Polytechnic = institute of technology
In order to access my online classroom at this polytechnic university, I must:
- Print out a non-writeable PDF;
- fill it out by hand;
- fax it to the IT department.
Seriously.
Photos by Wes. Photographer by me.
Writing the thank you notes may be favorite part of the birthday party.
Dear Mason,
That bamboo log house kit is awesome, but I have some concerns about its ability to withstand severe weather events. My dog knocked over my first creation with a single swipe of his tail. Total destruction! I’m having a blast building things, but I think I’ll keep my action figures housed safely in the toy box for now. Thanks for coming to my party.
Your pal,
Wes
You know what’s great about a gymnastics birthday party?
Everything. Everything is great about a gymnastics birthday party. The teenage coaches who manage tear-free mayhem on the trampolines: great. The second-floor parent cage where we half-watch our kids while eating cheese and sipping tea: super great. ”Don’t clean up, we’ll do it for you:” over the top great.
Enormous grin on my 4-year-old’s face as he climbed into bed and fell asleep an hour before bedtime: the greatest.
For Wes’s birthday, I rescued his uncle’s old ukulele from storage and had it repaired. The first song he played was about soup. Naturally. (Taken with Instagram at Owens Music)
Remember
How lovely it was
Water fresh
Forest thick
Fragrant, full of green
I remember
My hometown beach
My foreign namesake river
Once so lovely
Safe
Cared for
Utterly magnificent
You too remember
Air
Waters
Land
Your home
Somewhere
We forgot
To check our breathing
To watch our steps
To notice
The clouds in our mouths
The grease under our feet
We forgot
We screwed up
Mistakes aren’t always endings
We haven’t yet made
Our own graves.
It’s time to remember now
Before our memories are only ours
Before we miss the beauty
We are not alone.
We have a window of time
Don’t waste it
Don’t forget
We don’t want to lose
Our world
Stop forgetting to remember
— By WriteGirl author Yamuna Haroutunian. Commissioned in celebration of Colleen’s birthday. Reprinted with permission. Darn fine poem, don’t you think?
I made a thing!
This is the kind of thing that makes me wish I knew how to make things.
Please share it around, for those who may like such things. I’ve only got two listed on Etsy right now, but I’ve got a the fixins to make about a dozen more. All hand-made by me
Embossed leather “Electric Library” cover for iPad 2
on marriage
Wes and his buddy Payton were eating dinner in our kitchen last night, when Payton asked about the wedding photo on the wall. I told him it’s a photo from the day we got married.
Payton: “What’s ‘married’?”
Wes: “When there are two persons … that stay together … that really stay … every day … that means they’re married.”
I may have to frame that quote and put it next to the photo.
Photo: last day of class, Jan. 20, 2010.
Now that I’m done skipping around the house and singing lalalalala, I can sit still long enough to thank you for all the Tumblr love. Thank you.
It’s been almost two years since my last journalism class. It’s been more than two since I taught the public affairs reporting class that won a big-deal award for the investigative series we produced about the abuse of ADD/ADHD drugs on campus. Working in journalism is great, but teaching it at the same time is doubly so. It keeps me in balance.
Due to state budget woes and school politics, I lost my lecturer position and didn’t expect to get it back. Now, not only do I get to teach again, I get to teach the best class of the bunch: public affairs reporting. That means covering every aspect of a community from courts and cops to government officials and education.
It also means working on the sort in-depth projects that invigorate students who might otherwise buy into the silly but popular notion that journalism is a dying field.
It is alive and thriving. Let’s tell some stories, Mustangs.
I GET TO TEACH AGAIN!
I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN! I GET TO TEACH AGAIN!
