exile (June, 2006) is being remaindered by the publisher. Such is the nature of the beast. Of course this doesn't interfere with the mass-market, which is selling at a nice rate, so it's not like readers will have a gap in the series (and even if they did that wouldn't be fatal to anyone but completists. I've tried to have each book stand on its own, though reading Wolf would really help anyone new to the series).

On the bad side: Crap! I'm going out of print.

On the good side: Sometimes you pick up new readers with a cheap remainder. That's how I started reading David Gemmell and Bernard Cornwell and a few others.

On the meh side: Happens to everyone. King gets remaindered. Tom Wolfe gets remaindered. And on the counting-your-blessings side, you have to be published in the first place to even go out of print.

I'll just roll with it and order a dozen cheap, so maybe I can help out a few completists in the future.

We have two weeks left of this school year.  The seniors are gone, so my days loosened up a little (I lost a full class of seniors and a sprinkling of them in two other classes).  This week is graduation, which will be extra special for me since my oldest graduates Wednesday.  It's also his birthday, so we get to double the festivities.   For the first time in my teaching career, I won't be sitting with the senior class.  Since my son will be in the ceremony, I'll get to be with my family in the stands.  This means that I won't have to spend my time trying to stop beach balls from flying around or watching for illicit drinking.

I've been teaching for 27 years, so most of my life has been tied to the rhythm of the school year.  The beginning of summer feels exactly the same to me now as it did when I was in 3rd grade.  I get a little giddy just thinking about the alarm clock not starting my day.

At the same time the academic year is wrapping up, I'm also getting ready for what looks to be a busy summer.  On the writing front, I want to finish the plot book and have it into Fairwood Press by the middle of August.  Also, I'll plan out the new novel, finish a couple of short projects and continue with my non-fiction work at The Fix On-line.  I'll be doing a bit of convention traveling too.

Somewhere in there I want to fit in golf, hiking, fishing, rafting and yard work.  Whew!

Dylan John Van Pelt: Class of 2008

He jock it made of steel. Eat sushi from a pail...

( Read more... )

Hair update!



And bask in the cuteness bishes!

Another great hike in the Tabaguache today.  We scored what I believe is a Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister cephlaflavus), although it might have been a Plateau Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus).  I couldn't get a look at its underside to see if it had the blue markings.  The Plateau Lizard is called a swift or blue belly commonly.

I took a picture of it with my wife's hand nearby so you can get a sense of its size.

We also startled a Striped Whipsnake that took off out of sight before I could get the picture.  This is our second snake in two trips.  I don't remember seeing a snake in this area in the last couple of years.  Maybe there were a lot more small rodents or the right kind of insects for them to eat last year, so we're having a mini population explosion.

Also, defying my earlier declaration that collared lizards are less commonly seen, we spotted another one.  I think their coloration is spectacular, so seeing one is such a treat.

I hope no one minds my deviation from my normal writing/education posts for these nature shots.  The hiking is a big part of my down time.  If I'm by myself, a lot of good thinking has a chance to bubble up, and if I'm with my wife or family, it's good conversation and shared experience time.  Win-win either way.

This whole writing gig is clearly made to look harder than it actually is by elitist Hemingway wannabes who only sound literate because they spend countless hours polishing one-line bon mots to sound spontaneous and witty, like that guy you saw at a party once who went home with three women while you discovered after two hours that the quiet beauty you were trying to woo was actually the coat rack.

Clearly all that someone needs to do to reap the rock star like monetary and social benefits of writing  is to regularly visit a web site like Seventh Sanctum.  Here, you can find such easy short cuts as the Quick Story Idea Generator that with the simple push of the button will get you started on your way with gems like "The theme of this story: dark adventure. The main character: weak champion. The start of the story: research. The end of the story: funeral," or "The theme of this story: psychological horror. The main character: driven heroine. The start of the story: conspiracy. The end of the story: insight." 

If you don't like that format, you can use an alternate story story program, like Story Generator that might give you the right push with this suggestion, "The story is about a technician, an artistic fisherman, and a dispirited princess who is engaged to a snide boatman. It takes place in a military town in a solar system of magical space travel. The story begins with a birth, climaxes with someone building a dwelling, and ends with an inheritance. The formation of the UN plays a major role in this story."

The site is useful for much more than that, though.  You can quickly come up with characters, like this one who I got from using the Vampire Generator program, "This wise male vampire has deep-set violet eyes with pupils shaped like crosses, and that can extend on stalks. His thick, wavy, night-black hair is neck-length and is worn in a dignified style. He is inhumanly tall and has a graceful build. He has an elegant nose and large hands. He can turn into a cloud of dust. He has the standard vampiric disabilities. He feeds on human ecstacy."

