A Year in Review; Jobless No More!

This has been a restful, satisfying failure of a year. After a lifetime of deadlines and schoolwork, I was glad to finally have a break and to work a job that didn't come home with me. For this first time, my time was my own, which was good considering I was also adjusting to married life. As my first year of marriage, it was (almost) everything I could have asked for. Sara and I have walked deeper into the foolish belief that two independent people with habits and modes of living formed over decades could live peaceably together, and perhaps even love each other, and found that it might even be possible. We have had a sufficient amount of leisure to enjoy each other's company, and have been comforted to see conflict come less and less often in our relationship.

And yet in some ways this year has felt like a failure. Not one that I regret, but a failure none the less. I have enjoyed tutoring to a certain degree. Working with some students over time and watching their successes, such as getting into grad school with the personal statement we worked on or simply just improving their written English, was gratifying. But it wasn't teaching. It was a year on hold. An extremely non-lucrative year on hold.

And then my life course altered drastically and suddenly. I thought that I was going to be employed by the tutoring center over the summer, only to be informed three days prior to the end of the semester that I wouldn't be. That, coupled with our growing student loan debt, prompted me to action. I had planned on applying to teaching jobs in the area, but there hadn't really been any openings in all of northwest Arkansas, so we decided that it was time to expand our search. One area that we had considered moving to was around Lexington, Kentucky, since it was a pretty area and because it was where some close friends lived. I found out that there was a job fair specifically for teachers near Lexington that week, so we drove up there and found that Kentucky wasn't really a viable option. Since I'm not certified to teach, I have to go into a non-traditional licensure program wherever I want to teach. The options in KY all cost in the ten to twenty thousand dollar range, whereas the option here in Arkansas cost $2,400. So, it took travelling to Kentucky to find out that I needed to stay in my home state. Also, it wasn't until we discussed moving to KY that we realized that we could move since Sara has one more year left in her MFA, but she can finish her last year anywhere (she's mostly just working on her thesis, which is a manuscript length compilation of poetry).

So the past three weeks we have been travelling all over the state for interviews. The first place we visited, which was in Humphrey, was, well, sort of pathetic looking. It was in a shoddy little building with a hand-painted sign, surrounded by the ugly flatlands of the Arkansas delta. Inside it was nicer, and there were exciting aspects of the school, such as the fact that every student has a laptop, but ultimately it wasn't for us. It was a charter school of only 40 students, so the position didn't feel very secure, but mainly the issue was that we didn't think we could live in the delta. I believe that everyplace needs good teachers, and I feel drawn to serving the underserved, but the brown flatness of it depressed us.

We had some other failures, most notably not receiving a job offer that I thought for sure I was going to get from Pulaski Academy, which is one of the nicest schools in the state, but ultimately we found a school that we both felt good about. I received several job offers, but I decided to go with the one from Harmony Grove High School, which is just outside of Camden. The reason I went with this school is threefold. First, I really liked the principal, superintendent, and teachers that I met. They were really enthusiastic about me coming there and it seemed like a good teaching environment. Secondly, I will get to teach the age range that I prefer, 10th through 12th graders (and probably an AP course). At a lot of the other schools I looked at I would have been teaching 8th and 9th graders instead. Lastly, Camden and the surrounding area seem pretty liveable. Sara and I are travelling down there next week to finalize the details, sign the contract, and find a place to live. Exciting!

Getting the job is still punctuated by sadness, though. We both really love Fayetteville, so it will be hard to move. We love being close to family and the friends we have made over the years, as well as being a part of our church, Vintage Fellowship. It seems somewhat like a miracle that there is a group of Christians that share our sensibilities and, frankly, don't scare us. So we are going to Camden with a mixture of apprehension and excitement, which I suppose is true for every move. I am optimistic about living in Camden, but I hope to find a job in this area and move back after a few years.

So, who am I and what am I doing? I am a teacher. I am moving to Camden, Arkansas.

Recent Readings

Since I last posted about reading Joyce, I have read:
Freakonomics, by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt
Bastard out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie

Freakonomics was fairly disappointing, but perhaps that is only because I had such high hopes from it. It's publicity mainly comes from its startling assertion that the crime drop seen in the mid-90s occurred because of the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that struck down laws outlawing abortion. If you have not heard this claim, the reasoning is that introducing abortion prevented a generation of mostly poor, unwanted children from being born. And since this demographic is the one most likely to commit a crime, crime decreased. Overall, the argument makes sense to me, but I don't think it should, nor was it intended to, change people's opinions on abortion since they run along moral lines, which this information does not affect. The downfall of the book, though, is that the rest of its chapters are less intriguing, though the chapter on cheating in Sumo wrestling was pretty interesting.

Bastard out of Carolina was the best book I've read of recent. It details the struggles of a girl coming of age in a poor family and the repercussions of the sexual, emotional, and physical abuse she suffers from her step-father. It was very clearly semi-autobiographical, as its raw details were too harrowingly realistic. This topic is very difficult for me, so it was an emotional read. Still, it was not an overwhelmingly dark book. Also, it offered a psychologically nuanced view of several characters where it would have been easy to have pushed them to be as expected. Overall it was well done, yet not quite breathtaking.

