Finally did yard work ... more after I recover. No recording yet and workers in the basement for a few days ... usually no energy at night. Eventually.
At least the sun is out.
At least the sun is out.
How to tell a story
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Not close enough
Mexico was 3 mins from making team history ... then gave up 2 goals to Netherlands to lose. Broke my heart.
Pipe dream
After watching Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Netherlands lately, I don't see USA competing at this level. We don't have the art and finesse of futbol down yet. It looks clumsy when we play, like a ballet when they play. We have heart. We can get lucky. But we have much to learn.
Popularity contest, or Sorry, Super Bowl
This World Cup Game Was The Biggest Moment In Twitter History - http://huff.to/1qnY2IW
Catching up
Two good futbol games today!
But also have to catch up with yard work and record two songs.
But also have to catch up with yard work and record two songs.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
I wouldn't have guessed
The State Where The Most Americans Drink Themselves To Death - http://huff.to/1lSlUAO
Good luck with that
Our Oceans Are Dying: Mobilizing an Indifferent Public to Confront This Crisis - http://huff.to/1wMmHqV
Mary Cain to Puddle City
Will be a freshman at U of Portland in the fall. Will have chances to see her run ... hmm, but she's already pro.
Extra time
Chile hanging in with favored Brazil. Gotta root for them: Santiago company commissioned a hyperdrama from me.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Celilo
The Skanner Newspaper - Celilo Arc Will Honor Tribes, Salmon and a Lost Way of Life
http://www.theskanner.com/news/northwest/21445-celilo-arc-will-honor-tribes-salmon-and-a-lost-way-of-life
http://www.theskanner.com/news/northwest/21445-celilo-arc-will-honor-tribes-salmon-and-a-lost-way-of-life
Rupp wins, Hasay second
Galen Rupp’s 10,000-meter victory highlights Oregon accomplishments on first day of USATF Outdoor Championships | Emerald Media
http://dailyemerald.com/2014/06/26/galen-rupp-10000-meter-victory-highlights-oregon-accomplishments-on-first-day-of-usatf-outdoor-championships/
http://dailyemerald.com/2014/06/26/galen-rupp-10000-meter-victory-highlights-oregon-accomplishments-on-first-day-of-usatf-outdoor-championships/
Beginning
With H home, the summer begins ... with rain naturally but sunny weather coming in a few days, say the forecasters, another tease.
No WC today. I want to focus on music today, including some recording.
Next VVA pickup in this area, mid July ... want to have stuff for them.
By the way, the public AppleSmart project traded for a lower key private one, to be published posthumously. More diary than blog.
No WC today. I want to focus on music today, including some recording.
Next VVA pickup in this area, mid July ... want to have stuff for them.
By the way, the public AppleSmart project traded for a lower key private one, to be published posthumously. More diary than blog.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Conservative idiocy
Most Conservatives Think The Poor 'Have It Easy,' Poll Finds - http://huff.to/1lTaTiF
At the airport
Early to pick up Harriet ... always allow for getting lost, like tonight, somehow ending up in a cavern of long term parking before finding my way out and getting to the right lot. Construction and redesign, everything is different.
Glad to return to normalcy! I keep waiting for H to get old enough to become a home body. I don't think I'll live to see it.
Didn't do all planned for past 2 weeks but I did finish an important downsizing chore. Also chsnged some writing plans. Got into some good reading.
But rain keeps interrupting summer. Who ever thought this was "God's country"? God as a webfoot. Quack, quack.
Glad to return to normalcy! I keep waiting for H to get old enough to become a home body. I don't think I'll live to see it.
Didn't do all planned for past 2 weeks but I did finish an important downsizing chore. Also chsnged some writing plans. Got into some good reading.
But rain keeps interrupting summer. Who ever thought this was "God's country"? God as a webfoot. Quack, quack.
Jazz ukulele
A minor breakthrough this afternoon (on Autumn Leaves)! Need to do some recording soon.
 |
| Cordoba rules! |
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
MLB app re Lincecum
SECOND NO-HITTER! - http://huff.to/1le1kqf
Got to hear last two innings on app after news alert it was in progress. Cool.
Got to hear last two innings on app after news alert it was in progress. Cool.
In South Carolina!
