Have you ever woken up and seen a dragon outside of your window? I DID!! I don't know when he came into the neighborhood (maybe on all the wind and rain we had in NYC yesterday...), bur sure 'nuf - there he was! Can you see him? He's very green and leafy looking, and his wings are buried in the tree...but there he is! See his fangs (lower left-hand corner)?
Good discussions with folks. I felt clear, able to move at my own pace. The debrief with my testing guy went very well. We talked a lot about my personal leadership challenges in relation to the BBBSA culture. The question I must really reflect on is whether BBBSA will allow me to make the changes I need. I know that the people, individually, will support me (many of you have already begun to step into the role). But the culture...can I make the changes in the BBBSA environment? Much to think about....
Exciting News! I was accepted by the Institute of Children's Literature! I'll need to make a decision about this by next week, but if I decide to do it, it's a remote tutoring-style learning opportunity. You spend the year working on a variety of writing assignments that are submitted to you tutor for editing and commentary. They gave me an interesting tutor. She's published a series of non-fiction books on historical places and one sci-fi book for young adults. I think I was assigned to her because my writing goal is a series: Stanley and Moose. I have two outlined and four more identified. I would finish the program with 6 college credits, several manuscripts, and letters to publishers ready to go.
When I told Judy about this (and my comedy sketch writing course that starts in 2 weeks), she looked worried and surprised! She kept asking how I would manage all of that and work. I looked her straight in the eye and said, "this was intentional on my part". The fact that I lost all life-balance means that I have to be sure I have some commitments outside of work that I can honor in order to make sure I'm getting my needs met. Judy said it made sense to her, but I could see she's still a bit worried.
The Institute is an at-your-own-pace program, and allows for extensions, leaves, etc. I feel certain I can make it work. It would allow me to indulge in something I enjoy, yet challenge me to take a risk and stretch myself in a new way...it's a creative outlet and would help me to turn-off from work. It also means discipline and setting boundaries around work. I think it's this or a true 9-5 job...do those exist anymore?
I hope to have a decision about BBBSA by Monday...in the meantime, time to go check the mail then finish up my latest book, "Eats, Shoot & Leaves," by Lynne Truss:
A panda walks into a cafe. he orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why?" asked the confused waiter, as the padna makes toward the exit. the panda produces a badly puncturated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explaination.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like animal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
I'm reading it as part of research I'm doing for an AlmostNearlyReady article, due out next week. In the meantime - IT'S A HOOT! The author is a Brit, so how can this not be good! She has my humour!
"Now, there are no laws against imprisoning apostrophes and making them look daft. Cruelty to punctuation is quite unlegislated: you can get away with pulling the legs off semicolon; shriveling question marks on the garden path under a powerful magnifying glass; you name it...Too many jobs have been heaped upon this tiny mark, and - far from complaining - the apostrophe has seemingly requested "More weight", just like that martyrish old codger in Arthur Miller's The Crucible...."
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