Pseudo-Sabbatical

As some of you may remember, I am enjoying my pseudo-sabbatical this semester. I was somewhat put out to find that while it was possible to jump the line to get tenure (which I did :-) it was not possible to bend time in order to get a sabbatical. You have to be at the college six years.

Pooh.

But I really need a break, so I applied for and received a reassigned time grant, added it to the one I get for coordinating Women's and Gender Studies and then taught my remaining course as a completely on-line one. So I don't get to use my disapproving teacher look very much except in the mirror, which is hardly satisfying.

So let me look disapprovingly here. Now don't you feel chastised?

I do have meetings to attend, but it's amazing how much less onerous they are when they don't come after teaching two classes back to back. But it's a bit disconcerting not to see my students: well, that's not entirely true. Blackboard has a photo for each student on my roster. Much as I'm relieved not to have all the classroom time -- because after all, I'm going to get lots of writing done! -- I miss that interaction. But I'll be back in the classroom before long, so I better enjoy this brief respite.

Ring Ring Goes the Bell

Classes begin tomorrow; as usual, I face that fact with a mixture of anticipation and dread. Just like the students, I prefer to be on holiday. Every new semester makes me wonder if I know what I'm doing.

Birthday boy Robert (Happy Birthday, again!) says the same thing he always says, "Make them stand on their desks and tear pages out of their books," because apparently Dead Poets Society is the only thing teaching means to him (yes, he does work at Bard).

As usual, I regret not making a better use of my time off. I figure there's got to be some way of getting around the whole need for sleep thing; I did find that drinking tea all day while I wrote did lead to not sleeping, but it was not a very productive not sleeping. Some sleep is required.

I have a course release for heading up Women's and Gender Studies; that "free time" will likely be eaten up by preparation for our conference in March. I'm teaching the Medieval Texts on Film class and also our brand new, never-before-taught Writing for New Media class. Another experiment; why do I do this to myself?

Yes, there's a new episode of The Mangrove Legacy: Alice learns the exciting history of the ghost, Miss Wychwood. Drop by and read for yourself. It's a fun Sunday ritual to dive back into the strangely Gothic adventures. I hope you continue to enjoy it (yes, Cranky -- looking in your direction).

Wish me luck -- we all need it on the first day of classes!

Branding: Medievalist

Yes, the third prong of my branding identity, such as it is, has to be me the medievalist. I realise that all of my many attempts at branding only make it clearer that I have weird and esoteric tastes that resist any attempt to brand me for a potential audience. At least "medieval" is surely a more recognizable quantity than "Finnish mythology" I suppose. I do write about popular culture appropriations of the medieval, too, which helps connect this very challenging academic field into the realm of "normal" people (i.e. those who don't find it necessary to study half a dozen or so [okay, ten] dead languages -- although I do find it helpful to intimidate other scholars by listing all of them ;-).

Before I became a medievalist, I thought the same things about the period that most people do: it's all damsels in pointy hats, knights miladying and a lot of plague. Of course, most of what I thought I knew about the Middle Ages was wrong. I wouldn't have discovered that but for taking Stephen Mitchell's class at Harvard where I read Beowulf and Njál's Saga and discovered Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse literature and culture.

It changed everything! I was in love with the languages and had to read more, more, more -- and then I found myself in a PhD program in Medieval Studies and on my way to being an academic.

But it's a hard sell: folks seldom know much of anything about Old Norse and not that much about Anglo-Saxon, apart from Beowulf (and seldom much accurate about that terrific monster story). There's so much fun stuff! Last night at the medieval reading group that the friendly folks at Siena College invited me along for, we were reading riddles. Here's one to give you a taste of this puzzle poetry.

Exeter Book Riddle #9

Mec on þissum dagum deadne ofgeafum
fæder ond modor; ne wæs me feorh þa gen,
ealdor in innan. Þa mec [an] ongon,
welhold mege, wedum þeccan,
heold ond freoþode, hleosceorpe wrah
swa arlice swa hire agen bearn,
oþþæt ic under sceate, swa min gesceapu wæron
ungesibbum wearð eacen gæste.
Mec seo friþemæg fedde siþþan,
oþþæt ic aweox, widdor meahte
siþas asettan. Heo hæfde swæsra þy læs
suna ond dohtra, þy heo swa dyde.

