Woodworking Project One: A Bed for a Couch

A couple months my dad gave me his old Montgomery Wards Radial Arm Saw. The thing used to scare the hell out of me as a boy, but for years it has sat in various garages before ending up in mine. I think what scared me was the WHIIIRRRRR it made as it ate 2x4 after 2x4, and then as the blade slowed down there was a harsh metallic sound as the blade caught on the table or fence and came to a stop.

Well. I ain't scared of it no more. I played around with it a few weeks back. Cleaned it up and lubricated the riser and other parts. The first night I ran it there was that familiar WHIIIRRRRR followed by my maniacal laugh.

The first project I used it for is creating a platform bed frame for my good buddy Allison (I call her couch...but that's another story.) She's got a shit box frame with a shit mattress which has been making for a shit back. So after doing some research, I found this design here and tweaked it a bit. Instead of the long 2x4 supports along the outside of the slats, I moved them in about 18" on each side of center. I also drilled in stops at the head and foot of the bed to keep the mattress from moving. The legs are two 1x6x18 that are drilled together and then drilled to bed frame.

It took forever. But it was fun. Allison helped with the drilling and clamping. We began at nine, took a long lunch, and finished up somewhere around four or five. It was a great Sunday project that didn't cost too much ($80 for materials) and was a good way to spend time with the Couch. The celebratory Fat Tires at the end of the project tasted amazing.

The saw held up fine. It's still not cutting as straight as I'd like and I don't know how to figure in the kerf in my measurements, but overall I was happy with it. I'll probably be using it again soon to make one of these for Jen and I after I finish comp exams. Or a fishing rod holder. Or an herb planter. Or a...

Teacher's "Class Went South Blues"

Disclaimer: this will probably seem ranty.

Today I had one of my worst teaching days at NMSU. I was a little less prepared for class than usual (which normally verges on anal-retentive.) I turned the class over to questions about the reading. Quiet. Crickets. Nervous shuffling in the seats. It was obvious they hadn't read. But instead of having them read and write about the selection in class, I decided to embark on a twenty minute monologue about the reading, complete with forays into Wikipedia, SEC Football, the vagaries of fly fishing, and the absurd debate over Obama's nationality. It was brutal.

I'd normally let it slide and just focus on a better class next time; however, more than a few in the class seemed to take pride in not reading. Like it was a badge of honor. And that just burned me. I know Graff, Giroux, and other scholars have written about anti-intellectualism directed at academics, but the majority of students in this class (and the last couple classes I've taught) have at best indifference to learning anything new about language and improving their writing. And I'm not asking them to read The Communist Manifesto: I'm asking them to read 15-20 pages of material about writing.

Some options for the next class:

1. Quiz
2. Kick students out who haven't read (though I've already done that once this semester)
3. Class time devoted to reading the selection
4. Alabama Ass Whoopin'--but in a calm, congenial, and collegial manner.
   
5. ?

The thing I'm worried about is that a fair amount of these students really do need help with their writing, and I'm fairly certain that reading (any reading) can help. I'm worried that they'll be under-prepared for the writing demands of courses in their majors, and in a selfish way, I'm concerned what their 200 and 300 level instructors will say about their writing--and my teaching--when they don't prepare for that class and submit the kind of work I've received in the last couple weeks.

Fixing to Hit the Road

Jen and I are finishing our preparations for our month-long trip where we won't spend more than three nights in any one place. It'll be fun and I imagine exhausting at some point too. We're beginning our trip in Albuquerque with her folks and then we'll head to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon for a day and then on to Los Angeles for a few days with Ryan and Patti and at least one Dodger game. Then we're off to Hawaii for two weeks and we'll take some surfing lessons, hang out with some friends and family, and...get married! When we return from Hawaii, we're going to spend a few days with the Halls and try and convince Juanita that her tacos can work for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Jen and I are both excited that on August 8th people who couldn't make it to Hawaii for the wedding will join us at my parent's house in Yucca Valley for a celebration and maybe some BBQ. A few days later we head back to New Mexico...just in time for the beginning of the fall semester. I'm sleepy just thinking about it all.

