Author, Professor, Blogger, and Huffington Post writer
So I know it’s been quiet here lately, lots of reasons for that, some personal, nothing serious, but I’ll be back in the saddle soon. In the meantime, I’ve joined on as a blogger on Tom Kealey’s MFA Blog.
You’ll find my first post here.
Talk to you soon. Bye y’all,
SV
Many of you have heard me mention the amazing Erika Dreifus, whose blog The Practicing Writer (see the blogroll) is a must read for any writer and whose book of stories, Quiet Americans is coming out soon (I’ll keep you posted). She has a great article on the Women on Writing site called Finding Creative Inspiration Through Prompts and Exercises. Wordamour is quoted. Check it out!
Readers of this blog know that Wordamour is a big fan of Daniel Pink, especially his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future. Well, I’ve had his The Adventures of JohnnyBunko: The Only Career Guide You’ll Ever Need on my bookshelf for two years and only got around to reading it the other day. All I can say is, Wow. A manga and actually a fairly quick read, Mr. Pink uses the travails of Johnny Bunko in his first post-college job to show the path to success post-millenium. Let me tell you right now: check your previous notions about career advice at the door; you won’t be needing them.
As a result, this labor dayweekend has me thinking a great deal about issues of life and work or, “life’s work” which is where Mr. Pink comes in. Johnny Bunko will now be paired with Whole New Mind, as the book set I give all new graduates of high school and college in my life. And will become the new bible I exhort anyone coming of age in the 21st century and anyone teaching, parenting, or mentoring those people to read.
I’m not giving anything away when I say that in both books Pink describes the ultimate paradigm shifts that have occured with the dawn of the millenium, shifts that mean that a lot of the advice we grew up with is well, wrong, and won’t serve anyone well in the future.
What is this shift? I don’t want to summarize. I want you to read the book.
You may be wondering–why do you care so much about this subject? You’ve already got what seems like a pretty good, stable career.
That’s just it. I do feel blessed to have a career I truly,truly love, a career that came through following many of Pink’s principles intuitively and almost accidentally, before I even knew they existed. It was a kind of combination of intuitive persistence and pure dumb luck. After all, I only discovered A Whole New Mind two years ago. I want my students, my kids, my nieces and nephews, to have the same opportunities for satisfaction in their lives. I don’t want them to settle for something they have little interest in but that “pays the bills”–for as Pink wisely notes, settling in the 21st century for work that does not suit your strengths and your passions, is a recipe for disaster and ultimately, failure.
On an only somewhat tangential note, I was diagnosed over the summer with a mild form of Essential Tremor Disorder. I have an intentional tremor in my left hand, primarily my thumb and forefinger, and the beginnings of one in my right. I had sort of ignored it for the past several years–so long, in fact, that I can’t pinpoint when it started–but when my husband noticed it and became concerned, I figured maybe I should get it checked out (well, actually, he gently insisted). One GP, one neurologist and a ridiculously expensive cat scan later (to rule out other worse disorders that shall not be named) the diagnosis came in.
Now like I said, it’s pretty mild right now and hopefully will stay that way for most of my life. Most people wouldn’t even notice it; my husband did because he lives with me. But let’s just say you wouldn’t want me operating on you. Or even doing your dental work. I’m just not steady of hand. A big clue should have been when I started taking commuter cups to work, conferences and meetings to hold my coffee a few years back, because plain old coffee mugs or worse teacups–anything without a lid–seemed likely to spill.
Fortunately, this really isn’t a problem in my line of work. But I can’t help wondering–what if I was a surgeon or a dentist or an artist who did very fine, detailed work? I’m only 43–presumably I have another several decades of career ahead of me–what would I do if I couldn’t do the one thing I had prepared for my whole life, with years of school? It’s a sobering thought.
It’s actually a relatively common disorder, affecting one in 10. And so hereditary that another name for it is “familial tremor.” My grandfather had it, my uncle (a doctor, but not a surgeon) has it and each of my kids has a fifty fifty chance of developing it. Definitely something we’ll have to keep in mind as they look toward future careers.
