Archive for August, 2009
First Day of Grading
Posted by Michael Livingston in Academics on August 30th, 2009
We haven’t yet had a week of class and already I’ve had a weekend knocked out to grading: my 101 students wrote in-class essays on Friday, and I just finished grading them.
On the plus side, these initial assignments are very useful for honing in on where the classes stand: where they need help, where they’re really strong, that sort of thing. It makes the rest of the semester go more smoothly and usefully for us all. The results this time were fairly predictable as far as their status as writers, but I was surprised (as I always am) by their content. As is usually the case, I simply asked them to tell me a story. Real, imagined, exaggerated, positive, negative, I didn’t care. Just give me a story, I said.
As expected, the vast majority of their stories were autobiographical, telling me about an important event in their lives, and I can tell you that they’ve had interesting lives, these young kids!
Phil Collins on Drums
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on August 28th, 2009
This evening I was driving home from the Citadel beach house (yeah, we got that) when Phil Collins’ old hit, “Take Me Home” came on the stereo. Hadn’t heard it in a while, and I was quite struck by the drum sequencing. Say what you want about Phil Collins, the dude can drum:
All of which reminds me that I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the drums. I’m not too old yet, am I?
Project XK: Front to Rear Guards
Posted by Michael Livingston in Project XK (Jeep) on August 27th, 2009
Today’s Project XK feature is all about vehicle protection: skidplates and such. As it currently stands, my Commander has Front Guards and Side Guards from 4xGuard and a “rear guard” built from spare parts.
Read the rest of this entry »
Citadel Knobs: A Slideshow
Posted by Michael Livingston in Academics on August 26th, 2009
There’s an official Citadel slideshow of the new class of cadets joining us this year:
A great watch, for sure. Really gives a flavor for the place.
First Day of School
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on August 25th, 2009
For the Hobbit, that is. I start classes tomorrow morning.
Middle English for “Robot”?
Posted by Michael Livingston in Uncategorized on August 24th, 2009
Cleaning my desk today in preparation for the new semester, I found a project that had somehow fallen off my radar months ago … for which I’m dreadfully embarrassed, as it was a planned favor for a good friend. A “Chaucer’d” project, it stood only half complete. Naturally, the difficult words to put in Middle English — robot, for instance, or sedated — were left undone.
Anyway, this evening I finished it. Now I only need to record it!
Shards of Heaven Glossary and Next Project Decisions
Posted by Michael Livingston in Fiction on August 23rd, 2009
So I decided, somewhere on the long trip out West, that Shards of Heaven needed a glossary. Nothing on a Tolkien scale, mind you, but at least a basic historical who’s who, since the majority of the novel’s characters — even bit players — are based on real people.
The glossary, I’m pleased to say, is complete.
While I’m tempted now to immerse myself in Gate of Hell, the sequel to Shards — yes, some significant work was done on it while I was away — I’m finding myself more interested in two other novel projects: one the heavy revision of a completed fantasy novel and one the significant expansion of my award-winning science fiction story, “The Keeper Alone.”
Which one will I settle into, I wonder?
Working on a Toast
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on August 22nd, 2009
Not long after I arrived here at El Cid, one of our senior faculty members retired. There was not, I don’t think, a cause-and-effect relationship between the two events. There was, however, cause for cheering the retiring professor, and I chose to do so by rewriting the famed lines of Clement Clarke Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” more widely known as “Twas the night before Christmas.” My version — “Twas the First Day of Classes” — was a rousing success, and I’ve since been asked to compose more rewritings for special occasions.
Thus, today, I’m working on a revision of “The Major-General’s Song,” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. The work is scheduled for delivery tonight — no time like the last minute, eh? — and I still can’t find the right rhyme for “contempor’ies.” I suspect my head is still elsewhere.
