These are a few of my favorite things!

The Baton Rouge Arts Market
Printmaker Layla Messkoub
Strands Cafe on Laurel
Meeting with former students for coffee

This scene from Twin Peaks:


And what's REALLY great is when all these things come together! For the first Saturday since September, I was able to go to the Baton Rouge Arts Market, where I bought myself the above print by Layla Messkoub for inspiration in my new pseudo-journalism career, after which I met a former student for coffee at Strands.  Life is good!

To do list, 12/4

Not too shabby! Posted 14:18, 12/7

Posted at 8:07 am, 12/04.  

Let's see how much I can cross off this weekend!

Fine print:  Tasks are listed in no particular order. Does not include giving or grading exams or final projects.  Offer good through December 10th, 2010.  No deposit, no return.  Void where prohibited.

An Advent gift for you!

Click on the image above and download it full size to your computer.  Enjoy!

and there was much rejoicing... yay!

Last night I took my H&R Block Income Tax Course final exam and passed!  I've had two interviews with H&R Block and have been offered a position.  Life doesn't look nearly as bleak as it did two months ago.  At least I will continue to be a productive member of society (until April 15 at any rate!)

In other news, an abstract I submitted for the XIIth International Colloquium on Roman Provincial Art was accepted.  I'm heading to Pula, Croatia in May!

Back online!

My favorite board game is back online!  Oh Joy!  Rapture!

Yes, I know, the instructions are all in German.  If you can't get the hang of it, let me know and I'll give you a tutorial!

A big week for the FLXIV

Last week the university received a letter from the AAUP (American Association of University Professors) urging the administration to reconsider our non-reappointments and extend our contracts until the end of the academic year.

On Tuesday the Faculty Senate voted unanimously for a resolution that urges the administration to reinstate the foreign language instructors until other options to absorb budget cuts have been explored with full faculty representation.

On Wednesday members of the FLXIV met with the Advocate.  The resulting article is here.  Please register to use the site and leave a comment (preferably in a foreign language!)

On Wednesday the Russian instructor was interviewed by Channel 2 about her offer to teach Russian one more semester for free.

On Friday one of the German instructors was interviewed by Channel 33 about the AAUP letter and Faculty Senate vote.

On Saturday the Board of Supervisors will consider a petition to step in and undo the damage that has been done.

You can read more about the FLXIV and see links to the above stories here.  Please leave a comment!

For all the saints

This has been a year of heartbreaking losses.

My dear friend, Muse and patron Brigitte died unexpectedly in January just days after I said goodbye to her in Austria.

The last of the Whiskey Widows and my partner in crime, Sue Barlow, passed away in March.

My student, Lani Bewley, aka "Pink Haired Girl," died suddenly in June.  She was only 22 years old and had just received a BA in Latin in December 2009 and a BA in German in May 2010.

My best friend's father, novelist Vance Bourjaily, died August 31 after one last trip to New Orleans and to Iowa to see his children and grandchildren.

And September 2 was the 10th anniversary of my mother's death.  As he does every year, my father sent me flowers on her birthday, October 30.

Avete atque valete, y'all

Ibes or ibides?

Not bad for a little Canon IXUS!

State of Affairs

This semester had so much potential.  Knowing that my time at LSU was limited, I was going to spend this semester teaching my three classes and the rest of my time in the library working on publications.  It was a beautiful plan - if only it had been put into practice!

When 13 of my colleagues and I were fired on August 27, I figured "well, that's life." But the more I spoke with my colleagues, the more we couldn't understand why this was happening to us and why the administration thought it was acceptable What has consumed nearly every waking moment for the past two months is summarized at www.flxiv.blogspot.com.

I have been fighting this battle since May.  You can see some of my previous attempts to avert the disaster which has come to pass here and here and here.  At this point, we have exhausted all of our options.  And unless there is a deus ex machina, I will be officially unemployed in 89 days.

The worst part is that my marketable skills are limited to experience I obtained over 15 years ago as a legal and medical secretary.  So I enrolled in the H&R Block tax course.  The class meets 9 hours a week and has consumed the rest of my free time.  If I pass the class, I should have a job from January to April.  After that is anybody's guess.

