after the pencil soars through

what's blown a fuse lately...?

2009-11-11T18:34:00.005-06:00

Julia Kristeva's Revolution in Poetic Language! egad!

picture from behance.net

what am i to make of this...

2009-10-30T15:48:00.002-05:00

should i make anything of it? what do you make of it?

lately

2009-10-27T10:59:00.008-05:00

What have you seen lately that stopped you?
For me, it was this image taken from google: I encouraged one of my students to integrate this image into her power point presentation on recycling. Her job is to persuade.

who wouldn't want to work here?

2009-10-26T12:39:00.010-05:00

The Google Headquarters - Like working in a box of art and illusion:

you wanna see more amazing...again...see this!

2009-10-16T09:16:00.007-05:00

With permission - here is artist Jennifer Herrera's latest do titled "Flying"--this piece draws you in like nothing before. I can't stop staring at the details--it's overwhelming. What about that beautiful touch of blue in the lips...?

See much more here: i'm so hooked

everlasting recognition

2009-10-16T08:57:00.002-05:00

A must read article on one of my all time favorite human beings that ever existed: Monk!

And I'm still currently indulging in the sound track shown below

Happy Weekend to all!

thoughts

2009-10-07T11:22:00.003-05:00

I thought this line in a MSN article truthful--I have faith in elementary and high school teachers though, despite:

"Kids in Asia spend the summer studying math and science while American mall rats are texting each other about Britney and Miley."

The problem is: Miley was so born to do what she does. I do wonder, however, is she home schooled or just not in school...or does it not matter?

PB of the Month - Huffmania

2009-10-01T19:55:00.013-05:00

her photos quietly, with little effort--it seems...transcend.

i've been lost in her work for a long while and i've wondered a few times...if I had a her camera (yes, "a her camera"), I could do that too...yea right!

wow
wow
wow

and more wow!

[see my award logo to go look]

in the midst . . .

2009-10-01T19:04:00.017-05:00

of having a new, world's cutest smart pup

saussure, de man, derrida, browning, Faulkner, & navajo narratives--two courses worth

excellent health check with respect to diabetes, cholesterol, thyroid, prettybp, the like

. . . i've gone pink

i had a breast lump scare, just, only 2 weeks ago

the lump was benign but

i still feel ever linked

i am part of the CulturePinK for more reasons than 1.

our newest trouble-Max

2009-09-01T09:13:00.006-05:00

Getting a 'wipe-off' because he stinks so bad. We can't bathe him completely because his neutered area is still tender. He is a handful (Dalmation/Basset mix--yikes!), but Rubi and Abis approve.

why am i a proud american

2009-08-26T10:10:00.006-05:00

because sometimes God gets it absolutely right, even if its for a short time...

09 Fall

2009-08-19T19:47:00.015-05:00

Fall graduate courses:

Theory & Practice (the most challenging--we are graded on class rankings)

and

Reconstructing The American

For the former, we are to pick one novel and one lyric poem. They must each be canonical.

Faulkner is in my bones, always has been. So my novel pick for the T&P class is The Sound and the Fury. Loved when I studied it in undergrad, should bask in it even more so now. Still working on the poem. Leaning towards Dickinson.

Lots of work ahead. I'm teaching one Developmental English class too. Inventing a Syllabus. Grading. Teaching in general. This should be a blast, as well.

I will do my ever-so much best to publish here from time to time, but I'm directing most devotion to my students.

Boy...I sure do miss it here. But I'm glad to be sort of around. More important: I'm still watching and reading you when time permits.

* * *

I have always marveled over Faulkner's use of playing with if not destroying the line.

