Old Friends

"The first time I read an excellent work, it is to me just as if I gained a new friend;
and when I read over a book I have perused before, it resembles the meeting of an old one." -Sir James Goldsmith


A few years ago, I proctored a New York State English exam that incorporated the text of Richard Wilbur's The Reader in one of the questions.

In this poem, Wilbur describes the experiences of a young woman who is "going back, these days, to the great stories That charmed her younger mind"

She sees their first and final selves at once,
As a god might to whom all time is now...

But the true wonder of it is that she,
For all that she may know of consequences,
Still turns enchanted to the next bright page
Like some Natasha in the ballroom door—
Caught in the flow of things wherever bound,
The blind delight of being, ready still
To enter life on life and see them through.

During this holiday season, enjoy your new books, but also take the time to revisit some old favorites. Read them with fresh eyes, share them with others. While searching for meaning, you are searching for self.

"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age,
as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight." -Robertson Davies

"I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves." -E. M. Forster

"What's a book? Everything or nothing. The eye that sees it all." -Ralph Waldo Emerson




"Reading Giovanni Battista Niccolini, National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)" by takomabibelot

The Intersection of Science and Romance

"Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual craftpersons into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical 'steampunk' style..." -Wikipedia

While skimming Google Reader feeds, I often stumble across interesting oddities that fall outside my normal range of interest. Boing Boing's occasional posts on Steampunk would fit into this category. Crafted of copper, brass, and polished wood, the fantastic pseud0-Victorian mechanisms featured there are intriguing works of art.

My husband is an artist with a scientific mind. He decided to use his model steam engine as the basis of a steampunk-esque vignette. To see his notes and explanation of "The (patented) T. Cordell Model 'A' Steam-driven Amplitude Modulated Transistor Radio" visit his photo in my Flickr photostream.

Today is an especially appropriate one for discussing inventions, since it is the birth date of Leonardo da Vinci. Though da Vinci pre-dated the Victorian era by 400 years or so, his lively mind and nimble fingers could easily have created steampunk masterpieces.

In a school setting, a steampunk unit might incorporate elements of technology, science, social studies (Victorian society), and literature (Jules Verne, H.G. Wells as well as modern genre authors).

The Steampunk Workshop describes steampunk as "Goth, Punk, Geek, and Maker Culture whipped into a delicious melange with a healthy seasoning of political and environmental activism. It's the intersection of science and romance, it's sustainable rebellion."


To learn more:

• view a critically-acclaimed video
• read an article about the aesthetic of the craft
• browse SteamPunk Magazine
• take a look at examples of this marvelous art form (scroll down to enjoy a hilarious Steampunk Star Trek photo set)

The Seekers

In 1968, I spent an unforgettable summer studying at Oxford. It was the first time I had ever traveled to Europe, and I made the most of it: attending classes at the University, hopping the train to London for shopping, galleries & the theater, exploring Paris, Amsterdam, Bruges, Cologne, Trier. It was quite an adventure for a relatively sheltered, small town girl.

Our seminar was entitled "Uses of Imagery" and it included lectures on 17th and 18th century English Verse and an in-depth study of King Lear. We were registered as temporary readers at the Bodleian Library and had tutorials with our course instructors.

While cleaning out a storage loft this weekend, I discovered my notebook, still legible after 40 years. What caught my eye was not the pages of neatly written lecture summaries, but rather the poem I had composed to describe my fellow students. Where they are now, I wonder, and how have their lives played out?

The Seekers

Betsey

Memories of Indiana
Served with tea and scones.
Upon arrival home - Chicago


Doug

Roman ruins
And Wren churches
But not people


Janet

Certainty.
Unaware
Of the secret rebellion:
"You are not our dream."


Martha

Plantation daughter
Charmingly ignorant
Amazed by the existence
Of other traditions


Mary

The future teacher
Awaits a chance
To remember.


Mark

The world through
A wine bottle
Monochromatic


Polly

Flirtation
Could not ease
The pain
Of questions
Left unanswered


Sophie

Can money
Buy understanding?


Wyman

Some desire darkness
And in
Not being tragic,
Are.

I wonder what they wrote about me?