Town Votes To Give Fired Lesbian Police Chief Her Job Back, Strips Mayor Of Power - http://huff.to/1lNWS5V
CNN's The Sixties
A very superficial and disappointing series. Maybe ok as a grade school intro but very shallow, especially compared to comparable PBS documentaries and the 1968 book I just read.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Nostalgia
Tour One Of The World's Last Unspoiled Islands With This Gorgeous Aerial Film - http://huff.to/1l6Hw7Z
Quotation of the day
"Some of the behavior on the bench has been less than savory." WC announcer on TV about Italy.
"A national embarrassment" (Scientific American)
Inside The GOP's War On Science - http://huff.to/1lMWBA5
New book by Terry Simons
List Price: $12.99
The Children of Vaughn
The Story of Professional Baseball in Portland, Oregon (1901-2010)
Authored by Terry Simons
Edition: First
This history of the Portland Beavers reads like a nightmare of economic failure in a field of dreams. The roots of baseball in Portland, Oregon go deep. In telling the story of baseball as it grew up before turning fallow in Portland, Terry Simons finds a balance between fact and fiction that is a sometimes humorous history, and a telling-truth about the way things once were, or could have been. Read this book, absorb its message and remember--the next time you go to bat against major-league pitching, you may strike out.
Publication Date:
Jun 20 2014
ISBN/EAN13:
0985073071 / 9780985073077
Page Count:
128
Order now
Also see The Last Slow Dance by Charles Deemer
at http://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer/slowdance.htm
The Children of Vaughn
The Story of Professional Baseball in Portland, Oregon (1901-2010)
Authored by Terry Simons
Edition: First
This history of the Portland Beavers reads like a nightmare of economic failure in a field of dreams. The roots of baseball in Portland, Oregon go deep. In telling the story of baseball as it grew up before turning fallow in Portland, Terry Simons finds a balance between fact and fiction that is a sometimes humorous history, and a telling-truth about the way things once were, or could have been. Read this book, absorb its message and remember--the next time you go to bat against major-league pitching, you may strike out.
Publication Date:
Jun 20 2014
ISBN/EAN13:
0985073071 / 9780985073077
Page Count:
128
Order now
Also see The Last Slow Dance by Charles Deemer
at http://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer/slowdance.htm
Recent reading
1968: the year that rocked the world
"The thrilling thing about the year 1968 was that it was a time when significant segments of population all over the globe refused to be silent about the many things that were wrong with the world. They could not be silenced. There were too many of them, and if they were given no other opportunity, they would stand in the street and shout about them. And this gave the world a sense of hope that it has rarely had, a sense that where there is wrong, there are always people who will expose it and try to change it."
*
"...if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let’s say, 100,000 miles, their outlook could be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced. The tiny globe would continue to turn, serenely ignoring its subdivisions, presenting a unified facade that would cry out for unified understanding, for homogeneous treatment. The earth must become as it appears: blue and white, not capitalist or Communist; blue and white, not rich or poor; blue and white, not envious or envied."
"The thrilling thing about the year 1968 was that it was a time when significant segments of population all over the globe refused to be silent about the many things that were wrong with the world. They could not be silenced. There were too many of them, and if they were given no other opportunity, they would stand in the street and shout about them. And this gave the world a sense of hope that it has rarely had, a sense that where there is wrong, there are always people who will expose it and try to change it."
*
"...if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let’s say, 100,000 miles, their outlook could be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced. The tiny globe would continue to turn, serenely ignoring its subdivisions, presenting a unified facade that would cry out for unified understanding, for homogeneous treatment. The earth must become as it appears: blue and white, not capitalist or Communist; blue and white, not rich or poor; blue and white, not envious or envied."
Monday, June 23, 2014
The Point of It All
Finally. there is nothing
left to say.
It took me many
hundreds of thousands
of words to get here.
Under the circumstances
silence feels a little
like relief.
About this
I have nothing
more to say.
left to say.
It took me many
hundreds of thousands
of words to get here.
Under the circumstances
silence feels a little
like relief.
About this
I have nothing
more to say.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Evenings ...
... have become tough lately. Very tired, too early to crash. Why? More physical work during the day?
Wie crashing?
Amazing ... on 16, double bogey! 1 shot lead, two to go.
*
Long birdie on 17, leads by two with one to go. Nice recovery.
*
WIE WINS!
*
Long birdie on 17, leads by two with one to go. Nice recovery.
*
WIE WINS!
Wie after U.S. Open
3 shot lead with 3 holes to go ... can she hang on?
US-Portugal coming up.
Mariners won today.
US-Portugal coming up.
