New Cool Links!

I got up this morning at 5:30 to help my wife get up and ready for work--not that she needed the help. I just made scrambled eggs and salsa burritos for breakfast. After she was off, I showered and changed, grabbed my dented Nalgene with its numbered measurements all but faded off of it yet filled (to the trained eye) with a quart of ice-cold water, tossed it in the custom red and slate Timbuk2 bag my parents got for me when I finished my Masters degree, mounted my old blue Trek that my dad bought used eight years ago, and rode to my office. I darted around our apartment and down an alley between the barber's shop next door and the Mexican restaurant smelling of fried bacon and potatoes for the breakfast regulars and those just on their way to either Colorado or the rest of New Mexico. It was brisk but not too cool, and the sun wasn't quite over the tips of the trees yet.

I parked my bike in my office as usual, dropped off my bag after taking out my iPod, and headed to the coffee shop my wife works at downtown. The plaza shops' owners were getting in and started for the morning, school buses were heading in different directions to make their morning rounds, and vehicles of every make and colour were trickling into the city. I stepped into the warm coffee shop/weaving center (which always smells strongly of both) and got a warm cup of mostly cream and sugar with a little coffee thrown in. Then I gave my wife a goodbye kiss, and started back to school. On my way I passed my local bookstore and noticed a flyer in the window announcing an author-talk with a local writer and blogger. Making a mental note to check it out later, I continued to my office, grabbed my bag, and headed up to my class--where my students were eagerly awaiting the knowledge I had to impart on them for today's lesson...Okay, so I mostly made the last part up, but everything else about this morning reminded me of something: I live in a pretty cool place.

So the links I have to add to my Blog Roll today are all local! Granted, two of them are by the same author, but they seem to involve some differing posts. Those first two are Birdie's New Mexico Time Machine and My Tiny Vegas, and I like them because they showcase events around this little town that most (including myself) might not know about otherwise. And after my last little post about getting out what you put into something, I decided it's definitely worth knowing what I can get involved in around here. They seem to have some different posts, but if having two gets superfluous, I'll cut one from the list.

The last link is to the blog of the Media Arts Club of which my wife Veronica is president. They do some amazing things in that department, and the success of a lot of it involves the people in that club. I'm a member mostly to support Veronica and watch her rule with an iron fist, but also because I took a Screenwriting class in that department last semester with Thom Eberhardt.

Questions? Quibbles? Controversies?

"La Mecha" Editorial

Last spring, a friend of mine at my university's newspaper (La Mecha) hired me to write a couple articles an issue. But now that I'm full-time faculty in the English Department, she can't hire me. So I offered to still help as her "Faculty Contributor" writing a short editorial piece for each issue. Now this is a small university with a small, bi-weekly, 16 (used to be 12) page paper. But we're proud of what so few people (all students but me) can do with so few resources. So I thought I'd get a little extra run with my editorials by posting them here (since the paper has, as yet, no web version--though my friend is planning on that being her media arts Masters Thesis). My wife also does the comic for each issue, and hopefully I'll be able to put that up as well sometime soon. So here is my first article as "Faculty Contributor"--Attention Slackers: Quit Complaining and Do Something Productive:

"Last week, the faculty and staff of this university gave up the last five days of the summer break to sit in meetings, seminars, and advanced trainings, all to help them serve you (whether you are a student, a faculty or staff member, or a member of the Las Vegas, New Mexico, community) better. These people are truly concerned with making anyone’s experience on this campus the best one possible. Are you?

"Too often I hear complaints about this place: 'That department can’t help the students!' 'Those secretaries don’t know what they’re doing!' 'This campus is a glorified high school!' And the ever popular, 'There’s nothing to do in this town!' That old adage plays in my head when faced with these pessimists: 'You reap what you sow.' And I always have to ask those persons (though usually in my head), 'Well, what are you doing to fix it? How have you made it better? Who have you helped?' Their answer is, usually, 'Not much.'

"You’ve probably also heard someone say, 'You get out of life what you put into it.' A hard truth that many seem to have a tough time getting a grasp of is that most of the time you have to put in two, five, and sometimes even ten times into something what you get out of it. But doesn’t that make it worth it? Perhaps if more thought so I wouldn’t hear so many complaints.

"Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that everyone go out and overload their schedule by taking on every activity that comes their way. When I first met my wife, she was taking nine hours of credit and working three jobs sixty hours a week (two of them in child care simply because she couldn’t turn down the families who needed it). And her grades suffered.

