I already did a Facebook link about this, but I thought I would put up a Summer Vacation post as well for good measure. My friend Betsy, whom I've taught with for about twenty years, started working on her own blog this past month. She's spent the last few weeks getting the appearance of it and the voice of the writing nailed down the way she wants before turning it loose on the Internet, and just this past week she finally took it public.
Her reason for starting a blog was simple: As a writing teacher, she felt it was important to develop the habit of actively writing. The most effective teachers are, I tend to believe, the ones who are well-versed in the content areas they teach, and for her to be writing will give her more common ground with her students during the year as they write. Since she has too much common sense to spend her summer chained to a desktop computer working on a novel, a blog seems like a perfect way for her to get that writing practice done.
Now, as for this blog: Instead of just spouting off whatever self-indulgent ramblings happen to cross her mind at any given moment like *ahem* some people do, she went into creating a blog that was much more practical and directly related to her teaching. Each of her posts will somehow relate to the umbrella topic of language arts instruction: Strategies she's tried while teaching reading or writing, things that she has picked up in classes, ideas collected from articles or books she's read, and so on.
She has always been very active in developing her craft as a teacher, and I think it's fair to say she is perceived, both at our school and in the wider district, as a professional worthy of emulation. So if you're a teacher, or you're in the process of becoming one, or you're thinking about becoming one someday, or if you're just curious to see what kind of work goes into being one, I recommend that you check out her blog. Her first posts have it off to a strong start, and should give anyone reading it in these early stages a good idea of what to expect in the coming weeks and months.
Click the link below and you'll see what I mean.
LITERARY PATHWAYS
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Hollywood Moments
I’ve been a big fan of movies most of my life, probably dating back to the first time I saw Star Wars in fourth grade. And I’m still a fan now. But I think, at least to a certain degree, some of what draws me to the movies must be changing.
I can think of several examples in just the past few months when I’ve seen moments in movies that are so ridiculous they border on self-parody. You know somebody somewhere in the creative process of bringing these movies to the screen thought these moments were good ideas, but I can’t believe these decisions were motivated by any kind of creative integrity. And I know, it's business, and movies are usually made to the point of making money. But I think we'd all benefit from the movie makers of the world taking an occasional pause and giving a second thought to some of the things they're doing.
I’m not about to get going on a rant of how unrealistic these moments are -- I’ve always been an advocate for the suspension of disbelief; that's usually half the fun. If you’re the kind of person who is going to sit down in the theater and think, “Oh, come on!! So that push cart that Indiana Jones and his friends are in JUST HAPPENED to jump off the rails and sail over that big open space and then PERFECTLY LANDED right on the other side with no problem at all? Like that would ever happen in a million years!” That’s not necessarily the kind of moment I’m thinking of. I’m thinking more moments that would fit perfectly into a satire about Hollywood. I don’t know how many people saw it, but there was a movie back in the 80s or 90s called “The Player,” which was exactly the kind of Hollywood satire I’m talking about. In it these Hollywood producer types are involved in twisting deals about a movie they’re trying to make. At the end we get to see a quick moment of how that movie resolves, when Bruce Willis (in a cameo) blasts his way through a wall to save Julia Roberts (also in a cameo). As he picks her up and lovingly carries her through the debris, she smiles and says, “What took you so long?” He smirks in reply, and says “Traffic was a bitch.”
That's the kind of ridiculous moment that could plausibly turn in a big-budget blockbuster Hollywood movie for sure. And the moments I’ve noticed this summer have all come from those same kind of big budget movies. Any of them would have been perfectly at home taking the place of the Bruce/Julia conclusion in “The Player.”
Here’s some of what I’ve seen so far:
** Today I saw “The Wolverine.” Not bad, but not a life-changer either. There was a conversation taking place between two life-long friends about how one of them about was to take over the largest corporation in all of Asia, while at the same time she’s being pursued by the Japanese mafia and a variety of super mutants. I would have loved it if one of them had said to the other, “Can you believe this #&*%! is really happening to us?!”
** “Grown Ups 2” got several eye rolls out of me, but none were bigger than this: Somehow in the course of one day, somebody suggests having a party at Adam Sandler’s house. Then it gets an “80s” theme, so of course EVERY PERSON IN TOWN is able to put together perfect 80s costumes at a moment’s notice. And if that can happen, well, why not have the J. Geils Band show up and play a set? Hey, look! There they are!
