Archive for October, 2009

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The Jig is Up

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

A few years ago, I had my Creative Writing students read “Letter to a Young Lady in Paris” by Julio Cortazar.  It’s a surrealist short story, and as such the main plot is a little odd (the protagonist suffers from an affliction wherein he vomits up baby bunnies when stressed.)

Of course, if you ask your students to read something, you can bet they won’t — if they think they can get away with it.  My rule is to always, always quiz them.  This time, one of the questions asked what the occupation of the speaker was.  The answer: a translator, as he referred several times to being “behind in his translations” and being hounded by his editor.  Because other parts of the plot were, um, a little distracting, I made the question extra credit.  One student’s answer was as follows:

“I think he is a sort of freelance architect.  He works on his own time.  He doesn’t ever show up for work, but he tries to write up reports of some kind.”

Rob, honey, I’m onto you.  Sorry.  Time to get a real job.

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A Work in Progress

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Bono, Sikh and Flag

“Democracy is the greatest thing in the world,” said Bono last night to a crowd which, judging by the eruption of cheering that followed, agreed with him.  “But it takes work – a lot of hard work.”  And as The Edge began the teasing trickle of echoing notes that led into the next song, my eyes suddenly filled with tears.

I didn’t know why at first.  Maybe I was just overwhelmed by being here, in the presence of one of the most accomplished and complex musical groups of our time, and my personal favorite.  Maybe it was late at night and I’d had too much Guinness.  Or maybe it was the words of the song that poured forth over the crowd, taunting, urging us to sing along:

I have climbed highest mountains; I have run through the fields, only to be with you.
I have run; I have crawled; I have scaled these city walls, only to be with you.
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

The music was thrilling, moving, but the lyrics troubled me.  They seemed to trivialize the things I find most fulfilling in life: love and marriage, the beauty of nature, the depth of faith.  If you’re not looking for those things, what in the world are you looking for?

By the end of the first verse, the crowd was singing so loudly that Bono put down his microphone and stretched out his arms, allowing them to finish the chorus as he soaked in the words:

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

He took the mike back, smiling: “We’re a work in progress,” he said.

(more…)

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Bad Apples

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Oh, Apple.  How you have broken my heart.  Let’s make a list:

iPod Classic: Purchased for Emily by Rob in August 2005.  (Awww.)  Stolen from her car in May 2008.  (The car was parked in front of the church.)

Black MacBook: Purchased to replace ailing PC laptop in October 2006.  Stolen from the study in December 2008.

iPod Nano: Purchased for Rob by Emily in December 2006. (Awww.)  Stolen from her car in May 2008.  (This was the only time in Lowe history when Emily happened to be carrying both.  And did I mention that the car was parked in front of the church?)

iMac Desktop: Purchased to replace the Lowe television set in September 2008.  Hard drive failed six months later.  While replacing the hard drive, Apple technicians dropped and broke the monitor.  While replacing the monitor, they broke the remote control sensor, which still doesn’t work properly.

MacBook Pro: Purchased to replace the stolen MacBook in July 2009.  Hard drive failed two months later.  Diagnosis came after many hours on the phone and in the store, trying to get it fixed.

I still think Apple is the best brand ever (certainly the only one I’m willing to stick to my car.)  A close second is State Farm, which was very generous in making settlements with both break-ins and helping us replace the items.  But seriously, how’s this for bad luck?

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Silence and Speech

Monday, September 28th, 2009

A few months ago, my mom told me a great story about one of her new students.  The girl had only had a few lessons, so the family was still very much adjusting to the routine, and my mom frequently had to stop the lesson to explain the reason for a technique or illuminate a fuzzy concept.  At one point, the girl gently laid her hand on my mom’s arm, and with a disarming giggle, said, “You kind of talk too much!”

Michiko Yurko, another of my mentors, told me that in college the hierarchy of music lessons had been explained to them as follows, proceeding from greatest to least:

  1. The student plays.
  2. The student talks.
  3. The teacher plays.
  4. The teacher talks.

In other words, the time the teacher spends talking should be the smallest fraction of the lesson.  I can what great value this has – the Chinese proverb comes to mind – but I doubt whether I’ve ever taught a lesson this way.  I have such a problem keeping my infinite wisdom to myself.  It’s difficult to know when to stop.

(more…)

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The Joy of Reading

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Last week, for my birthday, my husband gave me the most delightful book.  I’d picked up Schott’s Miscellany in the bookstore several times, but couldn’t rationalize purchasing it for myself, so Rob bought me the Food and Drink edition as a gift.  I put it my by bedside, intending to read it for a few minutes each night, but I find myself venturing up for an hour at a time throughout the day, enjoying the fascinating and obscure bits of trivia.  There’s no plot to speak of, and the short articles are arranged in no particular order, but the writing is engaging and the characters quite colorful.  A few recent entries:

  • Leviticus 11, the passage that talks about ancient Jewish dietary laws – in the KJV, of course!
  • A list of synonyms for “drunk.”  I had heard of sauced, three sheets to the wind, plastered and smashed, but not reeled, rather hightitty, cup-sprung or swiggled.
  • A recipe for Irish Champ: creamy mashed potatoes into which are folded melted butter and chopped spring onions.
  • A witty paragraph titled “Water in idiom.” Again, I had never heard of several of these: “If you have muddied the waters you might seek to pour oil over troubled waters; a true friend will always seek to be a bridge over troubled water.
  • The fantastically complex Loving Cup ritual, complete with guards on either side of the drinker to prevent his being fatally wounded while he partook.

I have to say that I enjoy few things as much as I enjoy reading and learning.  It’s hard for me to understand people who don’t love it.  One of my biggest tasks as an English teacher is to show my students how delightful reading can be: I’m looking forward to the term paper in the spring, when I’ll allow them to select an American author and several works to read for themselves and present to the class.  I hope I can expand some horizons, opening up new genres they’d previously thought dull.  I hope.

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