Short stories, mostly, but I try my hand with all of it. I had a blog about politics for a couple years, then a blog about misc. books/movies, etc, but most of it is creative prose. Having said that, after getting an idea I like, 75% of the time I either grow bored of it and abandon it, or (worse) work through it until I reach a point where I do not even know what I am talking about anymore. At that point, I sent whatever it is to "Purgatory" (the online area where I upload things when I wish to re-visit them later, even though I rarely do). It does feel nice to actually finish one and not entirely despise it, even though I rarely allow anyone to read it (it even feels nicer when I sporadically send them to people and they say "That was great"---even though they're probably just saying that to be nice.)
Sorry if this whole response sounds sort of pretentious. Please strike it from the record. -NH
What is it about driving that you dislike so much? Have you had a bad experience in the past or is it just the stress of bad traffic? (I was really nervous when I first started driving, so I can sympathize with your feelings about driving.)
I've had a couple of accidents (rear-ended both times while completely stopped at a red light, actually), but I do not blame that. It's not so much a fear of driving as much as it is, like you said, a dislike. I do get nervous in the Atlanta area (where all the good concerts go); too many one-way roads, too many aggressive drivers.
Driving just is a bit of a chore for me, that's all. Some people are the opposite and love getting behind the wheel; they find it relaxing. I just don't care for it---never have. I've always avoided driving unless necessary (my mom says it's because I'm a "hippie tree-hugger").
I have grown to accept that if I continue working in Georgia, I'm going to have little choice but to drive everywhere. It's cool. I have also accepted the fact that in pursuing teaching and the salary that comes with it, I have relinquished the possibility of ever hiring my own personal driver. Bummer. -NH
Nick, your story is really interesting. I look forward to meeting you and getting to know you even more. My main question for you is: why is it that you wouldn't want to teach politics? You seem to have such a passion for it, why not pass on that passion? Because I can sense your passion for it in your writing, I already consider you a better politics teacher than my high school politics teacher was. (Not that I'm discouraging you from teaching English, of course. Just curious).
Nick, I'm a chronic worrier too. I also love movies and can watch a movie a thousand times and still want to watch it again. What is your favorite movie?
Katherine: I can't give you a single favorite movie; I am one of those people who has the ever-changing top-ten list. The best I can say is that Charlie Chaplin's [Modern Times] and Scorsese's [Taxi Driver] are way up there and fight for the top spot.
Andrew: I'm not ignoring your question. I've typed a terribly long-"winded" response twice only to have it say "We're sorry. We cannot process your request" and then disappear. Next time I am going to type it in a word processor and paste it. -NH
Nick, you said you love baseball but don't have a favorite team. I suggest the Braves. But seriously, if you don't have a favorite team, who is you favorite baseball player? And since you're into stats and all, do you do Fantasy Baseball? I joined that bandwagon this year.
you said that you write 500-1000 words a night. that is awesome motivation, and as a writer myself, i wish i had that motivation. how do you do it? is there a method you use?
do you plan on getting anything you have written published one day?
Ouch. They've piled up. I'll get on this. I guess I ought to ask some too. I read many of the bios today while at work helping invisible customers find invisible books at the UGA Bookstore.
Sorry if my responses are sort of lengthy. I really don't talk all that much. But we are talking about things that interest me (chiefly, we are talking about myself).
Side note: after reading everyone's bio thus far, if you are all half as cool in person as you are on paper, I am very excited to be spending the next year in your company. I've been having a lot of doubts and second-guessing (not about the program or being a teacher, but the whole "moving to Milledgeville/leaving Athens/not knowing a soul" thing. I don't want to do that.) I feel more optimistic all of a sudden. Thanks for that. -NH
Are you and your brother close at all? Do you think he is interested in following in your footsteps with the political science/english/education thing?
That’s a good question and it is well taken; I get it a lot. While politics/political science is something in which I am very interested, it is also something that has grown tiresome for me. I have considered it from time to time, but at the end of the day, it is not something I would like to teach at a secondary level. I have considered pursuing it at a graduate level, but eventually opted not to. I like discussing it, I like reading about it, but I do not see myself wanting to pursue it as a career. At a secondary level, government is often relegated to one civics semester and that’s generally it; you basically get the tip of the iceberg and unless it is an AP-class (and even then) discussion in any kind of depth is limited.
