Warning: Not fully awake, less than a full cup of coffee in my system!
-School started last week for the Catbird. Two days down so far. She's also had two days of after school practice, is auditioning for the musical this evening, has an Honor Society function tomorrow morning before school, and at some point, she'll audition for the school's jazz vocal group. She packs a lot in a day.
-Speaking of school, they've altered the school day due to the adoption of the Common Core. School now starts about fifteen minutes earlier, ends fifteen minutes later, and has a bell schedule that makes no sense to me. Somehow, they've added an extra 2 periods into the day. First period is 42 minutes long. All the rest are 40. Except lunches, which are 30. So, if you have a 5th period lunch, you start the same as everyone else. But you start 6th period ten minutes before everyone else--huh? I guess they've figured this out, but the kids seem pretty confused so far, and the extra half hour apparently makes the day drag on even more. We'll see how it works out.
-When I woke this morning, I saw the orange upper edge of the moon sinking over the hills on the far side of town. Tonight is the Harvest Moon, which is also supposed to be a supermoon. Here's hoping the weather is clear--get out and take a look at and just after sunset!
-The Magpie leaves on Wednesday. That's all I've got to say about that right now.
-On a writing note, I have previously mentioned that in early August I wrote two short stories that I'm really excited about. I took the shorter one back and read it to my writers' group yesterday, and had my wife--and kids!--read it as well. It has now been test-fired at a couple of literary journals. These are reaches, as these are among the most exclusive of the markets, but dream big, right? The other story, rather longer, is marinating a bit after feedback from a number of readers. I'm hoping to shoot that one off by the end of the month. I also had a nice conversation with Agent Carrie about my next project, as I've been kind of stalled on two different ideas. We talked about them both, bounced some ideas around, and hopefully it's off to the races!
-Music time! This is from Ryan Adams, Gimme Something Good, from his new album, due out tomorrow.
-That's it for me, how was YOUR weekend? Thanks for visiting!
Congrats on getting that done to your satisfaction. I love this time of year!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are moving forward with writing and just keep going and dream big Jeff. That new school system sounds both confusing and tiring. Poor students.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm looking forward to the moon tonight. I might even try to remember to get out and see it before it gets too high in the sky. That's when it's best, right at the horizon.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats on the story progress. Hope you get a couple of those shorts published. :)
Hope the new ideas are ready to go!
ReplyDeleteWhat a weird thing to do at that school.... wonder how that'll work in the long run
-Donna--Thanks! Me, too. They're predicting an extra-spectacular autumn in these parts, so that's something to look forward to.
ReplyDelete-Sheena-kay--Keep the dream alive, right? I think they'll iron out the bugs in the schedule. As long as it works.
-L.G.--how was it? It was pretty darn bright in these parts. Thanks!
-Jemi--I suspect in five years or so they'll revamp the whole thing. I've seen schools start over and over over and over again.