Barbara Hambly's Blog, page 23
June 7, 2012
Had the great pleasure of seeing several of my former stu...
Had the great pleasure of seeing several of my former students graduate from Pierce last night, moving on to CSUN or UCLA.
As I usually do, I rented Time Lord Robes (cap and gown) and sat with the other NPCs to do honor to the kids who've made it through Level 1. (NPCs because we give them quests and tell them lore, and they run off and do stuff and then run back and turn it in.)
The college is using a new cap-n-gown rental place which insisted on us telling them our college colors (in my case, UC blue and gold) because, evidently, they didn't have the capacity to look them up, and then sent us colors totally at random (in my case, white and red).
Another day of grading exams. I really wish my new printer would show up on the doorstep.
Along with it, as a present to myself for when I finish grading, I also ordered a copy of the BBC version of The Tempest, with Michael Hordern as Prospero, a version which I very much prefer to the recent Julie Taymor film. (PLEASE stick with the script, Julie...) This summer I'll probably do what I did last summer, and go through the Shakespeare Collection again - I sort of cheated and already watched Midsummer Night's Dream, sort of like eating dessert first. (The one I come back to is the old Peter Hall version from 1968, with Diana Rigg and Helen Mirren as the two girls and Judi Dench running around the woods in green body-paint and a big smile).
As I usually do, I rented Time Lord Robes (cap and gown) and sat with the other NPCs to do honor to the kids who've made it through Level 1. (NPCs because we give them quests and tell them lore, and they run off and do stuff and then run back and turn it in.)
The college is using a new cap-n-gown rental place which insisted on us telling them our college colors (in my case, UC blue and gold) because, evidently, they didn't have the capacity to look them up, and then sent us colors totally at random (in my case, white and red).
Another day of grading exams. I really wish my new printer would show up on the doorstep.
Along with it, as a present to myself for when I finish grading, I also ordered a copy of the BBC version of The Tempest, with Michael Hordern as Prospero, a version which I very much prefer to the recent Julie Taymor film. (PLEASE stick with the script, Julie...) This summer I'll probably do what I did last summer, and go through the Shakespeare Collection again - I sort of cheated and already watched Midsummer Night's Dream, sort of like eating dessert first. (The one I come back to is the old Peter Hall version from 1968, with Diana Rigg and Helen Mirren as the two girls and Judi Dench running around the woods in green body-paint and a big smile).
June 6, 2012
The Stories So Far Part Deux:There are the usual number o...
The Stories So Far Part Deux:
There are the usual number of people who think that William T. Sherman was a Confederate General. (Although this year, there don't seem to be anybody - so far - who think that Joseph Smith wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin).
On the other hand, there are some AMAZINGLY good Extra Credit essays, which are as much an exercise in creativity as in how much you remember of the facts. I'm always really curious about how my students think. Just the spectrum is excellent and entertaining.
There are the usual number of people who think that William T. Sherman was a Confederate General. (Although this year, there don't seem to be anybody - so far - who think that Joseph Smith wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin).
On the other hand, there are some AMAZINGLY good Extra Credit essays, which are as much an exercise in creativity as in how much you remember of the facts. I'm always really curious about how my students think. Just the spectrum is excellent and entertaining.
The Stories So Far:As far as the Five Most Influential Pe...
The Stories So Far:
As far as the Five Most Influential People in History essays from World History are concerned, the score is:
Jesus - 11
Columbus - 9
Alexander the Great - 8
Muhammed and Hammurabi - 7 apiece
Martin Luther and Buddha - 6 apiece
Julius Caesar - 5
Confucius and Genjis Khan - 2 apiece
The one-shots always interest me. This semester they are: Ghandi (who wasn't even in the course material, which ended at 1500), Charlemagne, Constantine (although I suspect from the answer that the student thought Charlemagne was either Constantine or Charles Martel), St. Paul, Socrates, Ferdinand of Aragon (!), Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII (!), Michaelangelo, Galileo, and Hannibal.
On the US History front, it's always very clear who skipped reading the textbook and instead looked up the Term Identifications on Wikipedia and memorized the answers. The Wikipedia answers are, for one thing, identical, and for another, don't cover material from the text and the lectures: for instance, Wp describes "nullification" as being "an arguement concerning states' rights" without saying exactly what the arguement WAS, who propounded it, what state he was from, and how it all turned out... things I'm looking for on the answers.