I am spending the next 36 hours working on my CV so I can apply for jobs in the U.S. - jobs that won't officially begin until Fall 2011, but deadlines for which begin in November.  All that energy I channeled into the Foreign Language Fourteen is now shifted to salvaging my academic career.  The research component will have to wait until after my tax course, which ends November 23.

Not my normally cheery post, but there's really not much to be cheery about, my friends. I'll leave you with a quote that pretty much sums up the situation:

"A degree in classics teaches you how to live
without the job it keeps you from getting." 

- David Meadows

Homesick

Somewhere between Donnersbach and Raumberg

The other day I was looking for photos to include on my other blog Practical Hedonism, which is all about achieving balance and leading a productive and fulfilling life.  In other words, it's about everything my life is not right now.

Looking through the photos of my two years in Austria as a Fulbright teaching assistant, I see pictures of me as a happy girl.  I had broken free from the unhappy life I'd been leading in Louisiana.  I was fulfilling the dream I'd had since college of living in Europe.  I took more than a 50% pay cut to do it, and I adjusted my cost of living to my income.  Not a difficult thing to do when you don't have to worry about health care insurance, and the food is not only organic but affordable.  Entertainment came in the form of free public festivals and hiking through the mountains, although sometimes I splurged on a blues concert.  And I was teaching.  It's what I do best.

For two years I taught English and American culture to German-speaking high school students.  I planned to stay for a year.  I extended to two.  After the second year I never thought I'd come back to the United States, but bureaucracy intervened.  Try as I might, I could not secure a job that would support my Austrian residency.

So I came back to the American South.  My living expenses increased:  my rent and utilities were more than 3x what I was paying in Austria.  I now had to have a car and that meant loan payments, gas, and insurance.  In order to avoid food with hormones and chemicals I have to pay premium prices.  But I was teaching!  It's what I do best.

But in this case, my best isn't enough to save my job from budget cuts http://www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/103108854.html.

The only reason I came back to this toxic environment was because I had a job in a financial crisis.  I thought I could save enough money to go back to Austria at least four months a year and in the meantime maybe find a job overseas that would support my residency.  Now those plans are stepped up.  I've calculated what I will make between now and January 21, 2011.  My paycheck for September (due Tuesday) is already spent.  I have scheduled all the doctor's visits I need to ensure that I will hit the unemployment line healthy.

I realize that in all likelihood I will not be teaching in the near future.  I'll apply this fall for academic jobs that begin in August 2011.  I'm working on getting certified to teach in Austria.  But in the meantime it looks like I'm gonna have to go "back to school" to learn a practical skill like tax preparation.  I just hope I can shift my best efforts to the other side of the classroom! 

recuperate regroup & recoup

On Thursday the Chair of my department sent an email to me and 13 of my colleagues inviting us to a meeting with the Dean on Friday.  We knew it was bad news because not all instructors in the department of Foreign Languages and Literatures were on the cc: list.  The Dean waltzed in and said "There's no good way to tell you what I have to tell you, so I'm just going to be brutal.  The University has decided to enforce the letters you received in January.  In other words, as of January 2011 you no longer have a job at LSU."

While this was expected, it was heartbreaking to see all the people, most of whom have spent their entire professional career teaching Louisiana's students, grasp the implications of this blunt announcement.  The usual questions were asked aloud:  "What will happen to the students?" "Are we eligible for unemployment?" "What were the criteria for retaining some of the instructors?"  But there were individual questions that were left unasked:  "How will I make my house payments?" "How will I feed my five children and send them to college?" "How will my chronic health issues be treated without insurance?"

Most of us are in the same boat:  we were hired to teach.  We were not expected to do research and publish to keep our jobs. We taught onerous course loads and some of us taught a new class practically every semester. Our "research" was done to present the material for our students but it was never published.  This means each one of us will enter the job search without the basic credentials that separate the candidates into Pile A and Pile B.  I've been through this before:  No one will even look at my application and I will receive a form rejection letter.  This despite the fact that I can teach Latin and Greek and Classical Studies and German and I have experience in residential colleges, academic advising and study abroad.

I'm taking this weekend off to recuperate (I've been sick for a week) and regroup.  Monday morning will find me recouping my losses.  Words of encouragement strongly desired!

