Dear Void

New Blog Address

2008-02-09T15:21:00.000-05:00

After months of "blogger's block," I've decided to make a fresh start by moving to another blog host and starting fresh. I may import this blog to the new one, though I haven't decided yet. But I will no longer be posting here.

I've emailed several people with the new address and I've posted it on Facebook, but if you still haven't received the new address, please email me!

The Hot Item for 8th Grade Girls

2007-08-24T18:38:00.001-04:00

Practically every other 8th grade girl who walks past me in the halls at school has a version of this bag. Apparently, it is the item to have. :-)

Aha! New Uses for Old Things

2007-08-14T20:30:00.000-04:00

The magazine Real Simple typically has a section called "Solutions: New Uses for Old Things," in which an item intended for one use is given an "Aha!" use -- something new to do with the item. Here's an example, in which a shower caddy, originally intended to hold extra shower items, is given an "Aha!" use of holding extra laundry, pantry, or gardening supplies. They recommend hanging it on a doorknob. All that to say, I thought I would do my own "New Use for an Old Thing" (I must give credit to my mother for this suggesting that I post about this!)

For the last few years, I've had a giant leather school bag which I've used to tote books, papers, and supplies to and from school. Since I didn't have my own classroom, and the school didn't have much extra storage space, having a big bag to hold everything was essential. And I think my fellow teachers would attest that my bag was big.

Well, I don't need that big bag this year. Everything can stay in my classroom, and I'll only need to take home items that I need on that particular evening. So I was on the lookout for a new, smaller bag. I browsed for a while at Target the other day, and after wandering through the purse/bag section and then through the school supplies section, I ended up in the gardening section. And that's when I saw it. A gardening tote! It was adorable! And it had tons of pockets! (I think it's safe to say I was excited.) All those little pockets just charmed me -- a pocket for pens, a pocket for a calculator, a pocket for post-it notes, and on and on. The bag has 8 pockets in all around the outside of the bag. In addition the bag has a reinforced bottom, so it can bear the weight of the books I'll put in it without looking misshapen. So that's my new use for an old thing.

Solutions: New Uses for Old Things

Garden Tote

Original Purpose:
Keeping seeds, trowels, and gloves neatly organized as you dig around in the dirt.

Aha! Use:
Organizing school supplies (pens, pencils, markers, calculators, notepads, and, paper clips) in neatly separated compartments with ample space for books.

Reward:
Organized teacher, cute bag -- it's bound to be a successful year!

Back to (a brand new) School

2007-08-10T22:21:00.000-04:00

Well, brand new to me, that is.

I'm in the process of beginning a new teaching job at the Christian Academy of Louisville. I'll be teaching 8th grade Literature and Language Arts (these two classes are my only preps, though I have three sections of each class in the course of a day).This school is a change for me in many ways. My previous teaching job was at a classical Christian school, and while CAL is Christian, it's not classical. Right now I'm just concerned with following the curriculum maps (I'm quite thankful for them), but it will be interesting to see how I might be able to incorporate some broader principles as soon as I find my footing. I think many of those broader principles will correspond to standards already in place, such as Bloom's taxonomy. A second difference is size. I grew up attending small-ish Christian schools -- my senior class had 27, which was a large class (our school had about 250 students, K-12). And the school I'd taught at for the last four years (Ad Fontes Academy) was small as well. Christian Academy is a system of four schools in the Louisville area. The campus I'm assigned to is the largest, with approximately 1,500 students, K-12. Each of my classes will have 21-22 students. Because I have the same students for a literature class and for a language arts class (I have each set of students for two periods in a row), I end up with about 65 students, which is actually a fairly small number compared to other teachers who have either more preps or more sections.

Another key change is my classroom. Meaning, that I have one. All to myself. I've never really had that before. For the last four years, because of available classroom space, I've moved from room to room to teach my various classes. And because we rented space from local churches, I've taken my needed teaching resources with me to and from school nearly every day. It didn't necessarily impair my teaching -- I think you can get a great education with just a teacher, a student, and a book -- but it did get tiring at times. Now I'm a good ways closer to the opposite end of the spectrum. Here's your classroom with 23 desks, two student computers, your own desk, filing cabinet, computer, two windows, various cabinets, counter space, drawers, bookshelves, overhead projector, and bulletin boards. By the way, feel free to decorate however you'd like.

Decorate. Yikes. I've never realized how tiring it can be to decorate a classroom. Maybe that's because I've never done it before. Today was the first day (after a full week of teacher training, with lots of time in our rooms) that I left the room feeling that things were in order. That the walls didn't look too bare. That my desk area is starting to look like I have a personality. It wore me out. Don't get me wrong. I am so excited to have my own room. I loved walking out of my classroom today carrying one small bag because I could leave everything else in the room. But, my word, that room consumed a lot of my mental power this week!

I have a few more days of preparation before classes begin on Wednesday. I'm quite excited, a little nervous, but grateful that right next door there's an experienced 8th grade English teacher who's been at this school for a long time and who's willing to share any and every resource, lesson plan, quiz, test that she has. I'm also so grateful for my previous four years of teaching experience -- the fact that I feel busy but not overwhelmed is due to those four years at a small school where I saw daily that the only thing you really need for a good education is a teacher, a student, and a book.

Baked Eggs

2007-08-05T17:51:00.000-04:00

I first had baked eggs (also called shirred eggs) at the bed-and-breakfast where Jeff and I stayed on our honeymoon. On two mornings we came down to find charming ramekins, each filled with an egg and herbs. Soon afterwards, I found a recipe for baked eggs in How to Cook Everything, and I've made them on several occasions, usually on a Sunday morning. We had them again this morning, and I thought I would post the recipe. I've adapted it somewhat from the basic version in HTCE.

Baked Eggs

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Butter small ramekins or custard cups. You can also put a couple teaspoons of cream in the bottom of each ramekin. If I don't have cream on hand, I usually put a little half-and-half in the bottom.

Break 1 egg into each cup. You can bake them like this (fairly plain), or you can add some toppings.

Salt and pepper.
I usually put some fresh herbs on top of the egg. Today I used thyme. I've also used rosemary.
Grate some cheese on top. I usually prefer freshly grated parmesan. Jeff likes cheddar (and today I put colby on his).
Breadcrumbs -- I've used breadcrumbs from a box, which work well; today I had leftover hearty white bread from another recipe calling for breadcrumbs, so I pulsed one piece in the food processor and sprinkled the fresh crumbs on top of the eggs.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. I usually bake for about 10, otherwise the yolk begins to set, which we dislike, though we do like the egg white to be fairly set. 10-11 minutes seems to do it. The eggs keep cooking even after you take them out of the oven, so take that into account.

There are other variations listed in HTCE -- olive oil/tomato, spinach, onions. Anything that you like to have with eggs would probably do well. Let me know if you have variations you enjoy. I encourage you to try your hand at baked eggs. They're quite charming and quite good!

It amazes me that shirred eggs have fallen from favor: there is something so luxurious about them, and, although they take a little time, they are delicious.

~ Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

Moving to Louisville

2007-07-15T16:49:00.000-04:00

Thursday ~
After several days of packing (and invaluable help from my family), Jeff and I pulled out of DC (and into morning traffic) around 9am. Jeff drove the U-Haul, while I followed in our car. We drove for about 8 hours, which actually went by fairly quickly for me -- I'm reading Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, and I had the second one (The Subtle Knife) playing in the car as I drove. We arrived around 7pm at Jeff's parents' house in Ohio, where we had a great dinner and spent the night. It was lovely to not have to unpack after driving all day.

Friday ~
We left Ohio around 9am, arriving in Louisville at 12:45pm. We had a walk-through of our apartment at 1pm, and then we unloaded the truck in two phases (we had a generous break in between) with lots of help from Jeff's sister Emily and her husband Scott (we now live in the same apartment complex) and some other Louisville friends. We had another great dinner that night with those friends, and then we headed home to sleep among our boxes!

Saturday ~
We dug around in our boxes for our coffee maker and skillet, and then had a breakfast of fried eggs. We headed out to return the U-Haul, and then decided to head to Home Depot for little odds and ends we need to set up house (we got a little turned around while looking for it, and so we decided to take a coffee break at Heine Brothers' Coffee before continuing our search). And then (just one day after unloading over 20 boxes of books), we decided to check out the local library! Jeff came out with one book, and I came out with about 7 plus a CD. What can I say? I like to have choices! We spent the rest of the afternoon unloading some boxes and organizing a few things like our kitchen pantry. Then we spent the evening playing poker (my first time!) with several friends.

Sunday~
This morning we attended Immanuel Baptist Church, where Scott and Emily are members. After church, we had lunch at a small gumbo restaurant -- quite good! And now I'm posting this after a lovely Sunday nap. :-)

After living in a small basement apartment in DC, we feel like we have room to rattle around in! Our apartment has a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, and a 2nd bedroom that we're turning into an office/study. We're hoping to paint a few of the rooms in the coming days, and then we'll try to post a few pictures. Right now you can just imagine lots of boxes in various states of being unpacked, and you'll have a great image of our place! :-)

Book Thoughts: The Diana Chronicles

2007-07-05T16:32:00.000-04:00

When I was about ten years old, I became fascinated with British royalty and with Princess Diana in particular. And though I've outgrown many aspects of my fascination, I still can't resist an occasional biography of her. About three years ago, I read Paul Burrell's book A Royal Duty while I was on vacation with my family and loved it. And so when I read favorable reviews of Tina Brown's new book The Diana Chronicles, I had to get it.

While Burrell's book was highly complimentary of the Princess of Wales, Tina Brown's tone is far more complex. I feel that in many ways she is sympathetic toward Diana (which some reviews have questioned), but she certainly doesn't shy away from laying a hearty portion of the blame for Diana's struggles upon Diana herself. And I felt that Brown handled most of the characters (and I do mean characters!) in a similar fashion -- Prince Charles, Prince Philip, Camilla Parker Bowles, Fergie, Diana's family, and even the Queen. Each of them is on the receiving end of Brown's love-hate tone, some more than others. (And some certainly get just the "hate" portion, notably Dodi Fayed and his father Muhammed.)

