Save the last slice for me #sol18

Today is the last day of March and this year's blogging challenge. Tomorrow is Easter and April Fools Day.  I decorated for both: put plastic Easter eggs (rocks inside to keep them from blowing away) under the tumbleweed and sat La Calavera Catrina in her Easter apron on the porch.

Now for today's slice, a reflection or what next? If both, I should have started sooner. Last slice indeed. I thought about both, made notes.

#Colorado News: this week from the @CoIndependent

…by way of an experiment to facilitate sharing this weekly Saturday morning update to my Manor Facebook page because this weekly update doesn't come with a permalink and I keep losing track of which day the link appears on the website -- intending to check then forgetting until the next one lands in my email inbox. For now, I'll send to drafts in case I need to edit layout or html code for formatting. If the newsletter displays well without reformatting tweaks, I'll change the setting to publish automatically.

This week's top stories

my penultimate slice for #sol18

…starting (as is oft my wontl) from the end and working backwards: once settled on the word "penultimate" in the footer, I looked for images, visual prompts. Penultimate, a  June 12, 2011, Language Log post by Mark Liberman came up, tagged Linguistics in the comics, it includes panels about students and a teacher using the word -- and 78 comments. I'll share a few panels with commentary. You're on your own for the rest.

❝Sometimes more is less. In Frazz for 6/6/2011, Caulfield is frustrated that Mrs. Olsen is among those who think that the first syllable of penultimate is some kind of emphatic particle

❝Mrs. Olsen is apparently not as dumb as she sometimes seems — though the direction of the difference is always in doubt:

Lagniappe: finding Language Log again. Have another Frazz and Mrs Olsen, Syntactic analysis and folding fitted sheets on me -- or just go straight to the archive for "Linguistics in the comics".

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penultimate slice of pizza

Two Writing Teachers host a weekly Tuesday and an annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC), of which this is the 11th iteration. During March, participants write and share daily blog posts on the TWT blog; then comment on three or more blog posts by other participants. Writing, sharing and commenting, are central both challenges. Read more from this penultimate day. 

entering final stretch #sol18

…yesterday was long, serious and probably not a particularly engaging read, but I needed to get started explaining an archiving structure I developed for my own use that I'd like to prototype for FOECast. Today, entering the final stretch, I'd like to catch my breath, take it easy, indulge in a spot of whimsy before resuming the challenge.

…except the challenge is not a race, it's a community. Everyone who finishes is a winner. Everyone who participates finish or not is a winner (if not this year then another). If it were just about writing a blog post every day for a month, 31 days straight, then commenting wouldn't count but it does...

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Two Writing Teachers host weekly Tuesday and an annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). This is the 11th one. During March, SOLSC participants write and share daily blog posts, and comment on three or more blog posts by other participants. Read today's (March 29, 2018) blog posts here. 

adventures in archiving 2: making the sausage #sol18

…Otto von Bismark once said that laws are like sausages: it's better not to see them being made.  Many internet users feel the same about tech, social media platforms and sharing tools. You can tell by the glazed look in their eyes when you try to explain steps in a process or answer a question they have asked. 

That bring me back to how I process  links I've been collecting, picking up from yesterday's post:

If I can't find that information again, along with related earlier pages that show patterns, whether of change or repetition, then what was the point of saving. My other goal with processing is to clear out links and send them to the cloud faster than I collect them. I'm not doing so well with that part....I was also going to describe processing but my concentration ran out before I could get to it.  

Here's the super short version (and a tentative first draft of prototyping): I collect and aggregate with OneTab, save collections as permalink, tag and save to Diigo, subscribe tag feeds to  InoReader to archive them with access to array of sharing/online publishing options.

oh the excitement of archiving #sol18

What have I done today? I slept more, which is usually a sign that something going around found my ever susceptible respiratory system-- and is best slept through. Besides that, I processed link collections

for #NeverAgain, adjunct faculty, Internet Collection, #Facebookistan (plenty of overlap there), #FOECast, and Class Action Litigation (for a California adjunct group) for digital archiving to the cloud -- hence the cloud image. Blog post title to the contrary, we all know archiving is not exciting -- nor are images for the activity.

sleeping, dreams of writing #sol18

I've had a sleeping problem for some time now. Breathing too. Sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension. How could this not affect writing? I almost didn't register for this SOLSC because of it.

