I saw my former tai chi instructor at the grocery store the other day. He drives a tiny silver Saab convertible. He can probably get to the grocery store through his magic Zen powers, but carrying groceries back the same way is probably asking too much. I’ve seen Todd (formerly) Baechle of dance-rock band The Faint a number of times, usually late at night (early in the morning) at the same grocery store.

Speaking of music, I recently wrote a review on the forthcoming live collection by the Fiery Furnaces: http://67.227.135.129/article/2008/06/05/fiery-furnaces -- if the link doesn’t work, just go to www.omahacityweekly.com; it’s on the second page of arts & entertainment pieces right now.

Still speaking of music, if I could attend one festival anywhere at all this summer, What the Heck Fest (http://whattheheckfest.com/ ) might just win at the top of the list. On top of so much fantastic music, I really can’t resist a huge garage sale.

Speaking of entertainment, our dog loves jumping on the bed. I try to warn him by telling the story about those 5 naughty little monkeys, but he just retorts that he is not a monkey, and that’s that.

Speaking of orneriness, today I had my students take about 25 minutes and write a paragraph explaining the concept of “schadenfreude.” I steered them toward the Wikipedia entry, but told them to look it up in other places to find good examples, relate ideas to other things, find coordinating information, etc. We’d been having so much fun (including watching Schoolhouse Rock’s “I’m Just a Bill” on YouTube as part of another exercise) that asking them to sit and do writing work probably seemed as either a betrayal or so completely “random” that it didn’t make sense to them at the time. However, when we shared our writing as a group at the end of class, they displayed some impressive organization skills and writing ideas. More importantly, they saw different ways of approaching the same idea, plus found themselves able to “just get started” on a topic without days to deliberate, both of which served my purpose. In addition, most of them learned a new word/idea, which is never bad.

I need to go wash dog tongue marks off my glasses, so I’d best post this and be done with it.

now reading: John Edgar Wideman, Fever (short story collection)

Summer Writing Camp, Pt. 2, and other misc.

Summer Writing Camp, Pt. II; misc.

The second half of our week found my middle school group mostly focused on their writing and quite interested in my brief lessons on things like context, plotlines, epiphanies, and improving a “finished” piece. The students had generally already spent (or were about to spend) most of the 3.5 hour day listening to guest speakers/musicians brought in for inspiration, so they generally expressed a real hunger to spend most of our small group time either writing or getting feedback from their peers or me, so I was happy to oblige. A lesson isn’t much good if a student doesn’t have a chance to implement ideas and then get opinions on his/her attempts to use them. Of course, I would have loved to spend lots of time working with each student individually, but that’s also indicative of my personality and teaching style, and also not really feasible for a one week half-day writing camp. Still, I saw students developing their writing and learning how to play with tools and skills, which is quite rewarding. I’m really looking forward to the second writing camp later this summer.

Speaking of writing instruction, I started the community college summer quarter this week. My classes (one developmental, one English Composition) have proven full and diverse. Should be a lot of fun.

The packing for our move (late July, early to mid-August) has begun. We’re also looking to unload quite a bit of stuff, and may put out a list of items on Craigslist one of these days. If anyone reading this in Omaha has any interest in a “vintage” big orange couch, stay tuned. We’ll need it for about another month, but it’s definitely going up for sale. Feel free to ask about other stuff you might need…who knows, we might have something we’re getting rid of and can sell to you for a decent price.