Throughout the biography, usually expressed after an account of some off-the-wall action of Diana's, Brown takes a position that many others have taken on Diana: that she was a woman who might have led a happier, quieter--though, most certainly, far more dull--life had she not married into the Royal Family. Much of the conflict seems to come down to "she didn't understand them, they didn't understand her." Brown addresses and dismisses any suggestion that the monarchy is in danger of not surviving. But she does trace the transformative affects that Diana has had on the Royal Family. If you're interested in Princess Diana, I think this book is worth a read.

Back in Business

2007-07-02T09:38:00.000-04:00

So I haven't posted in . . . a really long time. That delay was due primarily to the fact that I couldn't access my blog for quite a while (and with the busyness of the end of the school year, I wasn't motivated to solve the problem). Since I know so little about how these things work, I won't attempt to muddle through an explanation, but I think I've solved the problem (or at least sidestepped it) by creating a Gmail account. All that really matters to me is that I can post again! :-)

I'm also not going to attempt a recap of the last three months. Suffice it to say that the school year ended (my fourth at Ad Fontes Academy). The students I taught as a first year teacher (9th grade English) graduated from high school this year, so there was a sense of having come full circle. Because Jeff and I are moving soon, I won't be returning to Ad Fontes next year.

Jeff and I are moving (in 10 days!) to Louisville, Kentucky, so that Jeff can begin the Master of Divinity program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary this fall. We'll be there for (at least) the next 3-4 years. And that move is prompting a change of sorts in my blogging purpose. I didn't originally intend this blog to be "diary-like," but I am going do more of those sorts of posts (hopefully accompanied by photos) as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends. I also intend to continue to post about books, literature, movies, etc.; but there will be a somewhat stronger emphasis on details of our life in Louisville.

So that's a quick update! I'm glad to be back!

Wedding Photo

2007-07-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Wedding Photo

2007-04-10T20:48:00.000-04:00

We're still in the process of sorting through wedding photos, and this past weekend we got our digital version of the photos we've chosen. So I'll probably post a few of my favorites here and there. This one was taken outside our church in a small alley between parking lots.

National Poetry Month

2007-04-04T09:17:00.000-04:00

I was reminded when visiting Christa's blog yesterday afternoon that April is National Poetry Month. I enjoyed celebrating National Poetry Month last year on my blog and plan to do so again. (Thanks for the reminder, Christa!)

You can sign up to receive a poem each day from Poets.org (the website of the Academy of American Poets, which, as I learned, inaugurated National Poetry Month in 1996). You will need to register with the site, but that takes just about 20 seconds.

For my first poetry entry, I chose one of Emily Dickinson's "definition" poems ("Hope is . . ." / "Faith is . . . "). And then below the poem, I've included a paragraph from Garrison Keillor's introduction to Good Poems in which he speaks of Dickinson and the enduring power of writing.

#764

Presentiment - is that long Shadow - on the Lawn -
Indicative that Suns go down -

The Notice to the startled Grass -
That Darkness - is about to pass -

~ Emily Dickinson, c. 1863

To see poetry finding an existence that its maker never imagined, visit Emily Dickinson's grave in Amherst. Here lies the white-gowned virgin goddess, in a cluster of Dickinsons, under a stone that says "Called Back," and here, weekly, strangers come as grieving family, placing pebbles on her big stone, leaving notes to her folded into tiny squares, under small stones. Dickinson was a famous recluse who camped in the shadows in the upstairs hall and eavesdropped on visitors, and now there are few graves in America so venerated as hers. She is mourned continually because the quickness and vitality of her poems make her contemporary, and when you make flies buzz and horses turn their heads and you declaim "Wild Nights! Wild Nights!" and give hope some feathers, you are going to have friends in this world for as long as English is read.

~ Garrison Keillor

2007-04-03T20:39:00.000-04:00

Here's a photo I took tonight just a few steps from our apartment on Capitol Hill. Just past the stoplight is Stanton Park, and a few blocks beyond that, the Capitol. The traffic may get on our nerves at times, but you can't beat the view!

Dinner for two . . .

2007-04-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

. . . leaves us with lots of leftovers. I think I need to find some recipes designed for two people. We did like this Indian Spiced Chicken recipe -- hopefully, it will reheat well!

Poem

2007-03-22T09:08:00.000-04:00

Dear one, how many years is it - I forget -
Since this luminous evening when you joined us
In the celebration of whatever it was that we were celebrating - I forget -
It is a mark of a successful celebration
That one should have little recollection of the cause;
As long as the happiness itself remains a memory.
Our tiny planet, viewed from afar, is a place of swirling clouds
And dimmish blue; Scotland, though lodged large in all our hearts
Is invisible at that distance, not much perhaps,
But to us it is our all, our place, the opposite of nowhere;
Nowhere can be seen by looking up
And realising, with shock, that we really are very small;
You would say, yes, we are, but never overcompensate,
Be content with small places, the local, the short story
Rather than the saga; take pleasure in private jokes,
In expressions that cannot be translated,
In references that can be understood by only two or three,
But which speak with such eloquence for small places
And the fellowship of those whom we know so well
And whose sayings and moods are as familiar
As the weather; these mean everything,
They mean the world, they mean the world.

~ Alexander McCall Smith

Pagan Puritans

2007-03-21T18:46:00.000-04:00

I was struck today while reading through Book 16 of the Iliad with my 8th graders that as Christians, we probably have more in common with the mindset of these ancient pagan characters than we do with modern-day nonbelievers. What I mean by that is that these characters have a unified world. Everything happens for a reason. A storm is not merely a storm; it's an indication of the current emotional state of the gods. A bird is not merely a bird; it's an indication of how a battle will turn out. And regardless of how skilled one might be as a warrior, ultimately the success or failure of anything is, as Ajax realizes as he fights off Hector from the Greek ships, up to the will of the gods. I hasten to clarify that I am not implying that God treats us according to his whims or that we are ruled by an impersonal Fate. There are certainly deep distinctions between the God of the Bible and the Greek gods of the Iliad. In fact, I'll probably have my students write an essay on that very topic when we're done reading the epic. But today I was struck not by differences but by similarities -- that the world is not divided into neat little compartments as I so often tend think it is, but rather that everything is connected and that our individual actions and the events swirling about us and the will of a deity are wrapped up into one complex, yet unified whole.

In fact, I thought as I read the chapter, all of this reminds me of something from another class. It reminds me of the American Puritans that my students in 11th grade American Lit read. Those writers had the same habit of seeing God in absolutely everything. And I realized with a start, The Iliad is filled with pagan Puritans! It was a humorous, yet instructive, realization. And I think a couple of the 8th graders got it when I mentioned it. I think . . . . :-)

Poem

2007-03-07T16:11:00.000-05:00

Most mornings I try to catch "The Writer's Almanac" at 6:50 on our local NPR station. I've grown to love Garrison Keillor's voice reading me a poem as I merge onto 66 East.

And so when I came across Good Poems in a bookstore recently, I picked it up and have been working my way through it. Two days ago, I read the following poem and loved it, especially its one-long-strung-together-sentence feature. That element makes the "Hallelujah" at the end sound fabulous. It reminded me a little bit of the poem "The Creation" by James Weldon Johnson -- a sort of similar imaginative retelling of God's creating work. (On a side note, I still remember Dr. Panosian performing "The Creation" at a Sunday Vespers years ago at BJU. He had the perfect voice for it.)

Morning Person

God, best at making in the morning, tossed
stars and planets, singing and dancing, rolled
Saturn's rings spinning and humming, twirled the earth
so hard it coughed and spat the moon up, brilliant
bubble floating around it for good, stretched holy
hands till birds in nervous sparks flew forth from
them and beasts--lizards, big and little, apes,
lions, elephants, dogs and cats cavorting,
tumbling over themselves, dizzy with joy when
God made us in the morning too, both man
and woman, leaving Adam no time for
sleep so nimbly was Eve bouncing out of
his side till as night came everything and
everybody, growing tired, declined, sat
down in one soft descended Hallelujah.

~ Vassar Miller

One of the many reasons . . .

2007-02-05T14:18:00.000-05:00

. . . why I married Jeff Cavanaugh.

Book Thoughts

2007-02-05T13:37:00.000-05:00

I find it interesting how what's going on in my life affects my reading choices. For the last several months, my life has been in great transition, and so, when I actually even wanted to read, I found myself reaching for comforting books. Here are two I recently completed.

The Right Attitude to Rain

The Isabel Dalhousie novels by Alexander McCall Smith make me want to drink tea. And in my opinion, that makes them really good books.

I read the first novel (The Sunday Philosophy Club) a while ago (maybe a year?). Then when I wanted a cozy novel to take with me on the honeymoon, I thought of Alexander McCall Smith and picked up the second one, Friends, Lovers, Chocolate. And I now I've just finished reading The Right Attitude to Rain, the third novel in this "mystery" series. The term "mystery novel" applies only very loosely to these books. While they are shelved with other mystery novels in the library, they do not fit the classic "who-done-it" model. In fact, there was nary a dead, nor even a close-to-dead, body to be found in this third novel.

But what Alexander McCall Smith excels at is the portrayal of "small things" (a phrase that pops up in this novel and in his other works). And what I've come to love about this particular set of novels is the repetition -- the small number of key characters and their rhythmic habits. The mystery is never the point of these stories. Instead, I find myself picking up the next one for the characters.

Talking with My Mouth Full

I picked up this book about two months ago but only began it about two weeks ago. Talking with My Mouth Full: Crabcakes, Bundt Cakes, and Other Kitchen Stories is a collection of essays by Bonny Wolf, the food critic for NPR's Weekend Edition. I very much like this sort of book at times -- the essay style allows for an easy "pick up, put down" kind of reading, which was just what I needed. And her subject matter revolves arounds the comforts of food and food traditions -- my favorite essays were on the topics of aprons and bundt pans. Occasionally I felt that Wolf's tone was cloyingly idealistic or simplistic. And I found myself losing interest by the end (my favorites were in the first of the three divisions of essays). But on the whole, I found this collection to be quite enjoyable.

