neworleans4ever

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T18:29:00.002-05:00

Date difference from Jan 1, 2012 to Jul 1, 2014

The total number of days between Sunday, January 1st, 2012 and Tuesday, July 1st, 2014 is 912 days.

This is equal to exactly 2 years and 6 months.

This does not include the end date, so it's accurate if you're measuring your age in days, or the total days between the start and end date. But if you want the duration of an event that includes both the starting date and the ending date, then it would actually be 913 days.

The total time span from 2012-01-01 to 2014-07-01 is 21,888 hours.

This is equivalent to 1,313,280 minutes.

You can also convert 912 days to 78,796,800 seconds.

Today is 1/1/2012 and 7/1/2014 is exactly 912 days from today.

Happy holidays from Down South

2011-12-25T17:23:00.002-05:00

Hanging on for Dear Life

2011-12-11T12:16:00.002-05:00

Working 10-hour days doesn't seem so awful until you figure in no taking no breaks and being on your legs all day trying to satisfy over a thousand stressed-out teenagers. Add to that a project that is somewhat behind schedule, a 20-hour commute, and no time for Bikram for at least another week, and you will have a very cranky DBG. I'm just putting my head down and trudging ahead, hoping the worst will be over by next weekend so that I can focus some energy on the upcoming holiday and our trip south on Amtrak.

There are a few glints of promise in the coming week, though. We'll be seeing Anthony Minghella's new production of Madama Butterfly for the second time on Saturday and I plan to finish writing my Christmas letters this week, a task I actually enjoy. And this afternoon, The Husband is singing in a Christmas concert in Lynbrook, a yearly ritual that kicks off the holidays for me.

And in case you're wondering, the Scathingly Brilliant Idea is still in the percolating stage, and we're going over to take a look inside the temple in a half hour or so. Pictures to follow.

Latest scathingly brilliant idea

2011-11-26T12:21:00.004-05:00

Now that retirement is approaching, The Husband and I wonder how we're going to live on our pensions in the style to which we've become accustomed. Don't get me wrong. We will be able to survive on our combined pensions, and of course we'll both continue to work in some capacity or other, either out here in Beach Community or in town. But if we plan to ever eat more than canned beans or keep up our opera subscriptions or travel, we may have to get creative.

The problem, sadly, is the house that we love. It's sunny and spacious for two people, just blocks from the ocean. Although our mortgage will be paid off soon after we retire, our real estate taxes have doubled in the seven years we've lived here, and that trend does not look like it will be coming to an end anytime soon. So we are still flirting with our "commune" plan. If we could find some kindred spirits to live together, share a kitchen, pool resources and pare down needs, we could all live much better than if we remained separate. Of course, it's all pie-in-the-sky and may never come off, but it's fun to think about, and I wanted a record of the proceedings from the beginning no matter how it turns out. So I'll be using this blog to post about our progress.

Our kindred spirits, MS and VV, originally discussed getting property out in the East End, constructing a common kitchen/dining room/entertainment/library/meditation/studio building and having separate cottages for our bedrooms, bathrooms and personal space. But the appeal waned when I realized just how isolated we'd be out there and that I'd really like to stay close to the city, both for possible retirement jobs and for entertainment/study/social reasons. So we're looking closer to home.

Beach Community doesn't have any vacant land which would necessitate either finding a house with lots of bedrooms or a large building that could be renovated to our specifications. As luck would have it, a building that fits the bill has been on the market for a couple of years and is one block from where we live now. The timing isn't great -- we were thinking a couple of years down the road -- but that's how things go sometimes.

I'm starting to research other "intentional" communities, scouring Dwell Magazine for design ideas, and investigating the taxes for the available space whose acquisition could make our dream a reality -- or a nightmare, depending on how you look at it. So our journey begins.

More later.

Eat more pork

2011-11-26T12:12:00.003-05:00

Photo via www.nytimes.com

"How thoroughly has this LSU team dominated the 2011 college football season?"

Read all about it below. It's been the greatest season in my memory, and the greatest for the Tigers since 1959:

LSU leaves no doubt en route to SEC title game

Be careful what you wish for

2011-11-25T12:39:00.002-05:00

For the last four years, I've complained about the boredom of working with Ass Clown Colleague at Egghead High. I couldn't wait for ACC to retire so that I could get the library program off the ground again. Well, my dream has come true. I have a wonderful new colleague (we poached him from Rival Egghead High) and we are busily trying to start a true library program. At the same time, we're participating in a pilot project with New York Public Library as reported in the Wall Street Journal that has taken a tremendous amount of work to get off the ground. And, if we weren't crazy busy enough taking on as many as nine classes a day to get the project rolled out, we've just heard that we have been granted a substantial amount of money to add a computer lab in the middle of the library, a proposition that doesn't thrill me but that will necessitate a much-needed renovation of the space as it's laid out now. So we're hopping, both of us on the floor or working 9 out of 10 periods a day, eating on our feet and grabbing a bathroom break when we can. It's been gratifying, never boring, but also physically very tiring.

What's saving me from total exhaustion? I've begun practicing Bikram yoga at a studio here in Beach Community. It's tough -- 26 postures in a room that's heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity for 90 minutes -- but I've noticed results almost immediately. I'm still a beginning beginner, and I can barely get myself into the foundation of most of the postures, much less attempt the postures themselves, but I love the practice and plan to continue with it as long as I can. I'll post more about how it's helped me later, but if you know me, you know that I've never, ever embraced any fad or movement, especially one that requires a huge physical, spiritual and mental commitment. So I'm a little bemused by my love of this regimented style of yoga that feels like torture sometimes.

As usual, the holidays caught up with me before I even had a chance to catch my breath, so I'll be riding the end-of-the-year-madness locomotive from now until the New Year. I'll try to post more often, if only to keep my thoughts straight and mark the passing of time before it totally escapes from me.

Storyville Baton Rouge Shirt of the Week… - The Storyville Blog

2011-09-12T18:12:00.000-04:00

Storyville Baton Rouge Shirt of the Week… - The Storyville Blog

I want!

Stupid hurricane

2011-08-25T21:47:00.004-04:00

This has so not been the August I was expecting when I returned home from Mexico. The Husband started a beautiful kitchen renovation while I was away as a surprise -- that's good! -- but when the contractor took down a wall, he didn't cover anything, so every spoon, every drawer, every cushion and rug and pot and even the inside of the microwave and oven, all were covered with a very fine dust -- that's bad!

Since the clean-up, the renovation has continued in earnest, the basement has flooded, I've had food poisoning, and now we're preparing for a Category 1 hurricane and a possible storm surge up to 15 feet. And don't forget the excitement of the earthquake tremors two days ago that had my house swaying. Is it any wonder that I haven't studied Italian, touched the first draft of my second book, or -- shhhh, don'tell -- finished my NEH Mexico curriculum??!!??

But we're as prepared as we can be for the storm. Mike has been here today, so we worked on fixing the sump pump, gassing up the car and generator, shopping for necessities, getting cash out of the ATM, doing laundry, etc. We should be able to finish up the cement in the basement tomorrow and will then have to start bringing up things I couldn't bear to lose from the basement, bringing in the construction materials, tying down our outdoor furniture,and helping our elderly neighbor get her house and yard ready. By tomorrow night, when a mandatory evacuation will probably be called, we should just about be finished and will just have to wait it out.

Gay Egghead HS librarian was unfairly suspended, court rules - NYPOST.com

2011-06-30T14:16:00.003-04:00

a Gay Egghead HS librarian was unfairly suspended, court rules - NYPOST.com

Okay, this is so not what I needed to see the day before I leave for my trip to Oaxaca (which I'm blogging about at Encantada).

Of course, I didn't say I did "exactly" the same thing. In fact, I didn't say anything, I answered questions that were put to me. I was asked and acknowledged that I did touch students' arms to get their attention and leaned down to speak quietly to a table of loud talkers, but this article makes it sound like I should be investigated next.

Doncha love the "straight female librarian" part? How the hell do they know I'm straight? I don't remember that being one of their questions.

And the judge is wrong. Whispering in a student's ear is never appropriate.

A praline for your thoughts?

2011-06-24T22:11:00.005-04:00

photo from Leah's Pralines via eatingintranslation.com

God, where to begin? As I write this, I'm watching the live stream from the New York State Senate as they debate and vote for Marriage Equality. There was a lot of cheering as I tuned in and I thought it had passed, but apparently it was the Religious protection clause that passed which will itself make it easier for people like Grisanti of upstate New York, a devout Catholic, to vote in the affirmative. So it's still not resolved, but closer than ever.

In the meantime, the New York Daily News is reporting that a deal has been reached to avert layoffs of teachers this Fall. The terms include using ATR's as substitutes before the Sub Pool is called and forgoing all study sabbaticals for a year. So I was lucky to get my sabbatical in this spring. I had a feeling I'd be one of the last group to have this opportunity. I expect they'll be completely done away with in the next contract.

BREAKING NEWS -- IT PASSED!!!!!!

So, I better be seeing some invites in the mail, people! LOL!

And, in other good news, ACL has officially retired. I went to her retirement luncheon today and it was all very cordial and smooth. We went to The Palm, so of course I had to have a steak. And we've hired a wonderful young man for the Fall, and I'm already feeling psyched and free. Just think what' I'll be able to do with all the energy I used to expend trying to keep myself centered!

Don't forget that, in addition to being the feast day of St. John the Baptist, which is huge in Florence, that it's also National Praline Day!

What a great day, indeed!

PASSIONE at Film Forum in New York City

2011-06-22T14:09:00.001-04:00

www.mmgtravel.com

I'm so psyched to see this film tomorrow. I love port towns and am only sorry I haven't had the opportunity to spend more time in Naples. Turturro was a client of my brother-in-law in the early '90's and came when we sat shiva for my father-in-law. He was also omnipresent in Park Slope when I lived there and once sat next to me at Ozzie's discussing this very project with a companion. So I feel like I've been in on it from the beginning! ;-)

PASSIONE at Film Forum in New York City

Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983–1993

2011-06-21T17:03:00.001-04:00

Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983–1993

It's Ai Weiwei 24/7 these days!

