Fall research paper

I was very hopeful about this year's fall research papers as many students discussed excellent topics with me. However, I am finding as I grade weaker papers than I had thought I would get. Many students are focussing on their critics' ideas at the expense of their own reading of the novel's text. Please look again at the criteria sheet which emphasizes your use of the text itself rather than excessive reliance on critics's ideas.

Remember this problem so that you can correct the problem with next semester's research paper on a twentieth or 21st century novel.

Please post a comment as soon as you get your paper back about the research paper. I want you to mention your strengths as well as your weaknesses on the paper and to comment on your plan for improving on the next research project. I also want you to mention how you are going to go about correcting any citation errors (most of the errors are spacing problems).

Characteristics of Romance

The following characteristics of Arthurian or Medieval Romance also apply to fairy tales and may illuminate such Romances as The Scarlet Letter:

All Romances (including fairy tales) involve progression--spiritual, moral, emotional
Use elements of both realistic and supernatural worlds
Begin on a Christian feast day, such as Christmas or Pentecost
Hero called to begin a quest--usually to rescue heroine or defeat an enemy
Quest becomes a test of hero's identity
Hero leaves the court to achieve his quest, often wandering into the forest, far from court where he encounters beasts, monsters, and notorious knights
Hero achieves quest and returns to court, confident that he has fulfilled his purpose or attained
his identity
Characters often flat and interchangeable--archetypes such as the knight whose strength comes his purity, the innocent and beautiful damsel, and the sorceress who plots against the hero
Hero often rewarded with marriage to a beautiful damsel as evidence of his attaining maturity
In contrast to epic or tragic works (and their world views), Romances involve suffering but end happily
The world view of Romances suggests a providential order, or divine force guiding the action, so that good characters are rewarded and bad characters meet with bad ends (the forest or wilderness provide tests of character)

Instead of SHOWS use

manifests, exemplifies, demonstrates, defines, establishes, points out, reveals, displays, exposes, evinces, suggests, represents, imparts, endows, delineates....

(use each word only in appropriate context)

Books.....

Here are some books I read this summer--you might enjoy looking at them to see if you like them. Also you will need to find a 20th or 21st century novel for your spring research paper. Most of these would work (not the non-fiction ones, though!)
Non-fiction:
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Mao's Last Dancer (autobiography) by Li Cunxin
Happiness and Architecture by Alain de Botton

Fiction:
Kafka on the Shore by Hayuki Murikami
After Dark by H. Murikami
The Windup Bird Chronicles by H. Murikami
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
To the North by Elizabeth Bowen
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
What is the What by Dave Eggers
The Palace of Illusions
The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks


Add some books that you have enjoyed and wish to recommend!

Good Things

Write about something good that has happened to you during the summer or since school has begun!

Rules for Writing

State a definite claim--a thesis or destination--where you are going with this essay
Include specific, concrete examples and
Commentary on the examples relating them back to the claim.

Use effect when you mean the noun, affect is the verb

Use vivid, precise verbs--no "to be" verbs.
Avoid utility words such as nice, awesome, wonderful, clever.... be more specific.
Use more precise and interesting words for "show"; list to follow.... expresses, manifests, displays, exudes, .....
Infuse the essay with your personal voice.
Compress your style--never use three or four words when one or two will do.
Remember White and Strunk's three rules of writing: simplicity, lucidity, euphony.
Stop and think for a few moments before you write--this may avoid filler, fluff, deadwood, and other signs of lack of critical thinking.
Note: Be sure to sign your first name and last initial and your period so I can give you credit!

Avoid circumlocutions such as "Hawthorne give the reader the idea that"--say Hawthorne expresses.
Never use passive voice--unless absolutely the best way to express an idea. An example of bad passive voice would be "it is believed"--who believes it? state that.
Get rid of dangling modifiers, i.e. "When reading this passage, the narrator expresses the complexity of Pyncheon's character." (the narrator did not read the passage, who did?)
Post a response to what you learned about writing in class on Wednesday.

