Second Half

Winter Break Starts NOW!

2009-12-20T06:37:00.007-05:00

My first semester at Bard is over already! That went really fast, but when I think about it, I learned so much! The things I can talk about now somewhat intelligently! Oh? Don't believe me? Go on and try me. Ask me about Shakespeare! No, no, I want you to. Ask me about science before Newton came along! (Oh, and a very, merry birthday to you Mr. Newton!) Go ahead, ask me anything!

Oh . . . well, I didn't take that class yet . . . but if you ask me something about the classes I've taken, I'll know the answer. For sure!

Now I'm off for five weeks! I can read what I want, do as I please . . . wait here's an email from a

professor for my Spring classes. What!?! Read two James Joyce books over the break?!? I think this professor is not quite understanding the definition of break! Okay, at least they are small books. I still may be able to sneak in some of the books I have carefully selected for my break. You can keep track of what I am reading by looking at my personal bookshelf down to the right of this post.

On the last day of classes, I felt that a weight was lifted off me and I was light enough for the wind to take me, but as I looked around campus I was sad that it was time to leave for so long. I love the old buildings that Bard has mixed with the new. I really liked all of my professors and the students. And besides, I still hadn't seen so much of the property that Bard claims as their own. It's a BIG campus! That may be an interesting thing to do over break - just go up the campus to really look at the places I haven't been yet. I have a crumpled up map I have been carrying around since registration that I could bring too.

What are you doing over break, and why don't we have plans? Drop me a line and let me know what's going on! Not enough snow for a snowman here, but we could still be having fun! Between Joyce books that is . . .

WARNING! Plays at Bard May Be Performed in Russian!

2009-12-14T05:30:00.006-05:00

At Bard this weekend, the students in the Russian Studies Department performed in Anton Chekov's play, The Wedding. I asked The Guy if we could go. Okay, I pleaded. I love Chekov's stories and had already dragged him to Hudson over the summer to see a few of the stories performed on stage. He agreed, but it came with conditions. If I was a good girl and got all of my homework done, we could go to the show. (Umph! Using the same psychology on me that I use on The Kids!)

Pish-shaw, I said. I only planned on working on my King Lear essay and I already knew what I am going to write about, so there. We laughed, but he meant it, and so did I. I whipped out a fine essay in to time flat and we were off to Bard!

We arrived early and helped my Slavic Lit professor gather some bags from her car. This wedding came complete with a Russian wedding feast after the performance! Boy, was I feeling smug. The Guy loves a party - especially when there's food and it was all free! We eagerly helped and found some seats. Seats were no problem. It was a tiny room with a small stage, and there was probably only a dozen or so people there to see the performance. I think the actors outnumbered us!

The play begins. The Bard professor who teaches the Russian language introduced the characters and they took their places. A fine table was set, the costumes seemed authentic, and then - they proceeded to perform the play IN RUSSIAN! Hahahaha. We laughed so hard and it made so much sense, but there was nothing on the flyer indicating they would be doing that! Nothing! I am pretty sure most of the audience didn't understand either, but there were a few students who were from Russia in the audience and they were laughing so hard that tears were running down their cheeks. I wonder if it was what the actors were saying or how they were saying it. I learned later it was both.

Luckily, it was a very short play and we really got to partake in the feast afterwards (minus the vodka). The food was all homemade and delicious!

We came home still laughing and I am actually still laughing about it now. Maybe I'll take Russian next fall. Why not!

The Guy now tells me that if I am really good and get all my final papers done, that Santa will come down our chimney in a few days! Santa! Okay, I'll be good! Promise!

Cookies Make a Great Incentive for Finals

2009-12-11T05:23:00.008-05:00

It's been quite a week. It's our last week of regular classes this semester, so not only have I had to still keep up with reading, but I've had to start on my final essays for three classes as well. In fact, it's only 5:30 a.m. here and I just completed my Works Cited page for a 13 page essay for my Nobel Slavs Lit class. I think that paper is just about done. I say just about done because from now until next Thursday I will agonize about the paper and look at it over and over again.

Maybe I won't though. Who'll have time?

I still have to write a 5 page paper on Shakespeare's King Lear. There is plenty of material there, but I'll focus on the concept of justice in the play. Is justice served if everyone is dead and no one benefits from it? I already have an opening paragraph and a thesis so the rest should be easy. I'll have to buckle down this weekend and come up with an idea for my Comparative Lit paper too. That only needs to be five pages too either on Petrarch's sonnets or Boccaccio's Decamceron. You would think writing about love, sex, scandal or adultery would be easy, no? No.

Then there's History of Science. We have one more lecture on Tuesday and a final exam on Thursday. I better get started studying for that too. It's harder for us old folks to memorize facts! AT this time of my life my brain is getting very selective about what it keeps or not. Very!

I am not the only one feeling the pressure. All over Bard students are walking around in rumpled clothes and messy hair mumbling to themselves. Last night at the library, every available desk, nook and computer was taken. People spoke in low whispers, if they spoke at all. All that could be hard was the flipping of papers and the typing of fingers.

And then I thought that at least the kids that were going home after finals have incentive. They knew that after all their hard work, they would find their homes all decorated for the holidays and with any luck, warm cookies and their own beds would be waiting for them while holiday music lulled them and their full bellies to bed. I thought how unfair! I still have to put up our tree, though we already have lights up throughout. I have also been pulling out a box here and there of Christmas decorations so most rooms already remind you that a holiday is arriving shortly. My own son will be coming home next week for a few days from his own school and I am sure that he'll be looking for the same things the young folks at Bard will be looking for when they get home. Comfort, familiarity and hugs (and especially chocolate chip cookies). I really don't blame them, or The Boy. They all deserve it!

Okay, maybe I can spellcheck this essay before I get ready for work, and then I'll pull out another box from the basement for later. The Boy is coming home! Yay!