Listening to

2011-06-21T14:53:00.002-04:00

Good times

2011-06-20T21:50:00.009-04:00

In high school I worked for three seasons as a camp counselor for Brownie Girl Scouts. My nickname was Tigger, and the little girls would insist that I perform the Tigger song over and over and over before they'd go to sleep. I'd hop around the campfire singing, "Ouncy! Bouncy! Flouncy! Pouncy! Fun! Fun! Fun!" all the while emphatically whacking myself on the ass.

In the spirit of those times, I give you Savage Chickens' version of Tigger:

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Only in Italy

2011-06-19T11:37:00.001-04:00

Or maybe Louisiana. Sometimes I wonder if I love Italy as much as I do because it reminds me of home:

Assorted Criminals Testify in Knox Appeal.

As the Kercher family lawyer puts it, "This was a clown show that could only happen in Italy."

Happy birthday to me

2011-06-17T14:58:00.006-04:00

I just received this email from the Powers That Be:

"We are writing jointly to let you know that students will begin the 2011-12 school year on Thursday, September 8, one day later than previously announced. In partnership with the teachers’ union and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the Department of Education is making this change to give teachers more time to plan their instruction. Using new curriculum resources we'll be sharing this summer, teachers will align their instruction with a set of higher expectations for student learning that will be put in place over the next few years.

One of our top priorities is raising the bar for our students. To do this we will need principals, teachers, and parents to partner together to make sure students at every grade level, including students with disabilities and English language learners, are on track to succeed in college and careers. In the coming school year, we have asked teachers to give all New York City students the opportunity to try this more challenging work.

While in many classrooms this work is already underway, next year teachers will challenge all of our students to think critically, to read and understand more difficult texts, to do more writing, and to apply the math they are learning in the real world. We have heard again and again from principals and teachers that they need more time to plan for this important new instructional work.

We wish you a great end to this school year and remind you to mark your calendar: school starts on Thursday, September 8, 2011!

Sincerely,

Dennis M. Walcott
Chancellor

Michael Mulgrew
President, United Federation of Teachers

Ernest Logan
President, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators"

This is funny on so many levels I don't even know where to start -- the allusion to the still-never-been-discussed Common Core that we'll be rolling out this Fall; the plea that we all partner together to get everyone on track for graduation; and the reference to the seemingly new "higher expectations."

Of course, the relevant point for me is that September 8 is my birthday, but it's not unusual for the first day of classes to be my special present as my b'day is almost always the first week of school. What I'm wondering is how far the school year will be extended to compensate for our extra day of planning. We already go until June 28, so I expect we'll be going until July 1 before long.

And the drama over ACL's retirement -- or not -- continues.

Must-see TV

2011-06-15T08:55:00.004-04:00

image via aoltv.com

How could I resist a show about airline stewardesses at Pan Am in the 1960's? The day my dad told me he was going to be working for Pan Am and that we had super flight benefits was the beginning of making my vagabond dreams a reality.

Chinese Zodiac Animals at Grand Army Plaza

2011-06-08T20:58:00.002-04:00

I was born in the year of the Rooster. How about you?

Mexico ya se armo!

2011-06-05T20:43:00.008-04:00

image via simplefooty.blogspot.com

Chicharito and the Mexican national team are playing El Salvador tonight in a friendly at Arlington Stadium outside Dallas. You can catch it on Univision if you're quick. The first half should be over by about 9pm EST. Viva Mexico! (Oops, I just checked the schedule. This is not a friendly, but the beginning of the Copa Oro, or Gold Cup.)

And in case you're wondering how the Little Pea got his nickname, apparently he's the son and grandson of famous Mexican soccer players, and his father was nicknamed Chicharo because of his green eyes.

Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads

2011-06-05T19:18:00.005-04:00

Image via provisionslibrary.com

I've had Ai Weiwei on the brain because I've been reading all my copies of the Times Literary Supplement that have backed up since last March, and there were several mentions of him in this past spring's issues. One in particular mentioned an intriguing installation of recreations of the Chinese zodiac's animal heads as made for an 18th Century Chinese water-clock that was looted by French and British troops in the mid-19th Century. I did some further research on these pieces and was thrilled to find out that, as well as being in London, the show is running simultaneously in New York at Grand Army Plaza outside the old Plaza Hotel. I've moved this to the top of my "to-do-before-I-leave" list and plan to see the installation this week.

In my research, I also ran across a wonderful site, Provisions Library, that promotes "art for social change" and I'm looking forward to exploring it further. Some of their "research meridians" are "Work and Class," "Rights of Animals," and "Public Space and Commons." Yeah, I know what you're thinking -- that sounds like some very bad art indeed! But it makes a nice antidote to the snarky and very frivolous gossip about the Biennale I've been indulging in! And, really, a lot of the art on the site is quite good.

Illuminations

2011-06-05T16:33:00.015-04:00

Image via mundo52.com

I love the art world almost as much as I love the fashion world. It fascinates me on many levels. Yes, much of it is the hilarity I find in the sheer pretension of what goes on in the art market today. But I also like looking at all the purty things!

Although is seems like it just closed yesterday, the Venice Biennale has rolled around again. The theme is Illuminazioni. Since I'm going to Mexico this summer, I checked out Mexico's pavilion first. The installation they've chosen to represent their country is by an English artist who, like Francis Alys, has lived in Mexico City since the late '80's. The web site for the installation gives a good idea of what her project hopes to convey if you can get through all the jargon about "heterotopias" and "ciphers." Not that I'm feeling sour grapes or anything -- I've read Foucault and I get it, but I think she could have said what she meant in a more straightforward way. But then, all the hoi polloi would understand, too, and what would be the fun of that?

Okay, snarkiness aside, a cursory look at the pavilions at the 54th Biennnale is both engaging and maddening, and I'll be spending a few hours delving into some of the projects that hooked me. And if the Venice Biennale has arrived, can Prospect 2 and the Whitney Biennial be far behind?

Of course, modern art can have a very serious side. China is being represented in Venice by Yuan Gong, Pan Gongkai, Liang Yuanwei, Yang Maoyuan, and Cai Zhisong while its most internationally famous artist, Ai Weiwei languishes in detention where he was held incommunicado for six weeks before his wife was allowed to visit him. As of this writing, he's still in prison, and the artist with whom he shared his studio, his assistant, his driver and his accountant have been missing since just after his April 9 arrest.

One of Weiwei's trespasses is this photo whose title has a double meaning in Chinese. In English, it reads Grass Mud Horse Covering the Middle. See Wikipedia for the Chinese pun that infuriated the authorities.

Where did May go?

2011-05-29T15:58:00.007-04:00

Crosstown Boogie Woogie by Maira Kalman at www.jewishmuseum.org

I spent a good part of February, March and April tied to my desk, reading and writing. I seriously don't heart cold weather, so it wasn't unusual for me to go no farther than the mailbox for days on end. Now all of a sudden, I find myself with the most delicious dilemma: I have a month to go before leaving for Mexico, and I've got to crunch six months' worth of activities into four weeks.

I have plans every Saturday in June -- a bridge tournament, a book arts class, hosting my reading group, and my nephew's graduation party -- and am taking a class on Thursday nights to improve my skills in setting type and designing broadsides. I've got a meeting with the Schools' Library Director on June 1, a big doctor's appointment on June 8, the Open Roads Italian film festival at Lincoln Center from June 1-7 and the Romance Writers of America convention June 28-30th. And I need to squeeze in the following exhibits that are all ending in July before I return to NYC:

Alexander McQueen at the Met

Lorna Simpson at the Brooklyn Museum and the rose garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Artists' Books at The Grolier Club

Maira Kalman at the Jewish Museum

Francis Alys at MoMA and PS1

A Bell Every Minute auditory exhibit at the Highline Park

How I'm going to get all of this done and finish the first draft of my next book before I leave is a mystery to me, but I expect it will take care of itself as always. And the anticipation of all these events, after months of hibernation, is so much fun that I would be happy if I accomplished half of them!

Happy Memorial Day weekend, ya'll!

2011-05-28T12:34:00.002-04:00

The first strawberries of the season from Beach Community's Farmer's Market. They were oh, so sweet!

Checking in as summer approaches

2011-05-25T09:35:00.003-04:00

READING: NEH articles about Oaxaca; Middlemarch; Ulysses; Childe Harold's Pilgrimmage

WATCHING: Deadwood, Season 2; Treme

LISTENING TO: 70's disco hits; Neville Brothers; Ravel's Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello

What do I love best about sabbatical? Is it sleeping late? Nope, I'm up by 6am most days. Paying bills as they become due, doing laundry and dishes before they pile up? I do like that a lot, but that's not it. Establishing a regular yoga practice and riding my bike daily? I feel wonderful, but there's something else. Having time in the day to meditate, write, and study? That's close to being number 1. But the number 1 thing I love best about sabbatical? Taking a hot bubble bath in the middle of the day whenever I feel like it!

What a difference a day makes

2011-05-25T09:26:00.002-04:00

Yesterday began foggy and chilly on the boardwalk. It was so thick, it felt like the ocean was caressing my face, but it smelled wonderful:

Today I woke up just after 6am and rode my bike to the boardwalk. The surfers were out before sunrise, and once it was light, it became clear that preparations for opening weekend at the beach have begun:

What's blooming here at Casa de Nos Madres? Irises!

Midnight in Paris, Passion in Venice

2011-05-23T17:30:00.033-04:00

I had a great weekend. I came into town Friday to run some annoying errands and then made time for some fun. I shared a Mad Hatter tea at Alice's Tea Cup with the friend and colleague who wrote me a lovely recommendation for my NEH application.

On the tray there are black forest ham/gruyere and smoked chicken/apple sandwiches; pumpkin, caramel and raspberry/chocolate scones; mocha chip cake; and tons of cookies. Oh, and a big pot of Ceylon tea. There were enough leftovers that we each had a box to take home, and I made two more meals out of it. Yum.

Then we popped over to the movies to see Woody Allen's new flick, "Midnight in Paris." I wasn't expecting much. I haven't enjoyed a Woody Allen film for a while and am not a big lover of Paris, but there wasn't much else on in the theaters, so off we went. And it was delightful, silly and fluffy, but fun. It even made me want to jump on the next plane to France. My favorite scene was in a restaurant where one of the characters talks about places she's been in France and keeps backtracking and self-consciously correcting her own pronunciation of French names.