Color Challenge

I love colors--when you are in my class for even a few minutes, you will see that. Now, here's the challenge: recently I read that over three thousand words for color exist in the English language; by the end of the year, let's try to name a good chunk of them.

I'll start--

red, carnelian, scarlet, vermillion, tangerine, orange, lime, watermelon, peach, oyster, biscuit, ecru, taupe.....okay, see what you can add......

Living in Montrose

After having spent a month living in New York City a few summers ago, I begin daydreaming about living in an area where people could mostly walk instead of driving. When you are able to walk in a neighborhood, you begin to savor its nuances--in New York I loved seeing people out on the streets, having dinner, bringing home groceries, shopping for towels, or stopping to buy falafel or a bottle of water from street vendors. And venturing into the subways, I might be enthralled by a Mennonite choir or a man playing the saw.


Two years ago, when I moved to Montrose, I was delighted because this is the closest I can get in Houston to the New York experience. My new house is within walking distance of several charming restaurants as well as the River Oaks and Angelika theaters and the Museum of Fine Arts. I am ten minutes away from the Alley Theater and the Hobby Center by car as well, so I don't dread a long drive home from the theater at night. I love to walk to Sunday brunch or to dinner in the evening, passing people on the street or stopping to chat with an old man sitting outside his apartment doing a crossword puzzle.

What I have been surprised by in Montrose, as well, is the sweetness and congeniality of the people who live and work in the area. Even post office employees are pleasant and kind, lacking the oppressed feeling they sometimes manifested in the old post offices I knew. I don't know exactly what it is--perhaps the sense of old-style neighborhood quiet and serenity. You do have to drive several blocks before you get into the nerve-wracking traffic at Shepherd and Westheimer.

The other explanation may be the variety of people and places here--on my way home I drive by car repair shops, a great coffee place, a Puerto Rican cafe, a Tee shirt maker, antique dealers, a sports bar, my favorite little restaurant for a quick bite, Barnaby's, townhouses next to small houses and apartment buildings with enchanting little courtyards--all on the streets before my final turn.

Everyone seems to thrive on the variety in the neighborhood rather than suffer from it. My neighbors, for instance, leave out aluminum cans for a homeless man who pushes a shopping cart around the area. He says a pleasant hello everytime I see him--and even--I think--went through the stuff in my garage when I accidentally forgot to close the garage door recently (Not a good idea, but no harm done this time!).

I have noticed a couple of parking lots a couple of blocks from my house and was wondering who uses them. Finally driving home later than usual from downtown recently, I found two quiet little places with barely visible names turn into hip, trendy spots for twenty year olds after ten p.m. or so--that's who parks there. Who knew that sort of night life was going on in my quiet neighborhood?

Living in an age where most of us are surrounded only by people like us, I am delighted to reside in a place where diversities of age, work, and styles of life are not just accepted, but embraced.

Personal Essay

My Life is Stories

Many years ago I bought myself a set of paper dolls, an extravagant and expensive set, that I justified to myself because I can display them in my high school classroom. The dolls represent “Beauty and the Beast,” which I used in my doctoral dissertation because it illuminates the mystery of female empowerment. I also screen the exquisite and enlightening film, Cocteau’s version, La Belle et La Bete, in my film class. The book was filled with beautiful period costumes, some for coloring, and some for cutting out to dress Beauty in. I experienced a rush of delight just looking at this gorgeous set of paper dolls, one I would have loved to have owned as a child (but which certainly were not available in the 1950s when I grew up.)

One of my happiest memories of childhood consists of the times my mother would take my younger brothers and me to the dime store downtown to let us choose a new coloring book or set of paper dolls. I remember the overwhelming joy of anticipation I felt as I watched her put them up in the cupboard, and how I longed for the moment she would get them out to entertain us that night. These occasions happened on the nights she and my father gave bridge parties. At that time, before television, my brothers and I, already dressed in our pajamas, would sit back in our den with our new books—theirs invariably of cowboys, mine of glamorous movie stars, to color or cut costumes out of. We would play all evening, totally absorbed in the alternate reality for which these characters provided a threshold.