"Sleeping Beauty" surrealist photo art by Adonis Werther

brightening a grey day #sol18

I've been catching up with writing friends -- no projects or research. This morning I was mentally processing yesterday's local meeting. I thought that or something from my morning reading would be the days topic. The day started foggy and stayed grey. I need color ~ flowers, candy. Spring flowers aren't here yet, but a friend in Texas sent me bluebonnet pictures of blooming cacti. Enjoy.

quests and questions #sol18 Day 24

Yet again no idea where I am going. So I'll ramble until something emerges, going Pantser one better. The strategy has a distinguished history older than free-writing.

Scenes from Perceval, from a Medieval illumination
(c. 1330) by Anonymous, Public Domain

I refer to a trope associated with the Arthurian cycle, one of many Cervantes parodies in Don Quixote  

zeugma is not always a rhetorical device #sol18

…today's is a different kind of block, not the absence of impressions but two conflicting sets of impressions churning around, seeking but not achieving resolution, balance. Here in rural Northeast Colorado, I picked up my senior commodities box, went to the dentist for a bridge fitting, out to lunch with my daughter, got a haircut and went to a local church's Men's Pancake Supper. Elsewhere across the country and in my advocacy networks, friends and colleagues were mobilizing for tomorrow's March For Our Lives, but not in this corner of the state.

The state of mind reminds me of the literary device called zeugma from the Greek for 'yoke' -- and unlikely, even jarring joining or yoking of words.

An early spring walk #sol18

I'm feeling better but still behind on email, trying to finish the same one for three days now, any dent I make in archiving re-fills at every turn like Cerridwen's Cauldron of plenty.

when in doubt make lists #sol18

…Not a clue what to write about today. Still under the weather and in wobbly so take it easy mode, I'm less under than yesterday's scary lay me out flat day. But now I need to walk out even if only a short, cautious one -- and not so long or tiring a walk that I am too tired to finish the post, crash and sleep through the deadline.

When in doubt, make a list

taking a sick day, with chickens #sol18

…but not calling in sick because I don't have to…yet another retirement perk…and a future post idea.

…if I needed an excuse though, I'd go with this one…

slices make sandwiches too #sol18

…for lack of a better title. One came to me earlier but left before I wrote it down. It might return or another come but maybe not. It's time to go with whatever ingredients I have at hand.

Sandwich in the footer excepted, I haven't done so well with a visual prompt either. So I'll run with sandwich -- make it a buffet. Ingredients are topics, ideas. Condiments, bread (staff of life or, in this case, format defining genre) and how we combine ingredients is up to both sandwich maker and blogger. Cultural influences and family memories influence choice of ingredients and bread or wrapper. The same could be said for the blogger's choice of topics, ideas, impressions, memories.

A stretch but, in view of the recent challenge, comments could be considered analogous to saying thank you and complimenting the chef

Food for thought indeed.

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Slices make a sandwich

Two Writing Teachers host a weekly Tuesday and an annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). This is the 11th one. During March, SOLSC participants write and share daily blog posts, and comment on three or more blog posts by other participants. Read today's (March 19, 2018) blog posts here. 

Today's slice image is multiple slices stacked (bread, cheese, meat, vegetables, bread) in a sandwich: harmony in diversity, parts are better together than separate, more ingredients = greater complexity, etc. ~ all food for thought.

On long days, commenting, blogging et altria #sol18

…and the rest of my day at home. Turns out yesterday, what with waking, wind, going out for a Manor activity and far too much time was too long a day. I find myself saying that more often lately. Today was definitely one of those. Increased humidity didn't help either. Long days mean taking the next day completely off -- and a long afternoon nap. I bought a pulse oximeter and monitor oxygen levels regularly, especially after walking, on long days and the day after. More than just physical efforts are affected.

On Low Oxygen Levels

As for commenting -- not limited to the mid-SOLSC commenting marathon -- that includes blog keeping, blogging, online discussion, commenting moderation and online feedback.

comments on blog commenting #sol18

…apropos this mid-March commenting challenge. But first, a caveat: because slicers are not my only audience, I need to state what is already obvious to you. The previous one, last weekend, was for the Classroom SOLSC, in which teachers blog with their classes. That challenge was for participants who are not students in classes to post comments on 75 student blogs Saturday through Sunday.

a quiet day at home #sol18

…the view from my back door at the Manor in the style of van Gogh, edited with LunaPic

A day off at home, this may sound strange to the rest of the slicers. Since I'm retired and managing life with pulmonary hypertension, most days are at home days aside from walking as much as I can when weather and breathing conditions permit.

due to an unforeseen schedule crunch #sol18

…the usual late post arrives early. No, I'm not morphing into a Planner (I don't have one) or an Early Morning Slicer. It's post now while the sun is still out or not at all. This morning I worked on research
projects and organizing collections before topics and browser tabs bundled on OneTab took over. I commented on posts -- here and elsewhere. Conversations beat lectures, maybe even stories, hands down and are the best part of blogging, social media and challenges.

