February 22, 2009
Back to Blogging: Where I’ve Been and Where I’m Going
I am sorry that I haven’t been blogging very much, but I’ve been busy since I accomplished NaBloPoMo at the end of November. Here’s what has been demanding my attention over the last couple months.
- Rob and I celebrated Christmas and New Years in Berlin with my in-laws, which included lots of Hasir’s (once with the Fros), wonderfully delicious German home-cooked food, and memorable family time.
- I edited a 260-page on dissertation on the uncanny in Stephen King’s It and Firestarter. I love scary movies and novels, so this was a delight to read. This project funded my newly acquired iPod Touch.
- Grading! I worked through transitions homework, conclusions, in-class paragraphs, style (Lanham!) homework, presentations, and 350 grammar finals. Luckily for my sanity, the Language Centre tutors helped us grade the grammar finals.
- I have started planning General Language Course (GLC) for next semester with my colleagues. We’re making some changes to the curriculum and I’m really excited about its new direction. I’ll be integrating NPR‘s This I Believe series into the course, and despite having taught it as a writing activity in freshman composition, it will need some tweaking for GLC, as the course is an integrated-skills English course.
I love blogging, I really do, but when I have other responsibilities, it must take the back burner because I need my life to be in balance. I made blogging a daily priority in November, and while I enjoyed the experience of daily blogging and cranked out some great posts, I know that many of them could have been better. I am a language and writing teacher who absolutely loves writing, and I want this blog to reflect this passion (more on that in a future post).
I knew this even as I was writing some of those posts, but when I came across a very inspiring blog post on Merlin Mann‘s personal blog, Kung Fu Grippe, I was reminded of my feeling of inadequacy. This post is called simply “Better” and it is a manifesto on what is personally disappointing about this technolocial age that we live in. It is a challenge to be more real, to focus on producing the best that I can, every time, even when it takes longer than I might have originally wanted.
This means several things for my blogging. I want to practice the craft of writing instead of just writing more regularly (more editing time). I want to include lots of relevant links in my posts because I love the “hypertext” part of the internet and I want to harness it in my blogging (more reading/research time). I want to “bring some art to it.” I want to “demand personal focus on making good things.”
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Feb 23, 2009 @ 17:07:58
Looks like you are thinking through some similar things to what I have been thinking about. I’m always sad when my Gmail Links pops up with one of your posts, only to realize as I am about to click on it that I have already read it. I’m glad you’re back at it, but I do understand that balance issue. Moderation in all things…including moderation.
Mar 06, 2009 @ 16:40:13
@David: I really do want to keep blogging, but now I’m doing this weird thing: I’ve written three or four posts and have at least 5 more in my head, but I just can’t hit publish. I don’t know if it’s because they aren’t polished enough, or if I’m just going through a funk again (went through a weird one last summer). It’s hard to publish when you’re in a funk.
And I’ll have to remember that: “Moderation in all things, including moderation.”
Feb 23, 2009 @ 16:32:09
We all forgive you for your blogging lag — I have to admit, James and I haven’t NEARLY kept up with our blog as good as we shoudl have been doing as of late.
Having said that, I love everything that you produce — quality or not — and I actually prefer QUANTITY of QUALITY! I’d rather have a poorly written blog about your Christmas in Berlin than no blog post at all. :)
Mar 06, 2009 @ 16:42:41
@Beth: I haven’t ever blogged about Christmas in Berlin. I started to after Christmas 2007, but I think I kind of want to keep it for myself. It is such a special time, the two Christmases I’ll ever have just with Rob’s family. I am sure we’ll visit again, but never again will it be like this again: just a quick 4-hour train ride to our family’s house in Berlin. I don’t know. I can’t quite put it in words, but I just haven’t wanted to share that…
And thanks for forgiving me. :)
Feb 23, 2009 @ 07:38:49
Awesome sum-up, Linden. I can’t wait to see where your passion takes you in the future! And you’ve inspired me to be a little more disciplined in my own writing.
Feb 23, 2009 @ 12:36:49
@Lorraine – Ha! I love the circle of inspiration. :) But seriously, that’s one of the (many) fun things about friends: mutual inspiration.