A Rhetorical Question

Laura · at 1:05 PM

Laura · at 6:55 AM

The Vino is done. And the file is transmitted to the technical adviser.

Thursday, I worked on our front yard. The big kids and I bought 400lbs of top soil and put in the flower beds (and the half barrel). And 100lbs of manure (which is not all spread, yet). The big flower bed had black plastic about two inches below the soil, so that all the roots for the shrubs were two inches deep. I found this out when I *uprooted* one.

We also planted flowers; old fashioned flowers. Johnny jump-ups, a lily, daisies. And we spread some zinnia seed. I love zinnias... they remind me of old-lady gardens. Zinnia petals were what my flower girl used at my wedding.

Laura · at 8:00 AM

It is all Garrett's fault.
http://www.fark.com/

Laura · at 2:51 PM

Or rather, I am sick. I have an upper respiratory infection. The only question, really, at this point is whether it is viral (in which case I simply have to get better or die) or bacterial (in which case I have to go see a doctor). The problem I keep having that complicates things is *asthma* (which means every time any little thing goes wrong, my lungs close in to, I suppose, keep out germs-- after the fact).

To make matters more fun, Todd and Olivia are also sick. Olivia has not been to school this week because she has been running a fever. Todd tried to go yesterday, but his principal sent him home, assuring him that she could find a sub.

I have some work to do on the Disneyworld website. It is shaping up to look pretty good, if I do say so myself.

This morning, during my 8 o'clock class, I was convinced that it was Friday, which it was not.

And now, Gerald McBoingBoing is on Boomerang when it is supposed to be Looney Toons. So I am cheating and watching Friends. Walker is playing a new video game, so he won't notice and Meleah is out with Todd buying me a vaporizer because I sound so pathetic. But a herpes medication ad just came on so I am not sure how long it will last...

And to make matters worse, today is Ash Wednesday and I was actually planning to go to church tonight. But at this point, I don't know that anyone wants to be in a room with me. One of my poor students sat beside me in large group today, but he assured me that he was also contagious, so I shouldn't worry about it...

Laura · at 6:20 PM

with html to make the quizzes look right without recoding the whole things (which I am simply not up for).

I found a futon with a frame for my parents' computer/guest room. It is a really nice one (I thought briefly about just keeping it, but decided I really don't have room for it).

Meleah is watching The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Walker is actually watching it with her. I really like that movie.

I really need to be grading some papers, but I just don't want to...

Laura · at 7:11 PM

Because it was on the site that Alex sent me to in his bad-influence-ness...

Your results: You are Green Lantern
Green Lantern		70%
Wonder Woman		68%
Spider-Man		65%
The Flash		60%
Hulk		55%
Iron Man		50%
Robin		48%
Superman		45%
Batman		45%
Supergirl		43%
Catwoman		40%

Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Laura · at 6:58 PM

Because Alex C-E is a bad influence...

Your results:
You are Apocalypse
You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

Apocalypse		76%
Dr. Doom		69%
Dark Phoenix		66%
Poison Ivy		62%
Magneto		61%
Lex Luthor		59%
The Joker		54%
Mystique		51%
Juggernaut		51%
Venom		51%
Riddler		46%
Mr. Freeze		46%
Two-Face		43%
Kingpin		34%
Catwoman		32%
Green Goblin		31%

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

Laura · at 9:11 AM

In my comp class right now, the students are composing using Sondra Perl's composing guidelines. I love them, but students have a love/relationship with them. That much writing is usually more than they want to do at one time...

I am researching this semester the teaching of professional writing, and my instructor is asking me to look outside the field of English studies for the sources. So I am traipsing through the world of journals I have never felt the need to look at before: Technical Communications, IEEE, Journal of Marketing in Education and more. And of couse, the ones I need are not available in full text in the databases. And many of them are not even available in our library here. Old Dominion has several of them in their print holdings, but that does not help me a great deal since I do not live in Virgina.

