There has been a flurry of activity around here -- registration, classes added (or not), preparation begun. It is all very unsettling -- it doesn't seem orderly somehow.
Rotary today as well -- I have to arrive early since I have all the "gear." necessary to do the meeting. Hope it all comes off well.
The weekend promises rain -- and I desperately need to do yard work. We shall see.
All things remain the same.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Beauty in the Eye of...
There is such beauty in the world. Some people are gifted with extraordinary physical beauty, especially when they are young. Others get progressively more beautiful as they progress through their lives, their roles as parents, their relationships, their marriage(s).
Today I had the wonderful opportunity to interact with several beautiful people -- a youngish female scholar, an enduring administrative assistant, a new teacher drawn to the life of teaching our specific students at our Technical College. All of these people were women -- but they were beautiful not just because they were attractive -- but because they displayed depth, and kindness, and compassion -- well beyond their own particular physical beauty. Such complete beauty is the kind that makes my heart beat faster.
It is one of the reasons that I think living, teaching, being a friend, conversing, etc. are all "art forms" fully supplying an aesthetic level of existence to my thinking and my doing and my being.
Today I had the wonderful opportunity to interact with several beautiful people -- a youngish female scholar, an enduring administrative assistant, a new teacher drawn to the life of teaching our specific students at our Technical College. All of these people were women -- but they were beautiful not just because they were attractive -- but because they displayed depth, and kindness, and compassion -- well beyond their own particular physical beauty. Such complete beauty is the kind that makes my heart beat faster.
It is one of the reasons that I think living, teaching, being a friend, conversing, etc. are all "art forms" fully supplying an aesthetic level of existence to my thinking and my doing and my being.
Prelude to a Class
Getting ready for classes requires redoing the syllabus, setting a schedule for the term, mentally preparing oneself for the interactions that comprise teaching, and overcoming the reticence on all sides to the idea of being there -- together -- to learn.
Teaching for me has always been performance -- preparing the brain to move forward into the process without faltering, feeling too many obstacles, or rejecting the process outright. Then the schedule changes themselves need to be assimilated and made easy.
Then comes the execution of the process -- hopefully seamlessly -- and the teacher then focuses on something beyond the simple information.
Teaching for me has always been performance -- preparing the brain to move forward into the process without faltering, feeling too many obstacles, or rejecting the process outright. Then the schedule changes themselves need to be assimilated and made easy.
Then comes the execution of the process -- hopefully seamlessly -- and the teacher then focuses on something beyond the simple information.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Savannah 1
The time between dusk and dawn; when trees drip moisture and the bugs sing in the trees! Trees are hung with vines and Spanish moss. Shadows are deep and dappled under a summer skylight. Quiet rules.
Savannah is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Its people are kind, a little kinky, and compassionate. At night the rustling of leaves mimics the rustling of cool sheets in dreamy bedrooms. Not a party town per se, like New Orleans. But a town of partiers, more like Amsterdam or Stockholm. The town rests in fits and starts, and sleeps on the margins. Each room is a caress in itself. Each house gives a different feeling of complicity. You are not sleeping alone in this town -- even when you are alone.
Savannah is ....... mystery, and story, and a kind of poetic fog. It is words that are not often used: "tontine,""murmuring,""liaison,""erotique,""slow ride." Savannah gives hope to the disjointed and alone -- and caresses the souls of the deep thinkers who also feel almost as deeply.
Savannah is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Its people are kind, a little kinky, and compassionate. At night the rustling of leaves mimics the rustling of cool sheets in dreamy bedrooms. Not a party town per se, like New Orleans. But a town of partiers, more like Amsterdam or Stockholm. The town rests in fits and starts, and sleeps on the margins. Each room is a caress in itself. Each house gives a different feeling of complicity. You are not sleeping alone in this town -- even when you are alone.
Savannah is ....... mystery, and story, and a kind of poetic fog. It is words that are not often used: "tontine,""murmuring,""liaison,""erotique,""slow ride." Savannah gives hope to the disjointed and alone -- and caresses the souls of the deep thinkers who also feel almost as deeply.