Cavanaugh Test Kitchen

2007-01-09T07:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday night after church Jeff made French toast for us. He put on my red apron, and then, since I thought he was beginning to resemble the guy from America's Test Kitchen, he added a bowtie. I think Christopher Kimball had better watch out! :-)

(By the way, the French toast recipe in the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook is fabulous!)

Simile

2007-01-08T12:25:00.000-05:00

. . . the bulb hangs in the hot dark
like a white blood drop.

~ Michael Dennis Browne

The 8th grade reaction to this simile was either cool or eeww.
I'm on the cool side.

Poem

2007-01-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

My eighth grade English students read this poem over the weekend (we're looking at similes in a poetry unit). I'd never seen this poem before, but I really liked it.

The Day is Done

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

Setting up House

2007-01-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

After our wedding and a wonderfully relaxing honeymoon in Williamsburg, Jeff and I have been setting up house. Unfortunately, not in this one. :-) I think our place could fit in a closet here. We have a small apartment on the basement level of a rowhouse on Capitol Hill. We've been settling in this past week, and it's starting to feel like ours little by little. I'll post some pictures (when we get around to taking some!). Here are a couple more from Williamsburg.

And one photo from the wedding (via Jeff's sister Emily's blog!):

Miss Ruffner & Mrs. Cavanaugh

2006-12-12T14:30:00.000-05:00

Today is my last day at school this week. Since the wedding's on Saturday and Christmas break begins at the end of the day on Friday, I'm taking off tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. My students seem to have just realized this week that I won't be "Miss Ruffner" when we come back to school in January. They've been asking how to spell Cavanaugh, how to pronounce Cavanaugh, and whether or not I'll even realize they're talking to me when they say, "Mrs. Cavanaugh." Someone's suggested that I take to wearing a name tag for the first few weeks of January. I just may have to do that. Though how will I see it . . . ? :-)

Pictures

2006-11-27T20:13:00.000-05:00

Here are a few photos -- the first three are from my bridal shower a few weeks ago, and the last two are from Thanksgiving Day.

2006-11-27T20:10:00.000-05:00

2006-11-27T20:07:00.000-05:00

2006-11-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

2006-11-27T19:57:00.000-05:00

2006-11-27T19:31:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

Most gracious God, by whose knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew: We yield thee hearty thanks and praise for the return of seedtime and harvest, for the increase of the ground and the gathering in of its fruits, and for all the other blessings of thy merciful providence bestowed upon this nation and people. And, we beseech thee, give us a just sense of these great mercies, such as may appear in our lives by a humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost be all glory and honor, world without end. Amen.
~ Thanksgiving for the Harvest, The Book of Common Prayer

How do you say . . . ?

2006-11-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
The West
The Northeast
Philadelphia
Boston
North Central
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Thanks to Bet for this quiz link!

Word Meme

2006-10-18T12:23:00.000-04:00

Thank you to Bet for the "Do You Know What I Meme?" tag! The tagger provides four words, and the tagee (is that a word?!) gives his definitions or thoughts that come to mind.

WORK: teaching; I picture books, papers, grading, students.

PLAY: time off; Sleeping in, movies, bookstores, shopping, dinner out with friends.

FAITH: the gospel; Christ, conversion, perseverance, Scripture, church.

FALL: my favorite season of the year; I love the colors, the clothes, the food, the weather.

I'll tag all the Cavanaughs, whose family I'll be part of soon! :-)

Jeff, my fiance
Emily & Scott, Jeff's sister and brother-in-law
The Cavie Family, Jeff's parents and sisters Abby and Stephanie

The words are: wedding (of course!), book, bread, and nap.

Wedding Update

2006-10-18T10:22:00.000-04:00

I have been horridly neglectful of this blog lately. I feel like I ought to do blogger penance. (Which makes me curious as to what blogger penance might look like. Hmmm.)

I wanted to post just a brief update on wedding plans. Jeff and I finished our marriage counseling and have set our wedding date for December 16, which means we have just about 8 weeks left. Many details have fallen into place; other items are still in progress, but things are moving along quite well.

I didn't even need to go dress shopping, which was quite a relief. While there's the whole image of a bride searching diligently for her dress and then tearing up when she finds "the one," I had no illusions of such a process, having gone through wedding dress shopping with my sister two years ago. It's actually just a lot of hard work. We have a family friend whose dress I've always loved, and, serendipitously, we're the same height and size. We had her dress cleaned and restored, and it's ready to go. I also found the bridesmaids' dresses this past Saturday; the dresses are a deep brown ("espresso") taffeta from Ann Taylor's wedding line, Celebrations.

Jeff and I registered together at Crate & Barrel and Target -- it was energizing at the beginning of the evening and exhausting by the end. I actually found the little things to be more daunting -- which spatula should we choose out of the fifteen available!

I ordered the invitations and at first put down "District of Colombia." It hit me about 48 hours later that actually, no, Andrea, you are not getting married in a South American country; thankfully, I was able to change it to "Columbia" (they'd caught it as well). I don't think I'd ever live down that error. (So you think you can teach English?) How ironic.

So that's where we are!

The Dangers of Reading and Writing

2006-09-21T12:23:00.000-04:00

Today in American literature (my 11th grade English class, and my favorite), we finished up reading parts of John Winthrop's Journal, the twenty-year record he kept of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Now, I very much respect Winthrop and enjoy examining both the Journal and Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation as examples of Puritan histories, as illustrations of Puritan plain style, and as records of our country's founding. But this entry below never fails to make me laugh (though I didn't find it so amusing when I first read it in college). It was the highlight of today's class.

April 13, 1645

Mr. Hopkins, the governor of Hartford upon Connecticut, came to Boston, and brought his wife with him, (a godly young woman, and of special parts) who was fallen into a sad infirmity, the loss of her understanding and reason, which had been growing upon her divers years, by occasion of her giving herself wholly to reading and writing, and had written many books. Her husband, being very loving and tender of her, was loath to grieve her; but he saw his error when it was too late. For if she had attended her household affairs and such things as belong to women, and not gone out of her way and calling to meddle in such things as are proper for men, whose minds are stronger, etc., she had kept her wits and might have improved them usefully and honorably in the place God had set her. He brought her to Boston, and left her with her brother, one Mr. Yale, a merchant, to try what means might be had here for her. But no help could be had.

Let that be a lesson to you, girls! :-)

City on a Hill

2006-09-19T09:32:00.000-04:00

I've been rather neglectful of this blog in recent weeks. My head is filled primarily with wedding and school details. So here's an excerpt from today's 11th grade American Literature class. We read several excerpts from this sermon this morning.

~ from "A Model of Christian Charity," preached by John Winthrop on board the Arbella, 1630, as the Puritans were making their way to Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Now the only way to avoid shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities. We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality. We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, "may the Lord make it like that of New England." For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God's sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.

And to shut this discourse with that exhortation of Moses, that faithful servant of the Lord, in his last farewell to Israel, Deut. 30. "Beloved, there is now set before us life and death, good and evil," in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his ordinance and his laws, and the articles of our Covenant with Him, that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it. But if our hearts shall turn away, so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it.

Therefore, let us choose life,
that we, and our seed, may live;
by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him,
for He is our life and our prosperity.

Big News!

2006-09-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

I'm getting married!!

This past Saturday, Jeff Cavanaugh asked me to marry him, and it was with great joy that I said, "Yes!"

(Well, actually, it was more like, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!!")

I met Jeff last fall soon after I started attending Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Jeff was an intern (and interns aren't allowed to date!), but I was particularly struck upon meeting him with his kindness and gentlemanly demeanor. In November, he sat in on my membership interview (which, I discovered later, was not coincidental). One night in December after a church caroling outing, he pulled up a chair and started talking with me. My interest was most definitely perked after that conversation, which was primarly about literature if I recall correctly. And over the next few months, we kept talking. At church. At Sunday lunch. At the circus. At IHOP. At the baseball game. At Starbucks. And then in May, all that talking culminated with a most lovely talk over an Italian dinner one night when Jeff asked if we could date seriously. And I said yes. (Hmm . . . I love foreshadowing!)

So, fast forward through one fabulous summer (I've never been so thrilled to be a teacher and to have the summer off!), and we arrive at Saturday, September 2. All I thought we were up to was afternoon shopping followed by a movie and dinner. But on the way, as we drove past the National Cathedral (which I'd toured for the first time with him just a few Saturdays earlier), Jeff suggested that we stop and see if there was any information on a concert that we're hoping to attend in November. We asked about the concert, then meandered through the church's great bookshop, and then headed outside where Jeff suggested we walk down some paths surrounding the cathedral and winding around smaller buildings. And then in a quiet corner of the pathway, Jeff asked me to marry him, and I was able to say yes again, though this time with even greater delight!

I'm continually amazed and delighted that God has so clearly brought Jeff into my life. We are so looking forward to marriage and a future of reading great books, drinking great coffee, and enjoying God and each other!

(And we'll try to get pictures up at some point! Picture-taking hasn't been our strong suit in this relationship!)

Back to Reality

2006-08-31T19:51:00.000-04:00

In other words, back to school. And, yes, this is a picture of me at dinner this evening!

This week has been a preparation week for classes, which begin next Wednesday. And I can't believe how exhausted I am already! :-) (Which is why this picture made me laugh.) Granted, my summer sleeping schedule averaged 11pm/12am - 8am/9am. This week I've gotten up at 6:15am each morning. And that's just the "ease back into routine" wake-up time. Once classes start, it will have to be 5:30am. This is always the hardest part of going back to school! I always have a lot of sympathy for my students -- they tend to look shell-shocked the first week back.

I have five classes this year: English 8 (a new class for me, though the material -- ancient/classical -- isn't all new), English 11 (American Lit, always my favorite), two writing classes, and a Shakespeare class. Undoubtedly, my blog posts will soon begin to revolve around my small but consuming world of students, papers, classes, and books. Let the fun begin!