While I have maintained interest, my political awareness/involvement has become more of a hobby. Perhaps it is from getting a bit older, perhaps it is from growing tired of too much bickering and not enough discourse, but my idealism is tempered these days. It does not excite me anymore; I have lowered feelings of efficacy in the process and growing disgust in the American political climate (even in the past decade, ideological poles, the ones that arguably do not exist, are shifting further and further apart. Sprinkle in some 24-hour news ticker and elections are sporting events. New media has shortened the time between elections and now electioneering begins even before mid-term. Somewhere along the line, the whole “governing” thing gets lost in the shuffle.)
I don’t know. That probably does not make sense. I guess I just don’t feel like I have it in me to be objective enough to teach children (and future political actors) things which I potentially do not believe in myself. I opted to teach English because after finishing my major in Poli-Sci, I gravitated towards English and for the last year and a half of college, immersed myself in that program, realizing I enjoy it a lot more (at least with regards to teaching on a secondary level).
Having said that, if some principal gets in a desperate pinch and needs someone to come in and talk about 527 organizations or Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, I’d be more than happy to put the Bachelor’s degree to good use. Temporarily. -NH
I guess when I say I don’t have a favorite team, I just mean that I can sit down and watch anything, whether it’s the Yankees/Red Sox in the playoffs or the Pirates/Blue Jays in a Spring Training exhibition. I suppose I have my teams. I used to be a die-hard Braves fan and I still like the Braves (especially these days, seeing as they are a good young pitching-centric team that is not afraid to put money into their club.) My favorite player used to be Greg Maddux---he is the greatest pitcher we will ever see and probably the smartest player to ever play the game. But we all know this. Active players, I have no clue. I like small market teams a lot (or at least am fascinated by them): Oakland A’s, Florida Marlins, and (to a lesser extent these days) the Minnesota Twins, just because it is always nice to see a team win year in and year out while having to settle for whatever team their limited payrolls can afford to field.
I do and don’t play fantasy baseball. I am a member of a couple leagues and participated in a draft last week actually, but I can’t take it as seriously as some people I know. It involves too much precious time and attention to keep up with who’s hurt, who’s slumping, what-have-you. I did do well enough to pull off the title last season. Here’s hoping for a repeat. Honey Nut Ichiros all the way! -NH
I don’t know if the classes were the way they were normally or if they were just entertaining their guests, but it involved a ton of group work. The teacher talked for a bit and then basically set everyone loose to do their own thing; music was playing in the background the entire time and I just remember goofing off a lot. Well, I remember the people around me goofing off. I was scared of getting in trouble, I think. I am not prepared to make any sweeping generalizations about the school system or even any classroom other than the one in which I hung out. Like I said, they could have just been having a fun time in celebration of their visitors (although it seems like the opposite would take place; they would seemingly be a little more structured and strict when we were around. Who knows.)
I just noticed you asked about Australia, not necessarily the schools. Whoops. I’ll leave it. Umm…the cities, such as Sydney and Brisbane were the same as an American city, I guess. We started south and moved northward on a bus. We had a couple nights out in the “outback” or whatever you’d like to call it, but aside from being pretty and more expensive, I do not have much to say about it. I feel like doing it through that program (which to this day, I believe is a scam but don’t tell my parents I said that since they paid good money for me to go) sort of put me at a disadvantage because we visited the tourist traps and the typical Australian experience. I think my feelings would be a lot different if I could go back today and immerse myself in the culture, force myself to talk to people on the street, rather than my tour guide. Or maybe it wouldn’t be. Who knows. It was pretty.
I’d like to go back. Once teleportation becomes a reality. Because twenty hours on a plane when you are deathly afraid of flying is no picnic. -NH
Do I still love Presidents? Probably not. Can I still recite them? Backwards!
Honestly, I took a couple courses just on the American Presidency and honestly, my opinion of most Presidents were thrown on its head. I left with a better understanding of the reason some Presidents did what they did, and losing a bit of respect for some other ones.
I don’t have a favorite President, but I think one of our best Presidents (looking back, but hey, I wasn’t there) was Eisenhower. He is viewed as a good President, but not among the greats, despite being a keen military leader who also oversaw the creation of the highway system as we know it today, while warning against the M-IC and being an underrated champion of the Civil Rights movement. Even taking into account the partisan shift of the late 1960s in the American South and having that “R” beside his name, by today’s standards, he would likely be to the ideological left of our current President. He did all of this while having to triangulate with a Democratic congress for ¾ of his term.