Translation by Craig Williamson:

I was an orphan before I was born--
Cast without breath by both parents
Into a world of brittle death, I found
The comfort of kin in a mother not mine.
She wrapped and robed my subtle skin,
Brooding warm in her guardian gown,
Cherished a changeling as if close kin
In a nest of strange siblings. This
Mother-care quickened my spirit, my natural
Fate to feed, fatten and grow great,
Gorged on love. Bating a fledgeling
Brood, I cast off mother-kin, lifting
Windward wings for the wide road.

Do you know the solution?

BitchBuzz: Hi-Tech TNG

My latest piece for BitchBuzz deals with my on-going concerns about the ways we're not incorporating New Media into the classroom and our students' professional development. Sure they can all Google and text each other, but they're not always aware of how they present themselves rhetorically in digital space, nor how to prepare themselves for the new working models of collaborative work and constant revision.

I was fortunate to have my colleague, Kim Middleton, point me to a quick note in the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the higher rates of collaboration between digital humanities scholars that really highlights one of the touch points of this on-going negotiation for faculty. Thanks, Kim!

BitchBuzz: 21st C Women's Studies

Check out my latest piece for BitchBuzz where I try to focus on the duties I'll be taking on as coordinator of the Women's and Gender Studies program at my college. It's going to be a challenge to revitalise the program as we had an off-year last year for a variety of reasons. My thought is to shift focus to targeted topics and events that invite participation from a wide variety of folks: students, staff and faculty as well as the wider community. I also hope to forge closer relationships with like-minded groups on campus.

Suggestions welcome!

Seven Deadly Sins

Of course, this spider isn't deadly, but it looks as if it were! Okay, there's not really a link to my topic, I just thought this picture Stephen Fry posted on Twitter was terrific. He's currently down in Madagascar and if you follow his tweets, you will get some cool photos.

In class today I had my sophomore class do an exercise I have used before, but the results intrigued me because this is one of those quiet classes that seldom speaks. Consequently, they have made a lot of extra work for me to come up with a variety of techniques to get them to engage with the materials, including making them lead the discussion at the start of each day. Not always successful, of course, but at least they get to feel a little empathy (I hope) for my frustrating situation.

The exercise focuses on our reading of Chaucer's Pardoner's Prologue and Tale. The Pardoner is a swindler who not only tells his fellow pilgrims how he swindles people, but tries to do it to them at the end of his tale. That's some chutzpah! In demonstrating his art, he actually offers a moral sermon on the theme Radix malorum est cupiditas, or avarice is the root of all evil (a subject he knows all too well).

In the course of the discussion, we talk about the Seven Deadly Sins, a popular rhetorical tool in the Middle Ages (and beyond: Marlowe gives us a wonderful parade of them in his Doctor Faustus). Then I mention how the Vatican has come up with a new list for our time, modernizing the medieval trope.

Before I show them that list, I ask them to work in pairs and make their own list. I also ask that they provide people in the news to exemplify them. It's always interesting to see what they come up with. I did a version of this just a week or so ago with the freshman medieval class: their major point of concern? Gang violence, for one, which seemed an odd thing to focus on in this relatively safe city (especially for a bunch of mostly small town and suburban kids). They also came up with some of the same concerns as the Vatican, like environmental damage, drugs and excessive wealth.

The sophomores also focused on greed, citing Enron, the oil companies, Hollywood and, perhaps unfairly, Bill Gates, as examples of avaricious wealth. The big thing for them, however, was adultery. I think every single group listed that, citing either Brad Pitt or Bill Clinton (they ran neck and neck throughout). Pity that this seems to be the legacy for Clinton, not that balanced budget and lack of debt that we're all paying for now with the no-tax-but-plenty-spend (AKA après moi, le déluge) practices of the current administration. There was one group who blasted stupidity and named W and Palin as examples, but by far Clinton was a favorite target. Those who named murder as a key sin also mostly named O. J. Simpson as the example. I mentioned that he had been found not guilty in his criminal trial, but they seemed to disregard that detail.

