September Mourn

OK, the title of this post is a pretty lame Neil Diamond pun, but it seems to work given the last few weeks.

For one thing, September's arrival pretty much puts a nail in summer's coffin, and while I'm an avowed non-fan of humidity, shorts and volleyball, since I started teaching full-time I've become accustomed to a summer vacation -- or staycation, such as it were. Even though mine was busy in its own right, I welcomed the break from the spring semester's routine, and managed to get a few items crossed off my never-ending to do list.

With September peeking around the corner, my various ducks are beginning to fall into their myriad rows...

A recent bit of good news was getting hired to teach two sections of English composition at McHenry County College. Though I was retained in the eleventh hour (the university has been swamped with a third more incoming students because of its Promise scholarship program) and had to scramble to get my syllabi together in time, everyone has been very supportive and gone out of their way to help me get settled even while juggling their own craziness at the start of a new term. Every English classroom comes equipped with computers and smart electronics -- a luxury I'm not quite used to, but plan to exploit as much as possible. And the students themselves are terrific. Both of my sections are full, and I'm excited to see how this semester goes.

I'll also be tutoring at Northeastern Illinois University, working one-on-one and in small groups with students. Classes start tomorrow. While I'm sorry not to be teaching my own section(s) again this year, I'm curious to see how this flagship tutoring program develops and pleased to be a part of it from the ground floor.

Mid-September I should also begin a new year of poet-in-residence work through The Poetry Center's Hands on Stanzas program. More to come on that front.

Continuing the onslaught of Fun with a Purpose-related news, here's another review and a link to Japanese distribution for our album. The Injured Parties will also be playing this week at Beat Kitchen; the poster, below, is self explanatory.

Finally, the reading celebrating the release of the bilingual Chinese-American anthology, on the no way road to tomorrow, to which I contributed two poems, was held on Friday. It was a great success, and I'm honored to have been a part of this ongoing cultural exchange and experiment.