Well, it appears that I am stuck. Chapter 3 is 45 pages long, but the ending just doesn't feel right. Nor can I manage to figure out how to start Chapter 4. The two chapters need to connect to each other, but I just can't find the right way to do it.
Three goes through a series of pedagogical beliefs, one-by-one, and discusses how each one relates to the topic/goal of the overall text. Four is supposed to work through an example in complete detail.
Part of me thinks that Three could just end after the last belief is dealt with. They're numbered, and that's all that the chapter does. Does it really need a conclusion? Can I just start the next chapter? I looked at the ends of chapters in
Both Art and Craft, and a good number of the chapters just end after the last teaching idea is dealt with. Can I do that? It feels like cheating, but anything else feels redundant.
Gah . . . Maybe this is the point in my life when writing a dissertation would have been helpful. I'd know whether and how to transition in such things. That part of me that thinks maybe it would be okay to just end after the twelfth belief is being seduced by another part of me that says, "This will go out for review. Just move on and wait till someone tells you it's wrong." Okay, yes, I know that's very lame. But it would help me move on to the next chapter (which was due Sept 6, so it's seriously late).
Poopies. I'm supposed to have this chapter seriously underway and have a new schedule written by tomorrow afternoon. :( And I have to get the all of the book written by the end of October. Maybe I should hire a ghost writer.
So because I was supposed to be figuring out how to start the chapter that is nearly a month behind, I wrote an article to submit to
California English instead. The Winter issue is on pop culture, so I tossed together an article on bridging television and literature. It's very list of ten-ish, so it may well be rejected immediately. The last article I sent out with a list in it was dinged, so I'm not ready to invest emotion in this new piece yet.
Suddenly this afternoon, as I was trying to clean up the deep piles of work in the office, I realized that I haven't posted in a month. I'm not sure what happened. What a sinking sad feeling to realize that I haven't done anything though. I feel so tired and sad and lost. How did I let so much time pass by?
My sister Kerri and I set out on an odyssey to get glasses this afternoon. Who knew it would be such a pain in the butt? I will NEVER go back to that store. I would have walked out early on, but I had found what I thought looked okay, so we didn't leave (when maybe we should have).
Our trial today began when the worker bees were totally flustered that I would want to get glasses at a place when their doctor hadn't done my eye exam. I went to a doctor who is part of my regular health insurance (benefit of keeping all my health records together) and who was recommended as better than the other options. But that location isn't approved for glasses. I would only get $75 back, which wouldn't begin to cover the cost. So I went to a different office/store to get the prescription filled.
After much sighing on their part, I asked if I could just look around and figure out if I wanted anything before they completed all their recordkeeping. As Kerri and I began the process of looking at the glasses that all looked the same, another woman came in and had a fit because she felt she was being charged for something that she shouldn't be charged for. The complaining woman was inappropriately obnoxious, but so were the worker bees.
I finally figured out the frames (pictures
one and
two) that seemed right. We took some
pictures with the cell phone, so that I could look at them from that perspective. The clincher was having Kerri put them on. I'm used to seeing her with glasses, so I could better tell if they were okay on her.
Unfortunately the arguing woman and the arguing worker bees were still all fully involved in arguing. Kerri and I stood around and tried to pretend that we weren't really annoyed with the unprofessional stuff that was going on. I sent one of the pics of me in the glasses to Lisa. Kerri and I sighed. Eventually I decided I couldn't take anymore, so we went outside for a bit while the arguing continued. Lisa called me to say that she liked the glasses while Kerri pretended that we were doing something important in the car.
When more customers showed up, Kerri and I went back in (we lost our place in line by going outside, and I didn't want to be any further behind). Eventually, arguing people came to a ceasefire, and woman left. It only took about 20 minutes for all that.
When the clerical worker bee flustered about with the difficulty of entering me in their system, the head worker bee in charge of fittings and nonsense decided to help me. We were less than amused by this woman's method. If I hadn't done research to know essentially what I wanted, I would have been walking out of there with the most useless, basic glasses in the world.
It was as if she couldn't be bothered to talk to me about anti-reflection or anti-scratch. But when pushed she provided an unnecessary sales pitch. She was most engaged in the process of adding up that the glasses would cost me and what I would have paid if I didn't have insurance. Frankly, I didn't care. I just wanted to pay for them and be done with her; but she was very, very determined to make sure I knew that I saved money.
Throughout this process, Kerri and I kept rolling our eyes at each other. You would have thought that it was unusual to want anti-scratch coating and such things. When we finally walked out, we both agreed never to return to that place for a purchase. Actually, what I said to her was, "All in all, I would rather go through a pelvic exam than do that again." What a horrible place.
So I ordered progressive lenses (no line bifocals), transition lenses (they get darker in sunlight because bright lights really bother me), and anti-scratch and anti-reflection coatings.
They said it would take 2 weeks (which is also far too long according to everyone. Normally these things take a week.) At least it's taken care of for now. Who knows if I'll really get glasses in two weeks?
Backdated. Written 9/26/06
I had my eye doctor's appointment today. The verdict was that one of my eyes is nearsighted and one is farsighted. Together, they balance, and I can see just fine.
I went to the doctor knowing about the nearsightedness, but the farsightedness was a surprise. I thought that the nearsighted eye had gotten a bit blurrier, and I had noticed odd trouble with little print on things, like microscopic print on a medicine box. Turns out that was the farsightedness.
So the doctor said that I can:
- do nothing, after all I can see just fine as it is and I'm only bothered if I cover one of my eyes (um, the eye patch look is so me) or on occasions like the microscopic print.
- get glasses for distance/driving, etc. The doctor suggested they might be nice at night or if I was tired.
- get bifocals to correct both problems. The doctor said that eventually I would be wearing bifocals, according to his "crystal ball" (yes, he really said that)
I figured that since NCTE graciously provides vision insurance, I'd get something generic to keep on hand when needed. Then he dropped the bifocal lenses in the little glasses thing he put on me, and I was totally sold. Everything was suddenly clearer and crisper.
So this weekend when my sister is here for the annual birthday visit, we'll go find glasses. I just hope to find something that doesn't make me look stupid.
Backdated. Written 9/26/06
