Tag Archives: learning

General Catch-Up…

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catch_upSo it’s been a while since I’ve done a general catch-up with life, so I thought it might be nice to bring you up to speed on my absolutely riveting lifestyle. 🙂

The semester is going very smoothly. I’m teaching two sections of Media Writing, and I seem to have some really good students in both of those classes. (Wheee!) Focused students are really great to work with, so I’m lucky. I’m really enjoying teaching as well, much more than last semester, and I think that’s because I have a much better idea of what to expect and the general game plan. It’s a different world, TBH.

Movie-wise, I’ve been seeing quite a few lately. Saw the awesome Three Billboards… (Frances McDormand et al.) which was really good, and followed that up with a watch of The Post (about the Pentagon Papers and Nixon et al.). Learned a lot about that, so that was enjoyable. I do rather miss the typewriter days and using paper, but probably the e-office set up works a little more swiftly and smoothly now we have the technology!
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Also happened to go to the movies to see a selection of Oscar-nominated short documentaries which were just great. (Glad that I don’t have to choose which one to win, as I enjoyed them all.) This category is filled with short (in length), but big on content documentaries which have been split into two sections (just because of the time commitment). The three that we saw were:

  • Edith and Eddie – A look at inter-racial and elderly romance, this film covers the relationship of Edith and Eddie who got married when they were 95 and 96. The romance is pretty straightforward, until Edith gets diagnosed with early dementia and one of her two daughters wants to sell the house where the couple live and force Edith to go and live in Florida with her family, leaving Eddie behind. It’s never explained exactly why this daughter thinks that that is the humane thing to do, but the film documents what happens rather than explain things. Good, all the same though.
  • Heaven in a Traffic Jam on the 405 – this doc portrays the fascinating life of American artist Mindy Apler who works primarily in papier mache. Suffering from depression, anxiety, and other mental challenges, the film shows how art is a survival technique for Alper, particularly during the ten years when she was without speech. Great artist with an intriguing story to go along with it.
  • Traffic Stop – In 2015, an African-American math teacher was stopped in Austin, Texas, for a minor traffic violation, but it turns into a violent arrest. The documentary follows Breaion King as her life is turned upside down by callous police behavior and racism. It really makes you think about things…

oscarCheck out this article from IndieWire for more details. I’m not usually the biggest cinema person, but I love documentaries so this was a good way to spend an afternoon! An added bonus is that some of these selected docs are available to watch for free on YouTube… 🙂

Moving on to other things:  My ankle is slowly healing from its surgery back before Christmas. I had no idea that it would take almost three months before I could drive again, but it did, and now, thank heavens, I am back in the driver’s seat and walking (carefully) around. The Superhero was fantastic shuttling me around everywhere, but I’m glad to have my independence back. (I think he is as well!)

And then one of my favorite months, Black History Month, wraps up as March arrives with its windy weather. I ended up reading a load of African-American books and stories, either written by African-Americans and/or about a person of color, and it was fascinating. I’m planning on diversifying my reading for the rest of the year since it’s been so fun, so hoping to keep that going on. Race can be such a divisive issue, and even though I consider myself to be very aware of this, there are still times when I unconsciously have white privilege running for me, so I’m trying to be even more aware of that, in order to reach my students, both white and POC. It’s a fascinating journey.

So, we’re almost coming up on Spring Break (mid-March), and with that week off, I’m going to fly to Washington D.C. to meet my lovely mum flying in from London, and then we’ll see the sights (dependent on how comfortable my ankle is). I’m thinking that with lots of coffee breaks and some cake, we’ll be ok. 🙂

Life is good. I hope that you can say the same!

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(Re-)Learning, Learning, Learning….

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So with this leg of mine in a plaster cast, I’ve been having a huge weeks-long lesson in patience, a skill that, frankly, wasn’t very honed before now. However, being cast-bound has definitely not been as bad as I had thought it was going to be, mainly because the Superhero has really come through and been fantastic in putting up with supporting me. He really has been great in helping me get around, and I honestly do not know how people who don’t have a Superhero handle this situation without one. I’m very grateful.

Reading – I’m ploughing my way through Sally Bedell Smith’s biography of QE2, which has been enlightening. I do wonder if it’s a little sycophantic in places, and I am not sure how reliable some of the material is in ref to her sources, but hey now. It’s a good read all the same, and surprisingly difficult to put down at times.

With this free time before the semester starts, I’ve been going to the office in the afternoons to keep an eye on work email and projects, and also renewing/updating my writing skills. (You can never do too much learning, I think.)

I’ve been reading my writing bible, Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, an older book but with some absolute writing rules that I use in my professional life. Incidentally, the White in the author list is actually my loveliest essay guy, E. B. White, whose work I adore most of the time. (See reviews for both Charlotte’s Web and a book of White’s essays here.)

This also reminds me that I have a NF in the TBR pile on how the Elements of Style actually came to be written… Might have to move that up the pile in a moment or two once I’ve remembered the title. (Here it is: Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style by Mark Garvey.) Be still my heart.

Along with the Strunk and White, I’ve also been reading a reference book from the Associated Press, Guide to News Writing (Rene J. Cappon). Written in 1999 (wot? no updates?), this is a nuts-and-bolts guide on how to approach writing from a journalism angle. I’ve written for most of my career, but mostly from a PR angle. JOUR writing is very different, so I’ve been swotting up on that a bit since I also do a bit of that type of writing now and then. (I also need to edit this style of writing a lot, so I have to know of what I speak, yes?)

This reference guide is pretty good, but the pages are printed on crappy quality paper and the actual type is tiny. (I mean, 8 or 9 point tiny.) WWWHHHYYY?