After the film was over, the sun came out for the first time in over a week, so I walked down Broadway to Penn Station and stopped in a discount shoe store to pick up some rain boots.

I usually wear a bright orange rain coat, so these should tone things down a bit!

Saturday I had bridge class in the morning, then went to Rizzoli to special order a catalog from a show of PreRaphaelite painters I saw in Rome. I had toyed with the idea of getting the catalog and dragging it back from Rome but figured I could get it easily once I got back to NYC. And of course it's been next to impossible to find. So I'll now have to pay-through-the-nose and wait for two months for the convenience of not schlepping it around.

It was a beautiful day, so I walked through Central Park. I watched a softball game, read Middlemarch on my Kindle, and thought about riding the carousel.

But I still had places to go and people to see. I spent the afternoon of the Rapture at an exhibit in the Museum of Biblical Art which is housed in the American Bible Society. This is a fabulous, little-visited museum that puts on exhibits with a religious theme. The show's title, "Passion in Venice, from Crivelli to Tintoretto and Veronese" was a bit of a misnomer. Although it was ostensibly about Venetian interpretations of Christ as the Man of Sorrows in art, and there were paintings by the above-mentioned Venetian artists, many of the works were in other media -- sculpture, wood, etchings, manuscripts, even a video by Bill Viola -- and dealt with the evolution of this image from Byzantine times to the 20th Century. The most powerful piece for me was the etching by Eduoard Manet:

(Image via artic.edu)

I spent about an hour and a half in the gallery alone with the two security guards. When I came out, the world seemed pretty much as I'd left it, so I made my way to Brooklyn where we were having dinner with some friends. The Husband met me and we hung out for a while in Metrotech Commons. I love this green space and used to walk through it every morning on my way to Small Urban High School. It is often the site of installations by the Public Art Fund, and we checked out the latest one, Total Recall. My favorite piece was an installation by the artist Martin Basher. It looks like this during the day:

But after sunset, it comes to life, glowing in the dark as a critique of consumer culture in the West:

The two R's made us a great dinner of roast lamb, pasta with brussel sprouts and caramelized onions, and blueberry pie, but by then, the battery had died on my camera, so no photos memorialize our gluttony.

Sunday was rainy and windy again, but I did the shopping at Trader Joes, bought some art supplies at Michaels, and finished planting tomatoes, peppers, and spearmint. I chilled for the rest of the day with my Kindle, reading articles for my NEH trip.

Life is good!

Weird Women of the world unite!

2011-05-18T16:56:00.003-04:00

image by amusingthezillion.com

New Coney Island Freak Show Banners Pay Homage to Past

I really need this made into a t-shirt! And check out the fabulous website for a peek into Coney Island life.

The colors of spring

2011-05-17T11:06:00.001-04:00

A fond farewell

2011-05-17T09:01:00.004-04:00

Downtown Manhattan from the ferry

We've had absolutely foul weather every Wednesday since the beginning of the semester. The ice storm from Hell marked my first time making the schlep to Staten Island and turned a 3-hour trip into a 5-hour trip that day. That was the beginning of a weekly trek through snow, torrential rain, and gale-force winds.

Last Wednesday was my final journey out to CSI, and it was the first glorious Wednesday since last fall. My trip on the ferry has been the most enjoyable part of the day, and this was probably the last time I'll be on it for a while unless I have visitors who want to take it (hint, hint)!

And once I turn in my projects for the classes by the end of the day today, my semester will be truly over!

New shoes

2011-05-17T08:57:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, these are the most comfortable shoes I've worn in years.

Checking in

2011-05-17T08:45:00.006-04:00

Unread and piling up

READING: The Naive and the Sentimental Novelist Orhan Pamuk

Watercolor: A New Beginning Ann Lindsay

Ulysses James Joyce

TLS, TLS, TLS, TLS . . . .

WATCHING: Deadwood, Season 1

LISTENING TO: Ode to Bobbie: Bobbie Gentry's Greatest Hits

Citizen: Steely Dan

WWOZ, 24/7

Loved The Machine, hated the delay

2011-05-15T20:47:00.014-04:00

The Machine as Act III opens with The Ride of the Valkyries

We were in the audience for the long-anticipated Saturday matinee of Robert Lepage's new production of Die Walkure. We were lucky to snag a ticket and were crammed with 4,000 other opera-goers in the stuffy lobby area staring at the closed auditorium doors. The opera didn't begin until just after 12:45, three-quarters of an hour late.

We were mildly aggravated as The Husband was singing Saturday night on Long Island, and even if the opera had gone off without a hitch, we would have been cutting it close. We'd even driven into the city with his tux in the backseat so that we could run out of the theater the moment Brunnhilde was put in the ring of fire. Once it became clear that the curtain wouldn't rise on time because of problems with The Machine, we knew we'd have to leave at the beginning of Act III, probably the most talked-about scene in any opera in history.

We weren't terribly upset, though, because we weren't expecting much from this production. We both loved Otto Shenk's historicist staging of the cycle that had been a staple of the house since the late 80's and saw it at least four times over the years. The Husband doesn't love bizarro stagings of opera anyway, but I was curious having seen and enjoyed Legpage's Damnation of Faust a couple of years ago, so he went along with me to hear the music.

Reader, we loved it. The Machine was spectacular, moving and projecting images that, far from being distracting, added to the action. For example, as the opera opened, the planks stood vertically representing trees in the forest that Siegmund and his pursuers wove in and out of. They then rose and twisted into a configuration suggesting the roof and inside of the forest hut into which Siegmund flees. The Machine did creak a little, but it was never loud enough to take away from the music.

The production was a winner based on more than just the sets, though. The singing was by far the best overall of any Ring Cycle we've seen. We've often wondered if anyone could sing this repertoire over the long haul anymore since training is so different than it used to be, and singers are pushed to sing things much earlier than they should, thereby blowing out voices that could mature and strengthen over time. We've seen great singers beyond their prime (Gwyneth Jones, Hildegard Behrens), singers who really shouldn't be doing Wagner at all (Domingo is a prime example), and young singers struggling with the demands of these roles. We've also been lucky to see Christa Ludwig, James Morris and Jessye Norman in the cycle as well. But overall, the singing has been less than spectacular. However, in Deborah Voigt and Bryn Terfel, Wagner fans have wonderful singers who are perfect in these roles and with any luck will be with us for years to come.

Acting was emphasized in Lepage's production, and if he chose singers who were physically beautiful (Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde, Jonas Kaufmann as Siegmund), their singing skills were also superb. Physical gestures were paramount in conveying the complex emotions the characters feel for each other, and when Stephanie Blythe as Fricka reaches out a hand to caress and comfort Wotan and he leans just out of reach, you feel the pathos of a marriage that while built on love and respect has required sacrifice and betrayals by both parties. And having Wotan sorrowfully cradle the dying Siegmund after being the agent of his son's death may make him seem less godlike than we're used to, but it gave the scene a resonance that echoes later when he must cut loose Brunnhilde as well. And the love scenes were just plain sexy, period.

Though we missed the opening of Act III, we heard the radio broadcast as we drove out to Long Island. The announcers gave a thorough explanation of what the audience would see, and we could hear the gasps of appreciation as the set went from the image at the top of this post to the image below with the Valkyries jumping on the planks which became their horses and moved up and down like seesaws.

I'm sorry to have missed one of my favorite scenes in all opera -- the Fire Scene at the end of Act III, but I suspect this production will be around for a good, long while, and we should have plenty of opportunities to catch this opera again. We decided to forgo the Ring Cycle next year but already have tickets for Gotterdammerung next February. I can't wait.

Now to read the reviews that I've been avoiding until I saw it for myself. Based on the audience Saturday (which skewed much younger than what we are used to seeing at the Met), I think they'll be positive!

Snarkiness Galore

2011-05-07T21:28:00.008-04:00

But before I begin my rant, enjoy these pix of New Orleans

Thursday and Friday I found myself in a funk. I couldn't move off the sofa once I made myself a cup of coffee. This was bizarre since the last two days were the most beautiful we've had in months, and I had to drag myself down to the beach to enjoy it. I tried entertaining myself with something other than Law & Order reruns, so I turned on cable tv, picked up a new novel, and watched a DVD. I seem to have hit a vein of self-indulgent, whiny, middle-aged, upper-middle class white folks.

It's Complicated
Seriously? You send your youngest child off to college in a spanking new Lexus. You find yourself rattling around a palatial Santa Barbara abode with a view of the Pacific Ocean, and what do you do? You hire an architect to build a huge addition to said mansion! I really wanted to enjoy this movie. I love Meryl Streep and find Steven Martin and Alec Baldwin very funny. But everything about it set my teeth on edge, especially since it was clearly meant to celebrate the empowerment of middle-aged white women. Meryl Streep's character giggled a lot and acted like a fool. Her friends were morons. And who is this Nancy Meyers person anyway? She's made many films in the last twenty years. Are they all this silly? And gentlemen, why the plastic surgery? It's so off-putting. After an hour or so of this, I turned the tv off and picked up a book I've been looking forward to.

The Love of My Youth
The title should have been a dead give-away. But how could you go wrong with Mary Gordon? and Rome? and characters who came of age in 1968 in Cambridge, Mass? Even with the stilted, pretentious dialog and complete lack of self-irony or humor, I could have forgiven this book a lot because it takes place in Rome. But Gordon hits so many false notes that it was hard to even lose myself in the geography.

Some mistakes were major, like referring to the gardens on the Pincian Hill as the "Villa Borghese" and then going on a long riff wondering why a park is called a villa. Because it isn't, that's why. The villa is the mansion that houses the Borghese Gallery. The gardens are referred to as the gardens or the park of the Borghese or even the Pincian Park. But your characters can't be walking through the Villa Borghese sitting on benches, eating gelato and looking at all the trees. This is particularly annoying because Gordon sets at least five of her chapters in the "Villa Borghese" and ends her novel there.

There were also a lot of teeny mistakes that, by themselves wouldn't be too distracting, but as they piled up, they became really annoying. For example, there isn't any group called the "Red Brigade." They're the "Red Brigades" or Brigate Rosse. The individual members in the singular are sometmes called una brigadista in the Italian press but never Brigata Rossa.

I suppose I expected more because I know Gordon spent some time in Rome on a writer's grant. The next time I want to read about female characters discovering themselves in Rome or at Harvard in 1968, I'll reread Daisy Miller or The Women's Room.

