Click-click-click: I went to Tully's yesterday and graded for almost five hours.
Whoosh: I ran into the coordinator of the English program at Cascadia and took away a good feeling about my chance in the selection process.
Click-click-click: Otis and I went to dinner with her folks at Tutta Bell, over on Stone Way, and were completely forgotten by the wait staff, literally: our guy went off duty and didn't get anyone to take the table. Finally a waitress noticed that we had been abandoned and took our orders.
Click-click-click: I found out this morning that in addition to the half-dozen or so interviews on Friday, the selection committee at Cascadia is interviewing another five candidates on Tuesday.
Whoosh: I met with a colleague from Antioch to plan for a guest-teach on comic books in her Communication Design class this Saturday.
Click-click-click: Otis and I go out to run errands and come up empty on just about everything.
Whoosh: Otis finds a really cheap file cabinet and I pick up a used laptop from a guy in the neighborhood.
Click-click-click: Otis and I come home and put her new file cabinet together.
Whoosh: It's all good.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
A surfeit of salsa!
Salsa Saturday was such a hoot that we didn't even get the camera clicking until after it was over: all we can show you are the labels for some of the salsas that were shared! The crackling of corn chips and the sizzling of quesedillas filled the air as the assembled dug in to the spicy repast. Muy delicioso!
The revelers last night comprised Stella, breathless from a long day of doctoral research and socializing; Sairey, Stella's roommate from Ireland, who brought brilliant crack to the party her first time with us; Della, returning to the fold after too long away; J-Force, in a particularly bubbly mood; and Dingo (bright and sunny in her new 'do by Mr. Silvio), who had to leave too early.
El Santo filled the big screen, wrestling with Martians, but nobody cared. The conversation flowed on its own and that's what it was all about. Sorry some of the gang were busy; the only thing that could have made the night better would have been sharing it with more friends.
Speaking of the gang, I was up in Edmonds on Saturday morning, so I called Sailor Sue, who has been too long gone from activities. We didn't get to hook up, but she filled me in on her latest news: her deanery has been changed, and she is now in Dean of SMACME. It stands for Science, Math, Automotive, Cosmetology, and Mechanical Engineering (or something like that) but it's just fun to hear Sue say "smack me." I dare ya!
(I was in Edmonds for a going-out-of-business sale at a comic book shop, but I'll write about that on my other blog.)
After all that fun yesterday, today will be full of work. Otis has some appointments, and I'm heading off to Tully's with a stack of responding.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Whipping into the weekend
Thursday passed uneventfully but pleasantly, including nothing more noteworthy than coffee at Third Place Books.
I had my interview on Friday: the teaching demonstration and the interview with the committee went just fine. I was done with the meat at 9:00 am, but had to hang around the campus until 11:00 to participate in a campus tour and a library tour - neither of which, of course, told me anything I didn't already know about the college, but both of which I was required to attend since they were supposedly part of the selection process. I found out that some of my adjunct pals, as well as a colleague from Antioch, were also in the selection pool; the college has some good candidates from which to choose. There are so many ways this could go.
Post-interview, some sort of sleeping sickness took over the townhouse, and both Otis and I took long afternoon naps. We tried to shake the lethargy off with a walk around Green Lake, and that kept us up long enough to watch Ian McKellen's Richard III, a masterful re-staging of the history as the story of an alternate-timeline fascist England of the 1930s. I read later that McKellen wrote the screenplay while on tour with the play, and there's some sense of the experimental and the personal in his abridgments of the original, but I have to give mad props to any film adaptation of Shakespeare that can essentially dispense with dialogue for the first five minutes and still establish character and setting. It was a good watch, and even features Robert Downey, Jr. (in a small role) among its stellar cast. Not long after the viewing, however, we were both asleep again.
This weekend holds both work and play: Otis has some appointments today and tomorrow, and I have responding and reading, of course. There's a comic book store in Edmonds going out of business and today is their last open day; I was thinking of heading there in the morning to see if there was anything I wanted to pick up. Tonight is Salsa Saturday, too. What a rich life!
And just because we haven't had enough graphics lately, here's a picture to compare to the one on the events blog:
I had my interview on Friday: the teaching demonstration and the interview with the committee went just fine. I was done with the meat at 9:00 am, but had to hang around the campus until 11:00 to participate in a campus tour and a library tour - neither of which, of course, told me anything I didn't already know about the college, but both of which I was required to attend since they were supposedly part of the selection process. I found out that some of my adjunct pals, as well as a colleague from Antioch, were also in the selection pool; the college has some good candidates from which to choose. There are so many ways this could go.
Post-interview, some sort of sleeping sickness took over the townhouse, and both Otis and I took long afternoon naps. We tried to shake the lethargy off with a walk around Green Lake, and that kept us up long enough to watch Ian McKellen's Richard III, a masterful re-staging of the history as the story of an alternate-timeline fascist England of the 1930s. I read later that McKellen wrote the screenplay while on tour with the play, and there's some sense of the experimental and the personal in his abridgments of the original, but I have to give mad props to any film adaptation of Shakespeare that can essentially dispense with dialogue for the first five minutes and still establish character and setting. It was a good watch, and even features Robert Downey, Jr. (in a small role) among its stellar cast. Not long after the viewing, however, we were both asleep again.