Blushing Bardians

2009-12-03T05:30:00.004-05:00

I know you were wondering where I was, but then you looked at your calendar and realized that this is the last couple of weeks for classes this semester and figured I had finals and final papers to worry about. You were right! I took advantage of the long break to catch up with studying, family and everything else. Not sure if it worked or not, because here I am up early after going to bed late . . . .

And then my Medieval Lit teacher wants us to read Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron, and that is one of those books you can't but down. Okay, picture this, it is during the black plague and seven young virgins leave town with three young men to avoid catching it and end up in an empty palace where they spend the next ten days telling one hundred tales that would make your grandmother blush. Okay, they made me blush too. The funny thing is that the author uses no foul words and gives no details or descriptions. He uses everyday words like rod, stuffing, mortar and pestle, etc. He even suggests in his epilogue that it could be that because you are guilty of these transgressions that you think he is suggesting something else. Believe me - he is

suggesting something else. But there are moral lessons to be learnt here too, I suppose, if a man does deserve his own wife to cheat on him right in front of his eyes because he is a jealous fool, then I guess there is a life lesson there. I'll let you know if and when I ever find it. You can read more about this book here.

Tonight I'll be racing home to register for my Spring classes! There is so much to pick from. Maybe a class on James Joyce? Anthropology? History of Photography? Check out the list of available classes at (http://inside.bard.edu/academic/courses/spring2010/) and leave your suggestions. At least I don't have to wait on long lines and run from class to class like I did for this semester. They save that experience for new freshmen and transfer students. But there is still a process that requires some work. I enroll online and then the professor decides to accept me or not, and then next week I can pick more classes if my first choices don't work out. If the second round does not work out, I am back to running around asking professors if I can be in their class or not. I suppose they just want to keep the classes small, and in reality, that is okay by me.

So, wish me luck. Between the blushing and the registration process, it's going to be a long day.

Talking Turkey Hands

2009-11-25T05:19:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year again - Turkey Hands! While you trace your own hand this Thanksgiving, remember all the little and big things you have to be thankful for this year. I will. It almost seems that tracing one turkey hand is not enough either since there is so many things to be grateful for this year. Here is a small sample:

I'm thankful for family and friends, of course. But I am also thankful for the warm fuzzy slippers on my feet, The Cat that meows to be let in and out and all the people who read my blog. I'm thankful for a warm house the freezer full of food - which would make me thankful for the blueberry pie I am going to make and the great dinner we are going to have tomorrow.

I'm thankful for DCC and graduating there this year. I'm especially thankful for Bard and the long break we are on now. I don't have classes again until next Tuesday. In fact, I am almost even grateful for the two papers I'll need to work on and the minimal reading I'll need to do to over break too. I am very grateful that I may even get to read something not related to school during this break too!

I'm thankful that I won't be out shopping on Black Friday because I am just about done buying gifts for Christmas and I'll get to stay in my warm home with my fuzzy slippers finishing up that blueberry pie!

Now go trace your own hands. Might as well do both your hands so your turkeys can talk to each other about all that you're thankful for. How will they know what to discuss? Tracing your hands is a perfect time to make your own list and with two hands, you'll have plenty of time to make an especially long list. There is an awful lot to be thankful for! Don't you agree?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hell is Full of Mismatched Socks

2009-11-20T19:26:00.006-05:00

If you're a Facebook friend of mine (and you should be, just look for me by name), it's no secret that I have been working on a paper about Dante's Inferno this week, and probably next week since we got an extension on the due date. I am particularly writing about the punishment for the sin in a few select circles of Hell and if the punishment itself is contrapasso - showing how the sin itself involves opposites and similarities to the original sin. Really, if the punishment fits the "eye for an eye" mentality. I won't bore you with details, but all this talk of hell and why people are at certain levels certainly got me thinking.

In Dante's hell, Dante seems to keep running into people he knows - either personally or just because of who they are - and they all seem to be from Florence. Is hell just full of Italians? I find that hard to believe, and it certainly makes you wonder what kind of people Dante hung out with! I also wondered what levels I would see my own friends or public figures in - because I would surely be just like Dante and only be visiting each level on my way to Paradise! Of course! So far on questioning, no friends have admitted to any particular level. I'll keep you posted.

It made me wonder too what level the people who cut you off on Route 9 would be in, because I would avoid that level during my visit. And what about the people that park right in front of stores even though it is not a parking spot making it hard for you to get out of the lot, or the mysterious spirit that takes the matching sock from the laundry . . . very curious indeed. All nine levels must be very, very crowded.

And if you don't believe in heaven or hell, don't worry, hell has a place for you too! You just wander aimlessly following a flag without a symbol unwanted by heaven or hell since you were unable to choose a side. Sounds tiring!

I also need to memorize a sonnet for Shakespeare class this weekend. I'll be memorizing Sonnet 42, which I have included here for you, where the author is more upset that his friend is sleeping with his mistress than he is that his mistress is sleeping with his friend. It's the love for his friend that hurts him more than some silly woman. Is this proof that Shakespeare was bisexual? I guess we'll never really know, and it really doesn't matter, but this sonnet sure has sin written all over it! Adultery! Jealousy! Lies! False flatterers! Yikes!

That thou hast her, it is not all my grief,

And yet it may be said I loved her dearly;

That she hath thee, is of my wailing chief,

A loss in love that touches me more nearly.

Loving offenders, thus I will excuse ye:

Thou dost love her, because thou knowst I love her;

And for my sake even so doth she abuse me,

Suffering my friend for my sake to approve her.

If I lose thee, my loss is my love's gain,

And losing her, my friend hath found that loss;

Both find each other, and I lose both twain,

And both for my sake lay on me this cross:

But here's the joy; my friend and I are one;

Sweet flattery! then she loves but me alone.

Metamorphoses

2009-11-16T22:22:00.003-05:00

If you can get to SUNY New Paltz within the next couple of weeks, you are in for a real treat. Both the theater and the art gallery are presenting change to lovers of fine art. The Guy and I crossed over the big river this weekend and we were both completely mezmerized by what we saw in New Paltz.

