One Clean Limerick

     I just found a poem from my brother.  He wrote it for me.  Over the Christmas break we were writing Love Notes to our family members, to go into our Christmas stockings (a really cool addition to the candy).  We were all sitting around writing, laughing, and talking.  My brother was  writing his notes in different writing styles for each person.  We were throwing out examples for him to use:  Haiku, iambic pentameter - though he reneged on the Shakespearean Sonnet.

     When he got to mine, he announced that it would be a limerick.  I said, "make it clean!", which is funny because I'm the only one in this family who openly swears.  So the likelihood of a naughty limerick coming from this bunch, is highly unlikely.  Then someone else chimed in, "Use the word Nantucket".  I got a jolt of joy this morning as I was looking for something or other, and I stumbled upon my limerick!  I miss my family.

     So here it is, one clean limerick which includes the word, "Nantucket".  By my beloved brother.

Susan's Limerick

There once was a girl in Boise

Who tended to be a bit Noise(y)

She played her drums loud

Finding chi in the crowd.

Nantucket kicked her out for being boistery

Trained Monkey

     I keep waiting for some epiphany.  I'm like a trained monkey.  Show me how to do a math formula and I can do it correctly until the cows come home.  But ask me the next week to do the same formula, (as does the constant assessments in ALEKS, computerized math system) and I can't remember.  I know there are deeper, hidden secrets buried in all these formulas.  I mean, that's how they built something like the Empire State Building, or the Hoover Dam.  Right?  There's got to be a connection somewhere from my monkey trained antics to reality based skills.  But to this date, I am still unable to build a dam.  Damn.

My roommate caught me talking to my printer today

Embarrassing, but necessary.  Sometimes it just needs coxing.  

STEM Girls

I am in awe.

It is the Nature of the Sun to Shine

     It was sunny on campus today.  I had an enjoyable lunch with a past professor who is now a friend.  And I talked to another professor who is becoming a friend.  Then when walking across campus I heard someone call out my name.  It was my first Study Buddy from last year who I hadn't seen in awhile.  It was wonderful to see her and catch up.  I no longer walk across this space unknown.  It feels a little like. . . belonging.

     It is the Nature of the Sun to Shine, Deepak Chopra.

A MUST READ FOR ALL THOSE WHO LIVE ON OUR PLANET

Read it and then we will talk.

One more media. Mastered!

     This is an assignment for UF 300 (a University Foundations general ed type class).  We were to write our life story, and display it in an electron concept map.  Why do so many teachers seemed to be obsessed with our life stories?  I think it's to help us learn to be reflective about our lives, see connections, learn stuff.  That's all great and good, but I do that on a daily basis.  I'm always looking at the energy of my day/life, looking for patterns, discovering wounds that need to be healed, and joy to be had.  I sort of want to move on to something new.  But for the sake of a good grade, and to be the exemplary student that I am, once again - my story.

    

My Story Concept Map

(CLICK BELOW TO SEE MY CONCEPT MAP)

Concept Map on Spicynodes

     On March 17, 1982 I graduated as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) with the hopes of going back to school and getting my Registered Nurse’s (RN) degree someday.  Well, as you can imagine, that “someday” never came.  Instead I took a path (or perhaps better stated, “many paths”), that lead me to an amazing life of places, people and events that I do not regret for one moment.

     Except to take about a year off when my son was born in 1986, I have worked in nursing for the past 34 years in many capacities.  Along the way I grew rather boarded with nursing so when my son was old enough, instead of getting my RN as I had always planned, I went back to school and in 1994 became a licensed massage therapist.  What a wonderful experience that was!  It was a dream come true to have my own business and do something that I loved.  I continued working agency nursing during this time so that I could pick up shifts if I needed extra money, and to keep my license current.

     I then started working for the VA where I spent 10 years as the team nurse, and then a nurse case manager for their intensive outpatient psychiatric program.  I also taught classes in the mental health clinic on a variety of subjects such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Management, and Mindfulness and Depression.  But again, I was ready for a change so the next year and a half, I spent as the Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist and Minority Veterans Program Coordinator.  In these jobs I dealt with a wide variety of things such as Reasonable Accommodations (employees with disabilities), harassment in the workplace, and helping minority Veterans maneuver the VA system.  This experience is what planted the seed for me to go back to school and do something other than nursing.

     I started Boise State University a year ago with the intention of getting my RN.  I wasn’t interested in being a nurse per say, but I do want a bachelor’s degree with the possibility of getting a masters degree.  Last summer I changed my major to Multidisciplinary Studies which is a better fit for me.  I love this degree because I get to design my own curriculum, which now includes certificates in Leadership and Dispute Resolution.  For fun, I like to spend time with my large extended family, and especially my adult son.  I also ride a Ducati Monster 696 motorcycle, and dance the yearly Thriller dance at Halloween with a group of fun people. 