I hope Fall brings great wonders to your lives and keep you like fresh new fruit--your writings, postings, etc. are beautiful and highly insightful. Thank you for that!!

besitos for now!

officially a maestra

2009-07-31T20:06:00.014-05:00

...

well...i'm sort of back. i'm surviving Critical Theory - Psychoanalysis of Film, but damn it requires a lot of thinking... i know...that's the point. i'm doing pretty well though and enjoying it more than anything.

anyhoo, i finally signed all the necessary paperwork and received my first books from which to teach: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. i hired another person to run our college Writing Center so i will only focus on tutoring (i've never been one to 'run' stuff or be administrative-like, i'm not good at bossing or overseeing others and frankly, i never have been; that mold is not part of my genetic make up) so i'm happy to have someone take the ball.

it's weird being able to call myself a college level 'teacher' now - literally. starting at the developmental writing level, the English courses will be my first course ...listed in the college course book, ...in a class room setting, ...with more than one student at a time, and ...i'm require to grade. most of the students i currently tutor are so excited about this and really, it's their fault (in a good sense), i'm taking this teaching route.

other stuff:

Texas weather is so insanely dominant right now. very very warm and rainy for days. lots and lots of humidity. in fact, right now, the sky has darkened, the wind has picked up tremendously, and thunder is booming overhead and in the distance - quite lovely actually - i love the drama, most don't. we've spent interim periods planting new grass, st. augustine, with the hope it smothers out the bermuda. we like bermuda, but it's so thin and doesn't have that plush feel. the advantage is, however, bermuda doesn't require as much water as st. augustine. my rose moss is gorgeous, peppers too, ...wandering jew is full and begging for a new pot. the succulents are just way too easy - almost nothing to do - love these and they come back every year. the mint has thinned out, but it, too, is difficult to destroy...i've had the same pot for forever. i did however add some mexican heather to my pots. i bought one tiny little pot to see what happens. i've never tried to grow it, but it reminded me of a beautiful little circle in my dad's front yard - i think my step-mom still has that circle there (she's a major green thumber). i'm looking forward to trying it out and seeing what happens.

oh, BTW i don't have to write why i picked a major blog for the PBofM...post secret is just purely the place to surf...

more to post soon...looking forward to it...happy weekend!

pop-in

2009-07-13T16:29:00.002-05:00

Lacan - Critical Theory kicking my boo-tey
a weird documentary for class titled My Fake Baby (wow!)
103 degree weather
hot dogs
smoothies
posole
cherries and apricots
flea market - start early/finish early hot sun
time with mom
no babysitting, no time
long baths
gera making wooden suns and moons, some with mirrors, others with happy faces
looking at photo slides of jenn&me - feel good moments...

hope it's cool where you are!
looking forward to coming back!

July

2009-06-30T21:57:00.013-05:00

after the pencil soars through is holding off 'til August to announce the Prolific Blog of the Month Award. There's so many to pick from. By August I'll be ready to pick a blog.

June flew.

July I'm gearing
for a second class

and...

Off for now--Enjoy July.

Thanks, Jess for the picture of Jenn's marker. You are a gem.

Boysenberry Muse

and here you are again
my boysenberry muse
you--i

never knew my spirit
and love and body could
create something so charming
so complex so beautiful that

even
the
sun

must be still to praise you

spoken winds harbor in your hair
they told a story too about
a place where dreams are
tangible and you--my

boysenberry muse
are a fussy queen who bickers over
crowds and crowds and crowds of pastels

they say that you breathe well
there and often live in the sounds
of sparkling rivers and traveling rocks
and that sometimes
your presence makes them cry

and there you are again
my boysenberry muse
you--my

absolute soul's deliverance

.02

UNIVERSAL LOSER AWARD goes to....

2009-06-29T14:20:00.004-05:00

how does it feel to be brave...?

2009-06-28T13:52:00.011-05:00

iphigenia

Some of the best people I know are more brave--to me--than Moses will ever be or truthfully any biblical or mythical character.

Brav·ery
Pronunciation: \ˈbrāv-rē, ˈbrā-və-\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural brav·er·ies
Date: 1548
1: the quality or state of being brave : courage
2 a: fine clothes b: showy display

I've been busy this weekend with the babies Thursday after studies and Friday into late night. They were certainly a handful - Rubi more so than Abis. But she has rights and demands we meet and honestly being five years old is not easy. We love her change and argument - as long as she's respectful - we let her make her case, i.e., going to the park in 102 degree weather. She argued and pleaded, but this time she lost...for her own good. Another example pancakes at 11:00 at night. She won that one. A final example, playing games for kids (pbskids.org) past midnight. She lost that one.