"But I do wish more people thought like this--recognizing the need to help, fix, or solve, something and filling it. Now, I could spin something quasi-inspirational at this point—maybe quote Gandhi ('Be the change you wish to see in this university.') or JFK ('Ask not what your university can do for you' etc.). But instead, I just want you to think the next time you have a problem here. Every department here is extremely busy all of the time, so if you don’t think they have enough time for the students, find out if they have a club that you can study with or get advice from. And if not, start one. The secretaries don’t seem to be too helpful? Then make sure you know as much as possible before going in so that they can help you as specifically as possible. And I’ve yet to meet one who doesn’t respond well to a 'Good afternoon, how are you?' and a 'Please' and 'Thank you' thrown in for good measure. You feel like the students here think they’re still in high school? Then remind them that their in college and don’t let them skate by with that 'forced to be here' attitude; my students don’t seem to have to much trouble with that one once they realize I’m not going to hold their hands through the semester. And if you find this town too boring, then my first question has to be, 'Have you done all your homework yet?' Because if the answer’s 'No,' then you have no business looking for stuff to do. And if the answer’s 'Yes,' and you’re still bored, then I have to wonder if maybe the problem’s that you’re just too boring for this town. And if everybody keeps this in mind as we head into not just a new semester but a new academic year, then I’m willing to bet we’ll all be hearing less complaints by the time it’s over." (La Mecha 84.1, 21 Aug. '08)

Question? Quibbles? Controversies?

Back to Blogging and Fresh from Faculty Development Week

Okay, okay, I've been gone quite awhile. I looked at my blog and saw "August 7th" as the date of my last post! That was like *1, 2, 3...* 13 days ago (yeah, not good at math...or knowing what day it is)! But I have a good excuse (which is just for me at this point 'cause I'm willing to believe I've lost what little readership I had by now). The new school semester started yesterday, so last week (the last week of summer vacation!) was Faculty Development Week. Basically, it's like those team building retreat's business offices take only without the "team" part, the "building" part, and the "retreat" part.

I jest, I jest! As a "team" (i.e. the faculty of the university who are either interested or new, and therefore have to go--like me) we "build" (or reaffirm, broaden, plain out redo) our teaching methods, styles, interests, etc. Did it work? Yes and no...Oh, and I guess the "retreat" part doesn't work though because we don't go anywhere but the main campus--which could be a retreat for the those who teach at the satellite campuses which are all over the state.

Some of it was incredibly interesting--like learning how to enhance your class with high tech methods like this new-fangled "Internet" thingy (actually, there are some amazing ways of teaching with the web I never would have thought of). But some of it was also really pointless and/or boring. For example, inviting new faculty to a seminar that's all about putting together a tenure portfolio that I can't even apply for without 6 more years of school and 5 years of post-doctorate teaching is pointless. And the guy with the seminar on "Self Paced Learning" (a way of allowing students to work at their own pace) should really have read Andy Wales' comic on learning styles: Curriculum Comics.

But regardless, it served, I believe, an important purpose--it got me excited about teaching! This was essential for me (and most teachers, I think) with the final days of summer coming to an end and thoughts of "going back to the grind" keeping me awake at night. And that's not to mention (and maybe this is only for new teachers like me) the nightmare of "Are they going to learn anything from me?" "Can I even teach?"

So now, with the semester nearly two days underway, I'm ready to teach my five classes of 86 total students! Right? Wrong. I still feel like I'm struggling along, thinking and rethinking the syllabus, wondering if I'm trying to cover too much material or (even worse) too little. Still, the week before reminded me of one very important thing. It was an example set by those members of the faculty who were in attendance but didn't have to be because they were tenured faculty or had just been teaching for years. If there's one thing I learned by watching them scribble away on yellow legal pads, hanging on every word of the guest lecturers, and asking questions it's this: the best teachers never stop being students.

New Cool Links!

I've been frequenting some new blogs recently and yesterday I added them to my Blog Roll. So I thought I'd give a little run down of what each is and why I added it.

First off, we have das wandern--the photo-travel blog of my friend Kristen (even though one of our first conversations involved her telling me I was going to hell--gotta love the Bible Belt). She's seriously an amazing photographer and a fearless traveler--right now she's gallivanting around Africa, and I can't begin to list the other places she gotten photojournalism jobs. In fact, we almost hired her to be our wedding photographer (our first conversation after meeting my-then-girlfriend was her telling me to marry Veronica), but decided we wanted her as a guest to celebrate with us rather than taking pictures of other guests celebrating.

Next, because of my tireless devotion to that heroic and noble profession that is lifeguarding, I stumbled upon this little gem. I'm not entirely sure exactly what the name or specific purpose of this blog is, but regardless, it does an amazing job of compiling Lifeguard News! It (I believe) uses Google to search for and publish news headlines (in English) from around the world. Then you just click on the link, and it takes you straight to the story. As the lifeguard competition season here in the US comes to a close, it's great to be able to read all those local stories about underdog lifeguard teams who go on to win big. Unfortunately, the country is going through a lifeguard shortage right now and riptides on the New York coast came early for the season, so there are also a lot of sad stories too...