This weekend holds both work and play: Otis has some appointments today and tomorrow, and I have responding and reading, of course. There's a comic book store in Edmonds going out of business and today is their last open day; I was thinking of heading there in the morning to see if there was anything I wanted to pick up. Tonight is Salsa Saturday, too. What a rich life!
And just because we haven't had enough graphics lately, here's a picture to compare to the one on the events blog:
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Level three diagnostic, Mr. Data
Well, I have been alternating between feeling like I have a cold and feeling fine, sometimes for a few hours at a time, sometimes for just a few minutes. I have been drinking Emergen-C and tea a lot. I guess it's a cold, but it's not like "there's been something going around," and it's not too bad, so mostly I'm trying to ignore it, although I did sleep in a little this morning.
Tomorrow is my interview with Cascadia, and I appear to have shaken off my miasma about the process and feel better about the whole thing. I have some ideas for how I am going to present, which I will pull together this afternoon.
At the same time, I am well aware that this is far from a sure thing: the only thing that is certain is that someone is going to be disappointed, since there are other qualified adjuncts (at least one of whom I know) who also applied. The disappointment may be mine and it may not. If it is, it might be time to think about introducing Mssrs. Rubber and Road: the last of the ten recruitments to which I responded closed on March 19, and the tally stands at:
1 - I withdrew
5 - No answer yet
3 - The answer was no
1 - Interview pending
While hope springs eternal and all that, it might be wise to begin thinking about contingencies. I said last year that I didn't think I could keep up this pace of adjunct teaching and I needed to do something else; I haven't changed that position. If something doesn't break within a month, it's time for sure to do some career change work, or else figure out how to live on half the money I do now. My summer is set, but my fiscal year rolls over on October 1, and I want something in-place by then.
Speaking of adjunct opportunities, Stella has once again expanded her repertoire: come the fall, she will be joining me as part-time faculty at Antioch, teaching the class related to documenting prior learning experience. It's right up her alley and she's going to be a great asset to the college (and I think she'll like it, too).
The odds and ends are all wrapping up: Johnbai and O brought the Little Black Car back, although we didn't do a lot of socializing, since it was late. Otis has been having a bit of a slow week, so she did a major spring cleaning on her practice room and has been making yummy soups and enchiladas and stuff. I'm caught up on school work, and the weekend should be okay. We're thinking about having a Salsa Saturday this weekend; after we all shred our privates (?!) we can get together in the evening for nachos, quesedillas, and maybe a movie. Hey, that sounds good - expect an invitation.
Tomorrow is my interview with Cascadia, and I appear to have shaken off my miasma about the process and feel better about the whole thing. I have some ideas for how I am going to present, which I will pull together this afternoon.
At the same time, I am well aware that this is far from a sure thing: the only thing that is certain is that someone is going to be disappointed, since there are other qualified adjuncts (at least one of whom I know) who also applied. The disappointment may be mine and it may not. If it is, it might be time to think about introducing Mssrs. Rubber and Road: the last of the ten recruitments to which I responded closed on March 19, and the tally stands at:
1 - I withdrew
5 - No answer yet
3 - The answer was no
1 - Interview pending
While hope springs eternal and all that, it might be wise to begin thinking about contingencies. I said last year that I didn't think I could keep up this pace of adjunct teaching and I needed to do something else; I haven't changed that position. If something doesn't break within a month, it's time for sure to do some career change work, or else figure out how to live on half the money I do now. My summer is set, but my fiscal year rolls over on October 1, and I want something in-place by then.
Speaking of adjunct opportunities, Stella has once again expanded her repertoire: come the fall, she will be joining me as part-time faculty at Antioch, teaching the class related to documenting prior learning experience. It's right up her alley and she's going to be a great asset to the college (and I think she'll like it, too).
The odds and ends are all wrapping up: Johnbai and O brought the Little Black Car back, although we didn't do a lot of socializing, since it was late. Otis has been having a bit of a slow week, so she did a major spring cleaning on her practice room and has been making yummy soups and enchiladas and stuff. I'm caught up on school work, and the weekend should be okay. We're thinking about having a Salsa Saturday this weekend; after we all shred our privates (?!) we can get together in the evening for nachos, quesedillas, and maybe a movie. Hey, that sounds good - expect an invitation.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Gotta turn this around!
So, Sunday ended great, with warm weather and a scooter ride and a walk along the Fremont Canal and all that; it was just lovely. And after a fine day at work yesterday, Otis and I went to dinner with Johnbai and O, to send off O's friend H, who was going back to San Francisco. after a weekend visit. Soapy joined us at Tamarind Tree for fine meal, making the mundane task of lending a car for ride to the airport into a festive occasion. Thanks, Johnbai!
So far, so good, right? Well, Otis and I came home and decided to watch a movie: It's All Gone Pete Tong, a Descent and Redemption Tale about a self-destructive DJ. Well, it did the descent part all right: it was an unpleasant, debased, disturbing, pathetic story for the most part, and even the protagonist's eventual recovery did little to take the bad taste out of our mouths.
And I felt like I was getting a cold.
Perhaps as a result, I didn't sleep well. I got up a little late, definitely still feeling cold-ish, and made a big pint glass of Emergen-C, which I then promptly spilled all over my desk. I had to sop it up with my T-shirt.
Now I have a bunch of work to do that I should have done yesterday instead of watching a movie. And it's raining.
So it's time to shake it off, reboot, start over, and get this day cracking! We're burning daylight!