Abis was good too and has discovered his toes and coos even louder - he actually laughs like a little boy when we kiss his neck and underneath his chin. It's hilarious because he is tickled and happy and coos non-stop. His little arms flail about and when we put our arms underneath his feet, he nearly springs out - his legs are so strong and he is sooooooooo fat. At four, almost five months he is eating gerber apples and carrots. His little lips smacked and smacked at the new tastes and Gera says, "Yeah, he thinks that's a chiche."

Finally, Saturday was our time. We were happy to have it, but love the little time we give the babies. They are worth it. In the midst of a busy weekend and lots to do, I was thinking about the people I know and have watched with my eyes succumb to cancer or to death in general: my 92 year old great grandmother, my very young father, even my brother and Israel came to mind. I always believe, I feel innately that I have been brave in surviving the loss of my only child--and trust me, there were times when I just wanted to go with her--my nostalgia to see her again, to hear her voice again to touch her again was overwhelming in the greatest since--nothing else mattered. It's a phenomenon, an experience that has no language. But I think back on the year 2003 of my father, of my maternal great grandmother - both passed in this same year from cancer. I was thinking of Farrah Fawcett and how brave she and my family members were for facing their enemy and I think about Israel for facing a different kind of enemy.

I will forever wear the shoes of a mother who lost her daughter, but there's a feeling that I don't know and that I am not sure if I could be as brave: facing cancer. To my loved ones who have and who do...you are my hero, now and forever.

my second, last poetry teaching assignment

2009-06-27T11:33:00.034-05:00

. . .

My Papa's Waltz
by Theodore Roethke

The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.

I chose this poem because I think ambivalence is a good start when teaching young students who are new to poetry or who (in my case often at the college level) do not like poetry and will argue that it is unimportant. Also, I had to remind myself that I'm not teaching my classmates, but learning to teach college freshman and the like (what I currently do in my profession). I presented My Papa's Waltz as I often do with my current students, those who struggle with picking a poem, then writing about it.

I presented some images of boxing, waltzing, a child dancing on a father's toes, and a child holding his ear crying. Roethke creates an image in this poem that can be read in two ways if not in others: a moment of fatherly-son play -- a moment of paternal abuse. Specific words create ambivalence and are interpreted either way. There are negative associations and positive ones - although the latter is more challenging to prove.

I like this kind of ambivalence in poetry because it always serves my goal: to ignite contrary sentiments in students that lead to debate. Ultimately, I am usually successful is discussing this work with students because they end up engaging the poem. They become closer readers without even being aware.

In my presentation I experienced some technical difficulties (I don't do Macs), but bounced back with what I hope was grace. A corrupted file, too, is never good. The funny thing is about four female students said to me during a break, "Oh my God, you handled that well. If that was me, I would have cried." And one Ph.D. student said, "You handled that as cool as a cucumber." I guess I understand them, but why breakdown? The point is to teach, even when at times we might have to improvise--a custodian of literature must be able to improvise.

Now, on an even better note, one MA who teaches 9th grade high school presented the same poem as I did, but I think her method is even more effective in sparking student engagement. She has students compare My Papa's Waltz to songs Walk a Little Straighter by Billy Currington and Dance with my Father by Luther Vandross. Very nice method and style. I like this because she brings in the same father-son relations theme but expressed from different perspectives. Her goal is to have students read the latter two, then she asks how does it affect students' prospective of Roethke's work. Very nice!