Sunday Hymn

2006-08-27T07:50:00.000-04:00

Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee,
As thy beauty fills my soul,
For by thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.

O how great thy lovingkindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvelous thy goodness
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is thine,
Know thy certainty of promise
And have made it mine.

Simply trusting thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold thee as thou art,
And thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed.

Ever lift thy face upon me
As I work and wait for thee;
Resting 'neath thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with thy grace.

~ Jean S. Pigott, 1876

A Favorite Song

2006-08-18T23:25:00.000-04:00

Walk with me quiet, walk with me slow
With watered-down coffee, and words of gold
I can feel the edges of these things
When I hear you speak to me, so walk with me

Walk with me empty, walk with me strong
The hush of our voices, when the day seems so long
It is like a balm, it is like a jewel
It unravels all I thought I knew

Will you lead me, beside the still waters
Where the oil, it runs over, and my cup overflows
You restore my soul

Tell me the story, where old is made new
The promise of ages, and all things that are true

When the shadows fall and the wrecking ball
Swings and tears me through the heart

Will you lead me, beside the still waters
Where the oil, it runs over, and my cup overflows
You restore my soul

~ Sandra McCracken

I Love Lucy

2006-08-18T23:06:00.000-04:00

Today I watched two episodes from season 1 of "I Love Lucy." I love rewatching these shows. They make me feel like a kid again, when every morning we would watch "Lucy" at 9:00 and 9:30. Over lunch, my sisters and I watched "Pioneer Women," the one where Lucy and Ethel face off against Ricky and Fred over who can survive longer in an early 1900s lifestyle. The thing I always remember about this one is the huge loaf of bread that comes out of the oven. Completely unrealistic, and quite hilarious. Then tonight, while I had lemon bars in the oven, I watched "Be a Pal," where Lucy tries to rekindle romance with Ricky after he keeps ignoring her over the breakfast table. The end of this one always cracks me up -- Lucy decorates the apartment in a Cuban style and tries to sing along to recorded music (which keeps speeding up or slowing down).

If you love Lucy, what are some favorite moments?

Around-the-world tea party

2006-08-17T09:07:00.000-04:00

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
~ Henry James

In the Home section of today's Washington Post there is a small note (do 3 paragraphs qualify as an "article"?) about a teacup swap. And not just any teacup swap. A potentially international teacup swap.

Sign up by August 25. Receive a recipient's address (could be in or out of the US). Send off a teacup by September 15. In about a month, receive a teacup from who knows where. I may have to try this!

"Trading Teacups" (Washington Post)

Just My Cup of Tea - "Tea Cup Swap #6" (with link to guidelines and sign-up)

Speaking of books . . .

2006-08-15T23:06:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was sorting through some notes - a hodge-podge collection of classroom handouts, magazine articles, college notes - all things related to literature and teaching in some way or another, yet woefully disorganized (everything was in one big pile - now there's at least six piles, but, hey, at least they're six sorted piles!). I came across an essay I had printed out when I was in college, an author's reflections on the first "real" book she read, To Kill a Mockingbird. If you've read the book, or even if you just love reading, this essay will delight you.

"My First 'Real' Book" by Elizabeth Strout
"Who are you talking about?" I demanded.
"It's a book," my mother said.
And I sat back and thought with amazement and pleasure: this is the stuff that's in grown-up books? When we got home I asked if I could read it, and my mother handed me a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. I sat in the big chair in the living room and felt some trepidation as I opened it. This was not, after all, a book with colorful pictures. This was, in my mind, "the real thing." And 35 years later, having read this novel again and again, it maintains a status in my life as important as any first love; while there have been other books, other loves, To Kill a Mockingbird was the one that first ushered me, with wonderful completeness, into a whole new world.

One book . . .

2006-08-14T14:20:00.000-04:00

I've never been tagged before, but thanks to Thabiti, here goes! :-)

1. One book that changed your life: The Art of Biblical Narrative, Robert Alter (has made me read the Old Testament in a deeper, more understanding manner)

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne (the more I read it, the more I love it)

3. One book I’d want on a desert island: Emma, Jane Austen

4. One book that made you laugh: The Pursuit of Love, Nancy Mitford (Runner up: I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Bill Bryson)

5. One book that made you cry: Girl Meets God, Lauren Winner (Runner up: The Red Tent, Anita Diamant, which I cannot fully recommend, but which I still distinctly remember crying at the end of.)

6. One book that you wish you had written: Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (Runner up: I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith)

7. One book you wish had never been written: Hard Times, Charles Dickens (Runner up: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce)

8. One book that you are currently reading: 44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith (quite charming, originally printed as a serial in Smith's local daily paper in Scotland)

9. One book that you’ve been meaning to read: Will in the World, Stephen Greenblatt (got through a chapter and a half . . . about a month ago . . . hmmm)

And now, I tag . . . Megan, Bet, and Christa!

Blog Discoveries

2006-08-11T12:19:00.000-04:00

I've recently come across two blogs that I wanted to mention. Both center on aspects of the Old Testament.

Abraham's Altars is a blog kept by my dear friend Megan who is nearing the completion of a independent study degree. For her culminating project, she will be working on a spiritual memoir that uses the story of Abraham as a frame. She plans to post related writings on this new blog.

In Sights is a blog kept by Emily Gray, whom I do not know personally but who attended the same college as I (and whose site I discovered through a series of links originating with Will). Emily records her observations on this blog as she reads through the Old Testament. Her focus has been on II Samuel for the most part (which I'm glad about, since I plan to read Robert Alter's translation of I and II Samuel when I complete his Pentateuch translation). You can read her philosopy of reading and recording in her first entry here.

I continue to have my love and appreciation for the Old Testament deepened, and these two sites are yet another aid in that pursuit. Enjoy!

French Favorites

2006-08-06T23:48:00.000-04:00

My favorites from Saturday's visit to the National Gallery of Art. These are from the 18th century French collection.

A Young Girl Reading, Fragonard

Group Portrait, Drouais

The Visit to the Nursery, Fragonard

Girls just wanna have fun

2006-08-04T23:32:00.000-04:00

This weekend, one of my dearest friends from college is in town (she is also a teacher). We spent today in delightful luxury. Recently, another teacher suggested that we view each day of summer as making up for a particular day in the school year, which I considered to be a fabulous approach. This day more than makes up for a certain long day in March!

9:30 am ~ Breakfast of eggs, scones, strawberries, and coffee

11:45 am ~ Manicure and pedicure

2:30 pm ~ Afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton

4:15 pm ~ Browsing (and buying)
at Crane's

7:30 pm ~ Dinner at home

9:00 pm ~ Godiva chocolate, coffee, and "I Capture the Castle"

Sunday Hymn

2006-07-30T07:30:00.000-04:00

I'd never heard this song before coming to Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Hearing this hymn sung by hundreds of strong a cappella voices is an experience to be treasured. I'm hoping we sing it again soon.

Hark, I hear the harps eternal
Ringing on the farther shore,
As I near those swollen waters
With their deep and solemn roar.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, praise the lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM!

And my soul, though stained with sorrow,
Fading as the light of day,
Passes swiftly o’er those waters,
To the city far away.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, praise the lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM!

Souls have crossed before me, saintly,
To that land of perfect rest;
And I hear them singing faintly
In the mansions of the blest.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, praise the lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM!

~ traditional American hymn, arranged by Alice Parker

On this day in literature . . .

2006-07-28T08:37:00.000-04:00

~ 1844 ~ Gerard Manley Hopkins is born in Stratford, Essex

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves -- goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying What I do is me: for that I came.

I say more: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is --
Christ. For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces.

- Hopkins, 1880

Hopkins's diction conveys the vigor and spark and spontaneity that is inherent in all of life. The focused conviction expressed here is that it is Christ, the God-revealing Christ, who is behind and in all of this living. The message is that all this life, this kingfisher- and dragonfly-aflame life, this tumbled stone and harp string and bell-sounding life, gets played out in us, in our limbs and eyes, in our feet and speech, in the faces of the men and women we see all day long, every day, in the mirror and on the sidewalk, in classroom and kitchen, in workplaces and on playgrounds, in sanctuaries and committees. The central verb, "play," catches the exhuberance and freedom that mark life when it is lived beyond necessity, beyond mere survival. "Play" also suggests words and sounds and actions that are "played" for another, intentional and meaningful renderings of beauty or truth or goodness. Hopkins incorporates this sense of play with God as the ultimate "other" (". . . to the Father") -- which is to say that all life is, or can be, worship.

- Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places:
A Conversation in Spiritual Theology

An Emily Sort of Afternoon

2006-07-23T22:12:00.000-04:00

This past week while I was flipping through Pages (a magazine about books) during one of my bi-weekly trips to Barnes & Noble, I happened across a profile of a bookstore and happily discovered that it was located in DC (and has been for 20 years). So yesterday afternoon, Jeff and I sought out Chapters: A Literary Bookstore. It was a small shop, one that perhaps might be overlooked since it sits within the shadow cast by a nearby two-story Barnes & Noble.
(Hmm . . . I'm beginning to feel "You've Got Mail" themes coming on!) And while I enjoy Barnes & Noble and happily patronize the stores frequently, Jeff and I agreed that it was quite satisfying to actually be able to browse an entire store in about an hour. And I do mean the entire store. I looked at nearly every shelf in the shop, while sipping a cup of Lady Grey tea (provided for free on a small corner table).

I was interested to check out the poetry selection, since I had read in the Pages profile that the store prides itself on its poetry offerings. And it was in this section that I discovered Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson. I flipped through it, read a few, and quickly knew I'd have to buy this book. Some samples -- "Emily Dickinson Attends a Writing Workshop" (Emily - Nice language here, but I end this poem feeling confused) and "Emily Dickinson's To-Do List" (Wednesday / White dress or what? / Eavesdrop on visitors from behind door / Write poem / Hide poem). Then in the children's section, I found The Mouse of Amherst by Elizabeth Spires (I am a mouse, a white mouse. My name is Emmaline. Before I met Emily, the great poet of Amherst, I was nothing more than a crumb-gatherer, a cheese nibbler, a mouse-of-little-purpose.) I was charmed. It was already feeling like an Emily sort of afternoon. I didn't need much convincing to add this to my other Dickinson purchase.

