That’s right. Just one more week before Spring Break, which I think every teacher and student are looking forward to. Not sure which group is more excited though. Of course, this means things will be crazy to get everything ready before we take a week off then return for the final push for June.
Given how nutty this week was, I’m going to assume the next one will follow suit. It wasn’t a single thing that was draining, but a bunch of small ones. I’m helping out when I can with the Unified Basketball team, which is a combination of our special and general education students. We’re defending champions, so we have to work hard. I almost forgot how tiring this can be after a day of work too and I’m only doing TA Support. On top of this, I’ve been handling non-school stressors and trying to get some editing time in. I had my son’s CSE meeting as well . . . He’s a good kid and a hard-working student who has a plan for the future. Means it was an easy meeting.
That pretty much sums up this, which is a shame. It was all a wild slapdash of activity revolving around work and parenting. I finished chapter 9 of Darwin & the Beast Collector and will try to tackle chapter 10 this coming week. Not sure if I’ll get very far, but I have the second half of Spring Break. If I can finish 3 chapters while in Oswego then I will be in good shape. Of course, I’m finding that my focus has been broken due to stress and fatigue. This is making me worry about other things, which might also be connected to my birthday coming up next week.
Once I finish editing and typing in the changes to Darwin & the Beast Collector, I will have to start a new book. It’s been a few years since I did that and I have this fear that I no longer have the ability to write cohesive paragraphs or chapter sections. I have the outline ready for Darwin & the Joy Path, but I don’t know if that will be enough to get me through things. It doesn’t help that there are some pretty big events coming later in the year, which will put a mental strain on me. It could result in me only getting one writing weekend per month, which sounds terrible. That and the rest of the responsibilities that mean there’s no writing on weekdays. At the very least, I have worries that I won’t produce anything good if I make the attempt. I will be trying to start it up during the summer, which has more free time, but I have doubts.
On another plus side, I’ll be able to bring my laptop up to Oswego. This means I can play music and take a break to watch a streaming show or prep a June post, which could increase my productivity. It might be cold too, so there won’t be more than a single Pokemon Go outing every day to do the regular stuff. Aside from seeing some friends once or twice, I don’t plan on doing much in the way of tourist stuff. I just want to get away and recover some energy before the final stretch of the school year. It almost worked last August, but some stressors seemed to wait for my return and strike hard to push me back down. Maybe I should just hope for the best and expect the worst until certain things on both a personal and national level chance.
As I said, next week is the homestretch, so I can’t plan for much. Looks like there’s only two appointments and that whole 45th birthday thing then Passover on Saturday. I might get a little editing in on days that I go in early enough to have the faculty lounge to myself, but it might be easier to just use the one evening I have no . . . Oh, I have plans on that evening too. Maybe I need to accept that I won’t be able to edit or even write a full chapter section within a day. Doesn’t sit well with me in the writing arena since I don’t know if I’d be able to regain the proper flow. Guess time will tell?
So, goals of the week?
Birthday stuff.
Really should do the last May blog post.
Start the June blog posts.
Make a packing list for Oswego.
Try to start editing chapter 10.
Get extra sleep.
Figure out which universal power keeps making it rain on weekends that I have my son.
Maybe order the latest Linkin Park CD for my trip. Also, looking at CD’s by Tantric and Orgy . . . Those are real bands.
I realized that I haven’t talked about magic for a long time. I write fantasy books, so I should bring it up from time to time. With Darwin’s adventures not being published any time soon, I don’t want to use him as an example. Instead, I’m curious to see what people think about magic. Enjoy.
What do you want from magic in a story?
If you could cast one spell, what would you cast?
How has your thoughts on magic changed as you get older?
Since I’ve been doing as much walking as I can thanks to Pokemon Go, I thought I’d post about this holiday. Haven’t been able to walk as much as I wanted during the winter thanks to that polar vortex in January. I had to go around the mall, which can get boring and it’s crowded. Don’t think it counts as fresh air either with all of the people coughing and making other noises. Anyway, enjoy the memes and maybe try to get some fresh air if you can.
Technically, this starts tomorrow. I assume because you don’t want to start it on April Fools Day. Still, this is an entire month where attention is brough to autism. Though, it has gone beyond that to involve ALL neurodivergent people. Given my background, I’m going to focus on autism though.
A major reason for this is because I still run into many people who think the following:
Those with autism are stupid.
Those with autism cannot succeed.
Those with autism are dangerous.
Those with high-functioning autism don’t really have autism.
Those who are nonverbal don’t know what is going on.
Those who are nonverbal cannot communicate at all.
Autism can be cured. (This one pisses me off.)
The list keeps going, but you get the point.
After working with students who have autism (and other neurodivergent conditions) and being the father of an autistic teenager, my thoughts routinely change. My son does remarkably well in school and works hard even though he has trouble understanding concepts we take for granted. His social skills are rough, but he is a good kid that wants to help others and tries to get that point across. My students also work hard and do their best to accomplish whatever goals we set. Usually because they are teenagers and even those who are nonverbal will have bouts of (You’re not the boss of me!), which makes for interesting challenges. It’s always an adventure.
So, I’m going to make a post about autism every Tuesday, but also one on Sunday with questions for the audience. I’m thinking of making the post on the 29th a collection of things people have learned about autism over the years. Simply to show at the end of the month how perceptions can change.
What do people think about that? Heck, feel free to mention anything that you found interesting about autism that other people should know now. Don’t have to wait for me to get my act together.
Legends of Windemere 