The Windmill Movie
"Harvard-educated, born to privilege in NYC, Rogers was a tortured soul torn between the narrow patrician loyalties of his upbringing and a desire for artistic achievement on his own, unmitigated terms. Though Rogers did complete many remarkable works in his career, his untimely death at age 57 put an end to his magnum opus: an autobiographical project he had worked on for 25 years. The tragic and profound story of a gifted artist, The Windmill Movie is ultimately a mind-bending cinematic amalgam that beautifully explores the chasm between documentary and fiction."

If I had read Amazon's synopsis of this film before I watched it, I wouldn't have bothered. Oh, well. That's an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back.

Burying the Bias in the Teacher Data Reports

2011-05-06T09:07:00.000-04:00

Many of my friends who teach elementary school have said that if the mayor goes ahead with his plan to rate teachers based on how their students perform on tests, then they will stop teaching the most difficult, high-needs students and switch to teaching the so-called gifted and talented students. This article from Edwize explains why that might not be such a great idea:

Burying the Bias in the Teacher Data Reports

Flowering quince gone wild

2011-05-05T19:07:00.006-04:00

Reading: The God of Small Things; The Love of My Youth

Listening to: sappy Spanish canciones romanticas; Mandalay; Kraak and Smaak

Struggling with: a late-spring sore throat and fever

I seem to be on a sad-book kick, but that's just the way they've come in at the library. Requested books can only be taken out for a week, so once one arrives, I have to drop whatever else I'm reading and take it up whether I'm in the mood or not. So after finishing Say Her Name, I read The God of Small Things (tragic) for my reading group and have started Mary Gordon's new book, The Love of My Youth (very melancholy).

I managed to get that sore throat/fever thing that's been going around this week, probably at last Sunday's bridge tournament. Did I forget to mention how I did? Well, I wasn't first and I wasn't last. I was right smack in the middle. I have a lot of things to work on, particularly defensive strategy, but I was pleased in general.

The Derby has snuck up on me, and I have no idea where I'm supposed to place my bets this year now that the OTB's have closed down. I haven't done much reading on this year's field, so I'm planning to put all my money on the female jockey unless I hear something from my dad that changes my mind.

Facebook follies

2011-05-03T09:15:00.005-04:00

Facebook totally cracks me up. I love being in touch with people on a daily basis whom I rarely got to see in the past because they are scattered all over the world. Although I corresponded with most of them sporadically, just enough to maintain a connection, it was hard to get a sense of their day-to-day lives.

I get at least one good laugh every day from something one of my friends posts on FB. Often it's a link to a funny site, but sometimes it's the posts themselves. For example, today one of my friends posted the following:

Mary Jones likes "Kill Osama Bin Laden" and "PeaceBeWithU."

I mean, really, what is there to say to that?

One of the things that really blows me away is the etiquette of friending people. I have very strict rules with students and would never accept a friend request from a current one. I tell them that if, after they graduate or leave the school, they want to friend me, then I'm easy to find as I'm the only person with my name in the world. I never friend them first, though. In fact, I never friend anyone who's more than a a generation younger than me, and that includes relatives like nieces and nephews. If they want to friend me, fine, but I totally understand why they wouldn't want to.

Having said that, some of my favorite interactions on FB are with former students from Small Alernative HS, and I'd say almost a quarter of my friends are from this group. Some of them graduated almost ten years ago, so it's great to see the wonderful adults they've become and the lives they've built for themselves. Sometimes I get a glimpse into their private lives that includes TMI, but often their posts are very humorous. I thought the best one was by a young woman who had apparently broken up with a lover:

You always said you can't live without me, so why aren't you dead already?

The wackiest thing by far is the number of people from my old high school who've friended me. I always get the request and think, "WTF? You hated me in high school, called me a commie because I read the Village Voice, a socialist because I expressed my support for the Civil Rights movement, a n*-lover because I didn't join in the cheers when MLK was assassinated, an atheist because my family didn't go to church every Sunday, . . . ."

Well, you get the idea. And we won't even mention that I was voted the Ugliest Girl in the School in 9th Grade and that there was a DBG Appreciation Day to celebrate said honor. (No, I'm not making this up. If I ever find a picture from that time, I'll post it. It's pretty funny.)

I often toy with the idea of rejecting these requests outright, but a few people have surprised me, and I wonder if I might have misjudged someone in the past. So I accept the friend requests but am not surprised to be "unfriended" by some people eventually. Because even though I'm not as shrill and angry as I was growing up in the Deep South in the 60's and 70's, most of my core beliefs are still the same and are often reflected in the links that I share or the comments I make on FB. And based on what I see there, most of us at heart are pretty much the same people we were in high school.

Seeking gigs in Texas, California and Mexico

2011-05-03T08:54:00.001-04:00

Royal Street, New Orleans, April 2011

Anger With Peace!

2011-04-30T21:08:00.003-04:00

Hot as August

Life on the river

The Marigny

Our room at The Chimes

I liked the old sign better

You are beautiful

2011-04-29T19:55:00.005-04:00

The Domino sugar factory, the 2nd largest in the world, from the river

Sunset over Lake Ponchartrain

Lunch at Green Goddess on Exchange Alley

Filming "Treme" in Washington Square Park in the Marigny

An abandoned building near the New Orleans Center for Contemporary Arts from the river

Thank you, NEH

2011-04-29T09:38:00.007-04:00

Image via www.telegraph.uk

Watching: The Royal Wedding (I know, I know, so shoot me. I've been an Anglophile since I read "Wuthering Heights" in 6th grade. And, yes, I expect my Irish granny is spinning in her grave); "In Plain Sight" (my students think I remind them of the female character -- What????!!!!!?????)

Reading: "The Love of My Youth" by Mary Gordon (I'm a sucker for any story set in Rome); "Ancient Oaxaca" ed. by John Paddock.

Listening to: "Seven Swans" (Sufjian Stevens); "The House That Dirt Built" (The Heavy).

I've had many great travel experiences in my life, often courtesy of the NEH. I think the greatest was spending several hours in the Sistine Chapel in 1994 with 29 other teachers and Prof. Rab Hatfield, an expert on Michelangelo. It was a Monday, and the Vatican Museums were closed, so we were alone.

It was quiet like a chapel should be, and we were allowed to stretch out on the cold stone floor and just "be" there once the lecture was over. I swore I'd never go there again so as not to ruin the memory with an experience of the chaos and noise that usually ensue there. I didn't keep that vow and went again with my sister a few years later but realized I'd made a mistake as soon as I heard the loudspeaker announcements in several languages imploring the mob to be silent and keep moving. So I hightailed it across to the exit and spent the rest of my visit in the little-visited Gallery of Maps.

Thanks to Palma at Palmabella's Passions, I've found a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel that isn't quite the same as being there alone, but it's the next best thing.

Enjoy!

Sistine Chapel Virtual Tour

Back to real life

2011-04-26T20:37:00.003-04:00

Reading: Say Her Name (Francisco Goldman)

Listening to: Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens (Various Artists)

Watching: Treme (Season 2); Black Swan; Upstairs, Downstairs

Not Looking Forward to: Tomorrow's six-hour commute

I just love Amtrak. If I could go everywhere I needed to go on a train, I don't think I'd ever fly again unless I could go first class like I used to when my Dad worked for Pan Am. We met some great people and had a very relaxing ride in both directions. It was fun to see spring progressively more vibrant as you headed from south -- where most of the blossoming is just about over -- to north -- where the buds were just bursting out as we returned. I think my favorite was the magenta-hued Redbud that could be seen growing wild in the woods of Virginia and Georgia. (Unfortunately, we never see North Carolina because we're sleeping through it in both directions.)

I've already bought my tickets to go to Slidell at Thankgiving and Birmingham at Christmas, both on Amtrak. The T'giving trip will set me back a little more than a flight would, but the C'mas trip is actually less than I usually pay to fly on the holiday. And at least no one will vomit all over me on the train!

Shameless tourists

2011-04-21T17:51:00.003-04:00

I lived here for years without going on the steamboat Natchez and even had friends who worked for the company, so I could have gone for free, but I was far too cool. I wasn't impressed that it is the only surviving steam-powered paddle boat on the river (albeit in its 9th incarnation, having been rebuilt in 1973) or that it has a refurbished antique steam calliope. But yesterday we were aimlessly strolling along the Moonwalk after having been in the Marigny and up and down the Quarter when we heard the whistle blow, and the river looked so enticing, so we were off.

The trip is very short, just nine miles downriver to the Chalmette Battlefield and back, about two hours. The Husband found a spot on the middle deck in the shade and sat looking out over the muddy water while I ran up and down all three decks and toured the engine room which was fascinating. We had a great time and even bought the official photograph of us boarding the boat.

On our way back to the Magazine Street bus, we cut through Harrah's casino, entering on the Algiers ferry side and exiting on the Doubletree Hotel side $30 lighter.

Why is this man smiling?

Who pays taxes anyway?

2011-04-21T17:19:00.004-04:00

Study estimates that illegal immigrants paid $11.2B in taxes last year, unlike GE, which paid zero

It always bugs the hell out of me when people trot out the old saw that "illegal immigrants" are not entitled to even the most basic services because they don't pay taxes. Do these ignorant sods think that people who are living in the US without green cards are going naked? or never putting gas in their cars? or buying groceries? or cigarettes and beer? or eating at restaurants or taking public transportation?

I don't know how they're avoiding paying taxes if they're doing any of these things because I know that whenever I buy anything at the store or take the subway or fill up the tank, taxes are charged either overtly or are built into the cost. It may be true that people who are here without documents are not paying their "fair" share of federal income tax, but if you could find three citizens in the upper income brackets who are, that would probably qualify as a miracle.

And while I'm at it, can we please stop calling people "illegals" already?

4.20.11

2011-04-19T22:10:00.002-04:00

image via dirtycoast.co

One year.

Are you kidding me?

2011-04-16T19:01:00.005-04:00

9-foot statue of Nick Saban via rivals.com

Because I needed a good laugh today.

