Office Hours Monday

I'm having office hours (SN-4062) Monday, April 13 from 1 o'clock until 2:30 p.m., in case anyone has questions about the exam.

The exam for both 1080 and 1101 is Tuesday, April 14 at 12 o'clock noon in the Physical Education gymnasium. Sleeping in will not be accepted as a reason for missing it. Few things would be.

GC

New Rock the Vote!

I just posted an updated version of the poll at the top right of this blog. If you were one of my students this semester, I'd really appreciate you taking the time to answer the few questions that are. Some questions are meant for either 1080 or 1101, exclusively, so if the question doesn't apply to you, just skip it. Oh, and it's all anonymous. I can't tell who you are, so please be honest with your answers. Thanks! :-)

GC

Famous Last Words

Oh, and I don't know what my own last words will be. I haven't thought about it, to tell the truth. But on my metaphorical tombstone, it will say: Back in a Minute.

I say "metaphorical" because ain't no one buryin' me in the cold, cold ground.

Checking in

Lots of people appear to be checking out this blog while I make my way through the mountain of essays I have to grade. In the next couple of days, I'll have conquered it, I suspect. Until then, my mind has turned to mush and I can think of nothing witty or of any consequence.

Oh, I did manage to mangle a quote from Dylan Thomas in class this morning. His supposed last words go like this: "I've had eighteen straight whiskeys; I think that's a record. After 39 years, this is all I've done."

There's much debate over his actual last words, but these will do.

In the next day or so, I'll be posting a new poll, asking students to comment on various parts of the courses I've taught this semester. Hope you'll play along. Right now, I've got a poll from last semester still up there. Feel free to look, but don't vote until the lines are open. :-)

Back soon.

GC

Launch of Rig cancelled

Because of the crash of the oil rig helicopter off the coast of Newfoundland today, the book launch for Mike Heffernan's book, Rig, has been cancelled, to be re-scheduled.

GC

Book Launch

In my 1080 class today, a student (you know who you are, Brad) read a poem from a young man named Greg Tiller who was one of the 84 men who went down on the Ocean Ranger oil rig when it sunk in 1982 off the coast of Newfoundland. It was a day that those who were alive in this province will never forget. It changed a lot, not only in the oil industry but in the lives and the very soul of this place.

Greg Tiller was an extremely young man and a pretty good poet, who dreamed of something better in his life. I had the pleasure of reading some of his poetry as I read the manuscript by Mike Heffernan, who launches his book, Rig, tomorrow night at Bianca's on Water Street (7-9 p.m.). It's an incredibly moving and important book that tells the stories of those who were left behind, those who knew someone and/or was related to someone who went down on the Ranger on that stormy February night. One of the stories told, though, is that of Greg Tiller, and I thought it was either incredible synchronicity or a sign, or both, that Brad read the poem in class today. I was going to mention the launch anyway because I'll be introducing the author (and, of course, it means one night when I won't be grading essays, which means a pretty late night in the hope of getting those 1080 essays back on Friday, a few days before your next assignment). But in the rush of it all, I almost forgot to mention the launch...until Brad steps up and reads his poem.

Amazing. Even more amazing, Brad used to work on the rigs himself in Alberta and has entered university with the hope of a different life for himself than the one he had. I don't know what he thought of life working an oil rig, but I know he wants something different. I admire anyone who can do that for a living. It's hellishly hard work, from what I know. But I also admire anyone who can foresake the good money and dream of something else, then act upon it. Greg Tiller never got that chance. I can't speak for him. I don't know what he would have done. I just know what he could have done, and he had a poetic soul. All that remains, though, are his poems and his story. Ever since I read the chapter in Mike's book about Greg Tiller, I've been planning to write something in his honour. Something about his young, creative spirit connected with who I was around the time of the Ranger sinking, and how different my life, and my future was from his. So maybe this was another sign to me that maybe Greg's story needs to be told in yet another way. Maybe. I just hope to be up for it and worthy of telling it.

So anyway, yeah, fate's a fickle thing. Hope to see some of you at the launch. It's an unusual launch in that it's a celebration of the talent and efforts of the brilliant young writer and editor, Mike Heffernan, but at the same time, it's a commemoration of the souls and lives touched by the Ocean Ranger, and a single night that binds so many together in ways that can barely be expressed.

GC

Reminder for English 1101 essays

To emphasize the point I made at the beginning of class today, in writing your essay about Frankenstein, even though it's meant to be an argumentative piece, that doesn't mean you need to write things like "It is my opinion that" or "I think" over and over. In fact, your essay will suffer from the use of such useless language. Such words generally don't mean anything. It is understood that what you're writing comes from your own mind and, as such, represents your opinion.

Consider the difference between the following two statements:

1. In my opinion, Victor Frankenstein is a neglectful father and scientist.
2. Victor Frankenstein is a neglectful father and scientist.

Sentence #2 says the same thing as #1, except the second one is leaner, more straightforward, and more forceful. It packs more of a punch. When you say "in my opinion" and "I think," you are weakening the impact of your statement (or so I believe). See? When I add "or so I believe," it suggests I have doubts about the strength of my position, when I really don't.

There's nothing wrong, per se, with putting yourself into the essay, though I truly don't see why you need to. It's just wasted words, and when you only have 900 words at your disposal, you can't afford to wasted thirty or more of them telling me what is already implied: your words are your own. You don't need to remind me of that.