Then came the weekly FTTE Forum -- live discussion and text chat. Today's topic was demographics and the future of higher education that economist and Forum guest Nathan Crawe has written about. The book is pricey but here’s a February 11 podcast interview with him.  That still leaves plenty of time in the day for a walk, a short nap and writing later.

I had also signed up for a 5:30 pm Learning Design meet-up -- more education geekery -- this one here in Colorado -- on tech innovations and designs. One of the hosts is in the #FOECast project too. Still plenty of time or so I figured. That was before my daughter called after a week holed up working at home, not calling and wanting to take me out to dinner later. She's coming around 7:30 pm. From her tone of voice, I can tell she's in a mood to talk. It won't be an early meeting.

I'd been reading six word memoir posts and thinking about trying them here. That's now more like a necessity. Tomorrow I expect to be back slicing late...

long day
tired eyes
close early

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Two Writing Teachers host a weekly Tuesday and an annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). This is the 11th one. During March, SOLSC participants write and share daily blog posts,  and comment on three or more blog posts by other participants. Read today's (March 14, 2018) blog posts here. 

Today I'm going with my 2017 "31 Day Writing Streak" badge to remind that what I did last year I can do again this year, even on days like today. 

Would have been about #FOECast #sol18

…that was then, this is now. I set the post up this morning for today to be sliced as a #FOECast day that would also encourage teachers to check out the project, participate, add input. Despite an initial focus on higher education, the initial week of brainstorming brought up the importance K-12 to "furturing education." I'm working something resembling a prototype based on the interrelated research and archiving projects

Here's the most recent FOECast update and more readings. I'll spare you my full collection for now but hope to get back to to the subject later this month when I've got a better handle on prototyping. Some of my InoReader html clips and bundles might qualify.

Then my sorry rural connection told me around 8 pm this evening that my Blogger dashboard was not available. Eventually, it was. Everything you've read about rural bandwidth issues is true, no exaggeration. So this is it. For now. Not the "future of education" yet, but we're all still working on.  Maybe my prototype should include a bandwidth emergency plan. Together. IMO that includes interested education bloggers and slicers.

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Two Writing Teachers host a weekly Tuesday and an annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge  (SOLSC). This is the 11th annual challenge. During March, SOLSC participants write and share daily blog posts,  and comment on three or more blog posts by other participants. Read today's (March 14, 2018) blog posts here. Most participating bloggers are K-12 teachers, often blogging with their classes.

Yesterday I blogged as a resident in a small town senior public housing community. The roles overlap -- intersect, if you will. This blog is not without it's advocacy role either, although less here than on other blogs, notably precarious life & times. All include education, information, and advocacy.

March potluck & residents meeting at the Manor, #sol18

Manor Commons, tables ready for March potluck

Aside from morning media online, today was an at home day: the monthly potluck followed by a bi-monthly meeting of the tenants council, known as Happy Homesteaders, at High Plains Manor, Yuma Housing Authority.  I took my cell phone to catch a few shots.  The events were already on the local calendar I maintain for Manor residents. The day before, I posted a reminder on my community Facebook page, Life in the Manor, that included links to an agenda, minutes from the last meeting and a copy of the current by-laws. All will stay online for residents to refer to.

#intersectionality is everywhere #sol18

…but what is intersectionality anyway and how does it fit into a teachers' blogging challenge? It's part of...

...intersectionality is an analysis related to identity, not an identity in itself. Everyone has multiple identities. Systems of hierarchy have been created around our identities, and the combinations (or intersections) of those systems affect how life goes for us. Some of these identities give us a leg up, while others push us a rung down the ladder. The combination of identities can compound (or diminish) advantage or compound (or relieve) harm, and there are perhaps endless variations. The point of intersectional practice is to look at all these possible combinations of privilege and vulnerability, rather than just stopping with the ones that apply to us, whoever we are. (from "How To Do Intersectionality" by Rinku)

deadlines, schedules #sol18

Daylight Saving Time means a day or two, maybe even a week if I'm lucky, of not waking up too early -- that's what I call 5 am, especially when I can't get back to sleep. Still morning as I start writing, too early for late slicing owls unless thinking counts as planning. Call it mental free-writing. Writing down random thoughts as they occur could/should bypass/forestall the continual forgetting of ideas that come early but disappear by the time I am ready (or remember) to blog them. My plan is to set up footer, write those random thoughts, add image and, when the deadline looms, blog whatever I have.