Radical Educators

2011-04-12T09:17:00.008-04:00

image via nycore.org

rad·i·cal/ˈradikəl/
Noun: A person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform. (via dictionary.com)

After I left the fashion business in 1983, I got my first "real" job as a proofreader/dogsbody at a major corporate law firm. I met some really creative and talented people there in the "Word Processing Pool" -- writers, artists, actors, and political activists. Some of the most passionate were open members of the RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party). The law firm was considered the most liberal among the "white shoe" firms, and I think they loved having the RCP members around, fomenting rebellion and selling their literature, to show how broadminded lawyers can be.

I enjoyed talking with the party members and reading their newspaper although I often found the experience frustrating as hell. Not that I didn't agree with some of their insights on corporate greed and oppression of the working classes. But they were hardline Maoists, and their rhetoric was a bit overheated -- "running dogs of imperialism/capitalism" came up in almost every discussion -- and I found their methodology of "deepening the contradictions" brutal and destructive.

But I'm always happy to find like-minded people who see profound inequalities and can articulate their point-of-view intelligently. I've been reading posts on Facebook from NYCoRE (New York Coalition of Radical Educators) and hoped to go to their conference on March 26. A family wedding made that impossible, but I keep up with their postings and links on educational issues. The following is longer than what I usually share, but the author gives an impassioned analysis of what policy makers are doing to our educational system and theorizes on the underlying reasons. Before writing him off as a crazy wacko, note that he is a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School and a former reporter for the New York Times.

Read about him below and then click on the link for some food for thought:

"Chris Hedges writes a regular column for Truthdig.com. Hedges graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for The New York Times. He is the author of many books, including: War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, What Every Person Should Know About War, and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. His most recent book is Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle."

Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System | Common Dreams

Queen of Hearts

2011-04-11T16:25:00.006-04:00

From a quilt by Georgia Heller www.georgiaheller.com

Watching: Mad Men, Season 4

Reading: Oaxaca Journal (Oliver Sacks), The Evil Eye (Jason Goodwin)

Listening To: I'm With Stupid (Aimee Mann),Olympia 94(Julien Clerc), Greatest Hits of Youssou N'Dour

Studying: Preemeptive Bids, Finesses, Slam Bidding; Spanish (como siempre!)

I started taking bridge lessons in October. I thought it would be a nice way to relax. It's not -- relaxing, that is. But it is a nice way to keep your brain sharp and meet other card fanatics. It's not a game that attracts slackers, that's for sure.

I fully expected to be quite good at it and have been surprised to find myself struggling to master all the skills. I'm no sooner comfortable with one aspect of the game before another is introduced and I'm knocked back to square one. It's both frustrating and tantalizing at once.

My bridge teacher thinks I've plateaued, though, and that I need to start playing competitively. There are duplicate games for newbies like me who have no Life Master points. I don't feel ready yet, and I'm not being modest. The pieces of the puzzle still haven't fallen into place for me, and I usually play seven or eight bad hands before I play one good hand. Even when I'm playing well, I'm not quite sure why a particular strategy worked. I'm just going on instinct. And instinct will not take you very far in the cutthroat world of competitive bridge.

But I've signed up for my first so-called "Newplicate" game on May 1. I suspect my opponents are gonna eat my lunch, but I always learn as much, if not more, when I'm playing badly as I do when I'm playing well, so I'll keep my eyes and ears open and enjoy the buffet that is served at the bridge club before play begins.

But I'll be crowing with happiness when I earn my first Life Master point!

Please remove these people from the gene pool

2011-04-11T07:19:00.005-04:00

image via huffingtonpost.com

Because North, South, rich, poor, or even the uber-liberal Dutch: some people are just too ignorant to live.

Nearly Half Of Mississippi Republicans Think Interracial Marriage Should Be Illegal

Montana Still Wants To Prosecute People For Being Gay

Sarah Palin Says 'More Power To' Donald Trump's Birther Crusade

Ban on Kosher and Halal ritual slaughter a step nearer

LSU will be # !?

2011-04-10T13:15:00.004-04:00

Image via www.cbssports.com

I saw an NCAA preseason polls last week that LSU was picked #1 and thought, "Wow! that's totally amazing! Maybe it could happen!" Butnow I've seen them ranked #1 in three other polls this week, including CBS Sports, and I'm starting to get a little nervous.

Formula One returns to the United States

2011-04-10T13:07:00.002-04:00

photo via www.topnews.com

I'm so excited to hear from a friend that F1 will be running on a specially constructed track in Austin from 2012 to 2021. Too exciting!

Elegy for librarians After all the budget cutting's done, who'll be around to help us ask the sharper questions?

2011-04-07T14:47:00.000-04:00

Elegy for librarians After all the budget cutting's done, who'll be around to help us ask the sharper questions?

Don't you hate people who say told-you-so?

2011-04-07T11:40:00.003-04:00

I gave her until Easter. I'd like to collect on those bets now please! ;-)
Cathie Black out.

Mi manca Roma

2011-04-07T11:18:00.005-04:00

Photo of Bernini's Fontana del Tritone at the foot of the Via Veneto via Flickr

ROMAN FOUNTAIN by Louise Bogan

Up from the bronze, I saw
Water without a flaw
Rush to its rest in air,
Reach to its rest, and fall.

Bronze of the blackest shade,
An element man-made,
Shaping upright the bare
Clear gouts of water in air.

O, as with arm and hammer,
Still it is good to strive
To beat out the image whole,
To echo the shout and stammer
When full-gushed waters, alive,
Strike on the fountain's bowl
After the air of summer.

Breaking news

2011-04-07T10:58:00.002-04:00

Word's just coming through that northern Japan has experienced a 7.4 magnitude aftershock and is now under a tsunami warning. Prayers all around.

Soccer is focus of public charter school

2011-04-07T10:39:00.002-04:00

Soccer is focus of public charter school

The Husband always laughs at my sports fanatacism. He doesn't understand how anyone who considers themselves an intellectual could care about men bashing each other up and down a field over a bit of pigskin or, worse yet, wearing shorts and knees socks running up and down a pitch for 90 minutes and rarely scoring a goal.

But sports, when it isn't overdone, does have a place in academics IMHO, and this school is living proof that some students who might not make school their first priority can be brought to the trough through their interest in athletics.

Mexican films in NYC

2011-04-05T11:01:00.001-04:00

The Mexican Cultural Institute of NY is sponsoring six films that are being shown as part of the Havana Film Festival this year. I hope to catch Viaje Redondo and Heart of Time. The descriptions below are from their website:

"The HFFNY enters its 12th year with a program of award-winning films, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with distinguished international directors, actors, and producers. The Mexican Cultural Institute is proud to support the six Mexican films presented this year:

BLATTANGELUS
Araceli Santana. Mexico. 2010.
Documentary. 70 min. U.S. Premiere

Since childhood, Jorge’s homosexuality had created a conflict that ended when he moved away from the precepts of his religion. But the counsel of a priest reconciles him with his faith and leads him to head a church that brings gays closer to a God who promotes responsibility and awareness of their freedom.

QUAD CINEMA, Saturday April 9, 5:30 pm - N.Y. Premiere - Q&A with Director
QUAD CINEMA, Tuesday April 12, 1:00 pm

CORAZÓN DEL TIEMPO / HEART OF TIME
Alberto Cortés. 2009.
Mexico/Spain. Fiction. 90 min. N.Y. Premiere.

In the middle of the Zapatista struggle in Chiapas, Sonia has been betrothed. But her passion for the rebel fighter Julio puts the security of her community and the rebels in jeopardy and Sonia will have to take on the struggles of love in the heart of time.

QUAD CINEMA, Friday April 8, 4:45 pm - N.Y. Premiere
QUAD CINEMA, Thursday April 14, 4:45 pm

TE EXTRAÑO / I MISS YOU
Fabián Hofman. 2010.
Mexico/Argentina. Fiction. 96 min. N.Y. Premiere.

Miss You explores adolescence and the birth of individual identity following Javier, a 15-year-old Argentinean boy who leaves his home for Mexico City burdened with the tragedy of his missing brother, a premature separation from his family and the weight of collective guilt.

QUAD CINEMA, Saturday April 9, 8:50 pm - N.Y. Premiere - Q&A with Director
QUAD CINEMA, Monday April 11, 3:00 pm

VIAJE REDONDO / ROUND TRIP
Gerardo Tort. 2009. Mexico.
Fiction. 102 min. N.Y. Premiere.

Two women who casually meet at the same bus stop are forced by circumstance to spend two nights together in an environment completely unknown to them. Despite their differences, they create bonds of sympathy, tenderness and friendship.

QUAD CINEMA, Sunday April 10, 7:10 pm - N.Y. Premiere - Q&A with Director
QUAD CINEMA, Tuesday April 12, 3:00 pm - N.Y. Premiere

VOLADORA / VOLADORA: A FLYING WOMAN
Chloe Campero. 2008.
Mexico. Documentary. 11 min.

An intimate portrait about a flying woman dancer from Veracruz who dreams of continuing “flying,” and a look at the communities of the Veracruz sierra and their mysticism, their festivities, their rituals and illusions.

King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, Wednesday April 13, 6:00 pm
U.S. Premiere
FREE & Open to the Public

EL LLANTO DE LA TIERRA / THE CRYING OF THE EARTH
Lucio Olmos. 2008.
Mexico. Fiction. 8 min.

The film shows the damage people have done to the environment by its consumptive lifestyle and how the Totonac people respect their environment and the natural resources, which are so sacred to them.

King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, Wednesday April 13, 6:00 pm
U.S. Premiere
FREE & Open to the Public

For more info and tickets visit www.hffny.com"

You want weapons?

2011-04-04T17:36:00.001-04:00

I can't remember where I found this, but I think it was on tumblr and sent to me by a student who loves Dr. Who and thought I would love it.

NEH 2011

2011-04-03T09:23:00.003-04:00

I was planning to spend the month of July in Oaxaca taking Spanish classes and learning how to dance salsa. But I heard today that I was accepted for the NEH institute, so I'll be working with other teachers and scholars to write new curriculum. This is a good thing because I tend to be more productive in a structured environment than I do when I'm footloose and fancy-free. So I'm totally excited!

I will be doing the bulk of my blogging about the reading and other preparations for the trip at Encantada if you want to keep up with what's happening on that front!

Happy birthday!

2011-04-03T09:13:00.003-04:00

www.google.com

Now here's a day worth celebrating!

(Is it me or is the image crooked?)

