Another crazy/busy summer week in the books. Next week I begin the process of returning to reality with two professional development days before the big return back to teaching. G’s basketball team won their championship and she’d very excited about that. My older daughter also had some cool stuff happening and cross your fingers it works out for her. As for Pamela and myself, things are what they are.
Let’s get into what you’re really here for, though.
Welcome to the 83rd installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and the sadness of going back to the day job.
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Anyway, let’s do this!
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As noted last week, the line edits for Project: Monster are complete and now I’m on the computer putting them in. So far, it looks like seven pages have been whittled down, bringing the book from around 119,000 words to 116,300 words. Not a ton, yet, but I’m only about 170 pages into a 426- (formerly 433-) page book. There are still some big cuts coming. I don’t know that I’ll hit the goal of 50 to 100 pages excised, but maybe I will.
I haven’t printed out Project: Amusement Park for editing yet but may any day.
With the edits done on paper, I’m now ready to go into the file and start fixing things there.
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As the summer is coming to an end, I have major mixed emotions. I was made to be a creator, to work from home and focus on my writing and art. Summer vacation allows me to do some of that. Now that it’s at an end, my heart breaks. I think of all the things I could accomplish given the time.
That said, I am fortunate to teach in a vocational-technical program where creativity is what we do. I get to work with students and watch them grow as artists, storytellers, filmmakers, and creators. For instance, throughout this summer, one of my students would email me their art. They didn’t need to but they wanted to share. Many of the people I follow on social media are now former students who work in the various creative fields. It’s amazing to see.
This school year is one of major change. I’m co-building a new program from the ashes of two older programs. If everyone can keep their egos at the door, it could be a terrific thing. But it’s also fraught with stress. Will it work? Will we be able/allowed to fulfill the potential of what we have?
Since 2020, teaching has been insanely difficult. I hope that we’re on the other side of that but I have to admit, I don’t believe so. I don’t want to be negative about things, but I don’t see how it can get better. In the United States, we’re too fractured. Too many people think they know everything because they read the memes. Parents believe they are entitled and their children are, too. It doesn’t matter their child’s skills, abilities, or the toll it takes on the other students.
We’ll have PD days to deal with this and other things. Lots of meetings and people talking at us and introducing new initiatives and technologies and it’ll be the last thing we need.
I’m going into the new school year, despite what you might believe, optimistically. Even a little excited. I’m doing new things for the first time in a long time and the pressure is off, which is nice. I’ll certainly be more physical because I’ll be moving from class to class now. A nomad. I’ll be helping build something new. I’ve done that before.
But I’ll be away from my writing and art until nighttime. Just like many others, I’ll hear the works’ call and know that it’ll be there waiting for me.
That’ll be all for today. Thank you for reading!
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Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 
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