Civilization, barbarians and reading in school

No, this isn't a blog about the Muslim barbarians trying to destroy civilization with their car bombs. Not really. Or, is it? Hmm ...

Did I mention that I'll have a class of advanced placement kids this fall? It's a reading enrichment class. Western Heights in on the block schedule, so each class is 85 minutes long. Last year, there was a 45-minute period after school when students could come in for tutoring. It was completely voluntary, and almost completely unused. This year they're doing away with tutorial and building in 45-minute remediation and enrichment classes somewhere in the middle of the day. This short class will last all year. So, yes, I'll have this one group of students for the entire school year. Did I already say they are kids who like to read? Students who like to read. I could get addicted to that.

Anyhoo, I've been giving some thought to what I'll do with that class. It's completely up to me to come up with the curriculum. Of course, I'm a limited to the books we have on hand or shorter works I can get for free online and make enough copies of, but that isn't a huge impediment. I'm thinking of starting out with a look at civilization vs. wildness in literature. I figured we'd read Jack London's The Call of the Wild followed by Robert E. Howard's Beyond the Black River and then Stephen Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky." I need something else that takes a view opposite of London and Howard, something that says civilization is not a horrible thing. Even the Crane story leads us to believe that civilization is not natural to men (he says women impose it on the dudes). Any suggestions?

Once we have some of that literature under our belts we can look at history and current events and decide if civilization is doomed to fail, if the Muslim barbarian horde will sack the U.S. the way the Germanic barbarians did Rome. Personally, I think it's inevitable, especially when the center is corrupted. I wouldn't necessarily compare Bush to the last Roman emperors, but I would compare our society and many politicians to the way things were in Rome just before it fell.

Am I off topic here? Sorry. I'm just excited over the prospect of kids who are willing to read and think critically.

I suppose I've sounded pretty down on my job the past few weeks. I'm not, really. Yeah, summer school has mostly sucked. Most of the kids I've had are unmotivated and hate to read. Most have been discipline problems. But, they've taught me something, and hardened me and, I think, will make me better.

But also, there's a girl I had in class last semester who is in summer school, though not in my class. She comes to visit me every morning while most students are eating breakfast. She didn't like to read the assignments in my Foundations of English I class. However, she told me last week that she was about halfway through the copy of Deborah LeBlanc's A House Divided (Deb donated copies to the class). Well, this student has an interest in real paranormal happenings, so I finally gave her a copy of Possessed by Thomas B. Allen. This is the true story that inspired William Peter Blatty to write The Exorcist. The next day this girl told me she was on chapter 11 of that book. I was so proud of her. Maybe someday I can get her to take the "Sorry, don't read" statement off her MySpace page and replace it with "I love reading!" Maybe.

I've learned from this, too. Instead of telling the students what to read, I need to give them more freedom to choose what they read. Then, of course, I have to give them class time to read ... so that I can make them read. And they'll have to write a report so I can see if they're comprehending what they read.

Lots of students are interested in "true" paranormal cases, so I should probably focus on building up my classroom library with more books like that. I am willing to take donations, by the way.

Something died today

I want to be a good teacher. I want to be the teacher students think back on with good memories. But, after today, more than that I want to be the teacher slugs fear. If the student is a lazy, smart-mouthed bum, I want them to groan deep, deep inside if they pick up their class schedule and see they've been put in my class. I want them to transfer out.

Yeah, it was another bad day. My second class is the worst I've ever had. Even when I was a sub at Jefferson Middle School. Today we read Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," one of my favorite short stories and one I used extensively in my award-winning article Horror's Hearth and Home: The Use of Setting in American Gothic Fiction. It didn't go well. (I just deleted several paragraphs of ranting that I probably shouldn't say publicly.)

In other news, Scrybe Press sent the page proofs for Seven Days in Benevolence the other day. Unfortunately, they were created from an old version of the Word file, so they have to be redone. Long story. I should have new ones by Friday. The book will be a trade paperback, priced at $9.99.

Over the past few days I've made pretty good progress on The Puppet King. I've finished editing Part Two (of three parts). My word count is only at about 67,500. Most fantasy publishers want a minimum of 70k words. Part Three is the shortest part, and I've added 5k words as I edited the first two parts, so one would think adding another 2,500 words to the last part wouldn't be a big deal. We'll see. This part has the most action in it, and features one of my favorite villain creations, Bolkar the death merchant. He's a bounty hunter.