Profoundly disturbing

2011-03-26T09:23:00.002-04:00

Photo via The New York Times

This story reads like a movie script. I'd like to think that the presence of international journalists will protect this woman, but I'm afraid she may have sacrificed her life to tell her story. Terribly sad.

Random Rome

2011-03-25T19:57:00.002-04:00

Estoy una buena estudiante

2011-03-25T14:44:00.000-04:00

I'm using cheesy Spanish ballads to work on my accent! This is Manuel Franjo, a Venezuelan singer, from the Buddha Bar chill-out CD.

Buen fin de semana, ya'll!

One-track mind

2011-03-21T13:39:00.001-04:00

Image via amazon.com

The best thing about my sabbatical: I've started writing again.

The worst thing about my sabbatical: Besides the salary cut? I've started writing again.

I'm too obsessive to do things halfway, so I spend most days in my pajamas in my study working on pieces, some of which I started almost twenty years ago. The feeling of completing things is freeing. I've been blocked by the many projects I'd started and then dropped abruptly. But it's necessary for me to stay completely focused and one-track. It's the only way I can work.

So, outside my trip to Rome, I've done no traveling, very little reading, and the bare minimum in studying Spanish. I haven't even seen the new Jane Eyre yet although I've been looking forward to it for ages.

And I need to address that imbalance somehow.

Checking in

2011-03-20T18:09:00.006-04:00

Image of Minerva taken in the excavations under Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

Reading: Diario de Oaxaca by Peter Kuper; Itinerary by Octavio Paz.

Listening to: Pasatono Orquestra "La Tiricia"; Treme soundtrack.

Watching: "In Caliente" (1935) a Busby Berkeley musical with Dolores del Rio; "Hitting a New High" (1937) with Lily Pons.

Sempre pioggia a Roma

2011-03-18T14:34:00.003-04:00

Image via flickr.com/photos/ruipalha

Prayer for Japan

2011-03-17T16:10:00.004-04:00

Image via chibird.tumblr.com

I couldn't figure out how to "reblog" this -- I think I need a Tumblr account -- so I'm posting it instead. It's a drawing by a high school student named Jacqueline. Her drawings are endearing, but this particular one is, in teenage girl parlance, "awesome." If you repost, don't forget to give her the credit she deserves.

Working like a demon

2011-03-17T09:50:00.005-04:00

Or not! What are sabbaticals for if not catching up with the latest "Savage Chickens"?

For Kelly

2011-03-17T09:01:00.001-04:00

This photo album made with Smilebox

You have to make this full-screen or the pictures are too teeny weeny to see!

Un pezzo di sole

2011-03-16T22:34:00.007-04:00

Everywhere you go in Rome, there are signs prohibiting cameras with flash and, in many cases, cameras at all. Video cameras have always been verboten just about everywhere, but as long as you didn't use flash and weren't too obnoxious, the museum guards and church wardens usually turned a blind eye to cameras. As I've always said, rules are just suggestions in Rome anyway.

However,things have certainly changed since my last trip in 2007. The more polite signs read le foto proibite. Others are just a picture of a camera with the red circle and a slash. And in places where there are no signs -- the modern art museum north of the Borghese Park, for example -- there are guards in every room to wag their fingers and frown. This was particularly weird because I can remember going into museums and wandering for miles and miles without ever seeing a guard or a security camera. Even churches are more well protected than before.

So these aren't great pictures unless you consider that they were taken from the window of the Scuderie with an iPod that I was holding at waist-level. This sunset was the only bit of sun I saw for the entire trip until the morning I left.

Jet lag over

2011-03-14T19:15:00.007-04:00

Santa Cecilia

READING: The Anthologist by N. Baker; The Power Book by J. Winterson

WATCHING: old Dalgliesh reruns

LISTENING TO: Buckingham Nicks; Iko Iko (Dr. John)

EATING: Turkish at Ephesus in Massapequa Park. Other than that, as little as possible.

Oddly enough, I had worse jet lag coming back west than I had going east. I'm not sure why. I did doze for a couple of hours before we got to Rome, and I arrived late enough that I didn't have to stay awake for too long that first day. So I made my usual trek to the Pantheon and stood quietly adjusting to being in Rome. (You can't sit anymore in the Pantheon as the benches that used to line the inside wall have been removed.) An early dinner near the Spanish Steps at Antica Enoteca and bedtime by 9pm, and I was able to sleep until a normal hour the next morning.

The fallout of all the good meals and twice-a-day gelato (research, people, research) is that I'm back at the top of my highest weight ever, close to 194 pounds. Ack! I'd done such a good job of losing weight and eating better after my diagnosis last year, and I was feeling quite as light as a feather at 182 pounds. But this winter got to me, and while I was in Rome, I just packed on the last seven pounds to put me over the top.

Not that it wasn't worth it.

Top two photos bruschetta ai carciofi and tonnarelli alla gricia at Cafe Merulana; bottom three photos of pastries and cakes at Panella Pasticceria.

Sono arrivati

2011-02-28T03:02:00.004-05:00

I arrived yesterday after a peaceful flight on Alitalia. I even slept a few hours which is totally unusual for me.

Yesterday, I went to the Pantheon and had a small dinner at Antica Enoteca near the Piazza do Spagna. Not too many tourists here and the weather is springish, chilly and rainy.

But Will They Stay? One More Urgent Idea for Journalists | GothamSchools

2011-02-24T07:22:00.000-05:00

But Will They Stay? One More Urgent Idea for Journalists | GothamSchools

Another argument about why the fight to retain the young, "energetic" teachers is short-sighted.

Take my experience. At Inner City High School, we hired ten TFA's one year. By the end of their 3-year commitment -- by which time each had been mentored for countless hours and had made only the usual improvements, i.e., they were coming along but were still green -- five of them had left. One of those five thought she was ready to teach others what she had learned about being a great teacher, so she got a PhD in education policy and is now a professor in New Jersey. (This is particularly amusing because of the five years she taught, she spent four of them in a comp-time job where she only taught three periods a day.) Now, ten years later, only one of the original ten remains. And she went to the Principal's Academy and is now running a small charter school. That's right. A charter school where she is hand-picking the students and makes more than administrators in non-charters do.

Gee, thanks, ya'll.

And as for being "energetic," think chickens-without-heads. Yes, it's true that they were expending a lot more energy than I was, but that was because they had to try harder to do what I had learned to do without straining too much.

Three days and counting

2011-02-23T19:29:00.004-05:00

(Photos of the Hotel Milton Roma via their website)

Listening to: Fleetwood Mac Mystery to Me
Watching: Downton Abbey
Reading: Augustus Hare Walks in Rome (1893)
Georgina Masson Companion Guide to Rome (1983)
Harry Weedon A Pilgrim's Guide to Rome (1950)

Good grief

2011-02-23T14:14:00.002-05:00

Someone needs to tell this poor child that it's not a good idea to show up in court looking like a Sunset Strip hooker. She could still be true to herself and dress like a sexy young actress without her boobs swinging in the judge's face.

Doesn't anyone have this girl's back?

The Official Martha Stewart Blog - The Martha Blog

2011-02-22T11:19:00.000-05:00

The Official Martha Stewart Blog - The Martha Blog

Okay, so this wasn't my experience of Eataly when I visited there Sunday night with some fellow
Italophiles. We all agreed that the place was a hot mess, badly laid out and too crowded with hipster families nursing the tiniest cups of gelato I've ever seen. They made Grom's servings look ginormous.

I will go back again when I'm alone on stealth visits and try to figure out if the crowd was kept outside for Martha's visit or if there are indeed times when the store is only full of serious shoppers. I'll let you know what I discover.

Lila Downs - La linea

2011-02-16T10:39:00.002-05:00

Listening to Lila Downs to psyche myself while I prepare my NEH essay for the Oaxaca institute. Can't wait to get it in the mail!

Sabbatical fun

2011-02-15T12:56:00.008-05:00

Watching: Pride and Prejudice
Reading: Rome and a Villa, The Companion Guide to Rome, The Ancient Roman City
Listening to: Lila Downs, Sharon Little, Steely Dan

Okay, well, not fun yet, but wonderful. My first two weeks have been spent doing things that I would normally ignore like paying bills on time, doing the laundry as it gets dirty, writing letters and thank-you notes, buying gifts, and keeping the house clean. I was worried that I would become a lazy slug and watch Law & Order reruns all day, but I've been up most days by 6am and manage to do some easy yoga or walking every day.

I've made the trek to Staten Island twice for my classes. Being in school again is a dream for me, but the trip has been brutal so far. The first day of class brought the worst weather of the winter in the form of an early morning ice storm that made travel almost impossible. I left the house at 6:15am and arrived to class over an hour-and-a-half late at 11:15. The ferry ride was fun, though, and the source of the pictures above. Last week brought the single coldest day of the year -- wind chills were below zero -- but I was so bundled up that I didn't suffer waiting for the bus at the ferry terminal. And my travel time? Two hours and forty-five minutes. Not bad!

I've spent my considerable spare time trying to improve my bridge skills, work on some pieces of writing, and go to the opera (more about that later). The most fun I've had so far was attending a chocolate tasting at the American Museum of the American Indian with KC. I didn't realize how much food was going to be served, so we went to Adrienne's Pizza Bar where we had the yummiest sausage and mushroom pizza. But not to worry. I acquitted myself well at the chocolate tasting!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2011-01-31T20:10:00.010-05:00

The Good

Sabbatical starts tomorrow but really tonight as I don't have to go to bed as the sun sets in order to get up at some ungodly hour. I don't feel excited yet because it hasn't really sunk in that I'm free for the next 217 days, but I know intellectually that I'm free, and I guess my emotions will catch up with me after I've gotten some rest. Or, more likely, after the reality of stretching out in a warm bed and going back to sleep after The Husband has gotten up and struggled out the door hits me.

Of all the things I want to work on improving in my life, I think the first area I'll tackle is getting back to a regular yoga practice. If I can center myself physically and spiritually, the other pieces might fall into place a little more easily. To that end, I've found two basic routines in Yoga Journal that I hope to follow daily over the next few weeks before I go to Rome. Here's one of them for the mornings:

Morning Routine

and another for the evenings:

Evening Routine

But fun, adventurous DeLisa seems very far away at the moment.