** “White House Down” was a movie I really liked. But when “wrong place at the wrong time” D.C. cop Channing Tatum stood there barking into a satellite phone, telling some military general or the Speaker of the House or whomever wasn’t listening to him that they couldn’t order a bombing strike or whatever because he had to save the President of the United States, all while wearing the sleeveless t-shirt he borrowed from Bruce Willis's character in “Die Hard?” I hope Channing Tatum is a smart enough guy to have thought "Am I really saying these words?" while shooting that scene.
** My absolute favorite of these moments so far was in “Red 2,” another movie that I really liked, maybe one of my favorites of the summer. But the image of Helen Mirren calmly spraying machine gun fire at two dozen bad guys while the Lotus she’s riding in goes into a slow-motion spin, and all the while the music of Linkin Park pounds through the soundtrack?
I had to laugh.
I can think of several examples in just the past few months when I’ve seen moments in movies that are so ridiculous they border on self-parody. You know somebody somewhere in the creative process of bringing these movies to the screen thought these moments were good ideas, but I can’t believe these decisions were motivated by any kind of creative integrity. And I know, it's business, and movies are usually made to the point of making money. But I think we'd all benefit from the movie makers of the world taking an occasional pause and giving a second thought to some of the things they're doing.
I’m not about to get going on a rant of how unrealistic these moments are -- I’ve always been an advocate for the suspension of disbelief; that's usually half the fun. If you’re the kind of person who is going to sit down in the theater and think, “Oh, come on!! So that push cart that Indiana Jones and his friends are in JUST HAPPENED to jump off the rails and sail over that big open space and then PERFECTLY LANDED right on the other side with no problem at all? Like that would ever happen in a million years!” That’s not necessarily the kind of moment I’m thinking of. I’m thinking more moments that would fit perfectly into a satire about Hollywood. I don’t know how many people saw it, but there was a movie back in the 80s or 90s called “The Player,” which was exactly the kind of Hollywood satire I’m talking about. In it these Hollywood producer types are involved in twisting deals about a movie they’re trying to make. At the end we get to see a quick moment of how that movie resolves, when Bruce Willis (in a cameo) blasts his way through a wall to save Julia Roberts (also in a cameo). As he picks her up and lovingly carries her through the debris, she smiles and says, “What took you so long?” He smirks in reply, and says “Traffic was a bitch.”
That's the kind of ridiculous moment that could plausibly turn in a big-budget blockbuster Hollywood movie for sure. And the moments I’ve noticed this summer have all come from those same kind of big budget movies. Any of them would have been perfectly at home taking the place of the Bruce/Julia conclusion in “The Player.”
Here’s some of what I’ve seen so far:
** Today I saw “The Wolverine.” Not bad, but not a life-changer either. There was a conversation taking place between two life-long friends about how one of them about was to take over the largest corporation in all of Asia, while at the same time she’s being pursued by the Japanese mafia and a variety of super mutants. I would have loved it if one of them had said to the other, “Can you believe this #&*%! is really happening to us?!”
** “Grown Ups 2” got several eye rolls out of me, but none were bigger than this: Somehow in the course of one day, somebody suggests having a party at Adam Sandler’s house. Then it gets an “80s” theme, so of course EVERY PERSON IN TOWN is able to put together perfect 80s costumes at a moment’s notice. And if that can happen, well, why not have the J. Geils Band show up and play a set? Hey, look! There they are!
** “White House Down” was a movie I really liked. But when “wrong place at the wrong time” D.C. cop Channing Tatum stood there barking into a satellite phone, telling some military general or the Speaker of the House or whomever wasn’t listening to him that they couldn’t order a bombing strike or whatever because he had to save the President of the United States, all while wearing the sleeveless t-shirt he borrowed from Bruce Willis's character in “Die Hard?” I hope Channing Tatum is a smart enough guy to have thought "Am I really saying these words?" while shooting that scene.
** My absolute favorite of these moments so far was in “Red 2,” another movie that I really liked, maybe one of my favorites of the summer. But the image of Helen Mirren calmly spraying machine gun fire at two dozen bad guys while the Lotus she’s riding in goes into a slow-motion spin, and all the while the music of Linkin Park pounds through the soundtrack?
I had to laugh.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
The Flipside of Progress
We're about halfway through July now, which means we are WAY closer to the beginning of the school year than I care to think about. So let's all agree to just not think about it....
The first half of July has been unusually busy for me. I've spent a lot of time with my unusually close extended family, which has been great. Almost every person in my circle of close friends has something going on this summer, ranging from small projects to major life-altering events, and I've found myself at least peripherally involved in many of them, which has also been great in different ways and different definitions. I have regular workouts going on, a lot of reading, some binge TV watching, occasional movies to see, and let's face it: Those naps don't take themselves. I've even started getting caught up in a game that I've been anxious to play since it was released in March, and yet as engaging as that game it is, it hasn't come close to taking over my life like so many games of summers past have. This can be attributed to a mostly welcome return to a strong, regular and productive writing habit.
