Michigan Government Shut Down

The State of Michigan has its priorities out of whack. We are currently under a budget crisis, and so Governor Granholm's brilliant idea is to have a partial shut down of the government. But, she doesn't want to shut down the departments that won't affect people, she wants to make the state unsafe by laying off 85% of the Police. She wants to save $10,000 is salaries and shut down the casinos which bring in hundreds of thousands in revenue. According to the news this morning she wants to double the sales tax and raise the income tax. Is she crazy? Does she think she'll win best Governor award if she successfully chases everyone out of Michigan? Doesn't she realize the government is in this bind because people are moving out of state as fast as they can because companies are fleeing Michigan? Loyal democrats are blaming this on Engler, but Granholm is in the middle of her second term in office-- this isn't someone else's mistake. If this was her first term, maybe I'd listen, but it's not. Every time there's a budget, she cuts funding for education, especially higher education-- which not only hurts universities, it also hurts the children of factory workers who want their kids to have a better education, to have a better job, but now they can't afford it.

I'm not a politician, nor do I pretend to be. I don't' know how the state got into this mess, and I don't pretend to know how to get them out of it. What I do know is this-- you stay out of debt by not spending more money than you make. If you make less money than you think you are going to, then you have to cut some of your luxuries. Maybe Granholm and other legislatures should take a pay cut-- take a week without pay. Maybe Granholm should rent out the Governor's mansion on Mackinac Island to bring the state some revenue. Maybe like all of the universities are being required to do, the state should do some fundraising. I don't know. But I do know that no police and doubled taxes will make Michigan a scary place to live.

GM on strike

I'm personally annoyed that the UAW is striking at GM. I understand the importance of unions and all of the good things that they did when they were started, but right now, I think they are asking for a bit much. In this crappy Michigan economy, I don't know that they can expect what no one else is getting-- there are a lot of things I would like, but I'm not getting them. I just don't want to see GM go bankrupt, because I think that would cause a lot more problems that people just aren't thinking about. Plus, I know most union members just want this resolved-- they don't want to make their lousy $200 a week-- they want to work. I feel like a lot of people are feeling like everything is just on hold-- I'm concerned that if GM stays on strike for too long that people will get tense and act out.

Read for the Record

Every year Pearson publishing sponsers Read for the Record-- It promotes literacy in urban communities through Jumpstart. I'm not sure why there isn't more promotion for it in Michigan, but that's a subject for another day.

The idea is that they try to set a record each year for the most kids reading the same book with an adult on one day. This year's book was -The Story of Ferdinand-by Munro Leaf. It's a fine story-- not one of my favorites, but it's ok-- I think the book is more known for it's drawings by Robert Lawson-- especially the one of the bee as Ferdinand is about to sit on him. That really is a great illustration-- the bee's expression as there is just this huge thing coming down.

I'm glad I can attempt to participate-- my daughter wouldn't sit through the whole book this year-- maybe next year we'll have more luck-- I did buy the Read for the Record edition though-- so all of the proceeds will help jumpstart, and I think that's cool.

Gas Main Breaks

This morning while driving downtown to go to class, I got a phone call that Wayne was on the news-- there was a gas main break and buildings were closed. As it turns out, the Writing Center was closed, so I had to call all of the tutors and tell them that they wouldn't have to be to work on time, but that I wasn't sure what was going on. So, then I had to spend time chasing down information about what the plan was on getting this gas line fixed. At 2 p.m. the word on the street was that the building would be closed until 5, so I closed the Writing Center for the day and went home. Then at 3 p.m. they sent an email saying that it was all fixed, so now I feel badly for students who might have wanted to get tutored. I understand that people like to have a good sized buffer for themselves when they are trying to complete a project. However, I would like it if they would keep people informed through normal means of communication. For instance, an email this morning when it happened would have been great-- rather than a friend calling because they heard it on the news. Or, it would be great if they could post info to the main page of the website. Oh well, as it is, the tutors got a day off, and I got to go home early. Sorry to the students who needed tutoring.

