A poem I stumbled across today...
"Small Wire"
As it has been said:
Love and a cough
cannot be concealed.
Even a small cough.
Even a small love.
― Anne Sexton
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Monday, February 13, 2017
Tet[R]ad
13 February 2017: “I don’t want to look at the 125 emails in my inbox. But I get one of these books in the mail and it’s like a gift.” –Dr. David Modler, a professor in the Department of Contemporary Art and Theater at Shepherd, talking about Tet[R]ad, a collaborative art project he works on, at today’s Faculty Research Forum. Take a look at some digital versions of this art here and read more about the project here.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
What the Lord gave me...
12 February 2017: "You don't need to color it. Don't color it. I mean, you can tell people I did them if you want, but why spend the money?" --the very nice lady who cut my hair today, marveling over the natural highlights in my hair these days. (They call them highlights, I call them white streaks!) I always get a kick out of stylists' reactions to my hair because I say "thank you," but I didn't have a darn thing to do with it. Nevertheless, it's a tiny bit good for the self esteem!
Saturday lunch...
11 February 2017: "It makes it a lot easier to get out of bed in the morning." --one of my former students/advisees, who is now a public school teacher, talking about the meaning she finds in her work. We met for lunch yesterday and hearing her say that made me very happy and hopeful.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Yay? Sorry?
10 February 2017: "You made me have a revelation!" --a student in my ENGL 307 class, in reference to something I said in class. I'll take it!
Thursday, February 9, 2017
"Black"
9 February 2017:
"Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did
All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn..."
--Pearl Jam, "Black"
When my brother Ryan was in the army and about to head to Korea, we (Christian, Erin, my dad, and I) dropped him off at the airport. As we pulled out of the parking lot, this song came on the radio and Christian said, almost with an almost preternatural touch of elegy, that it made him sad because Ryan liked it. Anyway, since then, I always think of Ryan and that moment when I hear it. It came on today and I thought of him. Sad, but beautiful.
"Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did
All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn..."
--Pearl Jam, "Black"
When my brother Ryan was in the army and about to head to Korea, we (Christian, Erin, my dad, and I) dropped him off at the airport. As we pulled out of the parking lot, this song came on the radio and Christian said, almost with an almost preternatural touch of elegy, that it made him sad because Ryan liked it. Anyway, since then, I always think of Ryan and that moment when I hear it. It came on today and I thought of him. Sad, but beautiful.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Small success...
8 February 2017: "I actually like him a lot better now." --one of my ENGL 204 students at the end of Day One of Whitman coverage. I work my tail off in that class, preaching the wonder of Walt. This class was a harder sell than most, but this little comment at the end of class gave me some hope.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Stone-free!
7 February 2017: "You can pick him up after 4:00." --the nice girl at the vet's office, calling to tell me when I could pick up Wesley. His surgery today went very well and he is home and safe and sound. He is not thrilled about the cone of shame, but otherwise, all is well.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Back on the radio...
I was back on EPIC Radio this morning, talking about Whitman. Not-at-all-surprising spoiler: I had so much fun. (Link to the first time I was on....)
Alternative definitions...
6 February 2017: "It's like NASCAR, but on feet." --a student in my ENGL 204 class, explaining why she finds baseball boring. I completely disagree, of course, but it made me laugh.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Another voice of reason...
5 February 2017: “We love the assumption that we treat each other well and that facts matter.” –Dahlia Lithwick, killing it in her opening comments on this week’s Amicus podcast, as she explains why she will refuse to treat this administration's views of the law "normally."
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Above and Below
4 February 2017: "You have to roll a four or higher to get two lanterns." --my friend Josh trying to explain the rules of Above and Below to me this evening.
Learning a new game can be tough, especially when it's one as imaginative and involved as this one was, but--fitting in with this year's blog theme--careful listening (and a patient teacher!) led to a lot of enjoyment. It's a very cool game with so many possibilities. After spending most of the day grading, an evening of fun, games, Anna, and Josh was quite good for the soul!
Learning a new game can be tough, especially when it's one as imaginative and involved as this one was, but--fitting in with this year's blog theme--careful listening (and a patient teacher!) led to a lot of enjoyment. It's a very cool game with so many possibilities. After spending most of the day grading, an evening of fun, games, Anna, and Josh was quite good for the soul!
Friday, February 3, 2017
Big old sigh of relief...
3 February 2017: "All of his blood work was normal." --my vet, giving me some great news about Wesley. He still has to get through his surgery for the bladder stones on Tuesday, but it is such a relief knowing that he doesn't have something else going on. I was literally giddy after getting that call.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
"Frederick Douglass"
2 February 2017: Because he is one of my heroes, because I am teaching his _Narrative_ tomorrow in ENGL 204, and because he's in the news (thanks to a certain president who obviously didn't pay attention in class), I was delighted to come across this poem about Frederick Douglass, written by the fantastic Robert Hayden.
When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful
and terrible thing, needful to man as air,
usable as earth; when it belongs at last to all,
when it is truly instinct, brain matter, diastole, systole,
reflex action; when it is finally won; when it is more
than the gaudy mumbo jumbo of politicians:
this man, this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro
beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world
where none is lonely, none hunted, alien,
this man, superb in love and logic, this man
shall be remembered. Oh, not with statues’ rhetoric,
not with legends and poems and wreaths of bronze alone,
but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives
fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing.
When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful
and terrible thing, needful to man as air,
usable as earth; when it belongs at last to all,
when it is truly instinct, brain matter, diastole, systole,
reflex action; when it is finally won; when it is more
than the gaudy mumbo jumbo of politicians:
this man, this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro
beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world
where none is lonely, none hunted, alien,
this man, superb in love and logic, this man
shall be remembered. Oh, not with statues’ rhetoric,
not with legends and poems and wreaths of bronze alone,
but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives
fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
A good question...
1 February 2016: "Why was I there?!?" --a student in my ENGL 204 class, remembering when he was in third grade (!), and attended several plays based on Edgar Allan Poe stories.
It was hilarious to hear this now-young-adult talk about being scared by this decidedly inappropriate "edu-tainment." And he remembered vivid details: the sound of the heart-beat getting louder in "The Tell-Tale Heart," the sound of the monkey (who only appears once in the story, but whose appearance I always note) in "The Black Cat."
This also lead to a good (brief) conversation about realizing as an adult that you were exposed to some weirdly inappropriate things when you were a kid. For me, this was Little House on the Prairie, which had some pretty horrific episodes: Ma Ingalls about to cut her own leg off, Albert burning down the blind school (accidentally) which kill Mrs. Garvey and Mary's baby, the one with the mime... So weird!
It was hilarious to hear this now-young-adult talk about being scared by this decidedly inappropriate "edu-tainment." And he remembered vivid details: the sound of the heart-beat getting louder in "The Tell-Tale Heart," the sound of the monkey (who only appears once in the story, but whose appearance I always note) in "The Black Cat."
This also lead to a good (brief) conversation about realizing as an adult that you were exposed to some weirdly inappropriate things when you were a kid. For me, this was Little House on the Prairie, which had some pretty horrific episodes: Ma Ingalls about to cut her own leg off, Albert burning down the blind school (accidentally) which kill Mrs. Garvey and Mary's baby, the one with the mime... So weird!
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