Week 12: Famous Last Words

It's just Saturday afternoon, but I figured I should write these "famous last words" now because we have family coming to visit this weekend and I'm guessing it will be pretty topsy-turvy after they arrive in a couple hours. I wrote a story this morning -- Mistress Rabbit's Wedding Day; I think it's my favorite one that I've written so far ... partly because I found a way to work Braum's into the story (we still miss our ritual outings to Braum's for hamburgers and shakes), and also because I wrote this one up all my own, using the chain-tale structure but with a cast of characters I invented on my own. That's basically my "chain-tale cookbook" idea, writing up materials that will help teachers and students who want to create their own chain tales. Now I just hope I can find time in the future to develop those materials. Writing stories this semester has really convinced me that it can work!

For my project, I also wrote up a Guide to the stories, both at the Portfolio and here at the blog, because I thought it would be useful to see an overview of the different types, and I also itemized the chains for each one. I've got 8 stories, which is great; even if I don't write any more stories, I am very happy with how that turned out. If I do end up writing more stories in Weeks 14 and 15, that might get me to an even 10 for the number of stories, which would also be pretty cool. I'll be in Austin for Thanksgiving Break, and I usually have a lot of time to spend just sitting and staring with nothing to do while I'm there, so maybe I will come up with some stories I want to write. Either way, it's all good; I am mostly still just kicking myself for not having enrolled myself as a student every single semester: just think about the heap of stories I would have written that way. But as the saying goes: better late than never!

I've also really enjoyed the time I've spent reviewing the Oxford mythology book. I've stuck to my schedule, and if all goes well this week, I will finish it up (all 866 pages!) before I go to Austin next Sunday. It's been a really great exercise so far, making me feel very satisfied with using the UnTextbook and a story-writing approach to this class, but also showing me how a traditional textbook approach could work. I think I'll be able to write a good review, along with some useful suggestions (the Ramayana chapter seriously needs help...).

And since it is Neil Gaiman's birthday today, I will end with a Neil Gaiman quote from the announcements today:

I want people to imagine.

I think that your imagination

is the most important tool that you posses.