TWISTED

Last night I finished reading Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. This will have SPOILERS.

I'm working on my diss chapter that uses Speak, so I had to check it out of the library-- you'd think I'd buy it-- I own all the other books I'm working with, and I think it's a great book-- but I saw Twisted, and I thought I'd check it out and read it when I finished my chapter-- well, I cheated because it's due back at the library and I'm finding myself reading more secondary sources than I thought I would be. Anyway-- enough rambling.

Twisted-- Tyler Miller-- a tortured soul if there ever was one. I think there are a lot of guys who could really identify with him. I have to admit-- I was hooked by the catch line-- Everyone told me to be a man-- no one told me how. I like that Tyler seemed so normal-- For me, the text had immediacy-- he's a kid who isn't popular, who wants to be popular, and when he does what he thinks it will take to become popular, it backfires on him. Then, that almost does make him popular, but being a "good" guy with his love interest doubly backfires, and he's in much worse shape than he was before the book started. This sort of comedy of errors, without cheesy humor, forces him into manhood. I like Anderson because she usually has good metaphors and analogies running throughout her text-- She uses English teachers to introduce fitting texts, Dr. Faustus, Paradise Lost-- the idea of motif and analogy-- things she is using. Tyler is also playing his video game that has him descending farther and farther into hell. He doesn't even realize how connected these texts are-- that would be an interesting paper for his English teacher-- How his video game is a modern day version of Dr. Faustus. or How he too must decide if he will sell his soul to the devil. Happily, I must admit I was happy when he beat the demon, when he didn't kill himself. For a while I thought he was a goner, and I wondered how Anderson would end the first person narrator text. There are too many young men who have taken that out-- not known what to do, reached the end of their rope, and signed the paper. Although it makes the text slightly didactic, Tyler's recovery is powerful. Custodian Joe's challenge to run away somewhere warm becomes a catalyst for change. Does he have to run away to take charge of his life or can he do that while remaining at home. I didn't think his dad's response was overly realistic, but I was glad to see Tyler become a man--to fight his demon--to win.

Hectic Week

This week has been an extremely hectic week. I think the 2nd week of the semester is always the busy-- especially the fall. I always feel extra busy because this is the week we open the writing center.

I've been pleased to see how many students we've seen this week. I really expected it to be pretty dead this week, but right now we've got 3 tutees meeting with all 3 tutors. It's exciting to see people caring about their work so early in the semester.

Everything Costs

I know that everyone needs to make a living, support their families, blah, blah, blah BUT, why do all of the good, used-to-be free resources on the web require subscriptions.

I think everyone needs access to a good grammar handbook. I also think that grammar handbooks are ridiculously expensive for what they are-- rules and examples. I will agree with publishers that some are much better than others. Some are "pretty." Some truly are handbooks for dummies they are so easily laid out. But still, they are over-priced. There used to be a couple of pretty good e-handbooks that were online, and so I would refer my students who couldn't afford a paper copy to those resources, but alas, now one must subscribe. Honestly though, what's the point of giving someone an ebook when they buy the paper book? Either the student will only use the e-book, and the paper book will sit somewhere on a shelf lamenting the trees that died so it could collect dust, or the student will never bother with the e-book because he/she will get familiar with the paper book and experience doubt or hesitation toward the e-book. When I asked a publisher about just buying the e-book-- he said that it's the same price as the paper book-- that doesn't seem right-- no trees, no ink, no shipping-- A student can buy just the paper book, but not just the e-book, but it doesn't matter because it's all practically the same price.

So, now I'm looking for company that lets students view a grammar book, and uses advertisements like every other commercial site.

ps-- yes, I know about Purdue's OWL-- I just like having multiple options, and I would like to find an online book.

Smores

I didn't realize how badly I'd been slipping in the blogging department. In my defense, I've been making some decent progress in my writing though :)

But, I'm not being academic this morning. I've been looking online at houses, because I am begging God to sell ours, but I know I can't look in person until I've got an offer on this house, so I look online. It's a terrible waste of time.