I spent many hours subsequently coloring my books of Betty Hutton, Elizabeth Taylor, or maybe Esther Williams, dressing and undressing them ushering them through a never-ending procession of glamorous and dramatic situations. I imagined buildings with doormen in New York, careers in publishing or on the Broadway stage, sophisticated cocktail parties, and trips to Paris---all fed by my relentless passion for the Technicolor extravaganzas of the fifties which I saw at the local movie theater weekly.

I think back very fondly of those times spent alone in my room, though I remember complaining at the time that I had no one to play with (my brothers would have never understood!). But now I am grateful for the energy I spent dreaming and imagining, creating realms of fantasy and romance because, as an English teacher, I see the relationship of this play to my work. Throughout my life, then, runs the thread of my love of stories and my willingness to suspend disbelief—to involve myself in another realm of experience. I do everything I can to entice my students into these realms, into the other spaces known as fiction, drama, and poetry.

A friend told me recently, “Your life is stories, all kinds of stories,” and I like that depiction of myself. While I was debating with myself whether to buy those fairy tale paper dolls in the little store in Jacksonville, Oregon, a nine-year-old girl appeared beside me. She confided that she had enjoyed playing with the set her grandmother had bought her. For a moment I felt nine again, too, and shared with her the intimacy and enchantment of make-believe. Then I knew I had to have one more set of paper dolls. For me they are a celebration of the stories of my life.

Thing # 23

Here I am at the end of the journey--as I said before in a previous post--I am delighted with this experience and would really like it to continue. And I want to say again how much I appreciate the work that went into making the various links for us to explore.  

I loved doing a podcast and posting a YouTube video on my site. That was exciting to figure out--and I am immersed in technicolor daydreams about putting sites on my blog for my students to read and discuss. So much is out there--I was thrilled to find YouTube videos on The Scarlet Letter--now who knows what else will be there to connect with our study of American Literature next year. I know my students would like to post some of their own movies on The Great Gatsby which we do in the spring.

I especially liked Flickr too as I love color and design.  I doubt if I will post any photos there--but it is fun to pull images out.  I also like iReader from Google and the RSS feeds.  Some of the sites like the search engine one--can't remember the title--I may not use--unless I get used to them--it seems easier for now just to pull the search up in Google and choose the ones that seem worth reading.

As far as lifelong learning--as I said earlier--we just start to expire when we choose not to learn anymore--and as technology is such a challenge for me--I feel it is better for my brain to force myself to use it.  I am really puzzled by the posting of Anonymous that the program was "ok"--surely there is something here for everyone if we are willing to put ourselves into it with some effort and engagement.  It has certainly been a stretch for me, and I appreciate that very much.

I really  can't think of anyway this could have been better, and I will certainly choose to enroll in one--probably next summer would be better than the school year.  We might even think of some ongoing way to share with each other how we have used the knowledge we have gained this summer.

I will answer more questions later--have not finished--and I am continuing to look at the other blogs--new ones seem to be starting all the time.  Looking back--I think I have pretty much answered all the questions. I did complete the survey--but could not get it to post--or whatever the term is. I have noticed that other people have had the same problem.

I am really surprised that I might actually use a blog in my classroom--I think it is an ugly word, but it was so much fun making mine and posting my experiences on it, that I want my students to see it and use it.

My one-sentence comment: Hooray for the librarians--who knew those stodgy old women in sensible shoes from my childhood  would be setting the pace, now in hip running shoes, for the classroom internet revolution!

Thing # 22

All I can say about Nings is thank you Fooling with Words for helping us to sort how what the differences are between the various sites. I have read your posting three times and still haven't gotten the differences internalized totally--but I do think this would be great--as are the wikis for  discussion the novels the various groups are working on.  I did not see much I wanted to respond to on the linked sites--but that does not mean I will not find one later that I enjoy participating in.

Thinking about it more, I think Wikis might be better for ongoing additions to one topic--the Nings seem to be many postings by various readers.

