"The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog"

by Alicia Ostriker

To be blessed

said the old woman

is to live and work

so hard

God’s love

washes right through you

like milk through a cow

To be blessed

said the dark red tulip

is to knock their eyes out

with the slug of lust

implied by

your up-ended skirt

To be blessed

said the dog

is to have a pinch

of God

inside you

and all the other

dogs can smell it

Via the Poetry Foundation. Ostriker has a series of poems with these three speakers. I like them quite a bit.  

They're back!

I gotta say, it's pretty awesome to have Beavis and Butthead back on TV. We are only 3 minutes into the new episode and it feels just like old times!

This is (not) Jeopardy!

Just got back from being recruited to be the faculty member in a quiz bowl tournament. Helped some random fraternity win $250. I asked what my cut of that was and an eager young man said, "You can party with us at Homecoming!" No thanks. It *was* kind of fun. And we totally could have won the whole thing ($500) if some eager dudes on my team hadn't jumped in with the wrong answers. Oh well. Back to work.

"The Bustle in a House"

"The Bustle in a House
The Morning after Death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon Earth--"
-Emily Dickinson

Last night, at around 9:30, my grandmother, who we all called Nana, died. She'd been quite sick for the past month or so, but until then, had lived quite a good, long life.

Below, I'll post a sweet picture of her with my niece Kelsie, taken at my sister's wedding in April 2010. 

Achtung Baby

I'm listening to this album as I work on one of my SAMLA papers. What a touchstone album this is for me! It brings my high school years right back to me (which is good and bad). The music, though, is anything but bad. Lately I've really been digging "Ultraviolet." Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing this documentary, which should air on Showtime later this month.

Okay--back to work I go. I'm in a groove, so I shouldn't mess with it and risk a "Kubla Khan" moment. (No, I am not seriously comparing myself and this little paper to Coleridge and his poem. And there's no opium involved.)

I shouldn't have answered...

So right now I've got two or three telemarketers who are repeatedly calling me, never leaving messages,and  in general, just annoying me. (And yeah, I'm on the "do not call" list, but these are companies with exemptions because I've had business with them recently...credit card companies, charities, etc.) Every once in a while, I decide to answer one, figuring, heck, maybe this will make them leave me alone and save the both of us some trouble. A few minutes ago I did just that. Big mistake. It took me almost seven minutes to politely get the guy (I think it was a guy) to leave me alone. Yeah, I could have been impolite, but I don't have it in me, I guess.

Sigh.

Links, links, links...

Some of these have been in my bookmarks folder for far too long...

1) A great piece about the awesomeness that is Radiolab.

2) A fun article about an arcade that one of my friends in Greensboro has opened up. Go Daniel!

3) A fun tumblr to check out. And although I can understand why its title might confuse you, it is not a bunch of pictures of me hanging out with my friends.

4) Dear Photograph is another great place to visit. 

Reasons for a bit o' celebratin...

1) The Sigma Tau Delta conference went off without a hitch yesterday. Big sigh of relief. And remind me not to do this again next year.

2) I just submitted my last set of midterm grades. Even with four preps this semester, this particular task wasn't that arduous (good spacing/timing on my part, I suppose). Oh, and little to no fun for the past week and a half.

So...some celebratin' music? How about the awesome tune that just came up on my "Wake Up!" playlist on my iPod?