Mariners won today.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
1968
The Kurlansky book I'm reading is first rate, taking an international perspective. I'd forgotten how much and how widely activity was going on.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Puddle City
Lucky I did yard work yesterday ... drizzle today. VVA picks up, rain or shine, but hope it's early, before boxes get too wet.
Ukulele front and center today. Get organized.
Ukulele front and center today. Get organized.
Marat/Sade
Last night I watched the film version of the brilliant Peter Weiss musical drama. How contemporary! How relevant! This is not a sixties play, this is a universal play, relevant as long as the rich rule the poor. And that is as true today as ever.
How small American drama looks in comparison to important, true, powerful plays like this. I put this high on my list of favorite works of dramatic art, up there with Mahagonny and The Physicists.
Breath-taking. But sad because we no more learn human lessons from art than we learn them from history. We repeat the same greedy errors, endlessly, until finally our species will end or take the frightful act of repetition to Mars or the moon or ... ? But we seem incapable of advancing as a species to humane collective behavior.
How small American drama looks in comparison to important, true, powerful plays like this. I put this high on my list of favorite works of dramatic art, up there with Mahagonny and The Physicists.
Breath-taking. But sad because we no more learn human lessons from art than we learn them from history. We repeat the same greedy errors, endlessly, until finally our species will end or take the frightful act of repetition to Mars or the moon or ... ? But we seem incapable of advancing as a species to humane collective behavior.
A profound meditation on the nature of revolution, on power and its abuses, means and ends, Marat/Sade is also great theater. Weiss has written a marvelous drama here, both entertaining and thoughtful. It is, undoubtedly, one of the great works of the 1960s.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Already pooped
Working all morning, downsizing personal stuff, VAA pickup tomorrow ... need a second wind, watch some WC, bake some bread, then ... yard work! Retirement makes it!
Strange hypothesis
The more repressive the nation, the more enthusiastically jocks sing its national anthem.
An observation from watching the WC.
An observation from watching the WC.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Evenings
Hardest part of the day for me. Usually beat, as now. Ready for bed by 8 but try to stay up an hour or two longer. Evenings a drag.
First morning
Planning a personal downsizing project today that I should be able to finish the same day. Get a quick sense of progress before tackling the more difficult tasks.
Also go through my ukulele materials and prioritize studies.
If I can do those, it will be a highly productive day. And watch WC, of course.
One day at a time - but without responsibilities to students on the horizon. A certain feeling of liberation there.
Also go through my ukulele materials and prioritize studies.
If I can do those, it will be a highly productive day. And watch WC, of course.
One day at a time - but without responsibilities to students on the horizon. A certain feeling of liberation there.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Total exhaustion!
0-0 tie, Brazil-Mexico, uninterrupted excitement! In what other sport can a scoreless tie be so entertaining and exhausting to watch?
I need fresh air.
I need fresh air.
Activities
Need to make myself a new routine ...
No student scripts, no grading! I feel like I won a lottery.
*
Now to root for Mexico to upset Brazil.
Later, my retirement reward ... pecan pie!
No student scripts, no grading! I feel like I won a lottery.
*
Now to root for Mexico to upset Brazil.
Later, my retirement reward ... pecan pie!
It's official!
At 9 a.m. I turned in my university keys. Finito.
The dept. sec. told me several students already have lamented my departure. A sign the timing is right!
WC today. New rhythms tomorrow.
The dept. sec. told me several students already have lamented my departure. A sign the timing is right!
WC today. New rhythms tomorrow.
Amer football playoff
Use the WC model. Shorten regular season. Mid Dec, divide AP top 32 teams into 8 groups of 4. 16 games. Xmas, 8 games. NYear, 4 games, play at major bowl sites. Next week, 2 game semi. Next week, mid Jan, final. One month, 32 team playoff. 32 get a shot!
Monday, June 16, 2014
USA 2, Ghana 1
Outplayed 80 of the 90 minutes, USA had a remarkable defense that kept them alive and they scored at end to break the tie. But they weren't impressive on offense.
Weather day
Moments of torrential rain today ... Sketch hates it, hides under bed. .Maybe I'll join him.
Noon news showed packed area bars, watching WC. One at 9 a.m. Ah, the old days ... partying at breakfast. A young man's sport ha ha.
U.S. game next! So far, only Iran jocks have not sung anthem with gusto. Will U.S.?
