Thursday, November 11, 2010

This is my brain on grading

Happy Veteran's day, folks. I had today off! Do you know what I did all day? If you do, it's because either a) you are psychic or b) you read my subject line.

Yes. I graded papers. Approximately 35. In seven hours or so. It was a marathon. I eventually got into a strange-grading-mindset. I just stared at the computer screen and it was as if the paper read itself. I'm still feeling that way a bit. I need to go outside.

But first! I thought since I'm in super-computer-mode I'd update this blog. There are only a few weeks left of school. It is insane. How does time move like this? One moment it feels like time is standing absolutely still, like nothing is every going to change, and then suddenly it's two months later.

Example the first: We closed on our house a month ago yesterday.
Example the second: It's Thanksgiving in like five minutes.

Crazy. Speaking of the bungalow, we've gotten almost everything unpacked. This is good because I had a lot of work this week (hence the grading-marathon). And it's also nice because now there are many rooms in the bungalow that look like rooms in a house instead of like rooms in a storage facility (a nice storage facility, but still).

We're going to have Patrice & co. over the week after next. Exciting. Now we just need to figure out what to cook.... Last night Patrice made the most delicious lemon fettuccine. I could never, ever spell that word without the spell check. Maybe we'll make something with lemons, lettuce, and, oh, what's another L food? Legumes. That sounds good. L themed dinner, here we come. With lasagna and linguini. I'm not convinced that that is spelled correctly. Hm. Maybe we'll leave all noodles off the menu so that I don't have to deal with spelling mistakes.

My brain is begging me to turn off the computer, so I must bid you adieu, my friends.

Friday, November 5, 2010

The hamster is a tiny little elderly gentleman

Did you see the subject line of this post? It's absolutely the truth. He's across from me. The hamster, that is (I always thought hamster was spelled with a p. Hampster. But no. No p). In the living room. Of our new house.

Reasons why this is great: 1) He's in the living room! Not our bedroom. Now I can see him more often and he won't wake us up in the middle of the night. Score. 2) We're in our new house! Maybe this should have been number one?

Ha. But I'm trying, you know, to be calm about things. It's entirely exciting, however, to be sitting here in our yellow living room with our new (well, from the thrift store, so let's say "new") yellow couches. Mm hm. When the delivery guys dropped them off they said, "Huh. Yellow couches for a yellow living room?"

YES.

If you'd like to read a story (should maybe be "story") I wrote, go here: http://eunoiareview.wordpress.com/tag/m-r-sheffield/

It's nearing the end of the semester. My kids are working on their finalish (I say ish because there will be one last revision) papers. I have a big stack of grading to do. They just read a new essay called "Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era," by Richard Restak. They really like this one because it's about them. We also watched a PBS special ("Digital Nation," from Frontline, it's excellent, here, have a link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/).

So they love the essay and they loved watching a "movie" (even if it was a PBS documentary. Funny story, one of them asked me when it was produced and I said last February. She responded, "oh, I thought all PBS stuff was old"). I'm anticipating interesting essays from them, so that's exciting, except for the sad reality, of course, of the digital stack of papers I have virtually in front of me, hahaha.

Okay. So that's my composition class(es). The lit and creative writing classes, you ask, how are they going? The lit kids just read "Bartleby the Scrivener," by Melville, and I have to say they were not enthused about it. When I told them it was published in 1853 they all kind of went "Oooooooh. That explains it." I think they don't have the patience for the longer, sort of less plot driven stories. Maybe I should have them watch "Digital Nation."

The creative writing kids are writing poetry. We're in the middle of a workshop session which means everyone reads certain students' poems for the day and then we discuss the poems as a class. It's entirely fun, maybe the most fun thing I get to do. They have written some pretty good stuff this semester.

And! I finally remembered to change my address today, so that's good. See, I'm getting things, you know, done. Mostly. We haven't finished unpacking, and I do have this stack of papers, but I feel like it's all going to get done.

Probably.

Ha.