Monday, August 12, 2013
North Carolina Shakespeare Festival: Do Not Go Gently...
The NCSF Board voted several days ago (August 1st) to "cease operations immediately" due to a lack of funds, just before engaging in its scheduled audition and rehearsal for "The Scottish Play" in September. The Board, which is huge, gave no details of its situation -- and seemed to suggest (along with the staff) by its silence -- that "oh well, we have to close....la, dee, da." That Board should be eliminated -- with a new Board chosen who can and will actually support the theatre.
Managing Director Pedro Silva is a professional who has directed, acted and produced on the High Point stage for a long, long time. To undercut the theatre is this fashion is an absolute tragedy and elevates "bean counting" to its highest possible idiocy. The Peter Principle is in operation here. People of Greensboro, High Point and Winston Salem -- support the NCSF before you lose it all, on account of the stupidity of a very few.
Managing Director Pedro Silva is a professional who has directed, acted and produced on the High Point stage for a long, long time. To undercut the theatre is this fashion is an absolute tragedy and elevates "bean counting" to its highest possible idiocy. The Peter Principle is in operation here. People of Greensboro, High Point and Winston Salem -- support the NCSF before you lose it all, on account of the stupidity of a very few.
Death Out There
Every person's death around me or near me, serves to remind me of the reality of mortality. Will the world miss a beat when I am gone? No, obviously not. Will even those closest to me pause and reflect about me -- perhaps for a second, if I am even worth that. I am mortal; I am transient; I am constantly moving towards and beyond my own death.
This is not philosophy -- this is fact. There is no religious element to it -- death is simply "death of the body" -- at some last moment of tangible choice. There is no death without this choice, I believe. We have free will -- this I believe. And I also believe we will not be "punished" by a higher being for having that free choice, and even for exercising it -- albeit badly.
What lies beyond death? I do not know. I speculate that it will be as I imagine it to be -- or so I spoke to Sheila at her untimely death. "Heaven will be...what you want it to be!" That is the only answer that logic can bring to the question -- that thinking may or may not be correct, but it is our consolation in the saddest times we live through.
This is not philosophy -- this is fact. There is no religious element to it -- death is simply "death of the body" -- at some last moment of tangible choice. There is no death without this choice, I believe. We have free will -- this I believe. And I also believe we will not be "punished" by a higher being for having that free choice, and even for exercising it -- albeit badly.
What lies beyond death? I do not know. I speculate that it will be as I imagine it to be -- or so I spoke to Sheila at her untimely death. "Heaven will be...what you want it to be!" That is the only answer that logic can bring to the question -- that thinking may or may not be correct, but it is our consolation in the saddest times we live through.
Ray Woods, Rest in Peace
Ray Woods was one of my real friends at Rotary East. Since I became a full-time member I often sat at Ray's table, in the back center (closest to the food, farthest from the podium). We often talked about my job(s) -- which he found interesting; the things we had in common (my birthplace, Milwaukee: a city he worked in and appreciated); companies I knew (Cutler-Hammer, where my Dad worked: a place where Ray consulted in Milwaukee way back when). Ray and his wife Ardis(sp?) who played a Victorian tour guide for many years in Savannah, were fixtures in Savannah and its incredible lifestyle.
Ray was a gentle yet strong man -- always interested in the other person, even when their name(s) would sometimes elude him. Ray finally got my name right -- after many weeks; even handling the intricate foreignness of my last name--Mrochinski.
I really appreciated the kindness and integrity that Ray possessed -- a real Rotarian, a kind and giving human being, an incredible example for others. Ray Woods passed away on April 10, 2013. Rest in Peace, my friend.
Ray was a gentle yet strong man -- always interested in the other person, even when their name(s) would sometimes elude him. Ray finally got my name right -- after many weeks; even handling the intricate foreignness of my last name--Mrochinski.
I really appreciated the kindness and integrity that Ray possessed -- a real Rotarian, a kind and giving human being, an incredible example for others. Ray Woods passed away on April 10, 2013. Rest in Peace, my friend.
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