Blackboard

I have succumbed, y'all.

I am finally allowing myself to be "trained" in the use of Blackboard.

I resisted this training for years, because I loathe online courses, think they are a terrible way to teach anything, think students do not and cannot learn well that way, and did not ever want to teach one.

But I have to teach what is called a "hybrid" class next spring, which is a class that meets one day a week in the classroom, and the rest of the time online; so I have to know how to use the system.

This is my Angry Face

Of course, this will leave me vulnerable to being assigned online courses in the future. Curses! I am foiled!

What I'm Reading

T. Kingfisher, Clockwork Boys

T. Kingfisher, as we all know, is the nom de plume of everyone's favorite, Ursula Vernon. This is the first installment of a serial adventure novel about a young forger/accountant, a demon-possessed knight, an assassin, and an even younger priest/scholar who are drafted into a suicide mission: they must stop the giant clockwork assault monsters that are coming to conquer their city.

Adventure ensues. This works because Vernon is such a wonderful writer. The characters are charming, the mileu is even better, and the dialogue is perfect.

The sole down check is that the next installment will not be out for at least two months. :(

Parenting Pro-Tip

Teach your kid to sew a simple seam and sew on a button BEFORE they leave for college.

Trying to explain that shit over FB is no fun at all.

New Post at Cooking with delagar

Get yer sweet potatoes here

Sweet Potatoes cum Marshmallows

Thanksgiving at the delagar House

Dr. Skull and the Kid are currently making marshmallows, which I will use for my sweet potato casserole. This is the only thing I cook for our Thanksgiving dinner. Dr. Skull makes everything else.

What are we having?

Turkey smoked in the Big Green Egg, grilled asparagus, a cauliflower casserole, potatoes dauphinoise, sourdough bread, pumpkin pie, and French onion soup.

Also crudites. I am making the crudites.

Happy TNX to all y'all!

TNX Break

Tomorrow the Kid comes home for their Thanksgiving break, and also I teach my last classes before my TNX break.

I am very much looking forward to both the break and the Kid being home.

What I've been Reading

I haven't done one of these posts in a long time, mainly because I've been focusing on writing.

This doesn't mean I've quit reading! Just that thinking about reading has been occupying less of my attention.

No News

Not much happening here, which is good -- I need monotony in order to write effectively.

The Kid continues well, and is making excellent art.

I'm working on revisions of Fault Lines.

The weather is (finally) cooling off. This week we had highs near 80 again, but tonight the low is in the 30s. I work so much better in winter than summer.

Thanksgiving approaches. The Kid's uncle will be in town, and the Kid will be home as well.

After TNX, only a week and a half of semester left. I am really looking forward to the winter break.

Links for your Monday

Due to the good news about the Kid's health, we're spending far less time driving up to Fayetteville. We did go this past weekend, however, because the Kid missed their dog.

Heywood worshiping the Kid

Heywood got many, many walks -- we took him to Wilson Park, as well as Lake Fayetteville. It was an overcast, chilly, windy day. My favorite weather.

Good news

I received some excellent news today -- my story that was published in the May/June F&SF, "History of the Invasion Told in Five Dogs," will be republished in Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction: The Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection.

I am extremely pleased.

My Weekend

I'm having a hectic weekend.

Normally my weekends are spent drinking coffee, writing fiction, and doing laundry. On Monday, I prep for my big teaching days -- Tuesday and Thursday.

Changing Standard American English II

So I have kept on running the informal polls I mention here in this post. As I noted in that post, I'm not certain of the validity of what I am learning, due to my biased sample. But I'm enjoying the discussions I'm generating, as well as seeing how people react to these examples of "bad" English.