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Finals Paper - by KT Chen

4/29/2019

I have spent the last three weeks trying to write a research paper.

I'm halfway finished.

It's due Thursday.

I have read tons of stuff, but consolidating it into something worth reading is dreadfully difficult.

6,000 words of creative writing takes me two or three days. 6,000 words of research writing? No idea. I'm still writing.

And this is why I'm a creative writer and not an academic one.

Go forth and write!

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10 Days - by KT Chen

4/22/2019

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My class schedule this semester was absolutely crazy. 16 hours: two literature courses with intense reading schedules (14 novels! 30+ critical pieces about said novels!), two workshop classes ... one with an intense writing schedule (150+ pages). It was insane.

And then there's the events of the semester, also crazy: a polar vortex, two ice storms, a graduate student worker strike, and, possibly, a faculty strike (depending on how bargaining goes today, they may start striking tomorrow).

I don't regret any of it, but it's not over yet. 10 days. I expect to receive a paper back today, marked up for revisions, finish discussion of two novels this week, present my paper to the class next week, and turn in two final drafts next week to wrap up my semester. 10 days. That's it. Break neck, full speed, all the way to the end of the semester.

I promised myself, back in February, when I realized just how intense this semester was going to be, that next semester I wouldn't take 16 hours ever again. I would take a nice leisurely 9, or maybe 12. You want to know how many I have signed up for right now? 16.

I don't know why I do this to myself. Really.

Go forth and write!

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Metamorphosis - by KT Chen

4/15/2019

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One thing my novel writing workshop has caused me to do is to actually sit down and write.

My first book about my job as a Magnet Coordinator was more cathartic than anything else. I needed to write it just to have an outlet for all the wild and crazy stuff those parents did to get their kids into my school. When the recent stories of rich people buying their kid's way into colleges hit the media, I wasn't surprised. I lived it. I saw it. I knew the lengths to which a parent would go.

I also privately scoffed at the schools that participated in the rouse. Weak. They were weak. It takes a special kind of strength to stand up and say no, and mean it, in the face of great temptation, threat, and opposition.

I digress.

My second book, Ring of the Tax Collector, written the same year as my first, was a real story, with characters, themes, and a plot. I was very goal oriented with it. I wrote a chapter every day or two, until two months later it was done. Then I went through the hard work of revising it and getting it self-published.

When I started the sequel to Ring of the Tax Collector, I had a definite, specific ending in mind. Now that I'm there, I'm pages away from what should be the end ... the ending that was so clear when I started may or may not work now.

As with all creative projects, things morph into new and unexpected things as the project is shaped and refined.

I'm embracing that as much as I can.

And I'm trying to find an ending ... the same one refined, a new one, I don't much care. I'd just like one that is spectacular and fitting. Hopefully, that's not too much to ask.

Go forth and write!

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Deaf Etiquette? - by KT Chen

4/8/2019

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I generally work out without wearing my hearing aids, which makes gyms a relatively quiet place for me.

A few days ago, a guy came in who, apparently, took my lack of ear buds to mean that I would enjoy having a conversation with him.

I was "running" on the elliptical, and I didn't notice his attempts to talk to me until he started to wave his arms. I have no idea how long he'd been trying to get my attention prior to that. I gathered by his level of frustration, he had made several attempts. I signed to him that I was deaf, and went on about my "running."

For most folks in a gym, that's the show stopper, and they'll go on about their business and leave me be.

But that wasn't good enough for him. He continued to wave at me until I looked over at him, and then he wanted to have a conversation with me.

Sidebar: I'm generally a friendly person, but like, I don't know, everybody, I guess, when I'm in the gym, I just want to do my thing and leave. It's not exactly a happy place for me. More like necessary evil.

So this guy, who doesn't know sign language, wanted to tell me about his boy who is deaf, or hearing impaired, who wears hearing aids, or maybe has a cochlear implant. If I'm fuzzy on the details, I apologize, lip reading is sketchy at best, and I only have that and the guy's made up signs to go by. I signed to him and asked if his boy knew sign language.

Sidebar: This was a loaded question. I knew it was a loaded question when I asked it. There are all sorts of opinions out there about if and when a child with hearing impairment should be taught sign language. I am solidly in the camp that they should be, at the earliest possible time.

The guy told me that his kid knew some signs, and then proceeded to show me the signs his son knew. The problem was that he was signing them wrong. Instead of signing "please" he signed "sorry." Instead of signing "mother" he signed "orange juice." Instead of signing "father" he signed "asshole."

At that moment, I could have gotten off the elliptical and taught the guy the correct signs. I could have had an entire conversation with him about how sign language is a precise language, not just random hand motions. How ASL isn't a language that is used instead of English, but it is an entire, complete language all by itself, with a rich culture and history.

I'm not exactly sure what deaf etiquette was in the situation. I mean, seriously, what are my responsibilities, as a deaf person, to the public at large when they want to engage with me about deafness in general?

I don't know.

And sometimes, I don't want to carry the deaf banner for the world. I just want to finish my work out in peace.

Go forth and write!

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No Joke - by KT Chen

4/1/2019

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The Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) at my University is on strike.

The upshot is, these student workers get paid $18,000 a year, pay the University $2,000+ in fees each year, and do so in exchange for work (teaching or research). Also, their contract ran out five months ago, and a new one hasn't been agreed upon; hence the strike.

What the GEO is asking for is a raise, fee waivers, and a fair contract.

Somehow Bernie Sanders was told / found out about the strike, and tweeted a message of support on March 25 (2019 @ 9:02 AM). I re-tweeted this and got into a short back-and-forth with a guy on the original thread.

I'm not sure if the guy was just trolling whatever Bernie supported, or if he really thinks it's okay for a University with billions of dollars in their budget to steamroll student workers. Either way, I've thought a lot about it for the past six days and the best I can come up with is that the guy is a symptom of elitism in American society. Rather than seeing students as people trying to improve their lives (and, through teaching, the lives of others), his argument was that they "knew what they were getting into" when they "signed up for it" and they should "get another job" or "get a different job" if they didn't like it. (The second job part is not allowed, by the way).

The problem with that kind of thinking, as I see it, is that it ignores the need for workers to be able to hold their employers accountable for their working conditions. -- Seems especially important, since the current government is trying to roll back all sorts of protections.

I support the GEO on their endeavor and I hope the University comes to it's senses soon.

Go forth and write!

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Finals Paper - by KT Chen

10 Days - by KT Chen

Metamorphosis - by KT Chen

Deaf Etiquette? - by KT Chen

No Joke - by KT Chen

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