The Bad

I had to run out of school today with so many things unfinished due to the snow day last week and an unexpectedly long faculty meeting this morning. Not that they were major things, mind you. More like little things that in the great scheme don't really matter, but I haven't put enough distance between myself and the chaos to let go of my quest for perfection yet. I expect by this time next week -- if not sooner -- I'll be wondering why the details ever seemed so important. Life will go on at Egghead High much as it did before I got there, and few people will notice the difference. And, yes, I will be on the lookout for other opportunities while I'm on sabbatical.

The Ugly

I'm surrounded by mountains of unmelted snow. It's more than six feet high in some places, but, in general, the ground is covered by about a foot of icy, crusty old white stuff. And now a monster storm -- the 7th since Dec. 25 just over a month ago -- is bearing down on NYC. And my first day of classes is Wednesday. On Staten Island. Which means I have to take a car to the LIRR. The LIRR to Penn. The 1/9 to South Ferry. The Staten Island Ferry to the other side. Then the CUNY shuttle to the College of Staten Island. Which takes 3-plus hours door-to-door in good weather. What are the chances I'll get there and back without getting stranded somewhere along the way?

Here's hoping you all stay warm and dry during this next manifestation of Nature's wrath!

It's all too "too"

2011-01-15T21:06:00.005-05:00

Watching on my iPod: The Kids are Alright,
To Catch a Thief

TV: Downton Abbey

Reading: The Girl Who Played with Fire

The days are passing too fast. Already more than two weeks are gone in the new year. I'm excited about my sabbatical but worried that if I don't get my act together, I'll spend my six free days a week watching Martha Stewart and Law & Order in all it's variations. People ask me what I plan to do with all those free days for seven months, and I can list all the things I want to works towards -- improving my health (yoga, running, eating more fiber), finally mastering Italian and Spanish (watching RAI, traveling to Mexico), finishing a novel I started in 1992 (edit, edit, edit), getting the house organized (spackle, paint, hammer), cooking and baking (thank you, Kitchen Aid), playing bridge (bid, play, count trumps), traveling (Rome, New Orleans, Mexico).

But what I really plan to do is look for fun, adventurous DeLisa. She went AWOL a ways back, but I suspect she's lurking somewhere close by.

Goobye and good riddance

2011-01-07T21:30:00.002-05:00

The Wheel of Karma turns, albeit slowly

2010-12-29T08:52:00.007-05:00

Image via www.medchrome.com

You've probably heard me talk about my singular unfitness for travel. If not, I'm sure my Dad would be happy to spin some tales about the times I threw up on car trips across the desert back in the day when interstate highways were not prevalent and you could drive 350 miles without seeing another soul. His particular favorite was the time I leaned forward and threw up down the back of his shirt. It's been nearly fifty years, but to hear him tell it, the memory is as fresh as if it were yesterday.

So I'm happy to report that I didn't throw up on our holiday trip from Birmingham to Long Island despite the wind gusts of 40 mph that rocked the plane at takeoff and landing. And I won't bore you with the tales of my horrid fellow passengers. I'll let you imagine the scent of the parents behind me with 2 or 3 screaming kids under the age of 5 who changed the urine soaked poopy diapers and tried to push them under the seat in front of them, i.e, under my seat. Or the sound of Sponge Bob dvd's played at full volume with no headphones for the entire trip. Or the difficulty of having 13, count them, 13 passengers who needed wheelchairs all at once. Or . . . . But wait, I said I wouldn't bore you. Let's just say that I'm praying for the gods to please, please bring back regulation of air fares.

Not that there aren't gems to be had from any travel experience. The most amusing part of flying -- besides the Sky Mall catalog -- can be the conversations of your fellow passengers. I was delighted when it became clear to me that a young man and a young woman in the row behind me across the aisle were sizing each other up as potential mates. "Hmmm," I thought. "This could be good stuff." I was just settling in for a spot of eavesdropping when I heard her say, "Well, you know, I fancy myself a painter and . . . ." Badump. At that moment, my ears completely shut down. Really, it was painful. Disappointed, I had to resort to listening to Italian lessons on my iPod for entertainment for the rest of the flight.

But my judgmental bitchiness turned to pity as we were landing. The flight was one of the roughest I've ever experienced and veryone was moaning and pretty green. I glanced back and saw the young woman holding a barf bag and gently vomiting into it. She folded it up daintily and tried to giggle about it, but the smell was strong and she was clearly mortified. My interest was reignited and I was curious to see how the young man would handle the situation, if he'd be gentle and caring or horrified. He certainly had a look on his face that suggested he was disgusted, but he was only trying to be macho. The next thing I knew, the man on his left in the aisle seat had a lap full of vomit, and I had been splattered all along the right side since I was sitting across the aisle. I don't know if the smell got to him or if it was a sympathy vomit, but there was noting gentle about it. Think projectile.

I have to say that I was quite relaxed about it and didn't scream in horror or vexation. Nathan got out a hanky and dabbed at me the best he could. The family behind me with the kids who kept kicking my chair just laughed. I guess they're used to being barfed on and probably couldn't tell a stranger's vomit from the food and spit-up they were already covered in. The man next to the young people who got the worst of it was heroic and very kind to the suffering flyers, reassuring them that he would be fine as soon as he cleaned up. I saw him after we landed coming out of the men's room, and he was still smiling and affable. (Maybe he has a daughter who used to throw up on him.) Sadly, I didn't see what happened with the couple after we deplaned, whether or not they left together or fled to separate exits. Perhaps we'll read about them in the NY Times wedding section someday and how they "met cute."

The view from our window this morning

2010-12-25T15:59:00.000-05:00

Christmas flying

2010-12-25T13:51:00.002-05:00

I can't stress enough what a pleasure it was to fly out of MacArthur Airport on Long Island yesterday on Southwest. Easy to drive to although not as close, as JFK; easy and cheap long-term parking; easy check-in; easy security;easy boarding with Southwest's system. Looking at all the images on the news of the miserable travelers at LaGuardia and Kennedy, I wonder that more people don't try to fly out of Islip.

We woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow in Florence. A few hours later, it's turned to rain and almost disappeared. But they're expecting up to 8 inches on Monday on Long Island, so I'm curious what our experience will be like at the airport. I was hoping to arrive early enough to catch the last hour of the Saints' game, but I may be lucky to get home at all!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Still sick

2010-12-15T13:09:00.003-05:00

. . . but getting better thanks to some nasty-smelling stuff that The Husband got from Dr. Wong, his herbalist. My chest is no longer congested and my voice is almost back to normal. So I'll be back at Egghead High tomorrow.

Reading: The Hare With the Amber Eyes and Sunset Park

Watching: The Inspector Montalbano series

Listening to: Lila Downs, "The Border"

Studying: Finesses against the Queen

Hanging on by a thread

2010-12-14T19:04:00.002-05:00

Image via www.ostia-antica.com

The wear and tear of the semester started getting to me by Halloween, the constant excruciating boredom, the students jammed in elbow to elbow, sitting on every available inch of floorspace in the stacks, the impossible but required task of trying to keep close to 200 students as quiet as possible, it just made me tired, tired, tired. So I applied for a sabbatical for the spring. I was almost deterred when I realized what a financial hit it would be but decided after my health problems this past spring that I should throw caution to the winds and jump. Why not enjoy some time off now while I'm in pretty good shape instead of putting it off until I retire?

So I was surprised and relieved to get the official notification that my application had been granted. Surprised because we were warned not to expect to hear anything until January 15, relieved that I had enough building seniority at Egghead High to qualify. I didn't waste any time and began surfing the net looking for a good winter airfare to Istanbul or Venice or Rome or London. After several hours and prodded by the memory of a dream I had last week that I was in Rome and very happy there, I unearthed a great deal for ten days at the end of February. The flight on Alitalia is nonstop and the accommodations are at the Hotel Milton Roma where The Husband and I stayed in 2007.

I haven't been alone in Rome for any extended period, so this trip will be an adventure of sorts even though I know the city better than I know anywhere except New Orleans and New York. I plan to visit some old favorites -- the Pantheon, the Villa Borghese, the Protestant Cemetery, numerous medieval churches -- and some new places that I've missed on previous visits like Ostia Antica, Sant'Agnese on the via Nomentana, and the Baths of Caracalla. Hopefully, the scaffolding covering the Pantheon and Santo Stefano Rotundo and other landmarks will be gone so that I can finally see the restoration work.

But the immediate agenda includes a trip to Alabama for the holidays, and The Husband is coming, too. Yay for that! (He's looking forward to seeing the "brothers-in-law" as they haven't been together since Sarasota, and he enjoys talking to my dad about politics.) We also have a trip to New Orleans for Easter, going down by Amtrak again and staying at our favorite B&B, The Chimes . Then there will be day trips to the Penn Museum and DC and maybe Cambridge and Philly and Princeton. And there's knitting to perfect and maybe I'll finally cross the line from passable-fluent to truly fluent in Italian. And of course I'll have to take classes, 8 credits worth, but that shouldn't be too time-consuming. Finally, I'm applying again for the July NEH to Oaxaca that I had to withdraw from last year. So I'll be busy, but the chance to sleep until 6:00 or 6:30 will make it all worthwhile.

But my major plan is to finish several pieces of writing that I began more than 20 years ago. I don't expect much from them except the satisfaction of finally finishing, but I hope tying up these loose ends will free me to move forward with other things I'd like to work on, writing-wise and otherwise.

I can spell -- The Oatmeal says so!

2010-12-10T18:53:00.001-05:00

Created by Oatmeal

A crispy Fall day

2010-11-07T14:38:00.003-05:00

Watching: Poldark: Series 2

Reading: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (I've finally given in, and it's much better than I expected!)

Eating: Miniature black & white cookies and crispy croissants from Petrossian

A perfect day for the New York City Marathon! The year flies by. I don't know what will be happening next spring in terms of my proposed sabbatical, but I'm trying to prepare myself by clearing my office of files and books and getting my finances in order.

Mexico is on the horizon for next summer, almost, but not quite, a done deal. Alabama is a definite for Christmas, New Orleans for spring break. But nothing else feels settled.

