Recap of the past two weeks:
Went to St. John Fisher's graduation. It was 3.5 hours long! Congratulations Graduates!
Later that evening went to the Lilac Festival, Rochester has over 550 varieties of lilacs in Highland Park, and saw Rikki Lee Jones and Dr. John. Rikki Lee Jones played songs from her upcoming CD, which will be released in September (just in time for my birthday!). One song "Bonfires of Hell" was so soulful. She's a terrific lyricist. We heard about 4 Dr. John songs before the wind started to pick up. Peter thought the clouds were going to rip open and pour rain, so we walked the distance downhill to our car, and as soon as we opened the trunk to put our chairs away, it started-- ice cold drops. Those poor people at the concert. Dr. John's voodoo didn't keep the rain away.
Last night went to see Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy band at the lilac festival. This was a free concert and it was packed. They were amazing swing band, played a lot of Cab Calloway. People were dancing the jive. Perfect weather too. It had been warm yesterday. No rain. This band is from California and they look "great" -- They've been together, original band members, for 16 years.
SUNY Brockport is done this week too. My students looked so happy turning in their portfolios and final exams. Everyone is anxious for the summer. Me too.
So many people are traveling. I wish I were going somewhere. No plans yet. I would really like to write a few more essays this summer. Slowly, my collection of essays is coming together, but I need so many more pages . . . I think I need to write a few longer essays . . . we'll see what happens.
Saw Steve Fellner yesterday and he "jolted" me with an essay idea (thanks, Steve) while we were talking about movies. I saw The Soloist on Mother's Day with my family, and we went out for a bite to eat afterward and talked about the movie the whole time (slow service too, so this is significant discussion). I rate this movie 5 stars. It's thoughtful and poignant. I'm not going to spoil it for you. Acting is terrific.
The orchard looks like a procession for first communion-- the blooms are white and pink and full of light. It's planting time! Haven't put anything out yet because of frost warnings. Mostly south of here. The lake is a buffer, which can be good or bad news, depending on the weather.
Also, I have Justin Evans' poetry collection! Hope to read it this week. Michael Czarnicki came to my class on May 4th and brought a bunch of books from Foothills, and I bought Justin's book and a book for each student in my class. They made their own selections and loved Michael's visit.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI love the verb jolted. When summer is here, I always get a bit sad: I start feeling of no use. It's nice to know that I did something. I look forward to reading it.
P.S. I know what you mean about the frustration of getting enough pages. That's always my issue. I try to aim for as little as possible, because everyone is mortal and I don't want to take up too much time.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm inudating you with comments. I just got back from seeing "The Soloist." It was amazing. I love that it deals with the ethics of creative non-fiction, and that Robert Downey Jr. is so hot! I can't wait to read what you write about the movies. I know you'll get whatever you say about it will appear quick in a lit mag. Make sure you keep my posted!
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the notes. Maybe we can get together this summer. I read an interesting interview and essay in recent Gulf Coast about Gay Literature. You're teaching the course this fall, right. Would you like to read it? May be a discussion essay for your class? Let me know.
M.J.
I know, I'm one of those individuals that reads journals, cover to cover. I can't help it, reading makes me happy.
I'm so glad I have time off now.
M.J.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteIt'd be fun to hang out. And now I'm my dying to read that article. Do they mention any poets by name?