"Emily Dickinson"

We think of her hidden in a white dress
among the folded linens and sachets
of well kept cupboards, or just out of sight
sending jellies and notes with no address
to all the wondering Amherst neighbors.
Eccentric as New England weather
the stiff wind of her mind, stinging or gentle,
blew two half imagined lovers off.
Yet legend won't explain the sheet sanity
of vision, the serious mischief
of language, the economy of pain.

- Linda Pastan, in Visiting Emily

(Yes, I am aware of the irony of blogging about a small and charming bookshop, while at the same time linking the titles to Amazon, which, on a completely unrelated note, I've just learned is now also offering grocery service of all things. Oh well. )

On this day in literature . . .

2006-07-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

~ 1967 ~ Carl Sandburg dies at the age of 89 in Flat Rock, North Carolina.

I find Sandburg interesting as a poet primarily in the ways he echoes the themes and style of Walt Whitman. Both men were drawn to Abraham Lincoln (Sandburg wrote a six-volume biography of Lincoln), both saw themselves as representatives of the common working man, and both were experimental poets working with free verse and "unpoetic" content. Sandburg's poem "Chicago" demonstrates these last two aspects well, and I find it to be a good companion piece to Whitman's "Give me the splendid silent sun," especially to the second part of the poem in which Whitman praises Manhattan. I especially like Sandburg's cataloguing technique in this poem.

"Chicago" (1914)

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness,

Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse, and under his ribs the heart of the people,

Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Films Still to Come

2006-07-20T17:28:00.000-04:00

Will Gray at Explorations has posted a wonderful preview of films yet to come in 2006. If you enjoy movies and would like to know what to keep an eye out for in the coming months, head over to check out his helpful previews.

maggie and milly and molly and may

2006-07-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

~ E. E. Cummings, 1956

The mystery that is identity is the focus of "Maggie, Milly, Molly, and May"; the four girls are described as who they are by what they find at the beach. The sing-song of the rhyme belies the deeper intent, which is that who we are determines what we seek out in life. What the girls find, in some sense, is predetermined by our own natures, for the objects retrieved are neutral. It is what we see in them that create their value. Or, as the last couplet concludes, "For whatever you lose (like a you or a me) / it's always ourselves we find in the sea."

~ Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno, E. E. Cummings: A Biography

(The poem and the biography excerpt were yesterday's and today's entries in my Page-A-Day Poetry Speaks Calendar.)

Something for your radar screen

2006-07-19T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here's a shameless plug for the fall release of "The Namesake," the movie adaptation of one of my favorite contemporary novels. I still remember discovering Jhumpa Lahiri's writing when I was in grad school (for some odd reason, I distinctly recall taking Literary Research that semester). Her short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies (which won the Pulitzer in 2000), and her novel, The Namesake, focus on Indian-American immigrants and their struggles to find a new identity while straddling cultures. I can't recommend this author enough. So, read the books, and then watch the movie this fall. I'm hoping the movie does justice to this author's storytelling abilities.

Heat

2006-07-18T13:02:00.000-04:00

A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...
A HOT AND HUMID AIRMASS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION TODAY. IT WILL BE EVEN MORE HUMID THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING COMPARED TO MONDAY...AND JUST AS HOT. WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES OF NEAR 100 DEGREES...COMBINED WITH HIGH HUMIDITY...EXPECT AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES TO RANGE BETWEEN 105 TO 109 DEGREES.

O wind, rend open the heat,
cut apart the heat,
rend it to tatters.

Fruit cannot drop
through this thick air--
fruit cannot fall into heat
that presses up and blunts
the points of pears
and rounds the grapes.

Cut the heat--
plough through it,
turning it on either side
of your path.

~ H. D., 1922

They're Back

2006-07-11T16:15:00.000-04:00

I first saw them today in Barnes & Noble. They were on a small table looking subdued, but they were there nonetheless.

Then I saw them in Target. They weren't quite so subtle in Target. They took up three aisles in their own special section.

I looked at them with a mixture of horror and delight.

Harbingers of a coming reality.

School supplies.

On this day in literature . . .

2006-07-11T12:06:00.000-04:00

~ 1899 ~ E. B. White is born in Mount Vernon, NY

Book Thoughts: I'm a Stranger Here Myself

2006-07-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

If you need a hilarious book you can pick up and put down at intervals, here's the book for you. In I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away, Bill Bryson collects the weekly columns (originally called "Notes from a Big Country") which he wrote for a British paper after returning from twenty years in England to live in the United States. This is the kind of book that makes you laugh out loud, prompting passersby to give you strange looks (everyone needs to have this experience at least once).

Bryson chronicles American pecularities and distinctives such as our obsession with rules (I did a foolish thing the other afternoon. I went into one of our local cafes and seated myself without permission. You don't do this in America.), our need for superfluous cupholders in our vehicles (Volvo's engineers had foolishly thought that what American buyers were looking for was a reliable engine, side-impact bars, and heated seats, when in fact what they craved was little trays into which they could insert their Slurpees.), and our unique holidays (It's Presidents Day tomorrow. I know. I can hardly stand the excitement either.).

This is the first book I've read by Bryson, and I'm sure it won't be the last. You can read an excerpt ("Mail Call") here.

Small Change

2006-07-10T10:15:00.000-04:00

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" set two records this weekend, pulling in $55.5 million on Friday alone (highest one-day sales ever) and then $132 million for the entire weekend, another all-time high. In some small way, I'm glad that I was able to contribute $9.50 toward history. :-)

Pirates, Full to the Gunwales in Doubloons
(Washington Post article from this morning's paper, in the same section that just four days ago turned up its nose at the sequel.
I love irony!)

Rain, rain, go away

2006-07-05T23:38:00.000-04:00

There trudges one to a merry-making
With sturdy swing,
On whom the rain comes down.

To fetch the saving medicament
Is another bent,
On whom the rain comes down.

One slowly drives his herd to the stall
Ere ill befall,
On whom the rain comes down.

This bears his missives of life and death
With quickening breath,
On whom the rain comes down.

One watches for signals of wreck or war
From the hill afar,
On whom the rain comes down.

No care if he gain a shelter or none,
Unhired moves on,
On whom the rain comes down.

And another knows nought of its chilling fall
Upon him at all,
On whom the rain comes down.

~ Thomas Hardy, 1840-1928

Free and Independent States

2006-07-04T10:42:00.000-04:00

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

~ conclusion to the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

(Brief) Movie Thoughts: The Devil Wears Prada

2006-07-03T21:52:00.000-04:00

Fabulous clothes.

Will make you want to buy a copy of Vogue and read it seriously.

Very enjoyable summer movie.

(Read The Washington Post's glowing review of Meryl Streep's performance as the icy, demanding, and oh-so-well-dressed Miranda Priestly.)

Valley of Vision CD

2006-07-03T21:38:00.000-04:00

Why produce a CD inspired by the prayers of a bunch of dead guys?

Sovereign Grace Ministries has a good answer, and I'm thrilled to discover that they plan to release in August a worship CD centered around several of the prayers from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers which I first discovered in college and have loved using.

The Trouble with (Studying) History

2006-06-29T15:43:00.000-04:00

Susan Wise Bauer, author of The Well-Educated Mind and The Well-Trained Mind (among other books), is working on a four-volume history of the world, a process which she regularly chronicles on her blog, The History of the (Whole) World.

In her most recent post, she speculates on why we might find history to be boring and/or irrelevant, why the way Americans typically teach history is ineffective, and how instead we ought to approach the study of history.

Read her insightful and succinct thoughts here.

Happy Birthday . . .

2006-06-29T05:35:00.000-04:00

. . . to you :-)

On this day in literature . . .

2006-06-29T05:24:00.000-04:00

~ 1613 ~ The Globe Theatre catches fire and burns to the ground during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII

~ 1854 ~ Charlotte Bronte overcomes her father's objections and marries his curate, Arthur Bell Nichols

~ 1861 ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning dies at home in Florence

Book Thoughts: Mistress Bradstreet

2006-06-26T14:27:00.000-04:00

It is difficult to reconstruct the past. In fact, really, it is impossible. There is little physical evidence remaining. Ever her house is gone, like most of the dwellings of the early settlers, burned, torn down, crumbled to ash. On their bones, our houses crowd together, huge, windowed, balconied. Cars roar by on the old paths, now paved. I live less than twenty miles from where Anne used to live, but often she feels as far away as the moon.

There is a Jewish tradition of "midrash," which is when the rabbis attempted "to fill in the gaps" of some of the more mystifying biblical stories, such as those of Job or Jonah and the whale, and in many ways that is what these pages have become. By retelling some of the history, the details, and the facts of her time, I have attempted to resurrect Anne and her home in early America. But I have also tried to piece together something more - what it felt like to be one of the first Europeans in America and what Anne, a gently bread, highly educated woman, might have thought, done, and experienced as she struggled through the ordeal of emigration and settling a new country.

~ Charlotte Gordon, preface to Mistress Bradstreet

I don't devour biographies by any stretch of the imagination. I own only a few. It took me a year after buying this book to get around to reading it. But from the beginning, Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet held my attention. As Gordon states in her preface, she took some liberties in the telling of Bradstreet's life. But the very fact that she openly stated her approach (that of the "midrash") at the beginning, tempered my reaction to her style. And her extensive bibliography in the back of the book made me trust her even more. Gordon blends together the known (and not so numerous) facts of Bradstreet's life with her research on colonial life and produces a work that feels more like a story than biographies usually seem to be. It's an approach that perhaps feels less "factual," but one that also happily lacks a cold hardness.

Only occasionally did I feel as though Gordon might be reaching in her rendering of Bradstreet's emotions. In commenting on one of Bradstreet's poems on the death of a grandson, Gordon writes that Bradstreet's "very angry lines" reveal "her ambivalence about God," though she attempts to "dampen her rage." And while I understand and agree that a poem might have a subtext, I found this interpretation of the poem to be a stretch. But while Gordon speculates throughout the book on what Bradstreet might have been thinking and feeling, I found most of her imaginative rendering of Bradstreet's life to be firmly grounded in Bradstreet's works.

