Life Getting in the Way of Living

Once again I am drawn to write something about nothing. That is, nothing much that is happening at all. I feel the pressure to not let so much time pass between the last posting and the next posting. However, life seems to be getting in the way of living.

As previously announced, I have moved half-way across the country to take a new job. The process of packing and moving, especially under rather rushed circumstances, was distressful enough. The reality of the new semester, with new classes (and a few switches of classes during the first week) and new students (some dropping, others adding, and all of them strangers to me) has further hindered my adherence to a regular writing schedule.

When I was engaged in writing the second volume of The Dream Land series, the story was constantly on my mind, in my head--working out plot kinks, reviewing previous text--even as I was going about my daily routine, with no apparent adverse effect on my teaching. My writing could be interupted and then I could go back to where I'd left off quite easily. With the completion of Book II, however, I don't have that momentum that drives me to keep going. Once stopped, it's difficult to get going again.

I teach college students how to write various kinds of papers in exchange for money, which I use to buy time to do my own writing. I have a scholarly article on the back burner and I have the first pages of Book III of The Dream Land on another burner. On the front burners are my current classes. I now teach (after a few switches and adjustments) 2 sections of Basic English, 2 sections of Composition I, and a section of Composition II. Also, I have office hours (such as during this present moment) and serve on two committees which have yet to meet this semester. The system is different from what I've gotten used to so I am spending time adapting to the way things are done here--which seem annoyingly ineffective compared to my previous institutions of higher education.

So it goes. I have 15 minutes until my next class begins, so I will stop now. Life intrudes.

Interlude

This is what almost happened with previous blogs created and given a few posts: Life, or a strange representative of it, boldly interferes, either by blocking access to the blog site (no internet access, etc.) or by blocking access to my brain. I've vowed not to fall to that situation this time, with this blog. But it has been tough.

I have completed the move across the country and started the new job. This is almost a good story in itself but this is not the venue for a travelogue. Suffice to say the goal was achieve. I drove my vehicle, pulling a trailer containing 90% of all my belongings, from upstate New York to the Midwest, 1482 miles at 55 mph, the final 400 miles with the temperatures rising into the 100s and the highway rising in elevation. I arrived alive, as they say.

Once arriving, however, the apartment I had arranged from afar turned out to be a dump. Fortunately there were plenty of other, nicer places nearby. I signed up for one but had to wait to be "approved" (surrendering all manner of documents to prove I can and will pay the rent without becoming a burden on society) and then to prepare the apartment (painting, carpet, repairs). Meanwhile, I stayed in a very comfortable but not too expense hotel much closer to my place of employment for several nights, going to the office during each of the days. Now that I've moved into the apartment, I had to suffer through the shopping. I did not bring much furniture with me, none of the major pieces, so I needed to replace them. So much spending even before I get the first paycheck!

Next I will return to the theme of this blog.