Uncategorized

Twas the night before Christmas

and all through the year

My three boys were asking,

“Will Santa stop here?”

 

I thought I ought tell them

Santa was not real

But for boys to act right

He’s a part of the deal

 

So instead I told them

what would go down

Santa would bring presents

Somewhere else in town

 

It’s off to your Mom’s house

On Santa’s big Day

But all days before that

Us Boys will still play

 

This plan seemed so perfect

Till boys were still boys

Crying and fighting and

Breaking their toys

 

So next came the elf

Santa’s bouncer, you see

They’ll be good in his sight

but not listen to me.

 

I suppose this is normal

All the stories I hear

Kids misbehaving

Young parents in tears

 

But for one month in twelve

all is suddenly good

No instructions are ignored

Nothing misunderstood

 

I suppose I am sad

as the big day comes

My three good little boys

will turn back into bums

 

I kid you of course,

‘cuz my boys aren’t that bad

Still, that doesn’t make

christmas any less sad.

 

Because I like the buildup

That leads to the prize

I like their big smiles

their twinkling eyes

 

I’m glad for the moment

when gifts are unleashed

I don’t much love watching

them turn back into beasts

 

I think I am lucky

their glow last for some time

Its at least a week

till someone will whine

 

Then begins the countdown

till Santa appears

till we sing and we’ll play and

we talk of reindeer

 

Till under the tree

are gifts for each boy

with bright paper wrapping

with promise of joy

 

Till elf makes a showing

till advents are ate

Till boys tell me,

“Daddy, we can’t stay up late”

 

Till questions of magic

till wanting to share

Till hopes that St. Nicholas

Will once more appear.

 

So until the next time

I leave you this poem

Merry Christmas, Dear Reader

May love warm your home.

I’ve been thinking about Kevin Hearne lately. He’s an AZ born writer who hit big with the Iron Druid series and then went on to become a part of the new canon of Star Wars novels. I like Kevin. He’s a great guy in person and some time ago he was awesome enough to come and talk to my classroom full of hungry writers and feed them tons of info about the craft and the business (thank’s Kev!). Lately, however I’ve been thinking about the people who talk about him and other authors local to them and how these people often become their faves. It feels like the same way that people like the hometown player or fighter or are fans of that actor who grew up down the road but they never really knew personally. Its a strange thing, this localism. Why do we like and root for the hometown hero?

I see it as a bit of localized nationalism. It is a way to remember that where we are actually matters. That is something I took for granted when I lived in New York City. I grew up knowing my city mattered to pretty much the entire globe. There’s an ego which comes with that, but it is no larger than the ego that comes from living in a tiny town that has famous people. The folks from French Lick, Indiana know exactly what i’m on about. So, I think that is why people rally around the local kid. Sadly, I also think that is why every time anything happens in the world every local news station in AZ is quick to point out the Arizona connection.

One of the things I noticed as an English professor is that the curriculum for developmental and basic english comp courses is very pie in the sky. There are a handful of big concepts mapped out in a way that provides us with a lot of academic freedom. I like it. However, when I look at it in comparison to math or science I see that we can learn some things from those areas as well. I’m coming into this as someone who is really trying to step back into the mindset of being a creator–not just as a fiction writer but as a teacher as well. I want to create environments that are conducive to learning and in such establish some clear markers that students can follow that let them know they’ve really walked away with something useful.

But what is useful? The developmental courses in my course bank are all called Preparatory academic writing, and I think it is pretty clear to students that academic writing is not useful outside of academia. That is something that academics know to be false, but how do you get a kid who doesn’t want to be in your class in the first place to grab on to concepts they cannot readily see as translating to their work and social worlds?

No answer to that big one is coming tonight, but I do believe the key is to tear out the key concepts that scaffold up to the ability to create a clear and engaging piece of writing (academic and otherwise) and be able to show the students how all these things come together. Personally I’m thinking about extending my focus on Logos, Pathos, Ethos, and logical fallacies. Add to that purpose, audience, topic, and circumstance and that could be 8 distinct class periods in which the students dissect work and come up with a deeper understanding of how to use the rhetorical contexts in a way that extends beyond the classroom and towards their future as writers.

Some Thoughts:

1. Christmas is coming… When I say it that way it sounds ominous. Maybe I should’e written Krampus myself…

For most of us ‘fantasy players’ the season is over and now we can turn our attention to teams vs. individuals. I had a rough season x2, losing the championship in my partner league and losing all but one game in my solo league. I wasn’t alone in regards to blowing it in big moments. Watching the Giants trying to keep their playoff hopes alive was an exercise in emotional torture. Beckham was unhinged, at one point openly targeting Josh Norman after what had to that point been a chippy, physical confrontation. Short of the targeting helmet to helmet shot, I’m okay with the physical play. This isn’t baseball, folks. Football players hit.