Noon news showed packed area bars, watching WC. One at 9 a.m. Ah, the old days ... partying at breakfast. A young man's sport ha ha.
U.S. game next! So far, only Iran jocks have not sung anthem with gusto. Will U.S.?
Oops
Cleaning out office a huge project, turns out ... will return early a.m. Tues and hope to finish.
Duties, pleasures
Morning WC game a must-see, so will go in to clean my office at halftime or during 2nd game, home in time for U.S. in 3rd game. Should only take an hour or two ... can always take more than one day but want to get it over with.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
About teaching
Now that I am essentially finished, with only my office to clean out, I am a day from full, formal retirement. I already can feel how different it will be. In fact, the mental responsibilities of teaching had become very stressful for me. Why? Because students today are screwed in two ways: they are over-charged for an education that falls short of what they should be receiving. I tried my best to teach them "old school" but the entire institution of the university has changed so much, my efforts didn't change the larger view. Universities have become corporate entities. Universities have become "practical" -- in fact, "serving the city" is PSU's motto. Say what? What a practical, business-oriented charge for a university! Challenging the city would be better. Shaking up the city. But there is no sense of knowledge for knowledge's sake today, any more than art for art's sake. It has to be practical -- which, in effect, means it has to help "the bottom line."
I tried to keep my class "old school" but I was aware that students, too, had changed, and writing students had become very different from my student colleagues half a century ago.
All this weighed on me and motivated my departure, which is called retirement. I still enjoyed much about teaching, but less about reading student papers as recent years passed on. It definitely is time to go, before I burned out. I did the best job I could do under the circumstances. Meanwhile, students today are still getting screwed, but at least I won't get a front row seat.
I tried to keep my class "old school" but I was aware that students, too, had changed, and writing students had become very different from my student colleagues half a century ago.
All this weighed on me and motivated my departure, which is called retirement. I still enjoyed much about teaching, but less about reading student papers as recent years passed on. It definitely is time to go, before I burned out. I did the best job I could do under the circumstances. Meanwhile, students today are still getting screwed, but at least I won't get a front row seat.
Grades in!
1 auditing student script to look at, but grades finally in. I am ready to clean office tomorrow morning. Yes!
I need to make myself a rough retirement schedule ... I work best with order and routine. I'll hope to begin midweek, give myself a day or two to decompress.
World Cup really well timed, great diversion for me in this transition.
I need to make myself a rough retirement schedule ... I work best with order and routine. I'll hope to begin midweek, give myself a day or two to decompress.
World Cup really well timed, great diversion for me in this transition.
News style
I listen to the BBC news on the radio a lot. It retains a style of delivery I grew up on with American voices like Cronkite and Brinkley. But somewhere along the way, American news changed its delivery style from formal neutrality to informal chuminess. I hate its phoniness. Someone like Diane Sawyer makes me want to puke. So false and manipulative. Style striving for intimacy. It's bullshit.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Shame on CNN
Watched the JFK assassination episode of the Sixties series. Stacked with conspiracy deniers but, worse, no mention of 1978 conclusion of House Select Committee on Assassinations that conspiracy was "probable." No mention that Committee even existed. Appalling.
Shot from front, say first doctors to see the body (before browbeaten by Feds)
Sunday
...must finish grading. Period. Then go in Monday morning, clean out the office, turn in my keys - and officially begin my. retirement. Which includes chores, projects, quests, from the mundane to the spiritual.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Futbol
Intense, relentless, exhausting to watch, constant uninterrupted action ... can I survive three games in one day?
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Anthems
Do U.S. jocks sing their national anthem with the energy, the gusto, of jocks from other countries at the World Cup? I don't recall seeing it and will look for it when the U.S. plays. If not, does this say anything about us, positive or negative?
There is no sporting event like the World Cup.
There is no sporting event like the World Cup.
3 games
Big World Cup day! Need to read a few scripts during halftimes. Wrapping up.
Much to say when this is all done.
Much to say when this is all done.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
World Cup
The World Cup is presented in the stadium with more class and less noisy hype than the Superbowl. Let's hope it stays that way.
This is only challenged by the Olympics as the world's most exciting sporting event.
Yes, futbol trumps football for intensity. However, football offers many more breaks for TV ads! Duh.
This is only challenged by the Olympics as the world's most exciting sporting event.
