Life Around Shepherdstown

Summer has arrived

2011-07-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying plenty of greens from the garden this year, including spinach, arugula, cress, scapes, and herbs, but now the better days begin. The small tomatoes are starting to come off my plants and the big guys will follow. Also, my garlic patch is near ready to dig up. A few garlicy friends from last year's location decided to grow this year. I hadn't been taking care of them because I wasn't sure who they were, but they did alright on their own. Here are a few. I was happy to see that the red variety was growing because I forgot to save some of those to plant again this year. I'll be more careful this time.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-11-21T21:05:00.001-08:00

Another successful year. I contributed some standard favorites - sweet potato casserole, orange sweet potato cups, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, dried cranberry and plum challah, dressing, teas, a peanut butter pie, and - of course - the turkey. And I did it with only one fire this year!! Each year I like to try something new and this year's new addition was a local turkey!!. I bought it from the Mennonites who live in Antietam Battlefield and they processed it for me the day before I picked it up. What a beaut! She was a 18.5 lb gem who thankfully fit into the oven in just a way that I could get another dish in there to bake at the same time. Here are some photos of part of the spread. We also enjoyed a delicious spicy spinach artichoke dip, asparagus, spinach salad, blue hubbard squash soup, tomato tart, broccoli slaw, yam salad, mashed potatoes, Hütte peach cobbler, apple crisp, pecan pie, red velvet brownies, and some delicious wines. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Radishes - Chinese Red Meat

2010-11-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

I was very excited to grow these puppies in the garden this year and finally it cooled enough to make it happen. I still have a small copse of these guys in the yard. I'm borrowing that term from the tree world. The growing process was curious. They first grew with small red roots growing above ground. Then they grew fat and seemed to bury into the ground, at which point they turned green on the outside. I couldn't wait to cut into them - and look how pretty!

Table updates

2010-11-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

I was in NYC for a couple of days, so the new table was put on hold. Here is what I was able to get to today and then another photo of how it will potentially look with the top boards on it.

It's November

2010-11-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

and here's what's up. I began building a farm table for my kitchen using plans from a blog that my sister loves. Here's a photo after the initial steps. At this time I was cooking, building, grading, and preparing food for the freezer. I've been freezing soups and greens - bok choi, chard, radish greens, turnip greens, and some other special things that I don't know what to call but I bought them at the market. Can you see all the activity in the photo?

And here are some radishes and bok choi I harvested today.

Peacherine

2010-10-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a little Joplin to start the day.

Other delights

2010-10-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Every day I pick something from the garden and eat it with a meal. Here are some photos of a few fall gems, including bok choi, mustard, spinach, and radishes. And in case you haven't noticed, my blog posts photos in the reverse order from how I upload them.

Almost November

2010-10-19T20:06:00.001-07:00

....and my garden is still heartily producing. I already pulled up most of my tomato plants, but as you can see here those still in the ground were still blooming and producing. I picked this whole bowl of tomatoes to make either green tomato salsa or green catsup. I'll decide later this week. Alack, I ended up pulling the remaining tomato plants a few hours after taking these photos. The temperature is expected to be in the low 40s/high 30s this week, so it was only a matter of time. I thanked them tremendously for their offerings in my garden this year before pulling them up and burying them in the compost pile.

West Virginia Storytelling Festival

2010-10-19T19:58:00.001-07:00

Last week I was one of the featured tellers at the WV Storytelling Festival at Jackson's Mill. My partner for the event was Ilene Evans, who you see in the last photo here. It was shot in the LIvestock Barn. This less-than-desirable venue was one of the only buildings large enough to hold all of the children that came. We told to 1200 students over two days. The other building is much nicer, but I didn't get any photos there...so I had to borrow some from Granny Sue's blog. The other two tellers this year were Granny Sue Holstein and children's book author Marc Harshman. Granny, Ilene, and I have told together before. And Marc was one of the judges of the Liars' Contest waaaaaay back when I first started.

Link to DP song

2010-09-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

I see that the link didn't make it on. Check this song out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiUjYoa6dvU

The hocket I mentioned begins around 2:36.

Fat Red Carrots and a golden beet

2010-09-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

...can't wait to eat those greens!

Dirty Projectors

2010-09-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

Kristy Ch. and I went to see the Dirty Projectors at the 9:30 this past week. First of all, it was great to get into the city. Second, we had just opened an art show hours earlier - with Karen G. the three of us make up collabAttack. And third, the Dirty Projectors blew my mind.

Opening for them was Owen Pallett - formerly Final Fantasy. He was great. It takes a brilliant mind to come up with looping music that works to well.

Then the DPs - I was blown away. Their drummer played the set harder than I've every seen anyone do it. I really thought he was going to break the drums and cymbals at times. It was awesome.
The singers were dead on, and they did things I didn't think were possible. They must all have perfect pitch, because their cold starts on quartal harmonies were unbelievable. And then their trademark hocketing was wild. For a great example, listen to "Remade Horizon." The first part of the vocal hocket begins at 2:37.

I saw it happen. It is humanly possible. And then there is Dave Longstreth, who is a madman and a genius. I can't wait to get more of their music and see them again.
Here's a photo from the show. We were maybe thirty feet from them, although this photo makes it look farther.

