A cat with impeccable taste

Wesley, in the laundry basket, watching Parks & Recreation on the Kindle.

"Countermeasures"

I came across this poem in the January 2013 issue of Poetry. It has ducks in it, so I was, of course, an immediate fan.

 

"Countermeasures"

Sara Miller 

 

I wish I could keep my thoughts in order

and my ducks in a row.

I wish I could keep my ducks in a thought

or my thoughts in a duck.

My point is that we all exist, wetly, in the hunt.

The ducks are aware of this

in their own way, which is floating.

The way of the mind is brevity.

There may be other thoughts on other days

in the minds of other and better men

and their constant companions, the women,

but these same tidy capsules — never.

This is just one of the things

I noticed about my thoughts

as they passed easefully by.

Sarah Michelle Gellar's New Show

While I'm posting about new shows, you know I've got to mention this one: "The single-camera entry revolves around the dynamics between a father named Simon Roberts (Good Will Hunting Oscar winner Robin Williams) and his daughter and is set in the world of advertising. Gellar will play Sydney Roberts, Simon's daughter. She's described as pretty, intense, driven, organized and burdened with being practical. Sydney is the creative director and life and soul of the Roberts and Roberts Advertising Agency at the center of the comedy. She wants to be her father but is too busy having to parent him."

That description doesn't sound promising, but it will be interesting to see Sarah try a sitcom. I hope it works. 

Kyle Chandler's New Show

He'll be on a new show called The Vatican. Given my love for all things Coach Taylor, you know I'll be watching.

Best part of this article: "Jesus, Chandler! You've already made us feel totally screwed up by making us want you as both a husband and a father. Now you're adding Catholicism to it? Are you trying to kill us with guilt?"

"All the Y'alls from Tami Taylor"

This is so perfect. I've been using "y'all" more or less all the time since college, no small linguistic adjustment for a born-and-bred New Yorker. It is second nature now, coming effortlessly from my mouth, much to the amusement of certain family members. It is, of course, an eminently useful pronoun, especially for teachers. That say, I found even more justification in the my continuing effort to be the sort of person Tami Taylor would be friends with. I adore the sheer variety of uses and inflections she employs in this compilation, from the enthusiastic greeting, to the frustrated appeal to a group, to the rhetorical "Come on, y'all" spoken to a traffic jam.

Enjoy the video, y'all! 

Thinking about Dickinson today...

The sweetest Heresy received
That Man and Woman know –
Each Other’s Convert –
Though the Faith accommodate but Two – 

The Churches are so frequent –
The Ritual — so small –
The Grace so unavoidable –
To fail — is Infidel –

via Daily Dickinson

Sometimes the title says it all...

...but you should read the whole thing anyway. Here's the title: "Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence Both Want an Oscar. That's Not a Catfight."

And just a bit more: "Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner may be at similar points in their careers, and are probably competing for some of the same roles in search of a definitive chance to break out with the public. But there's room for both of them, and I certainly haven't heard of an anonymous whisper campaign suggesting that the two are eager to claw each other's eyes out at the next awards show after-party." Preach on, Alyssa Rosenberg!

And there goes my Sunday...

Encore is showing all of North and South today (it got started at 10:00 this morning and runs until 7:30). When I saw that, you know I set the DVR (because, yeah, I can't watch 8.5 hours of TV straight). But I have been watching since 10:00, pressing "pause" every 30 minutes or so to get some work or chores done. And it's as awesome as I remember. (And I've blogged a bit about it before.) Take a look at the imdb page and check out that cast (besides Patrick Swayze, of course). Elizabeth Taylor as a madam? Johnny Cash as John Brown? And that's just scratching the surface.

Plus, since I haven't seen the whole thing since I was much younger, I can feel even smarter than I did back then. For instance, when Orry and George are at West Point, I remember young me feeling all clever for recognizing what it meant that an older cadet was named "Ulysses Grant," whose friends called him "Sam." But now I knew what it meant that two of their fellow cadets are Georges--Pickett and McClellan and another is Tom Jackson, later known as Stonewall.

So far, it's also offered up some terrific, 80s mini-series lines, including the villain yelling at a horse, "Faster, Satan, faster!" and one friend saying to another, "We're supposed to be fighting Mexicans, not each other." Good stuff.

