I'm teaching a summer course, which is great, but taking up lots of time (15 weeks of work in 5 weeks -- I discourage students from summer courses). Plus, this week there's an on-campus conference on teaching that I'm trying to sneak into when I can. (I always like hearing my SCSU colleagues talk about teaching. It makes some of them seem less mean-spirited when they talk about how much they care about students' learning.) And I'm still catching up from my four days in Philadelphia.
Anyway, that's all an excuse for why I'm not being better about blogging lately. People often tell me I'm lucky to "have the summers off." I wish.
So just some quick updates on a couple of things I've written about recently.
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First, on "Not Knowing":
This morning, a colleague from another department came up to me and said he'd heard some things about my health, and he while he was sure I had a support network, he wanted to let me know he was available if I needed someone to talk to.
That was really nice. I think he's the first person outside of my department to mention my condition. It's nice to "know who knows," at least with this one person. I wouldn't have guessed it would have been this particular guy who was the first to say something. We worked fairly closely together on a committee a few years ago, and while we had a few disagreements, we worked together well. But he isn't someone I talk to regularly. I was pleasantly surprised.
So I guess word is getting around campus, which is oddly comforting.
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I've been reading some other blogs from people who also went to Philadelphia last week for the Society for Technical Communication conference. Very interesting to see what they liked and didn't like about the conference. For me, it was one of the best conferences I've been to in a while. I learned a lot.
One blogger, who calls herself Tina (after the technical writer from Dilbert) talked about sightseeing in Philadelphia. She said that one day she "made a mad dash for the Art Museum and ran up the stairs like Rocky." I didn't get to the Art Museum, and it's my only real regret about the trip. But I just couldn't find time to travel across town and back without missing something good. (Did you know I have a little bit of a Rocky obsession? And did you know that Mr. T, co-star of Rocky III, is a lymphoma survivor?)
But then I looked at Tina's own "regrets" list. A friend of hers, a Philly native, had given her "a list of things to see and eat," and she didn't do any of them, including seeing the Liberty Bell and eating a cheesesteak. I did those things and more, without sacrificing my education. So I guess I'm one up on Tina the tech writer.
One other thing from Philly that I forgot to mention: STC had a raffle for everyone who registered for the conference hotel through their web site, and I won a prize -- a nice red iPod Shuffle. Sweet! (But Lady Luck still owes me big.)
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That took way more time than I wanted it to, or could spare. Blogspot failed to save my earlier draft, so I had to retype it all. Technology -- grrrr!
I'm working on the next Nodes of Gold entry. Look for it soon.
The conference sounds great. I love educational conferences and hearing others perceptions on teaching and learning. (Go ahead and say it - I'm a geek) I just came back from a conference in Towson last week. With all the traveling I do I still haven't got down the sightseeing while away on business. I'm usually so tired in the evenings I just eat dinner and crash.
ReplyDeleteVery cool about the ipod. If you have an arm band or clip it could be a great running mate. Maybe some Rocky theme music for your early morning runs.
I think you might have used up a lot of your lady luck points getting me as your sister-in-law
;-)
Love, Mary S-B
"I think you might have used up a lot of your lady luck points getting me as your sister-in-law"
ReplyDeleteYou know what's weird, Mary? That's exactly what I was thinking as they handed over the iPod to me.
The Shuffle is really small, which is fine, because when I run, I only listen to Barry Manilow's "I Made It Through the Rain," over and over and over.
Bob
OK, OK, I can hear the sarcasim. :)
ReplyDeleteI apologize about the bad grammar in my last response. When I reread it I envisioned red marks all over the place. You could always use it as an example of how "THE INTERNET" is ruining Ahmuricah.
Love, Mary S-B
You don't really listen to Barry Manilow, do you? It scares me that you know the title of a Barry Manilow song. Sometimes I wonder.
happy belated birthday uncle bob!
ReplyDeletei hear that philly has THE best vegan canole to be had, forget about the cheesesteak!
much love,
julia
Mary,
ReplyDeleteWhen we were in Florida in April, our rental car had XM radio, and I kept it on the 70's and 80's stations whenever possible. one day, after a fun and tiring outing, everyone else fell asleep, and I could belt out Barry's "Could this be the Magic" all by myself. It woke up Isabel.
I can hear songs two or three times and remember the lyrics forever. On the one hand, it's a sickness. On the other hand, I've won beers in bars for knowing "School House Rock" songs and the theme to "Hello Larry," a MacLean Stevenson sitcom that lasted for only six episodes in the 70's. Scary.