A while back The History Channel showed a documentary about the mythic elements of the Star Wars films and it made me want to watch the whole series. I started that yesterday with Episode 1. Damn! That movie blows. I can't decide which is worse, Jar-Jar Binks or Jake Loyd's "acting" as Anakin. If not for the Darth Maul fight scene the movie would be unwatchable. I can barely remember what happens in Episode II, but I do remember Christopher Lee is in it.

22 on the 22nd

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away ...

I got married.



In fact, it was 22 years ago today that photo was taken. I was all of 19 and Kim was a couple of weeks from turning 18, and just a few weeks removed from her high school graduation. Ah, I was so skinny back then. (I blame Kim for that change; if she wasn't a good cook, I'd still be thin.) I was working part time carrying out groceries and cleaning floors at a Safeway store and Kim was working part time in Enid's leading drug store. Hmm. I've since had careers as a machinist, journalist, public relations whore and now teacher. Kim is still working in a pharmacy. Which one of us has the stability?

Anyway, not many marriages last 22 years anymore, especially when they start with the participants being so young, so I guess we've accomplished something. It hasn't always been easy going, but it's been worth it. Happy anniversary, baby.

For any students reading this, I don't recommend getting married so young. You don't even really know who you are until your mid-20s. And marriage isn't a constant sex party. Man, was I ever wrong about that one ... haha

For the math impaired, they year was 1985. Ronald Reagan was still president, Guns-n-Roses had not yet recorded Appetite for Destruction and Stephen King was still writing good books. A gallon of gas cost about $1.20, while a postage stamp was just 20 cents. KISS was performing without the traditional makeup (I wish I could say without makeup, but it was the '80s and even Gene Simmons was wearing blush), and I was just starting to think I might want to be a writer and was submitting really, really bad poetry to various places. Oh, and Enid's Oliver Magnum was still together and touring. Good times.

Kim brought a 1970 Mustang to the marriage. It isn't true that I married her for her car, but it was a check on the pro side. I had a 1976 Monte Carlo that she hated. Within a year, the Monte Carlo was gone, replaced by a Cutlass Supreme.

We got married in Kim's parents' back yard. It was hot. My one regret is that we didn't have a professional photographer; Kim's aunt had a new camera, so she took the wedding photos. Yeah, the one above is one of the best of the bunch; the aunt got mad about something and didn't take a single photo at the reception. She's an ex-aunt now. That's my best friend David Crawford in the background; he was my best man.

For our honeymoon we went to Branson, Mo. Remember, we were working part time. We couldn't afford a cruise or anything like that. We went to Silver Dollar City and Whitewater, where I got the worst sunburn of my life..

Oh, we'd been "dating" for about five years before getting married, since I was in 9th grade and Kim was in 8th grade.

Now you know more than you ever cared to know about my past.

Random crap

Man, school has been tough the past couple of days. The kids are unruly, unwilling to work, defiant and ... Well, they're lazy brats, to put it bluntly. They're in summer school because they don't want to have to repeat ninth grade, but they're not at all willing to work or, God forbid, learn something while they're in class. One of the other English teachers today was looking for a worksheet to help teach figurative language and all I could do was laugh. Figurative language? I'm just trying to get them to use language that doesn't include "fuck," "asshole" and "nigger." They've completely given up any pretense of reading, or even listening to The Call of the Wild. After each chapter I give them a worksheet and most of them can't answer the most basic questions about plot. Try to discuss the book with them and they just tune me out. The only thing they want to hear from me is the answers to the worksheet questions.

I seriously have to keep reminding myself that not all students are like these kids. Somewhere, out there enjoying their summer, are students who like to learn, or at least tolerate it without cussing. I mean, when the name of the class is reading, it's just stupid to say, "Do we have to read again today?"

I told them today that we'll finish the book tomorrow and they'll have to write an essay about the theme on Thursday. Many said they plan to miss Thursday. Yeah, they're that lazy.

It hasn't been a good day at all, really. Remember how I went to the OWFI conference to meet a specific agent? I got the agent's rejection letter today. "While I really enjoyed the premise of your novel I felt there were too many plot points used to convey the same message. I did not fall in love with the project enough to take it on." I'm not sure what she means by "too many plot point." Does she really have to love it? Couldn't there just be some dirty lust? Anyway, I guess the $150 I spent to go to the conference was wasted money, after all.

Add to that, well ... another writing frustration I won't air publicly.