Thing # 21

I am so excited--I did finally manage to post my podcast--I see all the things I want to improve right now and am going to re-do it with better music and more pictures--but I got it done. Thank heavens we bought the one to one training sessions when we got the iMac--the guy at the Apple store helped me get it online--I had to save it to my desktop first--but I have the instructions written down--so I think I can do it.

I have learned so much this summer with the combination of the new iMac and Learn2Play--I feel not totally comfortable--but stronger and better--and more conversant with what is available. I know I can do so much more than I ever dreamed and am so thankful to the librarians who got this list of things to do and all the links put on the site.  And I love the name Learn2Play--because I think learning is playing. And we never want to stop learning or playing, do we?

Commonplace Books

Thing #20

I am so excited--I actually learned to post a youtube video from their site.  We start the year with The Scarlet Letter, and I thought it would be fun to let the kids see a couple of videos from people have made.  I am madly thinking how to use this--one way I like to work with literature is to ask the students to connect the work to one or more of their intelligence styles. This video uses musical, verbal, and spatial intelligence--the composition of the images would be the spatial.  So that is three of the eight we know about.

Since the students look at you tube all the time, they may be interested in finding videos--and they can certainly post the ones we do later in the year with The Great Gatsby. This is wonderful.

I looked at the Teacher Tube also--maybe I will get my students to help me do a video--one involving them and me. My performance projects in Shakespeare would be a great start.

After reading the entire library posting on this thing, I find it amusing that one thing the librarians must help us do now is to circumvent the district's firewalls--I know the firewall helps with some problems--but it is presents other problems--blocking videos or sites we use in teaching--anyway...part of life....

Thing # 19

I explored the 2.0 awards and tried the Mango language lesson--but as I am on Rosetta Stone Vol. 3 in French, it was not helpful. It is basic. And it seemed very slow to use--a long time between question and answer and no way to grade my responses--my vocal ones. I don't spend a lot of time on the computer, so I wouldn't go there for games--right now I don't see much that would help in my film or AP classes.  But I will continue to go back to look at 2.0 now that I know it is there.

Thing # 18

I think I am better off using the Word program on the  computer if I can get it to work--when I used before, I could insert pictures and make them smaller.  But it is nice to have Google as another option.

Thing # 18

Oh I actually completed this one last night. Actually I am having trouble with the Microsoft Word which we bought as part of our office suite on the  iMac. I downloaded what was supposedly an upgrade to it but now cannot open the Word program, so I have no way to keep word documents. I tried both the google word processing program, but did not find it very helpful. The print does not look good, and when I attempted to edit our travel journal about our European trip by adding pictures, it was a disaster. There seemed to be no way to make the pictures smaller--they take up a huge amount of space, so inserting them is not really workable.

Thing # 17 Continued

Finished! or at least I completed part of one search engine--have the roll bar on my screen--got help from my colleague--it wasn't as hard as I thought--

I did post three sites to the search engine--is that the correct term? anyway--my film review and information database is getting going. I hope I can use it at school as I teach a film class and we are banned from getting information we need in IMDB sometimes--I guess it is classified as entertainment--but it should be under reference and background information.

Thing # 17 Continued

I researched some sources on Haruki Murakami, a novelist I like very much, but I can't figure out how to save the sites I like. I need help with this one.

Thing # 17

I am a bit confused about Rollyo and actually how to create the searches. For instance, I looked up Haruki Murakami, but I am not sure how to customize the search. Do I choose the sites which came up and keep those? I am going to have to consult a friend who is ahead of me in the game. Laura, are you listening? or reading?

Thing # 16

Despite my concerns about the availability of public wikis, as noted above, I think I could use both blogs and wikis as classroom tools.  I give few notes; mostly they are tips on writing strategies, but I am already daydreaming about keeping a classroom wiki on the writing tips. Students could add on what each one got out of the things I say in class and keep it running all year. I tell them the most important thing they can do is re-read their notes on writing before every essay. I think this might be a powerful way to make them responsible for noting what they have learned, and getting help from others. Everyone has a different perspective on anything said in class. So this kind of collaboration could be wonderful.

