After All

Looks like my Intro to Creative Writing class is going to make its enrollment after all. Better keep working on my syllabus--also, I need to shop for summer teaching clothes, which I don't have. Details, details.

why I am invisible

...because I am finishing my final grading (yes, I am definitely a slowpoke). AND--I am working on my syllabus for Intro to Creative Writing--which may not be held after all, as its enrollment is at 19 students now, and "they" need as close to 25 as possible. I'll likely know this week. Still, even if it gets canceled, the offer meant everything to me. Really. Thanks, Dr. X!

As for the fires, they are getting contained. I do not know if the beautiful house I rented on Browns Valley Road in Corralitos is still there. It was up near the top, close to the junction of Hazel Dell Road, where a lot of the fire happened.

I have heard absolutely nothing in the news regarding Michael McClish, either, as the story probably got shufffled aside due to reportage on the wildfires.

Back to grades, back to the syllabus, and so the day ends.

I'm Fine

People have been emailing, asking me if I am okay. I live in Santa Cruz County, where terrible wildfires are burning, but I am fine--I live across the county from the fires. Still, a beautiful house I once rented in Corralitos is in the evacuation zone, and we have friends in that area, too. It is very frightening and I am glad the wind has died down, as that was compounding the problem. Keep checking with the Sentinel (click on the title for the link) to keep updated. And thanks to everyone who has asked if I'm okay!

And the Readings Are....

For the fiction segment of the class:

Daniel Halpern's The Art of the Story

For poetry:

A Book of Luminous Things, a terrific poetry anthology edited by Czeslaw Milosz

For creative nonfiction:

In Brief by Judith Kitchen (if I had time to find another anthology I could read in time before June, I would have used a different book, but this suffices for a summer class).

And, of course:

Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott (thanks, Lynn).

I was a little shocked, when Internet surfing and trying to find books, that international anthologies are so hard to find--there is not one I can find for creative nonfiction which doesn't feature mainly North American writers. Maybe it's a peculiarly American genre (I know it's not, but it seems so).

Now, let's just hope that the class fills!
I've never been so excited about going to San Jose in the summer, ever.


And now, the syllabus....


It is my eldest son's (known here as The Eldest) 26th birthday today. He has turned out to be a wonderful, hardworking person, with a terrific job and a wonderful life that he deserves--so happy birthday, Eldest! You're a great guy and I am very happy that you chose me to be your mom.

creative

In the grand tradition of everything happening in my life at the last minute, I've been asked to pick up the Intro to Creative Writing course this summer at the alma mater.
I said yes right away, then about an hour later, I panicked (but didn't decline the class). I've never taught this course before! I was a grad assistant a zillion years ago for my thesis director with it, so I know I can at least function in that capacity...but what on earth am I going to teach? In some sense, I teach creative writing all the time anyway, with the daily writing prompts and all--and as Mr. Strega said, I have something like twenty books on creativity and writing--surely I can figure out something from them.

Any suggestions out there for texts, books, stories, assignments, whatever?

Ack--and it starts soon!!

California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

I have been hoping and waiting for this day to happen. I always felt that marriage, if you wanted it, was a basic right that no one should be denied. I hope today's ruling is permanent.

In Court Today

I went to Santa Cruz Superior Court to see if they would arraign Michael McClish today. It was a very cold, gray day--the Superior Court building is also gray, so the whole atmosphere was that of coldness and mutedness. The metal detector went off when someone ahead of me walked through it, and the sheriffs couldn't turn it off--so it beeped for what seemed ages. While waiting outside Department 7, I noticed a man outside with long gray hair; he wore a baggy suit and was sweeping the sidewalk with total concentration.

I thought there would be a crowd in the courtroom, but there were just a few people, including a cameraman. I walked in and there was McClish, sitting in the back of the prisoner dock; he wore a bright orange jumpsuit and was shackled. I have not seen him since just before Asha Veil died. He looked thinner, with more gray in his hair, his face a lot more angular.

The unnerving thing was that McClish would not stop staring at me--perhaps he was only staring at the little group of people from the San Lorenzo Valley, or the cameraman (eventually a second cameraman entered the courtroon)--but he gave the impression of staring right at me, and in a way that was hard to read--a combination of anger and severe stress. At one point, he looked down at his shackled hands.

MClish's case went first; I could barely hear the attorneys, so I am glad that there was an article posted this morning (please click on the link for the full story). McClish refrained from entering a plea; I heard something about attorneys and, after reading the Sentinel story, discovered that McClish needs to be appointed a lawyer.
He will also be held without bail, which is appropriate, since he is already serving time for rape, and he is also being charged with two homicides (with the "special circumstances" of committing a double murder, which makes him eligible for the death penalty). He will return to court May 22nd.

Eventually, McClish was led out of the courtroom, and several people, including myself, got up and left.

Seeing McClish was disturbing, but the amount of domestic violence cases being heard that day was also disturbing. One has to wonder how domestic violence related to the McClish case, beyond the rape and murder charges.

So, the process of justice has begun, in its gradual way.

Press Conference on McClish arrest

I just wanted to post a link to information from the Sentinel regarding today's press conference. The slide show is particularly interesting, but heartbreaking, as it includes a photo or two of Asha showing off her beautiful pregnant belly.

This makes it all happen again in the consciousness, in some terrible way. Do some wounds never heal?

Michael McClish arrested in Asha Veil killing

It probably comes as no suprise that Michael McClish, already a convicted rapist, has been arrested today in the murder of Asha Veil and her unborn daughter, Anina. Asha died what was likely a terrible death, strangled and bludgeoned, her body left near a rural road in Ben Lomond, as indifferently as someone might leave a bag of trash. But Asha wasn't this--she was a lovely, kind human being, excited about the birth of her daughter, looking towards her future.

Now we have another piece of this terrible puzzle in place. With all my heart, I wish things were different--I wish Asha and her baby were alive, just enjoying the world. But they aren't, and the reason they aren't is an egregiously terrible thing.

ARREST MADE IN THE ASHA VEIL CASE

Thank you to the anonymous person, and to Kate, who wrote me and let me know that an ARREST has been made in the Asha Veil murder case. They have not yet named a suspect in the case, but there should be a press conference today at two and the murderer will be arraigned tomorrow in Santa Cruz Superior Court, which I intend to go to if I can. I will be in my class teaching when the press conference happens, so please check the Sentinel website and any local television and radio programs. I'll try to get back to my office before I leave campus if I can to do a short update.

We have been waiting a long time for this.

I Love Mr. Strega

....because he just brought me a White Raven chai while I was in the middle of grading papers.

Eight more to go for tonight...almost done!

End of Semester Haiku

So many essays!
An Everest of words
I climb by grading.