Yes, futbol trumps football for intensity. However, football offers many more breaks for TV ads! Duh.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Slowly forward
... on grading. May not finish Friday. Deadline is next Tues but want to finish ASAP. Let retirement start!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Oregon school shooting
How sad I am not surprised. This isn't news. This is olds. Same old story, ad nauseam. The world we made. Let's not pass the buck.
Grading update
A dozen left ... hope to do at least half today ... but baking bread first.
Man, I need a surge of energy to finish up.
Man, I need a surge of energy to finish up.
Foyle's War
Started the 2002 UK series Foyle's War and loving it. WWII English homefront crime drama, war themes like Nazis sympathizers, conscientious objectors, spies, mobs, etc ... character driven and suspenseful, highest production values, each story self-contained. UK does drama right.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Road trip
Got more grading done early a.m. ... time off for road trip to Bonneville with H and S, pick up art. Afternoon vacation. Shooting for grades done by Friday.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Rule, Britannia!
Finished the excellent Single-Handed, a cop drama set in Irish countryside, and have moved on to Foyle's War, crime on homefront England in WWII. English whack us bigtime on dramatic tv series front.
The HBO releases are impressive, most of British origin.
The HBO releases are impressive, most of British origin.
A nice gesture
The husband of the author honored at the book party, a retired architect with enough money to live in a spacious condo with splendid river views, brought out a copy of my book of poems IN MY OLD AGE and told me how much he enjoyed it. A very nice gesture indeed.
Special Mariners game
Hernandez strikes out 15 in 7 innings. But M's blow several scoring opportunities, 0-0 in top of 9th, 2 outs, 0-2 count ... and they explode with FIVE runs. Great victory, 5-0.
Finally
Started reading projects and putting in grades ... good start ... yard work later, a must ... before inevitable RAIN arrives.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Sharapova wins French Open
Followed live via text updates. Less stressful ha ha. MS does so many double faults, she's stressful to root for.
From NY Times ...
The champion tweets ...
From NY Times ...
The 2012 champion here and the runner-up last year, Sharapova, 27, has also come a long way in a year. After the French Open last year, she lost in the second round at Wimbledon, missed most of the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, went through two coaching changes, and slipped from fourth to eighth in the rankings.But Sharapova came to life during the clay-court season, going 19-1 and winning three titles. This is her fifth career Grand Slam
The champion tweets ...
I cannot wait to hold this trophy!! I'm speechless!
Party
A neighborhood tavern is having a Triple Crown party. Nice to see someone appreciating the moment.
Class, watch the race, yard work, projects. Turn in a few grades today.
Watching HBO British series Singlehanded. First rate cop drama.
Class, watch the race, yard work, projects. Turn in a few grades today.
Watching HBO British series Singlehanded. First rate cop drama.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Last class
As good a last class as I could hope for ... watched and discussed the student video projects ... I gave my dog and pony show on hyperdrama and cinefiction ... short and sweet. Several students are forming a screenwriters group, wanted to know if I'd drop by from time to time to answer questions, I said sure. One student gave me a Starbucks card for thanks. Another asked me to autograph my textbook. Neither struck me as brown-nosing ha ha. Anyway, a great last class! and a good class for my final term over all.
Meeting a grad student, give books away. Then bus to Starbucks and write on the AlphaSmart, I think. Clear the mind of a few things.
This has been a really good gig for me. But I also am glad it is over.
Meeting a grad student, give books away. Then bus to Starbucks and write on the AlphaSmart, I think. Clear the mind of a few things.
This has been a really good gig for me. But I also am glad it is over.
Horse racing
This was a major sport when I was a kid. Part of it was living near Santa Anita. A bigger part was that racing's legal gambling had no competitors from casinos and lotteries in those days.
Horse racing has fallen so much that NPR's sports report was all about playoffs this morning. Not one word about Calif Chrome going for the Triple Crown on Saturday. Sad.
Well, I'll be watching and rooting for him, fearful he'll be run down in the longer stretch.
Sharapova to finals in French Open. 3rd match in a row she's won after losing first set. One tough-minded competitor.
Michelle Wie is finally learning some of that. Off to early lead today.
Horse racing has fallen so much that NPR's sports report was all about playoffs this morning. Not one word about Calif Chrome going for the Triple Crown on Saturday. Sad.
Well, I'll be watching and rooting for him, fearful he'll be run down in the longer stretch.
Sharapova to finals in French Open. 3rd match in a row she's won after losing first set. One tough-minded competitor.
Michelle Wie is finally learning some of that. Off to early lead today.