Over the weekend, we went camping with friends. 16 adults, 12 children-- a little chaotic, but fun. We've been doing this for a couple of years, so it's fun watching the kids get older and more get added to the mix each year. We've made making Smores a fine art form. I'm wondering if there's a way to publish a smore cookbook.

The newest creation of the weekend was a 2-18 MC coconut samoa pie-- 2 coconut marshmellows, 18 squares of milk chocolate, a samoa girl scout cookie, cooked between 2 graham crackers in a hobo pie maker. (No one took the time to add up the calorie intake of that bad boy.)

The biggest hit is our traditional 2-3 MC PB -- 2 marshmellows, 3 squares of milk chocolate, a Peanut Butter cup-- all smashed between 2 graham crackers.

Ah, but since calories and sugar count when not sitting in front of a fire, I should probably quit thinking about smores and go back to writing my disseration.

Fall is coming

Today I ordered my textbooks for fall. I've decided to mix up my syllabus. I'm using all new books-- except for the one on tutoring, but that doesn't count. I've also decided to use a Children's Lit book for my novel this semester. I don't usually do that, but I really want to teach this book, so I've decided to give it a try. I'm teaching Ellen Levine's _Catch a Tiger by the Toe_. It's such a great book. I think it will fit with the theme of my course as I'm looking at media and people's responses to it for my dissertation-- that can't help but creep into my course theme too. I've taught books I needed to read for my research before, but this is the first time I'm really putting some of it in my syllabus. I just got tired of teaching the same stuff, and I don't have time to be researching other stuff, so this is what's going in. Now to structure the syllabus.

Collective Intelligence

Ever since I read Jenkins' book Convergence Culture, I have wanted to read Levy's Collective Intelligence, and I havent' made the time. I've been trying to write-- I had to read Harry Potter-- putting the house up for sale. Well, now, I'm finally reading it, and it's really interesting.

Jenkins uses his ideas of knowledge-- that the knowledge space is a valuable one and that it in and of itself is a position of power, but the thing that is striking me so far in Levy-- and I'm not that far into it, is Levy's position on the other. For him, there is no "other" there are only people who possess knowledge that we don't have that we should try to get. I think his ideas are much more idealistic, where Jenkins is probably more realistic. I think Jenkins is more based on subject research and Levy is more based on theory. But, as someone who doesn't want to fill out 7 million pieces of IRB paperwork, I appreciate the idealistic theory-- In a realistic sense, I see how Levy's theory is reflected in children's literature. When authors are trying to accomplish the blending of others, they often use a polyphonic text to attempt to disguise didactic moments. They are trying to live out Levy's vision.

Oh, if only there was more time in a day.

PJ Hoffmaster

We have decided that camping trips need to at least be for long weekends. This weekend we went out to PJ Hoffmaster, in Muskegon, MI to go camping. It is a great park. All of these tall trees, an awesome beach, we were there with great friends. It was a fantastic weekend, but when you consider all of the set up work and the tear down work, it's longer than the time you're actually away-- so we've decided camping trips need to be a little longer-- or we have to do it more often so that we better know what we're doing :)

Hoffmaster is a great place though, if you're looking to camp. The lots were really big, so it was great-- plus the back of our campsite was this hill that went down to a creek that ran into Lake Michigan, so the kids had plenty of space to play away from the road-- not that they weren't tempted of course.

But, now, it's time to get back to the daily grind.

Harry Potter burn out

I haven't been writing on my blog as much because I've been too busy reading everyone else's blog. But now, I am tired of reading about people's opinion of Harry Potter. As a fan, it's easy to jump into the obsession, and to get excited about things that she has done. As a scholar, I'm amazed at some of the "obvious" things I noticed that other scholars are asking about-- but maybe that's the people who speed read through the text. I can't believe how many people I've seen ask who the baby is in King's Cross Station and why it's beyond help. It's the exact same imagery she used in GF to describe Voldermort-- she could have copied and pasted for how similar it seemed.