Football players win too, when it counts. For example, the Seattle Seahawks woke up and found their rhythm. I have a theory about that. I think the team suffered from some key injuries (Okung for one) in a time where they were really trying to get the O-Line together. Strangely, the loss of Jimmy Graham seems to have helped the team. I think Wilson might’ve been trying a bit too hard to include him in an offense that really isn’t about the TE being a receiver.

Shout out to the Steelers for really getting their act together. This is another squad with key injuries that seems primed for a super bowl run. Heck, in the beginning of the year Madden 16 was pushing the theory that Steelers v. Cardinals would be the Show. For their part the Cardinals are taking advantage of their opportunities and really playing well down the stretch.

Back to the Giants for a minute: They lost that game. The Panthers were exposed. Nobody slept on the Giants. The Giants just did what they’ve done all year–play up to the skill of their players and beyond. By that I mean to say that the Giants lack the talent and depth to be a top NFL team this year. That is really hard to say as a fan, but it is real. At least I have the Jets.

How ’bout them Jets? 4 picks this week to go along with arguably the best receiving stats in the NFL (check the numbers). Those numbers took a hit this week, with the team dropping to 9th overall, but the message is clear: the Jets are here to play.

It has been getting harder and harder to string together ten minutes of writing on a consistent basis without it devolving into a rant or some sort of odd commentary on the world at large. On occasion I do slip into some dark thoughts about my favorite teams (Lawd, Giants what have you done!) Perhaps a simple resolution for the new year will be to be more aware of lapsing into these things and try to bring more positiveness or at least inquisitive thought to the page.

I’ll start with a brief gleeful squee about Star Wars: Daisy Ridley was great! Boyega was solid as well, but Ridley just leaped off the screen. Girl’s got a career ahead of her. Beyond the trio of Star Wars films she will have under her belt before long she can expect to get a lot of offers once she is allowed off set for anything more than a premiere or interview.

Some Thoughts:

1. I’m starting to understand that I’m out in the weeds on some of these opinions about how crazy and polarized people are getting. It feels a bit like that moment in The Hanging Stranger where the dude starts screaming about a hanging man and people just walk by. Okay. Live to fight another day then.

While many are familiar with the term ‘losing your shit’ most will apply it to an individual or perhaps a small group of individuals. I’m thinking we need to apply it to a whole damn country–My country in fact. Now I am insanely proud to be an American, which some readers have questioned over the years based on my criticism of our oft nutso culture and strange political system. I realize that to many, any criticism of the country looks like betrayal, nay terrorism, but that is just how stupid people think. So, this is for the rest of us out there who actually are down with a logical conversation about the way things are.

 

1&2. Guns, Gods, and Killin Islam
Thank you Mass Media and the Military Industrial Complex. You have officially scared the poo out of people to the point where false bravado is the only way we roll. Yesterday I was in Walmart trying to grab a last minute gift for a kids gift exchange and as we walked in there was a dude walking behind us strapped with a .44 Magnum revolver. I don’t have a problem with owning guns. I want guns. I don’t however see the need to carry them into your local Walmart. Now that isn’t all that unusual, but what was strange is that there were 7 gun toters (6 male) in there at the same time ranging from what had to be barely out of teens to old ass man. I saw four congregate near the front, shaking hands and introducing themselves–as if they were suddenly down because they all open carry. It was much like it is with black people in places where there are no black people. We suddenly know each other real well. I would’ve even let that go if not for this article I read today. Yes, America, this is what losing your damn mind looks like. I love the part where schools have to remove the shahada from world religion instruction. “A different, non-religious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future,” Really? Teaching world religion by excluding non-christian texts? Come on, man.

3. Post-OJ Next Level Rich
Unless you have been under a rock for, well, ever you know that a long time ago OJ Simpson got away with (possibly) murdering his wife due to the fact that he is rich and famous. Rich people getting away with murder isn’t new. It’s a trope in fact. What was new was that a black man got away with murder. That created a situation where there was, for a moment, equivalency between black and white. So, of course, we had to dream up some next level rich that is so blatantly about privilege that there is no rational way to justify it. Or, in legal terms, Affluenza.

I consider myself a deeply creative dude and I could not have made this up. Now the affor(linked) Ethan Couch has gone from too rich to be held responsible to on the lam with his mom. Here’s why I’m adding this as number 3: I don’t think that she’ll be charged or even he will be charged when caught. Why? Affluenza! The defense itself creates the means by which he can excuse this behavior. Only in Texas, y’all….

 

I’m grossly aware that only a few days (7) remain until xmas. I took my first born to see Krampus today as a little treat for the holidays. He’s in that age where scary movies are definitely intriguing. He’s also the first born, which means he’d just as readily consume the Good Dinosaur. On this occasion we chose Krampus. We dipped into that realm of maturity , turning pg-13 into ok-11 and hoping to grab some cheap thrills with minimal emotional damage. It turned out to be a bad booking. Krampus wasn’t damaging or scary at all. In reality, it was very stupid and made me question the rating system altogether.