Our plans were to see Ovid's Metamorphoses, as written by Mary Zimmerman and performed by students of the theater program at SUNY New Paltz. What a great performance it was! It was all very dreamlike and it was very easy to feel part of the dream and listen to the myths as presented. There was a large pool on stage too and sometimes water can have just as hypnotizing an effect as fire. It was all very peaceful and dream like. I highly recommend it and if you're quick, you can get tickets for the last three performances this upcoming weekend. You can find more information about tickets here.

The McKenna Theater at New Paltz is in the same building as the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art so plan on arriving early for the show to see the two exhibits. There was a solo exhibit by Greg Miller featuring the most amazing panoramic views of the Hudson Valley. The lighting and the colors were just breathtaking and as a resident of the area, you can tell these photos are real and not enhanced capturing the beauty that we see around us everyday as Hudson Valley residents. The next gallery is full of paintings of the Hudson River, mostly older paintings, but each showcasing the beauty of the river.

Greg Miller also had an exhibit in that area featuring a panorama of the Hudson. Not just parts of the Hudson, the ENTIRE Hudson from Manhattan to Albany in one complete trail to follow, curves and all, around the room. The panorama also had an older panorama below it of the same Hudson from the early part of the 20th century. It was just breathtaking to see how much of it has changed, and how much if it hasn't. It was very easy to want to walk and examine each piece of it closely, but remember, there's the show too! Here is small sample of the panorama taken from the museum's website, which you can visit here for more information about the current exhibits.

After following the River, we quickly admired the oil paintings from different artists and ran to our seats.

It was an afternoon of metamorphoses. First it was the changes in the Hudson River over the years, and then the changes in man as presented by the Roman poet Ovid in the year 8 CE. We were changed too afterwards to a relaxing and meditative state that made our Sunday afternoon in New Paltz wonderful.

Friday the 13th Comes Early

2009-11-13T08:54:00.008-05:00

Is the calendar right today? I would have sworn yesterday was Friday the 13th and not today.

I started the day very, very tired. This weeks seems to be overwhelming and I've only been getting about 4-5 hours a sleep a day so yesterday morning I really needed the LARGE coffee I bought on my way to campus.

I get there early on Tuesdays and Thursdays to read in a quiet area undisturbed in Olin Hall, where I have my first class of the day. Aaaah, it was all planned. A big steaming cup of coffee, a comfy sweater, a quiet chair with a view of the campus out the window, and then I entered the building and WHHOOOOPS! As soon as my heel hit the stone floor it slid causing me to fall on my knees and send my coffee flying. The mittens I had on didn't do much to stop the coffee from spreading and spreading quick on the gray floor.

I was okay, really. Fine! Luckily another student had witnessed the entire thing and helped clean up the coffee. Luck for us too that the bathroom nearby had paper towels (and not just a hand dryer) and we found a large garbage pail and cleaned up most of the mess. My mittens went into a plastic bag I had a sandwich in and for the remainder of the day I smelled like I was wearing the new Dunkin Donuts brand of cologne. Pleasant yes, but a sad reminder of the coffee I really needed yesterday.

The rest of the day fared better, but to the students at Olin who had to walk around the wet spot, I apologize. To the cleaning crew that had to clean the floor better than I did with the paper towels, sorry and thank you.

Maybe it's good to get that stuff out of the way since today is really Friday the 13th?

Enjoy and be careful!

Is the Flue One of the Seven Liberal Arts?

2009-11-10T05:43:00.004-05:00

Aaaarrrrghhh! Another science test today, and that means more hours of trying to memorize names and events - a task that I am all too willing to admit becomes harder with each passing year. I am at the time of my life where memories are carefully being screened for retention purposes due to limited disk space, and sometimes my mind will chose to forget Paracelsus, an alchemist who thought that everything was poisonous if not taken in moderation. Sure, I remember that now, but ask me about 2:30 or so. I am sure to say Para-who?

I didn't do too poorly on the last exam, and he promises to drop the lowest score from our three exams, but still - I wish there was an easier way.

Last night was our last Algebra Workshop class and we had our final. Algebra is funny in that it is one of those classes that is always building on what you already know, so once you master finding the X variable, finding Y is no problem. You have to remember what you already learned to progress - but not so in my History of Science class. The people we learned about for the first test will not be on the second test. Sure, it's true that science builds on prior science, but when it comes to remembering who contributed what, those connections become moot.

I wonder what these fellows would say about the flu shot? I am sure Paracelsus, an alchemist, would think it a good idea - if the dose is not too strong. I've already had the regular flu shot, and today I get the H1N1 vaccine available at Bard for students and staff. Good thing too. There are a lot of sick people on campus with coughs. It's rampant! One dorm was already quarantined this semester. I guess that's what happens when people live close together and forget the basic domestic skill they were taught as children. I am not taking any chances. I am getting my shots and washing my hands - lots. Have you gotten the shots? Why or why not?

Bard is a Liberal Arts college and I do have to know the seven liberal arts (from medieval times) for my test, but I don't recall influenza being one of them . . . let's hope that is not on my test today - or anywhere near me!

Hey Guy!

2009-11-06T09:57:00.005-05:00

These days I wonder if my own husband has to read my blogs to find out what's going on with me lately. Then I started feeling guilty that I had only posted once this week and now he wouldn't know what's happening!

Okay, it's not quite that bad. We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant Tuesday night after we voted and before I stayed up way past his bedtime to read Othello for my Shakespeare class. I didn't have the heart to wake him up the next morning at 7:30 before I left for work either. He looked so peaceful and cozy. Last night was another late night. I stayed after classes at the library for a few hours reading and studying for an exam next week in History of Science. When I got home, two of his favorite television shows were on so I let him watch them in peace and only interrupted him during commericals.