The one thing I feel like people are really missing is that she is a brilliant business woman. She has not gone from living on welfare to being the richest woman in England by happenstance-- nor by the simple fact that she's written a few good books. She listens to critics, she markets ideas, and she incorporates enough popular culture to make sure her books are selling. Sure, she hopes that they become classics-- she would love to ride the royalty train until she dies, but she has made sure to invest in them while they are hot-- she is making sure they contain components that will sell millions of copies now. Fans are excited she's going to write an encyclopedia about the characters, non-fans think she is beating a dead horse, others think she's just looking to make a buck-- She's created immediacy-- people have to know what is happening to these characters. People have to know more than Harry married Ginny and they had 3 kids. Maybe it will be overkill, but it will add to her fortune, and enough people will love it. Is it the best literary move, who knows-- does it encroach on the idea of a writerly work instead of a readerly work-- yes. The point is, she's attached to Harry, and she's having difficulty, like many of her fans, letting go-- and so she's going to make a few more millions off of the letting go process. Like I said, she's a brilliant business woman.

Not Ready

I am not ready for fall. I do not like all of the back to school commercials. The chick who does the Art Van commercials who says Back to School are parent's 3 favorite words does not know me.

Don't misunderstand me. I like my job. I love teaching. I'm just not ready. I still have so many things on my summer project to-do list, and now I'm being reminded that I have to create my fall to-do list, and I'm not ready to do that. It is still July-- can't I cling to summer at least for one more week?

Yesterday I had meetings on campus-- That made me realize how much I have to do. I'm thinking about mixing up my syllabus this fall, which means I need to review textbooks, and if I'm going to do that, I should have ordered them weeks ago, which of course I didn't do. But, my students seem to like the books I use, so that makes me want to keep things sort of the same-- why mess up something that works-- although I would like to make sure I'm keeping things fresh. But, I don't want to reinvent the wheel-- I need to be finishing my disseration. I think I need to come up with a couple of new, good assignments-- then it would seem fresh... hmmm...

Deathly Hallows

Spoilers Ahead.

I liked book 7-- It has its cheesy moments, but one cannot forget that her largest following is children, and there are certain "must haves" for them. I do most of my analysis thinking for young adults-- and I think that many young adult readers are going to find some of her must haves a little cheesy as well, but she is trying to appeal to an audience age range that is incredibly broad. I could also argue that theorists, like CS Lewis, say that authors should write without thinking about audience-- they should write what they want to say-- and I agree with that. Also, when you consider the idea of the death of the audience, that implies the story needs to go where the story needs to go, without consideration of the author's feelings-- and to that I also agree-- which is why I think the moments when Rowling forces the story to meet the must haves, it gets a little cheesy, but I don't fault the woman for doing it-- I don't know that I would want letters from parents telling me that I'd scared their child for life by killing off their hero.

So-- I'm glad she took the story where it needed to go-- I'm glad she followed all of the gothic tendencies that she's put in the book and she made Harry a horcrux-- I thought it was an important must have, that for Voldermort to die, the piece that lived inside Harry had to die. As a fan, I'm glad that she used the Elder wand to kill the piece of Voldermort without killing Harry. It made the story more complex and interesting to know that these complicated levels of magic that most people didn't know did exist.

I liked the talking/message bearing Patronus-- I think she borrowed that from Pullman's witches-- their deamons could go away from them and carry messages-- this is a way a piece of Rowling's witches and wizards can send themselves places.

For me, the book had a apocalyptic type of feel-- it almost felt like the Left Behind books-- there's a small remnant of chosen people who will fight and be victorious, even though the odds are against them.

Anyway, I enjoyed it-- I'm both sad and glad that it's over. I'm interested to see what happens to the fan culture now-- if they will continue to write fan fiction that fills in the 19 years between the end of the story and the epilogue, or if that will have finished it off-- I'm curious to know if Rowling will be badgered into writing another book--which I don't think will meet up the the regular series standards-- who's Harry's opponent going to be-- Draco? And a story about a kid who has been a hero trying to make a normal life for himself isn't going to ring true-- it will be cheesy. So, I'm interested to see.

FYI-- my favorite line from the book "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH" (736).

