Buckets & Return

I've been back for a week now; it's been quite a whirlwind. On the night I returned, I went straight to my son's campout. On Saturday, MK & X decided to reorganize his room, starting with the closet. We have got to work on de-cluttering the house. I don't remember much about Sunday. Monday was another karate, gymnastics, scouts night. Tuesday was all-day in-service for the college. Tuesday night was violin (rescheduled due to Thursday). Wednesday was a karate, gymnastics night. Thursday was karate testing, and MK sings in a group. Friday, I crashed. MK spent the night cleaning the house. Right now, she's shampooing the carpets. On top of all of our activities, the dog has been on medication that makes him drink lots of water. This, in turn, causes him to pee more. Since we don't currently have a secure outside place for him, that means he's been peeing in the house. We know because of the smell. Even I smelled it, so we know it must be really bad. Oh, and then one of the horses was limping. Another vet visit, and we have medication for him as well. On top of all this, I have tests to grade (that are well past-due), and I have several committees that I need to get moving on.

I talked to Paul about being a mentor, but I didn't do much else with my IDPD this last week. I'm feeling a little guilty about it. I need to be scheduling time to read and reflect each week. With weeks like this last one, I won't get the time if I don't purposefully schedule it. It feels as if I am trying to pick up mercury with my fingers...I'm just not getting a good grip on what needs to happen. Of course, I know from my Strengthquest, DISC, and other assessments that I will push myself to simply work harder. Yet, at the time, there doesn't seem to be much choice. One just needs to slog through over-commitment one step at a time...and just try not to become overcommitted in the future.

I did find time this last week to read How Full is Your Bucket. It's a really good book about the benefits of positivity. Filling others' buckets has never been a skill of mine...but I'm trying to develop it. I think it would be most beneficial in my relationship. MK could use a bit more bucket-filling. I'm also trying it with my grading, but that is much more difficult. I feel disingenous in providing anything less than a perfect score without describing in details all of the ways that the essay fell short of the top mark. Just the same, I'm trying to focus much more attention on what was good rather than the weaknesses.

I also had a really good Division Meeting on Monday. We did the check-in activity without a hitch. In fact, things went well until we started talking about the IDPD. The conversation started to drag as I addressed the concerns of an individual. I thought she raised some important concerns, and I wanted to address them. Unfortunately, the energy was drained by the time I discussed the DISC. I should have saved that discussion until next time. As it is, I decided to put off doing the DISC until next semester.

I also mentioned that I am considering applying for the associate dean position. There was quite a number of people who asked me not to. I'm still waffling quite a bit. Now, I'm concerned that if I don't end up applying, it will seem like a ploy (let me threaten to leave so you can all tell me know great I am). In my desire for input and to be upfront with my intentions, I fear that I may have backed myself into a corner. If I don't apply, I will have to explain to quite a few people why I didn't apply. Yet, I'm honestly not sure that now is the right time. I'm just getting settled as division chair...and there is so much to do.

Furies of Calderon

I just finished Jim Butcher's The Furies of Calderon last night. Don Miller let me borrow the book and told me that Jim was a local author. I went into it a bit hesitantly. I just don't really like to get caught up in multi-volume fantasy tomes, especially if they are still being written. The last one I got caught up in was George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. I was given A Game of Thrones and was halfway through A Storm of Swords before I realized that the next book still had not been published (this was a couple of years ago). Even now, A Dance with Dragons has not been completed, and his website promises two more after that. I realized that the plots and subplots were so complex that I would need to reread the series each time a new book came out just to follow what was going on. I thoroughly enjoyed the series and look forward to reading it in its entirety some day. I'm just going to wait until it's completed before I start.

I mention George R. R. Martin's series because it influenced how I approached (and appreciated) this book. I love the world that Jim Butcher has created! I think his use of furies rather than the more conventional sorcery is extremely innovative. In addition, this is a world where nearly everyone has some level of "powers."

Yet, I found myself inexplicably disappointed with Jim Butcher's tenacious desire to create a happy ending. Time after time, he puts his characters in mortal peril, and, time after time, he rescues them. It's not that I want to have characters dying left and right, but George R. R. Martin's series had me on the edge of my seat. Martin will kill off or maim a character. His world is brutal, and it kept me guessing. The result was heightened conflict. No one was sacred. Even main characters die. The world mourns and moves on.

Butcher, however, rescues the characters. At the last moment, someone helps out. **Warning: major spoiler coming** Even at the end when I expected someone to die just to keep it somewhat realistic, everyone survives. Even when we see them die, they are brought back. The result is that the book is a bit more predictable. By the end, I expected that Tavi would somehow save the garrison with the help of the Marats, and he does.

Don't get me wrong. I liked the book and have, in fact, moved on to the second in the series (even though the series is also not complete). I like the world, and I like the characters. I also find Jim Butcher to be a fine author. Yet, the tenacious happy ending despite all odds cause me to mentally classify the series with the Harry Potter books. Of course, this is hardly bad company.

Shadow of the Wind

Stephen Covey speaks that we often focus too much on the immediate rather than the important. The state of this blog seems to be proof of that. Yet, it appears that I am maintaining a pretty decent semi-annual update.

I've just read a really good book, The Shadow of the Wind, which focuses on the magic of books. The story all centers around a book that a 10 year old boy, Daniel, finds in a mysterious repository called, "the cemetery of books." This book, also called The Shadow of the Wind appears to be the last copy of a book by a mysterious author names, Julian Carax. It appears all the other copies had been destroyed. As the boy researches into the past of the book, and thereby the author, he ends up uncovering a tale of love, loss, betrayal, etc. More importantly, his life is starting to very much parallel that of the lost author.

I don't know if it is just because I haven't read a good book in a while (one that really drew me in), but I found myself really enjoying the time I spent within that world. My wife and I debated a bit over whether this would be considered "magical realism." There have been parallels drawn between Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but the book doesn't seem to have anything really fantastical about it. Yet, the parallels between Julian and Daniel are a bit much to describe without a magical influence. At the beginning of the text, Daniel feels very much that this book has somehow chosen him. If we keep that in mind then I think the book would fall into Magical Realism because it address the magic of literature, which lives in the reader and transports a bit of the author's soul.

Malcolm Hayward, an instructor of mine at IUP, once stated that critics "touched the magic." It's interesting the contour my life has taken. When I was young, I wanted to be an author (to create the magic). When I entered graduate school, I wanted to be a scholar and critic (to touch, and perhaps co-author--or at least explain--the magic). When I started working, I became a teacher (to share the magic with other...at least a bit). Now, I seem to be moving into administration (which is either to view the magic from afar...or to squeeze the life out of it).