Update 6:51 pm: The day was fine, of course. I got all my morning work done, and had a fine class, and had leftovers from the Tamarind Tree for lunch, and then got all my afternoon work done, and had a yummy dinner, and have all my classes prepped for the week, and now just need to read. So there you have it: not even rain can slow this parade down!
Also update: I fixed the title of the movie up there - there's no comma in it. Apparently, "Pete Tong," besides being a real DJ, is contemporary Cockney rhyming slang for "wrong." So, the movie's title is actually saying "it's all gone wrong." No comma. Live and learn.
So far, so good, right? Well, Otis and I came home and decided to watch a movie: It's All Gone Pete Tong, a Descent and Redemption Tale about a self-destructive DJ. Well, it did the descent part all right: it was an unpleasant, debased, disturbing, pathetic story for the most part, and even the protagonist's eventual recovery did little to take the bad taste out of our mouths.
And I felt like I was getting a cold.
Perhaps as a result, I didn't sleep well. I got up a little late, definitely still feeling cold-ish, and made a big pint glass of Emergen-C, which I then promptly spilled all over my desk. I had to sop it up with my T-shirt.
Now I have a bunch of work to do that I should have done yesterday instead of watching a movie. And it's raining.
So it's time to shake it off, reboot, start over, and get this day cracking! We're burning daylight!
Update 6:51 pm: The day was fine, of course. I got all my morning work done, and had a fine class, and had leftovers from the Tamarind Tree for lunch, and then got all my afternoon work done, and had a yummy dinner, and have all my classes prepped for the week, and now just need to read. So there you have it: not even rain can slow this parade down!
Also update: I fixed the title of the movie up there - there's no comma in it. Apparently, "Pete Tong," besides being a real DJ, is contemporary Cockney rhyming slang for "wrong." So, the movie's title is actually saying "it's all gone wrong." No comma. Live and learn.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Tully-Man!
Hey! Coming to you live from the Wallingford Tully's, and coming off four and a half straight hours of responding, this is Radio Free Walaka!
Man, I guess I'm a little punchy. Otis had a pal coming over today, so I hied myself down here to do work. I find I get more work done in coffee shops than at home, as rule; I think it's a little bit of state-based behaviour and a little bit of fewer-distractions. Whatever it is, it worked today; all my stuff is done for tomorrow. Yay!
It sure turned out to be a nice day - too nice to have spent it all working. Too bad Otis has an afternoon appointment: now would be a great time for a walk around the lake or a - dare I say it? - bike ride. Maybe there'll be time before sunset - the internets tell me it's not until 8:08 pm, and "Civil Twilight" isn't until 8:41.
In the meanwhile, I'll prolly visit the comic shop and maybe hit the Mac store (I think I need my own laptop, instead of always hijacking Otis's). It's a good day to be out in the world.
Man, I guess I'm a little punchy. Otis had a pal coming over today, so I hied myself down here to do work. I find I get more work done in coffee shops than at home, as rule; I think it's a little bit of state-based behaviour and a little bit of fewer-distractions. Whatever it is, it worked today; all my stuff is done for tomorrow. Yay!
It sure turned out to be a nice day - too nice to have spent it all working. Too bad Otis has an afternoon appointment: now would be a great time for a walk around the lake or a - dare I say it? - bike ride. Maybe there'll be time before sunset - the internets tell me it's not until 8:08 pm, and "Civil Twilight" isn't until 8:41.
In the meanwhile, I'll prolly visit the comic shop and maybe hit the Mac store (I think I need my own laptop, instead of always hijacking Otis's). It's a good day to be out in the world.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Shank of the evening
We're in that little break between to-day and to-night; Otis is upstairs making Mexican corn soup for dinner so I thought I'd catch up.
Yesterday was a pretty good day: after work &c. for both of us, we had time to head out to Golden Gardens to enjoy some of that on-again, off-again sunshine we've been having. It was nice to soak up some rays, especially since we had a double-feature movie night at home afterwards.
The first featured presentation was Intermission, billed as the interweaving of the comic tales of eleven Dubliners; since it was Irish, the tales included physical violence, adultery, sexual dysfunction, betrayal, rebellion, existential despair, Guinness, and evil incarnate riding a BMX bike. It was great. Colin Ferrel was intensely unlikable, Colm Meany turned in a great performance as a terrible cop, and Cillian Murphy used his soulful blue eyes to good effect. Some other people were in it, too. Seriously, it was funny and sad and real.
After our own intermission, the second feature was Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the George Clooney-directed dramatization of the Chuck Barris "autobiography" that claims the game-show producer was also a CIA hit man. Yawn. Clooney's direction had some nice moments and the cast turned in decent performances (particularly a gracefully-aging Rutger Hauer), but the whole thing is so ridiculous that it didn't bear making, much less watching. Otis liked it a little more than I did.
This morning, we went up to the big Phinney Ridge neighborhood garage sale; it was a bit of a disappointment. I think that a lot of folks were fearful of the rain, and did not bring out all of their stuff, at least not by the time we were there. Otis got some ethnic bags and I got us ice cube trays but that was as exciting as it got. We just walked down to Half-Price books, and after-dinner hold work for both of us (mine's job applications).
And speaking of job: do you think I'd have a shot at this one?
More work is on tap for tomorrow: I think I will be camped at a Tully's responding papers most of the day.