I am a firm believer in the doctrine that only those who have been President can truly understand what it is like to be President, so in that regard, I guess I respect them all.
A great book on the Presidency is [Presidential Greatness] by Marc Landy & (Something) Milkis.
I don’t know why I keep using brackets to offset titles. I guess I could use HTML like most people. Whoops. -NH
I don’t have a method or a technique. Sometimes it is a literal “mind-over-matter” type thing. I go in with the expectation that I might be throwing away whatever I write, and that’s fine. That’s mostly the case, because keep in mind, I rarely let anyone read them. Every once in a while, I bounce them off of people with whom I am not well acquainted, but for the most part, they don’t see the light of day. Even my significant other does not read them. I know that sounds sad.
If I could ever get comfortable sharing them with anyone, I would be more than happy to send them in. I just really do not think anything I write is all that good. I have thought about picking a dozen so of the stories I have written over the past year (the one I do not despite) and self-publishing them. It would be nice to have a tangible representation of the past year of my life, which, to be honest, I feel like I have wasted, for the most part. -NH
I guess you could say I am close to my brother. I mean, we get along well and whatnot. My mom had us ten years apart, though, so the shared experiences are minimal for the most part. We are very different; he is super-athletic and outdoors-oriented, pretty much devotes his time to Boy Scouts. I moved away a couple years ago, so I see him less now; he just turned thirteen, so that alone makes him super-cool. He’s got a social life that is more evolved than mine was when I started college.
I am not sure if he will follow in my footsteps or not. He is very smart and does well in school, and he’s going to excel at whatever he does, but the last time I checked, he wanted to be an airplane pilot and I cannot get on an airplane without flipping out. As for political science and the like, I am not sure if he, as a 13 year old, has become politically aware or anything like that (I know many studies say around the fourth grade, they start to take on the views of the parent as an agent of socialization), but if he has, he has been socialized by my parents, with whom I do not share the same political/religious/whatever views. But hey, I’m sure whatever he thinks now is subject to change. It certainly did with me. I wanted to be a pharmacist in the 6th grade, a minister in the 7th grade, a guitarist in an anarchist punk band (R.I.P. RankResistance) in 10th grade (how‘s that for a 180?), a lobbyist in 12th grade (whoa, there it is again!), a professor/lawyer in college, and now, I am pretty sure I want to be an English teacher. Unless the band gets back together. -NH
I wouldn't want to leave Athens either. It's a great town! But I promise, Milledgeville has A LOT more to offer than meets the eye.
So you're a decent cook? Keeping with the theme of asking mostly everyone about food, haha, what are your favorite things to cook? Does Kelly like you to cook for her? And just because I'm noisy, and you don't have to answer.. will Kelly be relocating to Milledgeville too? Or will ya'll be doing the pseudo-long distance thing? The Milledgeville-Athens drive is NOT bad if so!
That is not true. You told me you couldn't handle my request, Blogger.
Christine:
I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Athens (oddly enough, the things I hate about Athens are the things most people love. I hate downtown Athens, I hate UGA football and the mayhem that ensues, etc, but I like the location and it has some nice neighborhoods and it's a nice little area of awesome in the middle of nothing.) I am dreading the move to Milledgeville, but yeah, I only see the city one day a week now. I'm sure my opinion will change. If not, it's short term.
Kel is going to stay in Athens. We discussed her coming down with me, and I strongly discouraged her from doing so. She has a full-time job with benefits that she actually loves, so even though doesn't make a lot, it seems silly to uproot from that for a program as brief as this one. Maybe if the distance were greater or the program lengthier, but it isn't even a year. We will manage.
She WILL have to manage without her personal chef during the week though. No clue what she will do then. Anytime we eat at home, I am the ruler of the kitchen (Nick and Kel---fighting to dismante the gender binary one stereotype at a time! Yay!) I enjoy cooking and find it relaxing; I do not have a favorite meal to cook, though. Kelly is a bit particular with what she enjoys, but when I'm cooking for myself, I experiment a bit more. I cook a lot of rice dishes; wok and rice cooker get the most use in my kitchen.