     I had never done a concept map electronically before, so I checked out all of the cites provided in Black Board.  I chose Spicynodes because they are free, but also because I like that their company is promoting education and learning opportunities around the world.  I then looked for a style that would fit what I thought I wanted to do.  I liked the concept of multiple layered bubbles.  I am a visual/audio learner so I found a U Tube site that showed and talked about how to use this system, and that made it easier for me to understand and implement what I had learned.  Now that I know how to create a map with Spicynodes, I plan to use it in the future for other class and work assignments. 

     My biggest challenge is that I have so many life experiences that I could have literally had dozens of bubbles.  So, my first step was to narrow down and chose those things that are most meaningful and important in my life.  My first insight was to see, in simple layout, what is most important to me:  My family, school, professional life, and fun.  My second insight was to realize that I’m just not having that much fun these days.  I attribute this to my time in school and study.  Because I want to do well in school and graduate, I don’t want to change that balance at this point in my life, but I look forward to the day when I can add more fun back into my life.

Poor, Cold Freshman

First day of school

     Poor Freshman and those new to campus, having to dig through the ice just to know where they are going.  Far be it from me to want to benefit from the suffering of others, but I'm feeling pretty damn good about now that I am not one of them...any more.

Punishable Sin?

     I used to be so intimidated by the process of buying school books each semester.  It doesn't help that I find books themselves intimidating.  And libraries, and just about anything with shelves of books...like a school bookstore!  I found the whole thing confusing and overwhelming.   And it didn't help that I had this unrealistic fear that I would show up to class on the first day, with the wrong books.  Is that a punishable sin?  What exactly did I think they were going to do with me if I did show up with the wrong books?  And by the way, it happens.  I've seen it - thank goodness not to me.  But to my knowledge, no one has been repremended, banished from school, or exploded because of it.  I think I'm safe if I were to have a future inadvertent bookstore mishap.  

     I now know how to peruse the shelves and read the signs to find the classes and corresponding assigned literature.  And I know how to get on line and fine the same information.  But with my squirrelly, dyslexic view, I am prone to confusion.  So, just incase I might explode, I want to avoid making a mistake if at all possible.  Here is my nearly foolproof method of finding the right books.  I hand my class list to a very young, yet capable bookstore employee and say in my most pleasant voice, "Could you help me find these books?"  It works like a charm.

Addendum 

It is wise to note that there are sections that are much too scary, and should be given a wide birth all together.

I seek a life without naps

Did I mention this?   Night shift is killing me...

Math Rumor

Get this.  If you divide a number by 0, the answer is "undefined".  I'm not shitting you.  And the rumor I hear is, if you try and do it anyway, the world will end.  So don't.

In regards to graduating from pre-algebra 15 to algebra 25.

No more namby-pamby "pre" stuff.  I'm playing with the big boys now!

Wowser!

Pageviews by Countries  Entry Pageviews United States 123 Russia 12 South Korea 1 Lebanon 1

Wowser!  Blog hits from South Korea and Lebanon this week.  I want to go there.  I do. 

This Baby is Bad

     We are told in class that our first assignment is to turn in a 500-word creative non-fiction writing piece.  Being that this is a creative writing class, this is totally acceptable and anticipated.  What comes next, is not.  We are to bring extra copies of our piece to be handed out to others for critique.

     OK, I know it's an over the top example, but it feels a little like handing over my precious, new born infant for critical examination.  I am breathlessly watching as the body is passed from person to person, while they poke and prod.  "Nice angle of the jaw, but this nose is much too long and will need to be sliced".  Another chimes in, "And God forbid we should allow the jutting of this elbow...what were you thinking?"  And still another, "The poochy belly really works well here, but perhaps a little more pooch?"  WTF?  Who willingly subjects themselves to that kind of scrutiny over a tender extension of themselves?  Is this really what writing looks like?  Is there no other way?

     So, I imagine myself remembering to breath during this process.  And I imagine myself remembering that I signed up for this class, and according to the teacher who seems to know her stuff, this is how it's done.  Trust and move forward?  Or snatch my precious little piece of carefully crafted vulnerability, and bolt from the room?  Time will tell.