150 days

Today is the start of Fall Semester 2010, exactly 150 days before January 21, 2011 which marks the end of my contract with LSU.  Here's what we know about the situation:

*  We were told nearly 400 instructors received pink slips back in January 2010.  If they are all released, it would be nearly a third of the faculty. (Later we learned that only 238 letters of non-reappointment had been sent).
*  An email, carefully calculated to arrive on the day when most of the faculty and students had officially begun their summer vacation, announced that the University was seeking to eliminate several programs, including degrees in Latin and German.
*  On July 16, the Board of Supervisors met to discuss the proposed program cuts.  The motion was evidently tabled but there has been no official report of that meeting.

So where does this leave me (and the other 300 instructors in the same boat)?  We can only assume that we have no job as of January 21, 2011 and must plan accordingly.  In other words, there are exactly 150 days for me to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  I've got many irons in the fire, including writing academic articles and applying for teaching certification in Austria, along with non-academic writing projects, ideas for self-incorporating and Plan B.

I do not mourn the loss of my job.  I see it as an opportunity to spread my wings, both professionally and individually.  But it galls me that the humanities-based education on which the modern university was founded has been devalued to such an extent that these courses, which foster cultural communication and understanding, are the first on the chopping block.  I feel like someone has told me that everything I've studied since I was 13 years old was just a waste of time -- and I'm too young to be put out to pasture!!

Favorite Photos - Flora and Fauna

Favorite Photos - Landscapes

The Weinstraße (Wine Road)

The Enns Valley from Aicherlkar above Wörschach

Eggenberger Schloßpark (famous for its rose garden and peacocks)

Calling all cheerleaders!

Less than 12 hours ago I arrived in Baton Rouge from my tour as a visiting lecturer in Austria (more later).  But there's no rest for the weary.  There are officially 189 days until January 21, 2011, the day I will be officially unemployed due to budget cuts at Louisiana State University.  And there are grants to apply for, job opportunities to suss out, articles to write, classes to teach and schemes to be devised.  I really could use a cheering section right now!  So grab your vuvuzela and follow my progress, here on Dasein ist köstlich

(source)

Open Letter to the LSU Board of Supervisors and the Citizens of Louisiana

(Note:  this letter was sent twice to The Advocate and was never published.  As of October 23, 2010 the proposal by Chancellor Martin had not been approved by the Board of Supervisors.  The firing of 14 foreign language instructors was precedented on this approval.)

Chancellor Martin's letter (June 23) was full of doom and gloom, but he makes his proposed cuts to the Humanities and other programs at LSU sound like a fait accompli.  These cuts still must be approved by the Board of Supervisors, which meets on July 15, and by the Board of Regents.  

I call upon the members of these Boards to keep in mind that Humanities are the basis of the modern university.  By recently renaming the college the "College of Humanities and Social Sciences" President Lombardi reaffirmed the University's commitment to the Humanities, which may be defined as the interdisciplinary study of languages, literatures, history, philosophy, religion, art and culture of ancient and modern civilizations--in other words, all the facets which define us as humans.  The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, which has been singled out in Phase One for the elimination of two BA programs and the reduction of language choices, fosters communication  and understanding between cultures  and within our own.  These are skills that our students need to compete in an increasingly global job market.  The elimination of languages and other Humanities-based programs will limit the opportunities for our graduates, and is bound to reduce the number of international students and international researchers who are awarded grants that bring money and international recognition to Louisiana State University.  If you blast the foundation of a university education with such tactics, the rest of the institution is sure to crumble.

Furthermore, I call on the citizens of Louisiana to protest these cuts by writing to the Board of Supervisors (addresses can be found on the LSU website at http://www.lsusystem.edu/boardofsupervisors/).  If we react by doing nothing, Chancellor Martin and the rest of the administration will gladly accept their Pyrrhic victory and the southern tradition of a classical, Humanities-based education will perish.  

Sincerely, JKS

My very cool parents

My very cool parents were interviewed by Bur Oak Blog (University of Iowa Press). See what the authors of The Iowa Nature Calendar have to say about their interest in the great outdoors!

http://buroakblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/interview-with-jean-c-prior-james.html

Pro Lingua Latina (or: In defense of Foreign Languages and Literatures)

2 June 2010

Michael V. Martin, Chancellor

156 Thomas Boyd Hall

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803

Dear Chancellor Martin,

            Surely you, the Chancellor entrusted with the integrity of this institution as the Flagship University in the state of Louisiana, cannot agree with or support the recommendations of the planning task force that the BA programs in Latin and German at Louisiana State University be eliminated and that language options in general be reduced.  It is my experience as a life-long member of the academic community and of LSU's faculty for the past ten years that task forces often make decisions that look good on paper but have disastrous consequences for higher education in practice.  I urge you, therefore, to reexamine your proposal to the Board of Supervisors in light of the following considerations.

