The Teaching Front
We moved up to Woodrow Wilson and The Great War today in my American History 121 class. I can go through the start of the war pretty much off the top of my head without any great effort. I should be well on my way to finishing by the projected test date.
In my American History 120 classes we are going to finish up the Washington Administration and get into John Adams. Once I clear Adams then it will be test time for them.
I think, starting in the Fall, I will transition over to five exams for a semester. In my American History 121 class that would mean a 100 point exam on Reconstruction. In my American History 120 class it would mean an exam on the early colonial era running from 1492 to 1750. My thinking is that I am too slow at getting the first exam out. If I got one out sooner, it would serve as an earlier wake up call to students who are not taking the class seriously enough.
It might also serve to clear off dead weight. Students who sit in the class passively, even when they are quiet, are sort of a psychological dead weight. Their apathy is sort of like a rot which spreads to the more upbeat and interested students. It doesn't happen in every class but I do have cases where it does happen. I am hopeful that the earlier test will clear those out sooner.
In my American History 120 class I have some lectures to write on the Transportation Revolution, Early Industrialization and a revision of Andrew Jackson's lecture. I'm going to try to get to that this weekend.
The Writing Front
I've been looking over A Knitter's Day, which is a love story of sorts, perhaps a tragedy. Right now the story has a 600 word gap in it where the two characters fall in love with each other. This gap is the heart of the story and without it, I am pretty certain it will not sell. It won't work.
600 words doesn't sound like a lot and it isn't. I easily write that much per blog entry daily.
The question is this.
How do I get the two to fall in love with each other? I know it happens. The characters indicate as much. Yet sometimes characters are coy and fickle. Sometimes they'll tell you what you need to know, sometimes they won't.
I put this to Trinity and she said, "Maybe you aren't supposed to know how it happens. Does anyone know how they fall in love with someone?"
Which is a valid point. I couldn't tell you how I fall in love with people (perhaps that is the problem right there). I just know when it has happened. I couldn't take it apart and dissect it for a class on love and literature.
If I can find out how to convey or show the love, then this story will work. I know in my bones that it will.
On other writing fronts, research proceeds on Joint Writing Project - 02. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to sit down somewhere quiet and get some work done on it.
The Fitness Front
Monday saw my return to the gym after two weeks of bronchitis. My strength on the weights did not decline that much, maybe ten pounds on all fronts.
More importantly, when I swam my laps on Monday, I reached 200 meters uninterupted which is right where I left off two weeks previously. Hopefully by the end of this week I will reach 250 meters.
Right now I'm mainly concentrating on the front crawl. I want to hold off on the breast stroke until I've had a chance to take some private lessons.
The swim goals are as follows:
1. 300 meters uninterrupted by the second week of April.
2. 500 meters by the end of April.
3. Proficient in the breast stroke by the end of April.
4. Lifeguard qualified by the second week of May.
5. Summer job by the last week of May.
6. Longterm goals include 1000 meters and eventually 2000 meters uninterrupted.
Other Fronts
Trinity is watching her grandkids this weekend for her eldest daughter. I have mixed feelings about that. I love her grandkids, it is the eldest daughter I am none too pleased with. However, sometimes you compromise. It is the nature of the beast.
Payday is upcoming which means additional upgrades to the Pod. We are slowly picking up bits of furniture for the office and dining areas. I think on this next pass we'll pick up another shelf or two. I also need to work at picking up some more books. I'd like to get my own copy of The Remains of the Day and I'd like to read Temple Grandin's works pertaining to her experiences with autism. Something tells me that Temple is the solution to my creative problems with Tuesday and the other days of the week in the TDT universe.
So it goes. A mundane entry for the most part.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
16 hours ago