Or so I believe. :-)

GC

Rock, Paper, Scissor, Lizard, Spock!

Okay, so does anyone else besides me watch this brilliant show?

I mad a passing reference in my 1080 class today to "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock!" and no one batted an eyelash or broke a grin.

Here's YouTube to the rescue!

My favorite new comedy of the past decade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mKbnVKdix8

Peace out.

GC

If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Still in the midst of midterm break and enjoying the chance to catch up on some work. That's what breaks are for, really. I've probably gotten more done over the past few days than I usually accomplish in a one-week period. More than one well-intentioned student told me last week to "do something fun" over the break. Well, that hasn't happened so far, but that will happen when the semester is over. There are no days off during the semester, and that's just the way it is.

But I did watch the Oscars the other night. It was one of their better shows, in spite of the fact that I hadn't seen very many of the movies that were nominated. Award shows are strange beasts, though. I mean, why should I really care if Kate Winslet (whom I adore) should win an award over anybody else? Of why would it bother me that Mickey Rourke lost out on his bid for the ultimate comeback within his industry?

It's good to have a perspective on these things--I mean, they're really not that important in the overall scheme of things. They certainly don't affect my life any. On the other hand, I teach literature for a living, and I write literature of my own. And if literature isn't about people, then it's probably not something I'm interested in. Same with movies and songs. Fact is, these celebrity movie stars play their lives out on the big screen and the small screen in front of millions of people. And I think what captivates many people is the fact that these people represent stories.

Sure, I know it's the glitz and glamour too. It's been said that celebrities are our royalty, which I don't really buy. To me, they're more like a continuing story that we get to watch day after day. Granted, I don't like those "True Hollywood Story" types of tabloid shows and I generally despise the paparazzi and any t.v. show or magazine that employs spying techniques. I figure, just let them be. The aspiration to become an actor doesn't necessarily couple with the desire to be stalked and famous. They owe us nothing in that regard. About the only thing they owe us is a good show when we plunk down our hard-earned dough. Reminds me of Yosemite Sam in the Bugs Bunny cartoons: "I came to see Fearless Freep, and I aims to see 'im!" Then Sam sits down in a huff and waits for "Freep" (aka Bugs) to dive into a glass of water from a high tower. We're just here for the show and we want what we paid for.

I like a good comeback story. But that's because I like a good story. Stories are about people, and these movie stars (and athletes, like Barry Bonds or some feel-good story) just happen to be people. Their stories are being told right before our very eyes, and sometimes it's hard not to watch.

So that's why I watch the Oscars. Sure, I liked what this person was wearing and that one was wearing (I though Kate W. looked like a goddess and Amy Adams lit up the screen, but I digress--and for god's sake leave Miley Cyrus alone. Maybe I should do a rant like that "leave Britney alone!" guy. People should just sign up for lives of their own. All of them. All of us). But for me it's about comeback stories, soaring hopes, and triumphant returns. But most of all, I just love the movies. My favorite part is those montages of movie clips from all those movies I've seen or wish I had time to see. I'd always planned to watch every movie ever made, but thanks to grading all those essays, I'm quickly falling behinder and behinder.

And that's what I did on my spring vacation: worked and watched the Oscars.

Hope yours has been good so far.

More to come.

No day like a snow day

Finally: a snow day. Maybe now we can all just relax a bit, feel a little less pressure, and get life in perspective.

I thought I'd take the day off--really wanted to--but I've been spending the morning grading essays, answering e-mails, and trying to get my life in some kind of order.

But I do enjoy a good snow day once in a while. When I was a kid, this meant a day for playing hockey, going sliding on the big hill by our house, or watching the t.v. shows that you usually missed all week. Now, I just stay in bed a little later (7 a.m.), ease into the day a little slower (at work by 8:15) and actually take a lunch break. I love looking out the window and seeing the snow piling up and hardly any cars going up or down the road, knowing that hardly anything is open. Even the mall is closed! But I'll bet Wal-mart and Tim Horton's are open because the staff gets trapped there once they're inside the doors. Might as well work while you're there, I guess is the managerial position.

Now that my work is done, though, I'm going to try to take most of the afternoon off. Unlike my students, I don't have midterm exams tomorrow or later this week.

My students in 1080 and 1101 don't have a class with me now until after the break, since Friday's class has been cancelled. (Don't look at me like that--if you were in class, you'd know it. Oh, and if you WERE in class, you do know it and probably didn't look at me, or the screen, funny at all. Don't make that face. If the wind changes, you'll be stuck with it--especially at 110 kilometres per hour! Nasty.)

So, in 1080, we're finishing "Paul's Case" on Friday, Feb. 27 (first class after the break). Then we're doing "A Good Man is Hard to Find". The comparative analysis essays are still due on March 2.

In 1101, we're finishing Frankenstein in three more classes on Feb. 27, March 2, and March 4. On March 6, we start The Divine Ryans. The out-of-class essay on Frankenstein is still due on March 2.

Questions? Just get in touch. I'll be blogging a bit over the midterm break as I see fit and whenever I sense a disturbance in the force, requiring me to intervene with words of wisdom, encouragement, or absurdity.

Talk to you again soon. Hope the snow day gives you a much-needed reprieve!

GC