He probably doesn't miss me all that much anyway! There are plenty of reminders. Like the leaves that I've not been able to help rake, and the food shopping that he's been doing for me and the clean basket of laundry he finds at the bottom of the stairs that means I am asking him to carry it upstairs. There are those dust balls tumbling down our hallway too. Besides, I am sure he notices that my side of the bed is messy those days I go to bed after him and wake up before him. Doesn't he?

When I do suggest that maybe I am away from home just a little too much, or when I am home and I comment on how much I can't do around the house these days, he just reminds me that it's only temporary and to look at the big picture. A few dust balls are so worth the effort, and he admits that he can always tell when I finally come to bed. Besides, it's fun to tell him I haven't seen him in a while so why doesn't he meet me for lunch? It's like having a weekly date with handsome stranger!

So Guy, if you are reading this to find out what my plans are for the next few days, here they are: I have a paper to write for my Shakespeare class, study, study, study and them some reading, reading and more reading. Can't promise I'll get much done around the house, but at least I'll be home. Thanks for being so supportive.

It's quite possible I'll being having lunch with that handsome stranger today! Yay!

To Live or Not to Live on Campus, That is the Question

2009-11-04T08:39:00.008-05:00

I really like my time on campus two full days a week. Bard is such a beautiful campus, the trees are all ablaze with fall color, and there is always something going on, but lately there seems to be more going on the days I am not there.

Let's see . . . Paper due Monday at noon in a basket on the professor's door? Sorry, can't do that. I work, but I can email a copy and drop a hard copy off later that night. Swine flu vaccine clinics Monday and Wednesday at lunch. Errrr, sorry. Can't do that either. Will you plan any for Tuesday or Thursday? Swing dance lessons on Friday nights from 7-10 p.m. Dang! I can't do that either, and I am surely way too tired by Friday to drive 45 minutes to dance for three hours.

Why, just today there is a lecture on Avicenna, a medieval philosopher that we just happen to be discussing now in my History of Science class. And look, there's a piano/cello concert this afternoon. And a Free Press writer's meeting (okay, I am not a writer on the Bard campus newspaper, but I would like to write a story about how different campus life is for non-traditional students not living on campus). Maybe I could email an idea for an article? I'll find out.

Bard Stone Row Dormitories
Needless to say, Bard does a great job of keeping the students who live on campus active, involved and far from bored. There are movie nights, pizza nights, craft nights, dancing nights, concerts . . . well, you get the idea. I take advantage of what I can, like leaving work early this past Monday to go to a lecture from a visiting Yale professor on Dante's Inferno, which we are reading in class. It was a great lecture, but made for a very long day.

I realize that by not living on campus I'll never have breakfast, lunch or dinner at Kline Commons. I'll never have to buy overpriced health and beauty aides at the bookstore. I'll never really get to take advantage of the on campus gym because when I am on campus, I am attending class or burning the midnight oil at the library trying to get something done.

Living at home sure at benefits too. My laundry is always clean AND ironed. I get to sleep next to a warm body every night. My family and my cat are always glad to see me when I get home. I don't have to share a bathroom with a teenager (not even the girl at home!). The mess in the kitchen is my own so I can't get angry for anyone for not cleaning it. The list goes on and on, but you get the idea.

I am sure as my time goes on at Bard, I'll find ways to be more involved in the on-campus events. Sheesh, it's only my first half a semester there so far. I'll meet more people and find out more about more things listed and not listed on the school's event calendar too.

Until then I'll enjoy the view, and my own bed.

Thrills and Chills

2009-10-30T04:52:00.007-05:00

What to know what's spooooooky? I'll tell you! It's downright scary when you understand something in one class because you learned it in another. It's creepy that names you never heard of before September start sneaking their way into the literature you are reading for different reasons and you can nod and shake your head and say, "Hmpf. I've heard of that guy." And it's really frightening when you find yourself looking something up at the Bard library that was mentioned during a class that you didn't know about before.

For example, we are reading Dante's Inferno in Comparative Lit and in the first ring Dante visits with his guide, the poet Virgil, he sees all the people I learned about in The History of Science Before Newton including Thales, Anaxagoras, and the bunch. And then when your History of Science teacher starts telling you how universities were started during medieval times and your face lights up with understanding because you've already learned that in another class when you discussed Benedictine and Cisterian monks. Or you find yourself hunched over a computer at the Bard Library looking up an German poem about a boy on a horse with his father trying to escape death's grip just because a character in a book by a Slavic author mentions it in passing. (The poem was Der Erlkonig by Goethe and you can read it here in its eerie entirety.)

See how scary it all is?

To scare myself even more, I'll be going with The Family to see The Birds tonight at the Bardavon. Still only a spine tingling five dollars for a movie and an organ concert, it's a great way to be scared together as a family.

Then Saturday it's off to Greenwich Village for a concert (Mike Doughty) where I am sure there will be plenty of night creatures about. It's Halloween after all and the Village is known for its parade of the creepiest and scariest on Halloween.

Yes, I'll be in costume as an enlightened Bard student. Beware!

Literate Literature

2009-10-28T21:54:00.007-05:00

It sure has been a literate week, and not just because I am reading Hamlet for my Shakespeare class, The Bosnian Chronicles for my Slavic Lit class or Dante's Inferno for Comp Lit. You would think all those books in one week would be enough, butno - two amazing people visited two amazing schools this week and I was lucky enough to see both of these engaging, interesting men.

On Monday night, Bard's guest speaker was Barney Rosset. He was the founder of Grove

Press in the 1960's. Yes, the Grove Press! He also published D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover, fighting Congress and the Postal Service all the way. Rosset also publised Samuel Beckett in English in the United States and many other amazing authors including Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac and Larence Ferlinghetti, battling for First Amendment rights as he did. It is largely his activism that paved the way for today's contemporary writers. It was great to listen to his stories.