Censorship

When is censorship ok? Should people be responsible to self-censor? If we're always concerned with self-censoring does that limit our freedom of speech?

I think my response to both the second 2 questions is yes. People self-censor all of the time. They do it at work, with people they don't know, at job interviews-- so why shouldn't they do it when they are writing-- at least for publication.

More later.

Order of the Phoenix

I finally got to see Order of the Phoenix last night. It was interesting-- this is the first time I've reread the book right before going to see the film, and I finished 5 again Sat night and then saw the movie last night. usually i see the film and then go back and check out the book-- I liked doing it in reverse, although I wonder if it took out some of the enjoyment of the movie-- even as I was telling my husband some of the things they left out, i realized why most of them were gone-- special effects, budget, non-essential elements of the story-- and then there were some things that seem like it would have taken no effort to have left them in... Plus, I can't help but wonder how the film, especially some of the changed ending statements, will fit in with book 7-- Does Rowling make them change things that wouldn't be true to the books? Overall though, I think the new director did a good job.

Fan vs Academic

I'm a fan of Harry Potter. I like reading the books. I like watching the movies. I like to make assumptions on my own. I do not like to engage in debates about what is going to happen-- I enjoy hearing theory, but I like to see how the stories unfold and see if my ideas were at all correctly induced.

As an academic who looks at media-- I feel like I should at least lurk on all of these debates. I should see how people are behaving. I should distance myself from what I think and listen to what everyone else thinks. It's much harder to do this summer than I thought it would be.

I am curious to see where Rowling is going to take us next week. I think she has a lot of possibilities, and I think it will be interesting to see which things she takes into consideration. If she's being loyal to her child audience, Harry will not die-- she will want good to triumph without punishment. If she is loyal to her gothic tendencies, then Harry will be the final horcrux, which would be the ultimate in doubling of the abject, and he's toast. There's a reason that people are making predictions and wondering what will happen. There's also a reason there's proof for all of this-- Rowling is more clever than people often give her credit for-- she has left herself multiple pathways for getting out of this maze-- which one will she take?

the writing process

I think the writing process is an interesting concept. We teach students to remember that writing is a process-- that it's not supposed to happen in one afternoon-- that you want to brainstorm and then write and then think about it and revise and rewrite. And when you're doing professional writing, you can revise something forever. The thing no one says about the process is how inprecise it is. I seem to have days where I can really write-- I can produce text on a page. Then I have other days where I can't focus the swirling thoughts in my head for anything. I really appreciate the days I can write. And I am thankful for deadlines, because they keep me motivated to keep writing even if I might have met my personal goal for the day.

Motherhood

I love being a mom. I don't say that with the everyone should be a mom attitude-- because I know that it's not for everyone. There was a time when I wasn't sure that it was for me. And there are times now, when I'm writing and my daughter wakes up and it doesn't matter that I'm in the middle of a good thought and then it takes me forever to find that thought again, that I wish she would do things a little bit more my way. But, I really appreciate the perspective she brings to life. She laughs so easily. She finds adventure in such simple things. Today she has been walking around the house with a green plastic bowl on her head. And she is so proud of herself that she can put it on her head and take it off her head all by herself. Being a mom is great. It reminds me to reward small accomplishments-- like maybe picking back up where I left off when she woke up for lunch.

Holistic Doctor

I've started taking my daughter to a holistic doctor. I think I'm liking the results, but the suppliments he's prescribed seem to be interfering with her sleep. This isn't working so well for me. I need my sleep at night, and I need her to nap during the day so that I can work on my dissertation. She had started wheezing, and I didn't want to take her to the regular doctor, because I didn't want her to get put on steroids. The holistic doctor says she has an oat sensitivity, so no more cheerios. We're surviving through that-- although I miss making us pancakes in the morning-- and I can't make them for myself and not for her. That would just be cruel. Right now I'm listening to her move around in her bed, not sleeping, and I wonder, is it the lack of oat, or is it the idiots who keep shooting off noisy firecrackers that don't do anything but boom.