I’m posting this from the middle of my Coronavirus Shutdown in Mexicali.   Every day, I spend hours in front of the computer trying to motivate my students to write.  I feel the need to remind them of their passion for their selected writing topics; I mean, before the closing of the campuses,  we spent hours, days, weeks looking for something we truly care about.   In a few of my classes we are developing Community Profiles.  My students are completing essays about Domestic Violence, Drug and Alcohol  Abuse, Deportation, Teen Pregnancy.  Many of them are interviewing people  from their own families.  “People,” I say.  “You got to believe in yourselves!”  You have to finish this on your own.  There is no one left in the classroom who is going to help you.  Remember what is important.  If you want it bad enough, you’ll stick with it, and you’ll reach the success you are looking for.  It’s up to you.

I hope that helps.  In my self-isolation, I’m reading a lot.  A lot!  Below, I share my reading of a Spanish-language novel, La Mascara de Dimitrios.  The more I read, the more I want to write.  I wish I could get  this simple point across, but no one wants to hear it.

Below I provide you with the trailer from The Mask of Dimitrios.  Peter Lorre – he's the short one – plays the role of the mild-mannered British professor obsessed with writing about teh history behind a dead body.  He has no idea where he is going or who he is dealing with.  For him, I think that makes the  writing process even  more  exciting.