Yesterday was a pretty good day: after work &c. for both of us, we had time to head out to Golden Gardens to enjoy some of that on-again, off-again sunshine we've been having. It was nice to soak up some rays, especially since we had a double-feature movie night at home afterwards.
The first featured presentation was Intermission, billed as the interweaving of the comic tales of eleven Dubliners; since it was Irish, the tales included physical violence, adultery, sexual dysfunction, betrayal, rebellion, existential despair, Guinness, and evil incarnate riding a BMX bike. It was great. Colin Ferrel was intensely unlikable, Colm Meany turned in a great performance as a terrible cop, and Cillian Murphy used his soulful blue eyes to good effect. Some other people were in it, too. Seriously, it was funny and sad and real.
After our own intermission, the second feature was Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the George Clooney-directed dramatization of the Chuck Barris "autobiography" that claims the game-show producer was also a CIA hit man. Yawn. Clooney's direction had some nice moments and the cast turned in decent performances (particularly a gracefully-aging Rutger Hauer), but the whole thing is so ridiculous that it didn't bear making, much less watching. Otis liked it a little more than I did.
This morning, we went up to the big Phinney Ridge neighborhood garage sale; it was a bit of a disappointment. I think that a lot of folks were fearful of the rain, and did not bring out all of their stuff, at least not by the time we were there. Otis got some ethnic bags and I got us ice cube trays but that was as exciting as it got. We just walked down to Half-Price books, and after-dinner hold work for both of us (mine's job applications).
And speaking of job: do you think I'd have a shot at this one?
More work is on tap for tomorrow: I think I will be camped at a Tully's responding papers most of the day.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Ninks (news and links)
After Tuesday's great class, I had a pretty good series on Wednesday, as well. The students seem to be engaging pretty well. I keep forgetting how many of them (at the CCs) are actually still in high school; I guess that's good, since I don't treat them any differently and that keeps the bar high. Wednesday is the "long" day; I noticed that it's still mostly light when I start my 7:00 pm class, and that's pretty cool. Today's teaching went just fine, too; I can't complain about that.
I got a phone message today from Cascadia confirming some details about my interview next week. Of course, the tone and content of the message completely ignored that I have been teaching there for the past three years and addressed me as if I would be coming to the campus for the first time. Institutions are quick to say how much they value their adjunct faculty; it seems that those feelings of respect are honored more in the breach than the observance.
On the subject of jobs, I have applications for three administrative jobs to complete this weekend. There's a time to turn mother's picture to the wall and get out, and I think it might be a-comin'.
In regular life, Otis and I went grocery shopping today; while we were checking out, the checker sang for us the entire opening theme from the Super-Chicken cartoon show. Even I couldn't do that.
Speaking of Otis, didja see that she was selected for a juried art show? How cool is that?
Scotty has some really cool stuff on his blog; apparently he's in Denver - so what else is new?
Speaking of places that are not Seattle, I'm going to Vegas next month! Five old high school buddies (me being one), who are all turning fifty this year, are going to meet for a weekend in Sin City. (Can you guess at which casino? Of course.) I am sure hijinx will ensue; I'll let you know.
And finally, shall we help Mr. Kucinich out?
I got a phone message today from Cascadia confirming some details about my interview next week. Of course, the tone and content of the message completely ignored that I have been teaching there for the past three years and addressed me as if I would be coming to the campus for the first time. Institutions are quick to say how much they value their adjunct faculty; it seems that those feelings of respect are honored more in the breach than the observance.
On the subject of jobs, I have applications for three administrative jobs to complete this weekend. There's a time to turn mother's picture to the wall and get out, and I think it might be a-comin'.
In regular life, Otis and I went grocery shopping today; while we were checking out, the checker sang for us the entire opening theme from the Super-Chicken cartoon show. Even I couldn't do that.
Speaking of Otis, didja see that she was selected for a juried art show? How cool is that?
Scotty has some really cool stuff on his blog; apparently he's in Denver - so what else is new?
Speaking of places that are not Seattle, I'm going to Vegas next month! Five old high school buddies (me being one), who are all turning fifty this year, are going to meet for a weekend in Sin City. (Can you guess at which casino? Of course.) I am sure hijinx will ensue; I'll let you know.
And finally, shall we help Mr. Kucinich out?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Like Unto a God!
Wei-Tuo
Chinese God of Teaching
Man, I was really channeling ol' Wei today. I zipped up to NSCC for my fifty minutes of pedagogy and it went as smooth as silk. I started off with a review of mechanics using authentic student work from the prior assignment. I elicited revisions and improvements and it looked like the principles were getting across. We moved in to the current topic, and I got feedback from the students on the chapter reading that led straight into a reiteration of our discussion on thesis. We started a new discussion, and they contributed some great ideas that were right on point. I turned their own generated list of ideas into a group project, which they engaged in with enthusiasm. I collected the deliverables, which I will use as the springboard for the discussion of tomorrow's topic. Sweet!
It's days like this that keep me in the teaching game, despite the lack of security and the inequity in pay for part-timers, despite the campus politics and the overall lack of prestige associated with the calling. This was a happening class today, and I helped it happen. And it was cool.
An in-betweener
Where does the time go? I taught yesterday, but didn't really do a lot of responding or prep. Otis and I went out shopping for a little while, and I wrote a comix blog entry. And that seemed to be the whole day! What's up with that?
