Not too long ago, I posted a blog entry titled “Let’s Get The Show on the Road,” named after one of my favorite Widespread Panic songs, because that’s how I felt as the school year was beginning . . . and in thinking about a title for this one, if it was going to be a song title, it had to be the Grateful Dead’s “Truckin'”. Because that’s definitely what I’m doing now. At school, we’re finishing our study of creative nonfiction in my levels 1 and 2 creative writing classes, finishing “Beowulf” in my English 12 classes, and finishing their first independent studies in my levels 3 and 4 class. And in my composition class at AUM, midterms are fast approaching. I am about to be drowning in papers!

As for my writing work, I have been revising three academic articles that haven’t yet found homes in any magazines or journals: one on dark humor in the poetry of Rodney Jones and another on the Southern roots of motivation and subtext in four of August Wilson’s plays. I’ve also got this third article about conducting experiential-learning projects in a writing class that I may try to rewrite as a creative nonfiction piece since it’s too conversational and anecdotal, and not data-driven enough, to work as an academic article.

In addition to writing projects, I’m also steadily planning some forthcoming student projects, too. It looks like my Film Club students may be assisting with some interviewing to aid in a community project centered on Montgomery’s Cypress Nature Park. I’ve also got a book selection in mind for the Student Readers Group for the 2013 Alabama Book Festival, and the planning committee meets in mid-October; I’m going to propose it then and should be ready to announce it soon. On top of that, I’ve got grant proposals for student projects turned in to the P. Buckley Moss Foundation and the Target Foundation, either or both of which might amount to something if the answer comes back yes!

Of course, I am trying to get back to work on a couple of different full-length book projects that are languishing, neglected, on this computer . . . . but right this minute sustained attention to anything isn’t really possible. For now – to utilize two clichés – it’s full speed ahead, and no rest for the weary!