You can skip around to generate names, settings, descriptions . . . why, just about anything you would like.

This is high tech and so much better than the old days when you had to buy a book, like The Romance Writers' Phrase Book, where you had to thumb through a table of contents to find the chapters on eyes or voice descriptions if you couldn't be bothered to make up one of your own.  Who could resist a phrasing from the eyes chapter like, "There was an invitation in the smoldering depths of his eyes," or from the voice chapter, "He answered in a tense, clipped voice that forbade any questions."

[disclaimer:  Actually, I thought the Seventh Sanctum website was both entertaining and funny.  I don't think they intend it to be a real writing resource.  I'm pretty sure they don't.  Almost positive.]

It's coming, folks, May 26...usually I don't feel the effects until we're two weeks or less out, but it's been kicking my ass this week. And it's in Gemini, so the annoyances will center around day to day activities. Ducky.

Outside of those annoyances, everything totally fucking rocks! My hair is still cute. I got cute shoes. I interviewed for a position at work that I didn't get, but my bosses are all now working hard to help my career path. (Back story - I wasn't going to apply for it, but my Boy encouraged me to because it shows interest on my part in the company, and it totally paid off. I love his support of me!) I got my stimulus check today (wewt!) and will be completely solvent on all outstanding house bills (next step: my actual debt, bleh). My friend Shaun bought me tickets to the opening show of the Disturbed/Slipknot concert in Seattle in July (my last concert as a person in my 20's) - an act that was so sweet I almost cried. Avenue Q tickets are going on sale this weekend. Tom Waits is going on tour this summer. My Boy's mom is taking us to the opera next weekend. My Boy starts his new, awesome, higher paying job on Monday. We got a new dishwasher last night that works pretty damn well. My kitties are so snuggly sweet and happy - probably because of the coyote pee in the walls that is doing a pretty fair job at keeping the squirrels at bay. And, of course, my Boy continues to amaze and spoil me with his love and wonderfulness.

Life rocks!

I found a bag I like for the Dominator MX-10. It fits, just. I was hauling it to the cafe in a padded shipping envelope carried in a con bookbag. So that's taken care of.

Some months ago I complained here that the only good part of Sarah Brightman's last album (Symphony) were the photos of her running around in what looked like the ruins of Osgiliath. Well, I hauled out her old album Classics the other day (actually it was to rip it to the new laptop) and I looked in the liner notes.

I was kind of shocked to find your basic Maxim photoshoot of Sarah inside.

( Read more... )
If I'd ever looked at it before I've forgotten.

But more to the point, this helps you interpret Beethoven with your voice how exactly?

I know I'm being a complete hypocrite because no one's a bigger fan of women flouncing around wearing only a little beach sand and a smile, but I kept imagining some thirteen year old going through grueling voice training thinking "Here I am fighting my way through the Queen of the Night aria and if I ever make it, they're just gonna want a closeup of my snatch."

I'll just hope all this was her idea (my custom naiveté helmet, headphones, and goggles come in a variety of sizes and colors, I can give you a link if you want one). I used to work at a photo studio and lots of women wanted themselves depicted and preserved in this fashion, and more power to 'em. I'm not saying SB isn't a beauty and pulled it off nicely. But if the suckholes in marketing decided she needs to strip to sell music, it's just one more reason to hate producer Frank Peterson. I wish someone would clock him with a cowbell.

This month is Mental Health Awareness Month, so the LiveJournal team is offering users a chance to support the Depression and Bipolar Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping improve the lives of those suffering from mood disorders. Proceeds from purchases of the Emerging Sun v-gift during May will be donated to the DBSA, so feel free to buy one. Or, if you really want to rack up some good karma points, get a bunch!

And don't forget: Mother's Day is this Sunday. Be a dear and check out the v-gifts shop. Send something that'll make her smile.


L to R: Emerging Sun, #1 Mom, Gift Basket, Chocolates, A Dozen Red Roses


We know how you salivate over the prospect of new themes, especially when they're designed by users with a unique handle on both form and function.


L to R: Shiny, River at Night, Live and Learn, Vector Drips.

( Winners of the HP 'What Do You Have to Say?' Theme Design Contest )


We'd like to remind you that the nomination process for LiveJournal Advisory Board user-representatives has begun. If you think you're fit for the job, now's the time to nominate yourself! After all, you're the only who can do it. In two weeks, on the 22nd, the voting process will begin; we'll remind you about it again here.

If you're interested in keeping up with the nominations, watch lj_election_en. We'll post the results and announce the winner by the end of the day on May 30th. The new user-representatives will be seated on June 1st. Further details can also be found in lj_2008.

These are probably not sfw. Any of them.