            The name of our college has just been changed to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.  In his email to faculty Dean Foster stated:  "Our College has been around since 1908, our social science disciplines for well over a century, and the humanities for millennia... Maintaining and expanding our tradition of excellence is the important thing."  Latin and Greek form the basis of the humanities, which may be defined as the interdisciplinary study of languages, literatures, history, philosophy, religion, art and culture of ancient and modern civilizations.  By eliminating the Latin and German BA degrees and reducing the language choices through the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, LSU would effectively be undermining the entire humanities-based education on which the concept of the modern university was founded. 

            Our world is becoming increasingly global, and the modern university should instruct its students in global communication.  Contrary to popular belief, English is not the international language of business and politics. In order to foster business and foreign relations with other countries, we should be well-versed in the subtleties of language and the differences between cultures.  How will our students learn this with the proposed reductions to a department in which not only language courses but courses in culture as well are taught?  Furthermore, the ability to read and communicate in a variety of languages enhances research and cross-cultural enterprises, thereby increasing the skills of our students for their chosen professions.  The elimination of languages at this large research institution will limit the opportunities for our graduates, and is bound to reduce the number of international students and international researchers who are awarded grants that bring money and international recognition to Louisiana State University.

            So what does international business and politics have to do with a BA in Latin?  Latin teaches the basics of English grammar and expression which are no longer taught as part of the basic high school or college curriculum. For the Greeks and Romans, the study of rhetoric was the cornerstone of formal education because the ability to communicate determined your success as a military leader, politician, lawyer, or poet.  Students graduating from LSU should be able to express themselves in a way that reflects the high standards of language and communication of this institution.  Sadly, the dominance of electronic communication has seriously weakened rhetorical standards across the nation and many of our students lack the skills to communicate effectively in the professional world.  And if students are not able to communicate effectively in their own language, how will they be able to compete in world where people are trained to speak two, three, even four languages?

            The study of Latin at its most basic level provides students with an awareness of the correct method of expression in their own language and a vocabulary suited for intellectual discussion, thereby improving these crucial communication skills.  Latin also teaches problem-solving that approaches the level of mathematics, and the study of classical civilizations leads to an understanding of the principles on which our Western culture is based.  Students graduating from an American university should be aware that our founding fathers were well-versed in the classics, and that our legal system, history, literature and art are inextricably linked to the civilizations of the Greeks and Romans.

            It is my understanding that Louisiana State University is currently defending its accreditation through SACS.  While there is no stated language requirement in SACS' Principles of Accreditation, paragraph 2.7.3 clearly requires a general education component, including courses from the humanities  which will ensure a "breadth of knowledge" and which "do not narrowly focus on those skills, techniques, and procedures specific to a particular occupation or profession."  The reduction of programs and languages in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures would dramatically reduced the already low number of General Education Humanities courses available to satisfy this accreditation requirement. 

            The elimination of any language at a large, internationally-supported research institution such as LSU does not belong in Phase One of the process to reduce costs, even in the face of severe financial crisis.  Your email of 24 May even indicates that the savings to the University with full implementation of this plan would be $1.5 million, a drop in the bucket compared with the $43 million cuts the University has received during the past academic year.  If you blast the foundation of a university education with such tactics, the rest of the institution is sure to crumble.

            Chancellor Martin, stand up for the University, stand up to the nay-sayers who tell you that humanities are of tertiary importance in the scheme of higher education.  Reconsider your recommendation to the Board of Supervisors and fight to keep the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and its programs intact and central to a meaningful educational experience at Louisiana State University. 

Sincerely,

JKS

Instructor of Classics

A Call to Arms

Dear Colleagues,

It is clear from the correspondence we've received that Latin, Greek, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Swahili are all at risk of reduction or discontinuation at LSU. 

We have long received mixed messages about language instruction at this institution.  On the one hand, the name of the college has recently been changed to the "College of Humanities and Social Sciences."  I wonder what the administration thinks the term humanities includes, if not the study of Latin, Greek, classical studies, and the languages and literatures of the world? 

