Sadness

I am just sad about all the news that is coming out of Penn State.

I don't know the details and I don't want to know the details. What I have heard makes me sick. I hope that somehow the boys who were harmed have managed to get help and break the cycle of abuse. I am sure that they will be found and the media will keep feeding on this story. But I am not sure that tearing down people and rioting and putting good people in danger is going to help improve this situation. I think that those boys/men need to be supported and helped and they deserve no blame for what happened and continues to happen.

The verse from Romans (12:21) keeps popping into my head today "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

There are really good people at Penn State – good employees (I've met some), good alumni, good parents and good students. Their story has to be told. They should not feel tarnished by this. The only people who are tarnished are the ones who knew and did nothing. But today, the good people feel the shame and the sting of the abuse. It is because they are good that they suffer.

I really hope that sanity comes back to Penn State. That the University figures out how to teach through this moment. That joy can return to Happy Valley. That the people who need help get it and those who did evil accept their responsibility. And that everyone learns how to be a force for good in this world.

NaNoWriMo

Yep, I'm nuts. Came back from heweb11 sick, still can't talk (my kids seem to find the laryngitis amusing) but I'm going to try to write a novel this month.

Every November, the folks at NaNoWriMo encourage the world to write 50,000 words. I know a woman who wrote one last year and sold it. She's on her third novel now. She's writing for the romance genre, which I have no interest in doing, but she managed to make this challenge work for her.

Last year I tried it. Got to about 5000 words and stalled. Debated going back to it, but then my computer failed. Died. Dead as a doornail. So, my feeble efforts were really wasted. But, in the past 11 months, those characters kept popping up, so I'll try again. It's a sci-fi/fantasy novel, and I have no idea if I'll ever finish it, but I have a better feeling this time around. My biggest challenge will be the names of the people and places... I tend to read novels and immediately drop the names (they all become him, her, hero, hero's friend etc). So having to give those adjectives will be my biggest challenge. But I think I'm up for it.

heweb11

Ok, I know a week after the event is late to be sharing.... but I needed time to process what I learned at higheredweb. You can read some of my key thoughts here: http://storify.com/cpd623/heweb11 and see a lot of the presentations here http://link.highedweb.org/.

I spent pretty much every moment in Austin in session or talking to someone who was teaching me something. Four solid days of learning. It was incredible and intense. I distilled all the info into 20 "golden nuggets;" five books to read and 15 things I should think about doing. Upon further reflection I picked seven action items. I started working on three of them today and it was a wonderful morning... still doing my job but doing it in a new light. Really energized and excited to keep learning and making things better. The most illuminating idea I had was this: (and if I ever get to do a presentation I'm going to call it this) Who, What, Where, Why and When... new definitions in today's online world.

• Who: Everyone really, you are no longer limited to the people physically in your space or who can buy your newspaper or get your press release
• What: need to sort what is of interest in new ways... don't tell stories the same way to all your audiences
• Where: again, no limits, if you can connect online you can share with all
• Why: make it meaningful so others help share stories
• When: NOW, is better, but after the fact might be OK if can bring insight and illumination along with it. The past is no longer an excuse... have your audience help tell story if you are strapped.

Thanks to the heweb11 world for invigorating me again. Once I'm over this cold I caught on the plane I'll be busier than ever!

NOTE: Storify no longer exists as a platform. Which is sad, I used to love that. Found my story on the WayBack Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20180104100906/http://storify.com/cpd623/heweb11