I know the rating came from the mature language native to the film. The language was situational and, at times, unnecessary–something that would hit the Mormon sensors as R-level content but falls well short of that in every way save for language. The plot follows the classic revenge-horror tale. The Krampus is a revnant/poltergeist sent to carry out the ill will of an aggrieved party. The party in question is definitely aggrieved and the family situations in the film clearly suck, but so does the wow factor and so does the fear factor. I honestly expected a handful of jump scares but there was none of that. Once I realized that wasn’t happening I settled into the hope of a psychological horror. Nope. None of that either. In truth the whole thing came down to costuming and badly staged anticipation.

I don’t recommend this movie at all. A Christmas Story was more terrifying (especially after having drank out of one of those lamp legs… frightening). The acting was subpar and the effect work was limited. The gingerbread stuff presented moments of joy, but beyond that there isn’t much redeemable about the film. If I hadn’t had the chance to enjoy it with my son (a moment in time) I would be asking for a full refund.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. No, I’m not going to talk about Star Wars yet.

I heard a story today that someone who’d already seen the new Star Wars was giving away the big secrets. I am not going to be that guy, so if you tuned in just for spoilers, begone, heathen!

For those who aren’t interested in ruination I have another bit of talk to give. No, this isn’t about football, or politics, or what madness has descended upon my life this time. This isn’t even about writing. No, this is about things mattering, and why I think it is important to care about Star Wars.

Let me start by saying Star Wars doesn’t actually matter in any greater sense of the word. It is a piece of storytelling–a mythology designed to entertain and, in a sense, inspire and inform. In that sense you can say that Star Wars is important. You can compare it to some of the greatest stories ever told–stories that people attach meaning to and live their lives by. As we all know, humanity is about popularity. The more popular a story becomes, the more important that story becomes. In the modern era we tend to attach monetary value to such things in terms of marketing, franchising, and the ubiquitous toy rights. However, when you rewind everything to its base you are in fact talking about a story that one person told another person with the dual purpose of entertaining them and perhaps informing them or allowing themselves to reflect on ideas and feelings they don’t truly understand.

By now some of you readers are waiting for the inevitable comparison of Star Wars to religion. That isn’t going to happen. We all accept that Star Wars isn’t real, though the concept of the force is no more ludicrous than a man rising from the grave, another man parting the sea, and, well, you get the idea. The primary reason I won’t compare the two is that religions take on a greater purpose. Star Wars serve the role of being that one great thing we use to mark an era. I remember being alive for the first (4,5,6) three movies and recognizing how that did, in a sense, define a generation.

The new series (7,8,9) as with the last (1,2,3) serves the role of connecting new generations to the wonder we experienced as kids when we first saw a beam of light escape from the hilt of a saber. For that reason alone it matters. It matters to me to remind my kids of what was and what could be.

May the force be with you all.

I’m going to focus the entire 10 minutes on the Giants tonight. In truth, this game is the one that matters. The game is the one that will surprise a lot of people, because this is a game that is going to show who the real teams are. By that I mean we are going to see who the Giants are from 1-54 and the same applies to the Panthers.

I want to start with a discussion of records. Looking at my G-men, there haven’t been a lot of blowouts. Despite a defense that is widely seen as incapable, the Giants are hanging in there with most teams. The losses are coming in the 4th when the bench is worn out and struggling from already being thin. Add a little bit more depth to the team and we could be looking at a 9-5/ 10-3 record, but we aren’t. Instead G-unit is fully aware they need to win out in order to get to the playoffs. That is where I think the G-men have an edge. The mentality of this team has always come out when their backs are against the wall. Furthermore they are emerging. late in the season, as a team that understands what to do on office and has a philosophy that gets them points.

The Panthers get points too and are poised around the arm and attitude of their superstar QB. Here is the problem: that poise and professionalism is also built around a solid running game and a quiet RB who has already been ruled out. With a backup in play the Giants have a chance to up the pass rush and throw Cam out of river–necessary to a win.

On offense the Panthers will look legit. My hopes pivot on the ability for the Giants to force mistakes. We know the G-man o-line is held together by ductape and spit. No injuries can happen here in this game. If they can hold out and find a little bit of an aggressive spark as they did last week, win for the G-men.

The last day of a semester comes with the promise of great things in the coming semester. I’ve studied my course list, careful to ensure the numbers are sufficient to be able to teach the classes. I’l be able to teach all my classes next semester, a listing that includes Sociology, Mythology, Creative Writing, and several composition/dev comp classes. Armed with that knowledge I am finally able to plan ahead and create something that is, structurally, deigned to give students the best experience I can offer.

Unfortunately, the end comes with a great deal of fatigue, which is how I manage to find myself falling asleep during this blog…