On the other hand, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures receives virtually no funding for the advertisement and continuation of their programs.  At Fall Fest, the department is allotted one table to advertise all foreign languages and no money has ever been made available for posters, banners, professional brochures and other promotional and recruiting materials.  Likewise, there is no departmental funding available for receptions, awards ceremonies, or regular get-togethers between students and faculty.  Many of us are willing to contribute to these things from our own pockets once a year, yet to sustain a program takes many hundreds (not millions) of dollars and the continued dedication of all foreign language faculty members. 

The discontinuation of comparative literature last fall, the announcement of instructor cuts in January and now the suggested elimination of language programs and offerings seem to be the calculated steps in devaluing the importance of the humanities, which is a disturbing trend across the nation.  The University claims $1.5 million dollars could be saved with full implementation of their plan to eliminate programs in Latin, German, Library Science and to reduce language options.  That's a drop in the bucket compared to the $43 million dollars in budget cuts the University has received over the past year.

It is convenient that this decision comes at the beginning of the summer when most of us are off campus pursuing research or recovering from the last academic year.  Many of us are too busy or unwilling to challenge the administration, many of us think that this is simply another threat to the legislature, many of us consider these decisions a fait accompli.  But if we react by doing nothing, the administration will gladly accept their victory. 

In light of these facts, how many of you are willing to fight?  I admit it would be easier to channel my energy into applying for jobs in places which understand the value of a classical education.  But I feel loyalty to the concept of a university as an institution founded on the study of the Greek and Latin languages and the literature, history and philosophy of the Greeks and Romans.  In the fragmented world in which we live, the study of languages and cultures shows us how human experience is interconnected and depends on communication.  If nothing else, this humanistic approach shows us that we are not the first to suffer a financial crisis or to be affected by natural disasters or to be forced into a war we feel is unnecessary.  We can learn so much about human relationships and responses if we take the wisdom of our predecessors to heart instead of labeling it the ramblings of an ancient or inferior civilization.  And you can never go wrong by fighting for what you believe in, even if you are unsuccessful in the attempt.

post tenebras spero lucem

"These are difficult and heart-wrenching decisions, but they are decisions that must be made in light of the current fiscal crisis. Academic programs recommended for closure include ... the Bachelor of Arts in German and Latin and the reduction of language options for a savings of approximately $1.5 million at full implementation." - Chancellor Mike Martin, Louisiana State University, 24 May 2010

My "office"

My desk is in the cast gallery at the University, with Polykleitos' Doryphoros looking over my shoulder!

Meanwhile, my desk window looks out over the courtyard planted with linden trees, a symbol of jurisprudence.  Linden trees are featured at the center of towns and universities, according to my very knowledgeable landlord.

Follow the bouncing ball

Monday 5/10 - had lunch with my friend Alli; gave a final exam (23 students) at 5:30 pm

Tuesday 5/11 - gave two final exams (33 students) at 7:30 am

Wednesday, 5/12 - all exams graded, grades submitted by 8:00 am, shopping

Thursday, 5/13 - office hours, car to body shop, post office, finished packing with no A/C, nearly electrocuted the maintenance man, took a taxi to the airport, flew to Memphis, flew to Amsterdam

Friday, 5/14 - flew to Munich, lost luggage, took train to Ennstal

Saturday, 5/15 - bought clothes for class on Monday, picked up Scottish-Styrian dirndl, dinner with friends

Sunday, 5/16 - all day at accordion contest in Deutschlandsberg, arrived at my new apartment in Graz at 7:30 pm, reunited with luggage, but too tired to find free bouncing ball image on the internet

Monday, 5/17 - my classes at the University start!

A new blog! - Practical Hedonism

I've started a new blog for people who need a little balance in their life.

Practical hedonism is all about balance. It is a philosophy, a system of checks and rewards which leads to the ultimate satisfaction of a balanced life. In short, we practical hedonists work hard so we can play hard.

Please take a look, send me feedback, and spread the word!

The Funeral Crashers

Another Whiskey Widow has gone off to that big cocktail hour in the sky. Mama Sue and I had a special connection because she was a teacher.  She understood that teaching is hard, but so is learning.  And that teachers teach, not because it brings in a big paycheck, but because we love the interaction with people.