I'll get back to you with my favorite meal to cook. I will probably have a lively debate with Kelly about what to cook in about an hour. "What do you want?" "I don't care. What do you want?" x 45min = "OK, fine. You get PB&J."
Hey Nick, I am really into politics too, but I don't get involved like I should. I vote, but I don't help with campaigns or anything. I was wondering, do you get involved in politics, helping with campaigns or other ways? Also would you ever want to lobby for an education agenda?
If you consider yourself "really into politics" there is no minimum that you "should" do because you are sort of already ahead of most of the populace. At least in my opinion. I know it sounds silly, but I honestly believe that if someone looks at the ballot, thinks "I cannot vote for either of these candidates, etc" and stays home, I think that informed decision was just as participatory as casting a ballot or writing a Congressperson (granted, you should still show up for the local elections and the ballot initiatives.
I used to help out more than I do these days. As I said earlier up, I have sort of grown very tired. If you believe in a linear ideological spectrum (you know, liberal left, conservative right, "independents" getting for some reason or the other confused with "moderates"---I don't personally believe in it) then I guess I am somewhere over here (raises left hand). So being from rural Northeast Georgia, it feels futile most of the time. Free-riders' dilemma kicks in: if my person is going to lose without a doubt, why waste my time? If he/she is going to win, I can put my time to better use as well.
I have worked on several campaigns and help out when I can, but I think personal politics outshine electoral politics on a daily basis. In that regard, I am politically active, because I think you cast a vote with every dollar you spend every day. So, while I know it makes little difference in their bottom lines, I consider it political participation to say "I don't agree with X Company's policies, so I will not give them my business." Because I think anyone could arguably make the case that they are the ones running the country anyway. -NH
Hey Nick! I found a couple of things interesting...my dad has his dental office in Winder so maybe you go to him when you'd rather not smile. His name is Dr. Stephens (obviously) and the smiling thing always gets me because I love to smile, but really it's just something I think people should like doing because you smile when you are happy. So if you think of something happy/funny, I think you could have a great smile. Want to work on it? haha. I bet your mom would love more pictures with smiles! And it might have something to do with me being surrounded by teeth my whole life so it fascinates me more than it should. (sorry this is so long)
Hey Brittany: I know of your dad's practice, even though I am not one of his patients. Small world. Cool stuff.
I was kind of joking about the showing my teeth. It is not because I am self-conscious of my teeth; I just don't like having my picture taken---never have, as long as I can remember. It always seems so fake, so forced, to stop and pause for a "look how much fun I'm having" moment when I clearly stopped whatever fun I was having to smile for the picture. My mom says it is because I am an "ol' fuddy duddy". So whenever I begrudgingly go over and pose, I tend to always hear "Okay, one more, and this time, open your eyes and show your teeth." -NH
Have you ever had characters that intrigued or surprised you in your own work? If so, how did they surprise you? What would you advise your students to do if they encountered that situation; let the story run and see where it goes or rein in the characters to follow a pre-conceived plot?
Hmm...I don't know. I've definitely had characters who were meant to be auxiliary end up being significant or have a great deal of time devoted to them.
I don't know what the right answer to your second question is (or if there is one). Personally, I would encourage my students to see where it goes. I think until you know yourself as a writer (I most certainly don't), you should just write. If you have a plot in mind, that's fine, but you can always go back and follow a plot, whereas you might not always have that random burst of creativity.
Harry Crews made a point once (not sure of the quote exactly) but he compared the writer to a painter, and how sometimes a painter strives for perfection, but then sometimes a stray bristle on the brush leaves a mark on the painting that wasn't meant to be there, but if you examine it enough, you might find that the mark was the most interesting part of the painting. I like that a lot. -NH
You said you try to write every day; what kinds of things do you write? Journals? Poetry? Short stories?
ReplyDeleteShort stories, mostly, but I try my hand with all of it. I had a blog about politics for a couple years, then a blog about misc. books/movies, etc, but most of it is creative prose. Having said that, after getting an idea I like, 75% of the time I either grow bored of it and abandon it, or (worse) work through it until I reach a point where I do not even know what I am talking about anymore. At that point, I sent whatever it is to "Purgatory" (the online area where I upload things when I wish to re-visit them later, even though I rarely do). It does feel nice to actually finish one and not entirely despise it, even though I rarely allow anyone to read it (it even feels nicer when I sporadically send them to people and they say "That was great"---even though they're probably just saying that to be nice.)