First is:

http://midwestteensexshow.com/

The Midwest Teen Sex Show is supposed to get good information about sex to teens. There's a lot of parody and satire in this. If you are humor impaired, don't watch it. Really.

This next one, I was going to make another post to follow up the April First Conversion post to put it in, because it's just too fucking good:

http://www.sexinchrist.com/index.html

Biblical justification for fisting, anal sex, bondage, and Viagra. Amazing.

And here I'm pimping my LJ friend tacit's homepage http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html

Here you will find essays on BDSM, Polyamory, photography resources, and more.

For anyone who has ever, ever thought things like "OMG how could you let someone just beat the shit out of you!?!?!", go read the BDSM article now, please.

For anyone who has ever thought that being married and having or allowing one's spouse to have other (regular) lovers is adultery, or turning a blind eye to same, you should go read the Polyamory article.

tacit is just a really amazing author. Lots of good, solid information is presented in an articulate, literate form with good conversational tone. These read like intelligent conversations, not psychology texts.

Thank Gods. Because the people who write the psychology texts are seriously fucked up.

I came across this quote yesterday. It's from 33 year old General Antoine Charles Lasalle, recalled by Napoleon from Spain to serve against Austria, when asked if he would go to Germany via Paris.

"Yes, it's the shortest way. I shall arrive at five a.m.; I shall order a pair of boots; I shall make my wife pregnant, and I shall depart."

He was among the 27,000 French killed at Wagram a few months later.

So good, I couldn't update until today. :)

The Boy and I had Friday through Sunday off together. This is the first time this is happened, ever. :) Friday we just sat around and rested, which was lovely. Saturday we took a really lovely drive to the coast, where I lost all feeling in my feets by playing in the ocean and broke my face from smiling from swinging as hard as I could on the swingset on the beach. Sunday we went to one of the cute neighborhoods in Portland and had the best sandwich I've ever had, followed by my Boy making me fondue. It was incredible! He really does spoil me rotten, and I love him so much. I feel so lucky. :)

I got my hair cut last week by a girl that's in an apprenticeship at a really high end salon. It is the best hair cut I've ever had. I love it! I don't think I have low self esteem, but there's something about a great haircut that makes everyone feel special, true? I seriously feel very beautiful right now, beautiful and happy and optimistic. Hooray!

Yesterday I went to a meeting for our "Scholars" program at the high school.  What is happening is that our local college, Mesa State, will now offer some of their first year classes at the high school to be taught by high school teachers.  The intention is that some of our seniors have completed their high school requirements and can start their college classes.  This way they can do it without paying tuition.  The college benefits by attracting more students.  The high school benefits by keeping the students on campus longer, and the students benefit by starting their college careers earlier.  Good news all the way around.

I'll be teaching the English class.  No problem for me because I've taught it before, and I'm teaching at the college in the evening.  The other three teachers are long-time high school teachers who haven't taught at the college, though, and that was the source of the educational dissonance in our meeting yesterday.  Once the representative from the college was done making her introductory remarks about the program, she asked if their were any questions.  The other three teachers started asking about expected behaviors, departmental standards, course syllabus, etc.  The representative answered a lot of the questions with, "Well, that will be up to you."  The more she said this, the more uncomfortable the other three teachers became, and I realized why: in the high school, the emphasis in the last few years has been all about measurable, quantifiable, standard results.  We have been moving toward "common assessments," "shared vision," "departmental goals," and a host of other homogenizing activities.  Our district talks about a "guaranteed education," which means, essentially, that no matter which school a kid goes to in our district, she will get the same experience.

College is not like this.  College celebrates academic freedom and trust in the instructors to achieve the class's goals (which are stated in the most general of terms).  At Mesa, there are about ten teachers who teach English 111, the introductory level class I'll be teaching.  They all use different text books.  They create their own syllabus.  They achieve the class goals any way they want to.  The college trusts that the instructors know what they are doing, and they let them do it.  One teacher could be very project oriented, another lecture oriented, a third works the class on collaborative efforts, another emphasizes a study of models, etc.

It suddenly occurred to me that many college teachers have taken no educational theory classes.  They have their expertise in the field behind them, but no course work in how to design a lesson plan, or on writing standards based questions, or even in student psychology.  They learn on the job.

I don't know what to make of this dissonance, but I notice that it is there.  Lately in the public schools the emphasis has been in taking away a teacher's input into the class.  The No Child Left Behind testing has pushed the individual teacher into the background.  The result is that many teachers feel that their knowledge, passion and professionalism no longer matter.  As several teachers have said to me at one time or another, after one or numerous "best practices" meeting, "Why don't they just video tape the teacher who does everything the way they want it done, and then show it to the classes.  Clearly they don't need me."