I've already started my 4,000 word essay. It won't be about Lolita; I'd like to write about Nabakov's work, but it's my experience that poetry is a difficult genre for students to grasp. I'm saving my thoughts, opines and all on Lo for later. I will write on ambivalence in literature and how it seduces students to becoming active participants and yes, even close readers. I'm using sources like Dickinson's "Twas a like Maelstrom, with a Notch" - what does it refer to? How does it make the reader-student participate in her work? By filling in the it does the reader-student sort of write the work with her? And, I'm using Shakespeare's Othello. What is that this Roderigo and Iago initially refer to? Of course, we find out later, but in the beginning we have to fill-in. And what about backstory?

Classes are ending July 7 and I have an even greater presentation coming up. Teaching Nabakov's Lolita; there will be others...professors, students, college affiliates invited to take in our short lectures.

I'm excited about this final project.

RIP

2009-06-26T11:51:00.007-05:00

You both remind us that being human is a complex existence. In the end, we are all vulnerable beautiful creatures.

my lil sis kicks boo-tey!

2009-06-22T21:53:00.004-05:00

Coming in second at the Lake Natoma Sprint Regatta!

She's a San Francisco paddler---representing North Beach!

for my first teaching assignment

2009-06-21T11:28:00.022-05:00

. . .

Dulce Et Decorum Est
by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned out backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

It wasn't easy teaching literature, a poem of choice, to a bunch of Ph.d and seasoned MA students. I was nervous in the beginning, but quickly loosened once the hard, beautiful sounds, assonance in Wilfred Owen's poem read through my voice, off the curves of my lips. If you've never read this poem aloud, try it - it makes you want to cry because the language is beautiful, strong, but you are also stunned and horrified as Owen intends. As long as there is war...this poem...written in response to his World War I experience is timeless.

I was a little worried that a war poem might not set well, particularly once you get to the end and feel the bitterness in Owen's work. But there was such a variety in the poems colleagues chose. Overall, I think my lesson went over well in the short time frame we had - I focused on the strongest literary element: imagery and use of 'children' instead of young men, compound adjectives, and that prominent change to second person point of view. I haven't received my professor's comments yet, hopefully by tomorrow. I have one more to teach and then I have to teach Nabakov's Lolita - I'm looking forward to the latter. I'm so ready now.

Happy Father's Day to my two Daddies, Emmitt and James - the ex-Vietnam War Vets.

And for Father's Day Gera is getting an excellent dinner (caldo de camarones y pescado), a shot or two of gold Patron, and we may drive to the lake if the hot sun permits. He's spoken to his son so they've bonded for the day. We can't wait for the day when Alan comes to live with us. That will be the best Father's Day present.

Gera also said, "Happy Father's Day to you too." I responded with a curious smile, "Why would you say that?" He said, "Because you were Jenn's mother AND her father." Sometimes the sense he makes is too much to handle. It was endearing.

Hope you all have an excellent one and the weather is treating you well!

Trace & Crash

2009-06-19T23:26:00.012-05:00

I swear my best friend loves her dogs more than her husband and their children. These are two separate moments of Trace & Crash passed out from too much Chardonnay!

You gotta love it!

and in her own words: 'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO, What a Ride'

critters that invade

2009-06-19T22:51:00.016-05:00

this little guy was just dying to get into something...he held his little body half in the air, couldn't make up his mind which way, up or down, he wanted to go. finally, he went on about his way, hopefully to later become something a lot more beautiful than he is now--ick!

and this mean mama has been hanging around between neighbors, giving that look of 'give me more food' but don't get close to me. her babies are the cutest things, but we can't touch them because she hisses, even at them at times and they scratch too much which means fleas...i hate cats with a serious passion so i stay far away and respect her space

the june bugs are back too, slamming their bodies into houses, cars, doors, thudding around and winging around like loons (crazies, not duckies). they are fascinating creatures to watch, that is until they fly in your direction...for me it's haul ass.

and then gera found a butterfly that could not fly. he brought it in the house and let it wander around and even tried to feed it cantaloupe juice in a tiny little spoon. he's nuts! but then again, i'm the same way with pokechop, the german shepard mix--i save all leftovers we have just for him and i even save skinfat from chicken. worse case...i bought a package of bacon, fried it and fed it to him. the neighbors are highly negligent.