Today, I was making travel arrangements for my mini-reunion with some high school pals and my sister's wedding in July, and then Otis and I took a walk around Green Lake. Now it's time to get ready for class. Huh. I'll have to walk to post office this afternoon to mail the tax checks in. What fun!
Speaking of fun, this Saturday is the big Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Garage Sale. We went last year, and there was tons of neat stuff and some really good bargains. We're planning to head up right at 9:00 am and walk around until lunch or so. If you want to join us, let me know.
Oh, and the Saturday after that, the state Attorney General is supporting a Shred-a-Thon: sites where you can bring up to three bags of documents to be shredded for free! I'll be there, for sure! I've been stacking stuff up since we moved here.
I really shouldn't encourage him, but this is for Soapy.
Today, I was making travel arrangements for my mini-reunion with some high school pals and my sister's wedding in July, and then Otis and I took a walk around Green Lake. Now it's time to get ready for class. Huh. I'll have to walk to post office this afternoon to mail the tax checks in. What fun!
Speaking of fun, this Saturday is the big Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Garage Sale. We went last year, and there was tons of neat stuff and some really good bargains. We're planning to head up right at 9:00 am and walk around until lunch or so. If you want to join us, let me know.
Oh, and the Saturday after that, the state Attorney General is supporting a Shred-a-Thon: sites where you can bring up to three bags of documents to be shredded for free! I'll be there, for sure! I've been stacking stuff up since we moved here.
I really shouldn't encourage him, but this is for Soapy.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Sneaking up on me, huh?
This quarter's workload seems to have done, anyway. I guess it hasn't been as bad as all that: since Friday, in addition to my class work, I have tried to do some database work for Stella, and run some errands, and audited Otis's books and helped her with her taxes, and a couple other tasks. It still seems like I have been spending way too much time on papers, though Dingo came down to Wallingford to keep me company while I was working hard yesterday. There's still a bunch to do, so I should get to it.
Otis has been working, too: she has been attending a three-day continuing ed class this weekend. It's all about communication in massage practice, and I think she's getting a lot out of it.
Entertainment this weekend has been limited to late-night viewings of Alfred Hitchcock DVDs. It seems that either our DVD player is getting very picky or we have had a run of Netflix discs that are in really bad shape: unless the DVD is new or newer (Otis's Hitch collection, her Twilight Zone set, etc.), the DVD player won't recognize the disc. It looks like one more uncertainty in the future of Spectration (not that we've spectrated much lately).
Anyway, we watched Saboteur (I love me my Bob Cummings) and the flawed espionage thriller Topaz.
Okay, off I go!
Otis has been working, too: she has been attending a three-day continuing ed class this weekend. It's all about communication in massage practice, and I think she's getting a lot out of it.
Entertainment this weekend has been limited to late-night viewings of Alfred Hitchcock DVDs. It seems that either our DVD player is getting very picky or we have had a run of Netflix discs that are in really bad shape: unless the DVD is new or newer (Otis's Hitch collection, her Twilight Zone set, etc.), the DVD player won't recognize the disc. It looks like one more uncertainty in the future of Spectration (not that we've spectrated much lately).
Anyway, we watched Saboteur (I love me my Bob Cummings) and the flawed espionage thriller Topaz.
Okay, off I go!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Counting chickens and all that
Well, I got my phone call from the VP Fulton up at Whatcom CC today, but it turns out it wasn't to offer me a job; rather, he was letting me know that I wasn't going to be offered a job. It seems that I was their fifth-most-favoritest teacher who interviewed, but since they had four positions to fill, and made four offers, and had all of them accepted, I am, like the unicorns at the Ark, left out in the rain. I guess the only reason I was called personally is that I knew Dick Fulton back in the day, so he felt I deserved some personal contact; that was mighty nice of him. A job would have been nicer, though.
So far, of the 14 full-time college faculty positions I have applied for, the score stands at 6 rejections (4 at one blow), 1 self-rejection, 1 interview pending, and 6 haven't-heard-anything-yets.
Oh, yeah: I also got rejected by Lakeside School (Upper-school English) and King County (Community Communications) within the past week.
And there you have it.
Otis has a three-day continuing ed training coming up on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I imagine I will get a lot done this weekend and still have time for playing. Anything cool in the works?
So far, of the 14 full-time college faculty positions I have applied for, the score stands at 6 rejections (4 at one blow), 1 self-rejection, 1 interview pending, and 6 haven't-heard-anything-yets.
Oh, yeah: I also got rejected by Lakeside School (Upper-school English) and King County (Community Communications) within the past week.
And there you have it.