I provided Perry Miller's excellent comments on the Puritans (previous post below) as a means of prefacing my thoughts on this biography of Anne Bradstreet. Miller's introduction captures the paradox of pursuing this life wholeheartedly while realizing that "this life" is not all there is. And as I read Gordon's biography of Bradstreet, I felt that a full comprehension of (or, perhaps, sympathy for) this perspective on life was the missing ingredient. Gordon often seems to waver between admiration and condemnation of the Puritans. I felt in reading her work that for all her lauding of Anne Bradstreet, Gordon ultimately finds Bradstreet's belief system to be baffling. She never says so directly. But there is subtext.

At the same time, I loved this book. Gordon more than accomplishes her goal of bringing Bradstreet to life. She also clearly describes the formation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the role of men such as Thomas Dudley (Bradstreet's father) and John Winthrop. I've studied and taught Anne Bradstreet in the past, but after reading this book I have a much fuller sense of her as a person and a poet.
I highly recommend this book if you enjoy early American literature and/or colonial life.

Perry Miller on the Puritans

2006-06-26T13:14:00.000-04:00

The strength of Puritanism was its realism. . . . the Puritan mind was one of the toughest the world has ever had to deal with. It is impossible to conceive of a disillusioned Puritan; no matter what misfortune befell him, no matter how often or how tragically his fellowmen failed him, he would have been prepared for the worst, and would have expected no better. At the same time, there was nothing of the fatalist about him; as so often happens in the history of thought, the believers in a supreme determining power were the most energetic of soldiers and crusaders. The charge of Cromwell’s Ironsides was, on that particular score, proof positive of the superiority of the Puritan over the Anglican, and the Indians of New England learned to their very great sorrow how vehement could be the onset of troops who fought for a predestined victory. There was nothing lukewarm, half-hearted, or flabby about the Puritan; whatever he did, he did with zest and gusto. In that sense we might say that though his life was full of anguish of spirit, he nevertheless enjoyed it hugely. Existence for him was completely dramatic, every minute . . . charged with meaning. And when we come to an end of this roll call of characteristics, the one which yet remains the most difficult to evoke was his peculiar balance of zeal and enthusiasm with control and wariness. In his inner life he was overwhelmingly preoccupied with achieving a union with the divine; in his external life he was predominantly concerned with self-restraint. . . . No wonder the Puritan has been something of a puzzlement and a trial to the Gentiles. He was a visionary who never forgot that two plus two equals four; he was a soldier of Jehovah who never came out on the losing side of a bargain. He was a radical and a revolutionary, but not an anarchist; when he got into power he ruled with an iron hand, and also according to a fundamental law. He was a practical idealist with a strong dash of cynicism; he came to New England to found the perfect society and the kingdom of the elect—and never expected it to be perfect, but only the best that fallible men could make. His creed was the revealed word of God and his life was the rule of moderation; his beliefs were handed down from on high and his conduct was regulated by expediency. He was a doctrinaire and an opportunist. Truth for him had been written down once and for all in a definitive, immutable, complete volume, and the covers closed to any further additions; thereupon he devoted all the energies he could spare from more immediate tasks to scholarship and interpretation. He lived in the world according to the principles that must govern this world, with and ever-present sense that they were only for the time being and that his true home was elsewhere. “There is,” said John Cotton, “another combination of virtues strangely mixed in every lively holy Christian. And that is Diligence in worldly businesses, and yet deadness to the world: such a mystery as none can read, but they that know it.” The Puritan ideal was the man who could take all opportunities, lose no occasions, “and bestir himself for profit,” and at the same time “be a man dead-hearted to the world.” He might wrest New England from the Indians, trade in the seven seas, and speculate in lands; “yet his heart is not set upon these things, he can tell what to do with his estate when he hath got it.”

~ Perry Miller, from the introduction to The Puritans

Summertime Murder

2006-06-22T13:40:00.000-04:00

"Murder is murder. You stop believing that and we might as well not be fighting the war."

A good murder in an quiet English village ranks rather high on my comfort list. (Granted, it's probably not quite so enjoyable for the poor murdered person.) Last summer I watched lots of episodes of "Midsomer Murders," and now I've discovered "Foyle's War." I have a feeling that these mysteries (and a strong cup of Tazo Earl Grey tea) will give me some delightful afternoons this summer.

Foyle's War is the rare mystery series that does more than plop a good detective into the middle of a decorative and bygone era. Created by writer Anthony Horowitz, Foyle's War makes profoundly resonant use of British society in 1940, a terrifying time in which the threat of an Axis assault on England disrupted ordinary life in often horrible ways, from the resettlement of city children (into the care of rural strangers) to a spike in xenophobia to a loss of personal freedoms. Against this heady backdrop is the near-solitary figure of Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), a London investigator who would rather be fighting Hitler abroad but is stuck solving domestic homicides--generally sparked by wartime fervor--with the help of a plucky driver and a steadfast assistant. Kitchen's magnificently measured performance and Horowitz's masterful grasp of the moral and dramatic issues of his battle-scarred milieu make Foyle's War a must.

~ Amazon.com review

A Costly Luxury

2006-06-19T21:16:00.000-04:00

"The first choice Anne had to make before she picked up her pen was what meter to use, since this was a crucial part of declaring her intentions as a Puritan and a poet. Once she had decided, she could not waver. This was partly for practical reasons. Each page was precious to Anne. Although her wealthy father did have a larger supply of paper and vellum than most people and she herself had a small bound book to write in, once she had used up this writing material, it was expensive to get more, and it could take months to arrive from England. Mistakes were a costly luxury, therefore, and drafts were an impossibility. Anne would have to think out the lines first and memorize them before hazarding them onto paper."

~ from "Upon My Son," chapter 10 of Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet, Charlotte Gordon

Anne Bradstreet's first poem:

Upon a Fit of Sickness,
Anno. 1632. Aetatis Suae, 19

Twice ten years old not fully told
since nature gave me breath,
My race is run, my thread spun,
lo, here is fatal death.
All men must die, and so must I;
this cannot be revoked.
For Adam's sake this word God spake
when he so high provoked.
Yet live I shall, this life's but small,
in place of highest bliss,
Where I shall have all I can crave,
no life is like to this.
For what's this but care and strife
since first we came from womb?
Our strength doth waste, our time doth haste,
and then we go to th' tomb.
O bubble blast, how long can'st last?
that always art a breaking,
No sooner blown, but dead and gone,
ev'n as a word that's speaking.
O whilst I live this grace me give,
I doing good may be,
Then death's arrest I shall count best,
because it's Thy decree;
Bestow much cost there's nothing lost,
to make salvation sure,
O great's the gain, though got with pain,
comes by profession pure.
The race is run, the field is won,
the victory's mine I see;
Forever known, thou envious foe,
the foil belongs to thee.

Disillusionment

2006-06-19T19:25:00.000-04:00

"During this first winter [1630-31], even Dudley [Anne Bradstreet’s father and deputy governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony] began to lose some of his optimism. He was ready to leave Charlestown and find a new place to live. Not that he ever would have considered giving up or returning to England, but life in Massachusetts was proving to be far more arduous than he had anticipated. Later he would complain that he had chosen to expose his family to the dangers of America because the advance party had sent 'too large commendations of the country and the commodities thereof.'

"For Anne it was something of a mixed blessing to witness her father’s discouragement. On the one hand it might at last be possible for him to empathize with her unhappiness. On the other hand, without his sense of certainty, life in America must have felt even more desperate. Despite her summertime vow, she may have secretly desired to follow the coward’s path back to England, since much of her early writing is saturated with her nostalgia for the Old World.

"Anne was not alone in longing for England. More than two hundred members of their original group fled home that winter. Although they faced financial ruin upon return, and, for some, religious persecution, anything must have appeared better than staying on in America, which seemed like a death warrant. As one desperate son wrote his father, 'I think that in the end if I live it must be by my leaving, for we do not know how long this plantation will stand.'"

~ from "New World, New Manners," chapter 9 of Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet, Charlotte Gordon

Movie Thoughts: The New World

2006-06-16T16:24:00.000-04:00

I never saw this movie in theaters when it came out last year. I'm not sure why. I found the trailers interesting. I like early American history. Maybe I was somewhat skeptical that this might simply be another Disneyesque remake of history, though without the singing forest animals.

But then I read Will Gray's excellent and compelling review of this movie on his blog Explorations. So I added it to the top of my Netflix queque. It came in the mail two days ago, and I watched it this afternoon.

Will was right. It was beautiful. Much of the movie is quiet and thoughtful, and I loved the minimalization/understatement of key events (such as when the first indication of a baby's birth is a shot of his hand), which I think simply makes the emotion of the scene that more affective. I loved this movie. I would watch it again. And I highly recommend it.

Meet the new U.S. Poet Laureate

2006-06-14T13:48:00.000-04:00

Today the Library of Congress announced that Donald Hall has been appointed as the 14th poet laureate of the United States. He has been writing poetry for 60 years (he's 77) and has published 15 books of poems. He will officially begin his duties in the fall.

Set to Verse: Donald Hall is New Poet Laureate
(Washington Post article from today's Style section)

Librarian of Congress Appoints Donald Hall Poet Laureate
(News from the Library of Congress)

"Christmas party at the South Danbury Church"

December twenty-first
we gather at the white Church festooned
red and green, the tree flashing
green-red lights beside the altar.
After the children of Sunday School
recite Scripture, sing songs,
and scrape out solos,
they retire to dress for the finale,
to perform the pageant
again: Mary and Joseph kneeling
cradleside, Three Kings,
shepherds and shepherdesses. Their garments
are bathrobes with mothholes,
cut down from the Church's ancestors.
Standing short and long,
they stare in all directions for mothers,
sisters and brothers,
giggling and waving in recognition,
and at the South Danbury
Church, a moment before Santa
arrives with her ho-hos
and bags of popcorn, in the half-dark
of whole silence, God
enters the world as a newborn again.