"Oxford panorama" by Olly Boyo

Have a Fair Day!

Last week my husband and I visited the Washington County (NY) Fair. Although we don't reside within its boundaries, the district where I teach is located in this county, and many of our students participate in 4-H activities showcased at the Fair.

I went expecting rides, food, machinery, and farm animals. What I found was the perfect cross-curricular learning experience.

Every aspect of our state curriculum was covered, from social studies and science to math and ELA. Children were able to view exhibits about ecology, native and exotic animal species, recycling, fire safety, and healthful eating. There were things to touch, explore, test, and examine.

My biggest and best discovery was made in, of all places, the Swine exhibition area! I walked past a few stalls, then did a double-take and doubled back. One corner of the barn contained pigs named after book characters: Amanda, Babe, Olivia, Otis, Pancake. Book covers and related objects decorated the back walls. I got closer and saw the names of the children who had orchestrated this "literature into life" display: they are my students.



The topmost sign said: "Reading can take you anywhere."



It was, indeed, a Fair day.






The entire Washington County Fair set can be found here.

Lolita in the Library, Vampires on the Shelves, and Gay Penguins in the Zoo

"Oh, my Lolita, I have only words to play with!" -Humbert Humbert, Lolita (by Vladimir Nabokov)

In a chance Twitter conversation with Clay Burell today, he happened to remark that his blog was still getting traffic based on a discussion of Lolita, originally posted April 10, 2008. When I joked about pumping up my stats by finally reading and discussing the book, he mentioned a "Teachers as Blogging Vampires" post that also draws people doing a keyword search of "vampires."

Obviously, if I included both words, I might attract (trick?) more people to Journeys.

Now that you're here :-) I feel obligated to provide value. I refer you to two prior postings:

• A Question of Censorship wherein librarians are shown to be defenders of free speech
  

• Unsuited to Age to Age Group a discussion of And Tango Makes Three, the most challenged book of 2006 because of a storyline centered on a homosexual penguin couple
  

Thanks for the inspiration, Clay!


"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion." -Henry Steele Commager



"lolita" by brainware3000

Spring Cleaning

"Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe


Spring made its presence felt today in upstate New York, and we scurried to take advantage of the sunny skies and (relatively) warm temperatures.

Since next week is Spring Break in our part of the country, I'll have some long-anticipated free time. I need to do some cleaning.

There are always those mundane domestic chores to complete. Although I'm not particularly good at housekeeping, the idea of a more organized environment is very appealing, and I can't wait to fling open windows to air out rooms and linen.

I also need to rejuvenate my body, with outdoor rambles and lighter, simpler meals.

Can't neglect my mind: Kim Cofino shared her vacation reading list; here's mine

• "All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well" by Tod Wodicka. This first novel was written by a graduate of our local HS and has received a positive review in the NY Times.
• "Saving Fish from Drowning" by Amy Tan. Love all of her books, with their mix of mystery and fantasy.
• "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Promised Intrepid Teacher that I'd read this story of "One man's mission to promote peace...one school at a time". Got tired of waiting for an interlibrary loan and bought my own copy.
• "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi. Clay Burell has urged/challenged us to study Vladimir Nabokov’s "Lolita". Amusingly, the original work is not available in Target (I'll need to visit a more sophisticated venue - wonder if eyebrows will be raised when I use my teacher discount card?) but the Nafisi account of teaching "forbidden Western classics" was. Is there some cosmic irony in this?

A rather ambitious program, I know, but entirely doable, if I "neglect" Twitter and Google Reader for a while.

Which brings me to my next cleaning task. I've been favoriting Tweets that mention potentially useful resources, emailing myself key posts from GReader, and signing up for new tools to try out (Aviary, Diigo, and Gimp, to name a few). Sorting through this cyber cache might be too large a project to take on right now, but perhaps I can begin advance planning for the much longer summer vacation.

There are postings to write and school units to plan.

Perhaps most importantly, there are people to connect with, in person and online.

It's quite a bit to tackle in a single week. There are no penalties if I don't get to everything. But there are definite rewards for cleaning and stretching and growing however and wherever this occurs.


