Thursday, August 29, 2013

Wharton. . . Tarkington. . . and Reynolds

So, after a move to the mountains of Virginia and almost two weeks at my new teaching gig, I'm happy to be back at the keyboard.

I'm halfway through Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington, and I'm impressed. Tarkington nails, with candor, some social cues and feminine techniques that really surprised me. I'm not the only one who does the "make-up" face, right? I learned that term in college when I realized that I'd been doing it since I was twelve.

More on that book later.

Oh, Age of Innocence, how I loved thee. . . again.

I had so many posts written in my mind for the weeks after I finished the novel. I wanted to look at the meanings behind the names (New-land? Archer?... not accidents!) I wanted to wax poetic about the ending.

Why does Newland just walk away???

There's the cupid imagery, and the floral imagery. And then I watched the movie, and an entirely different post rattled about within.

But, packing and cleaning had to be done. Children had to be soothed amidst the change, and a better living arrangement had to be found. So now, we are in the midst of another move. But, this one is semi-permanent, for at least 2-3 years. We won't be storing our moving boxes this round!

So, what exactly am I going to write about here today? Not sure. In the words of Indiana: "I'm making this up as I go."

Teaching Spanish again depresses me. I detest teaching something to someone who has ZERO interest in learning it. It is like trying to cheer up quicksand sometimes, getting this students to care about anything. Just watching them trudge through the hallway depresses me. I'd forgotten how hard high school teaching is on my soul.

And it is only week 2. Ouch.

So, I must find other ways to feed the soul. I will write more entries of gratitude in my journal. I will simplify my teaching so that I have some time to read from my Pulitzer list every day and can write a couple times a week. I'm not fortunate enough yet to be able to turn "do what I love and love what I do" as far as earning money goes. But, I can do more of what I love and perhaps that will help me love what I do. . . even the part about teaching conjugation.

Vamos.

1 comment:

  1. Morgen,

    I'm up late--exhausted. But too exhausted emotionally to go to bed. I needed a pick-me-up from another woman/mother whom I deem a thinking reader. So, naturally I turned to Shannon Hale, and you. I just read your last post, and am glad to hear that you're settled for a while. I hope the Spanish classes are going better. Just for your information, I think you're incredible. I don't know how you do it! The Lord must know you can, so he's surely sitting back, watching you inspire those impressionable, but often unmotivated kids to learn and love learning. Because He surely also knows some of those kids need your specific influence, your attitude for all things enlightening, your fun ways, your thirst for knowledge, and the happy energy you bring to a situation. Keep trucking, my friend! As I mentioned, I just read a post by Shannon Hale from April 07, 2014, entitled: "I am not accessible." I think if you have five minutes to rub together, you should read it. Her description of trying to carve out writing time while mothering a frenetic little flock made me feel comforted...Knowing that there are other women out there trying to squeak in an hour of writing or two every week or so (or more likely every month or so for the likes of you and me), buoys me. Well, directly before I clicked on the "comment" button to this post, I saw that you based your previous post on one of the all-time best books ever, Middlemarch! Talk about YAY! What delicious tastes you have, Morgen. So off I go to read that post as well. Happy spring, my dear friend!
    Deepest regards, Emily

    ReplyDelete