ReplyDeleteSorry if this whole response sounds sort of pretentious. Please strike it from the record. -NH
What is it about driving that you dislike so much? Have you had a bad experience in the past or is it just the stress of bad traffic? (I was really nervous when I first started driving, so I can sympathize with your feelings about driving.)
ReplyDeleteI've had a couple of accidents (rear-ended both times while completely stopped at a red light, actually), but I do not blame that. It's not so much a fear of driving as much as it is, like you said, a dislike. I do get nervous in the Atlanta area (where all the good concerts go); too many one-way roads, too many aggressive drivers.
ReplyDeleteDriving just is a bit of a chore for me, that's all. Some people are the opposite and love getting behind the wheel; they find it relaxing. I just don't care for it---never have. I've always avoided driving unless necessary (my mom says it's because I'm a "hippie tree-hugger").
I have grown to accept that if I continue working in Georgia, I'm going to have little choice but to drive everywhere. It's cool. I have also accepted the fact that in pursuing teaching and the salary that comes with it, I have relinquished the possibility of ever hiring my own personal driver. Bummer. -NH
Nick, your story is really interesting. I look forward to meeting you and getting to know you even more. My main question for you is: why is it that you wouldn't want to teach politics? You seem to have such a passion for it, why not pass on that passion? Because I can sense your passion for it in your writing, I already consider you a better politics teacher than my high school politics teacher was. (Not that I'm discouraging you from teaching English, of course. Just curious).
ReplyDeleteNick, I'm a chronic worrier too. I also love movies and can watch a movie a thousand times and still want to watch it again. What is your favorite movie?
ReplyDeleteKatherine:
ReplyDeleteI can't give you a single favorite movie; I am one of those people who has the ever-changing top-ten list. The best I can say is that Charlie Chaplin's [Modern Times] and Scorsese's [Taxi Driver] are way up there and fight for the top spot.
Andrew:
ReplyDeleteI'm not ignoring your question. I've typed a terribly long-"winded" response twice only to have it say "We're sorry. We cannot process your request" and then disappear. Next time I am going to type it in a word processor and paste it. -NH
Nick, you said you love baseball but don't have a favorite team. I suggest the Braves. But seriously, if you don't have a favorite team, who is you favorite baseball player? And since you're into stats and all, do you do Fantasy Baseball? I joined that bandwagon this year.
ReplyDelete- Brent
Australia is definitely in my top five list of places to visit. What was your sixth grade impression of Australia?
ReplyDeleteSo do you still love Presidents? Which was your favorite?
ReplyDeleteyou said that you write 500-1000 words a night. that is awesome motivation, and as a writer myself, i wish i had that motivation. how do you do it? is there a method you use?
ReplyDeletedo you plan on getting anything you have written published one day?
Ouch. They've piled up. I'll get on this. I guess I ought to ask some too. I read many of the bios today while at work helping invisible customers find invisible books at the UGA Bookstore.
ReplyDeleteSorry if my responses are sort of lengthy. I really don't talk all that much. But we are talking about things that interest me (chiefly, we are talking about myself).
Side note: after reading everyone's bio thus far, if you are all half as cool in person as you are on paper, I am very excited to be spending the next year in your company. I've been having a lot of doubts and second-guessing (not about the program or being a teacher, but the whole "moving to Milledgeville/leaving Athens/not knowing a soul" thing. I don't want to do that.) I feel more optimistic all of a sudden. Thanks for that.
ReplyDelete-NH
Hi Nick!
ReplyDeleteAre you and your brother close at all? Do you think he is interested in following in your footsteps with the political science/english/education thing?
Andrew:
ReplyDeleteThat’s a good question and it is well taken; I get it a lot. While politics/political science is something in which I am very interested, it is also something that has grown tiresome for me. I have considered it from time to time, but at the end of the day, it is not something I would like to teach at a secondary level. I have considered pursuing it at a graduate level, but eventually opted not to. I like discussing it, I like reading about it, but I do not see myself wanting to pursue it as a career. At a secondary level, government is often relegated to one civics semester and that’s generally it; you basically get the tip of the iceberg and unless it is an AP-class (and even then) discussion in any kind of depth is limited.