Paris Hilton was the equivalence of conceit for several of them. There was a group that found flashy dressing to be a sin and mentioned a co-worker as an example (too much glitter). One group mentioned rape as well as murder (Ted Bundy and Charles Manson respectively), but on the whole I was struck by their very personal and judgmental focus. There was little perspective on the larger world around them or vision beyond their own immediate concerns.

I always learn from my students, but I don't always like what I learn.

Devil's Night (almost!)

Two things: on Thursday, the actual Devil's Night, we'll be taking part in a reading on campus sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta. Many spooky stories and poems will be featured as well as costumes and general spookiness. If you're in the neighborhood drop by Standish Room 1 in the Student Activity Center around 7pm.

Also, my poem "Devil's Night" is among the submissions at the Guardian for Halloween poems. Feel free to stop by and recommend it (link on the right next to the poem): vote for me!

Living Down to Expectations

I give up: my students in the Gender and Medieval Literature class have let me know that the fight to gain equal rights for women has utterly failed. Life today is apparently much like that of Anglo-Saxon England (although with better plumbing). Men, they tell me, are still expected to be brave and strong like Beowulf and the other warriors. You don't want a guy falling apart in an emergency, one told me, a woman can fall apart. Yeah, another agreed, if you go to a scary movie, you want to be able to hide on his shoulder when you're scared. Yes, as a horror film veteran, I rolled my eyes.

But I have to admit it feels like all the efforts of second and third wave feminists have been for naught. Given the virulent sexism of the political coverage for the last 18 months or so (brilliantly skewered by two of the funniest women working now, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) even by supposedly "liberal" commentators like Jon Stewart and Keith Olberman, it kind of makes a gal lose all hope.

Teaching the Zemeckis Beowulf film in my upper division course rubs salt in that wound, too. I do still find it shocking that 21st century filmmakers have even less regard for women than the 11th century monks who wrote down the original text. The monks at least thought women had some purpose other than as sexual objects for men, could even seen women as powerful leaders. At least a couple of students in that class were appalled by the film, but it's small comfort when I have creative writing students writing about their future wedding day as "the best day of my life" -- yeah, and it's all downhill after that?

Is it really such a radical notion today that women are people, too? Not defined by biology? Not just not-men? I guess so.

What's got art and sounds like a bell?

The last of the Jonathan Miller events took place at the Tang Teaching Center at Skidmore (which comes up on Google after the drink and the dynasty). This was a conversation which seemed to have more potential for fun than the panel discussion and more interactivity than the lecture.

Miller took a stand for versatility against creativity, making a point about what he called our "art intoxication." We don't value the really creative things we do all the time, he said, like speak coherently in our language to one another which takes an amazing amount of knowledge, versatility and creativity. This also brought him back to the unconscious which he distinguished from Freud's view of it as a kind of prison from which ideas might escape "like Mr. Toad dressed as a washerwoman." For Miller, the unconscious is a pool which enables us to do so much because we know far more than we realize. The conversation veered from Darwin to bats to bosh shots and beyond. I wish there had been time to hear more about directing, but then again, Miller insists that there is no great mystery in directing -- it's all about making actors forget what they think they know and accessing what they do know unconsciously about how people really act.

All this was in between the seminar and then lecture from our Distinguished Scholar, James Collins. He was terrific and accessible to the students, and had lots of compliments for them later. Presenting a work in progress in the afternoon seminar allowed both faculty and students to critique the argument and examples, and offer alternatives and further illustrations. The lecture was a lot of fun and I was really proud of my students from the film class who were able to recognize immediately the still on the screen at the start of the talk which was only an inky hand holding a quill. What a great class! It was terrific to welcome a fellow popular culture scholar to campus, too. There are still some who cock a suspicious eye at the field.

Speaking of terrific, Doctor Who is back -- yay! Catherine Tate's character is far more restrained than in the Xmas show, fortunately (and anyway, yay for funny women!). DW seems both more fun and far less irritating than Torchwood, which at least brought back James Marsters for the big finale. Yet, we still watched the whole season of Torchwood. Just goes to show you how little there is worth watching here.