They could also collaborate on novels read in groups, brainstorming for writing topics. What I have learned so far this summer has really been inspiriting, and energizing, for me.

Oh, and I said basically this same thing on the sandbox, but it was a good experience to go there and see how to actually post.

Thing # 15

I am very interested in the issues Library 2.0 brings up--what a vast change from the old days in my high school library where we were not allowed to browse around in the stacks but had to choose a book from the catalogue and ask the librarian to bring it to the desk.

Few of my friends used the school library for that reason--we would walk the couple of blocks from the high school to the city library where you got to experience the distinctive smell of old books and find serendipitously not the book you thought you wanted but the one next to it which really piqued your interest.

Browsing the web has some of this same charm--you keep clicking links until you find something intriguing. The problem, it seems to me, involves sifting out the chaff to find the precious nutritious grain.  So much junk is on the web--and I am concerned that anyone can post something on wikipedia--so untrue information can find its way into students' research papers.  

I warn my students about looking for the source of their web pages to ensure their validity and scholarly value. A search for a critical source for The Catcher in the Rye can bring up someone's junior high school paper on the novel.

Things are moving so fast--I admire librarians who are keeping pace and finding new ways to  serve their patrons.  And I do think we should begin some study groups to help each other at school to find ways to help our students use these technological tools effectively.  I am musing about what I can do differently in my class to avoid the glazed-over stares of the students in the video!

Thing # 14

Now I have looked at Technorati, watched the video, and explored the site a bit--I looked up Library learning 2.0 in two spots but couldn't find the tag search place on the site. If anyone can tell me how to do this, I would appreciate it.

It is interesting to know that this outlet exists for people to make their own news--though some of it--John McCain's latest video for instance--would be the same as regular news outlets.  However I was a bit perturbed by the young woman's comment--and one of the men's as well about wanting to hear judgments of bands, etc. from regular people not from critics.  As an English major (and a ph.d in English), I value good criticism as illuminating and intriguing.  I want to see what the film critics in the New Yorker have to say about a new film and probably would not be interested in the view of a blogger whom I don't know. So I might find Technorati somewhat limiting for my interests.

I also would not want to post my blog.  My daughter in law would be very upset for one thing that pictures of my granddaughters would be circulated on the world wide web! And I am too private to expose myself to comments outside the SBISD world!

Thing # 13

Tagging was fun--I started with the two places I order clothes from--organic cotton and linen which I love. I will think of more things to tag--but for now I have registered and posted two sites I visit all the time. Now I won't have to type the names into the computer--I can click on my del.icio.us!

Thing # 12

I will admit I may have more trouble with this activity than with most of the others. I am not drawn to the idea of holding conversations through blogs--maybe it is my generation, just something I am unaccustomed to doing.  I will try, but, fundamentally, I am not a "joiner" and I see this activity as joining a group of people I may have one common interest with but might have little in common with otherwise. I also like the warmth and feeling which comes with personal contact with my friends.

On the blog etiquette issue--it does make sense that you would say something which would not just be perfunctory--but would genuinely add to the conversation. I would want to use my own name, not hide behind blog title. The problem blogs introduce, of course, was brought up--that this activity invites the kind of mean-spirited responses which some have experienced. The anonymity of the blog allows someone who is unhappy or cruel to manifest anger without the consequences he or she would get for expressing rage in person.   

I also do not like the term "lurk" as it sounds as if someone who reads but does not respond to blogs has the intent of harming someone by doing this.  Of course, if I found a blog uninteresting, I certainly would not continue reading it.  But some people are shy--I  have many students who will listen to a discussion about a work and reflect on it, but who do not like to participate--so this is another possible reason for "lurking."

Okay now I have posted comments on five Library2Play blogs and on one other blog that I found by blog searching.  I am a little uneasy about some of these blogs--I do not want everyone who reads them to have access to me email or my blog. There seem to be some people responding to some of the blogs that I would not want to know. I hope I am protected.