Last day in classroom
Can't say anything feels particularly different yet. Short class, showing student videos, collecting final projects. The real and final work begins tomorrow.
Not with a bang but a whimper.
Not with a bang but a whimper.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
.JPG)
Two birthdays
Sketch yesterday, 12, and Harriet today, not yet 80.
Sketch opening a birthday present ...
Sketch opening a birthday present ...
 |
| Self portrait |
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Next to last class
About to leave the office to walk/hobble to the bank and class. Doing a coverage exercise today, they give coverage to one another's scripts.
Nothing much different than any other day except in my head. Life, says Emerson, is what a man is thinking.
Nothing much different than any other day except in my head. Life, says Emerson, is what a man is thinking.
How a Socialist Won: A Playbook from Seattle | Common Dreams
How a Socialist Won: A Playbook from Seattle | Common Dreams:
"Everybody knows you have to accept corporate money and work within the corporate-dominated two-party system to get elected, right? Not so with Kshama Sawant. In November, nearly 100,000 voters elected her to Seattle City Council – as an open Socialist – and she didn’t take a dime in corporate cash!
In a huge political upset, Sawant’s victory sent shockwaves through the political establishment and even around the globe. Sawant is the first independent Socialist elected in a major U.S. city in decades. Her historic breakthrough was covered by every major newspaper in the country, major TV stations, and newspapers around the world."
*
Why Seattle trumps Portland. ... is the pendulum finally turning back? That would be something to see before I move on into the cosmos. Maybe Seattle can lead the way ...
"Everybody knows you have to accept corporate money and work within the corporate-dominated two-party system to get elected, right? Not so with Kshama Sawant. In November, nearly 100,000 voters elected her to Seattle City Council – as an open Socialist – and she didn’t take a dime in corporate cash!
In a huge political upset, Sawant’s victory sent shockwaves through the political establishment and even around the globe. Sawant is the first independent Socialist elected in a major U.S. city in decades. Her historic breakthrough was covered by every major newspaper in the country, major TV stations, and newspapers around the world."
*
Why Seattle trumps Portland. ... is the pendulum finally turning back? That would be something to see before I move on into the cosmos. Maybe Seattle can lead the way ...
Yesterday on the AS
Monday morning, on the deck. AS working again -- but this glitch troubles me, I need the extra I ordered. I am going to be doing a ton of writing on this once I retire.
I have an unfinished dark thriller, ART CRITICS MUST DIE!, I want to look at and maybe finish. It was fun to write, needless to say, artist serial killer who focuses on critics.
More yard work today! I might catch up this week.
Time for coffee.
*
Late afternoon. Recovering after some yard work. Hard to imagine I was once a jock -- and one who liked track and field most of all, especially during the week, the practices, running quarter mile "suicide" half-sprints, last man standing kind of thing. I was really into it -- then ha ha.
Well, the AS turned on, apparently for good, on the third try. I do think the days are numbered for this wonderful work horse. But a backup is on the way, and I expect to have an AS for the rest of my natural born days.
Ready for tomorrow. 2 scripts to read Wed, plus whatever is turned in tomorrow ... then final scripts on Thurs. I cancelled the final, my one gesture to being a short timer. Gave them extra end of term work instead.
I think it will take a week or two for my mind to get used to the fact that I don't have my class and students to fret about. They take a lot of mental energy, one of the major reasons I need to retire. I need my mind to myself in my old age. But I know the freedom of retirement, the mental freedom of it, will feel like a great luxury once I am used to it. Man, that will be so sweet. I indeed have given a lot to teaching. Got a lot in return as well. But time for a new rhythm.
I finished the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce. Excellent! Kate Winslet is much softer, more fragile, in the role than Joan Crawford was in the film. I prefer KW's interpretation, she's more likable.
I am disappointed in the John Adams HBO mini-series, though. First rate production values but I don't like the casting. Giometti and Luney come off as too modern somehow, too post-Freudian in the looks of introspection, I just don't believe the characters. A disappointment but also revealing that just because you are a great actor does not mean you are right for a particular role. I don't believe for a minute that I am watching "the Adams" family.
My first disappointment in the tsunami of HBO shows now available free on Amazon Prime. Enlightened and Mildred Pierce and the Lee doc all are first rate, just great stuff.
NY Rev of Books has a review of a new book about Walden, how Thoreau's meticulous records when compared to records today document the terrible effects of global warming. Only a scientifically illiterate culture like our own would let this runaway train continue down the tracks without obstacles or any real attempt to change its speed and direction.
