And once more, my beloved Fisher Space Pen is gone. Slipped out of my pocket sometime the last Saturday, and despite looking everywhere for it, no luck.
This particular pen was given to me by my father a long time ago. It's dented and scratched, there's some rust on the inside of the cap, but it goes with me everywhere (well, WENT with me everywhere...). This was the pen that was always in my pocket -- at the grocery store, beach, pool... You name it, that pen was there.
The Fisher Space Pen is one of those pens that I think everyone needs to own. It will write anywhere (come on... Anything designed to write in SPACE, will write anywhere). The bullet pen fits easily in a pocket and is always there when you need it. It is not the go-to pen that I pick up when writing a book or short story, but it is the workhorse that will do what you want, when you need it.
And it's gone...
I'll definitely be replacing my Space Pen at some point, but not before I head to the beach next Sunday (and it was going to be my beach pen...). The blue or black Field Notes Space pens are in the lead.
In the meantime, I'll have to make do with something a little less than perfect for my pocket.
For someone who enjoys nice pens and paper, winning an "Ugly Pen Contest" is something of a love-hate thing. A while back, I came across a post from Pens Boutique on Facebook, asking their followers to submit their most ugly pen. The one with the most votes would win a White Leather Retro 51 Tornado. I scoured my school desk looking for something to post, and came across the perfect pen.
That's the "ugly pen" next to the prize Leather Tornado. The pen was given to me by my father who knows I love pens AND pirates. He is actually the one who started me on my pen obsession when he gave me a Sheaffer Prelude almost eight years ago. And what could be better than a pirate pen?
Maybe three pirate pens (with the Tornado for reference). These three pirate pens live on my desk at school in their own special cup which read "Dead 'til I gets me coffee." (Yes, I have a thing for pirates. Unknow to me was all of the extras that were in the box with it! A special thanks goes out to Pens Boutique for the giveaway and all the extras.
My six year old daughter has already claimed one of the pink pencils (and her mom the rest...), and I'll use the extra winnings as prizes for my writing club. The blue Preppy pen is tagged for one of my wife's students who have been writing his own zombie story. I always try to encourage and reward young writers, whether they are my students or not. And thanks to all of you, I have been able to do that. School is wrapping up soon, which means we are all in super stress mode trying to finish up. My apologies if posts are sporadic. I'll try to get on a more frequent schedule.
Take care, and keep those pens fill with ink! Edit: added clickable links to Pens Boutique
Current pen: Lamy Vista with ink converter and fine nib Current ink: Noodler's Army Green (original version)
I don't know of any author out there who would not agree with the above statement. Reading is such an integral part of being a writer that the two should just naturally go hand-in-hand. If fact, reading is one of the single most important resources a person can use to increase their success in school.
So in celebration of reading, what book is everyone reading? Current book? Favorite book of all time? Favorite series? Favorite author?
There is so much discussion that could happen when talking about books that we could go on forever. I'd love to hear what is on everyone's shelves.
This book is hands down my favorite book I have ever read. I'm a little happy and sad at the same time that my copy of this book went missing after I loaned it to someone to read. Oh well, someone's enjoying it, right?
I would be willing to bet that this is on quite a few favorite lists out there. The fantasy and magic aside, this is a wonderful series of books with a very strong message about doing what is right vs. what is easy.
All hail the Future Dark Overlord! I have been a fan of Scott Sigler's since he first start podcasting his novels back in 2005. His writing draws you into the story and won't let go. Scott Sigler first started giving his novels away for free as serialized podcasts, and has since landed publishing contracts with two different major publishers, as well as self publishing his Galactic Football League series and starting his own imprint. Sigler is the epitome of working hard to reach your goals.
And while the students are hard at work on the second round of state testing, I thought I'd share some pictures of the participants. This isn't quite all of them, but we were in a rush to get pictures in for the yearbook (the first time we'll have our own page!). We had a lot of fun writing this year, and every few days another student is asking for more ink in their pens. My goal is to turn this into a full year writing club. Who knows? Maybe one of these kids will be the next great author...
Things have been extremely busy here in Hippo-land. Both the HMS Concert and Symphonic bands attended their annual UIL Concert & Sight-reading contests. While the Concert Band didn't quite walk away with what we wanted, I am extremely happy with their performance and all of the effort that they put into preparing for their performance. The Symphonic Band walked away with a Sweepstakes trophy! Simply put, they received the highest ratings possible on both the stage performance AND sight-reading performance. Congratulations to Mrs. Champion and all of the Symphonic Band students for their great performance!
Spring Break -- as always -- was way too short, but was much needed downtime for students and teachers. And this week, we completed our first round of state mandated STAAR testing (the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness -- who comes up with these?). After two days of testing for over four hours a day, the kids (and directors!) were ready to jump back into playing some fun and exciting music for our spring concerts.
I've got some pictures and new things coming soon. Right now I'm working on some reviews for my current journal traveling, a Field Notes Expedition. I'm also working through my new pencil acquisition -- a Blackwing Pearl. I'll be posting some writing comparisons between the three Blackwing offerings as well (the Blackwing "original", Blackwing 602, and Blackwing Pearl). I hope to have more reviews and posts up soon.
Well, to say InCoWriMo didn't go well this year would be an understatement. The job this year has been stressful, and by the time I can get home, it takes all my energy to finish fatherly duties with my daughter. By the time she's in bed, so am I.
I did get a few letters out, and definitely plan on sending more. The Pope, Dalai Llama, Emperor of Japan, and Mayor of Greenwich, England should all have received their letters from me by now. Here's to hoping that I get a response.
I'm working on replying to the few letters I received over the month of February. Looks like there are a couple of new pen pals to add to the list, and after tomorrow's band contest (what's been keeping me so busy), I should finally have enough time and energy to continue my international writing campaign.
Welcome back from the land of San Antonio! Each year in February (it's always the week of Valentine's. Why is that?), every music teacher K-college (music, band, choir, and orchestra) descends upon the San Antonio Convention Center and Riverwalk for a four day conference called the Texas Music Educators Convention (TMEA). It is a whirlwind few days filled with classes, lectures, and some spectacular performances. One performance in particular, caught my attention and made me remember what music can be. It may seem that I'm a bit prejudiced in my opinion, seeing as I am a graduate of the school, but the Stephen F. Austin State University's performance on Thursday was spectacular (and everyone else who saw it agreed). What's more, every single musician in the ensemble was a music education major! Not only is SFA turning out some of the best music teacher's in the state, the quality of musicianship is phenomenal.
Two pieces in particular grabbed ahold of me in a way that music hasn't done in a long time. Being a middle school band director, I have become a bit jaded in the music selections that I work with. They are wonderful pieces to be sure, but middle school pieces none-the-less. These two pieces reminded me of why I teach middle school, and the musicians that I am helping to create.
The first piece is called "The Frozen Cathedral" by John Mackey. It is a 13 minute piece, and is exactly what the title says. Being in the auditorium, with the music surrounding me on all sides, I could close my eyes and see myself walking through that ice-covered cathedral. The second piece, literally brought tears to my eyes. "Gone" by Scott McAllister deals with the horrific accident that ended McAllister's playing career, and the emotions that he dealt with in coming to terms with this life changing event. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces I have ever heard. Below I have shared links to performances of the two pieces. I invite you to listen, and hope they move you even half as much as they did me. Enjoy.