So for my annotated bibliography entry for today, I read eight pages where a couple of engineers argue that students should be exposed to visual rhetoric and document design. They used their observations as evidence. Fine. I am good with that. What they do not do is use much theory. They list one theorist, but do not summarize his argument. Instead, they show examples of how student work can be formatted to overcome common problems with illustrations commonly encountered with engineering students! So the middle of the article was essentially useless for any kind of broad sense...

Looking through some of the bibliographies posted by the other students, I am pleased to see articles that also seem applicable to my class idea. Of course, the avenue that I am ignoring at this point is the scholarship directly relating to honors students. I am not looking forward to digging that up. It is hard enough to find scholarship relating to the pedagogy of technical writing.

Laura · at 12:07 PM

This was the most productive thing I did Thursday on my snow day.

From: chris
Date: Jan 23, 2007 7:29 PM

If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 50 things about your friends, and let them learn 50 things about you!

1. How tall are you barefoot?
5'4"

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
I've never even smoked a cigarette

3. Do you own a gun?
No, but my husband has 3.

4. Do you play with the ads on the side of the screen?
No

5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"?
I get nervous before meeting *anyone*

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
If they are fried in cornbread, then I can eat them.

7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
Adeste Fideles

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee

9. Can you do push ups?
Absolutely not.

10. Is your bathroom clean?
Not as clean as I like.

12. Do you like painkillers?
When I hurt.

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
Getting married young and not having to worry about it :)

14.Do you own a knife?
The kind that go in the kitchen

15. Do you have A.D.H.D?
I am not diagnosed ;)

16. Middle Name?
I changed it to my maiden name.

17.What's your normal bed time?
After John Stuart

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:
Coffee, Diet Coke and Chai

20. What time did you wake up today?
Which time? (It is a snow day!)

21. Name one person that comes to mind right now.
Chris (he sent this to me)

22. Current worry?
UCA Messed up my paycheck

23. Current hate?
War in Iraq

24. Your favorite place to be?
In the Boston Mountains

25. Least favorite place to be?
Driving

27. Do you own slippers?
Yes

29. How many people have ever truly broken your heart?
I don't know that my heart has "truly" been broken. I have been disappointed in people...

30. Favorite color(s)?
Earth tones

31. Would you be a pirate?
No... And I would probably try to reform one if I knew any.

33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I don't usually

34. What did you fear was going to get you in the night as a child?
The clowns

35. What's in your pockets right now?
Nothings

36. Is anyone on your mind right now?
Olivia

37. Do you think you get enough exercise?
Not even close

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
I cracked my head open on the edge of a desk. I have a nice bride of Frankenstein scar above my left eye.

41. Who is your loudest friend?
I don't have loud friends. I do, however, have very loud children.

42. Who is your most silent friend?
Becky

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
I doubt it. A couple of years ago, I had a student who did and that was creepy.

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
When I notice them

45. What is your favorite book?
Today? Anything by Neil Gaiman. A couple of years ago it was Jeffrey Deaver. Before that it was Judith McNaught

46. What is your favorite candy?
Toblerone and M&Ms

47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
When I see you smile (originally by Bad English)

48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
Anything but Karma Chameleon

49. What is one of your favorite quotes?
It is better to remain silent and be thought an idiot than to speak and remove all doubt (paraphrase from Mark Twain)

50. What was I doing at 12am last night?
Sleeping

Laura · at 5:02 PM

Classes were cancelled, school was cancelled. But what did I accomplish?

I lay on the sofa and tried not to throw up. Mostly I succeeded.

Tonight we're watching John Houston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040897/). This is an odd movie... Bugs Bunny borrowed/parodied a number of elements from this movie.

Olivia got a big kick out of playing in the snow. Meleah is over at NaDean's for the day. Walker played outside for a couple of hours and made me soup to make me feel better. Olivia is copying words off of packaging and having Todd read them.