*
So what is the screen glitch about? I noticed just now that the on/off key is more depressed than the rest -- not sure if this is new or the way it's always been. Might be something.
*
50 years ago, deciding to become "a serious writer," I knew I could not expect fame or fortune but I did expect respect because this was widely considered to be an honorable way to spend a life. Those who disagreed were thought to be, in those artistically elitist times, "boobwazie" and philistines and hacks. Serious writers were a bit like priests. I bought into it.
Now the pendulum has swung about as far as it can swing and the world is controlled by those very same boobwazies and philistines whom we dismissed a half century ago. Maybe the pendulum will swing again, if there's an environment left in which it can move, but I won't be around to see it.
So everything has changed. The old age of respect I anticipated never materialized. I'm just another marginal, ignored writer, but more fortunate than many in that I do get a few supporters hither and yon. I'm not invisible. Just in the shadows. The situation could be much worse.
But the point is, the honorable profession of the past looks today like the selfish gestures of a fool -- or so the consumer culture implies. "The literary novel" has become a pejorative term.
Pretty fascinating, actually. Many lessons there. Maybe I'll learn a few in my last days.
Mariners-Yankees about to begin, with Hernandez pitching ... Later!
I have an unfinished dark thriller, ART CRITICS MUST DIE!, I want to look at and maybe finish. It was fun to write, needless to say, artist serial killer who focuses on critics.
More yard work today! I might catch up this week.
Time for coffee.
*
Late afternoon. Recovering after some yard work. Hard to imagine I was once a jock -- and one who liked track and field most of all, especially during the week, the practices, running quarter mile "suicide" half-sprints, last man standing kind of thing. I was really into it -- then ha ha.
Well, the AS turned on, apparently for good, on the third try. I do think the days are numbered for this wonderful work horse. But a backup is on the way, and I expect to have an AS for the rest of my natural born days.
Ready for tomorrow. 2 scripts to read Wed, plus whatever is turned in tomorrow ... then final scripts on Thurs. I cancelled the final, my one gesture to being a short timer. Gave them extra end of term work instead.
I think it will take a week or two for my mind to get used to the fact that I don't have my class and students to fret about. They take a lot of mental energy, one of the major reasons I need to retire. I need my mind to myself in my old age. But I know the freedom of retirement, the mental freedom of it, will feel like a great luxury once I am used to it. Man, that will be so sweet. I indeed have given a lot to teaching. Got a lot in return as well. But time for a new rhythm.
I finished the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce. Excellent! Kate Winslet is much softer, more fragile, in the role than Joan Crawford was in the film. I prefer KW's interpretation, she's more likable.
I am disappointed in the John Adams HBO mini-series, though. First rate production values but I don't like the casting. Giometti and Luney come off as too modern somehow, too post-Freudian in the looks of introspection, I just don't believe the characters. A disappointment but also revealing that just because you are a great actor does not mean you are right for a particular role. I don't believe for a minute that I am watching "the Adams" family.
My first disappointment in the tsunami of HBO shows now available free on Amazon Prime. Enlightened and Mildred Pierce and the Lee doc all are first rate, just great stuff.
NY Rev of Books has a review of a new book about Walden, how Thoreau's meticulous records when compared to records today document the terrible effects of global warming. Only a scientifically illiterate culture like our own would let this runaway train continue down the tracks without obstacles or any real attempt to change its speed and direction.
*
So what is the screen glitch about? I noticed just now that the on/off key is more depressed than the rest -- not sure if this is new or the way it's always been. Might be something.
*
50 years ago, deciding to become "a serious writer," I knew I could not expect fame or fortune but I did expect respect because this was widely considered to be an honorable way to spend a life. Those who disagreed were thought to be, in those artistically elitist times, "boobwazie" and philistines and hacks. Serious writers were a bit like priests. I bought into it.
Now the pendulum has swung about as far as it can swing and the world is controlled by those very same boobwazies and philistines whom we dismissed a half century ago. Maybe the pendulum will swing again, if there's an environment left in which it can move, but I won't be around to see it.
So everything has changed. The old age of respect I anticipated never materialized. I'm just another marginal, ignored writer, but more fortunate than many in that I do get a few supporters hither and yon. I'm not invisible. Just in the shadows. The situation could be much worse.