The blog I found was about travel in France and I did get a great website that I added as an RSS feed to my reader.  That was rewarding. I will look for another blog I like and get back to this later.

Thing # 11

I have now returned from my trip and am eager to go through the rest of the Library2Play site as I am learning so many things about computer sites. I registered on the LibraryThing and added five novels read recently, and looked through a few sites of readers who share my tastes. However I am a private person and do not relish getting emails or writing to people I don't know--we'll see--I may change my mind. Right now I have friends whose recommendations on books I take and I prefer that method as well as reading book review in The New Yorker and New York Times Book Review for ideas about what to read. 

Thing # 10

I played with the image generators, but several will not open up on my iMac, so I went back to Big Huge Lab, which was one of the choices--I would have been disappointed if it would not open on the new computer--as I had had so much fun with it on a pc.  But it does open and I made a matted photo of my granddaughter and a movie poster! So much fun--I love it--can't wait to try it with book titles at school.  I didn't do a good job of customizing--the "stars'" names are behind the title!--but I have got the idea. I love this site, and I can't wait to play more with it.

Thing # 8 again

Oh, and I added The Onion and Stuff White People Like--sites I love, but always forget to look at--now I must remember to look at my Google Reader!

Thing # 9

I was so excited that I actually was able to develop news feeds in my Google Reader account--I picked sites that I know I enjoy reading and which I want to make more accessible--The New York Times Book Reviews, NY Times Film Reviews, and NPR.org. Now I really get it--I think--it is great to have these sites ready anytime I want to see what is happening in those worlds. I may add IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes for quick access to other movie reviews and information as I teach a film class at school.

I browed through the other sites suggested by Library2Play, but I didn't find much that interested me. Technorati sounds fun, but I am not sure how much time I will devote to reading other people's blogs, and I am a little too private to want to post mine there. I didn't find much in the other sites that interested me. Right now I have books to make available to my students who want to read background on a writer or poet, for instance, so I am not sure how I would use Atomic Learning, but I am open to discover.

 I read the CoolCat teacher's blog, but it didn't seem to go in depth--maybe I am not getting into the links, but when I clicked, I just got titles and a little information.  I wanted to see the class Wiki to see how that is used, but wasn't able to figure out how to read it. So this is the one that confused me.

I just went back to Thing 9 and realized I am supposed to put feeds into five blogs on my reader; I found one on Murakami and thought I posted it on my blog but cannot find it.  I will try doing it on the reader.  I do think I can use this in my classroom to help the students learn to discriminate between different news sources.  I do a project in which I ask them to evaluate the way a story is handled in two different mediums or sources.  I can ask them to work on this all the time now to be able to engage in more careful analysis and argument about new topics.

Okay--I am now back from my travels in Germany and France--and am getting back to work on my blog. I went into my Igoogle account and added three additional blogs--on travel in France and Germany and one more--will have to check it--

Thing # 8

I tried out Google Reader but I didn't really get it until today--this really does solve a bunch of my problems--by subscribing to NY Times News, NPR.org, and NY Times book and film reviews, I think I am going to get what I want to read from the news and from book film reviews very quickly without having to google film and book titles.  I think this is the idea, right? I am excited because at first I wasn't sure what I would use the Reader for, but after I thought about it for awhile, I realized this is just what I want. Cool!

Thing # 7

I haven't posted in a week or so--I have been getting used to using our new iMac--lots of fun with that-and also had to go to a three-day in-service last week.

In sporadic moments I have been playing with Google--I love iGoogle--don't know how to set it as my homepage on the new computer--not that I knew how to save a homepage on the old computer--but I love the way I can customize all the areas I am interested in knowing about--independent films, news, art, for instance.

I played with Google World yesterday and downloaded it on the computer--found the hotel we are staying in in Paris and how to get there from the Gare du Nord where we will be arriving by train from Amsterdam on June 22nd.  I found Duncan's house in Vaucresson where he lives with his wife and two daughters--I had tried Google Scholar but didn't have much luck with that--mostly found books--and did try out all the Google elements including the tour of world landmarks on Google World--I think that is the right name.  I did go through all the Google applications, but these are the two I enjoyed most.  And, of course, I have been "googling" things for quite awhile now.