I started the summer with big ambitions, as I always do, and I knew from the onset that not all of those goals would be reached. But if you read my last momentum post at the end of June, you might remember that I set a July goal to finish revising the manuscript that was my top priority for the summer. I'm mostly happy to say that project feels like it's going extremely well so far. The revisions I'm doing are making a world of difference in characterization, story depth, continuity, subtext and just overall quality. This one (Following Infinity, for anyone who knows it) was divided up into three parts, and I'm now within spitting distance of finishing the work on Part 1, which is the longest part of the three -- or at least it used to be. If the other two parts come together as well as the first one has so far, I see myself desperately hoping to recruit volunteer readers by summer's end in the hopes of collecting a variety of opinions.
But as well as the work is flowing right now, it is not coming easy. If you don't know this story... I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who might read it someday soon, but I think I can safely say the story has a certain emotional weight to it, and many of the people who've read it have had strong reactions. Without giving it away, I can say that my main character is a thirteen-year-old girl who has just experienced some major upheaval in her life and is caught up in a depressive spiral as she tries to cope with what's happened. Since the story is told in the first person, that means I have to write it by channeling her depression. I can assure you that while this hopefully will produce a much-improved story by the time I'm done, it's no ride around the lake in the meantime. It's been a good thing that I've been kept so busy this July and have seen my family as much as I have these past few weeks, because without those interruptions I would not be the happiest of campers right now. But hey - suffering for the art and all. If it means I wind up with a manuscript that gets a shot at representation or even publication someday, I'll muddle through the self-generated grey skies for a bit. Which kind of explains why I'm taking time to write what now feels like a fairly unnecessary post tonight -- just giving myself a little time to pull back and regain perspective.
So half of July to go. I'm predicting right now that I will NOT be done with the work by the end of the month, but I will have made some significant progress, and I'll be really, really close. And if you're one of my usual first round of readers -- get ready. The day is coming soon.
The first half of July has been unusually busy for me. I've spent a lot of time with my unusually close extended family, which has been great. Almost every person in my circle of close friends has something going on this summer, ranging from small projects to major life-altering events, and I've found myself at least peripherally involved in many of them, which has also been great in different ways and different definitions. I have regular workouts going on, a lot of reading, some binge TV watching, occasional movies to see, and let's face it: Those naps don't take themselves. I've even started getting caught up in a game that I've been anxious to play since it was released in March, and yet as engaging as that game it is, it hasn't come close to taking over my life like so many games of summers past have. This can be attributed to a mostly welcome return to a strong, regular and productive writing habit.
I started the summer with big ambitions, as I always do, and I knew from the onset that not all of those goals would be reached. But if you read my last momentum post at the end of June, you might remember that I set a July goal to finish revising the manuscript that was my top priority for the summer. I'm mostly happy to say that project feels like it's going extremely well so far. The revisions I'm doing are making a world of difference in characterization, story depth, continuity, subtext and just overall quality. This one (Following Infinity, for anyone who knows it) was divided up into three parts, and I'm now within spitting distance of finishing the work on Part 1, which is the longest part of the three -- or at least it used to be. If the other two parts come together as well as the first one has so far, I see myself desperately hoping to recruit volunteer readers by summer's end in the hopes of collecting a variety of opinions.
But as well as the work is flowing right now, it is not coming easy. If you don't know this story... I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who might read it someday soon, but I think I can safely say the story has a certain emotional weight to it, and many of the people who've read it have had strong reactions. Without giving it away, I can say that my main character is a thirteen-year-old girl who has just experienced some major upheaval in her life and is caught up in a depressive spiral as she tries to cope with what's happened. Since the story is told in the first person, that means I have to write it by channeling her depression. I can assure you that while this hopefully will produce a much-improved story by the time I'm done, it's no ride around the lake in the meantime. It's been a good thing that I've been kept so busy this July and have seen my family as much as I have these past few weeks, because without those interruptions I would not be the happiest of campers right now. But hey - suffering for the art and all. If it means I wind up with a manuscript that gets a shot at representation or even publication someday, I'll muddle through the self-generated grey skies for a bit. Which kind of explains why I'm taking time to write what now feels like a fairly unnecessary post tonight -- just giving myself a little time to pull back and regain perspective.
So half of July to go. I'm predicting right now that I will NOT be done with the work by the end of the month, but I will have made some significant progress, and I'll be really, really close. And if you're one of my usual first round of readers -- get ready. The day is coming soon.
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