Friday, March 13, 2009

Still Busy

Not much writing going on in my world. Midterms are done but everything else that backed up behind that is now due. I've got two IRB proposals on my desk today, and I've already dealt with two others this week. IRB stands for Internal Review Board, and we are the committee on campus that reviews any research involving human participants to make sure no one gets hurt. Unfortunately, I'm the chairperson. Sigh!

Ninety-five percent of the studies we review are just surveys, with virtually no chance to cause a participant any discomfort. In those cases, I'm the only member of the committee who has to review the project. The main issue is making sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed so we won't get into trouble with funding agencies. This wouldn't be so tough if professors weren't a lot like students in their failure to read instructions.

A submitter told me once, "Wow, I guess it would have made your job a lot easier if I'd proofread my proposal before turning it in."

You think?

One bit of good news, though. One of my horror haiku from Wanting the Mouth of a Lover has been nominated for the Rhysling Award in speculative poetry. This is the award given annually by the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA). I know who nominated the poem and I much appreciate it. It's a great honor.
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42 comments:

Miladysa said...

WOW! That nomination is fantastic news! I wish you the best of luck and have my fingers crossed.

Happy Red Nose Day to you both :D

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Congrats Charles! That's awesome! But well deserved. Best of luck on it!

I'm sloughing through a bunch of papers and happily procrastinating any chance I get. sometimes teaching just sucks the life out of you, you know?

oh and the google reader thing, I just recently realized that the feed for my blog was off. I've been mucking with it and now I think I got it to work, which you have confirmed, so I'm psyched! No worries!

writtenwyrdd said...

Yay for you, Charles!

Google reader has been giving me feeds as "unread" when I've already read them twice or three times. Dont' know why, and it's various blogs at intermittant times.

Computers. Can't live with them and if you break them they cost too much to replace.

Kaye Manro said...

Hi Charles! I saw your comment on my buddy, Christina Phillips blog.(Release day for Touch of the Demon.) Curious, I just had to check out your blog to see in what genre you write.

Congrats on the poetry nomination.

Your books do look intriguing for sure.

Take care, Kaye

Charles Gramlich said...

Miladysa, thankee. And happy red nose day to you as well.

Ello, ahh, the feed thing. Gotcha. I'm feeling the exhaustion of teaching at the moment myself.

Writtenwyrdd, thanks. Much appreciated. I have that happen sometimes as well with Google reader. It can be frustrating.

Kaye Manro, thanks for stopping by. I see we both have an interest in SF/fantasy stuff.

Angie said...

A submitter told me once, "Wow, I guess it would have made your job a lot easier if I'd proofread my proposal before turning it in."

O_O

Did you ask this doofus what he/she would've said if a student who turned in an unacceptable paper had said that to him/her? Good grief....

And congrats on the nomination! That's way cool, and I'll keep a set of virtual fingers crossed for you. :D

Angie

Steve Malley said...

That proofread thing made me laugh. Thanks for brightening my morning, mister!

David Cranmer said...

Excellent news on your horror haiku nomination!

laughingwolf said...

grats on the nom, charles... best news of the week :)

Heff said...

It'll be an even bigger honor when you WIN the Rhysling Award.

GRAMLICH FOR THE WIN !

Travis Cody said...

Congrats on the nomination! Good luck.

As to proofreading, I can't imagine submitting anything formal without a good review. Of course, there have been times when I've done a couple of read-throughs and still missed a mistake.

That makes me crazy.

Best Fantasy and Science Fiction said...

Congrats on the nomination that is fantastic!

It's amazing how many people truly do not proofread and it drives me nuts. Its review time at my organization and with over 150 employees, guess who gets to read them all before they are delivered? Me! There are great ones and then those where you want to get out the "REJECTED" stamp and red ink and just have a hay day on the poor paper. Good luck! :)

G. B. Miller said...

Congrats on the poem.

As for the proofreading, here's a classic example of being asleep at the switch

Letterhead:

CSL
231 Captiol Ave
Hartford, CT

If you can tell what's wrong with that picture, then you'll know why an entire shipment of paper was reduced to scrap.

Donnetta said...

Congrats on the nomination, Charles! I haven't written diddly squat over my way. STILL tied up doing the remodel over here, but beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Trudging through it. D

Charles Gramlich said...

Angie, I wanted to. Man did I want to. I was rather taken aback at the moment he said it, though. And thankee for the congrats.

Steve Malley, I was telling Lana this evening some other examples of how adult academics so often pull the same kind of crap they would get on to students for. It’s ridiculous, but can be worth a laugh.

David Cranmer, thanks. Much appreciated.

laughingwolf, thanks for the kind thoughts.

Heff, that sure would be a nice outcome. I might even buy all my friends a beer!

Travis, thanks. Of course we all miss the occasional mistake, but I remember that proposal and I couldn’t believe this was a person with an advanced degree. Fortunately, he’s no longer with Xavier.

Best Fantasy and Science Fiction, thanks. Much appreciated. I have so wanted to stamp a few proposals that way.

