Conversations At Wormhole Electric: The Older Things in Life and Camp Nanowrimo

Don,

Time seems to have gotten away from me – I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I loved your entry about the iguanas! They have always had such a fierce-some look to them but I know that they are probably very gentle. Your picture of Fast Eddie from one of your previous blogs makes me believe that they are larger in real life than I expected them to be.

You are right about the CGI effects – a lot of my students are learning how to be animators and they are quite literally tied to their keyboards. In many ways it's sad because they are not getting the knowledge that comes from experience. Yes, CGI effects are faster to do, more cost-effective, less stressful, create a more realistic picture... But I believe that a set builder is a builder – they've rubbed elbows with splintered wood and have the smell of sawdust all over them.

Without that, they are bunch of kids with a lot of experience moving the mouse. Real size and shape escapes them.

I had to laugh at your description of a "scruffy shop" filled with typewriters. I took my granddaughters to one of the museum here in town and they had a display of typewriters, old television sets, remote devices, and telephones. My granddaughters had no idea what any of those things were. They were able to identify a record player because their grandfather has yet to give his up. We even have a collection of vinyl records. We've never played them for the kids because the kids bounce around a lot and we don't want to scratch and skipped the records. Maybe someday they will have an appreciation for the "older things " in life.

I know that when we talk to Zack and Honey, now living in China, in the background we always see the 20 L bottle of water. There was actually one talk that was interrupted by the water delivery service. We have taken to using a pitcher/Brita system here at the house. It sure has taken the aftertaste out of the water. It amazes me that we did not realize that water had an aftertaste until we started using the filtered water. It sure does make the coffee smooth.

Mayan ruins butting up next to a golf course! Fantastic! Your description of it and how the light shines through the doorways and the windows reminded me of lot of Stonehenge. It fascinates me that civilizations halfway around the world from each other will build monuments that accomplish the same thing.

The natural spring fed "cenote" sounded like something I could use at the end of every day. I'm not sure I would like the idea of little fish eating the dead skin on my feet – I guess it would be okay as long as they just stuck to the dead skin. I wonder if it tickles? I've been reading about the Yucatán Peninsula being a scuba diver's haven. I have seen some impressive underwater pictures of the underwater caverns, rivers, and caves. I would love to see them – not sure I could be a scuba diver.

Here at home I've been busy with midterms – getting the tests ready and then grading them. That seems to be the bane of teaching – the grading. But it's done for now. I have a slew of research papers coming in early next week which will keep me busy. I've also been cleared for a pilot program through my remedial class. I'll be working with a gentleman who is completing his doctorate and we will be setting up a weekly one half-hour program that will help students establish organizational techniques and monitor them through the rest of the quarter. The Dean was excited about the program and rubber-stamped it. Now I have to do is get him to pay for the supplies that we need…

I've also been working on the background research for my next nonfiction book: Financing a College Education and Paying It Back. I'm not sure about the title as I have not done a word effectiveness search yet. But I do have some fascinating information that I'm working my way through. I also joined the April Camp Nanowrimo. This is a takeoff on the November Write a Novel challenge. The camp starts in April and I will have one month to write my goal of 20,000 words in 30 days. This is equal to two pages a day. If I've got my research done and my outline is completed, I should be able to do this. I am really looking forward to the challenge.

If it works, I will join the July Camp Nanowrimo and start writing my new Tracker book. I've been pulling a lot of the old individual Tracker stories that I have and they will become the first chapter of this book. I have one Tracker story that will be the first chapter in the second book. I think I can write this series in two books. I'm not sure I'll join the November Nanowrimo. I think I need to see how I do with the April and July challenges.

So on Tuesday I delivered a 4 pound cast – it was cut off my arm, and my left thumb was free! And it was stiff, the wrist has hurt all week, and I have to say that physical therapy hurt a lot. But the waiting is over, I am back to using my hand – probably more than I should – so I'm trying to temper myself. But it does feel good to be able to wiggle my fingers and touch my thumb to my little finger!

I've been thinking about the limericks and I've decided to work off of the punchline word at the end of the fifth line. Not sure exactly how this is going to work, but I'll give it my best shot.

Using your quote from Mark Twain, this is what I came up with:

Though he was tired,

God worked hard and wired

The creature he called man.

Lacking an attention span,

Man went his own way and got fired.

Is every line supposed to start with a capital? I didn't find anything that suggested punctuation and capitalization. Any ideas?

Have a great week!

Carolyn

all images downloaded from Google images

Fig 1 -- retrieved from Iguanas Eating And Way Of Living Pictures and Images

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