"Measure your health by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature --if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you --know that the morning and spring of your life are past. Thus may you feel your pulse." -Henry David Thoreau


“light sweeping” by Shnnn

Meme: High School Daze to Praise

Cover Art "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

I've been tagged by Cathy Nelson with a literature-themed meme begun by Paul C. at quoteflections. The rules are:

- Select and briefly review one teen novel, classic or modern, which is a sure antidote to the daze of high school.

-Title your post Meme: High School Daze to Praise

-Include an image with your post.

-Tag four blogger colleagues.

A middle school teacher with whom I collaborated last year used Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, to inspire classroom conversations about peer pressure and individuality.

Narrator Leo Borlock describes Stargirl Caraway, a new 10th grader in his Arizona high school: "She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl."

Stargirl moves from being an outsider to becoming wildly popular, but in the process, she must sacrifice personal integrity for conformity. By the end of the story, both Leo and Stargirl have learned painful lessons about the nature of growth and change.

I tag:

• Carolyn Foote, Not So Distant Future

• Clay Burell, Beyond School

• Lindsea, Love and Logic

• Kaelie, A Writing Curbxstomp

Death be not proud

"Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so..." -John Donne

Today I watched the video of a man giving his Last Lecture. For most college professors, this would the opportunity to deliver a defining philosophical statement. For Randy Pausch, it was the chance to say good-bye.

Professor Pausch is 46 years old, and he is dying of pancreatic cancer. His upbeat and inspiring speech was meant to challenge his colleagues and students to "move on" without him. It will also serve as a legacy for his young children.

Today I read Terry Pratchett's open letter to his fans announcing that he has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. A best-selling British fantasy and science fiction author, Pratchett remains positive, saying "I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet".

These two men personify courage. They are moving forward with dignity and grace.


“Death is the last enemy: once we’ve got past that I think everything will be alright.” -Alice Thomas Ellis

"Snowdrops Thorney Abbey Graveyard" by wit

W00t!

As our universe expands, so does our language.

My cyber buddy, Cathy, asked who would be the first to blog about the addition of "w00t" to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The term is, in fact, the Word of the Year for 2007.

So my answer to Cathy is: Me!

It's Elementary

"If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men." - Maria Montessori

It was a busy day today, with our youngest grades coming to the LMC for some stories and a book exchange.

The little ones are still excited by their library visits. They enjoy both the "true stuff" and the "made up stuff". They can barely contain their comments during listening time. Many of them beg me to sit and read their chosen books to them; when I oblige, a few friends drift over to join our impromptu session.

There is an astonishing range of skills evident: a few barely know their alphabet while others are already reading three grade levels ahead. Their classroom teachers are challenged daily to keep each child involved and motivated.

While I love my time with the high school classes, it is satisfying to be one of the grown-ups who shares books with the littlest scholars.

"Children learn to read by being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comes with reading and grows upon it." - Horace Mann

"All children’s books are about ideals. Adult fiction sets out to portray and then explain the world as it really is; books for children present it as it should be." -Humphrey Carpenter

Bloggers' Block

"Only a mediocre writer is always at his best." — W. Somerset Maugham

Today two of the bloggers on my Reader feed mentioned "bloggers' block", an inability to compose a post suitable for public view.

Jennifer, a graduate student in the masters of library science program at Southern Connecticut State University, is frustrated with school and looking for positive motivation and material beyond her present situation.

Cheryl, on the other hand, has a wealth of interesting experiences to draw upon for inspiration but has been busier doing things than blogging about them.

No author, amateur or professional, is exempt from the occasional "psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece".

American author Ernest Hemingway stated, "There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it's like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges."

Some focus on beginnings: French playwright Molière confessed, "I always do the first line well, but I have trouble doing the others."

While others think the finish is what counts:
Homer: "Marge, is this a happy ending or a sad ending?"
Marge: "It's an ending. That's enough." — The Simpsons

Ideas may come slowly. Writer and adventurer Jack London warned, "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan moaned that "Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."

Is it worth the toil and trauma?

