As I lay melting...

A local coffee shop gives poets the stage every Thursday night, and I was lucky enough to stumble into some vivid, enchanting and often hilarious readings last week. Some classic, some original, some in rhyme, others beating out their own strange rhythm. It reawakened me to the power of poetry to capture the essence of a moment. In honor of Waco hitting the 102-degree mark today, I give you a few lines on summer from Robert Louis Stevenson.

Summer Sun

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Great is the sun, and wide he goes

Through empty heaven with repose; 

And in the blue and glowing days

More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull

To keep the shady parlour cool,

Yet he will find a chink or two

To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad

He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;

And through the broken edge of tiles

Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around

He bares to all the garden ground

And sheds a warm and glittering look

Among the ivy's inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,

Round the bright air with footing true,

To please the child, to paint the rose,

The gardener of the World, he goes.

Experiencing 3-D with Mamma mia

Mom and I had intended to see the new musical Mamma Mia this weekend, but the show sold out before we got to the front of the line. So we opted for the 3-D Brendan Fraser flick, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Despite being a child during the pinnacle of the 3-D  era, this was my first experience with three-dimensional filmography. I expected a great vehicle for Kraft product placement (It's the cheesiest!), but I was pleasantly surprised by a decent story line and solid acting. Not to mention very cool in-your-face graphics that made viewers duck and dodge tentacles, dinosaurs and glow-in-the-dark birds. This is one kids movie that the adults will enjoy, too. And if we're really lucky, a few moviegoers will crack their own copy of the Jules Verne classic. 

And no more cardboard spectacles with one red lens and one blue. The shades are much trendier these days. Still, having to wear shades on top of my regular glasses made me glad we were in a dark theater. My bespectacled readers will have to double up, too. Ever wonder what a 3-D movie looks like without the glasses? Much like watching a movie without your prescription glasses. Sure-fire recipe for a killer headache. Click the 3-D link above for a brief explanation of how the technology works. Coming to theaters soon: a 3-D CGI movie about flies on a journey into space. 

Another blast from the past? (Pardon the reference, Brendan.) I heard a piece on NPR this week about John Waters, the man behind Hairspray. Somehow I've made it 31 years without hearing of Odorama, which is how he filmed the 1981 movie Polyester. That's right. Scratch 'n' sniff cards that let you experience the full-bodied grossness of gym socks, dead fish and assorted nefarious bodily odors. It was an interesting interview. Learn all about Smellovision here.

That's really going to leave a mark

I'm not limping as much today, but I'm getting lots of sympathetic looks from passers-by because the bruises get uglier every day. I'm just waiting for someone to hand me a card for a battered women's shelter.

On a positive note, we're moving ahead with the interview process at work. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping I'll get some backup before the semester begins. If I have to go through another year like the last one, I may throw myself down the staircase again. This time on purpose.

Musings from the stairwell floor

Today's lesson, boys and girls, is brought to you by the letter B.

Balance has never been my strong suit. And that's in any context, whether we're talking physical equilibrium or the ephemeral balance between work and play, bliss and despair. I tend to be a woman of extremes. So I'm not surprised that I found myself yesterday afternoon at the bottom of a flight of concrete stairs. With my poor sense of balance, I always figured I'd one day go stair-diving; I just figured I'd be 75 and end up breaking a hip. Instead, I was 31 and clipped the edge of a dolly on the nearby rail. I went head-first down the staircase, a series of thuds punctuating each slam of my flesh on the unforgiving concrete. 

I am bruised aplenty and did quite a number on my ankle, but aside from stiffness and tenderness I'm not too worse for the wear. And my skin matches the lovely teal blouse I was wearing yesterday. (I do so like to blend.) The irony is that I had my back X-rayed not two hours before I took the spill. I think the accident actually knocked something back into place.  

I am reminded of when my car did a couple of 360s on Interstate 20 after I swerved to avoid a tire in the road. When it happened, I couldn't think about other people driving 70 mph behind me. All I could do is mentally chant: Don't flip the car. Don't flip the car. Don't flip the car. I managed to keep the car from flipping, and God protected us all on the interstate that day. I did a couple of donuts and slid harmlessly off the side of the highway into a ditch. Not a scratch on me, the car or the passers-by. In yesterday's embarrassing spill, I managed to protect my head and neck, letting my arms and legs take the brunt of the impact. Another deliverance from serious harm, thank God.

So what lessons did I learn from this?

1. Stair-diving isn't as fun as it looks. I should have read the rules first.

2. You can't will yourself upright when you're already at a 90-degree angle.

3. When circumstances pull your feet out from under you and there's nowhere to go but down, protect your head and let your body take the lumps. Bruises eventually heal.

If anybody asks about the beating I took, I'll tell them the truth. I got into a fight with some concrete stairs, but only one of us got up and walked away. That makes me the winner.

Texas meets the Big Apple

My sister and I traveled to New York City this spring for a visit that was part work, part play. I've pinpointed some of the highlights of the trip on the map below. I am experimenting with Google Maps, which is a handy application that my students will probably use this year. Click on the blue pins to see photos and comments. It's only a tiny bite of the Big Apple, but it's still pretty tasty.

You'll need to click on "view larger map" in order to see the balloons pop up. (You can navigate using the arrows in the upper left corner, but that's pretty annoying.) Not sure what the problem is. I'm sure there's a setting somewhere I'm missing. If you know how to fix it, gimme a shout.


View Larger Map

Sum, sum, summertime: Look on the bright side

It's official: Waco is melting. Today logged in at a sweltering 101 degrees, which makes it the hottest day of the year. So far, anyway. I am reminded of the hot Texas summers of my youth, and why I always dreamed of moving to the northeast when I grew up. You'll not find me soaking up the rays beside a pool when the mercury's rising. I'll be locked away somewhere under the chilly breeze of an air conditioner.

But to be fair, there are a couple of summertime delights that I remember with fondness. 

* Lightning bugs. They gave a fairytale touch to a humid Texas night. Unfortunately, they never lived long in our baby food jars (we punctured the lids for air flow). They did, however, make great glow-in-the-dark badges when you squished them on your clothes. I hardly see lightning bugs anymore. Where, oh where, have all the fireflies gone?

* The Cooke County Library. This was the one place in town where you might want to bring a jacket in July. It was heavenly cold. You could escape from the heat while you escaped into a good book. Rows upon rows of adventure -- Nancy Drew, Sue Barton, The Happy Hollisters, Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, hundreds of assorted mysteries in nondescript hardback covers. I spent many happy hours in that building, and even now I can remember where my favorite books were located. Now, I'm sure, the card catalog has been replaced with computers and the little blue library cards replaced by scanners. Sigh...

* Fresh, sweet blackberries straight from the vine. (And the cobblers that follow.)

* The bittersweet buzz-clicking song of cicadas. Listen to it here.

 

What are your summer delights?

On being awake at an unnatural hour

Since I am awake at a frustratingly early hour, I needed something to make me smile. Hope it will make your day.

The Washington Post has a great slice-of-life site called onBeing. It's a project "based on the simple notion that we should get to know one another a little better. What you'll find here is a series of videos that takes you into the musings, passions, histories and quirks of all sorts of people. The essence of who they are, who we are."

I was introduced to little Gio on my spring jaunt to New York City, and since then I've returned to this page whenever I need a pick-me-up. You'll find him under the archives section. Browse through some others while you're there (creepy girl's definitely worth a look). It's a fascinating cross-section of America.

Until then, beware the snail of mercy.