On Wednesday night, Vassar College's invited speaker was Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. He read excerpts of his book and then opened the floor to questions. Diaz told young writers the best thing they could do was stop arranging their lives so they did nothing but hang out with other writers. There is too much life out there to learn and write about to be confined. He also stressed that writing should not be done to gain one's approval, which may be difficult in this country as we tend to be nation of people that strive to be the best as viewed by other people. Don't write because of what other's may think, write for what you think needs to be written.

Both men were such great inspirations. One man created a literary magazine with nothing more than a dream and kitchen table, another started life with nothing but family and became famous because of his own doing, and for doing something for himself and not others.

Literature does have more to teach us than just words on a page. It's great when you can meet men like these that remind you of that.

Nobel Noble Slavs

2009-10-26T07:30:00.010-05:00

Just what is this class? It's easy to say Noble Slavs instead of Nobel Slavs, and I think most of us do a lot. Like the people who called Astronomy class Astrology class, but there is more truth in calling these noble instead of Nobel.

There are two criteria that each author must have to be taught in this class: the author must be Slavic and must have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. To win this prize for literature, your work must have some lasting literary value and benefit mankind. That is a tough call. A small group of people in Switzerland review the candidates for the year and make a decision, giving the winner a large cash prize. This prize is privately funded by the Estate of Alfred Nobel who at the turn of the century left most of his fortune just to fund the Nobel Prizes. What a guy! You can read more about the Nobel prize at www.nobelprize.org including this year's winner for Literature Herta Muller, another Slavic born author living in Germany.

Since this class is being taught by the professor that teaches Russian studies, I was afraid that this would turn into a class that dealt mostly with the history of the area and not the literature itself. It is listed as a Lit class, I am a Lit major and I love these authors from these cold, Slavic countries. I worried for nothing. Sure, with each new author there is some discussion about the area at the time that led the author to write such a book, but we discuss so much more. When we read Quo Vadis by Henyrk Sienkiewicz we discussed his talent of ending and beginning chapters and the literary tools he used to progress the story. When we read the story stories of Ivan Burnin, we discussed how he was brillant at telling instead of showing, often a big no-no in the world of literature. Boris Pasternak snuck his poetical style of writing into his narrative in Dr. Zhivago even including a book of poetry at the end written by the progrationist, Yuri Zhivago. Now we are reading The Bosnian Chronicles by Ivo Andric, and this man was able to share wonderful tales of Bosnian life during the Napoleonic wars but in such a way that you feel you are reading one fairy tale after another. He wrote stories as if he were reciting them aloud interwined in a novel about diplomats from other countries living in Bosnia.

Needless to say, I am just loving this class. It satisfies my craving for brilliant authors, close scrunity of style and just enough history of the area to make the story fascinating.

These Nobel Slavs are truly noble.

Will Mercury Collide with Mars?

2009-10-22T04:42:00.007-05:00

I'll be the first to admit that the older I get the harder it is for me to memorize stuff and this is probably not the first time I am admitting this! I don't remember (that must be the second sign of old age). Where was I?

Oh yes - and when it comes to science, which you guys know I love, it can be painfully difficult for me to prepare for a test. I read and write and read some more. I try to remember all the little stories that my professor likes to tell us, but I need to spend an awful lot of time both before and after class to remember what we are taught in class.

There is one fellow tho, Ptolmey, that I think I will remember pretty well, especially when we know so little about him as a person. We think he lived somewhere in Alexandria between 70 and 140 BCE and he was a big believer of astrology, as well as the man whose astronomy the world followed for almost 1400 years before Copernicus shook things up a bit. Here is a sample of his wisdom(?):

"Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth."

He is best known for writing the Almagest, a delightful little book wherein he attempts to explain spheres, the fixed stars and movement of the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. This guy was way off as the little video below demonstrates. If this video is correct, and I have every ready to believe it is, why weren't people more worried about collisions? Maybe they were but since the earth was the center of this universe, if anything happened it would be far away and Earth would be safe. Who knows? Remember too, this was long before telescopes and space shuttles, so he was pretty much going by what he saw with his naked eye and I get to him this was how the planet appeared to be traveling in the night sky.

Now I could only remember where I left The Guy . . . .he's not by my keys!

Do you throw out a bathroom if it is past its scrub-by date?

2009-10-18T21:37:00.005-05:00

I made a point of having fun this weekend, and then almost regretted the decision. Not that I don't like having fun, don't misunderstand my regret, but afterwards I felt like I squandered my time when I should have been reading, writing and 'rithmeticing, but a girl's gotta have fun too, no?

Friday night we went to New York City to a concert and somewhere between the train ride down and the concert we found time to visit The Boy in his new apartment in Brooklyn. We didn't stay longer than to have some pizza with him and then we were off to the show, which was fantastic! By the time we arrived home and got ready for bed it was after 3:00 a.m. and we both needed to get up early the next day.

I started my Saturday with a monthly writer's workshop that meets the third Saturday of every month at 10:00 at the Poughkeepsie Adriance Library (you should note that for next month!). The group was small and the meeting went quick. Then I had lunch with a woman from that group to catch up on our lives since the last meeting. Then the library sponsored a great writing workshop lead by Lyn Burnstine, a local author, musician and photographer that discussed blogging, sparking ideas and memoirs. She even had a couple of writing exercises planned and in just a few short minutes I had written a little story from a childhood memory and this little poem using words from a list that obviously didn't belong together.

Wispy butter burns on the stove

That blackened spirits dump in the trash

While a darting book hides underneath a dishtowel

Then I came home and fell asleep!

But the rest of the weekend I worried about the things I hadn't done, like reading my books for class, or studying for my math test, or perfecting two essays that are due this week. Even my bathroom is past is scrub-by-this-date date and that's still not done. I drove up to Bard on Sunday too to interview for open staff positions for their literary magazine, Lux, even taking more time from the things I thought needed to be done.