"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." -Samuel Johnson

"I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I write and I understand." -Chinese proverb

My Bookshelf

"I cannot live without books." -Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1815

Carolyn Foote reminded me that I hadn't yet responded to Ethan Bodnar's open invitation to share a photo of a personal bookshelf.

That meant that I had to first decide which bookshelf to photograph: the revolving end table housing old favorites like Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy; the small case holding historical mysteries that I just may read again; my collection of children's books; the basket holding my emergency stash of paperbacks (if I ever finish reading all my titles, will life as I know it cease!???).

I finally settled on one shelf in my little den, since it holds some books I haven't yet gotten to: mermaids and Jimmy Buffet in honor of Key West, some history to keep me honest, a few tech titles, a dash of kiddy lit, and "Stardust" (to compare with the movie - one of the few Gaiman stories I haven't read yet).

My house is still in an interesting state, my blogging is woefully behind (I apologize to Eric at Secondhand Thoughts and promise that he's next in the queue)...but I couldn't resist a literary exercise.

I love my computer, but oh, those books!

"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill."
-Barbara Tuchman

A Poem for Autumn

"The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze."
- September, John Updike

Time

"Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable."
-T.S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot (1888–1965) Burnt Norton (Four Quartets)

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
...A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance..."
-Ecclesiastes 3 (King James Version)

"Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire."
-Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) “A New Refutation of Time,” Labyrinths (1964)

"Time, you old gypsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?"
-Ralph Hodgson (1871–1962)

"A moment in time but time was made through that moment: for without the meaning there is no time, and that moment of time gave the meaning."
-T.S. Eliot,“Choruses from ‘The Rock’"

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings.”
-Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898) Through the Looking-Glass, “Tweedledum and Tweedledee” (1872).

The Thread That Runs So True

"The needle's eye/That doth supply/The thread that runs so true/Ah! many a lass/Have I let past/Because I wanted you."
-Traditional game
As a teenager, I read The Thread That Runs So True, Jesse Stuart's account of teaching in rural Kentucky.

I recently revisited this book, examining it from the perspective of an educator in the digital age.

Stuart's central analogy is that the teacher is the "needle's eye" and "the thread that ran so true" must be play: the teacher "should make them [the students] think they were playing while they learned ..." This is a concept that resonates with modern educators, many of whom attempt to instill the element of fun in their lesson plans without sacrificing necessary content. The discussion of Second Life as a vehicle for simulated learning environments is a modern-day variation on the theme.

Some of Stuart's methods are no longer either permissible or desirable, the constant violence troubling (he asserts that "not any knowledge I was trying to give them, not anything I could do at Lonesome Valley, would give me the reputation this fight gave me" after he defeats a bullying student in a fistfight).

But overall, we are left with the impression of a man who cared deeply for education, for character, for poetry and beauty, for the mountains and people of his native Appalachia.

In a Preface written for the 1958 edition of the book (originally published in 1949), Jesse Stuart reminded readers that "the interest of all America is focused upon America's schools and their importance to our survival as a nation". He concludes by saying "...I am firm in my belief that a teacher lives on and on through his students. I will live if my teaching is inspirational, good, and stands firm for good values and character training. Tell me how can good teaching ever die? Good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal."

Of Dryads and Beowulf

"That thou, light-wingèd Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease."
-John Keats (1795-1821) Ode to a Nightengale

In Greek mythology, a dryad is a female tree spirit, more specifically, the nymph of an oak tree.

"Beowulf" is an Old English epic poem, in which the title character heroically battles three monsters, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a dragon.

At least, that's what I was taught in college.

Now I find that these words have acquired new meanings in the digital age:
Dryad "is an infrastructure which allows a programmer to use the resources of a computer cluster or a data center for running data-parallel programs. A Dryad programmer can use thousands of machines, each of them with multiple processors or cores, without knowing anything about concurrent programming"
while Beowulf is "a design for high-performance parallel computing clusters on inexpensive personal computer hardware."

Will I ever use this knowledge; do I even need to be aware of these terms? Probably not. But it does remind me that language, society, technology, the world is constantly evolving.

"Change is the only constant. Hanging on is the only sin."
-Denise McCluggage (b. 1927), U.S. race car driver

The Book's the Thing

Can't blog now - I've got to read!