I have a month and a half left of school and then my students will be able to enjoy the fine relaxation of the summer holiday. Sure, I’m contractually obligated to do the summer camps, but I’m looking at the prize at the end of it all: New Zealand. That’s right. I’m planning my trip to the Land of the Long White Cloud. Or would “Middle Earth” sound better. Either way, I am beyond excited to go as it has been on my list of places to travel to.
A writer is someone who has taught his mind to misbehave.” – Oscar Wilde
Yes, indeed, that is a fact. Being a writer has allowed me to forgo the rules, break from the norms, and challenge the minds. In this day and age, it’s practically a requirement. A writer must be able to understand the rules of life to represent it in their writing. More importantly, they must understand life’s rules to point out societal problems.
Just finished one of my major projects for my Linguistic Class and a thought occurred to me. In November 2022, I started my side-quest of getting my Master’s. Initially, it was supposed to be an MFA but my past laziness came back to haunt me. No worries, I’ll just get to it when I move to Spain – maybe I can learn at the same university I’ll teach at. Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked. I’m looking at my calendar and…I’m five classes and a final course away from finishing my Master’s!
I still always have a lot of work to do in my three main worlds: grad school, teacher, and author. This is the norm for me – my comfort zone. Still, life is slowing down for me. It happens now and again, and I handle myself accordingly. How? I accept and appreciate it.
It is amazing how life works. The moment when the past meets the present. What do I mean? Oh, it’s quite amusing; I was just reminded of my past as a shithead teenager. How? Well, how else does karma work? I have a fifteen-year-old who acts EXACTLY like I did when I was fifteen-year-old. And I do mean EXACTLY LIKE ME.
Sorry for the month-long absence, but I wanted Philadelphia to have my undivided attention – out of my studies, of course. While I finished most of my work beforehand, the only thing I had to do was my threaded discussion which took me no time at all. I had missed my city for such a long time and I wanted to see what changed and what remained the same. Short answer, a lot.
This post is going to be short and brief because I’m trying to get as much work done (school and author) before heading back to Philadelphia for Chinese New Year. Just know that I’m excited and ready to see everybody. I also have to finish my pedagogical duties including talking to my students’ parents. Just one more week…
Please don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) on my web page’s right side. Also, I love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and Fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2024. For this year, my goal is 150, and I’m already at 21. Given that I’m in school and teaching English, I will blast through this challenge.
In three more days, the students will be home having a long well-deserved rest as they bring in the Chinese New Year. They are extremely excited and they should be. They have been working extremely hard for these last five months and – let me tell you – World Literature and Economics have been a real doozy for them. I can attest to the World Literature part; teaching it has been quite a welcoming challenge. But, now, it is time to enjoy the next marvel…Philadelphia.
Thank you so much to everybody who has read my blog over the years. 2023 has been a transformative year for me and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me in 2024.
First and foremost, I’m finally going to be able to release the Arabic version of my Sinful Tales of Wicked Vile Delights. This also means that I need a new banner for my Twitter Page. Still, I have more milestones to obtain.
I want to finish my Master’s this year while saving for Spain. I want to ensure I am ready to teach Creative Writing to European high school and university students when I’m done with China.
I also want to finish the script of my friends’ comic series that we are going to star in. We are pretty excited about that. I already have a six-part arc planned that my friends are beyond impressed; they’re also not surprised at all.
Finally, while I’m in China, I want to get Act 1 and part of Act 2 of my LGBTQ+ Crimeverse done. I’ve realized that I want to take advantage of the LGBTQ+ conventions and book clubs to market and advertise them properly.
Oh! I still have to makeover my website to accommodate the growing trend of book trailers and teasers. I’m still researching great minds in videography and photography to bring them to life as well as a YouTube page. Oh, yeah, 2024 is going to be a good year for me. I hope it will be for all of you, too. Happy New Year!!
Ten more days until Christmas and two more months until the Chinese New Year and I’m glad that I will finally be able to go home to see my family. I haven’t seen them since my move to China due to COVID, traveling restrictions, and a few other things so, yeah, it was all overdue. But there is still some work to be done before I get to enjoy my holidays.