Commencement this afternoon.
As far as the Five Most Influential People in History essays from World History are concerned, the score is:
Jesus - 11
Columbus - 9
Alexander the Great - 8
Muhammed and Hammurabi - 7 apiece
Martin Luther and Buddha - 6 apiece
Julius Caesar - 5
Confucius and Genjis Khan - 2 apiece
The one-shots always interest me. This semester they are: Ghandi (who wasn't even in the course material, which ended at 1500), Charlemagne, Constantine (although I suspect from the answer that the student thought Charlemagne was either Constantine or Charles Martel), St. Paul, Socrates, Ferdinand of Aragon (!), Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII (!), Michaelangelo, Galileo, and Hannibal.
On the US History front, it's always very clear who skipped reading the textbook and instead looked up the Term Identifications on Wikipedia and memorized the answers. The Wikipedia answers are, for one thing, identical, and for another, don't cover material from the text and the lectures: for instance, Wp describes "nullification" as being "an arguement concerning states' rights" without saying exactly what the arguement WAS, who propounded it, what state he was from, and how it all turned out... things I'm looking for on the answers.
Commencement this afternoon.
June 2, 2012
Well, spent the afternoon reading student papers and grad...
Well, spent the afternoon reading student papers and grading exams - then slaughtered monsters in the dungeons of Diablo for an hour and feel much better.
Time to walk the dog. Screenplay work tonight, and (I hope) printer-shopping in the morning. With the onset of summer I've started another Antryg story, preparatory to starting in (after the final Final) on the Big Polish of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title).
Time to walk the dog. Screenplay work tonight, and (I hope) printer-shopping in the morning. With the onset of summer I've started another Antryg story, preparatory to starting in (after the final Final) on the Big Polish of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title).
May 31, 2012
You know, my impression of LJ is exactly the same: that F...
You know, my impression of LJ is exactly the same: that FB is okay to touch bases with people and see how they're doing, but LJ is where things actually get said. Maybe it's because I tend to prefer writing to posting pictures (though I will get a new camera and post pix here as soon as I get some time...), and because I prefer hearing how people are doing, the day-to-day reality of what life is about rather than just, "I loving Justin Bieber's newest!" (Apologies to Mr. Bieber; I'm sure his stuff is exemplary and will one day save civilization). LJ always feels more real than FB.
On the other hand, FB is really good for me to post that reviewer Nancy Pearl, said in a squib in Publisher's Weekly (on the subject of New Orleans books), that the Benjamin January series was one of the "Books about New Orleans to read before you Die": right up there with Confederacy of Dunces.
First final exam last night. Thus, I get to read exams, research papers, and Course Outlines of Record for the curriculum committee from the moment I finished grocery shopping until it's time to hit the transporter-button and go to Azeroth to slay things this evening. A beautiful warm evening last night, twilight settling on the sericulture botanical garden outside the classroom door while those poor little bastards were laboring over their tests. Birdsong and stillness.
Once Commencement is over, it's Printer-Shopping time - the old one is ailing, and since repair will probably cost almost as much as a new printer, it's probably a better use of my time and money to just go get a new one. I've had the old one AT LEAST 15 years - and the faithful old thing printed out BOTH the second draft of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title) AND the screenplay that I need to read over one last time for trimming, before informing me that it would print no more. (And believe me, it's easier to read a hard copy than on-screen. I miss all sorts of things on-screen).
On the other hand, FB is really good for me to post that reviewer Nancy Pearl, said in a squib in Publisher's Weekly (on the subject of New Orleans books), that the Benjamin January series was one of the "Books about New Orleans to read before you Die": right up there with Confederacy of Dunces.
First final exam last night. Thus, I get to read exams, research papers, and Course Outlines of Record for the curriculum committee from the moment I finished grocery shopping until it's time to hit the transporter-button and go to Azeroth to slay things this evening. A beautiful warm evening last night, twilight settling on the sericulture botanical garden outside the classroom door while those poor little bastards were laboring over their tests. Birdsong and stillness.
Once Commencement is over, it's Printer-Shopping time - the old one is ailing, and since repair will probably cost almost as much as a new printer, it's probably a better use of my time and money to just go get a new one. I've had the old one AT LEAST 15 years - and the faithful old thing printed out BOTH the second draft of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title) AND the screenplay that I need to read over one last time for trimming, before informing me that it would print no more. (And believe me, it's easier to read a hard copy than on-screen. I miss all sorts of things on-screen).