Blogging English: blogging, moderating comments and comment spam

Blogging English: blogging, moderating comments and comment spam

in defense of rambling #sol18

Once again I'm not sure what I'll be blogging about -- rambling until I find a subject or one finds me. Until then, it's another ramble, or as Thoreau would have it, a saunter. This country lane looks like promising. So many words for walking in different modes and settings -- saunter, flâner, promenade, ramble, stroll, pasear, wander, amble and more -- all walking.

Day 9 ramblings, another #sol18 Pantser

Yet another day puttering on-line, researching and curating links for a bullying and related social isolation project, catching up with local and education social media, worrying (albeit intermittently) about fissures in auto-sharing system -- broken by a long nap that my body must have needed as much as my eyes did.

About the eyes, yesterday (or maybe even the night before) a massive fleet of floaters moved into my left eye field of vision. I rigged up a makeshift patch, hauled out the post-cataract surgery dark glasses and have been avoiding direct daylight. Sleep helped for a while, dark glasses more though. Typing wearing dark glasses in low light is a challenge. My touch typing skills are limited. Maybe the practice I'm getting now will help. Please excuse typos missed in editing...

I might still write about the rest but in others posts -- you can never have too many fall back topics...

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Two Writing Teachers host a weekly Tuesday and an annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). This is the 11th Annual SOLSC. During March, participants write daily blog posts, share them on the TWT blog and comment on three or more blog posts by other participants. Read more of today's blog posts here. 

a morning #sol18 ramble:#IWD2018 & other digital flânerie

International Women's Day images quotes more | Shayari in Hindi 2018

Another open ended post without a plan, but the difference is starting it in the morning instead of at the last minute. I can call it a morning ramble and run with another favorite metaphor ~ flânerie. Probably the overarching metaphor in my dissertation, I even have a blog named the contrary flâneuse. 

Virtual, visual, verbal flânerie through scenic, human, and cultural byways ~ small town space, open space, wild space, city space, cyberspace, un-space. Baudelaire's Paris it's not; 'la chambre à deux" perhaps, but still its own kind of microcosm.

International Women's Day was a natural destination, with much to see along the way.

mystery meeting #sol18

No plan today: I can't count on my inner owl to come to the rescue because I'm off to community meeting this evening and can't count on the writing level coherence to blog later. The coherence needed for writing runs low as I tire, which comes upon me increasingly earlier and with less provocation. With no flight plan and too early for owls to be out, rambling on (on a wild goose chase, flying blind) about the day is my last resort.

Note the confluence of flying or feathered images. Do I have a potential theme here, a metaphor to stretch to a breaking point before crashing?

The meeting itself, hosted by the Colorado Health Foundation and described as a Community Dialog, was something of a mystery: no notice was published or posted locally but went out by closed email list. I heard about the meeting topic and the date at second hand but not the time or location. Another area meeting with a similar name was scheduled for just a few days later and publicly announced. The events seemed as though they might or should be connected but weren't. Not knowing made me all the more determined to suss it out.

flying by the seat of my pants #sol18…

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Ways of Flying (Follies) from the Google Art Project

This morning I thought I had a plan, with options to spare. As the day wore on, fatigue took over and brain fog rolled in as my oxygen levels dropped. I picked the Pantser badge because I would be writing "flying by the seat of my pants." or without a plan, just improvising as I go along. 

When the platform software wouldn't cooperate with embedding the badge image the way I wanted, I took that as an omen and ditched the badge. I'll use it another time.

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The 11th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC) is hosted by Two Writing Teachers. Read more of today's blog posts here.

Slicing the staff of life #sol18

…El Almuerzo by Diego Velázquez (Public Domain)

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…Slicing it one day at a time brings me to day five of Two Writing Teachers' 11^th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). 

Today's life slice is bread: the staff of life, sustenance beyond just  food —“bread and butter.” Bread or dough is cash, plain and simple. Breaking bread with others is more than sharing a meal: joining in and sustaining the spirit — a fitting image for the spiritual nourishment of sharing words in a writing community. 

Read more about about bread as a global staff of life and even poetry: Pablo Neruda's "Oda al pan" and César Vallejo's "El pan nuestro" (among others) because "poetry, like bread, is for everyone." (from "Como Tú" by Roque Dalton, translation by Jack Hirschman)

a minimalist #solsc18

…10 minute variety, ne plus ultra for the 4th day of my 4th SOLSC . Last year I posted every day of March, my first and so only completion. Year one was close, shut down by computer problems in final stretch -- close but no cigar. The next one barely made it out of the starting gate. That was to be the heart of today's post, inspired by Puro Veronica's day two blog post.

