On writing fiction

I just read an interview with Tessa Hadley, whose short story appeared in a recent edition of the New Yorker. In one part of the interview, Hadley says of the main character:

"He exempts her from the ordinary effort of being her rather carefully constructed self, because he doesn’t recognize the self that she is." 

I suppose this quote doesn't look terribly ground breaking when it's taken out of context, but it hit me (again) how amazing it is that writers are able to so perfectly describe our thoughts and beliefs and our construction of various "selves." We may think that these thoughts and beliefs are unique to us, but they really connect us all; we all think in a similar way. 

But can you imagine being a person who is regularly able to peel back all of those layers and put it into words? I'm not sure I'd have the courage to do it. 

OK, deep thought of the day is over. 

Almost spring break

My spring break starts on Monday! But really, it starts tomorrow, after I finish teaching my 9-12pm class at Columbia.

I am not going anywhere special for spring break, except for maybe tagging along on a one-night stay in Philly if a couple of my friends decide to make the trip. 

For the rest of the week off, I am looking forward to an awesome STAYCATION. I kind of dislike that cheesy term, but it's the best way to describe my break. Plans include attempting to win lottery tickets to a Broadway show (maybe Matilda?) and getting a Frozen Hot Chocolate (R) at Serendipity. (I loved that drink when I visited NYC my very first time in the summer of 2007; I hear the line's not too long when it's 40 degrees out.)

Also, Ari and I got back from a really nice wedding last weekend in Austin. The bride was one of Ari's high school friends, and in exchange for Ari playing at her wedding, she paid for our hotel and rental car. On Saturday morning we had a very rushed, but worthwhile, visit to the actual downtown area of Austin (where it was rained all day and was chillier than NYC, alas), and had a blast at the rehearsal dinner and actual ceremony. I will post some pictures as soon as I can--it appears I left my camera cord back in Monrovia at Christmas, so it may take a while….

Playing Catch Up

One of the main reasons I haven't posted on this blog in quite a while is that I recently--well, six weeks ago--started working at another ESL school, and while I'm grateful to have more hours, I am still figuring out the balance of work. Add some snow days with mandatory make-up classes, and the week feels pretty long, with not enough time to grade stuff on the weekend before the next week hits.

So I've been feeling overly stressed the last couple of weeks, which is annoying. But today, in the middle of lesson planning, it just occurred to me how one of my favorite things about teaching is the fact that I am constantly trying to improve myself as a teacher. I never feel bored of teaching, because if it's starting to feel boring, I can change the lesson plan by taking the students to museum, or watching a movie with them, or playing a game that gets them moving around the room.

Because I'm constantly trying to improve myself (and trying not to compare myself too harshly with my co-teachers at Columbia who has taught ESL for 30+ years), I sometimes feel inadequate or like I'm not up to the task. But I try to remind myself that I'm doing the best I can, and it takes years to become the kind of assured teacher that I look up to--people like my mother, who has written her own pronunciation book, and my co-teacher Frances, who was the editor of the NorthStar book series (only ESL teachers know what that is!).

So I guess I wrote this post to say 1. I'm still keeping a blog! and 2. I'm still figuring out this whole teaching thing, but I think I like it!

Also, on a completely different topic, I secretly wrote this whole post so that I could add a note at the bottom about how THE OSCARS are on tonight. While I realize the Oscars are pretty dumb and out of touch and waaay too long, they are still FUN for me to watch. AND I saw six of the 9 nominees (Her, Dallas Buyers Club, Wolf of Wall Street, Gravity, American Hustle, and 12 Years a Slave), and I think they were all good, so I'm glad some good movies are getting some recognition. Just too bad that Llewyn Davis didn't get nominated for Best Picture, and that Her will pretty much definitely not win. (It's my fave.)