While I have maintained interest, my political awareness/involvement has become more of a hobby. Perhaps it is from getting a bit older, perhaps it is from growing tired of too much bickering and not enough discourse, but my idealism is tempered these days. It does not excite me anymore; I have lowered feelings of efficacy in the process and growing disgust in the American political climate (even in the past decade, ideological poles, the ones that arguably do not exist, are shifting further and further apart. Sprinkle in some 24-hour news ticker and elections are sporting events. New media has shortened the time between elections and now electioneering begins even before mid-term. Somewhere along the line, the whole “governing” thing gets lost in the shuffle.)
I don’t know. That probably does not make sense. I guess I just don’t feel like I have it in me to be objective enough to teach children (and future political actors) things which I potentially do not believe in myself. I opted to teach English because after finishing my major in Poli-Sci, I gravitated towards English and for the last year and a half of college, immersed myself in that program, realizing I enjoy it a lot more (at least with regards to teaching on a secondary level).
Having said that, if some principal gets in a desperate pinch and needs someone to come in and talk about 527 organizations or Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, I’d be more than happy to put the Bachelor’s degree to good use. Temporarily.
-NH
Holy crap. I swear that looked a lot shorter in OpenOffice.
ReplyDeleteBrent:
ReplyDeleteI guess when I say I don’t have a favorite team, I just mean that I can sit down and watch anything, whether it’s the Yankees/Red Sox in the playoffs or the Pirates/Blue Jays in a Spring Training exhibition. I suppose I have my teams. I used to be a die-hard Braves fan and I still like the Braves (especially these days, seeing as they are a good young pitching-centric team that is not afraid to put money into their club.) My favorite player used to be Greg Maddux---he is the greatest pitcher we will ever see and probably the smartest player to ever play the game. But we all know this. Active players, I have no clue. I like small market teams a lot (or at least am fascinated by them): Oakland A’s, Florida Marlins, and (to a lesser extent these days) the Minnesota Twins, just because it is always nice to see a team win year in and year out while having to settle for whatever team their limited payrolls can afford to field.
I do and don’t play fantasy baseball. I am a member of a couple leagues and participated in a draft last week actually, but I can’t take it as seriously as some people I know. It involves too much precious time and attention to keep up with who’s hurt, who’s slumping, what-have-you. I did do well enough to pull off the title last season. Here’s hoping for a repeat. Honey Nut Ichiros all the way!
-NH
Erin:
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if the classes were the way they were normally or if they were just entertaining their guests, but it involved a ton of group work. The teacher talked for a bit and then basically set everyone loose to do their own thing; music was playing in the background the entire time and I just remember goofing off a lot. Well, I remember the people around me goofing off. I was scared of getting in trouble, I think. I am not prepared to make any sweeping generalizations about the school system or even any classroom other than the one in which I hung out. Like I said, they could have just been having a fun time in celebration of their visitors (although it seems like the opposite would take place; they would seemingly be a little more structured and strict when we were around. Who knows.)
I just noticed you asked about Australia, not necessarily the schools. Whoops. I’ll leave it. Umm…the cities, such as Sydney and Brisbane were the same as an American city, I guess. We started south and moved northward on a bus. We had a couple nights out in the “outback” or whatever you’d like to call it, but aside from being pretty and more expensive, I do not have much to say about it. I feel like doing it through that program (which to this day, I believe is a scam but don’t tell my parents I said that since they paid good money for me to go) sort of put me at a disadvantage because we visited the tourist traps and the typical Australian experience. I think my feelings would be a lot different if I could go back today and immerse myself in the culture, force myself to talk to people on the street, rather than my tour guide. Or maybe it wouldn’t be. Who knows. It was pretty.
I’d like to go back. Once teleportation becomes a reality. Because twenty hours on a plane when you are deathly afraid of flying is no picnic.
-NH
Abigail:
ReplyDeleteDo I still love Presidents? Probably not. Can I still recite them? Backwards!
Honestly, I took a couple courses just on the American Presidency and honestly, my opinion of most Presidents were thrown on its head. I left with a better understanding of the reason some Presidents did what they did, and losing a bit of respect for some other ones.