Sue and I also were partners in crime.  When Ms. Verone died, her family deliberately kept the obituary and the funeral information out of the local newspapers to keep out the riff raff.  Sue, being the resourceful woman that she was, called up the big funeral parlor in town and asked when services were scheduled for Ms. Verone.  Then Sue and I crashed the funeral!  When we got there, Verone's daughter-in-law had quite a dilemma:  throw us out on our ear, or play the gracious Southern hostess.  Lucky for us, good breeding won out and we were allowed to pay our respects to Ms. Verone, founder of the Whiskey Widows.

I'm sure that Sue was warmly welcomed into heaven by Verone, Dottie with the Body and Ms. Frances and that they're having one heck of a party with the Man Upstairs!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Another IRISHsteirisch video, this one from last summer in Dechantskirchen, Austria.  The band opens their concerts with this traditional Austrian Jodler (yodeling song). Enjoy!

Magnolia's Memories

            Friday night I went to Magnolia's Memories, a cemetery tour sponsored by the Foundation for Historical Louisiana.  The tour takes place at Magnolia Cemetery at night and visitors are guided by "spirits" dressed in white robe and wings.  The paths of the cemetery are lined with luminarias and musicians -- harpists, fiddlers, mandolin players -- play unobtrusively in the shadows.  Five or six stations are set up throughout the grounds, with spectator seating and footlights.  Local actors perform scenes from the lives of people who are buried in Magnolia Cemetery.  This year there was Sarah Morgan who wrote a civil war diary and her brother Harry who was killed in a duel; Cecil Morgan (Sarah's nephew) who fought to bring Huey Long to justice; and a police chief who was killed by one of his fellow officers in 1911, played by friend and colleague, Mike Katchmer.    

            My first trip to Magnolia's Memories in 2007 was such a moving experience, not because of the dead, but because of the living.  At the last station, the life of Scotsman John Hill Jr. was reenacted.  A bagpiper introduced him and a kilt-wearing actor came on stage.  But in the shadows beyond, a dark figure roving between the tombstones caught my eye.  I couldn't be sure if I was seeing a person or a phantom, but I couldn't take my eyes off it.  At the end of Hill's performance, the figure stepped out of the shadows.  It was a woman with auburn curls dressed in a dark Irish cape, and when she lifted her face to the spotlight, I thought, "Wow!  That looks like Nikki!" 

            But it couldn't be my friend Nikki, I told myself.  Nikki was too stressed out with work and being pregnant and taking care of two teenagers and a baby.  And Nikki would never have the confidence to sing in front of all these people.  But sing she did, the most moving a capella Scottish hymn.  Her beautiful voice rose above the rustling leaves of the live oak trees and the traffic rushing by on Florida Boulevard.  When she was finished and the tour was over, I walked up to the woman and said, still in disbelief, "Nikki?  Is that you?"  "Joey! I didn't know you would be here!"  I told her how beautifully she'd sung and how everyone would remember her performance.  And I thought to myself, this is a new start for Nikki, a dear soul who had had her unjust share of bad luck, bad health and bad relationships.

            A few weeks later, I sat with Nikki in front of our office building as she waited for a ride.  She was quite unwell.  When her ride came, I escorted her to the car, never dreaming that in the night Nikki would have a stroke.

             She was in the ICU of the hospital when doctors discovered that she also had leukemia. I visited Nikki  four times, and each time she improved a little.  She went from being unable to talk to asking if we could pray.  So on my last visit I led us in prayer, and God truly guided my words.  It was the last time I would see Nikki.  A month after her stroke she died, never having left the hospital.  She was 34 years old.

            I was in Germany when they had the memorial service.  They say Nikki's oldest daughter sang the same hymn that Nikki sang in the cemetery that night. 

            And Friday night, March 12, 2010, I went on the cemetery tour again.  At the end a woman with long dark curls dressed in an Irish cape sang the final hymn, accompanied by a folk quintet.  She looked exactly like Nikki.  I don't know whether that's just what I wanted to see, or because Nikki's spirit is still among the tombstones of Magnolia Cemetery.  

Third time's a charm!

ScriptFrenzy is a sister project to NaNoWriMo which I've tried to do twice (last fall was a disaster, topping out at 4700 words.  Let's just say I was being a bit hubristic, thinking I could write 50,000 words while teaching a writing-intensive Greek and Roman Tragedy course!).  This time, instead of a novel, it's a script.