This afternoon I watched another film version of The Call of the Wild. I knew it wouldn't be good when I saw that Ricky Schroeder was the star. It was awful. As usual, the story was shifted to focus on a human. Buck was a pure German shepherd. Ricky was totally unbelievable as John Thornton, and they gave him a freakin' love interest. SPOILER ALERT!! Ricky did get killed in the end, but his murder wasn't shown on camera, which was a real disappointment. I'm trying to find a copy of the film version starring Rutger Hauer, but unless I want to pay over $30 for a used VHS, it just isn't to be found.

I'm still looking for cover flat from authors that I can use in a display in my class room. If you have some you want to send, let me know and I"ll give you an address.

Ulrik news

I got a note from Scrybe Press yesterday. There were three major bits of news. First, the publisher said I should have the final page proofs for Seven Days in Benevolence this weekend.

Next, as many of you know, Shocklines.com will be closing sometime soon. Shocklines was a major source for those who ordered the signed, lettered, hardcover edition of Shara. Scrybe assures me that everyone who ordered from Shocklines will get their books. And, hopefully, that will happen soon.

And, finally, I mentioned the many e-mails I've received asking about a publication date for Ulrik and was told that it should be available by "late fall" of this year. As we've seen, those dates are ... fluid, so don't limber up your wallet just yet.

The Hammer

All the other teachers today were telling me about how good their kids were. My group was not good. They were bad in class, but what I found out about two of them after class made me furious. Oh, there will be hell to pay tomorrow.

The only good news is that I'm not teaching math any more. Me and a biology teacher were both teaching mixed classes, math and reading. She was more comfortable with the math (makes sense, huh?) and obviously I'm better at the reading. So I'll teach my class reading for half the morning, then send the brats to her and I'll get her class for the rest of the day. So, I get to teach The Call of the Wild twice per morning. I love that book! There's a good, free audio version available online, if you're interested.

Ah, well, it was quite a weekend. First off, I missed Friday night's reading because I wasn't feeling well. I got this wild hair about exercising earlier in the week and joined the YMCA. I promptly pulled a muscle my first day in the gym and could barely walk Friday.

Saturday started better. People showed up for the Using SF in the Classroom panel and we had a nice discussion about the role of science fiction, fantasy and horror, and students. Nobody showed up for my signing later in the afternoon, but that seemed to be the way it was going for about everybody.

This morning we started with a panel called Is Blogging Helping Your Career? panel. It wasn't quite so well attended, but it did meet fellow panelists Shanna Swendson and Rachel Vincent for the first time. They're super nice ladies and it was fun talking to them.

A few hours later it was time for my solo reading. Thirty minutes to read whatever I wanted to whomever showed up. So, I go to the room about 10 minutes early and there's a lady I don't know (and won't name here) reading from a magazine. Her time ends, and she keeps reading. And keeps reading. And keeps reading. I was going to say something, but at first I kept thinking she had to realize she was way over time and would wrap it up. Plus, the only person there to hear me was Craig Wolf, and he'd already heard me read my story. Then it became a matter of indignant amusement as I wondered if she would ever realize, or acknowledge, that she was using another author's time. Twenty minutes into my slot, she finally drones to an end. Then she asks me and Craig if we're aspiring authors and proceeds to give us advice and offers to put us in touch with her editor (magazine I'd never heard of). Had anyone besides Craig shown up, I'd have been really pissed. As it was, it was just ridiculously rude and didn't really matter. I've never tried reading "Noodlers Nab Nekkid Nymphs" completely sober, anyway, so who knows if I could have pulled it off. (Oklahoma doesn't allow you to carry alcohol in the hallway of a hotel, so drinking is pretty much confined to the bar, which I never entered this weekend.)

A few minutes after this woman left, Shanna and Rachel came in and Shanna read a few pages from one of her novels. It's fantasy chick lit, but dammit, it was really pretty good. And she cut it off right at a good part. The tease!

I feel like I should name and link to all the friends I saw there, but hell, that'd take all evening. And I'd probably forget somebody. I will say to Rhonda Eudaly that I can recognize you without Angeline Hawkes being present. Pfft. It was also great seeing Dr. Fear from Enid again, as well as J. Madison Davis, my thesis committee chairman from OU. Oh, and Stephen R. Donaldson was incredibly nice and fun to listen to; I hope to see him at some more cons.

Summer school starts tomorrow. 2 + 2 = 5, right? It's actually the y x z = b that boggles my mind.