I don’t have a favorite President, but I think one of our best Presidents (looking back, but hey, I wasn’t there) was Eisenhower. He is viewed as a good President, but not among the greats, despite being a keen military leader who also oversaw the creation of the highway system as we know it today, while warning against the M-IC and being an underrated champion of the Civil Rights movement. Even taking into account the partisan shift of the late 1960s in the American South and having that “R” beside his name, by today’s standards, he would likely be to the ideological left of our current President. He did all of this while having to triangulate with a Democratic congress for ¾ of his term.
I am a firm believer in the doctrine that only those who have been President can truly understand what it is like to be President, so in that regard, I guess I respect them all.
A great book on the Presidency is [Presidential Greatness] by Marc Landy & (Something) Milkis.
I don’t know why I keep using brackets to offset titles. I guess I could use HTML like most people. Whoops.
-NH
Danielle:
ReplyDeleteI don’t have a method or a technique. Sometimes it is a literal “mind-over-matter” type thing. I go in with the expectation that I might be throwing away whatever I write, and that’s fine. That’s mostly the case, because keep in mind, I rarely let anyone read them. Every once in a while, I bounce them off of people with whom I am not well acquainted, but for the most part, they don’t see the light of day. Even my significant other does not read them. I know that sounds sad.
If I could ever get comfortable sharing them with anyone, I would be more than happy to send them in. I just really do not think anything I write is all that good. I have thought about picking a dozen so of the stories I have written over the past year (the one I do not despite) and self-publishing them. It would be nice to have a tangible representation of the past year of my life, which, to be honest, I feel like I have wasted, for the most part.
-NH
Marina:
ReplyDeleteI guess you could say I am close to my brother. I mean, we get along well and whatnot. My mom had us ten years apart, though, so the shared experiences are minimal for the most part. We are very different; he is super-athletic and outdoors-oriented, pretty much devotes his time to Boy Scouts. I moved away a couple years ago, so I see him less now; he just turned thirteen, so that alone makes him super-cool. He’s got a social life that is more evolved than mine was when I started college.
I am not sure if he will follow in my footsteps or not. He is very smart and does well in school, and he’s going to excel at whatever he does, but the last time I checked, he wanted to be an airplane pilot and I cannot get on an airplane without flipping out. As for political science and the like, I am not sure if he, as a 13 year old, has become politically aware or anything like that (I know many studies say around the fourth grade, they start to take on the views of the parent as an agent of socialization), but if he has, he has been socialized by my parents, with whom I do not share the same political/religious/whatever views. But hey, I’m sure whatever he thinks now is subject to change. It certainly did with me. I wanted to be a pharmacist in the 6th grade, a minister in the 7th grade, a guitarist in an anarchist punk band (R.I.P. RankResistance) in 10th grade (how‘s that for a 180?), a lobbyist in 12th grade (whoa, there it is again!), a professor/lawyer in college, and now, I am pretty sure I want to be an English teacher. Unless the band gets back together.
-NH
I wouldn't want to leave Athens either. It's a great town! But I promise, Milledgeville has A LOT more to offer than meets the eye.
ReplyDeleteSo you're a decent cook? Keeping with the theme of asking mostly everyone about food, haha, what are your favorite things to cook? Does Kelly like you to cook for her? And just because I'm noisy, and you don't have to answer.. will Kelly be relocating to Milledgeville too? Or will ya'll be doing the pseudo-long distance thing? The Milledgeville-Athens drive is NOT bad if so!
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ReplyDeleteThat is not true. You told me you couldn't handle my request, Blogger.
ReplyDeleteChristine:
I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Athens (oddly enough, the things I hate about Athens are the things most people love. I hate downtown Athens, I hate UGA football and the mayhem that ensues, etc, but I like the location and it has some nice neighborhoods and it's a nice little area of awesome in the middle of nothing.) I am dreading the move to Milledgeville, but yeah, I only see the city one day a week now. I'm sure my opinion will change. If not, it's short term.
Kel is going to stay in Athens. We discussed her coming down with me, and I strongly discouraged her from doing so. She has a full-time job with benefits that she actually loves, so even though doesn't make a lot, it seems silly to uproot from that for a program as brief as this one. Maybe if the distance were greater or the program lengthier, but it isn't even a year. We will manage.