Otis has a three-day continuing ed training coming up on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I imagine I will get a lot done this weekend and still have time for playing. Anything cool in the works?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Hot off the teletype
Dit-dit-dit-da ... Yesterday was a mostly work-y day, with reading and responding taking up more time than I thought they would ... That didn't stop Otis and I from having a great pho lunch in Ballard, though ... Otis has been elbow-deep in grading papers for the high school, anyway ... I did my taxes yesterday, too, and I owe a ton of money. It's not like it was unexpected - I could have paid then or I can pay now - but it's still no fun. I'll write the check on Tuesday night ... Some of the sting of taxes was taken away by a retroactive payment of a cost-of-living increase from the Seattle District on my 10th-of-the-month paycheck. Sweet! ... Today, I taught my morning class at Cascadia in the dark: we had had a power outage on campus. I held a low-tech class anyway, and things went fine ... I taught at North and got all my sidework done, so now all that's left is teaching at Antioch tonight ... I have decided not to interview for the position on Whidbey Island, since I can't imagine what circumstances would have us move there. Nor can I imagine commuting there, Yojimbo's experience notwithstanding ... My Cascadia interview has been scheduled for the 27th of this month; no news from any other schools yet ... Ding!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Get me, I'm hip and urban
Coming to you via remote, at the Ravenna Third Place Books, while Otis offers a special. Nothing much to report today, except that the sun is out (I'm watching it go down against a light blue sky, actually) and I feel great. Good food today, good work, good fun, good friends -- 's all good.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Picking up where we left off...
Well, we successfully negotiated some good times with Johnbai on Friday night. Otis and I picked him up and went to the Crest, where we were joined by Soapy for a late showing of Volver, Almovadar's latest. It was not a bad flick, even though it had way too few half-naked Spartans for Soapy's taste. After the movie, Otis and I hastened home since we both had early mornings awaiting us; da boyz went off to god-knows-where to do god-knows-what.
Saturday held a bit more socializing. Otis had some appointments (although one was a cancellation), so I headed north and met with Stella up at LFP to do some more work on the database for her doctoral research. Dingo came by after lunch and treated Otis and me to coffee-an' at the Bus Stop Espresso down the street; it was quite the lovely afternoon.
For dinner, we tried a new-to-us local Thai place (Krittika, just on the other side of the freeway) on the advice of one of our neighbors; as we were finishing up our meal, our other neighbors came in for their dinner. Hey, we're locals!
Today held work in the morning (that grading and prep has to get done sometime) and more good times in the afternoon: Stella, Dingo, and E-ryk came by, and we all walked down to Wallingford to catch Namesake at the Guild 45th. The movie was okay, but the walk and the company were great. We'll put this weekend down as a win.
(Oh, yeah - I started my biking spreadsheet, too. It has a graph plotting my goal mileage vs last year's actual mileage vs this year's actual+projected mileage. Sweet! Now all i have to do is ride...)
Saturday held a bit more socializing. Otis had some appointments (although one was a cancellation), so I headed north and met with Stella up at LFP to do some more work on the database for her doctoral research. Dingo came by after lunch and treated Otis and me to coffee-an' at the Bus Stop Espresso down the street; it was quite the lovely afternoon.
For dinner, we tried a new-to-us local Thai place (Krittika, just on the other side of the freeway) on the advice of one of our neighbors; as we were finishing up our meal, our other neighbors came in for their dinner. Hey, we're locals!
Today held work in the morning (that grading and prep has to get done sometime) and more good times in the afternoon: Stella, Dingo, and E-ryk came by, and we all walked down to Wallingford to catch Namesake at the Guild 45th. The movie was okay, but the walk and the company were great. We'll put this weekend down as a win.
(Oh, yeah - I started my biking spreadsheet, too. It has a graph plotting my goal mileage vs last year's actual mileage vs this year's actual+projected mileage. Sweet! Now all i have to do is ride...)
Friday, April 06, 2007
Where's Mungo Jerry?
Cuz it sure feels like summertime - according to the internets, it's 78 right now! Lots to catch up on - the activity seems to have increased with the temperature.
Yesterday: The fifty-minute workday is really weird.
Cat-astrophe: After work, I took Selkie into the vet (up in east Shoreline) for a checkup and shots. He weathered the trip and the visit well, but when we got home he started having an adverse reaction to the vaccines (of the unpleasant bodily fluid kind) so we had to run him back for a cortisone shot, which somehow ameliorates the nasty side-effects (and they cleaned him up good, too). So, a brief errand turned into an hours-long escapade, but all was well in the end and he seems fine now.
A great new place to eat, part one: Last night, Otis and I went out to dinner with Kris-10 and Rye-N to celebrate the completion of K's application for a big NIH grant. They took us to a cool place on Market in Ballard, La Isla, a Puerto Rican restaurant. Great stuff - we all had empanadillas with beans and rice and shared a platano medley for the appetizer. If you are looking for some new tastes, check it out. Here's their site. (The social part of the night was great fun, too!)
Only one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five and a half miles to go: I rode my bike to school today.
News from the People's Republic of Wisconsin: While at my "office" waiting for my fifty-minute workday to begin, I got a phone call from old pal JJ, who had the day off from library service for some sort of Xtian holiday. She sends her best wishes to one and all, and reports that she is settling in nicely.
It's scooterrific: Yesterday, I de-tarped Ruby and she started right up, so this afternoon, Otis and I motored out to Golden Gardens. Looking at the place, you would have thought it was the Fourth of July: there were scads of people there, many in bathing attire, some playing volleyball, a few brave souls trying to go in the water, others firing up barbecues. We stretched out on the sand and I had a nice midday nap.
A great new place to eat, part two: On the way to Golden Gardens, we stopped to eat lunch at Snoose Junction, a cool new pizza place, also on Market in Ballard. I had super NY style pizza, Otis had a great panini, and the house salads were generous and fresh. The place is really comfortable and the furnishings are totally funky: the benches are made from old bleachers from Ballard HS, the tabletops used to be alleys in Leilani Lanes, and the doors are salvaged from an old courthouse. It's way cool, and another place to check out. Here's their site.
