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Kansas is ruled out. None of the three schools had Rhet/Comp PhD programs. The rest of the search is temporarily on hold for the duration of the semester.
Nagasaki students arrived last week. First week of classes went OK. They're a lot higher English ability than we were expecting. They're also very outgoing as a group and willing to get into the activities.
Morning Comp class is too sleepy to be any fun. Most of the students spend most of the class drooling at me. There's also a higher percentage than usual of phantom students, including one or two who may have already flunked the semester simply by missing vital assignments.
Afternoon Comp class is going much better than last Spring. It helps to have a theme. I've been throwing a lot of stuff at them from the book Kicking the Sacred Cow by James P. Hogan. Got this book for Christmas. Love it because it dares to argue with just about everything we know about how the world works. Thus, it makes for good discussion fodder because it pisses people off.
Trying to plan Spring Break now.
Don't expect an archive update until June. I might be able to squeeze one in before that, but I will not make any promises.
If anyone has been mulling fic, this is a good time to write and post. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the lists, and the 3rd biannual TPFICT awards. I'd like to try to have more than nifty graphics for winners of the awards round. It'd be nice to have full categories, and maybe even some new categories.
Whatever's been going around knocked me out pretty hard last week. I'm much better now. The release of Angel season 5 and The Greatest American Hero season 1 helped make my recovery much, much nicer. I've spent the whole week with Ralph Hinkley/Hanley. It's wonderful to re-discover a show I last saw when I was seven. I remember nothing about this series except that Ralph flew into a lot of things. This makes every episode like new. The only problem is knowing a) the quality will go downhill with the second season and b) the show will be canceled half way through the third. Oh well. It's hardly the first time a show I've loved got canned. Good fic, if I can find any, will help quell that sadness.
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That makes me feel better about going ahead and putting my story-competition story up on my own site instead of waiting for your update.
10th anniversary -- yay!
That doesn't mean I'll necessarily manage to write anything, though...
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Don't ever feel obligated to wait for me to archive before putting things on your own site. It's your story; post it where you wish.
I would like to know, though, why you never submitted Falling to the list or archives?
That doesn't mean I'll necessarily manage to write anything, though...
Ohhhh... I guess that means I should write something to commemorate.
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Normally I would, but the unusual circumstances of it being an entry for a story competition meant that I knew I wasn't free to put it up as soon as I'd written it (a more usual practice) and I wasn't quite clear about due process after the competition results were announced.
I would like to know, though, why you never submitted "Falling" to the list or archives?
Probably because I thought of it more as a Sentinel story than a Tomorrow People story; yes, it's a TS/TP crossover, but it is told more from the Sentinel point of view. It was also my first Sentinel story, a factor which would also influence my thinking of it more in the Sentinel context.
Sure, I'll post it to the list if you like -- soon would be a good time, since it would be a follow-up to "Wind Woman". Probably not until after I get back from the UK though. I'd also like to revise it a little, since it was my first Sentinel story, and therefore shows a few rough edges.
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My own list is now seriously IUB, because the more I read about it the more turned on I get about their commitment to develop their grad students into future faculty members, MIT, Bowling Green and a special appearance by UC-Berkley (as my "what the hell, they can only say no" choice)
Sorry you had the plague. I'm almost over mine, but I might backslide if I'm not careful.
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Glad to hear it's going well, and that you're feeling better!
I've spent the whole week with Ralph Hinkley/Hanley. It's wonderful to re-discover a show I last saw when I was seven. I remember nothing about this series except that Ralph flew into a lot of things.
LOL! Same here! A friend has added GAH season 1 to her Netflix list, so I'll be rediscovering the show soon. :) Actually, I saw the first episode (not the pilot) "The Hit Car" a few years ago. Good god, was the ep horrendous yet enjoyable. I could not believe the scene where Bill *fires blindly* into the car!! Sure, the bad guy were in there, but still!
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The whole series is like that. There're unbelieveably dumb things happening all the time; things that just make ya cringe. Firing blindly at a car of bad guys is definitely one. Between that ep and others, I kept wondering how many innocent bystanders--some who may even be several blocks from the action--were getting shot.
Yet the stories are overall very solid and interesting.
I'd forgotten, though, how serious the Cold War was. Watching the fervor with which Our Heroes go after Commies and Reds was disconcerting at first. "You're name is Sergei! Not only do I have no idea how to pronounce it correctly, but you're clearly guilty of every crime against mankind just because you're from the USSR."
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Hee hee! Can't wait. :)
Watching the fervor with which Our Heroes go after Commies and Reds was disconcerting at first.
Hmm. Do you think that Americans need bad guys to fight against, or is it simply human nature?
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Both. I think it's human nature, and it's been enveloped as part of the nationalistic pride of American culture.
IMO, human societies need a "them" in order to have an "us."
What do you think?
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There's a logic to the whole thing that's all grounded in the fallacies of human nature.
Assume that in order for there to be "us" there has to be somebody who's "not us," aka "them."
Now, we all know that "us" is the better of the two groups because of our cultural values, cultural expressions (art, music, government), or what-have-you. We need only look around to see how true that is. I mean, we have ____, and we can do ____, and we value ____; and look how wonderful our life is because of ____. "They" don't match us in those regards, so therefore "they" are lacking and inferior to "us."
Human nature time. As a species we're very jealous and hierarchical. We know how we'd feel if we were in the inferior position--we'd want to take our superiors down a notch. We'd want to destroy the things we were jealous of and the things we didn't understand (aka, anything we didn't or couldn't have).
Since that's how we'd feel, therefore that must be how "they" feel. Look at how ungrateful they are for our gifts to them. Look at how little they appreciate the fruits of our culture. See, there's the evidence of their jealousy. And, since we know they're jealous, they must want what we'd want if we were somehow (diety forbid) in their shoes, and that can't be allowed.
Oh, no! "They" want to change our way of life! We must at all costs defend our superiority because "they" are coming to take it away from us.
Hmmm ... that sounds familiar.
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Have you considered changing fields to sociology or philosophy? ;)
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Not even remotely.
:)
Being a student of the human nature doesn't pay very well.
I take it by the applause that you agree with my assessment. Anything you want to add? Or am I just tooting my own horn?
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LOL
I really didn't think about it that deeply. The question was just on my brain last night since you asked about whether we needed bad guys. Anyone who is a student of philosophy or sociology could probably poke my theory full of holes.
It helps, though, that I recently went a few rounds with my mom on this one. She kept insisting that life as I know is in danger because of some "them" who is coming for "us." She actually kept trying to tell me that "they are out to get us." And, like any good Republican, she has no idea who this "they" is, but she knows they're coming to get us and must be stopped.
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Waitaminnit. She actually said "they're coming to get us" but can't attach a meaningful label or group to "they?" Since you said she's a Republican, the likely groups are terrorists and homosexuals.
How can you stop someone from invading if you don't know who they are? (rhetorical question)
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Got it in one.
Unbelieveable, isn't it?
She has no problem with homosexuals as long as they're Someone Else's Child, but don't you know that the terrorists are amassing otuside her front door, just itching to throw her into a burqua (sp?).