I have been... (wrapping up. Read the first parts here and here.)
Anticipating
The continuation of several series that I have been reading. First, Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Protectorate series. This one came out in February. It is the first Young Adult novel by the author, and while I was happy to see that she didn't push the envelope of sexual encounters as so many YA authors do, the story as a whole felt a bit flat. I felt that the author might have felt constrained by the prospect of writing for a younger audience, and the level of character development, plot development, and wit that I expect from this novelist were not there. It was the "set up" for a series, if you will, so perhaps the future novels will be better. It was entertaining enough, and you can get the first 3 chapters free!
I am anticipating Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Princess this month, and looking waaaay forward to Diana Gabaldon's next Outlander book, Written in My Own Heart's Blood.
I'm not generally a series reader, so this is new for me...
Wishing
For a job that had more flexible hours and allowed me to practice creative acts of reading and writing as part of my job. Right now, my job is 40 hours/week--8 to 5. I teach 6-hour technology courses more or less weekly (less right now), and spend the rest of the time learning more about the software I teach, memorizing the course manuals and activities, correcting projects for our certificate programs (You really should have used tab stops here...), and listening to technology instructional videos. Yum.
I would, ideally, like to put in my teaching hours and then have time to spend on professional development activities that make sense to me, that engage me. Ideally, this would be flexible, though I am getting more used to working at an office. I would love to have the summers off and a longer break between semesters to spend time with my little ones. Does any of this sound familiar?
Second on my list (and these two switch places) is a bigger apartment or a house to rent. 3 Bedrooms (right now we have 2 for 5 people) and TWO WHOLE BATHROOMS! Right now we have 1.5. Storage would be great, too.
Loving
That I can read and write again. My writing is bordering on scholarly/professional at times, and perhaps I'm working up to something. I submitted an abstract to a real, academic conference on Friday! The benefit of not working as a scholar/teacher is that intellectual activity doesn't have pressure attached. I can really do what I want to do right now, and I needed this.
And if you're here, check out today's post on Booknotes from Literacy-chic!