My head hurts, so I am not being very interesting...

Laura · at 7:56 AM

Ed Tanguay has an eclectic website. Info ranges from parenting info to book reviews to tech tutorials.

Laura · at 8:20 PM

I can't decide if my students are cynical or apathetic.

I am having a harder time connecting with my "best and brightest" than with my "regular" students. Aarg.

I'll figure something out.

Laura · at 7:39 PM

Love the three day weekend.

I started tiling the kitchen counter-top. Twelve inch tiles with one inch accents. Lovely. Now if I could only get the dishwasher installed so I could finish installing the tile and grout and so forth. Cutting the cement board was honestly the hardest part. Stumbling on the John Bridge tile forum was a godsend. There I learned about carbide blades and learned that no one really can cut cement backer board with a utility knife. If you see it done on television, it is evidently a special knife or a camera trick.

I really should be reading for my assignment tomorrow. At least I have the class I am teaching tomorrow planned out.

I have almost finished adding the affiliate ads to the website that I have been building. I did the style sheet, the graphics and everything.

Laura · at 7:39 PM

We laugh that we are anti-social, but really, we are just insanely busy. Tonight, however, we went out with a bunch of my friends and friends of friends. I guess there were ten of us all together. We had so much fun. We don't get out without the kids all that often. Usually just for functions that are mandatory, like an office party. But Meleah had all region jazz band practice (she made second band) and NaDean was having Olivia over tonight anyway, so we asked if she could take Walker too. And, bless her heart, she did. Afterward, everyone went over to Mike and Amanda's to play games, but we picked up the kids and came home. Sometimes it stinks to be a grown-up.

Laura · at 7:57 PM

The plight of women in Afghanistan continues to horrify me. I suppose it is better than when the Taliban was in charge, but they are still treated badly enough.

Meleah went to piano last night-- first time for the new semester. She is back with her old teacher, which she loves. It is quite the drive. Meleah has agreed to pick up some jazz music in addition to the classical.

Speaking of firsts, the kids took a karate lesson tonight; the first one in years. They really liked it. Well, Meleah liked it. Walker is up in the air. Todd may start taking lessons with them next week.

I fixed my camera today. Well, sort of fixed it. The mode indicator fell off of my Camedia 5050. I was horrified. This camera takes fabulous pictures and I love it. But I was not sure if I loved it enough to pay a couple hundred dollars to fix it. But I found this site that assured me that I could fix it myself with a nylon bolt. It worked. The indicator is now a little picky, but it is on and it still takes pictures. And that makes me happy. I would try to find a #4 bolt instead of a #6 if I could do it over though, to see if that would work. The bolt is almost a little thick for the circuit paper thing that actually sets the mode.

I was reading student blogs to see if any were interesting enough to refer to here. The one that probably would have been was shut down. I'll miss "Slouching Toward Bethlehem."

Charlie linked to this article which disturbs me. A town in New Jersey is shutting its public library down after school because teenagers are running amok in there. And one person they interviewed for the article had the nerve to criticize them for doing so because now the teens don't have a place to go! How on earth is that the library's problem??? Maybe the parents should consider taking responsibility for their children? I have an 11 year old and a 13 year old and I make sure that I am available when they get home from school. Shoot, I pick them up from school! I can't imagine just leaving them for hours to find their way home, or not. I understand that some jobs are not as flexible as mine. But one reason I have my job instead of one that pays better is so that I can supervise my children.

Laura · at 10:11 AM

Today has been a catch up day. Yesterday we were without water. Not because I forgot to pay the bill this time, either. We were installing the new cabinet and nicked the water line and it was the next day before our plumber could get here. That was fun (not). All three kids and no water. And it was a wasted day because we couldn't do any more work on the cabinets. And I could not do laundry.

I did, however, work on my web portfolio. It looks kind of nice now, and needs to be translated to a brochure. A guy at one of the computer shops in town was asking me if I had one...