_____________________________________________

     And this, Dear Reader, is what I will be submitting in class tomorrow for my first writing assignment in my first creative writing class.  It's either a brilliant idea, or will mark me for the rest of the semester, with a scarlet branding upon my chest.  "Asshole, insecure writer, who doesn't know what the hell she is doing, nor does she feel worthy of doing it - but continues to seek some sort of legitimacy all the same".  "A" for brevity.

Want to be an RA?

Grabbing a cup of Joe before class.  Working nights is killing me...

     Clever advertisement.  Though spelling is in question.  Makes me want to be a RA (Resident Assistant).  Actually, I have been looking for a job on campus - working daylight hours being the optimal goal.  I looked at this job, and I like the idea of helping folks figure out the campus and college life (now that I'm such an expert!).  And I could totally handle any bullshit students pull, deal with discipline, and have some fun.  Isn't that the job description for this gig?  But payment for this particular job is free housing, living with the people I would be helping.  That's not going to work.

1.  Too much fun is just annoying.  I am 55 after all.

2.  I'd still need money for stuff.

3.  And where in the hell would I put my bed?

Yep, that's my bed.

Sequestering Lynn Binn

     The person I have known longer than any other person on this planet, excluding blood relations, is Lynn Binn.  Back in the - high school - day, I called her Lynn Binn and she called me Sue Boo.  We have stayed in touch all these years.  And although we rarely talk these days, when we do, it's as if no time has passed.  Joy of joys, she is visiting me for a quick over night stay.

     At breakfast out, we chit chat non stop over gravy and biscuits, frou frou hot chocolate, and gluten free pancakes with real butter and hot (not warm) syrup.  She reminds me of the time in college when three of us friends went to a school outing, which included a potluck dinner.  She had brought a loaf of homemade bread, but for some unfathomable reason, it never got opened.  We carried it as we walked home, our trio enjoying the comradery as only the carefree youth can.  Half way home, we stopped at a park bench to talk and giggle some more.  Someone decided to open the bread.  But it wasn't sliced yet, and none of us had ever eaten unsliced bread before.  We looked at each other and grinned, digging in barbaric style, grabbing large handfuls of bread; we were gleeful in our rebellion.  We ate the whole thing!

     I hadn't thought about that story in decades, but it all came flooding back to me - all of it, even the touch of the bread and the silly feeling of being naughty for eating it unsliced.  I said, "Lynn, did we laugh as much as I remember us laughing, or am I just making that up?"  Without skipping a beat she said, "Oh yea, we laughed all the time".  That's what an old friend can do for you, something that no one else can.  We were there together.  We remember together.

     I am a pit stop on her current road trip as she is traveling to be with her daughter who will give birth soon.  While we are eating and talking, talking, talking, phone calls and texts come from loving family at both ends of her journey asking, have you left Boise yet?  Are you on your way?  I tell her to announce to them, "Give it up, for I have been sequestered for the time being."  I'll let her go soon enough, but for right now she is mine to enjoy, the only person who can fit this particular niche in my world.

I See Dead People

Let's once and for all stop pretending that this is an oddity.  I find most people sense spirits in one way or another.  And some of us have full blown conversations.  It's just not weird or rare.  Get over it.

The Hemingway Building

     The Hemingway Building on campus is probably my favorite.  I'm sure it's one of the oldest, with it's beautiful brick work and more intricate design.  Not flashy, but eye catching all the same.  I just love to walk by, as the sight of it always seems to lift my energy a bit.  Beautify does that to me.  I'll always sit in a room so that I will have the most advantageous view, which if possible will include nature.

     So, how happy was I, when I saw that I would actually be walking into the building for a class this semester.  One problem though...  Sitting in the Hemingway Building for a creative writing class.  Intimidating much?

     Being an old building, I assumed there would be dead people.  Rule of thumb, the older the building, the more spirits there are.  And this one is no exception.  But nothing heavy or too distracting.  Just the usual.

Loosey-Goosey

     I have never taken a creative writing class before.  Until today that is.  I’ve been one part excited and two parts terrified.  See my blog post – The Scariest Class of All - Sept 2015.

     I really have no idea what to expect.  I took Research Writing a year ago, but I suspect this style will be more loosey-goosey.  Yet, creativity needs a structure of some kind, doesn’t it?  Well, doesn’t it? 

     The first thing I noticed was the energy of the people coming into the room.  Wow, talk about loosey-goosey.  But not in a bad way!  As I sat in this pool of energy from about 15 people in a small room, I could feel…hmm...how do I put this into words?  There was structure, yes.  But their energy went beyond the structure in an expansive, explorative way.  It felt like they could go anywhere or do anything using their imagination and writing skills.  It was both luring and intimidating.  So, how does one acquire such energy?  It was rather fearless and I want some.