Ender's Game was somewhat of a disappointment, but also very enjoyable. Since it is regaled as the greatest sci-fi book of all time, I met it with certain expectations. To a certain extent, it met them. The story was gripping, its world was interesting enough, and it managed to interest me by its sci-fi gadgetry without becoming carried away. Ultimately, though, Ender fails as an intriguing character. Oddly enough, he was too messianic for me. Real people have flaws; they fail, at least at times. Ender was always the best. At everything, quasi-immediately. I almost got suckered into reading the rest of the series, but decided it was more worth my time to just read the plot summaries on wikipedia. I'll wager I was right about that.

Lastly, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress was moderately interesting, though mainly not for its literary qualities but for the section of history it captures. It takes place during the Cultural Revolution in China during the early 1970s, which, since is was also mildly autobiographical, makes for a good read. If you are unfamiliar with this section of history, spend a little time here. The anti-intellectualism and blind pastoral obsession with the simplicity of peasant life wrecked the country for years, and it's worth investigating the reasoning and events that led up to this movement.

I have also started Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, by Nick Flynn, and The Blind Assassin, but Margaret Atwood, but neither book was able to hold my interest. Please post if you have read either of these and would recommend them.

A Fall Into Decadence

So, I bought a Playstation 3 this weekend... For many of you, this may illicit no reaction; for others, those of you who are gamers, will see this as a good decision; for fellow blogger and blaggart Mike, it no doubt generates scorn (oh how I miss Mikescorn). For me this was a rather difficult decision. On the one hand, it is an expensive luxury during a time when many are in need. Yet I know that that line of reasoning can be taken too far, and that buying luxuries for yourself is necessary and good, as long as it hasn't become the focus of your life. I debated about it for awhile, but eventually I decided to go for it.

Here was my path that led to the PS3 (and the path that led my lovely wife to okay the purchase). For Christmas Sara and I went to Philly to visit my mom. My brother, his wife, and my two cool cousins came as well. My cousin Tim brought his PS3, and I remembered then how much I enjoyed wasting time playing video games with people. Also, we saw Planet Earth on BluRay, which was breathtaking, to say the least. Then, during our trip in Chicago I was quite impressed with James's setup. Through his PS3 he was able to watch the streaming video from Netflix, which includes a lot of movies and tv series, on his TV. We're planning on cancelling our cable soon because of the cost, but I really enjoy unwinding after work by watching TV or a movie, which this setup allows for less money (well, the PS3 is expensive, but we're only paying Netflix $10 a month) and no commercials. Lastly, the PS3 is a fun way to keep in touch with friends who live across the country.

I was worried that I would be sucked into spending too much time in brainless activity, but last night, the first night I had the PS3, I quit after an hour of playing and read for awhile. I guess I have a little self-control afterall. We'll see if it lasts...

Travels in the Windy City (I wonder if anyone still reads this)

Yes. It has been over two months since I last posted. Shameful.
Worse, I have not finished Ulysses since my taunting post that proclaimed that I would maim that beast or die trying. Worst, I have actually put it down for the time being to read a few other books.
Nonetheless, it is time for an update. For those of you who did not hear of the ice storm that swept through the midwest, there was an ice storm. It swept through the midwest. In all seriousness, it was one of the worst winter storms in Fayetteville history. Mostly, our lives were just inconvenienced since we only lost power for a day, but many people lost power for over a week. Several-inch-thick coatings of ice weighed most of the branches down so that the trees looked inverted, with downward, ground-seeking limbs. It was eerie and devastating, as power lines and houses were damaged by countless upturned trees and broken-off branches. But it was beautiful. When the sun was out, it hit a whole panorama of glistening ice, as far as you could see. Check out my wife's blog entry about it. There are a few pics here as well.
That was a few weeks ago. Last week, as Fayettevillians were still cleaning out the debris (and they still are), Sara and I treked to Chicago for a writing conferencs and to visit my college friend (asian) James and his lovely wife Mandy. It was great! We spent a lot of time just roaming about and trying new restaurants and in the evenings we hung out with James and Mandy and played games. Also, we got to hear some great writers read their work, among them Marilynne Robinson (of Gilead and Housekeeping fame), Dorothy Allison (Bastard out of Carolina), Nick Flynn (Another Bullshit Night in Suckcity), Donald Hall (former Poet Laureate), ZZ Packer, Joe Meno, and Aleksander Hemon.
The most engaging reading was Friday night. It featured Dorothy Allison, ZZ Packer, and Joe Meno, and it had a performance by Mucca Pazza, a circus punk marching band (yes, that's right. This thirty person ensemble had elements of all three of those ingredients). All three readers were great, though I have to say I was surprised by Dorothy Allison's piece, which began with a raucous "Frog F-ing!" and went on from there.
The highlight of the trip was probably Saturday night. James, Mandy, Sara, and I went out for some Chicago-style pizza and then headed to the Signiture Lounge, a bar at the top of the John Hancock building. We were on the 95th floor, and the view was staggering. Seeing skyscrapers dwarfed from above is a bit dizzying, but still spectacular.
Anyways, it was a full week, but not overwhelming. A good vacation.