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.

---

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)

---

…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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

 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