~ Donald Hall, from The New Criterion (Jan. 1995)

On Reading the Bible

2006-06-12T22:09:00.000-04:00

I've recently come across two essays on Scripture reading that have been encouraging, rebuking, affirming, and illuminating. The first speaks to a viewpoint I first truly encountered in a Bible as Literature course, a perspective that continues to revolutionize my reading of Scripture and is, I believe, essential to a proper understanding of the Bible. The second addresses an issue that often silently weighs on many well-meaning Christians and is a burden we are not meant to bear.

We often read the Bible for what it’s not and seldom read it for what it is. Here’s what it is not: It is not a book you use to prove a point. Neither is it a book written to solve your personal problems. Here’s what it is: It is the true story of what God has really done in history. It is a true account of how God works and what God wants done on earth.

from Reading the Bible Like a Grown-Up Child by Calvin Seerveld

Whose idea was it to define the sum total of my relationship with God as my devotional consistency? Your quiet time is not your relationship with God. Your relationship with God—or, as I prefer to say, God’s relationship with you—is your whole life: your job, your family, your sleep, your play, your relationships, your driving, your everything. The real irony here is that we’ve become accustomed to pigeonholing our entire relationship with God into a brief devotional exercise that is not even commanded in the Bible.

from Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt by Greg Johnson

Currently reading . . .

2006-06-11T21:44:00.000-04:00

. . . anything I want now that school's out!

Three books I'm currently in the middle of (soon to be joined by others, no doubt, owing to my sometimes bad/sometimes good habit of reading several books at once):

Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet
by Charlotte Gordon

My Father's World: Meditations on Christianity & Culture
by Philip Ryken

Call the Sabbath a Delight by Walter Chantry

On this day in literature . . .

2006-06-09T10:10:00.000-04:00

~ 1870 ~ Charles Dickens, 58, dies at his home in Gadshill, and is buried in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey. Two days later, Queen Victoria writes in her diary, "He is a very great loss. He had a large loving mind and the strongest sympathy with the poorer classes."

I must admit that I have read only one book by Charles Dickens. In a class on the British novel, I read Hard Times, and, at the risk of sounding corny, I had a very hard time indeed getting through that book. I also had a professor for another class (History of England) who declared Charles Dickens to be a first-rate propagandist, which certainly didn't do much to improve my inclination to pick up another Dickens novel. So I have not read another Dickens novel since that time, even though I have at least three on my shelves, a fact that leaves me feeling somewhat guilty and sheepish. I have, though, seen several movie adaptations of Dickens novels which I have loved: David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend, Nicholas Nickleby. And Bleak House is currently in my Netflix queue.

So I'm not entirely sure why I'm somewhat frozen when I stare at the rows of those hefty novels in a bookstore. I'm always drawn to pull one off the shelf, gaze at its cover, and contemplate the possibility of actually reading it this time.

But then I sigh, and put it back.

Favorite Hymn

2006-06-08T22:36:00.000-04:00

This afternoon as I was finalizing grades (And I'm now done! All I have left to do is show up at graduation, smile politely, and eat a piece of cake!), I was listening to songs I have on my computer, and I came across one I hadn't listened to in a while, but one that certainly ranks as a top favorite. I first heard this song in college and have loved it ever since. The text is from the 14th century by John Tauler and has been arranged by John Rutter (it appears on Te Deum).
I love the building of images in this hymn.

As the bridegroom to his chosen,
As the king unto his realm,
As the keeper to the castle,
As the pilot to the helm,
As the captain to his soldiers,
As the shepherd to his lambs,
So, Lord, art thou to me.

As the fountain in the garden,
As the candle in the dark,
As the treasure in the coffer,
As the manna in the ark,
As the firelight in the winter,
As the sunlight in the spring,
So, Lord, art thou to me.

As the music at the banquet,
As the stamp unto the seal,
As refreshment to the fainting,
As the winecup at the meal,
As the singing on the feast day,
As the amen to the prayer,
So, Lord, art thou to me.

As the ruby in the setting,
As the honey in the comb,
As the light within the lantern,
As the father in the home,
As the eagle in the mountains,
As the sparrow in the nest,
So, Lord, art thou to me.

As the sunshine in the heavens,
As the image in the glass,
As the fruit unto the fig tree,
As the dew unto the grass,
As the rainbow on the hilltop,
As the river in the plain,
So, Lord, art thou to me.

"Seemingly Random Points about Reading"

2006-06-08T22:21:00.000-04:00

Tim Challies (of challies.com fame) has an excellent post today called Reflections on Reading. Whether you pick up a book only once in a while or you plow through several at one time all the time, you'll enjoy his observations on his personal style and habits of reading.

Here are some of my favorite lines from his post:

The more I read, the easier it is to read.

I read all the time, or most of it anyways. I do not watch all that much TV, but even when I do, I usually have my nose in a book.

I do not advocate reading while driving or while operating heavy machinery.

One of my peculiarities, but one I have found helpful, is reading two or even three books at a time.

Lately I find myself doing a lot of reading while holding a baby. I can hold a baby and a book, or a pen and a book, but not a baby, pen and book all at the same time.

I forget a great deal of what I read. Anyone who tells you otherwise may not be telling the truth.

When looking for a good book to read, find a person whose judgment you trust and read what that person is reading.

On this day in literature . . .

2006-06-08T09:49:00.000-04:00

~ 1867 ~ Mark Twain embarks on a journey through Europe to the Holy Land that will inspire his 1869 work The Innocents Abroad.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on those accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
- Mark Twain

"He’s not the first American writer to travel to Europe and the Middle East and report back, but he’s the first one who travels abroad and travels as though America were the center of the universe."

- "Mark Twain" (Ken Burns Documentary)

Fire and Ice

2006-06-06T10:28:00.000-04:00

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

~ Robert Frost, 1920

Another reason I love Panera . . .

2006-06-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

Free dessert.

Today I didn't have to go into school since exams have begun and I give mine on Monday. So I met two other teachers for lunch at Panera at 12:30pm. It was 4:45pm when we finally left. But about three hours into our very relaxed outing, the manager wandered over and chatted briefly with us. Then he came back bearing free dessert -- chocolate cake, carrot cake, and two muffin tops. What a great benefit for monopolizing a table for over four hours! :-)

On this day in literature . . .

2006-05-31T16:42:00.000-04:00

~ 1819 ~ Walt Whitman is born in West Hills, Long Island.

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—at night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.

Missing Manuscript?

2006-05-30T16:45:00.000-04:00

Charlotte Bronte offered to rewrite parts of "Jane Eyre" after a legal threat from the headmaster of the school on which she based the infamous Lowood school, newly discovered letters show. The letters have raised the prospect that somewhere, tucked away in a dusty attic or a pile of musty papers, could lie an amended manuscript of the 19th-century classic, toned down by the British novelist to avoid a libel lawsuit.
- "Bronte Offered to Do a Rewrite" (Gershwin Wanneberg)

Today's Washington Times has a small story on the front page about a possible revision of Jane Eyre that Bronte might have done after she was criticized for her harsh portrayal of a boarding school in her novel. Apparently she might have written a toned-down sketch and sent it to this man who was offended. Obviously she wasn't bothered enough to change the novel. Brilliant woman. :-)

American Lit Evaluations

2006-05-26T18:04:00.000-04:00

Today in 11th grade American Literature, I handed out course evaluation forms. Here are some responses from my students. I think it just goes to show there's no accounting for taste. (Except for the fact that everyone liked Poe!)

Who was your favorite author this year?

T. S. Eliot (crazy and confusing) and Edgar Allan Poe (intriguing)

Poe - he was actually okay

Edgar Allan Poe - he wrote very great works

Poe (great amazingness, awesome horror) and Cummings (I like experimental poetry of this kind)

Poe was the best because he is amazing and Twain was good too

Gilman - "The Yellow Wallpaper" was amazing

Poe, because he's cool; Twain, because he's funny

Whom did you like the least?

Whitman - blech . . . oof . . . just yuck

Thoreau - he was so odd

Ezra Pound - because he's a traitor to our country!

Thoreau - he had no life (and neither did Emily Dickinson)

Thoreau - Walden was so annoying

William Carlos Williams - that guy is a retard

Melville - I absolutely hated him with all my heart, soul, and mind

Which works did you enjoy most?

Call of the Wild and Huckleberry Finn (minus the paper!)

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

Emily Dickinson's poems

"Grasshopper" (Cummings poem)

"The Raven"

The Scarlet Letter; the dramatic stuff

All of Twain's stuff

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Poems - they were shorter

If you could drop one or two works/authors from this course, what would you get rid of?

Some of Emily Dickinson's stuff

"Bartleby" (Melville)

Imagism (20th cent. poetry movement)

Thoreau

New England School Poets

Fewer poems, more novels

On this day in literature . . .

2006-05-25T18:04:00.000-04:00

~ 1803 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson is born in Boston, Massachusetts.

Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctines of the church. On my saying, "What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?" my friend suggested, "But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil." No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it. . . .
Emerson's "Self-Reliance" is often regarded as the most influential and most representative essay of the 19th century. His assertions about the nature of man sound rather up-to-date to modern ears. When I teach Emerson, I have to remind my students how shocking some of his statements were. It's also a good reminder that error is never "new." It just gets continually repackaged. Emerson's influence on American Romanticism (and the periods that followed) cannot be measured.

Role Model

2006-05-22T16:42:00.000-04:00

This morning I had NPR on as I got ready for the day, half listening as I contemplated (and rejoiced over!) how few remaining days there are until I don't have to get up at that early hour anymore -- well, for at least a few months. And what report should come on to encourage me (and somewhat rebuke me!) but a story of a woman who's been teaching English for nearly 70 years and is just now retiring. It was fabulous! Hazel Haley has been teaching at the same school since 1939. She says that she's seen a decline in students' valuing the acquisition of a body of knowledge; too many are concerned only with what's on the test. But she also comments that while the world has changed, her students have not changed much over the years -- that they struggle with same things that Adam and Eve did. Her story and her love for her students did much to energize me for the day.

