Tick Tock Doc

YA author

2009-08-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Laura Wiess, YA author of three books. What great surprises her books have. Love this author. Can't imagine where she has come up with some of these twists and turns.

Doc

2009-06-08T19:47:00.001-07:00

Beth Herman-Davis, Ed.D.

w.r.i.t.i.n.g

2009-05-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

Submit 1/2 of chapter 4 tonight. Defense week of Aug. 17. Graduate June 7th.

Three years of work.

Priceless.

What if...

2009-04-12T20:05:00.001-07:00

This is the beauty of Aloha High School and its community. Please watch:
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/04/with_math_tutor_steve_sall_dis.html

I work next door to the learning lab where Steve Sall volunteers. I know what he does for these kids. He gives them HOPE. I would like to think that some days the kids, like Jimmy, return that HOPE right back to Steve.

It is my belief that unless there are more Steve Salls out in the world, the change we seek will not happen in my lifetime or the lifetime of the freshman I teach. While we are so very lucky to have Steve and what he has given to the AHS community, why aren't there more Steves in the world? If you look at the comments at the bottom of the Oregonian story, one reader reflects that maybe they should think about volunteering. Will they? Probably not. They will wake up tomorrow morning and this wonderful example of humanity and humility will be a memory.

Steve Sall has paid it forward many times over. It is my dream that we as a CIVILization pay it forward to honor the Steve Salls of our world - to pass on the HOPE that he gives to the AHS community every day.

Pay it forward this week. And next week...

PERFECT SEASON

2009-04-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

My father would have loved to witness those women Huskies owning the rest of the NCAA women's teams. YAY for the UCONN WOMEN!!!
A perfect end to a very perfect season.

Inaugural Sunburn

2009-04-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Each and every spring for the last 42 years I get drunk from the sun on the first lovely day of spring, and thus I receive my first sunburn. This year, I only got partially sunburned on half of my neck and my ear, and my nose and forehead in full. Awoke this AM even redder and unable to turn my head to the left (the side with the sunburn).

Sometimes I even surprise myself.

April brings...

2009-04-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

• Boston Marathon
• a wound-free body?
• spring?
• a wound-free body?
• me closer to seeing my moms, sister, and niece
• closer to no more school
• closer to the east coast
• closer to the dissertation defense
• FLOWERS

What will May bring?

wintergirls danced

2009-03-23T22:08:00.001-07:00

Side stepping with death and life. Wintergirls was emotionally challenging, thought-provoking, and memorable. Lia was well developed, although I still wonder what exactly had triggered such inner hatred. Sheer disdain for herself, inside and out. The ending went too fast, and Cassie let go too easily of her link to life and Lia. I needed Lia and Cassie to struggle together with the idea of death, the middle, and living. What pushed these two young women to the edge and over?

Barley

2009-03-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Barley is a dog. A big dog. He sits by your side, or underneath you, or on top of you. Barley weighs 162 pounds. As I have become smaller, Barley has gotten... fatter. He is very sweet and wonderful company when writing. He has been known to growl at you for touching him even when he is on the second floor - and you're are on the first floor. Pretty miraculous, wouldn't you say? Barley is needy. Needs water to swim in and tennis balls. Most of all he needs his dad. He needs his dad all the time. He loves to lick his dad all the time. Barley, the needy big fat black dog with a loving soul.

trickling sweat

2008-08-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Amidst the beginning of the school year I defended my proposal. Today. I have never been this nervous presenting - ever. There was sweat trickling down the back of my neck, and right down my back. My hair was soaked. I think I was a shade or two brighter than a strawberry. I even had an out-of-body experience, and watched myself present - and realized that I was babbling. That was mystifying. This dissertation process brings out some really odd things in people.

Even though I sweat and stumbled over my words, I was signed off on and approved to go ahead with my research. I will be making some modifications before I begin the study.

It took nine months to get to this day. I am exhausted.

Where's the finish line?

2008-08-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

I continue to look for a rewind button that I can push and go back to the day before I began this doctoral program. I cannot imagine what I used to do with this vast amount of time spent on writing and researching. I think I once knitted, read what I wanted to read, biked, ran, swam, and I think I had FUN. You will notice that the word FUN is not located anywhere in the word dissertation.

I don't want to keep going. I have clearly had enough 'FUN' during this process. This 'process' gives my nightmares, makes me cry and have tantrums, causes me to be unsure of myself and abilities. And I'm paying money for all of these perks.

These needs to be a finish line sooner than later.

Ava

2008-07-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ava came into my life a little over a year ago. She offered me a place to read, write, and contemplate words.

My husband has tried Ava, but doesn't seem to have the same feelings about her as I do. She is sweet and lovely. Dark and rich. Loud. Busy. Likes 80s music. Has a thing for waterfalls and fire. Let's me use her internet (free).

Ava's Roasteria, my second home for this dissertation marathon.

Ava, my true siren for coffee.

Word up.

2008-06-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

My husband says to me tonight, only ELEVEN months to go.

In some ways the words offered motivation - then I thought of OMG, eleven more months of someone who doesn't communicate with me, more rewrites and edits then I have EVER done in my entire education, hoops to jump through, more hoops to jump through and oh yeah, MORE $#%^&* hoops to jump through. This is the life of a doctoral candidate.

It's comparable to running a marathon, but there is no satisfaction no matter how many words you write, words you delete, words you change to sound different from the words you already wrote, words you use but really have no idea what they mean (you read it in someone else's dissertation and it sounded impressive), words you think are words - but find out are not real words, words that your husband replies to with, "I just clean the poopy, my life is about the poopy." I have written tens of thousands of words. W O R D S. Words were once like shoes to me... couldn't have enough words. Loved words. Loved learning new words. Loved saying words I couldn't pronounce. Loved teaching kids about words (I still love that). Thank god for SHOES.

The end. Those are two words I want to write, yell, and post soon. VERY SOON.