The Chattanooga adventure is almost over, sadly. I have had so much fun here!
But before I start the slide show and rave about yesterday, can I just say how irritated I am at Margaret Jones, who wrote a fake memoir about being a foster child and in a gang and got caught? I have never been a fan of the memoir (say it with a snotty French accent, please) genre. I prefer my stories well-defined: write an autobiography or write fiction if you want me to read it. I think that some memoirists have hidden in the murky fog of their genre because they either a) don’t have a true story compelling enough to stand alone as autobiography, or b) they are not skilled at fiction writing.
I hope the publisher considers legal action against Ms. Jones for committing fraud. I think it’s time to call a halt to the silliness.
Back to Tennessee…
It has been so nice to get an early peek of Spring.
The day started at Girls Preparatory School, where I spoke to 700 girls who were way too enthusiastic for that early in the morning.
They made it really fun to be up on stage. They also made me want to have one of those cute plaid skirts.
The second school was amazing – the Hamilton County Adult High School. This is a special high school for young adults, ages 17-21, who didn’t do well in a traditional high school setting, but are motivated to finish their educations. (They don’t have their backs to me, here. They’re listening to a comment from the principal.)
I spoke with 50 students who had studied SPEAK in their English class.
Because they have so much life experience, we had a great conversation. Say hi to Heather, in the plaid coat, who did a really nice job introducing me.
Last night I spoke to an audience of mostly University of Tennessee at Chattanooga students. This little guy, Tyler, is not one of them, but his mom is. He and his brother sat quietly through my whole speech. When I met them after, it was clear why they sat so still – they are artists.
Can’t talk about a trip without talking about the food. Lunch was incredible tomato-artichoke soup at Rembrandt’s. If anyone has a recipe for this, please share.
Dinner was chicken and rice casserole, roasted sweet potatos, broccoli casserole, and lacey corn bread, which is like a giant potato chip, but made from corn.
And I finally ate banana pudding, which is very sweet. (That is hummingbird cake in the background.)
The inside of my banana pudding, which had fewer bananas than I expected and a whole lot more custard and cookie-crust. Perhaps they should call it, Thinking-About-Banana Pudding.
Here is the best part of the trip, my new friend, Dr. Fran Bender, the UTC professor who worked so hard to get me here. I am already excited about seeing Fran and Dr. Verbie Prevost at ALAN in San Antonio, TX, where I will introduce them to David Gill and they can talk South while I listen.
One more school left to visit this morning, then a mad dash to the airport where I hope the plane is brave enough to fly me home through the bad weather.
I forgot to post my resolution update yesterday:
2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 9 – Miles Run: 15, YTD: 196 (kind of bummed at the low mileage, but I had to finish the draft.)
Week 9 – Days Written: 7, YTD: 63