Anyway, back to Mr. Pink. I can’t recommend these books enough. They are an incredibly enlightening and enjoyable read. Check them out today. And Happy Labor Day.
Bye y’all,
SV
For you to make a difference for 826National and its youth writing programs nationwide. Make a donation of $8.26 on August 26th by texting “WRITE” to 20222 or giving online at www.826on826.org.
The umbrella organization for the youth writing programs in cities across the US and brainchild of Dave Eggers among others, 826National is featured prominently in my upcoming book Rethinking Creative Writing in Higher Ed, specifically the last chapter, “Creative Writing Programs and the World,” which deals with literary citizenship. The 826 programs have been on my radar for years, but the more a learned about them in my research, the more I have come to admire all they do and stand for. Believe me, I can’t think of a better way to spend $8.26!
What are you waiting for!! They need our money, y’all!
SV
To bring you the update on Bargainsgaloreon64, one of the highlights of Wordamour’s junking year. So if you’re expecting to read about writing, you might want to skip this post (though who knows, the photos might inspire you to do a little scribbling). Because what follows is a report on the garage sales and flea markets that line the Arkansas roadsides and town squares on highway 64 every mid-August, from Beebe to Fort Smith, which is approximately 200 miles.
Alas there were no caskets this year–must’ve gotten sold.
Read on for a taste of the Arkansas roadside, with an especially charming photo at the end. How’s that for a hook?
So it was hot this year. It’s always hot. But not usually 105 degrees hot. Nonetheless, Wordamour and her younger son, whom we might as well dub Wordamour Jr. since everyone is always commenting on their physical and personal likenesses, were determined to brave the elements, armed with a cooler full of bottled water and the occasional shaved ice and Sonic Route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper.
Wordamour Jr. usually starts out rather non-plussed about these jaunts. After all, it’s deathly hot and he’d just as soon be at home playing Super Mario Bros. with his brother (aka Wordamour’s Husband Jr.) in an air-conditioned house. But once the loot starts rolling in, he gets into the swing of things. A sampling of his haul: 3 Naruto Manga Magazines with 3 rare Yugioh cards inside, a 22 kt gold Pokemon card, and two Calvin and Hobbes books.
The highlights, as usual, were the retired schoolteachers who do a Country Living style set up at Coal Hill (Wordamour will be eternally grateful to friend and junker extraordinaire, Steve Lance, for the tip).
Take a look:
And the flea market on the river in Ozark:
A Krystle Carrington doll New In Box. Who knew? Snap this one up, folks.
Good to know, in case we have a future-farmer emergency.
Or a future writer emergency.
“The obligatory “fan” shot.”
My haul was pretty terrific, including a vintage white, tin-topped kitchen island for $50 that looks like it was custom made for the kitchen in my hundred year old house.
But the highlight of the day occured when I snapped the shot below.
Look closely to see how this resourceful kitty beat the heat.
Happy Hunting. Bye y’all,
SV
This week saw a brief trip to Berkeley to work with the four other curators of the NWP Digital Is project, an educational technology website the NWP is rolling out in October–more about that as it develops. A highlight was that we met at the NWP headquarters. Strangely, even though most of us had been to NWP meetings in Berkeley several times, none of us had seen the mother ship. Check out some photos from our tour with a few great snapshots at the end (including hilarious toileting instructions) from one of my fav Berkeley bookstores, Pegasus!
Home of the $1 cone. Yum!
In which to reflect and blog. John and the boys are at a Yugioh sneak peak 45 minutes away. Someone had to stay home so the new puppy wouldn’t face hours in the crate. Since I had work to do (procrastination from yesterday) I made the ultimate sacrifice. Hmmm. Attending a Yugioh sneak peak vs. a quiet day reading (blogs and books), working and wrapping my soon to be 14 year old’s (tomorrow) birthday gifts with the loyalist of little dogs lying at my feet and keeping me company all the while (even waiting patiently for me to come out of the bathroom). Not much of a contest there.