But the point is, the honorable profession of the past looks today like the selfish gestures of a fool -- or so the consumer culture implies. "The literary novel" has become a pejorative term.
Pretty fascinating, actually. Many lessons there. Maybe I'll learn a few in my last days.
Mariners-Yankees about to begin, with Hernandez pitching ... Later!
Monday, June 2, 2014
Last week
Retirement is so close I can taste it.
Read a very good student script this morning ... always raises my spirits.
Less prep than I thought ... yard work this afternoon.
Read a very good student script this morning ... always raises my spirits.
Less prep than I thought ... yard work this afternoon.
Jazz
The common denominator of the past 50+ years: west coast "cool" jazz, which gets much air play in Pdx, so I find myself listening to the same music I "came of age" on ... and I rather like that. Something in my life is constant.
 |
| Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, music of the gods |
Death of the AlphaSmart?
Had a hard time starting up again this morning. Screen won't hold content. Just to be safe, ordered a used one from Amazon, they are dirt cheap anyway. Should have gotten two.
What I wrote last night on the deck follows.
*
Had a hard time starting the AS ... not batteries. Wouldn't stay on.
Been thinking of a favorite high school teacher. Got fired. Too radical or something. I ran into him at school and asked what he was going to do. He said a friend had a cabin in the mountains he could use. He was going to do "some basic thinking." I always remembered the way he put it. Some basic thinking. In his beard and sandals, he wasn't your typical 1950s high school teacher, that's for sure.
Thoreau was up to the same thing at Walden Pond. Doing some basic thinking. What is Life really about anyway? What is our purpose here? Basic thinking.
In a sense, this is my focus with the AlphaSmart, brooding, visiting past haunts and new ones, moments for Basic Thinking.
I am a contradiction. Immensely proud of my literary archive. I'm a far better literary artist than I've been given credit for. At the same time, a part of me feels like a complete failure. Not professionally, interestingly enough, but personally, as a human on the planet. Didn't accomplish much of anything. Because the archive means little to anyone but me.
Part of the garbage to sort out.
AS working fine now. Worried that it took a while to stay on. Not sure what that is about. I changed the batteries on principle, others were years old, but that was not the issue. Hmm.
One great advantage of this AS is that I find it so easy to write/type on, very inviting, very user friendly, which makes me want to keep typing, keep running off at the fingers, and so it is very easy to fill up space here.
I haven't gotten to school work yet, except preparing a handout for Tuesday. Two scripts to read. Obviously I'm putting them off until tomorrow. That's okay.
Two more classes. Wow. This is really going to happen, I will be retired from teaching. I am going to love the release from responsibility for students.
BBQing chicken tonight.
What I wrote last night on the deck follows.
*
Had a hard time starting the AS ... not batteries. Wouldn't stay on.
Been thinking of a favorite high school teacher. Got fired. Too radical or something. I ran into him at school and asked what he was going to do. He said a friend had a cabin in the mountains he could use. He was going to do "some basic thinking." I always remembered the way he put it. Some basic thinking. In his beard and sandals, he wasn't your typical 1950s high school teacher, that's for sure.
Thoreau was up to the same thing at Walden Pond. Doing some basic thinking. What is Life really about anyway? What is our purpose here? Basic thinking.
In a sense, this is my focus with the AlphaSmart, brooding, visiting past haunts and new ones, moments for Basic Thinking.
I am a contradiction. Immensely proud of my literary archive. I'm a far better literary artist than I've been given credit for. At the same time, a part of me feels like a complete failure. Not professionally, interestingly enough, but personally, as a human on the planet. Didn't accomplish much of anything. Because the archive means little to anyone but me.
Part of the garbage to sort out.
AS working fine now. Worried that it took a while to stay on. Not sure what that is about. I changed the batteries on principle, others were years old, but that was not the issue. Hmm.
One great advantage of this AS is that I find it so easy to write/type on, very inviting, very user friendly, which makes me want to keep typing, keep running off at the fingers, and so it is very easy to fill up space here.
I haven't gotten to school work yet, except preparing a handout for Tuesday. Two scripts to read. Obviously I'm putting them off until tomorrow. That's okay.
Two more classes. Wow. This is really going to happen, I will be retired from teaching. I am going to love the release from responsibility for students.
BBQing chicken tonight.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Lady Ducks sent home
...by Alabama in semifinals. A poor showing for the #1 seed. Poor showing for Pac 12, with only one team at WCWS.
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