End of a season

I have finished both presentations, and I feel good to have them finished. They were the last major exercise for the two classes, now I need to finish my teaching portfolio and grade a whole whack of papers for the class I am teaching, but I am essentially finished with this semester. yayh

The presentations went well. I have learned from the semester of teaching how to babble away and not say anything. I went in to the first one knowing I would end up at around 12 minutes of a 15 minute presentation, and that is what I did. A few questions, and the show was over. Yesterday's presentation of Domanski's first book The Cape Breton Book of the Deadwent well. Only 8 students showed up for class and I ended up being the only one presenting. I was a little concerned during my initial run through that I would be over my time limit (20 minutes), but when I found out I was the only presenter, I said great, and just babbled away. I think I ended up at around 40 minutes (a guess as I did not check before going up in front of the class). Interestingly enough, it was fun. Both of them were. Yes, I was a little nervous at the start, but shortly after getting going, it was all pleasure.

When I returned to school some years back now (5?), one of my major worries was that I would not be able to do the presentations that are a big part of class work. At first, it was difficult, but the drama course made a huge difference, and I have seen a large increase in my confidence in the last year. Yes, I am chuffed with my self.

The weather has become cold and icky here now. I miss the warmth already. Today is not too bad, in fact it feels more like spring than late fall, and I am pleased with it. I actually found my toque and gloves before leaving this morning!!

I am nearly one semester away from having completed this degree! wow, how time flies when you are stressed out.

Speaking to ppt

Last week was a rather quite week. Nothing special happened in classes, or in the one I teach. The only thing of note was a reading by Phillip Levine. He is now 80, looking a little frail, but when he reads his poetry, his voice is strong and he sounds young. He was probably the best reader that I have seen since Dodge.

This week is busy, at least the early part. A presentation this afternoon and another Wednesday will keep my hopping. After that, it is all downhill until school quits for christmas. So soon.

The weather has turned winter here. Blech I says, blech.

The Elephant and the Rose

The day after the day after. Have you gotten used to saying President Obama yet?

Riding the bus to school yesterday I heard one young man saying he thought Obama would never make it, all the late, undecided voters would swarm the ballot box and McCain would win. His friend, a supporter of the old man and the procreator, was having a tough time. Seems he had spent much of the last three months trash talking, and now all his words are coming back to bite him in sensitive spots.

I spent the night sitting on the couch watching CNN's online coverage and madly refreshing their election results page. One of the most exciting races occurred right here in NC. The vote count is still going on, with Obama ahead by about 14 thousand.

Fall has finally painted the world here. I am hoping to get out and take some photos of the pretties today.

Monday. Last week was a lost week. My class submitted their essays for the second essay, and I spent the week, and a portion of the weekend, grading their papers. On the happy side, I have completed the grading (last one graded Saturday, and all of them returned Sunday). I was quite pleased with how the class performed on this last collection of essays. The class average was likely a B, and that is better than the last grade. In general, their work was better than with the first essay.

Fall has descended on us, much to my disappointment. How can I boast about warm weather when it is cold? Though it was awesome here yesterday.



The colors of fall are stunning. Not only do the leaves take on these vibrant reds and yellows, but the pines seem greener in contrast. Yesterday's high was 75, which is the best we will do for a while.

My application to Chapel Hill's MSILS is submitted. All I have to do is call NAIT and get them to send a transcript out. And then wait for some kind of response. I have not begun to think about what I will/may do if I do not get accepted. Work may be hard to come by given the current state of the economy.

I have lived in NC for just over 18 months, and I still revel in the fact that in early November it can get to 75. Our neighbor planted pansies and some ornamental kale last week.

Time for me to get busy. Another week, and only four more to go before the term ends.

I am sure that I should be working this morning. But the weather resists any serious attempt at thought. It is one of the usual fall miseries, where the rain comes down in a steady mist, not really raining, but not dry either. The clouds are thick enough to give the surface of everything a pallor that seeps in and weakens motivation. So I sit here, in my office, watching cars dribble by lacklusterly. That is me imposing my mood on the world, of course, but the world is strong enough to deal with my lack of enthusiasm. I am sure there are some excited souls in the city, but not here in this upstairs room.

I did have a good week. I enjoyed meeting with my students in conferences, the classes went well. The weather, while fricken cold, was sunny and gorgeous.

Today I have a paper to grade, and a whole lot of my own work to deal with. I would list it here, but I am afraid to do so. Building a mountain and knowing it is just the first of many, some much higher, to come is intimidating.

To work I go. Mopeyly.