i finally convinced gera to get rid of the impaired butterfly. it creeped me out aimlessly walking around the living room instead of flying.

hot rains = pots full of pretty

2009-06-12T12:22:00.053-05:00

. . .
In Texas, we are finally getting another break, today, from hot rains. The skies, for the last two days, have changed from dark green to gray-blue to dark gray. The high temps haven't been less than 90 degrees, in fact it's been in the mid 90s---this hot with falling rain. It's quite a sight to see. Here's a clip from two days ago...taken from our front porch as the rains are moved through with more that followed.

">texas lightening

The beeping, the big green street light with the lightening storm in the background creates an eerie feeling of what a war zone must look like.

Despite the recent on-going storms, my flowers are doing quite well. I still have some to get in the ground.

a big pot of tiny hodgepodge
my first attempt at serrano peppers
more rose moss i need to plant--it's beat up by the rain
mint, annoying weeds, and a new attempt at cilantro (if you can even see it)
one part of my purple heart--it can dominate but requires no care
another pot of something succulent that just grows on it's own each year
wandering jew (a great grand fav)

With a little break, hopefully these will dry out some. Today, the sun is beaming through the thick humidity left behind with the rains. We're inside mostly.

Okay, just as fast as I can get this blog posted, the rains are close by---again! Tornados and hail. Yikes! And it's really hot out. I can't win, but then again, hot rains aren't so bad.

grad school glow, selling & my babes

2009-06-07T19:57:00.047-05:00

Caught off guard
Got it right There's a fascinating truth in the 40 year old spread myth...it may be 30. In any event, mine showed up finally, but only, after I met Gera, three years into fives years ago. I welcome it with straight feel-good...I love to jump up and down and feel jiggle, something I've never had. It feels great to go from petite to hell-yeah, that doesn't fit anymore. That sunburn I posted about earlier is finishing up, only to greet another one. Only today, I tried to enjoy my favorite planet in the shade. I sold quite a bit. One couple came through and wiped out all my old, vintage bottles (one still had a dried dead wasp hung into the bottle lip--you can actually see it in one of the photos). Pretty cool, but I kept those bottles separate from my pretty stuff. Some things I like to sell as I find them. Customers like that.

The first day of graduate school I left with a glow that won't quit...I even took it to work with me this morning---the market. Lots of the lighter reading in between sells (yes, that's my book in my hand in one pic) and brain changing from Spanish to English to Spanish to English (Gera didn't help with confusion between BRAND and BRAIN...when I say "miracle" too quickly, he thinks I'm saying "America"--and then there's the 'burn, born' and something else I can't recall that makes so much sense in it's confusion). I won't start on several ladies asking me about the size of some high heel shoes. They used 'me dida'. I'm accustomed to 'tamano'--both mean size as in shoes. Yeah, in one pic you see shoes, then they're gone. Reasons I work at the flea market: to earn money & to learn more Spanish.

Anyhoo, I am required to teach 3 poems, write 2-2,000 word essays and teach, yes, teach Lolita (the yes is meant for me as I'm sure most have done grad school). This is only the leg work. The first day for me was mostly about listening, until the professor called me read a Yeats poem out loud. Tuesday will be about contributing to the round table of 15. Intimate. Nice. I'm trying to be calm because I love everything about it so far, but I also realize that it's a very serious leap into not only literature, but teaching it (the not so easy part).

And I had my babes this weekend. I gave my FatDaddy a bath, usually I sponge bathe him because he's still a little guy; this weekend, he got the works. His sister helped---that was a task trying to monitor both. He blew bubbles and cooed--never once cried. Of course, Gera, makes him show out more than all.
When Abis slept, Rubi and I did puzzles and we read. Her English is improving, but her teacher says she still won't speak it at school. We're working on that with an understanding that she's in a predominantly Spanish speaking household when she's not with us.

I hope your weekend was a blast!