"Love (III)"

Earlier today, some friends and I went to hear Robert Pinsky give a lecture/reading in Frederick--a wonderful event, full of great insights on language and poetry. One of the poems he shared was George Herbert's "Love (III)." It was the second time I'd encountered that poem twice in the past 24 hours (the other place was on a podcast), so it feels like something worth sharing. One of my favorite early grad school papers was on Herbert and I've always been a fan. Maybe I should revisit The Temple soon.

"Love (III)"

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
        Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
        From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
        If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
        Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
        I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
        "Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
        Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
        "My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
        So I did sit and eat. 

Another Buffy post...

Now that I am thinking of it, I ought to link to a new favorite tumblr I stumbled across: BtVS Confessions. It's sort of like PostSecret for Buffy fans. I really agree with the one below. That scene kills me every time.

Buffy, Adam, and Age

Just today I was talking with a friend at work about how I never really feel "old" or that I am getting older in any negative kind of way. He more or less agreed.

And just today, I was talking with another colleague about how a bunch of her students are Whedon fans. That got me thinking about what the Whedon-verse means for them (as people in their late teens/early 20s) versus what it meant and continues to mean for those of us who are a bit older. I wondered to myself how timeless Whedon shows are.

So there's all that kicking around in my head...

Then, just a few minutes ago, I had the Buffy episode "Goodbye, Iowa," on in the background as I got some work done. The scene where Adam (a demon/robot/man hybrid) inserts a floppy disk into his chest...man, did that feel dated. More dated then anything else I can think of on Buffy, at least in terms of emotional resonance. I mean, it is an almost ridiculous image. I think I remember people saying almost immediately after it aired that that including that part of Adam was a silly and a weird decision by the writers. I think it must be because technology--specifically computer technology--so obviously and visually shows its age.

And if Buffy is old, then maybe I am, in fact, getting a bit older.

That ain't even a USB drive!

Oh well. I'm still okay with that. And again, there are all those young fans who still want to keep talking about these shows. I can deal with that, too. 

Slate's "The Vault"

 

Image source: https://acdc.amherst.edu/view/asc:16630

Slate's "The Vault" is one of my new favorite blogs. Check out today's entry, featuring Emily Dickinson's manuscript fragments. And the subject of this one, from last week, is both fascinating and heart-breaking--it's the image of a pair of tiny handcuffs, used to transport Native American children to government boarding schools. I hope to use it this semester when I teach the writings of Zitkala Sa.

Christmas wrap up

Yesterday I went to see Erin, Eric, and Krista. We had dinner and exchanged gifts. It is amazing to see how much the baby has changed in just the few weeks since I had last seen her. She smiles, laughs, and follows you with her eyes now. Very cute!

Check out this gallery of her various expressions, all displayed with about a minute.

Christmas in New York

A bit bummed that I didn't get any pictures of Jennifer, Jeff, Ryan, or my dad, but here are a few pictures of other folks.

Kelsie.

Olivia.

Aidan.

Colin, Christian, and Olivia. Wish the kids would stop with the rabbit ears thing--and that that candle wasn't in Christian's face, but I think he looks very nice otherwise!

Colin with the sock monkey I got him.

The boys with the Lego headlamps I got them.

Colin (with lamp) and me.

My mom and Kelsie.

Me, Tara, and Christian.

Christmas 2012: Stop in Philadelphia

This holiday season was a good one for me. I started my break with a stop in Philadelphia and visited with Vogel and David. Fun times!

The first day I was there, David and I visited the Eastern State Penitentiary, something I have wanted to do for a long time. It was really interesting. The different parts of the prison really tell the story of how attitudes about human nature, crime, and rehabilitation have changed over the centuries. I was most interested in the nineteenth-century stuff, of course, but there's lots to be learned about the twentieth century. Al Capone spent time here, after all.

Standing in one of the shower rooms. As I was posing, David said something inappropriate like, "Imagine yourself surrounded by all those men."

David standing in the "center center," the place in the original structure where a guard could see down each corridor. Foucault would be impressed.

A tree growing out of the top of the old wall.

The death row cells.

Buttons for the death-row cells. These were the only cells with electric locks.

Later, we met up with Vogel and had dinner in the city. Very yummy!

Me and Vogel at dinner. 

All in all, a great way to start my holiday break!