This Ro(a)mantic Life: Procrastiblogging

Body: in sickness and in health

I won't lie; this body and I have had our issues with each other for many years. Body image -- sure. Physical and mental overextension -- comes with being a Type A kind of girl. I still struggle with these things, so they show up from time to time in my writing.

More recently, illness, pure but not simple, has added itself to the mix in a multi-system sort of way. And the challenges in figuring out exactly what's gone wrong are many. As problems have revealed themselves in the last few years, beginning with reactive hypoglycemia in late 2008, I've documented them here, partly to gain a little clarity on managing complex conditions but mostly to give voice to vulnerabilities I feel but don't normally share with anyone face to face. Better out than in, they say, right? (Oh yes, humor is one way I deal.)

The links below cover the different angles I've examined (and from which I've been examined) within that experience.

Travel: neither here nor there

When the person you're married to lives two time zones away, you log a fair number of frequent flier miles. And if you blog about commuter relationships, you log quite a few posts en route too.

Since we're no longer in separate places, I blog less often from airports. But we do travel -- together now! -- which is much more fun to write about. So in addition to thoughts on our years of commuting, the links below cover the places we've been as a pair and, in some cases, the adventures that have happened on the way.

Writing: the long and short of it

Why do I do it? Good question. Maybe it's not so much that I like to write but that I have to write, even when the words refuse to stick to the page. Believe me, I've tried doing other things like majoring in biochemistry (freshman fall, many semesters ago). Within a year, I'd switched to English with a concentration in creative writing and wasn't looking back.

After graduating, I taught English for a few years and then worked as an editor, which I still do freelance. In 2007, I applied and got into an MFA program at a place I like to call Little U. on the Prairie. I finished my degree in 2011 and have been balancing tutoring and writing on my own ever since.

The following links cover the writing I've done about writing: process, content, obstacles, you name it. It's not always pretty. But some part of me loves it, even when it's hard. And this is the result.

Heart: family and friends

I'd have a hard time explaining who I am without being able to talk about the family I grew up in as well as the people I've met beyond its bounds. But even with such context, it's not easy! In the simplest terms, I'm a first-generation Asian-American who has spent most of this life caught between cultures. That, of course, doesn't even begin to describe what I mean to, but there's my first stab at the heart of it all.

That's what this group of posts is reserved for -- heart. The essential parts of my life whose influences I carry with me, for better or worse. The links below cover what I've written as I've learned how these forces work within me, for me, against me, in spite of me. They anchor me even as they change me, and they keep life interesting.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Procrastiblogging

What, you've never heard of that before? Surely, you jest!

I'm supposed to be grading some student exercises that I should have finished this past weekend, but I was too fried to face them -- and they're short ones too. Ah, grading burnout. Fortunately, the teaching is still good. In fact, I get energy from doing it (and there's not much of that to go around these days). This week has been terrific so far, which made up a bit for the funk I was in on Sunday, missing D mainly.

I have to say that my students are a fun bunch as they're willing to entertain some of the sillier activities I have them do to warm up for class discussion. Yesterday, I introduced them to "Monday Mingling," which is an adaptation of something another teacher showed me while I was teaching junior high. We had read a short story over the weekend with some guiding questions, so to get people out of their seats and energized, I copied the questions onto individual index cards and had each person choose one. Then all the students had to "mingle," asking their questions of different people as they walked around the room. "Pretend you're at a party," I said, which got me some amused looks, but I know everyone had a good time with it. Some people even got into the act, asking their questions like pick-up lines at a bar! I also distinctly heard one student say, "I'll meet you by the fruit punch" as she was chatting up a classmate. Whatever it takes ...

After we'd mingled for about five minutes, we sat down again and shared out the answers each student had collected. Pretty effective for getting people talking.

We're going to start looking at poetry tomorrow, which will be a real change of pace. I think I'm going to have my students close their eyes and do some guided meditation just to slow their brains down before we start examining some verses -- poetry really does have its own time scale. For a little icebreaker, we'll be looking at Shakespeare's Sonnet 130, which turns conventional beauty on its ear (hopefully, students will figure that out after they try to draw what's being described). I bought crayons for the occasion -- a box of 48, although the set of 64 was tempting. That should be plenty, in addition to the markers I already have, for them to use to create some entertaining illustrations. And there's nothing like a brand-new box of crayons to inspire creativity. (If you remember this video from Sesame Street, you know what I'm talking about.)

Arrrrrrrrgh, grading calls. I'd better get to it before I start procrasticleaning or something worse. It's been known to happen.