Cranky

We headed up north again yesterday to meet Crispinus at the Parting Glass before the next Miller event:

Panel Discussion - Film & The Imagination
The panel will feature Jonathan Miller and Faculty members Tom Lewis (English), Marc-Andre Wiesman (Foreign Languages and Literatures), Erica Bastress-Dukehart (History), and Skidmore student Sean Mattison '08.

The pub was a good choice: good pub grub and there was time enough for a couple of Boddingtons before the panel. We arrived to find the auditorium well-filled. After some technical difficulties, things got rolling with a response to the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. Miller began somewhat crankily by arguing that good books should never be make into films, that bad books make better films. While I'd agree with the latter, I certainly don't agree with the former -- and I thought, Miller (director of a fantastic version of Alice in Wonderland, mad tea party image above) didn't really either.

So when questions were solicited, I raised my hand and asked about this. Miller admitted that this was very "contradictory" of him and that he indeed thought Alice a good book, but he wasn't so much filming the book as a kind of essay about it. I didn't get a chance to ask whether other directors of films from good books might not be doing the same thing, as there were many other eager questioners. I did talk to Erica Bastress-Dukehart afterward, who felt that Miller had dismissed her interpretation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail a bit too quickly. So, we bonded over Python, bad medieval movies and their usefulness in the classroom.

Today we have James Collins here on campus which ought to be a lot of fun. There's still the interview with Miller at 4.30, which I might be able to swing between the Collins events. We'll see how much energy I have by this afternoon. Tired, over-busy and feeling a bit cranky myself (and unappreciated).

That's academic life: surrounded by insecure people who know how to find the weak spots in others and exploit them in order to prop up their own timorousness. Yeah, I chose this line of work -- and it's still better than working 9-5. I have no plans to ever go back to that soul-sucking life, but at times I do have to suppress the temptation to carry a cricket bat for corrective measures (only, of course, "to threaten them with a spanking when they're sulky"). Life is a glorious cycle of song, a medley of extemporanea...

(Oh, and my academic email address has been hijacked for spam -- yay!)

On the borderlands

According to the Gregorian calendar, we stand on the edge of a new year. Since most people in this part of the world share that calendar, the belief is ubiquitous. It's fascinating how much our conception of time guides our lives. The arbitrary markings in opposition to natural markers (sunrise, sunset, warming and cooling seasons) try to impose an artificial sense of control over the natural world -- and we imagine we have some control.

We have returned from our visit to Connecticut (and filling up on cheap Massachusetts gas: at $2.97 it's a difference of thirty-some cents over local prices). We had a good time at Miss Wendy's where we finally watched the rest of The Simpsons Movie and the first couple of episodes of Paranoia Agent (yes, the song is still stuck in my head). A nice surprise to have Alex on hand, too, so we had a chance to catch up on her life in grad school and some exciting new comics news.

After some fine chili, it was over to the Aloha Alcohula where drinks and snacks were in plentiful supply with the QoE and Johnny 10X the always gracious hosts. Marko was in black-n-white and the Boojums in mostly black (black is the always black). Much conversation, silliness and laughter ensued as always. It was great fun to see Bernie play with Fang using the laser level, aka the most expensive cat toy. We managed to sit up a while longer with Miss Wendy after the party and slept rather late the next day before having a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, salmon and cream cheese.

Yet after that nosh we headed over to the Vampire Bed & Breakfast where Elena immediately began plying us with food, including some tasty pizza that Rod ran out to get from the notoriously cranky Angelina's. Sufficiently carbed up, we headed for home to collapse with a very happy Kipper.

Tonight we're scheduled to hit a party at a colleague's house; it's a tribute to her winning personality that we're willing to go out on "amateur night" especially when we're both feeling rather tired. I'm not sure we'll last long, but I'd feel bad about not turning up when we had already responded positively. So Gene's out shoveling away the few inches of snow we got last night so I can run to the laundromat. Hope it's not a nightmare. Too many of those lately.