G, thanks. Sometimes a simple mistake is all it takes.

Donnetta Lee, oh I hate chores. I know how much work remodeling can be. You have my sympathies.

Greg said...

congrats on the nomination! it's much-deserved.

ivan said...

I echo Greg Schwartz on that.
I have had honourable mentions, but never even nominations for something that important.

j said...

Congratulations on the nomination! Best of Luck!

I hope that you and Lana have a wonderful weekend.

Charles Gramlich said...

Greg Schwartz, thanks much. And you know what I mean. :)

ivan, thanks. It's definitely exciting.

jennifer, thank you. Lana and I almost always do. Same to you and your family!

Cloudia said...

Congratulations!
Best wishes, hope you win.

No electric shocks to the freshmen now. LOL

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

Hope the work load eases. And congrats on your nomination - I can imagine how you feel.

the walking man said...

Yes Charles very much congratulations on the nomination!

Maybe it is time to treat the IRB's proportionally to the amount of proofreading that went into them?

JR's Thumbprints said...

I've had to proofread someone elses memos and policy directives before they got the credit. Good job on the nomination. The only time I've been nominated for anything was when I nominated myself; I'll never do that again.

Maalie said...

>Wow, I guess it would have made your job a lot easier if I'd proofread my proposal before turning it in

LOL! I was an editor of an international scientific journal once, and so that sentiment rings very true for me!

Randy Johnson said...

Good deal on the nomination.
I'll be honest and say up front I don't know a lot about poetry. I did buy a copy of WANTING THE MOUTH OF A LOVER, though, and enjoyed it.

BernardL said...

"A submitter told me once, "Wow, I guess it would have made your job a lot easier if I'd proofread my proposal before turning it in."

"You think?"

LOL!

j said...

Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I have gone private for a short time. It seems that my blog was HACKED. I am not sending out invites until I know exactly what to do. Just wanted to let you know that you are not being excluded from Dust Bunny Hostage :) "I'll be back!"

(please forgive the blanket message. I am flummoxed right now)

Charles Gramlich said...

Cloudia, Electric shocks could be highly educational! 

ARCHAVIST, thanks. Yes, it is nice.

the walking man, Thanks, Mark. I’ve definitely become much more hardnosed with the IRBs over time, so much so that I am occasionally seen as a tight ass because I demand they follow the rules before I’ll evaluate their project.

JR's Thumbprints, one wonders where some folks got their training.

Maalie, then you definitely know what I’m talking about. Isn’t it amazing?

Randy Johnson, thanks. I’m glad you liked it. I actually do buy and read quite a bit of poetry. It’s really a very different kind of thing than what I get from great genre stuff like the Cap Kennedy series.

BernardL, it’s funnier in retrospect! ;)

jennifer, sorry to hear that. I hope you can get it straightened out soon. What idiots some folks are to do something like that.

Lana Gramlich said...

I'm so happy for you about the Rhysling. This is your 2nd nomination now, I believe. I'm putting out happy thoughts on that for you!

BIBI said...

Congrats on the Rhysling Award. Best of luck!

I may not have been following you for long, but I think it is well deserved.

:)

MarmiteToasty said...

Goodness..... congratulations on that, absolutely fantastic :)

x

Charles Gramlich said...

Lana, thankee sweetness.

Bibi, thank you. I appreciate it.

Marmite Toasty, and thank you as well. Much appreciated.

Chris Benjamin said...

Congrats on the award nomination, that's fabulous!

Sorry about the committee chairing, that sound like a nightmare.

pattinase (abbott) said...

That is so cool, Charles. At the conference I attended at a creative writing panel, a writer read 200 of his haikus. I don't think any of his will win an award.

Charles Gramlich said...

Benjibopper, thanks. I appreciate that.

Pattinase, I haven't even written 200 haikus. Maybe close to 100.

Mary Witzl said...

Good for you, getting nominated! And how I feel for you, laboring away over the silly infelicities of a lazy writer. It's bad enough proofing my own stuff and wincing at what my students come up with; at the very least, I expect those who CAN write English to give it their best shot...

Stacia said...

Wow, congratulations! That's awesome, Charles! And richly deserved. {{hug}}

Charles Gramlich said...

Mary Witzl, yes, you'd hope those who can would at least put some effort into it. But it amazes me what folks will let slide for others to correct.

December/Stacia, thanks. Much appreciated!

Michelle's Spell said...

Hey Chrles,

Congrats on the nomination! That's fantastic -- you need to start working on your acceptance speech -- I'd like to thank the Academy . . . :)

Sarah Hina said...

Sorry about the bureaucracy, Charles--the paperwork of life keeps us too busy.

But that's wonderful about the nomination!! I went over and read a couple of the poems. Worthy, indeed. I'll be crossing my fingers for you.

Charles Gramlich said...

Michelle, well I figured I'd use the same speech I used for the Nobel peace prize. ;)

Sarah, thanks. I appreciate that.

Barbara Martin said...

Congratulations on the nomination! Good luck, Charles.