Padre Mickey and the Lovely Mona are on vacation, well deserved in the midst of their hard work as missionaries, musicians, and general purveyors of goodwill and generosity (not to mention humo[u]r and icons and stories of the saints).
They are having a good time except for a little misadventure involving a stolen camera, and they could use some material assistance. Details from Padre Mickey, the rockin' guitar-playin' priest, are here, with a link to a secure contribution thingie, and I encourage friends and fans to donate. I'm getting paid tomorrow, May 1, and in honor of International Workers' Day and the Month of Mary (hey who says you can't celebrate both? Mickey will agree) I am going to shell out a tiny bit myself. Go 'long now. And Mickey didn't pay me to say this. Not that he could, because have you looked at Episcopal missionary salaries recently?
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Bayard Rustin and Reading Days
We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers. -Bayard Rustin.
We are entering Reading Days, which come before Finals, except that I don't believe in giving final exams for religious studies courses. I require a final research paper (on which the students have been working for weeks, in stages) and after that's all done, a final reflection paper so people can think about their learning experience of the past few months.
These are Reading Days for me too, and for others on the faculty, since I have to read all those student papers, plus the three last senior theses which the little darlings are "defending" tomorrow afternoon.
But tonight and tomorrow night I have final meetings of my evening classes* and in addition to handing out evaluations (required here in U.S. colleges and universities so students can --anonymously-- evaluate the course and the instructor, and yes, it counts toward tenure) and having a short discussion of one piece of reading, I am showing a movie.
* really class, this semester I had two sections of the same course, first time that has ever happened, so I teach the same course twice -- and the dynamics couldn't be more different, but more on that some other time.
I had scheduled the movie for a few weeks ago when it fit into the syllabus sequence, but someone (a faculty member whose name I am not allowed to know) did not return the DVD to the library. I had reserved it three months ago, too, AND my teaching assistant had contacted the library to remind them ten days before the class. Long story short, the library rush-0rdered a new copy of the DVD and it arrived before the end of term, hallelujah thank you Jesus, so I am showing "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin" and if you have not seen it, you must must must.
Don't know who Bayard Rustin was? Have a look here.
Remember the March on Washington? The 1963 one with MLK, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech? Rustin organized it. The whole thing.
He has many other claims to fame, too. A remarkable man in the 20th century.
He was, by the way, an out gay man in a fiercely homophobic era. Which is part of why we don't read about him in the history books.
Bayard Rustin, ¡Presente!
We are entering Reading Days, which come before Finals, except that I don't believe in giving final exams for religious studies courses. I require a final research paper (on which the students have been working for weeks, in stages) and after that's all done, a final reflection paper so people can think about their learning experience of the past few months.
These are Reading Days for me too, and for others on the faculty, since I have to read all those student papers, plus the three last senior theses which the little darlings are "defending" tomorrow afternoon.
But tonight and tomorrow night I have final meetings of my evening classes* and in addition to handing out evaluations (required here in U.S. colleges and universities so students can --anonymously-- evaluate the course and the instructor, and yes, it counts toward tenure) and having a short discussion of one piece of reading, I am showing a movie.* really class, this semester I had two sections of the same course, first time that has ever happened, so I teach the same course twice -- and the dynamics couldn't be more different, but more on that some other time.
I had scheduled the movie for a few weeks ago when it fit into the syllabus sequence, but someone (a faculty member whose name I am not allowed to know) did not return the DVD to the library. I had reserved it three months ago, too, AND my teaching assistant had contacted the library to remind them ten days before the class. Long story short, the library rush-0rdered a new copy of the DVD and it arrived before the end of term, hallelujah thank you Jesus, so I am showing "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin" and if you have not seen it, you must must must.
Don't know who Bayard Rustin was? Have a look here.
Remember the March on Washington? The 1963 one with MLK, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech? Rustin organized it. The whole thing.
He has many other claims to fame, too. A remarkable man in the 20th century.
He was, by the way, an out gay man in a fiercely homophobic era. Which is part of why we don't read about him in the history books.
Bayard Rustin, ¡Presente!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The cat lady of Baghdad
A must-read, up there with the story of the Marine and the dog which MadPriest posted a while back (and which this article mentions).Have a look.
Simba al-Tikriti, the cat: AP photo. Click to enlarge.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Woo hoo! Book cover for new edition of WIDS
The Production Department at Ave Maria Press says it's fine to show anyone the cover. (I guess the more shameless publicity, the better.) Thanks to Jill, who checks this blog periodically, saw my announcement of the other day, and wrote to tell me.
So, here is the shameless publicity in the form of an aesthetic experience.
Want to know more about the book? Have a look here.
Someone asked whether it would be available at the online places. Yes, of course, but also in your local independent bookstore. Not till fall, though. Stay tuned. Alleluia.
So, here is the shameless publicity in the form of an aesthetic experience.
Want to know more about the book? Have a look here.
Someone asked whether it would be available at the online places. Yes, of course, but also in your local independent bookstore. Not till fall, though. Stay tuned. Alleluia.
Rain
It is raining buckets in Greensboro. Maya Pablova sits at her perch at the window, fascinated. There are no squirrel or birds on the grass outdoors, but you can see the rain, and it is making big plunking puddles already. This is the biggest rain we have had in a long time. It rained yesterday and the day before but this is not just a thunderstorm as we had this weekend; it's a DOWNPOUR, and a long one.
The return of the rain this spring has been a happy occurrence because we have been in drought since last summer. Usually we have a thunderstorm in the late afternoon almost every day in the summer, but last summer we had perhaps three in the entire month of August, if that, and the water levels went down dangerously, though not as badly as in Atlanta and some other parts of the Southeast. We also didn't get much precipitation in the winter. So when it rains these days, nobody gripes and everyone rejoices.
In case you were wondering why I speak of Maya Pavlova during the working day, I work at home in the mornings this semester, 'cause I teach in the evenings a fair amount. It's nice to be within chatting distance of the local feline therapist. Mrrrow.
The return of the rain this spring has been a happy occurrence because we have been in drought since last summer. Usually we have a thunderstorm in the late afternoon almost every day in the summer, but last summer we had perhaps three in the entire month of August, if that, and the water levels went down dangerously, though not as badly as in Atlanta and some other parts of the Southeast. We also didn't get much precipitation in the winter. So when it rains these days, nobody gripes and everyone rejoices.
In case you were wondering why I speak of Maya Pavlova during the working day, I work at home in the mornings this semester, 'cause I teach in the evenings a fair amount. It's nice to be within chatting distance of the local feline therapist. Mrrrow.
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