Such are the best laid plans, even an early start. Then the day went south. I'd write more but time's up. There's always tomorrow. That's life and why this slice of it is so thin.

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Welcome to day four of Two Writing Teachers' 11^th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). 

Slicing images take a swerve from TWT's traditional, perhaps even trademarked orange slice. Other slices: other fruit, bread, pizza, fruit slice puzzles, cheese ...

in transition: winter winding down, spring moving in #sol18

…Yes, there are still isolated patches of snow on the ground but also signs of spring ~ lengthening days, more sunshine, buds on leafless trees.

3rd Avenue, toward Main from High Plains Manor

Today is a break from the projects I wrote about and will return to blogging about. I have a prototype to draft but today did laundry for a convalescing friend. It's always spring in the Manor laundry room thanks to local muralist Monica King.

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Welcome to day three of Two Writing Teachers' 11^th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). This is my 4th year to give it a shot. Last year was my first to complete the challenge by posting every day of March. My first attempt was close, the next not even close. That will be my day four topic -- courtesy of Puro Veronica's day two blog post. 

Because completion is important, I'm displaying my 31 days badge today. It's not everything though. The conversation is: finishing or not, that I can still be part of that by commenting on other blog posts and blogging on Tuesdays. So is just writing and being ever ready to start another streak.

after diving in, dogpaddling

… is better than sinking. Here's my #FOECast introduction, posted to the Slack group. There's another 

-- not too different -- for the two week pop-up course that just finished. Back when I was teaching, I updated my bio every semester but haven't since retiring. 

Thought I had [introduced myself] but couldn't remember. According to the files archive, I have not. I'm not used to using Slack (so many platforms, so little time) but will work on that. 

I'm a retired community college writing and ABE/GED instructor, and an independent, unaffiliated Guerrilla Educationist (self-titled) now living in Yuma Colorado (but not from here). I'm active locally and online. 

Before retiring I taught at a UNM branch campus and online. Later I set up and ran social media for a national adjunct organization and then for National Adjunct Walkout Day in 2015. Graduate school and teaching college came late. UL Lafayette (English) and UC Davis (Comparative Literature) followed an involuntary 25+ year absence from higher education working a number of jobs not even remotely academic. During that extended gap time, I never stopped reading and learning. As a result, I sometimes feel like an outsider in academic groups -- but *never* in Bryan's FTTE ensemble -- and may on occasion seem prickly or comment in a style that sits cross-wise.   

Anyway, I care deeply about the future of education and am happy to see so many new and familiar faces here

My involvement carries over to the community because,

FOEcast is a new Future of Education and everything community that is as global, cross-sector and systems-level as possible. Its aim is to enable the positive conversations and solutions that learners from K-12, Higher Ed, Vocational Ed and workplaces need so we can thrive no matter what comes our way... and you're invited!

More... and, by extension, Yuma is part of it. Ready or not, welcome to the future.

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Welcome to day two  of Two Writing Teachers' 11^th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). This is my 4th year to give it a shot. Sometimes I make it; sometimes I don't. If not, I can still join the conversation by commenting on other blog posts and blog on Tuesdays. 

Now that the official slice is in my sidebar, I'll post different images here and vary the copy too. Footers don't have to be canned boilerplate. I'm starting with the late night slicer version because that's what I am. No matter my intentions or how early I start, I invariably post at the last minute, barely under the wire.

Taking a late dive into SOLSC

… #sol18, dangit, darnit, dagnabbit and even dammit but not to fugeddaboutit. I did it. Signed up March daily slice challenge. A blog post. Every day of the month. What was I thinking? Was I unconsciously looking for an excuse to duck my return to blogging at precarious life & times? Blogging and other writing blocks can be complicated.

More "fuggedaboutit" images if you're interested.

What else? Besides life at the Manor in Yuma Colorado, that is? Getting started with #FOECast, keeping up with #NeverAgain wrapping up #engageMOOC. That's on top of ongoing standing collections. Today, in addition to the above, I saved and bookmarked substantial ones for higher education and libraries. Other standing collections include (but are not limited to adjuncts, academic labor, race, labor, A.I., bots, precarious life, journalism, internet, social media and so on. I have the rest of the month to write about all that and more...if I last that long.

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 Welcome to day one  of Two Writing Teachers' 11^th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge! This is my 4th year to give it a shot. Sometimes I make it; sometimes I don't. If not, there are still Tuesdays