Note to self

STOP MITHERING!

In Case You're Wondering

This is what a tenure package looks like; this is actually Kim's (who had loaned me hers as a model) because I only remembered that I was going to take a picture of it after I had turned it in. More or less like mine, though the tabbing is far neater. It contains the letter applying for tenure and promotion (the hardest part to produce), CV, all your year end reports, all your faculty data forms (another kind of end-of-year report), nine teaching observations, from other faculty members, and course evaluations from twelve different courses. The letter has to highlight what's important in the hundreds of pages of data included in the binder, so the committee gets a picture of who you are as a teacher, scholar and colleague (assuming they don't already know). I'm fortunate that at least a couple members of the committee know me personally and are acquainted with what I do. The problem of being a medievalist -- what you do seems odd and often obscure to others.

Back in Black

I lie -- I'm wearing grey at present, but how could I miss the opportunity to put a bad AC/DC tune in your head (okay, it's not that bad). Seems like LoudTwitter gave up the ghost the last couple days, so you missed fabulous tidbits like:

Kate Laity fell up steps Thameside, but did not drop her Magnum; gentleman who helped me up clearly impressed with my priorities. Slight bruising only.
Tue at 4:05am · via Twitter [necessitating a link to explain which Magnum and the discovery that the camera appears to have been a casualty of the fall]

and

Kate Laity thinks it might take a crowbar to pry her away from London: yes, that is definitely needed. Waah! [included video thank you to all my pals in and about Britain]
Yesterday at 2:14am · via Twitter

and of course,

Kate Laity has returned to Albany where, ironically, it's cold and rainy.
10 hours ago · via Twitter.

There are some more pictures to put up (yes, including Kew Gardens, Joey!) and of course, lots to write about, but first I have a few practical things to do, such as making certain no bills went astray while I was gone and that there's still enough money in my account, etc.

So -- what did I miss?

[by the by, photo above from the tube station at Green Park]

Wrapping Things Up

Well, that's the theory anyway. I tried to get important things done today -- when not running off to see Robert's new cottage and have lunch at Mexican Radio. I had papers and posts to grade, email to which to respond, reviews and short essays to write, blog posts to keep up with (eep -- not exactly doing that now), but my flight's not until 6pm (why was I thinking 4pm?), so I have a bit of time tomorrow. Anon -- too tired at the moment (and no, not packed yet).

I'm supposed to be guest blogger at Sia McKye's blog, but I haven't heard confirmation from her that she received my post, so we'll see.

Kazoo Round-up

Just back from my meeting with the VP and the Dean, where I formally accepted the position of Coordinator of Women's Studies. What was that I said about only suckers taking up administrative positions? ;-) Let's consider it the first step in my plan for World Domination or perhaps as a new hat (we all know how I love hats).

Kalamazoo: In lieu of a long digressive recap, let me give you a short surreal one. Fly to Detroit, Amy forgot her license so I drove the Prius (nice!), late the first night, busy the first day, meet ups at the wine hour, dinner with Steve derailed by his flat tire, but conveniently invited along to another dinner, conversations into the night in the quads at Valley III, Friday meetings and panels with Societas Magica, my roundtable (went well!), dinner with Pearl, conversation until 2!, Saturday more panels including the bloggers, mead with Frankie, dinner with Steve at Bilbo's, the DANCE! Sunday driving back to Detroit, counting the dead deer and bloated raccoons along 94, flying back to Albany, sudden realisation that the summer class starts in the morning...

Still feeling like Alice running with the Red Queen: unlikely to change before the end of the month. Then I can catch my breath!

Curse of the Demon

Day two of the horror class consisted of a full-on run through the 40s and 50s. While I talked about a lot of things, I concentrated on showing two films -- not something I plan to do everyday, but as I was giving short shrift to the time period anyway, it only seemed fair. For me, this meant Val Lewton and his protégé, Jacques Tourneur.

First up was Cat People, the Lewton-produced/Tourneur-directed classic starring Simone Simon as a Serbian woman haunted by her people's past. Because we start out with a reading focusing on the psychological development of "the Other" it's a good one. Well, it's a good film anyway, with Lewton's classic eye for light and shadow. At the center of it Simon's Irena represses her sexuality out of fear that it will unleash a beast in her, foretold by her homeland's folktales. The students had plenty to say about the subtle workings of Lewton's film and picked up on the skillful uses of sound particularly in the stalking scenes.

After a lunch break (which I forgot yesterday, no wonder they looked so wan by the end), I talked about the 50s SF horror films for a bit then started up Night of the Demon (AKA Curse of the Demon). Based on M. R. James' "Casting the Runes" it tells the tale of a Crowley-esque occultist sparring with scientific sceptics via supernatural means.

You may know it as the source of the line, "It's in the trees! It's coming!" in Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love". My students, I fear, will always know it as the dvd that suddenly stopped playing ONE MINUTE before the end of the film. Howls of disappointment. I did find a link to a YouTube video that shows the very end, so I emailed that to them, but --

Ah, teaching!

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.

Vote Today!

I don't usually focus on politics, but today all USA-ians have the opportunity to change our country and our influence on the world. It is your duty as a citizen to get out there and vote. Of course, I have definite opinions about who are the best candidates, but my haranguing you here won't affect your vote. I will say that I'm voting to end the horrors of the last eight years, a culture of deceit and cynical war-profiteering by old men who can't remember how many houses or factories they own, who show contempt for their fellow citizens and got us mired in an illegal war based on lies and personal aggression.

I am tired of fear-mongering fools who use their own mental faculties to disparage intellect and education, to the extent that the education system in this country has reached a crisis of over-management and discouragement to both instructors and students. I despair at a nation that values the arts so little, obsessing instead about their own fifteen minutes of shallow fame.

Vote! Your life, your job and the survival of the world may just depend upon it.

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.