Early Fall

2010-09-19T16:31:00.004-04:00

School has gotten off to a calm, relaxed start. I don't know if I've undergone a sea change, but nothing bugs me. At all. 250 kids a period in the library? No problem. Teachers deciding to end class ten minutes early and send an additional 34 kids down to the library? Sure, come on in. My colleague refusing to budge on her issues and compromise with me just a little? Awww, who cares? My other colleague, the one she hates and won't speak to, possibly returning to Egghead High in the spring? Welcome back! It's all good.

After we returned from Mexico, I spent almost every August day swimming in the ocean. I'm so brown I'll have to postpone my dermatology appointment until I fade a little bit. Earl put a premature end to the summer, but the days we've had since that weekend have been beautiful. Well, except for the day we had two tornados, one of which passed right behind a train I was stranded on between Forest Hills and Jamaica. Fortunately, it was all over in 30 seconds, long before I even thought to be afraid.

Last weekend we had a wedding we've long looked forward to on Shelter Island, and it was the perfect way to extend summer by one more week. I'm loathe to bid farewell to Summer 2010 because it was in some ways the best summer I've ever had.

I've got a load of things lined up for Fall. I'm starting a Bridge class Friday night. I love playing cards and was pretty good at trump games like Hearts and Boure, so this should be fun. Opera starts October 18 with Tales of Hoffman and a huge buzz for the new Ring Cycle directed by Lepage. And my latest scathingly brilliant idea? I'm applyng to take a sabbatical in the spring when I hope to finish some stories I've been writing and try to advance my skills as a book artist. I'm also hoping to get myself into shape, maybe with Bikram Yoga or Pilates. Oh, and I'll have to take 8 hours of education-related classes, so I've found a program that may actually be relevant to my curriculum-writing aspirations. Too bad it's at the College of Staten Island, a 3-hour commute in each direction. But whatever. I like riding the ferry, especially in the winter, so it should be painless.

Make your own slideshow design

Bad blogger. Bad. Bad.

2010-09-04T22:28:00.003-04:00

Okay, I know I promised to blog every day in August, and I fully intended to, but by the middle of the second week, I found myself constipated by what I wanted to write about but didn't dare to. I think I was just so angry about some of the larger things that were going on in the world -- particularly all the ridiculous uproar over the proposed Islamic Center in lower Manhattan -- that I just couldn't put any words to paper so to speak.

Now that Hurricane Earl has mercifully passed us by, the weather has cooled off tremendously. I'm determined to enjoy these days even as I face a return to a job that makes me want to hurl every time I think of it.

If the cooler weather wasn't indication enough that summer is indeed over, LSU is playing on national tv tonight. The game isn't much -- again, that's merciful -- because most of North Carolina's team has been decimated by questions of their academic honesty and subsequent suspension from play. But it's great to see the purple and gold again, and the school year really does assume a wonderful rhythm thanks to football and soccer matches!

The final word about the 5th August since Katrina

2010-09-01T13:32:00.001-04:00

Of all the things I read in the days leading up to and after August 29 this year, this post by Richard on New Orleans Metro Blogging was one I thought worth sharing. And as we either evacuate Long Island or breathe a sigh of relief Friday pm that we were spared, these words should be taken to heart:

"And so: some not-so-simple rules for surviving disaster.

1. EXPECT THE WORST

This is the easy one. Anyone can see superficial havoc after it’s been wreaked by earth, wind, air, or fire. Anyone can grasp the complicated baby steps of rebuilding infrastructure. Roads, homes, doorways: all means of communication are fragile, and there’s no guarantee that you and your neighbors will be at the top of the government’s priority list. Your electricity and drinking water could be restored in three weeks or maybe four, but don’t bank on it.

And it gets worse: the warrens of bureaucracy. Permits, grants, insurance claims, and lawsuits all take time and paperwork. You will be told five different things by six different people. There will be a surge of information and a void of it, all at once. If you’ve ever been to the DMV, you’ve seen the tip of the iceberg (which is itself another potent symbol of things gone terribly, terribly wrong).

Your response: patience and more patience. And watch what you eat. Lots of us still carry ten extra pounds thanks to stress-snacking.

2. EXPECT WORSE THAN THE WORST

After the obvious problems come things you hadn’t expected. Depending on the tragedy, you may have already lost loved ones. But beyond that — yes, there is a beyond that — you will lose even more. You will lose friends and family who cannot be there, cannot walk the same streets, the same hallways, the same gardens they did before, because they don’t have the time, will, energy, or means. They will leave, and you will have to navigate a new, unfamiliar landscape with fewer shoulders at arm’s reach.

As they shuffle off, other tragedies will befall you. Bills, unseen physical damage, crime: the world will be a closet of boogeymen, and some will escape, even in broad daylight.

Your response: grief and slow acceptance. And a lot more patience.

3. EXPECT LITTLE FROM YOUR LEADERS

There will be many, many people vying for a turn at the podium. Far more will stand behind them, one eye on their fearless leader, the other checking the TV monitor to gauge how much screen real estate they’re getting. There will be a lot of talk and some action.

There are exceptions to this rule, but they aren’t common. Rudolph Guiliani comes to mind. He wasn’t perfect, but he did what leaders must do, what they are meant to do, especially in the face of disaster: he was compelling. He was a figurehead. He was a champion, around which the people of New York — the nation, the world — rallied. Maybe the extraordinary circumstances of September 11, 2001 made Mr. Guiliani stand out, excel. But then, every disaster is extraordinary to the people who live through it.

Your response: organize, communicate with neighbors, and make yourself be heard. Shout, but shout in chorus.

4. EXPECT CRITICISM AND INTERLOPERS

Some — mostly those living far away, mostly those who go to sleep with full stomachs in warm beds, who have never known another life — some of those people will attack you. They will accuse you of expecting handouts and of expecting others to come to your rescue. They will ridicule you for being lazy, for not being prepared, for playing with fire. This is especially true in America, where Calvin and his work ethic still work hard, except on the Sabbath.

They will blame the victim: “You live on a fault line, what did you expect?” Which is, in fact, the same as asking, “Your skirt was too short, what did you expect?” But humans aren’t always prudent or rational, and that’s partly what makes us human. What’s more, and what these people forget, is that no place is truly safe apart from a presidential army bunker. And would even the president want to live there?

There will also be interlopers, people who come to help. Most will have their heart in exactly the right spot, but some will tell you that you’ve been doing it wrong all along and their way is better. Which is one letter away from bitter.

Your response: hold your head high, ignore the critics as long as you can. Accept help from those who offer it. Listen to those who offer advice. Then put your head down and do the work you have to do.

5. EXPECT THE BEST OF YOUR NEIGHBORS

Or maybe don’t “expect”. But don’t be surprised when it happens. Those next door will step up to the plate and organize. Those across the country will offer comfort and support. They will fill the gap left by the boutonniered politicians at the podium and mend the wounds caused by detractors.

Some of you may not believe me. And that’s fine, be pessimistic if you like. But here’s the thing, the Very Big Thing: humans are social, and when there’s a rip in the social fabric, we tend to get out the needle and thread. Laugh all you want at that terrible metaphor, but what’s underneath it is true.

Your response: live up to your end of the bargain."

Remember

2010-08-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

Stupid storms x3

2010-08-28T15:27:00.004-04:00

This sure ain't something you want to wake up and see if you live on the East Coast. Even if we don't get any direct hits, the riptides are going to be fierce, and we'll probably be forbidden to go into the water as long as these things are lingering out there. Too bad it's our last week before school starts and it's going to be hot as the blazes here. But I'm praying that they just keep turning away and churning up into that northern no-man's-land they have been going to lately.

Uh oh

2010-08-24T08:30:00.003-04:00

Danielle.

To tenure or not to tenure?

2010-08-17T17:46:00.000-04:00

After several months of surety that I did not want to waste the rest of my life in graduate school, I'm flirting with the idea of at least a master's degree in art history. So I'm reading the Chronicle and the education section of the NYTimes again.

The following "Room for Debate" was in the New York Times this past week. It addresses the issue of tenure and it's pluses and minuses. I fall in the camp of providing tenure with limitations, a modified tenure arrangement that isn't a lifetime guarantee of a job no matter how unproductive a professor is. I don't have a personal stake in this question as I don't ever expect to pursue a tenure-track job. Even if I were young enough at the time I receive a doctorate, I can't imagine wanting to teach after spending 25 years doing so in the public schools.

Anyway, here's the Room for Debate.

New Orleans gets a bad rap

2010-08-10T21:00:00.003-04:00

image via weblogs.sun-sentinel.com

I'm talking about the weather. I just checked Weather Underground for the humidity here in Beach Community as I'm sitting and not moving a muscle and am sweating like a pig. It's 87%.

Out of curiosity, I checked New Orleans, and it's only 71%. It may be my imagination, but heat and humidity seemed more bearable when I lived there than up here in NYC.

When you see dolphins and porpoises close by . . .

2010-08-09T17:13:00.002-04:00

. . . sharks are not that far behind! Rockaway Beach , a mile or so from my home, was closed this weekend because of shark sightings. We'd been hearing rumors all week although I hadn't been able to confirm it. Apparently, it's just some sand sharks coming after the smaller fish in our unnusually warm waters. Swim carefully!

It doesn't have to be Shakespeare

2010-08-08T23:42:00.003-04:00

image via www.amazon.com

Yeah, it would be better if it was. But it's more important to get your kids to read anything -- even something that seems mind-deadening like Twilight: The Graphic Novel -- than to read nothing at all, according to this article in The New York Times.

Beautiful weekend in the Northeast

2010-08-07T23:49:00.002-04:00

It couldn't be better than it is in New York right now. Just keep your fingers crossed that stupid old Tropical Storm Colin keeps heading out to sea!

A hot day in Manhattan

2010-08-06T11:03:00.003-04:00

photo via www.agardeninchelsea.com
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I didn't make it to Shake Shack. It was too hot to even contemplate eating a greasy cheeseburger, so I went to Rafaella's on Ninth instead to have gazpacho and a smoked turkey sandwich. I got my peanut butter ice cream fix at Three Tarts Bakery where I ordered the peanut butter ice cream sandwich with a chocolate cake outside. Yum!

devil is a woman

2010-08-05T15:29:00.000-04:00

As promised, you've seen it first! The premiere of "The Devil is a Woman" sung by Nathan Guc and directed by Laura Rebecca. Sock Monkey and others make cameo appearances!