But you know what? I was glad to do all those things and I am really not as far behind with studying as I think I am. I can't just work, go to class and study. I will go insane! So, I am glad I went to the concert and see The Boy, and I am glad I spent so much time at the library and I am glad I had lunch with an old friend and drove to Bard on a day I didn't even have class, because it's true - girls just want to have fun!

Don't worry, I got 100% on a practice quiz today that will greatly resemble my test tomorrow and I am actually finding that reading Shakespeare can be fun too. This is going to work out after all!

TGIFun

2009-10-16T04:54:00.008-05:00

Seems that Thursdays are always my busiest days, no matter what school I go to. At Dutchess, it was classes, classes and more classes and it was also club day and I often found myself running from club to club. At Bard, it also classes and more classes, tho I haven't joined any clubs yet, I was still there for almost twelve hours yesterday.

My day started with Shakespeare, where we are reading The Merchant of Venice and had a lively conversation about a painting which was thought to have been a picture of a woman for hundreds of years turning out to actually be Henry Wriothesley, Third Earl of Southampton and probably, I said probably, Shakespeare's homosexual lover. Supposedly there is very indication that Shakespeare was bisexual, but he seems to have left a very small paper trail about his life though he certainly left a big enough trail of his plays, poetry and sonnets.

Then there's lunch break. At Bard on Thursdays, there is always some neat vendor selling clothes or jewelry or something. Yesterday a man was selling vintage clothes and some pretty cool ones at that. Then there was a table requesting contributions for a Post Secret exhibit they will be having later in the year and then I ran into another Returning to College woman that started Bard the same time I did for lunch.

Grabbed a cup of tea and was off to Slavic Lit where we just finished up Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Maybe not the best book ever written structurally, but what was fascinating was how Pasternak was a poet himself and wrote some things very poetically in the book and still felt the need to make Zhivago a poet and had the entire back of the book filled with Zhivago's poems based on stuff that he had already written poetically! I hope that makes sense because that's the theme of my paper due next week.

History of Science next where we are discussing T.S. Kuhn's book

called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions where Kuhn shares his theory of how anomalies and crises in science bring about change to the paradigm that scientists use and textbooks teach. My teacher tends to disagree with a lot of what he says so sometimes it makes it hard to know what to take from the reading or not.

Next class - Comparative Lit where we finished up the lais of Marie de France. Lovely little midieval poems written from songs about knights and the ladies they have affairs with that always seem to end in death and tragedy. How romantic!

Then I had about two hours between classes and belly dancing class at the gym so I went to the library to work on my Pasternak paper. Next thing I knew it was almost 8, and I had missed belly dancing! Oh well, at least my papers is like 95% done and one less thing I'll have to worry about this weekend.

And I am glad it is the weekend! The Guy and I are going to a concert at Webster Hall in New York City to see a relatively new band called Airborne Toxic Event. I'll have to remind The Guy not to let me fall asleep on the train though, which I tend to do every time. I need to read at least 100 pages of the Bosnian Chronicles for Slavic Lit! Then there is the grand re-opening of the Poughkeepsie Library and I hope to make a couple of those events too this weekend. You can see their entire schedule of grand opening, Big Read and regular events here.

TGIF folks, and I hope your F is for FUN too. Enjoy!

Unfair SUNY/CUNY Budget Cuts

2009-10-12T07:14:00.005-05:00

I am home with a cold today. I know, it seems unfair, but what is really unfair is Gov. Paterson's proposed budget cuts for SUNY and CUNY schools in New York State.

As reported in the Poughkeepsie Journal and The New York Times , in an effort to reduce the budget deficit, Paterson wants state agencies to cut 500 millions dollars from the state budget, with more than 90 million being cut from SUNY and CUNY schools throughout the state (though I saw a number of almost $180 million cut from SUNY and CUNY schools in other reports).

That's outrageous! Now, more than ever, people need higher education at affordable prices. By cutting the budgets of these higher level education schools, the State of New York suffers in the long term with an untrained, uneducated, unemployable work force. Even if students are able to pay for any tuition increase (as I am sure this will create), budget cuts make for larger

classrooms, less available professors and major cuts in other services that these schools offer.

I am not sure what the answer is to help the State out of a budget deficit. That is not my area of expertise, but cutting funds to education does not help the budget in the long run. A well educated work force brings revenues to the State and that is just what this state needs.

We need to let the Governor know how we feel. You can write Gov. Paterson at State Capitol, Albany, New York, 12224 or by email by following this link: http://161.11.121.121/govemail (if link does not work try cutting and pasting it into your web browser). We need to let him know that these cuts are not acceptable!

Just please don't tell him that some cranky lady with a cold made you do it. So, please pass the tissues and let Gov. Paterson know that his proposed cuts are unfair and unacceptable. There has to be another way.

Fall Break!

2009-10-09T04:47:00.005-05:00

Yay! I have a whole week off from classes! It's officially Fall Break at Bard which means no classes Monday and Tuesday, but for me that means I don't go back on campus until Thursday. Whew! I could really use the time to catch up, but alas, there is still lots of reading to do, two papers (one of which is due on my return), housework, yard work and work-work.

I noticed a major difference between Bard students and DCC students yesterday. When I asked people what they were doing on their break, some said they were going home and others said they were going to New York City, but no one said they were working. Not a single one. At DCC, I think everyone I would have asked would told me they were working over the break. Must be nice for those not working! Their break becomes a mini vacation! With my new schedule, I was told by my bosses that since I only work 25 hours a week now, I won't be getting paid for holidays anymore, so I may work on Monday and I may work Tuesday (thought usually a school day) to make up for the holiday. Where's the justice? When am I going to get to catch up on those things I need to catch up on?

