Georgia again

Back in Georgia for the week, I went to a conference held by the GA Comm. on the Holocaust and it was fabulous. I learned so much, and thought a lot, and feel way more prepared to teach about it. In addition, I got so many resources: books, movies, plus curriculum/lesson plans. And I learned more web addresses that will be helpful. wow

I don't really feel prepared to re-jest all I've learned yet, but the conference highlighted who was responsible and culpable. I learned lots of history, but I feel like even more I have good ideas for discussion and new strategies for getting students to engage in these discussions (and for that matter, any other discussion all year). I feel challenged to do a better job teaching the Holocaust and to get students to be better thinkers. That's always been a priority in words, but I'm not sure I've done a good job carrying it out. I've had my students engage in lots of discussions, but if students aren't apt to speak out or if their brains aren't motivated by this technique, I've skipped over them. Now I have more ideas to make them interact and work on difficult questions. oh boy

Today I pack up for Texas. oh boy oh boy

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Florida

Last weekend I was in Florida for a wedding, and got to camp near St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States.

Some pictures:

Making lunch at the Florida welcome center: I can't really explain this face. but it's making me laugh. so i guess i ought to share it.

road shenanigans:

driving ON the beach:

Laura, Courtney and me.

and this really was as scary as it looks: I drove Courtney's car onto a tiny ferry to get on A1A and we were first in line. Hence, I greatly feared driving right off that ferry.

I thought it was beautiful.

We proceeded on to St. Augustine.

at the beach

first glimpse of the sea!

making breakfast
(I ♥ camping.)

glamorous Courtney

(my next destination)

There are so many good pictures of my friends from the wedding, but it'd be too much to put them all up, so I'm going to upload them to facebook instead. Just one for keepsake- me and Betsy, because Betsy will be leaving soon.

punctuation

ah, the English teacher in me finds great satisfaction in finding someone else who finds apostrophe errors atrocious.

Apostrophe Abuse blog

I saw this in a Holiday Inn: Womens Restroom. What in the heck?

And this was on a bumper sticker the other day:

Somewhere in Texas a village is missing its' idiot.

Really?

And then I saw this in a bio:

I graduated with Honor's.

egad.

re: Rosie

If you recall the Rosie the Riveter post, this will be very cool news to you:

All the "Rosies" were meeting in Atlanta this past weekend, and the very woman of the famous poster will be there. She's 88.
More sweet pictures here on the ajc.

at the Boston Symphony Hall

Hem & the Boston Pops!
oh I wish I could go. June 26 and 27.

there's many more

A few months ago I posted a list of

"Songs for traveling across America"

but now I have so many more to add. I like to put them roughly in geographical order, since my brain likes to operate spacially. I realize that this list could basically be endless, but I'm working with what Courtney and I have, plus a few others we just had to buy.

1. Wakko's America - by Animaniacs
2. America - by Neil Diamond
3. Ice Ice Baby (route A1A) - by Vanilla Ice
   
4. Miami - by Will Smith
   
5. Alabama - by Pierce Pettis
6. Southern Man - by Neil Young
7. Sweet Home Alabama - by Lynyrd Skynyrd
8. Alabama Rain - by Jim Croce
9. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again - by Bob Dylan (Blonde on Blonde)
10. Graceland - by Paul Simon
11. Red Dirt Girl (Alabama) - by Emmylou Harris
12. Mississippi - by David Allan Coe
13. Boy from Tupelo - by Emmylou Harris
14. Mississippi Lady - by Jim Croce
15. Jackson - by Johnny Cash & by Hem
16. Mississippi - by Bob Dylan (Love and Theft)
17. Listen to the Radio (leaving Mississippi) - by Nanci Griffith
18. Louisiana - by Mo Leverett
19. City Beneath the Sea (New Orleans) - by Harry Connick Jr.
20. House of the Risin' Sun (New Orleans) - by Bob Dylan
21. Love and New Orleans - by Mo Leverett
22. Waltz across Texas - by Emmylou Harris
23. Winds o' Wyoming - by Yonder Mountain String Band
24. Ford Econoline (UT-CA) - by Nanci Griffeth
25. Hotel California - by the Eagles
26. California Dreaming - by The Mamas and the Papas
27. California - by Joni Mitchell
28. Talkin' Going' to Alaska Blues - by Shawn Mullins
29. East Coast/West Coast - by Singing Mechanic
30. This Land is Your Land - by Woody Guthrie
    
