Multiple Jobs

            I’ve described writing as a full-time, unpaid job (currently), which must be balanced against the teaching job, which pays. The problem, as I have written previously about, is that writing often gets subsumed by the teaching because of urgency.

            It took me two weeks of vacation on the other side of the country to try and recover my ability and desire to write instead of focusing so intently on teaching. Now that I have it, I don’t want to lose it. I realized just how much I missed writing.

            Part of this restoration of my writing has also led to me not as enthusiastic about teaching. I don’t want to go through the loss of writing again, so I’m naturally trepidatious about how far I go into teaching. I can’t afford to let myself be as distracted from writing again, but I also don’t want to do a disservice to my students.

            I need to find the balance.

F3 Leisurely Swim

From the sky I had no idea where to go. The trees obscured almost everything. I hopped off my cloud next to a stream about six feet across.

"Hello?" I ventured. The woods didn't respond, and muffled my voice. Moments later a head surfaced from the stream.

Fallout

            September 11^th 2001 left an indelible mark on our nation. While undoubtedly New York suffered the most, I felt it more acutely in DC. With the number of federal buildings and museums in our nation’s Capital, nearly every place I went had metal detectors and security screenings. It became a regular thing to have to divest my pockets of everything and step through the metal detectors, which was the majority of the lines to get into places. I understand the necessity, but it’s yet another sad reminder of tragedy, and what the modern world is.

It's All in the Duds

It is said that “Clothes make the man,” but that may be true for some more than others. I’ve been thinking it over, and found a pattern when it comes to clothes in crime fiction. Detective characters stand out in the crowd. Usually their manner—curious, attentive to detail, driven, and intelligent—sets them apart, but there’s more than that. The way they dress is actually quite conspicuous.

            A deerstalker hat, a mantled coat, a snuffbox, and a pipe. Just from that brief description we come up with Sherlock Holmes. The hat alone is enough to name him. Throw in the pipe and he’s unmistakable.

            Read the rest at Criminalelement.com

F3 Little Pleasures

I walked in the arboretum enjoying the cool weather and light cloud cover. Most of the clouds we're cirrus, wispy and high up. Some were cumulus with just a hint of grey, a sure sign of the density and rain within.

Vacation Sans Pictures

            I own a (now obsolete) Nikon D70 camera. I’ve got a couple of lenses for it, and it’s a good, entry-level professional digital camera. The last time I used it was on my trip to NYC. I just haven’t felt the need to pack in the extra bulk and weight. More importantly, I found that I spent too much time trying to line up shots instead of enjoying where I was and what I saw. So I’ve toned back on my camera usage to the point of almost never using it. I’ve realized that in the digital world in which we live I can easily find pictures of what I see taken by other people. I only feel the need to take a picture if I’m going to be in it or it’s something unique that I want to preserve.

The Necessity of Vegging Out

            On my trip to Boston, I didn’t set a strict agenda. Actually, I didn’t set an agenda at all. My intent was simple: rest, relaxation, and restoration. I would go out and see things as the fancy struck me, but only if it struck me. It gave me the necessary mental break to bring myself back. I focused a lot on writing and not thinking about teaching.

            It was necessary.

            I think I need to make sure I do it after every semester.

F3 Charybdis

            “We’re caught in a class 4 Dark Matter Eddy,” Ann yelled back at Flynn.

            “It wasn’t on the charts?” Flynn lurched into his station and pulled his harness on.

            “Time. To. Deal. With. That. Later,” she bit off each word, fighting with the helm.

Travel Tip 4

            Another reason why I’m fond of the carry-on only packing is the travel that must be done when I arrive. On a trip to NYC, I did carry-on only, but it was the full carry-on and a personal item, my backpack. Moving through the subway and then walking through the streets with this luggage was doable, but hardly ideal. I can’t imagine trying to move through a dense metropolis while toting large check-in bags behind me.

            I’ve since ditched dual carry-on and moved to a single backpack as my only luggage. I can fit nearly a week’s worth of clothing inside and still have room for my gadgets and other goods. I can hop off the plane, onto the subway, and blend in perfectly with the urban environment.

            Who needs roll around luggage?

Travel Tip 3

            The task of packing and unpacking is problematic. I’ve found, most of the time, that I can pack things tightly leaving home, but it’s more difficult to get things just so for the return trip. Also, unpacking becomes difficult and time consuming, something you don’t want to do after a long flight, car ride, whatever. For this I recommend a combination of the Eagle Creek Pack-it folders and Shelves-to-go. The latter makes it easy to pack and unpack in a moment’s notice, while the former gives the ability to compress and wrap up the shelving bundle to save even more space.