You can listen to the story here.

Sunday Hymn

2006-05-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

All praise to God, who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of wonders, power, and love,
The God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul He fills,
The God who every sorrow stills,--
To God all praise and glory!

What God's almighty power hath made
His gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning dawn or evening shade
His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of His might
Lo, all is just and all is right,--
To God all praise and glory!

The Lord forsaketh not His flock,
His chosen generation;
He is their Refuge and their Rock,
Their Peace and their Salvation.
As with a mother's tender hand
He leads His own, His chosen band,--
To God all praise and glory!

Ye who confess Christ's holy name,
To God give praise and glory!
Ye who the Father's power proclaim,
To God give praise and glory!
All idols under foot be trod,
The Lord is God! The Lord is God!
To God all praise and glory!

Then come before His presence now
And banish fear and sadness;
To your Redeemer pay your vow
And sing with joy and gladness:
Though great distress my soul befell,
The Lord, my God, did all things well,--
To God all praise and glory!

Lyrics: Johann J. Schuetz, 1675

The End is Near

2006-05-17T21:36:00.000-04:00

I've started daydreaming vaguely and idealistically about the next school year. Always a bad sign. My brain is beginning to check out.

I have found my "theme verse" for the rest of this year. :-)

Indeed we count them blessed who endure.
(James 5:11)

Childhood Reading

2006-05-16T20:44:00.000-04:00

. . . because when you read a book as a child, it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does, and . . . and I've gotten carried away.
~ Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan), "You've Got Mail"

A few days ago I was talking with another teacher about books she could read with her six-year-old daughter this summer, and it made me quite nostalgic over books I read when I was younger. Just a few that I loved:

Bread and Jam for Frances
(Russell Hoban)

Little House in the Big Woods
(Laura Ingalls Wilder)

B is for Betsy
(Carolyn Haywood)

What books did you read as a child that you've never forgotten?

On this day in literature . . .

2006-05-15T06:45:00.000-04:00

~ 1886 ~ Emily Dickinson dies in Amherst, Massachusetts.

I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—
The stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air—
Between the Heaves of Storm—

The Eyes around—had wrung them dry—
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset—when the King
Be witnessed—in the Room—

I willed my Keepsakes—Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable—and then it was
There interposed a Fly—

With Blue—uncertain stumbling Buzz—
Between the light—and me—
And then the Windows failed—and then
I could not see to see—

(#465, c. 1862)

Sunday Hymn

2006-05-14T08:32:00.000-04:00

Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, Whose Word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.

See! the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love;
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst t’assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
Never fails from age to age.

Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a cov’ring
Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from our banner
Light by night and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which He gives them when they pray.

Blest inhabitants of Zion,
Washed in the Redeemer’s blood!
Jesus, Whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to God.
’Tis His love His people raises,
Over self to reign as kings,
And as priests, His solemn praises
Each for a thank offering brings.

Words: John Newton, 1779

"The Proper Pleasure of Ritual"

2006-05-13T09:39:00.000-04:00

"The Solempne [a Middle English word that means something different, but not quite different from modern English solemn] is the festal which is also the stately and the ceremonial, the proper occasion for pomp--and the very fact that pompous is now used only in a bad sense measures the degree to which we have lost the old idea of 'solemnity.' To recover it you must thing of a court ball, or a coronation, or a victory march, as these things appear to people who enjoy them; in an age when every one puts on his oldest clothes to be happy in, you must re-awake the simpler state of mind in which people put on gold and scarlet to be happy in. Above all, you must be rid of the hideous idea, fruit of a widespread inferiority complex, that pomp, on the proper occasions, has any connection with vanity or self-conceit. A celebrant approaching the altar, a princess led out by a king to dance a minuet, a general officer on a ceremonial parade, a major-domo preceding the boar's head at a Christmas feast--all these wear unusual clothes and move with calculated dignity. This does not mean that they are vain, but that they are obedient; they are obeying the hoc age which presides over every solemnity. The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual."

~ probably my most favorite Lewis quote ever and a philosophy that I wish we could all recover more fully
(from A Preface to Paradise Lost, 1942)

On this day in literature . . .

2006-05-13T09:22:00.000-04:00

~ 1907 ~ Daphne du Maurier is born in London.

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

- opening sentence of Rebecca (1938), a book perhaps best
read in a drafty English castle filled with mysterious noises . . .
but if that can't be accomplished, reading this book late
at night will do just as well.

On this day in literature . . .

2006-05-12T23:09:00.000-04:00

~ 1812 ~ Edward Lear, an artist and writer who popularized limericks, is born in Highgate, near London. He is his parents' 20th child. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

In 1871, his most famous work, "The Owl and the Pussycat," was published.

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.

* * * * *

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Appearances can be deceiving

2006-05-10T21:31:00.000-04:00

It looks like a baked potato.

But it's really an ice cream sundae.

What will Martha Stewart think of next?

(My sister Katie told me about this today -- I think she's going to attempt it!)

In a Station of the Metro

2006-05-09T17:42:00.000-04:00

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

~ Ezra Pound

Who knew that such a short poem would provoke such intense response? Poor William Carlos Williams; they're reading his poetry tonight. :-) I am learning after three years of teaching that though my prep time may not be as overwhelming, I will most likely never be able to anticipate student response from year to year.

Footnote Blessings

2006-05-08T17:24:00.000-04:00

I've been reading through The Five Books of Moses, a translation of the Pentateuch by Robert Alter. Publishers Weekly said of this translation that "it points to the ways a single Hebrew word can make all the difference in our understanding of the text." And today I experienced that very thing.

I'm in Exodus, and this morning I read chapter 9, which is right in the midst of the account of the Ten Plagues.

And the LORD said to Moses, "Come into Pharaoh and you shall speak to him, 'Thus said the LORD, God of the Hebrews: Send off My people, that they may worship Me. But if you refuse to send them off and you still hold on to them, look, the hand of the LORD is about to be against your livestock which is in the field. against the horses, against the donkeys, against the camels, against the cattle, and against the sheep--a very heavy pestilence.'"

Alter's commentary on the text appears as footnotes at the bottom of each page, often taking up at least half of the page. I'm in the habit of reading the corresponding footnotes as I go through the chapter--though a few of the notes are quite technical, the majority of his comments contribute to a richer understanding of the text. And today, his comment on verse 3 broadened my understanding of God as the I Am.

Here is his footnote:

3. the hand of the Lord is about to be against your livestock.

The Hebrew verb here has a spine-tingling effect for which there is no obvious English equivalent. The verb "to be" in Hebrew is not supposed to have a participial, or present, tense. At this ominous and supernatural juncture, however, that verbal stem "h-y-h" yields an anomalous "hoyah," rendered in this translation as "about to be." This strange usage involves a kind of fearsome pun on the divine name YHWH that was mysteriously highlighted in the Burning Bush episode. God's instrinsic and unique capacity for being, we are made to see, is not just a matter of static condition but an awesome power of action--the hand that is "about to be" against all the livestock of Egypt.

I checked other versions to see how this verb is rendered. The KJV says "the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle," the NIV says, "the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague," the NASB says, "the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe pestilence," and the ESV says "the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague." The NASB is the only one of those versions (at least, in my copies of those versions) with a note by the verb stating, "literally, will be."

Alter has made me more aware than ever before of the concentrated amount of punning that occurs in these early books of the Bible. And so I found this pun on the name of God to be fascinating. I tend to think of "I Am" as a statement more about who God is--it is His state of being; He is the self-existent One. But today I began to think of this title as a statement not simply describing who God is, but what He does. In Exodus 9, the I Am, Defender of His people and Opposer of Pharaoh, is about "to be." And so, no wonder Alter describes this strange verb as "spine-tingling" and "ominous."

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
~ Psalm 20:7

Sunday Hymn

2006-05-07T14:08:00.000-04:00

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Thy voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
Thy power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
No other work but Thine, no other blood will do;
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, and set my spirit free.

I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine, my God, my joy and light.
’Tis He Who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;
I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1861

On this day in literature . . .

2006-05-06T11:15:00.000-04:00

~ 1862 ~ Henry David Thoreau dies in Concord, Massachusetts. His last words are "Moose. Indian."

I find Thoreau's last words to be a fitting end for this writer whom I can never teach with an entirely straight face. For while Thoreau addresses issues that most certainly should be considered (the role of civil disobedience, the rush and distractions of life that keep us from self-examination), my students - and I - find the more amusing aspects of his life to be more memorable.

- A year before Thoreau moves to Walden Pond (an experiment which will earn him his reputation as the quintessential nature boy), he accidentally sets fire to the woods near Concord, burning 300 acres and causing $2000 in damages.

- During his time at Walden Pond, he writes his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. He sells only about 200 copies of this work, and the unsold volumes are returned to him (he had paid for their publication). He writes in his journal, “I have now a library of nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myself.”

Less amusing are his other deathbed comments. Asked by his aunt if he had made his peace with God, Thoreau replied, "I did not know that we had quarreled."

Good Advice

2006-05-05T22:02:00.000-04:00

"The high-school English teacher will be fulfilling his responsibility if he furnishes the student a guided opportunity, through the best writing of the past, to come, in time, to an understanding of the best writing of the present. He will teach literature, not social studies or little lessons in democracy or the customs of many lands. And if the student finds that this is not to his taste? Well, that is regrettable. Most regrettable. His taste should not be consulted; it is being formed."

~ Flannery O'Connor

Coffee and Cookies

2006-05-04T20:34:00.000-04:00

That was today's lesson plan in AP Literature. I knew I wouldn't get anything out of my AP students this afternoon. And I can't blame them, considering that they spent three hours this morning holed up in a small room taking the AP English Literature Exam.

There's four teaching weeks left in the school year. But in their minds, since the test is behind them, this class is over. I've been trying to coax them into getting excited about a small unit on the Bible as literature. But while they admit that, yes, that might be interesting, they freely confess that they'd prefer to watch movies.

Tomorrow's lesson plan:

Miss Ruffner - 0

10 tired AP kids - 1