May 29, 2012
Whoot! Second Draft is done - and ten thousand words too ...
Whoot! Second Draft is done - and ten thousand words too long dang dangetty-dang dang!
But I'm very pleased. Spies and skulduggery have been thwarted, both cases have been solved, Mr. Poe has gone back to being a writer (rather than accepting that job as postmaster of Acropolis, Indiana), and Mr. J gets paid for his road-trip and gets to go home. The End.
Now for the re-write.
After I finish grading research papers and prep for the finals tomorrow and Thursday.
At lunch yesterday John Dechancie said, "Pretty much everybody has bailed off Live Journal..." Is that true?
But I'm very pleased. Spies and skulduggery have been thwarted, both cases have been solved, Mr. Poe has gone back to being a writer (rather than accepting that job as postmaster of Acropolis, Indiana), and Mr. J gets paid for his road-trip and gets to go home. The End.
Now for the re-write.
After I finish grading research papers and prep for the finals tomorrow and Thursday.
At lunch yesterday John Dechancie said, "Pretty much everybody has bailed off Live Journal..." Is that true?
May 25, 2012
I often feel quite guilty (like today), writing about ter...
I often feel quite guilty (like today), writing about terrible things like murder and slavery and virulent pre-Civil-War racism and having such a ripping good time, chortling to myself as Ben January and E.A. Poe trade wisecracks - solemn horribleness of subject matter deserves a more sober attitude. If I were spiritually more developed I'd have one.
Incidentally (on the subject of not being spiritually developed AT ALL), I have an essay about the 9th Doctor Who - the season in which the show was re-booted - in the upcoming collection, Chicks Unravel Time, edited by Deborah Stanish and soon to be out through Amazon. (If I were more spiritually developed I'd remember the publisher off the top of my head, too...) Stanish and her co-editor (Myers?) collected, I am told, a woman writer, artist, fan, or whatever for every season of the show: according to the ad I saw, Diana Gabaldon (whoo-hoo!) contributed her thoughts on one of my favorite Companions, the wonderful Jamie McCrimmon (still, I believe, the longest-running Companion). (Well, with one thing and another, they ALL run a LOT....)
I've recently realized that the lovely Cupcake isn't so much a tuxedo cat: with her little white gloves on her front feet, she has short white stockings on her back feet, with sketchy, trailing lines of white higher up the legs, giving the effect of a garter-belt. Thus, it isn't a tuxedo she's wearing but a French Maid outfit. No wonder Gus follows her around the house.
Incidentally (on the subject of not being spiritually developed AT ALL), I have an essay about the 9th Doctor Who - the season in which the show was re-booted - in the upcoming collection, Chicks Unravel Time, edited by Deborah Stanish and soon to be out through Amazon. (If I were more spiritually developed I'd remember the publisher off the top of my head, too...) Stanish and her co-editor (Myers?) collected, I am told, a woman writer, artist, fan, or whatever for every season of the show: according to the ad I saw, Diana Gabaldon (whoo-hoo!) contributed her thoughts on one of my favorite Companions, the wonderful Jamie McCrimmon (still, I believe, the longest-running Companion). (Well, with one thing and another, they ALL run a LOT....)
I've recently realized that the lovely Cupcake isn't so much a tuxedo cat: with her little white gloves on her front feet, she has short white stockings on her back feet, with sketchy, trailing lines of white higher up the legs, giving the effect of a garter-belt. Thus, it isn't a tuxedo she's wearing but a French Maid outfit. No wonder Gus follows her around the house.
May 24, 2012
The head of the history department is retiring, and getti...
The head of the history department is retiring, and getting rid of 42 years of accumulated books. (He started as an adjunct there 50 years ago, but has only had the office for 42). I looted a lovely little booklet of "Royal Faces," portraits of the Royal Family of England, including death-masks of medieval monarchs (who knew we could really see how Edward III looked? And Henry VII, it rots my socks to say, was a VERY good-looking man, the stingy murdering jerk).
Last day of class was yesterday. I have a giant stack of research papers, to be succeeded by a giant stack of finals. As always, these last few weeks I've finally felt that I've gotten to know the students: we relax, and talk... and then they go away.
