May 18 2014

Birthdays in Taiwan (2014): Part 1

I have this great idea for a series of the awesome things students and others have done for my birthdays while I’ve been in Taiwan. I had hopes that I would do them in order. hahahaha! But here we are at birthday number 5, and the other four haven’t been written.

My birthday is actually today (well, in this part of the world). My birthday is Sunday, but for some of you, it’s still Saturday when you read this. Some of my students from my Wednesday writing class got wind of this event early, and they created a surprise moment in class.

It was awesome when they did it in class, but what I didn’t know is that they also made a video of it. So here I am, in all my pre-birthday glory, attempting to make a teaching moment out of a birthday surprise.

Thanks to some wonderful students for a wonderful birthday surprise on Wednesday. Now on my birthday, they posted a video of the moment. Thanks Sherri, Stephanie, Lynn, and 童大容!

I’m off for a birthday adventure in a little while. I will post about it later. 🙂

May 10 2014

Riding Down the Highway: SoCS prompt

Today’s prompt is “Entrance.”

It reminds me of family camping trips, and the entrance and exit ramps to the highway. On our various summer expeditions throughout Michigan (and often into Canada), we covered a fair amount of ground, most of it on I-75. Of course, once we got close to the intended destination, we would leave the interstate, and travel some scenic state highways or county roads until we reached the state park or other intended campground.

While on the interstate, I always imagined taking each and every exit, wondering what wonders existed along those roads that we never visited. I was aware that if we turned off onto one of those roads, it would eliminate the possibility of the other roads further down the interstate, but I still thought about it. Kind of like, well, we could at least take an hour or two and go check it out, and then go to the next one.

On the way home, it happened in reverse. We would drive along whichever road our planned camp-out had taken us. And we would travel along, and I would keep my eyes peeled for the entrance ramp for the interstate, signaling the straight stretch back home. Even so, it wouldn’t keep me from wondering about the exit ramps on THAT side of the interstate.

After I began driving, I found the mystery of entrance and exit ramps weren’t as exciting as I had imagined them. One road lead to another town or city, much like other towns and cities. Sure, each place has its own charm, but there were no truly grand adventures to be had simply by taking an exit into the lush expanses of trees and ribbons of road.

Now when I look at new opportunities, I consider a little more carefully. My imagination might not be quite in synch with what really lies ahead.

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This is a response to the prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday at http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1014/

May 4 2014

Change: Prompt for SofCS for May 2

Entrance to BK Bakery (Photo Credit: Deborah Kraklow)

Change, where does that word lead me?

Where does change lead in general? To something different. If no change, things will stay the same. And the same is not good. Not at this time.

I need images. I need focus. I need to change the way I think about lots of things.

Things I want to change, in no particular order.

I want to change my work area to be more inviting and productive.
I want to change my work schedule to be more productive.
I want to change the details of some of my projects so that they are more streamlined and take less thinking.
I want to just sit down and work without having to juggle moving targets.
I want to change my hair style.
I want to change the way I feel.
I want to change the way I spend my free time.
I want to change the fact that I work too many hours.
I want to change some of my habits.
I want to discover what I truly want.
I want to change my life so that its focus is on what I really want.
- I want to redirect the time I spend on things that aren’t really important to me to things that are.
- I want to spend more time on my blog.
- I want to spend more time on quilting.

My first step is going to be to change the way I work. So that I can be more effective in less time.

I will also keep working to change the way I think about things so that I avoid defeatist thinking and behavior and continue to move forward.

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This is part of of SofCS: http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-314/

If you’d like to join in, here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people will come and read your post! The way to ping back, is to just copy and paste the URL of my post somewhere on your post. Then your URL will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. For example, in your post you can copy and paste the following: “This post is part of SoCS: http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-314/ ” The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!