Fortune-telling: Johnbai just called and it seems that he has recovered enough from his grief over the demise of Ze Frank's The Show to want to do something tonight. Otis is in with a client, so negotiations will commence a little later.
I've got a La Isla sticker on my scooter now, too - I think they look pretty cool.
Yesterday: The fifty-minute workday is really weird.
Cat-astrophe: After work, I took Selkie into the vet (up in east Shoreline) for a checkup and shots. He weathered the trip and the visit well, but when we got home he started having an adverse reaction to the vaccines (of the unpleasant bodily fluid kind) so we had to run him back for a cortisone shot, which somehow ameliorates the nasty side-effects (and they cleaned him up good, too). So, a brief errand turned into an hours-long escapade, but all was well in the end and he seems fine now.
A great new place to eat, part one: Last night, Otis and I went out to dinner with Kris-10 and Rye-N to celebrate the completion of K's application for a big NIH grant. They took us to a cool place on Market in Ballard, La Isla, a Puerto Rican restaurant. Great stuff - we all had empanadillas with beans and rice and shared a platano medley for the appetizer. If you are looking for some new tastes, check it out. Here's their site. (The social part of the night was great fun, too!)
Only one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five and a half miles to go: I rode my bike to school today.
News from the People's Republic of Wisconsin: While at my "office" waiting for my fifty-minute workday to begin, I got a phone call from old pal JJ, who had the day off from library service for some sort of Xtian holiday. She sends her best wishes to one and all, and reports that she is settling in nicely.
It's scooterrific: Yesterday, I de-tarped Ruby and she started right up, so this afternoon, Otis and I motored out to Golden Gardens. Looking at the place, you would have thought it was the Fourth of July: there were scads of people there, many in bathing attire, some playing volleyball, a few brave souls trying to go in the water, others firing up barbecues. We stretched out on the sand and I had a nice midday nap.
A great new place to eat, part two: On the way to Golden Gardens, we stopped to eat lunch at Snoose Junction, a cool new pizza place, also on Market in Ballard. I had super NY style pizza, Otis had a great panini, and the house salads were generous and fresh. The place is really comfortable and the furnishings are totally funky: the benches are made from old bleachers from Ballard HS, the tabletops used to be alleys in Leilani Lanes, and the doors are salvaged from an old courthouse. It's way cool, and another place to check out. Here's their site.
Fortune-telling: Johnbai just called and it seems that he has recovered enough from his grief over the demise of Ze Frank's The Show to want to do something tonight. Otis is in with a client, so negotiations will commence a little later.
I've got a La Isla sticker on my scooter now, too - I think they look pretty cool.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Just some dithering
Spring is in the air - as I was having an early-morning snooze after letting the cat out at 4:47, I heard the radio man say it was going to ht 69 today! I'm having a strange and slow time adapting to my new schedule: after Hawaii, and then a half-week, and now part of this "real" week, I'm still not sure how this will play out. Teaching only three classes (as opposed to five) is great; unfortunately, I'm still going to three schools. But the schedule isn't so bad: there's no useless gap between my classes at Bothell and North, for example. On the other hand, on days like today, all I do is teach for an hour at noon, so I'm going to have to figure out how to structure my day around that.
Since it's spring, we are now five days into my biking season and I haven't gotten in the saddle yet. I'd like to aim again for 2,000 miles this summer, but I'm not sure I'll be as OCD about tracking and posting the miles. (Oh, who am I kidding?) In any case, I'll need to start riding soon!
So, here's some this 'n' that in my dithery mood today:
On Tuesday night, Otis and I were joined by Stella, Dingo, Johnbai, and Sachet for dinner at Chinoise in Wallingford. We went out as part of the Dining for Darfur effort, and because I just love the community of my friends. It was really good food, too!
Wednesday was the first of this quarter's version of the long day: after my 8:00 am to 1:15 pm commute-class-commute-class-commute morning, I have an evening class from 7:00 to 9:30. It worked out fine.
JustJon has returned with this troop from Tejas and has backfilled his blog with references to obscure movies and house-selling news, among other stuff. Welcome back, buddy.
(I just got interrupted there for a bit: first there was a phone call from teaching-pal Gweekers in Spokane, catching up after spring breaks, and then Mountie, the sedentary outside cat, all of a sudden started flipping out.)
My interview on Whidbey Island for a teaching position at the Skagit College campus there is scheduled for a week from tomorrow. I expect the best part of the day will be having brunch with Yojimbo.
If you haven't seen it yet, check out Scotty's new video.
What do you think of these as an alternative to kilts? They would be better for summer bike-riding, and they're a heck of a lot cheaper, too.
Hey, my comics blog has been consistently getting over 50 hits a day lately. It seems a lot of them come from people doing Google image searches, but I am sure a number come from the increasing links from other blogs, such as this one.
I want one of these. I used to have a T-shirt with this logo on it. It's classic Newyorkiana, but in a good way. This find reminded me of a time I was watching some TV show set in the sixties. A character came into an office with take-out coffee, and the paper cups had little squares of foil pressed over the tops instead of round plastic lids. I had forgotten about those foil squares, but it all came back: they silver-shiny on one side, white-waxy on the other, with a little tab near one corner; they used to be kept in a stack next to the cash register. Ah, the artifacts of our youths.