Thing # 6

I have found a new world--one that realizes my best daydreams--Flickr Color Pickr. I was enchanted to play with the colors arranged like a mandala, and to see what images come up. I tried to make a mosaic, but had a little trouble. I also did Warholizing of pictures of my granddaughters but learned that the pictures which work seem to have more contrast. Also making a mosaic of pictures of my granddaughters did not work well--I will have to find pictures that translate well--maybe ones with more pixels? one of the most gorgeous pictures of Anaëlle split into pixels when I put it in a mosaic. But I love this site and can think of uses for it in class to spur writing and to elicit imaginative responses from my students.

Thing # 5

I have been playing with Flickr while my students are writing their final exams this morning. Moving around in it has been so much fun--I had visited the site to see a student's photographs once, after she carefully wrote out the link for me, but I had no idea of the rich possibilities of the site. I found the picture of Emily Dickinson in a quilt, and I posted on my blog a picture I found when I typed in Shakespeare.

Objection!!

I don't find any avatars for a woman in her sixties! what can this mean? I thought we were through with the decades in which the older woman in the movie was always a comic character!

Thing #3 Joys and Difficulties of Learning

I am highly motivated to learn. I am easily bored, so I want to find out about all sorts of things which picque my interest to keep far away from that dreaded state of ennui. I learned this year that I love yoga, so I want to do more of than. I am always reading about new things--from biographies to new fiction.

My greatest obstacle in learning is that, when I try something new, if I am not immediately good at it, I don't want to try anymore. This is especially true with physical challenges--which is why I am so happy I loved my yoga class. I am trying to learn to be patient and work harder on something which is difficult for me. However, I do like so many other things, I can always rationalize that I can do something else instead.

Thing #2 Lifelong learning

I cannot imagine not being a lifelong learner--I never want to stop learning something. I love teaching because I learn new ideas from my students--I love to see their reactions to the literature we read and to notice the changes in each generation's attitude to something like The Great Gatsby or the King Arthur stories.

My companion, Hu, and I are interested in learning to draw or to play with art in some way. We just took a class in using colored pencils to create effects. We loved it. We love traveling and reading about new places before we visit them. We have been reading about Germany and learning some German words and phrases before we go.

I continually work on French so I can understand people better when I visit France--and so I can comprehend my five year old granddaughter who understands English, but who speaks in French.

I have read two new books about technology's effect on the brain and on brain skills needed for the new century. I also look for fiction writers to enjoy. Right now I love Haruki Murakami.

Last week of school

I am in the nether world between beginning finals and the actual last day of school--finished grading for the day and am waiting for more finals to be written tomorrow---Hu and I spent the weekend with my son and his family in Oklahoma City and with some dear friends who live there as well.

My friend Marianne and I re-lived lots of wonderful memories of our childhood homes and of our grandmothers who were each very dear to us. Both of us want to re-create those feelings of intimacy and of being cherished with our own grandchildren. I love this phase of my life...time to daydream and to see the connections between all the phases of my life and this moment.

last day before finals

today I am daydreaming about what I am going to do this summer--besides a bunch of medical appointments and housecleaning---free to go out to lunch for a change--to randomly run do an errand in the middle of the day--and then I am anticipating a river cruise down the Rhine River--ending in Amsterdam--and then riding in a train to Paris to see my son, his wife, and my two little granddaughters--I hope to walk Anaëlle to school every morning--and meet her to bring her home in the afternoon--she will be in school until July 3rd--then play with the ten month old, Elise so her maman can do errands and have her own lunches out.

Hu and I are driving to Nashville to a wedding in July--we want to see what Tennessee is like--after all that excitement I may have to settle in to being a little lonely until school starts again--and I have to gear up to learn new names and faces--and another school year will begin--