Non-Fannish Friending

If anyone on here is interested in more friends, not necessarily fandom friends, go here and start adding. Have fun!

A proper introduction

Hello to new people! A quick introduction is in order for those who are new to my list.

First, I don't care particularly if you both subscribe and grant me access. I like the fact that DW doesn't force you to call someone a friend who you've stumbled across in someone else's journal. There will be no hard feelings if you want to follow public posts and only give me access to your public ones in return. I will visit the journal of anyone who follows me, because I like to know who is reading what I write on a regular basis.

So! I'm Velvet. My handle on many different sites is the same as this one. Velvet was my first D&D character, recently honourably retired after helping to kill a red dragon and save the prime material plane from annhilation. She was fun to play and I'm going to miss her, but eight years of a single campaign really is long enough.

In addition to an avid roleplayer (entirely tabletop because if I let myself get sucked into WoW, my kids would never see me again) I'm an elementary teacher. This career was hard-won for me. I have worked my tail off to be the teacher I am today, and I'm darn good at it. I have a great deal of expertise in literacy instruction, without the qualifications to go with it, and a great deal of expertise in math instruction at the primary/junior level, with the qualifications to match. However, I have no university math to back that up, so I'm going to spend some time this summer working through a refresher on algebra. I'm going to apply for a math facilitator's job for next fall, and I have high hopes that I'll get it. I'm also qualified to teach French and regularly find myself teaching music.

I talk a lot about my girls. There are two of them, Biz who is almost seven and a precocious and interesting little person, and Bear who is almost four, who is a whirlwind on two legs and very smart as well. I brag about them a lot, especially Biz now that she's getting to the age where I can compare her progress to the norms I'm familiar with. She's beating most of them hollow.

I do not shy away from debate. In fact I seek it out. Some people have called me a troll; if so I'm the internet's best-spoken one. I rely on reasoned argument and velvet-lined sarcasm, without putting down people who aren't putting me down first. Occasionally I get angry enough at something that happens on one of my debate forums to post about it. When I get that angry, the snark can be quite awesome.

I have a book in print. It's based on a roleplaying campaign from several years ago. I still look back on that campaign with a great deal of fondness, and one of these days I'll finish writing the sequel. It's sitting at 80K words on my hard drive waiting for inspiration for the climactic scene.

I play the piano, mostly classical music. I recently purchased a hand drum and a wooden recorder and I'm getting more proficient with those as well. I sing soprano, and when I get bored with melody lines, I switch to alto with no problem.

I'm not a scientist, but I think like one. I'm not a mathematician, but I think like one of those, too. I aspire to learn more about both, and rather regret that I wasn't confident enough in those subjects in high school to have pursued them in university. I will probably pursue a Master's over the next few years, in education of course. I already have the Ontario equivalent of a New York Master's of Education; you can't get a Master's in Education in Ontario without a few years of teaching experience under your belt, and I have ten.

That's me. Welcome!

That's better.

The kids are at a play date at the park.

My garden is now clear of the natural mulch that had accumulated. (For the uninitiated, that's gardenerspeak for "fall leaves and dead stalks I was too lazy to rake in the fall.") My bulbs, which were poking their heads up from under the debris, can now show their faces and absorb the lovely sunshine.

The only reason I don't yet have crocuses is that they were buried under the leaves. I suspect I'll have blossoms within the week now that it's gone, provided it stays somewhat warm. (This is not a sure thing by any means; we could easily get more snow yet.) I've got tulips, paperwhites, daffodils, dwarf irises (which have never yet bloomed) and hyacinths out there, showing green. Several perennials are starting to leaf up around the base. When I cut a bunch of creeping thyme that was encroaching on some poor tulips trying to fight their way out of the soil, the smell was wonderful.

Now that I've had my vitamin D and have rehydrated, I'm ready to get back to work on my coursework. I will finish this assignment today! Rawr!

Velvet's Division Homework Help

Attention, parents of school-age children! Are you frustrated by the fact that your child's math homework doesn't bear even a passing resemblance to the method you were so painstakingly taught? Is your child frustrated at getting one method at school and another at home?

Never fear, help is here!

( New Math, the way your kid is learning it. )

Not My New Math

But funny. Very, very funny.

Not My New Math

No, this isn't what I do in math class. It's the polar opposite of what I do in math class. But Tom Lehrer never fails to make me giggle, so you're getting a video! Aren't I nice?