My cousin Joshua gave me the address of his Myspace where he has a couple of awesome songs that he has been working on. It always shocks me when someone I have known forever does something so cool...

I still need to work on the annotated bibliography that I have promised, and work on my syllabus for spring. And find a reading for my lecture for Core II.

And on a related note, I discovered that I am requiring over $100 worth of textbooks in my classes. More like $130... For real, I am going to look at using the Wiki text books. I just need readings. I could probably find readings online. I tried putting readings on reserve at the library, but students stole the hard copies and could not figure out how to use the online ones. That was frustrating. But $130 is excessive. I think the book for my Comp II class was $24. Granted that was a *long* time ago, but I can't see why those have increased sixfold in 15 years...

I did get the Christmas tree taken down before we ripped up the kitchen. I guess that is something. And I did get Olivia's defective FurReal pet returned. She spent the money on a bike helmet and elbow and knee pads. She is a happy as she can be. She *loves* riding her bike. And Todd loves riding with her. He has so much fun with that.

Laura · at 9:44 AM

The kids are happy. Right now, Todd has taken Olivia out to ride her new bike. Her FurReal pet was not as happy an experience, though. It died. One day old. So sad. I guess I'll fight the crowds tomorrow to return it.

My best Christmas present was early. I got an A- on my paper and a A- in my class. I survived my first PhD class. Considering my masters degree was in Education, it feels pretty good to survive a PhD level class in English.

When I was young, and realized that the choices I had made precluded a top level graduate school, I really wondered what I had done. So I went back and got my post-bach teaching certification, and a masters in Instructional Technology (school library). Then I *was* a school librarian for a year. Then I taught English for two years. Then I took a year off (freelancing). Then I added part time writing teaching to my freelancing. Then I went full time teaching writing. With a M.Ed.

It has dawned on me the last two years that I cannot continue in the university setting with just a masters degree. But I still have the results of my choices from years back. My husband and three kids, who have attachments here. So I found an online course of study from a real university.

So back to Christmas. Instead of kicking back and relaxing, though, we have work to do on the house. I need to paint the trim in the dining room. And I need to put together a portfolio for my freelance web design. And take down the Christmas tree. I am feeling overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Laura · at 10:13 AM

My paper is done.

Of course, now, I am wondering about whether or not I even made the right argument! It really does not matter as it is turned in.

I'd like to write more about the folklore of the Ozarks. Really, since Randolph died, not much has been done. Nothing much since Ong, Foley, etc. have made their contributions to orality.

Laura · at 3:29 PM

For my paper on Ong, I am reading Vance Randolph's works that he collected in the Ozarks.

What is striking me today is that I may be asking the wrong question (not what I want to know when my paper is due on Wednesday). Should I be looking at the self conscious way the Ozarks informants talked about orality as something people "used to do"? I am finding, juxtaposed in between Chaucerian stories and Beowulf variants, stories about people with "book learning" or without it.

Laura · at 1:23 PM

Cosmic Thoughts was reading Ong and reflecting...

I am still working through Ong and applying his work to Randolph's. And the thing that drives me to distraction is that I *really* need to see Randolph's transcripts. I need to see *exactly* what his informants said... I need to *hear* the recordings (when they exist). For far too many of the stories, Randolph relies on his memory and his own mid-west dialect instead of what the informants actually said.

So how can I know if they are copious or use formulaic language???

A Rhetorical Question

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Digital Scrapbook Blogs

After falling off the face of the earth...

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Gigantic Time Waster

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Sick

Thursday, February 15, 2007

So I am evidently not good enough...

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Superhero

Supervillian....

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Perl Process

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Meme from Chris

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Snow Day

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Honors College Alumni

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Students

Monday, January 15, 2007

Weekend

Friday, January 05, 2007

Being social

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Women, piano, karate and camera

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Catch up

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Done

Monday, December 11, 2006

Vance Randolph

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Orality