She WILL have to manage without her personal chef during the week though. No clue what she will do then. Anytime we eat at home, I am the ruler of the kitchen (Nick and Kel---fighting to dismante the gender binary one stereotype at a time! Yay!) I enjoy cooking and find it relaxing; I do not have a favorite meal to cook, though. Kelly is a bit particular with what she enjoys, but when I'm cooking for myself, I experiment a bit more. I cook a lot of rice dishes; wok and rice cooker get the most use in my kitchen.
I'll get back to you with my favorite meal to cook. I will probably have a lively debate with Kelly about what to cook in about an hour.
"What do you want?" "I don't care. What do you want?" x 45min = "OK, fine. You get PB&J."
-NH
Hey Nick, I am really into politics too, but I don't get involved like I should. I vote, but I don't help with campaigns or anything. I was wondering, do you get involved in politics, helping with campaigns or other ways? Also would you ever want to lobby for an education agenda?
ReplyDeleteRose:
ReplyDeleteIf you consider yourself "really into politics" there is no minimum that you "should" do because you are sort of already ahead of most of the populace. At least in my opinion. I know it sounds silly, but I honestly believe that if someone looks at the ballot, thinks "I cannot vote for either of these candidates, etc" and stays home, I think that informed decision was just as participatory as casting a ballot or writing a Congressperson (granted, you should still show up for the local elections and the ballot initiatives.
I used to help out more than I do these days. As I said earlier up, I have sort of grown very tired. If you believe in a linear ideological spectrum (you know, liberal left, conservative right, "independents" getting for some reason or the other confused with "moderates"---I don't personally believe in it) then I guess I am somewhere over here (raises left hand). So being from rural Northeast Georgia, it feels futile most of the time. Free-riders' dilemma kicks in: if my person is going to lose without a doubt, why waste my time? If he/she is going to win, I can put my time to better use as well.
I have worked on several campaigns and help out when I can, but I think personal politics outshine electoral politics on a daily basis. In that regard, I am politically active, because I think you cast a vote with every dollar you spend every day. So, while I know it makes little difference in their bottom lines, I consider it political participation to say "I don't agree with X Company's policies, so I will not give them my business." Because I think anyone could arguably make the case that they are the ones running the country anyway.
-NH
Hey Nick!
ReplyDeleteI found a couple of things interesting...my dad has his dental office in Winder so maybe you go to him when you'd rather not smile. His name is Dr. Stephens (obviously) and the smiling thing always gets me because I love to smile, but really it's just something I think people should like doing because you smile when you are happy. So if you think of something happy/funny, I think you could have a great smile. Want to work on it? haha. I bet your mom would love more pictures with smiles! And it might have something to do with me being surrounded by teeth my whole life so it fascinates me more than it should.
(sorry this is so long)
Hey Brittany:
ReplyDeleteI know of your dad's practice, even though I am not one of his patients. Small world. Cool stuff.
I was kind of joking about the showing my teeth. It is not because I am self-conscious of my teeth; I just don't like having my picture taken---never have, as long as I can remember. It always seems so fake, so forced, to stop and pause for a "look how much fun I'm having" moment when I clearly stopped whatever fun I was having to smile for the picture. My mom says it is because I am an "ol' fuddy duddy". So whenever I begrudgingly go over and pose, I tend to always hear "Okay, one more, and this time, open your eyes and show your teeth."
-NH
Have you ever had characters that intrigued or surprised you in your own work? If so, how did they surprise you? What would you advise your students to do if they encountered that situation; let the story run and see where it goes or rein in the characters to follow a pre-conceived plot?
ReplyDeleteLorien:
ReplyDeleteHmm...I don't know. I've definitely had characters who were meant to be auxiliary end up being significant or have a great deal of time devoted to them.
I don't know what the right answer to your second question is (or if there is one). Personally, I would encourage my students to see where it goes. I think until you know yourself as a writer (I most certainly don't), you should just write. If you have a plot in mind, that's fine, but you can always go back and follow a plot, whereas you might not always have that random burst of creativity.
Harry Crews made a point once (not sure of the quote exactly) but he compared the writer to a painter, and how sometimes a painter strives for perfection, but then sometimes a stray bristle on the brush leaves a mark on the painting that wasn't meant to be there, but if you examine it enough, you might find that the mark was the most interesting part of the painting. I like that a lot.
-NH