Maybe this will get Soapy's mind off of Spartans.
And just so there are some graphics in this post, here's Otis showing off her massage muscles down at Magnuson Park the other day:
Since it's spring, we are now five days into my biking season and I haven't gotten in the saddle yet. I'd like to aim again for 2,000 miles this summer, but I'm not sure I'll be as OCD about tracking and posting the miles. (Oh, who am I kidding?) In any case, I'll need to start riding soon!
So, here's some this 'n' that in my dithery mood today:
On Tuesday night, Otis and I were joined by Stella, Dingo, Johnbai, and Sachet for dinner at Chinoise in Wallingford. We went out as part of the Dining for Darfur effort, and because I just love the community of my friends. It was really good food, too!
Wednesday was the first of this quarter's version of the long day: after my 8:00 am to 1:15 pm commute-class-commute-class-commute morning, I have an evening class from 7:00 to 9:30. It worked out fine.
JustJon has returned with this troop from Tejas and has backfilled his blog with references to obscure movies and house-selling news, among other stuff. Welcome back, buddy.
(I just got interrupted there for a bit: first there was a phone call from teaching-pal Gweekers in Spokane, catching up after spring breaks, and then Mountie, the sedentary outside cat, all of a sudden started flipping out.)
My interview on Whidbey Island for a teaching position at the Skagit College campus there is scheduled for a week from tomorrow. I expect the best part of the day will be having brunch with Yojimbo.
If you haven't seen it yet, check out Scotty's new video.
What do you think of these as an alternative to kilts? They would be better for summer bike-riding, and they're a heck of a lot cheaper, too.
Hey, my comics blog has been consistently getting over 50 hits a day lately. It seems a lot of them come from people doing Google image searches, but I am sure a number come from the increasing links from other blogs, such as this one.
I want one of these. I used to have a T-shirt with this logo on it. It's classic Newyorkiana, but in a good way. This find reminded me of a time I was watching some TV show set in the sixties. A character came into an office with take-out coffee, and the paper cups had little squares of foil pressed over the tops instead of round plastic lids. I had forgotten about those foil squares, but it all came back: they silver-shiny on one side, white-waxy on the other, with a little tab near one corner; they used to be kept in a stack next to the cash register. Ah, the artifacts of our youths.
Maybe this will get Soapy's mind off of Spartans.
And just so there are some graphics in this post, here's Otis showing off her massage muscles down at Magnuson Park the other day:
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Figuring out this schedule
So yesterday, I taught from 8:45 to 10:50 in Bothell, and then had to scoot down to NSCC for a noon class. Turns out there's plenty of time to make the commute so it should be no worries. Then I was done at North at 1:00 and came home. That's a schedule I can live with.
Otis had made a picnic-esque lunch and then we managed a walk around Green Lake in the afternoon. It had been 36 when I first got up but felt more like 65 when I was coming home; during the walk, the sun was going in and out of the clouds and it was starting to cool down again. Weird weather we we're having.
I finished the evening just messing about while Otis went to her book club. It felt good not doing any homework.
Of course, now I have to adjust to the off-day schedule. My only classroom time today is at noon, for an hour. So this morning is supposed to be prep and assess time so I can be free again in the afternoon. We'll see how well that goes.
Otis had made a picnic-esque lunch and then we managed a walk around Green Lake in the afternoon. It had been 36 when I first got up but felt more like 65 when I was coming home; during the walk, the sun was going in and out of the clouds and it was starting to cool down again. Weird weather we we're having.
I finished the evening just messing about while Otis went to her book club. It felt good not doing any homework.
Of course, now I have to adjust to the off-day schedule. My only classroom time today is at noon, for an hour. So this morning is supposed to be prep and assess time so I can be free again in the afternoon. We'll see how well that goes.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
No foolin'
Wow, instead of a day of rest, this was a day of action!
First off, I met with Stella at Third Place Books Ravenna to do some work on the Access database for her PhD research (and to gripe about work at our common and separate institutions). We scooted home for Taco Del Mar with Otis, and then scurried down to the Neptune to meet Dingo and J-Force for the matinee showing of The Host.
The movie was wonderful, working as a monster flick, a comedy, and a drama - sometimes all at once. I just read a comment by Howard Waldrop (one of my favorite sci-fi writers) who called it the best monster movie since Tremors. I think he hit the nail on the head with that.
After the movie, we stopped at Trabant for tea and talkies. After a quick jumpstart for J's dead battery, we all headed home. Otis made some yummy tofu stir-fry for dinner, and I prepped for my classes. And look - there's even some evening left!
And we got through this whole post without a lame prank.
First off, I met with Stella at Third Place Books Ravenna to do some work on the Access database for her PhD research (and to gripe about work at our common and separate institutions). We scooted home for Taco Del Mar with Otis, and then scurried down to the Neptune to meet Dingo and J-Force for the matinee showing of The Host.
The movie was wonderful, working as a monster flick, a comedy, and a drama - sometimes all at once. I just read a comment by Howard Waldrop (one of my favorite sci-fi writers) who called it the best monster movie since Tremors. I think he hit the nail on the head with that.
After the movie, we stopped at Trabant for tea and talkies. After a quick jumpstart for J's dead battery, we all headed home. Otis made some yummy tofu stir-fry for dinner, and I prepped for my classes. And look - there's even some evening left!
And we got through this whole post without a lame prank.
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