Beautiful warm windy evening; tiny fingernail moon in a sky still faintly light.The DMZ at the center of campus - where construction was going on until the contractors were fired, and which is now a fenced and lifeless semi-ruin - appears to be the local safe house for a colony of rabbits, who are glimpsed slipping under the fence.
I have fantasies about spending the next 12 weeks sewing, writing, cleaning my house (finally!) and playing video-games, but much of that time I'll have to be fluffing up my knowledge of Women's History and Latin American History, as those are the TWO full-time positions for which I've applied. I've had the material, and can certainly teach the classes, but it needs to be front-and-center in my mind for the interviews, if I even GET interviews. I'm sure the competition will be fierce.
Last day of class was yesterday. I have a giant stack of research papers, to be succeeded by a giant stack of finals. As always, these last few weeks I've finally felt that I've gotten to know the students: we relax, and talk... and then they go away.
Beautiful warm windy evening; tiny fingernail moon in a sky still faintly light.The DMZ at the center of campus - where construction was going on until the contractors were fired, and which is now a fenced and lifeless semi-ruin - appears to be the local safe house for a colony of rabbits, who are glimpsed slipping under the fence.
I have fantasies about spending the next 12 weeks sewing, writing, cleaning my house (finally!) and playing video-games, but much of that time I'll have to be fluffing up my knowledge of Women's History and Latin American History, as those are the TWO full-time positions for which I've applied. I've had the material, and can certainly teach the classes, but it needs to be front-and-center in my mind for the interviews, if I even GET interviews. I'm sure the competition will be fierce.
May 22, 2012
A quiet day to roar ahead on Second Draft. All the sub-pl...
A quiet day to roar ahead on Second Draft. All the sub-plots of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title) are coming together more clearly - in rough draft, I'm often still thinking things through, so there's a lot of obvious re-stating of things, and rambling conversations that don't go anywhere. (This is the reason people re-write!)
Since January sort of stumbles into the murder-mystery part while he's investigating (for pay) the disappearance of a mathematician, the story is basically two cases: body-snatching and secret codes on one side, and early baseball, slavery, and loving inappropriate people on the other. The trick for me is to make both cases very clear and un-confusing to follow.
A lot to do, since starting tomorrow I'll have a boatload of research-papers to read through, and finals after that. It's a time of gray mornings, when the red flowers outside the study window seem blazingly bright. MAJOR kitty drama continues, with yowling, hissing, cat-fights and harsh language.
I look forward to summer, when I get to clean up after the Easter luncheon.
Since January sort of stumbles into the murder-mystery part while he's investigating (for pay) the disappearance of a mathematician, the story is basically two cases: body-snatching and secret codes on one side, and early baseball, slavery, and loving inappropriate people on the other. The trick for me is to make both cases very clear and un-confusing to follow.
A lot to do, since starting tomorrow I'll have a boatload of research-papers to read through, and finals after that. It's a time of gray mornings, when the red flowers outside the study window seem blazingly bright. MAJOR kitty drama continues, with yowling, hissing, cat-fights and harsh language.
I look forward to summer, when I get to clean up after the Easter luncheon.
May 17, 2012
As always after my long days at school - class in the mor...
As always after my long days at school - class in the morning, class at night, work in my office in between, leave the house at 8 am and get home at 11 pm - as always, after I've FINALLY had enough sleep and it's late in the morning, I feel very rested and well.
Soft gloom here, the usual for May and June. At the college, blazing hot day yesterday and summer-magic night, walking through the desert botanical garden after dark, short sleeves, warmth, enchantment in the air.
As promised, the nice folks at Blizzard DID give me a free download of Diablo III (yay!); it downloaded all day yesterday while I was at school, so I got home to some stunning cinematics that I hope I can figure out how to disable so I don't have to watch them every time I want to sign on. (Anybody know how to disable them? Do I just hit the ESC key?)
Birthday-present shopping this morning, a day of peaceful work.
Soft gloom here, the usual for May and June. At the college, blazing hot day yesterday and summer-magic night, walking through the desert botanical garden after dark, short sleeves, warmth, enchantment in the air.
As promised, the nice folks at Blizzard DID give me a free download of Diablo III (yay!); it downloaded all day yesterday while I was at school, so I got home to some stunning cinematics that I hope I can figure out how to disable so I don't have to watch them every time I want to sign on. (Anybody know how to disable them? Do I just hit the ESC key?)
Birthday-present shopping this morning, a day of peaceful work.