Lastly, I discovered Write to Travel on the Blogs of Note page, and I check it out every now and then. Once upon a time, when Journalism was going to be my major and I'd just come off of a two year stint as Editor in Chief of my high school paper, I wanted to a be a freelance travel journalist: see the world, write about exotic destinations, and generally live a life of care free adventure (ah, to be young and so full of hope again!). Of course, my dad was quick to squash this dream by trying to tune me into the realities of journalism: long hours, loads of stress, low pay, and an extremely competitive market for rookies. In short, he pushed me away from journalism as my career choice towards teaching (knowing I wanted to do something with my writing passion--ah, to be young and so full of hope again!). Humorously enough, a couple of years ago, my dad met a travel journalist at the airport and was quick to tell my mom, "What a perfect career that would be for Ben!" He also thinks it was his idea that I get certified to be a lifeguard. But as I begin anew to dabble with the career choice of journalism, this blog is a big comfort, as it not only showcases the writing exploits of its author, but the attempts of others as well. And that does make me feel young and full of hope again.

Lifeguarding Vacation--Hooah!

I've been away from the computer for the last few days, and thus, away from my blog. Where have I been, pray-tell? Well, there is one major passion in my life I've yet to really elaborate on here at The Daily Pugle: lifeguarding. Here's some math I did this weekend: I've worked as a lifeguard for six years; I've been certified as a lifeguard for eight years; and I began my training ten years ago. Yeah, I'm pretty addicted.

But with the beginning of my new career this summer, my first career had to take back seat. And thus I gave up what would have been my seventh consecutive summer as a full-time lifeguard to teach comics--a fair trade to be sure. But with the summer coming to a close, I was beginning to feel unfulfilled in the way I would be feeling right about now in summers past: a successful summer with few incidents, the peak of my physical fitness for the year, the earned fatigue of being in the sun all day, and the tan to go with it.

However, my unique resumé of aquatic safety--which includes everything from assistant pool managing to captaining lifeguarding teams for competition--places me in an interesting position now that I live in a state that is virtually devoid of (good) lifeguards. All of this means that should I feel the need to lifeguard, I can be picky about where/when I do it.

So not only did I get a call at the beginning of the summer from an out of town country club who wanted me to help them with their lack of lifeguards (I spent one day filling in a shift for them last summer when they got my contact information from The Boys and Girls Club at which I was the head lifeguard), but I got to help on my terms. Since I was teaching summer school during the week and helping with academic advising on some weekends, I told them I'd be glad to help out on the weekends I was free. I helped out a couple of times here and there, but a few weeks ago, they asked me if I could fill in for three days in a row.

All of which brings me to my lifeguarding vacation--a vacation from what I've been doing all summer (and will be doing in the fall, winter, and spring) to lifeguard like I once did. I was recently reading in Men's Health that the best vacations are ones in which we "detach" ourselves from those things from which we need a vacation. It should allow/make you think in a way other than how you think on the job; disconnect completely from that world (no e-mails, cell phones, etc.); and make you sweat (from physical exertion as opposed to stress). And my vacation did all this and more.

First off, lifeguarding is very rarely like teaching (let alone lesson planning, grading, or getting kids to listen to you...well, okay, maybe it's like the last one). Lifeguarding (lifeguarding properly, least ways) requires not only constant vigilance but constant thought about what is and (sometimes more importantly) what could be happening all around you. Most people think that lifeguarding is just about watching the little kids swim and making sure they don't lose hold of that tight grip they have on their noodle, but most of the time, you also have to be thinking about that sixty-something guy who's been laying out in the sun for thirty minutes after sitting in the sauna for twenty minutes after working out for an hour. And keeping track of all those people and how I might have to help them kept my mind so far away from planning my syllabi (which I've been dreading) that I'd say I definately detached.

As for disconnecting, this country club was so far outside of the city (the swankiest places are, aren't they?) I couldn't get a single bar on my cell-phone. The same was for our campsite (did I mention that in order to actually make money from these shifts, my wife and I opted to camp--which we hadn't done in two years!--at the state park just a few miles from the club), which meant that no one could get in touch with me. And obviously, bringing my laptop was out of the question--thus the lack of blogging but also the lack of e-mails confirming good meeting times to discuss new curriculum for the semester.

And did I sweat? I sat pool side in the middle of the desert for seven hours a day. What do you think? Okay, okay, sarcasm aside, the managers at this pool require their lifeguards to spend thirty minutes of each shift swimming laps. So I definately fit my daily cardio into my vacation.

All in all, my lifeguarding vacation was fantastic, and definately recharged me for the coming months of teaching, holding office hours, and sitting through meetings (all of which will be indoors, or course). And I'm already thinking about what I can do to scratch this itch over the Christmas Break (as you might have guessed, we have no money for a "real" vacation--ha!).

But what did my wife do while I spent the days keeping the pool safe? Oh the usual: shopping, reading books and magazines while sipping coffee, spending four hours at the city's biggest gym! Yes, my wife spent several hours of every day working out--that was her vacation. The funny thing is, this gym had a huge pool and some truly hardcore lifeguards--I've actually been hearing rumors of their readiness for about a year now. So after my last shift, on our way out of town, she took me by to check it out. And I was forced to rethink this whole "teaching career" business. But of course, a lifeguarding vacation stops being a vacation to lifeguard when you need a vacation from lifeguarding...