Catfishin'

I like catfishing. Lately, however, the closest I've gotten to a catfish has been Jen's awesome blackened catfish filets (bought at Albertson's and prepared at home--recipe below) or the dead fish that've come ashore at Burn Lake in Las Cruces, NM. On Saturday, Jen and I spent nearly three hours fishing Burn Lake with a nibble or two but no bites. There were plenty of fish out there--every minute or so one would make a splash and a fish even landed on my line after I had cast about ten yards beyond it--but after three hours I reeled in a plastic bag, dirt, and weeds. But no fish.

Back in California, I often fished at night for channel cat at Dixon Lake in Escondido and caught quite a few with stink bait, cut shad, and deli meat. Back then I never ate the fish I caught: I waited until Juanita served up her baked catfish with cornmeal. Should Jen and I ever land a catfish out here at Burn Lake or Caballo Lake, we probably won't eat it either. Which makes the whole catfishing enterprise sound pretty useless. Until I consider what I could be doing if I wasn't fishing: cleaning house, prepping for a conference, or grading papers.

I'll keep the reel and line ready.

Blackened Catfish
(from Lucy Zaunbrecher's Classic Cajun Culture & Cooking)
2 pounds catfish filets
1 stick butter or
1/4 cup oil
blackened catfish seasoning (below)

Heat a heavy, large skillet; melt butter or oil. Dredge filets through seasoning and coat well. Lay the filets in heated skillet and brown on both sides (Jen says 4 mins. on each side). Serve hot.

Catfish Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

The Reality of Things

Class has been great so far this summer term. I think everyone has got something in mind for the documented argument and if they don't already have an idea of what they want to argue, nearly everyone has an idea of what they want to argue about. I'm really glad some people have decided to do something they can relate to...the yoga papers that Marcus and Shelby are writing, for example, will not just help fulfill the requirements of the class--they'll also connect to their possible majors and careers and the research will also be useful to them as they work toward their degrees.

Something I really like about our class is the ability for students to cut through the bullshit and talk honestly about their writing. Everyone seems to acknowledge the difficulty with procrastination (some have even called it an art), the word requirements, and finding sources. Bobby's reminder that the word requirement means that I'll get a lot more "it is" than I will "it's" in everyone's writing. I like knowing such things and I don't think anyone is "cheating"...I think it's pretty smart. Something we'll work on this term is cutting through unnecessary wordiness. It's one thing to not contract words to meet a word requirement...it's another thing to use twenty words to say the same thing you might be able to say with one or two.

Tomorrow is our library visit at the library and I'm currently grading research blogs from last week. It's really interesting reading about the very different writing backgrounds in the class and I hope the class (and I) can accommodate all these different backgrounds and help everyone become a better writer.

English 111 in the Summer

I began teaching English 111 last Thursday and so far I really like my class and the students. There's a really good mix of personalities, majors, and writing backgrounds represented in my class, and I think what I like best is that they have a sense of humor but seem to realize that there is some importance to understanding how to writing and how to argue effectively. I wonder sometimes if education seems more important to people when the economic climate seems uncertain--like it's some kind of additional motivation to get what you can out of your classes.

This week we're focusing on reading arguments and writing arguments. The last couple days my class have read various forms of argument and in different formats. Today we talked about visual rhetoric and they did a really good job dissecting a "Mac vs. PC" advertisement: I was really proud of how they zeroed in on the argument but also provided supporting details to support their claims about the ad's argument.

Tomorrow we're going to work with grammar (boo) but I'll try and sell it on its usefulness and contextualize it in such a way so they see how it can relate to their own writing. Students will also begin using blogger and will finish up their wiki profiles. So far this has been a great summer term and I'm looking forward to working with this group of students in the next few weeks.