Why do I think this time will be any different?  First, I've had a script in mind for years, and maybe this will force me to get it down on paper.  Second, for the first time since I got back to the States in July, I actually feel somewhat on top of my game.  Just this week I discovered I have FREE TIME.  Chunks of it.  Time to work on all those projects that have been piling up...

So join me in April for ScriptFrenzy.  It's sure to be a gas! 

Now playing on YouTube

I FINALLY got around to uploading some videos to YouTube from the IRISHsteirisch concert I went to in January.  Please check them out!

A Valentine's Day Tip

WORDLE is a free, online internet tool to create word clouds in different colors, fonts, and layouts.  Here's one I made from a Mardi Gras text:

So if you're one of those people who waits until the last minute to do holiday shopping, make your loved one a collage of words that mean the WORDLE to you!

Things that can't easily be explained, Pt. 2

Last year around this time, I wrote an entry entitled "Things that can't easily be explained". My friend Lydia had died unexpectedly in her sleep on January 29, and a few days later I received a letter from her which she'd written just days before she died. Lydia was an incredibly gifted artist, and she had recently learned of my own artistic endeavors. In her letter she wrote something like, Are you sure that with your artistic talent that you are in the right profession?

Flash forward to 2010:  Two weeks ago I was in Austria saying goodbye to my friends, among them my friend Brigitte who had encouraged my artistic endeavors with art supplies and a painting course. Brigitte herself learned only four years ago that she had awe-inspiring artistic talent. A few days after I said goodbye, Brigitte too died unexpectedly in the night.

Both of these women were a source of love and inspiration to so many people who all gathered this week to remember and celebrate their lives.

I don't know if I'm in the right profession, and I certainly don't know that I will ever have the artistic talents that Brigitte and Lydia had. I do know that I will probably get the chance to reevaluate my career path, because LSU in its infinite wisdom has decided to pink-slip all instructors effective January 2011.

So in addition to updating my resume and seeing if there's a paper or two I can send out for publication, in addition to preparing for my four (count 'em FOUR) Latin classes, I'll be scheduling some creative time this weekend.  Because you never know what the future holds...

P.S.  When I posted this to my Facebook page, the security words were "revalue" and "power".  Life is spooky sometimes!

Inspiration

Last year for my birthday, my friends surprised me with a party and some unexpected gifts.  Most unexpected was a backpack full of art supplies including a gift certificate for a weekend painting course from my friend Brigitte.

The attached photos are the things I created during the painting course.  Note that most of them are drawings.  My teacher, Manfred Lecher, wanted me to show him what I could and could not do before I started painting.  I did a decent pitcher and pinecones (the alarm clock is a little Daliesque, but it demonstrates attention to detail).


When I painted the bottles, however, Manfred said I "wasn't ready" and "used too much water." (I was so proud of them, too! Especially the colors!)


So it was back to drawing with colored pencils, which may (or may not) be my medium. I drew the bottles again. And again. Different shading, different treatments, different techniques.

Then I graduated to apples.

When I proved that I could draw apples and color them correctly, during the last couple of hours that weekend, I was allowed to pick up a paintbrush again. I think they turned out pretty well (for someone who found out 30 years later that she had "artistic talent that should be fostered" in pre-school).

More on Brigitte, inspiration, and coincidences next time!

Joey's Jetlag Breakfast

I arrived home from Europe on Sunday, and the semester began on Tuesday.  This is my recipe for getting over jetlag!

Make your favorite coffee, and make it STRONG.  Pour it in a cup and add milk or cream to taste.  Slowly sip while you prepare the rest of the breakfast.

In a bowl, combine:
1 envelope instant oatmeal
about 20 raisins
2 dates, pitted and sliced into thin rounds
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
a sprinkling of ground cinnamon
a teaspoon of butter
a pinch of salt

Add 1/2 cup boiling water and stir until blended.  Let set two minutes.  It's going to be icky-thick when you stir it and that's when you add the secret ingredient:  a generous splash of your coffee and cream!

Mmmm....caffeinated oatmeal.  Good for your energy.  Good for your digestion.  Good for your heart!!

Moon Tide Press Poet of the Month

My friend, Bryn!  Read her poems here http://www.moontidepress.com/poet_of_the_month.html.