JULY
One of the first things I did was attend a tweet up at Mary Bourassa’s place, whereby I met Audrey McLaren in person for the first time! My parents and my aunt also came by for a visit. Beyond that though, the first couple of weeks of July were spent trying to do things I hadn’t had time for in the 5 months previous. Namely: Edit Book 3 of my Time Travel story (which I managed by July 10th), fully read Mawi’s book “The 5 Powers of an Educator” (I blogged about him here), and catch up on my blog posting both for here and on MuseHack.
I blogged more in July 2014 than in any previous month.
Let's squeeze in a 5 minute break |
So that was maybe 4 days of summer.
Rehearsals started up for Pygmalion at school by the 17th (weekdays only, weekends free). To say there were some complications from parents would be an understatement. In the midst of it, I skipped out to “Twitter Math Camp” in Jenks, Oklahoma from July 23rd to 27th (and I blogged about that too, starting here). I actually hadn’t been sure about “live blogging” again, but effectively the day before, I decided to make it a point form “facts game”, as my motivation. I even managed to finish “Joy of X” on the plane ride back.
Upon my return to town, “Pygmalion” rehearsals were going on in earnest, so I was at school nearly every day (for less than 6 hours?), doing what I could. I also wrote some post-TMC blog posts; weekends were still free, but the last day of July was a Thursday.
Thus... 5 days of nothing-to-do summer by this point? I’m counting weekends here, because I’m usually working on the weekends during school. Granted, I suppose it’s less days if you consider needing to tend my lawn. My wife helped me clip the hedges.
AUGUST
Not that kind of archive dive |
Then, August 9th, off to Scotland for two weeks with 23 teenagers and 4 other chaperones. (Have I mentioned I’ve never even taken a school trip out of the city before?) That actually went pretty well, the students didn’t have major medical emergencies and Mrs. Schrum (lead chaperone) didn’t go completely crazy (that might have left me in charge). I even saw some great sites/sights, and I then managed to finish reading a third book (which I’d started late July): “A Strange Wilderness: Lives of the Great Mathematicians”. (Completed on the plane ride back.) Only managed a couple pages of writing though, unless you count the daily journal.
Got back August 22nd. Not counting the trip with students, I can now add more onto my 9 days of summer!
Logged some Napier in Edinburgh |
At 14 days of summer, I had to return to school... well, I suppose I didn’t HAVE to, no one was paying me, but it was August 28th, I wanted to reorganize my classroom, and I’d already received an email from a parent regarding an IEP (Individual Education Plan). As I write this, I realize I never bought caulking for something I needed to take care of at the house. Darn it.
REDEMPTION
SO... productive summer? I guess... but I’d also wanted to catch up on Scott Delahunt’s blog, spend time on the Web Fiction Guide Forums, and generally get a better sense of serial writing. There was sewing I didn’t get to, and home improvement (the kitchen faucet still behaves funny, and I need to clean the vents). I didn’t make any new videos, and only managed one song parody. I wanted to actually watch an anime series I’ve had in my possession for a while, and one I don’t.
A teacher colleague of mine says they were able to cross off everything on their “To Do” list this summer. I literally have NO idea what that’s like - is that even possible? Has that ever happened in my life?? (Genuinely curious, is ALWAYS having something else that needs doing just a “me” thing?)
Read, man! |
I hope it goes well. Writing is one of the few things that still invigorates me after a week of exhaustion. Time will tell. Coming in some future post: Actual Goals going forwards.
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