Whirling

The positive aspect of snow is that it can force you into slowing down. I must admit it's hard to find the good in the freezing rain that's supposed to come this afternoon, but an excuse to be stationary is probably enough. Friday I had my last two finals back to back, ending with the presentations from the Creative writing class. It was a pleasure to see how far the students had come (for the most part) and I told them to be very pleased with themselves and appreciate just how much they had accomplished. It came in the tangible form of their very large portfolios, which were a bit of a struggle to get back to my office through the snowy paths.

The freshman-level medieval class (non-majors) seemed to appreciate the opportunity for extra credit points, including "what kind of tea does your instructor drink?" because I always have my thermos of Twinings English Breakfast and usually burn my mouth on the first cup, making them chuckle. I also gave them up to three points for listing medieval films -- considering how much we talked about it and how much advertising there was for it, I was surprised that they didn't all name Beowulf.

Saturday started early with a trip to campus to be on time for the bus to graduation at the Empire Center. I make sure to be at mid-year graduation because Kalamazoo always conflicts with spring graduation. Unlike last year, I knew at least a dozen students who were graduating, which was nice. I got a little distracted by the president's speech, because he began by quoting Nicolas de Chamfort's advice, "Swallow a toad in the morning and you will encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day," but ended with a reference to one of the founding sisters of the college, who advised starting each day with an expression of joy. Would that be before or after the toad?

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get through as much grading as possible (I had no intention of taking all those portfolios home) before running to the post office (oh my, what a line) then rushing home to bake cookies, cut Gene's hair and get ready for the first of two parties. The hair came out okay, but the cookies less so. Fortunately Gene had made his special aromatic rice dish, so we were a hit anyway. Such good food! I'm grateful we have so many friends in the area already, but I'm even more grateful that they all cook so well.

This dark time of the year seems to exacerbate doubts and despair. I feel like a root of the poison tree of late. Two publications I have written for ceased publication this year, and a third seems to be tottering on the brink. I got a paid commission just last month, only to receive an email from the editor saying that the owners were halting publication. Unfortunate news for me, but I felt worse for the editor who was now out of job -- happy holidays. It feels like I cannot open an email without finding a rejection inside it. How did Blake maintain his confidence in the face of relentless adversity? Surely he doubted at times -- did it make him more certain the next moment?

If the Sun & Moon should doubt,
They'd immediately Go out.

My mind springs randomly to the Victorian protagonists of Dracula, like Mina Murray and Jack Seward. Stoker has the latter record in his diary, "I have a sort of empty feeling; nothing in the world seems of sufficient importance to be worth the doing... I knew that the only cure for this sort of thing was work..." So, to work; I have grading to do.

Happy Birthday Jane Austen -- and Philip K. Dick, two writers whose legacies live on. Sometimes you have to trust that your vision is right; just try not to think about the all too common fate of such writers to end up impoverished and unknown.

Lucia Day & Snow

Lucia day dawns with a heavy snowfall in upstate New York; when I saw "dawns" well, I wouldn't know about that because I didn't get up until 11. Longest I've slept in I don't know how long. You'd think the candles alone would have woken me up, but we went out last night to see The Golden Compass (review to follow) with our friend Lou and then watched Order of the Phoenix when we got home, so we were up rather late. Kipper did his part, crawling up between us to make us fall asleep, snoozing between my feet most of the night and sitting by my head when I started to wake up, as if he were trying to will me back to slumberland. Gene says he's been doing the Snoopy vulture pose over my head after I fall asleep. Is he plotting?

My colleagues publish in academic journals; Chuckie's friendly faculty find buried treasure! Who's cooler? Is there any doubt? Maybe we need a different patron saint for the college, although as saints go, one who lives and meditates in a garden and makes handicrafts to support her family and the local poor ain't so bad.

Brittle

I find it a tad ironic that last night I made nut brittle and this morning everything was coated with a thick shiny layer of ice -- at least I felt a strange sense of déjà vu as I chipped off the shards of ice glazing the car. I had woken up at the usual time, but went back to bed until I heard the snowplow go by. I figured that after rush hour the roads would be clear. As expected, the worst parts were at each end of the journey to campus, our driveway at home being a sheet of ice and the lot at my office barely punctured by the sprinkle of salt chucked on it. The crossing gates were stuck down at the railroad tracks, but the cops were there to wave us through (which nonetheless made me a tad uncomfortable).

