I'm on the Metro North going backwards. I'm back to school, and it's the fall.
I'm teaching a new course at Yale called Programming as Writing. Today we did some free writing, a constrained writing exercise, and an HTML introduction.
I'm feeling very sleepy right now. But in my haze, I feel already glad to be teaching this term, and specifically to be learning more about teaching itself. If you've talked to me, you know I've been reading about teaching itself lately. I want my class to be more open than it has been in the past. Maybe because I'm bored with myself and want to learn from others, but I also think this will make a better learning environment for everyone. It's also been a while since I've had the opportunity to approach a course from scratch. I like teaching a new course because the learning feels palpable and new. Everyone can learn together.
I would be curious to hear what others thought, but I considered the best parts of the class the constrained writing exercise. In juxtaposition, I wonder if maybe the HTML poem prompt was too open. I guess we will see...
I'm traveling backwards on this train. I'm listening to my Programming as Writing playlist. It's mostly classical music, but otherworldly. We listened to Olivier Messiaen's Fete des belles eaux, which I'd like played at my wedding I suppose, like ambiently almost all the time in the background would be great. One student made an amazing poem describing the song with the constrained writing exercise. We also listened to Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune (but played by Isao Tomita), which I'd definitely like played at my funeral... not to be grim or anything! It's just so beautiful, and something about it feels like the memories of a lifetime swirling around happily and sadly.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone will see this post anytime soon. There are no notifications for me posting here. And people probably thought I dropped off the face of my ellipsis-notebook because I stopped posting for a while. It's strange, though, because it's not like I stopped traveling! All that stopped was the school semester schedule. I suppose I needed regular travel again to want to write in this, for whatever reason.
I actually traveled perhaps the most in my life in a short time period this summer. First I was in San Antonio for 3 days, then Maine for a week, and finally Germany for another week.
Two days ago I returned from Germany. I had never been there before. I spent 5 days in Berlin and 2 days in Hamburg. I'd love to return. Everyone I talked to was great at talking about ideas, and were very open and good listeners. I hung out in parks at night and canals during the day. I walked so much because I wanted to see the boring in-between zones, and because things are so spread out in Berlin. Sometimes I feel people in New York use their social time to vent... because it's not exactly an easy place to live in. Even I vent sometimes, and sometimes I feel whenever I talk about money it makes my life worse.
I talked to my Lyft driver going to New Haven station today about spirituality. He said it's important, because whether you make a little money or a lot of money, if you focus on the physical you will always be miserable. He also said he meditates at least 20 minutes in the morning, before you have anything in your stomach.
In Maine, I saw a lot of snails and hermit crabs, two natural mascots I've been talking a lot about these past few months. I'd never been to Maine before either. The only problem was the bugs. I had so many bug bites! I wonder if any of the Germans noticed.
San Antonio was good too. My design partner Michael and I caught up with the project and mocked up some signs in the physical space. I'm not sure if I've told all of you yet, but we have been working on the identity, website, and signage for a new public art garden in San Antonio scheduled to open Spring 2019. We've both never worked on such a big public space project before, so we're quite excited.
This year, the only other faraway place I'm traveling is Norway. That's next month, around October 19th. I'm giving a workshop and lecture in Stravanger to teenagers.
It's been very fun talking this year, but I'm getting ready to end my "tour".