Taking a red pen to my essay

I crossed out whole paragraphs of my second essay. I slashed and rearranged and moved parts from here to there. The thing about editing is, I enjoy it! Taking it apart and reordering whole sections and cutting out all the things that distract from the focus is fun. The editing process is at times more fun than the first draft. Having everyone's input into what should be changed is very helpful and I am so grateful for that. I fear my critiques have been painfully limited. My mind has been disturbed and my focus has been warped. My usually bright and lively spirit has been dampened with a work-related issue. I will blog about that in another post. For now, my red pen is getting its work-out. Be gone, paragraph! Cut! Paste! Bwwwaaaa, oh the power of the pen!!

Oh the joy of school

I ask myself why I didn't finish college when I was 19. I could have gone on two years and gotten my BA but instead got married and traveled a lot and had kids and a divorce and remarried. It wasn't til I turned 50 that I seriously committed to going back to school. Now I'm slogging through a couple of classes every semester. I just got back from talking to my advisor and I still have seven semesters to go. But it's ok. I love learning. I learn something every day at work, at school, at home, everywhere I go my mind is open to picking up new things. I not only love to learn, but I love teaching others what I know. I come from a long line of teachers so maybe that's why I have this love of learning inside me. I used to be a trainer and there is nothing more exciting than helping someone learn something new. So I will be at Queens another couple of years slogging through my studies, balancing work and school, having no social life to speak of. But I'm determined not only to get my BA but my MFA too so you'll see me around campus for awhile yet. Those of you who are graduating, be happy!! You did it when you were young!

Passion for Trivia

Trivia is my thing, dare I say my passion. I collect tidbits of information that most people would find relatively boring or useless. But for some reason, my brain easily stores oddball things and I love it. For instance, graham crackers were invented by a presbyterian minister named (what else!) Sylvester Graham. He and another puritan, Harvey Kellog figured people wouldn't abuse themselves if they ate bland foods. ("Self abuse" is puritan code for masturbate.) Harvey created corn flakes, which is pretty bland indeed. And totally useless information to be sure. That reminds me, I had a pig once named Sylvester and I know for a fact that pigs are smarter than dogs. Months that begin with a Sunday will always have a Friday the 13th. So why don't we fear Sunday the 1st? The space in FedEx's logo between the 'e' and the 'x'create an arrow. You'll never be able to look at their logo again without seeing it! I love trivia but drive my family crazy with my odd collection of knowledge. I'll pipe up and say strange things in conversation and get even stranger looks. Oh well. One day all these little tidbits of information stored in my brain cells will come in handy. But in the meantime, I'll just keep collecting. Did you know eating pie was banned in England for many years? Yup, thanks to Oliver Cromwell who banned it as a pagan pleasure. Oh ok, I'll stop now....