31. Seattle to Chicago - by Woody Guthrie
32. Baltimore to Washington - by Woody Guthrie
33. Streets of Philadelphia - by Bruce Springsteen
34. Atlantic City - by Bruce Springsteen
35. Born to Run - by Bruce Springsteen (because it almost was the NJ state song)
36. Famous Last Words (Avalon beaches) - by Billy Joel
37. Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights go out on Broadway) - by Billy Joel
38. Talkin' New York - by Bob Dylan
39. New York - by U2
40. No Sleep Till Brooklin - by The Beastie Boys
41. New York, New York - by Frank Sinatra
42. Only Living Boy in New York - by Paul Simon
43. Battery Park - by Screen Door
44. The Hudson - by Dar Williams
    
45. Woodstock - by Joni Mitchell
46. Reservoir (Pittsburg) - by Hem
47. Carry Me Home (Ohio) - by Hem
48. Ohio - by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
49. Iowa - by Dar Williams
50. Take Me Home, Country Roads (Kentucky) - by John Denver
51. Meet Virginia - by Train
52. Carolina In My Mind - by James Taylor
53. Tennessee Waltz - by Hem
54. Walking Back to Georgia - by Jim Croce
55. Oh, Atlanta - by Alison Krauss
56. Rainy Night in Georgia - by Tony Joe White (of which Hem has a beautiful rendition)
57. Georgia Moon - by Pierce Pettis
58. Midnight Train to Georgia - by Indigo Girls
    
59. America - by Simon and Garfunkel
60. Born in the USA - by Bruce Springsteen

Correction

Re: America Songs

Bruce's "Born to Run" is not the state song of New Jersey.

"Born to Run" was almost selected as the state song...but it was not.

See this link.

I did wonder myself at such lyrics being the proponent of my born-state:
Baby this town rips the bones from your back,
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young...

ah, but it is a good song.


I don't wish to speak further about the real state song of New Jersey.

Middlemarch

...there are conditions under which the most majestic person is obliged to sneeze.

George Eliot
p. 713-714

Georgia

Life here has been varied: many projects, cleaning, reading, puzzling, etc. have taken over most of my days.

We bought, decoupaged, and polyurethane-d a porch-table. I finished a 1000 piece puzzle of 3 colors. I finished Middlemarch. I thoroughly cleaned my room. I've begun my summer school assignment. I puttered around a lot. A few activities (that's what I like to call them) have been of more significant note:

A short bike trip from home was the city cemetery where a few notable people are buried, including Margaret Mitchell.
We went to the art museum last week, and saw the photographs of Annie Leibovitz, which I really enjoyed. It was all good to look at, and I especially found fascinating the famous people she photographed. Perhaps because famous people you've seen in movies many times you feel like you know their personality a bit: and she captured them strikingly well. I couldn't say what it was, but it was wonderful.

I didn't see a large print of this, but turns out she photographed the Bruce Springsteen postcard I have with the flag in the background.

I bought one of Johnnie Cash and Rosanne and June Carter.

(this isn't actually the right one, but it's similar, but with June Carter)

The next day we went to a Western Art museum about an hour outside of town. It was much larger than I expected, and also had an exhibit of presidents' faces accompanied with interesting facts about them, and a Civil War room. I'll plan a field trip there for next year.

I really do like cowboys...



so, while all this has been very fun & quite productive, I really am looking forward to change and movement: a trip to Florida in a few days will drive off any ennui coming on.

hurray! Amy and Brian are getting married.

North Carolina

I haven't written for real on my blog for a long time, probably because I have so many good Middlemarch quotes to post that when I come to post, I just post one. I finished Middlemarch last night, and now say that I do recommend it. It was so good, and after 900 pages I still wish I could go back into that world. My reservations about recommending it initially for its length and, at times, slow plot, are gone: it was worth it all.


especially for this one delightful quote:

"And, of course, men know best about everything, except what women know better." ~Celia (838)

Last summer I could not blog currently about my travels because I was never with a computer. But this summer I think I should be able to be better about it.

So far, I have had a wonderfully fun trip to the lake, full of shenanigans and tomfoolery:

and silliness with Courtney:

back to georgia

Middlemarch

"It's no use plying him with wide words like Expenditure: I wouldn't talk of phlebotomy, I would empty a pot of leeches on him."

Mrs. Cadwallader (435)

h.f.

I TOOK THE PIECES YOU
THREW AWAY AND PUT THEM
TOGATHER BY NIGHT AND DAY
WASHED BY RAIN, DRIED BY SUN
A MILLION PIECES ALL IN ONE

-howard finster

I saw this sign at the High today, and was rather facinated by his poems.

this one too:

from Middlemarch

"That is what a woman ought to be: she ought
to produce the effect of exquisite music." (Lydgate 110)

I'm not really sure what I think about this quote, but I find it interesting to read. I like thinking about it.

I decided I like music better than any other thing on this earth.
but that's not really related.

But this is how my brain is working right now, on the second day of summer.

I like playing that game where you add one word to a list according to whatever pops into your brain. It's a good car game, and associations can be hilarious.

This blog is all about it.