What am I working on? Finishing the edits for Rethinking Creative Writing in Higher Ed, which I should have done yesterday but put off, as seems to be my practice these days. Overall, the editors liked what I sent, which was a huge relief, but they still have things they want me to change. Which is fine by me. Been working on it all week but I have a big revision on Chapter 3 to do today. The bigger the writing task, the more I procrastinate, it seems.
Keeping a list of what I’m working on. Three panels I’m on got accepted for AWP in DC this February ( I think that might be one more than officially allowed, but I’m not saying anything about it just yet) and one of them is called essentially, “What Do Writers Do All Day?” I decided to start keeping track so I can do some sort of data analysis and have something to say.
Also this summer: Wrote a conversational essay with poet Anna Leahy and fiction writer Cathy Day on teaching creative writing that was pure joy to write and, I think, will be fun to read wherever we can get it published. We’re shooting for AWP first.
Before I start the revision today (yes, more procrastination) I am going to fool around with a new course platform called Nixty, which I’m considering using in the fall. And, of course, I wrote this blog post. And did my weekly blog read (@ 250 posts).
Looking ahead: A 3 day trip to NWP Berkeley to start work on curating a new online project called Digital Is. Not completely sure what the work is going to be but I’m exited about it and will blog more when I know. Also, Friday, BargainsGaloreon64, Arkansas premiere yard saling event. Oh yeah, baby.
It’s been a rough couple weeks, house-selling, large check bouncing due to a technicality that sent our bank account into a tailspin that took over a week to work out, relentless 110 degree heat that engenders exhaustion in ways I never knew, and, worst of all, our brand new shelter puppy, Mario, was deathly ill (parvo–need I say more)and in puppy ICU which brought on 6 days of worry and hand-wringing.
So now, as I write this in the quiet of the afternoon with a sweet healed puppy at my side I am mostly just gratfeul.
It’s a wonderful feeling.
Bye, y’all
SV
Worked. Ate. Worked. Ate again. Worked some more. Most people worked on their resources; I got to coach a few of them.
Lots of teams here working on phenomenal resources to enrich the lives of rural sites and rural teachers. I love this network and I love this work. Here’s some reasons why.
Bye y’all,
SV
Part I, in which Wordamour drives to the Crossings in Austin for a National Writing Project Rural Sites Network Resource Development retreat. The idea? Writing project teacher-consultants doing interesting site work at rural sites across the nation come together to begin transforming this work into a resource available for other sites to adapt and use.
Some photos from the Crossings, a lovely zen-like environ outside the city:
The walkway to the dining hall:
The best scones I have ever eaten in my life:
Amenities:
The infinity pool. That’s Austin in the distance.
The hot tub. Haven’t tried the pool or the hot tub since I got here; hoping this might be in my future tonight.
The kitchen garden, where all our delicious healthy meals begin. The chef was out there harvesting this morning but I didn’t have my camera.
Next Up: Live from Austin II: What We Did
Warning: If you love the book The Giving Tree, you probably shouldn’t read any further; I’m just going to make you mad.
Because I have never liked it. It always seemed pretty creepy to me. I don’t think Shel Silverstein necessarily meant it as a sweet tale, either, but rather a cautionary one. He wasn’t a real sentimental guy, our Shel. Anyway, my view was vindicated some years back when Walter the Giant Storyteller, a well-known children’s book champion and critic who came to the Arkansas Literary Festival, told me he never liked it either. But then along comes The Giving Tree: Sassy Gay Friend, wherein said friend finally helps the tree stand up for herself. What I love though, is how they sneak in another famous book at the end. Check it out:
Author, Professor, Blogger, and Huffington Post writer. Stephanie Vanderslice aims to write what she likes to read: fiction and nonfiction that spins a web to lure the reader in. Read More…