Some things are not so different between DCC and Bard students. A woman my age also in the Returning to College Program at Bard told me yesterday that she was behind in all three of her classes and owed each class a paper or a project, but had gotten herself another week to complete them. I quickly asked if she worked too, thinking that was why she was behind. No, she replied, but she had a cold and couldn't focus. Also, this was her first time back at school in many years and she was still adjusting to the schedule. I've been at school for over two years now and I guess I've got a routine down now. I know how much time I need to spend at home for each class, but honestly, I could use some more time for each one too. I am sure she'll find her way eventually. Sometimes it is just a matter of do or die.

But it's fall in the Hudson Valley and our leaves are probably at their peak. That means it's time to change your computer wallpaper to something autumn-ny and pull out those rakes and get the yard cleaned up. I was hoping the wind the other day would blow them all away, but no, I've seemed to have gained my neighbors leaves instead! It would also be a great time to take a walk on the Walkway Over they Hudson . I bet the view is spectacular! And there is the Quilt Show at my old stomping grounds, DCC. It's there Saturday and Sunday.

Much to do over this break, but if you are a Bardian who didn't get to leave campus this week, let me know. There is plenty to do right here in Dutchess County.

Enjoy!

PS - I actually have a class in the building in the picture above. It's old and beautiful!

Without Warning

2009-10-06T05:01:00.004-05:00

I thought we were friends. Day after day I tell you guys what is going on at Bard, yet none of you warned me. Not a one! And you all knew I was taking an Algebra workshop this semester, yet none of you felt it was necessary to warn me about the Quadratic Formula.

That's okay. I forgive you.

The class started off simple enough. What is the square root of this, what is x is this equation. Factor this, etc, etc. But what can you do instead of factoring she said, like it was going to be some amazing trick that would make it all simple. The Quadratic Formula!

I'll admit, it only took a couple of examples for me to understand it, but what a lot of steps to get where I need to go. The formula looks much more complicated than it really is too. But if you have a garden that is one size, and you add a walkway (like the word problem we did in class asked), and you know the new area of your square garden but don't know how much you added to it, you can use this formula to figure it out. Who said there is no practical use for Algebra? This just proves they are wrong!

It's things like that that make Shakespeare easier to understand. Believe it!

Chaos About

2009-10-02T04:55:00.007-05:00

What do Anaximander, Anaximenes and Anaxagoras all have in common? If you said they all start with ANAX, you would be right - it's true, they do. Other than that, they didn't have much in common. They were ancient philosophers that thought that everything that is everything is infinity, air and the mind (and in that order). That was just a small sample of what I had to remember for my BIG test in The History of Science Before Newton class yesterday.

Actually, it was kind of hard. I had to remember about 15 other philosopher's opinions too, from Thales to Plato. Not everything they said, but how it relates to natural science. I don't think two of them said the same thing either, making it all very hard to remember. Then throw in three people with a similar name and - WHAM! - chaos ensues. Chaos! I found the common link. Most of these guys thought the world was in chaos in the beginning. In the beginning? What about now? I am certainly feeling the chaos about now.

It was one of those tests that I was glad that I went to all the lectures for this class. It's all lecture in a nice lecture hall, but I noticed that as the semester went on (already five weeks in, can you believe it?), less and less people would come. The professor noticed too and reintroduced himself to those who came just for the test. I don't know how those people could have passed it. I mean, I am there actively listening and reading everyday and I don't know how I passed it. How could they expect to pass without hearing all the anecdotes? Believe me, there were a lot of them. This professor loves to tell stories about stories.

Now it's time to move past Plato and travel back in time. This weekend for my other classes I will travel to the late 1500's (Shakespeare), the 12th century (medieval lit) and the early 1900's (Dr. Zhivago). All aboard! We leave today and come back Monday!

Fire At Bard!

2009-09-29T22:16:00.004-05:00

Did you hear sirens and smell smoke coming from Red Hook today? No? That's strange because it was Fire Safety Day at Bard!

Okay, the fire was a controlled burn, and there were loads of firemen and firewomen there to take care of it, but let me explain . . .

In an effort to make people more aware, about seven or so local fire companies set up shop on the Bard campus today to discuss fire safety with the students. They brought their house trailer too so you could crawl through a smokey room and make a safe escape out a window. The best part (and scariest) was a dorm room they recreated in a large container on the lawn. It was complete with desk, bed and dresser. They set a small fire in it and showed all those present how quick a fire spread through a dorm room. I bet that was quite an eye opener for those people living on campus. When they say no smoking or candles in your room - they mean it!

(Not actual Bard Students, but you can see where you are supposed to escape and land on a mat)

It was also "Don't Park Your Car in the Wrong Lot or We Will Tow It Day." Luckily, I was in right lot, because I have the wrong parking sticker and my car did not get towed! Hahaha! They gave me a resident sticker instead of a non-resident one which means I get to park in the last row of the faculty/staff parking. I was honest and told security about the sticker the first week of classes, and they told me not to worry about it. I told them I would fight any tickets or towing that happened because I had a green sticker and not a white one and they just laughed at me. I am sure some folks were not laughing today. Cars with stickers but parked in wrong lots were towed to a small lot on campus. Those without stickers at all (meaning they did not pay for a sticker - a fee which Bard claims is to decrease fossil fuel dependency and pollution) got towed to Kingston at the car owner's expense. Ouch!

I guess between the fire and the towing some people got doubled whammied today! Me? I just enjoyed the fall weather on campus today. That was really enough excitement for me.

Bring on the Dorms!

2009-09-28T04:44:00.003-05:00

The saga between Dutchess Community College and The Town of Poughkeepsie continues. Yesterday, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported that The Town is going to take DCC to court to keep them from overseeing the environmental impact review for the proposed 465 bed dormitory. Would it be any more fair if the Town oversaw the review? Probably not. We have to believe the DEC is somewhat impartial when it comes to doing their job. This is just another attempt by the Town to prevent the dorms from being built. The question is this: is the Town better equipped to handle the review or the school that is paying for it? I guess a judge will have to decide.

I think the dorms would be a good idea. Besides the jobs it will create during and after the construction, it will bring back businesses to that area. Did you know you can't even get a slice of pizza close to DCC? The closest place just closed!