I just don't have the adventures Miss Wendy has, but her story did remind me of a favorite song by Neil Innes that was part of the Rutland Weekend Television (with Eric Idle), where he performs as the Marx Brothers.

Friday with Jordan went okay. After worrying so much, the shot went fine. He never even flinched. Plus, Robert left us yummy enchiladas and fresh guacamole. Not to mention the fabulous breakfast, too -- he always spoils us. On the way home, not quite as many raptors as the last trip, but 17 or 18. Mostly they were red-tails, but there was one that I think was a Broad-winged Hawk, enjoying a meal up on a branch. We saw one in the process of catching her lunch as well. One raven sat way off in the distance on a lone tree.

The season heats up: finals to give this week (tomorrow and Friday), graduation and two parties Saturday, and of course, next Monday is my birthday -- where I already find that most of my local friends have to attend a meeting, while one of my colleagues is giving a holiday party that everyone here will probably attend. Grumble, grumble; nothing like a birthday the week before Xmas.

Prose at the Rose: Tramontano

The latest episode is now on the air. Check out my interview with Jan Tramontano. Her work has appeared in Poet's Canvas, Chronogram, Mom's Literary Magazine, American Intercultural Magazine, Knock, The Culture Star Reader and Women's Synergy to name a few. She is currently working on her first novel and is a member of the advisory board for the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and is a member of the International Women's Writing Guild. Jan reads her story "The Landlady."

Magister Class

At the invitation of Crispinus, I came to his class to speak to the students about my novel Pelzmantel. It was my first experience of the kind; I've spoken about my writing on panels at conferences, but never in front of students (except incidentally in my creative writing classes). So it was a nice ego-boost, as well as a paying gig (thanks!). I have been so busy that I didn't really have time to think about it, so I didn't bother getting nervous until fairly close to class time.

Beforehand we discussed the aim of the session and the fact that the students were supposed to be running the show (yay!) which took the pressure off me. I would only jump in if they seemed to run out of things to say. It was strange to be in a classroom without some plan, but I knew the topics they had been running with -- myth and fiction -- so I had touchstones that I knew would be familiar.

The odd thing is that it all seems so long ago: I wrote the novel while working on my dissertation. It came out four years ago, so I was glad they didn't ask anything too specific. I tried to get at the balance of inspiration and planning that is part of most writing projects; there are always things you intend to do and things that surprise you, the happy accidents. One of the students asked if I would sign his book (of course!) while others were interested in the publishing process itself, including whether the author has input on the cover art (not usually) and how much editors change a manuscript once it has been accepted (it varies).

Afterward we went out to Sushi Thai with the Crispinus clan and Dan's peer mentor for the course, Julia. Great food and highly entertaining conversation made for a terrific evening. We even stopped off at Ben & Jerry's at Kaitlin's suggestion (or was that begging?). Much fun -- and next week Gene will talk to the same class about comics, although I'll miss it because I'll be teaching. Pity. It would be fun!

Good News!

My abstract has been accepted for the "Forging Folklore: Witches, Pagans and Neo-Tribal Cultures" conference at Harvard May 3-5, 2007. I'll be speaking on Finnish magic and music which ought to be entertaining. Of course, I'll find an excuse to bring my kantele along as well. I had planned to attend the conference anyway as it has a great set of folks, including Ronald Hutton who will be keynote speaker Thursday night of the conference.

[image © Timo Kervinen]


The Joey Zone is happy: he got name-checked in Elena's Goth Scout strip on Sunday!

Less good: lack of plowing on campus (and Albany streets) meant I could not find a place to park today, so I finally gave up and came home to work. Good thing I can do almost all my work from home -- except for the office hours. Sorry, students! At least I don't have any meetings scheduled today. Besides, I would have had to leave early for my doctor's appointment anyway. Perhaps tomorrow I need to bring the snow shovel and dig out a parking space for myself. Let's hope the melting starts soon!