Bullets

  • In my composition courses this semester (two FYC and one Advanced Composition), the first assignment is a list-style composition after the style of Being Poor, preferably engaging the local setting -- life in Greenville or North Carolina. The first-year students are doing this as a collaborative assignment. As I've said before, I think there's really something to the list as form that makes it especially participatory. Notice how many people built on the White Privilege Checklist (links) and the 350+ comments at the "Being Poor" post, many of which contribute to the list. There was also a separate response to "Being Poor" which I'm assigning along with several other list compositions. The idea is that in the first-year classes, students have to get to know each other enough to find some common ground, so that each one can contribute points to the list. Hopefully it'll go well.
  • In reading some back columns of Dear Margo, I was a little disappointed with her advice to a coworker of a new mother. How about, "Ask the company to provide her a separate space so she doesn't have to pump in the bathroom in the first place"? (The woman was pumping in the bathroom and making business calls at the same time, and the Dear Margo advisee was uncomfortable flushing when someone was on the phone.)
  • My fear of flying has been renewed.
  • I had an awful dream last night. My left arm had been torn off at the shoulder somehow, and I was holding it with my other arm. It was heavy, and I couldn't lift it high enough and hold it steady enough to set the bone. I thought, "I'm going to have to find a doctor to do this, and it's going to hurt."
  • I'm close to finishing the knitting project I've been working on for SUCH a LONG time and getting sidetracked from: a felted handbag. I'll post pictures if it looks okay.