The Town needs to look at the long view, and not just at increased traffic they keep worrying about. Most kids living in a dorm stay in the dorm, or at school, which will be walking distance. Maybe they fear they will actually have to repair the part of Creek Road that is crumbling in front DCC!

Besides, I think living on campus is half the charm of being in college. DCC has no sense of community that way, and the word "community" is even in their name. Most students leave after classes with no real reason to stay on campus. DCC will have to entertain the campus residents somewhat and this could lead to even more students staying on campus taking advantage of all that DCC has to offer.

At Bard I am a little envious of the students that live on campus. There is so much going on! Movies, music and outside events. There are BBQs, club meetings and swing dancing lessons! Just today, students at Bard, a vast majority that live on campus, can take advantage of a reading by award winning writer, Ben Marcus or meditate as a group two different times today.

I even have a paper due today for a class scheduled for tomorrow. I had to remind the professor that I don't live on campus and would not be on campus until about 6:00 tonight. She said I could email it to her but to be sure to leave a hard copy in her office when I am on campus tonight. The folks that live there can just drop it off at noon on their way to Kline for lunch.

Living on campus has many benefits, and it's not just parties. They will find ways to party anyway! It brings a sense of togetherness. Even if students don't have classes together, they have a sense of belonging when they are living with the larger group. We all need that!

The Town should welcome the dorms with open arms. The dorms will bring jobs and business back to the area, both I am sure the Town can always use.

A Fine Romance?

2009-09-23T07:31:00.007-05:00

One of the best things about being at Bard is that I am reading some great literature that I may have not ever read otherwise. I am not just talking about Shakespeare and Slavic Lit, but even the medieval lit we are reading in Comparative Lit has me riveted. Who knew that 12th century monks and nuns has such torrid sex lives?

It's true, and this story has been billed as the greatest love story of all time. I'll give you some details and you see if you agree. Abelard and Heloise were both brilliant scholars around 1100 CE or so. Abelard was entrusted by Heloise's uncle to teach her religion, but before you know it - WHAM! - these two were having sex everywhere! When she became pregnant, he hid her pregnancy in a nun's habit and shipped her off to an aunt - who raised the child for them. They marry (in secret so as not to ruin Abelard's reputation), but only briefly. Heloise, at Abelard's urging, becomes a nun thereby divorcing him and marrying Christ in the eyes of the church and he becomes a full fledged monk (who I think would rather be a philosopher or a knight!). This does not stop their affair, even having sex right in church while Heloise was still in her habit! The uncle and his friends find out and castrate Abelard. You would think this would stop their affair, but no, it does not.

Sure, they never really see each other again, but the correspondence between the two after their separation is what makes them famous. In these letters, known as epistles, they claim their love for each other and the church and after Heloise begs him for some kind words about their love and sex life, since she became a nun because of him and not because she loved God, he tells us her it was only lust and nothing more. It could be just a nice way of sparing her feelings, but who really knows? He does give her an abbey and requests to be buried there after his death, which he is and after Heloise dies, she is placed beside him. In fact, they are still together in a tomb in France where lovers place flowers in their memory.

Seems extreme, no? Greatest love story ever told? I would think that most of us are really looking for something a little more than what they had. Both Abelard and Heloise gave ultimate sacrifices for each other, and Heloise tells Abelard that a good marriage only lasts when you stop thinking there is something better out there. She felt that, for Abelard, there was always going to be something better out there then her, so she did not want to be his wife again.

In fact, it is a very sad story and makes you want to go hug your own mate right now! Go, go, go! For those without mates, let this be a warning - beware of lovers in church robes! Enough said.

Glad I Went to Community College

2009-09-21T04:38:00.004-05:00

Seems to me that in the last week or so alone, community colleges are getting a bad rep. In at least three separate instances within the last seven days, community colleges were the butt of bad jokes and bad analogies and I am not happy about it. Going to community college was one of the best things I ever did with my life. It was affordable, it built up my confidence and I met some of the smartest, brightest people out there. Not only dumb people go there for a half-ass education, as is the common misconception.

It all started in Lit class when a professor was making an analogy - for what I don't even remember because I as so taken back by what she said. She told everyone that it's like, "telling your friends you are really stupid so you have to go to a smart school like Bard, and they are really smart so they can get to go to community college." Believe me - she was being sarcastic. I will give her this, she probably had no idea that I just transfered out of a community college, and she was trying to get a point across to the class, but still!

Then came the premier of a new television series, Community. It stars Joel McHale as a man returning to community college because he lost his attorney's license. While in some parts it was very funny, it only perpetuated the community college stereotype of young people who couldn't cut it at ivy league schools, women my age who made bad decisions in life and old men trying to be young again. Sure, all those people are all there, but it's so much more than that! It's full of pretty brilliant people too and wonderful professors who encourage you to do your best. But that was television where the goal is to get people to watch over and over and I guess stereotypes are sometimes funnier than reality. This show does get extra points from me too for using the same Spanish textbook in the show that I actually used in community college. Nice touch!

Then it was on to a novel I am reading in between reading everything else for school - The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. Real likable novel with believable characters and well written. The protagonist comes back home to Connecticut after a series of unfortunate events and lands a job as an adjunct professor at a community college. He accuses all the returning to college women of asking too many questions because they want to get their money's worth, but he also says they are the most conscientious students he has ever met. Whew! It's true you know. We are not there because we have to be, we are there because we want to be - and yes, we want to get our money's worth!

The moral here? Don't fall for stereotypes. Don't believe all the bad things you hear about community college until you talk to people who have attended one or taught at one. Just because something is affordable does not make it any less in quality than something that is not affordable (okay, this one does not work for everything!). And more importantly, when someone you meet says I graduated my local community college, shake their hand and pat them on the back. They worked hard for that honor and it was no joke!

Vive le community college!