Milestones
Monday, 8 May 2006 21:19![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_phil_physicsThe end of April 2006 brought with it two milestones. One just part of the usual -- the end of the Spring Semester. The other a mark that will appeal only to this audience -- the completion of my first year on LiveJournal.
A Long Haul
It has felt like a long and tough semester, my 42nd since I started teaching. In general I almost never miss class, no matter what. Yet I missed three, count 'em, three days this semester. Two from a flu which laid me low and one from a trip to the side of the road as my oldest, highest mileage Blazer broke at 307,000 miles.
While I'm sure most of my students don't care, I really want those three teaching days back. There's too much good Physics, too many good stories, to miss even one.
A Secondary Milestone
I started building my Science Literacy booklist in the 80s while in grad school. It's now happened that some of the "new" books from that period are older than my current students -- and in some cases it's beginning to show.
I'm going to have to spend some time this summer revising my booklist, methinks. What fun! (grin)
A Year Of Blogging
Haven't I always had a blog on LiveJournal? Apparently not. I meant to do something pithy on that anniversary day, but I was in end-of-semester mode. Due to Western's shift in the calendar in January, Finals came a week later this year, which is why I had time to start a blog last year. (double-grin)
Clarion is, of course, responsible for my blogging.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
slithytove, specifically. Though I'd run across LiveJournals before then, it was always individual entries found in a Google list. Thanks, John.
A May Milestone
And Saturday marked a real event in my science fiction writing career, as submissions number 99 and 100 were sent out. 37 stories sent out 100 times. The actual century submission was to Gordon Van Gelder and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, which is fitting because Gordon was the guest editor at my Clarion and with fourteen submissions, F&SF leads as my top source of rejections. (triple-word-score-grin)
It'll take a while longer to get to the century mark in rejections, but it's coming!
Dr. Phil
A Long Haul
It has felt like a long and tough semester, my 42nd since I started teaching. In general I almost never miss class, no matter what. Yet I missed three, count 'em, three days this semester. Two from a flu which laid me low and one from a trip to the side of the road as my oldest, highest mileage Blazer broke at 307,000 miles.
While I'm sure most of my students don't care, I really want those three teaching days back. There's too much good Physics, too many good stories, to miss even one.
A Secondary Milestone
I started building my Science Literacy booklist in the 80s while in grad school. It's now happened that some of the "new" books from that period are older than my current students -- and in some cases it's beginning to show.
I'm going to have to spend some time this summer revising my booklist, methinks. What fun! (grin)
A Year Of Blogging
Haven't I always had a blog on LiveJournal? Apparently not. I meant to do something pithy on that anniversary day, but I was in end-of-semester mode. Due to Western's shift in the calendar in January, Finals came a week later this year, which is why I had time to start a blog last year. (double-grin)
Clarion is, of course, responsible for my blogging.
slithytove, specifically. Though I'd run across LiveJournals before then, it was always individual entries found in a Google list. Thanks, John.A May Milestone
And Saturday marked a real event in my science fiction writing career, as submissions number 99 and 100 were sent out. 37 stories sent out 100 times. The actual century submission was to Gordon Van Gelder and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, which is fitting because Gordon was the guest editor at my Clarion and with fourteen submissions, F&SF leads as my top source of rejections. (triple-word-score-grin)
It'll take a while longer to get to the century mark in rejections, but it's coming!
Dr. Phil
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no subject
Date: Tuesday, 9 May 2006 13:18 (UTC)Or you assume it will appeal to this audience.
no subject
Date: Tuesday, 9 May 2006 15:43 (UTC)And I'm not making a value judgment as to which way my two or three readers will actual go on this. "Oh God, has this torture ONLY gone on for ONE YEAR?" is certainly a possible reaction.
BTW - have you seen the ESPN commercial with US Soccer/Futbol team in various matches, while they're playing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" in the background. From a fundamentalist National League fan here, it's sacrilege to be sure, but as is often the case, ESPN continues to have either funny or interesting advertising.
Dr. Phil
no subject
Date: Tuesday, 9 May 2006 19:07 (UTC)I like all the pro-US ads. I think people could really get into the excitement and passion of the sport and these ads show that the game is really quite exciting. The hostility of the road games in Mexico and Central America aren't exaggerated, either--when I worked for US Soccer, I had some friends go to the US vs. Mexico game in Mexico City and they were pelted with food and rotten eggs. The players have batteries thrown at them as well as baggies full of bodily fluids--not an appetizing thought. The team's hotel is leaked to the press and opposing fans play trombones and beat drums outside all night to make sure the US players can't sleep. It's all part of the special culture of soccer that rarely gets reported.