Red & Orange

2010-09-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Another Photo

2010-09-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here's another photo to show where the fruit actually goes in the machine.

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Cider

2010-09-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished product - a half gallon of great cider. I had several beautiful jars of this sweet drink. It literally does not get any fresher than this.

Cider Day #2

2010-09-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

We had to break at one point to go collect more apples and pears. Here we are gathering fruit. In one photo you can see me up in the tree - I scaled it to shake out pears from the top.

Cider Day

2010-09-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Karen G and I joined Amanda and James for the first cider press of the season. Here are photos of us using the press. I think we pressed about ten gallons total of apple, pear, and mixed cider. Amanda and James keep bees, too, so toward the end of the pressing bees were on everything. This was a good lesson in coexisting with bees. They are really just curious and looking for sweets, and once you get used to them you can pick up a tool or pan with all kinds of bees on them without any fear.

Let's All Gather Round the Ol' Packard

2010-08-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

So here's a movie of me playing my new organ. It is new to me, but was built circa 1892. Its a Packard and what a beaut she is. In the video I'm playing one of my favorite songs from Mary Poppins, which I think is fitting for the sound of the instrument. I made another video from the other angle and even lit candles in the candle holders to show how it would have originally been played (it was, after all, built before electric lights were ubiquitous) but that video wasn't as good. The downside to this video is that you get a lot of pumping noise. Hey, I understand that this video looks all Alice-In-Wonderland and such, what with the giant chair that causes me to bend over to play..and the fact that there is an organ in my house...but I think that is par for the course of my life.

County Fair

2010-08-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the county fair pies. First you see peach pie, which won second place and was delicious. You can see the flavor just oozing out, which was a reduction of peach syrup and brandy.

Then you see apple pie, which did not place but was still very delicious. The filling was similar to that of one you used to be able to get out at the Tradewell in Lavalette. It makes me want a Red Faygo or an RC.

And here is a photo to show you the insides of the purple carrots.

More Garden Gems

2010-08-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

So here we have some more goodies from the garden. First you see purple carrots. They have a brilliant orange hiding under the skin with a bright yellow center. I tasted the first one - wow! What a flavor. Very rich, crisp carrot flavor that bites you back. I'm glad I have more of these in the ground and a new batch coming!

Then you see some greens, which include wild rocket and swiss chard. Here the chard is red but I also have pink and yellow. And I threw in a couple of special nun beans for good measure. They have lots of nicknames - holy spirit bean being one of them - because of this special mark on the navel of the bean which looks like a nun praying. Or a dove, soldier, baker, or many other things depending on how you look. Click the photo for a more appetizing view.

Here's the first volunteer tomato to ripen. I'm not sure what these are, but there are about 20 of them on the plants and they have a small donut shape to them. This one was tasty. I also have German Lunchbox tomatoes - small and pink, hot and sweet. There are about 30 of them on the plants but they are also taking their time ripening.

Garden Gems

2010-07-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here you see some coriander seed and some little purple potatoes that were dangling at the bottom of one of my potato plants.

A few days later I was tilling the soil so I could add compost to then plant veg for the fall. Lo, there were more potatoes chilling out in the ground! Apparently they don't just stay under the plant.

Here is a large baby bok choy that I will probably eat tonight for dinner.

First llamas, then ducks

2010-07-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

And here was another surprise in the yard - ducks. I came home from telling stories in McWhorter, WV to find some ducks outside of the back door. This is where my neighbor's cat stays and therefore the lawn doesn't get mowed here. I figure that there were some nice insects lurking about for the ducks.

Phone Updates

2010-07-20T10:19:00.001-07:00

I couldn't figure out why the leaves on my potato plants were disappearing - if deer were to blame then why were they only eating those plants? Well, I found the culprit.
Here's a rumtopf update. So far: cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, wine raspberries, apricots, red currants, and now shirot plums.

2010-07-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

On 4 July I was on my back porch and I could hear bells - lots of tiny bells. I figured I should see what was going on so I put my book down and went around the house to find this:

Llamas in my yard - eating the shrubs!!

Here's the replica of James Rumsey's steamboat in the 4 July parade:

And here are the llamas in the parade. Their owners parked outside of my house for the parade lineup.

A Lesson for the Future

2010-07-17T13:51:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty proud that I've been able to make some significant changes in my life the past few years. I cut out trans fats and artificial sweeteners, I only purchase meat from the local butcher who serves locally raised pastured meat, I'm learning to grow vegetables, I took most of the plastic out of my home, and so on. But there are always lessons to learn. Here's the lesson I learned today - when you over-winter vegetables in a cold-cellar or root-cellar, don't forget to check to make sure you've used them all when the winter is over. Recently I've been feeling sick in my home as if I had a cat or lots of fresh flowers inside (neither of which apply). Then I began smelling a musty smell and no matter how much I cleaned everything it persisted and has - imagine this - gotten stronger in the midst of this heat wave. I found the solution - two acorn squash and a pumpkin, stored under the stairs, now rotting and growing a lovely culture of their own (to my sister - this is not like kombucha). I'm in the process of cleaning EVERYTHING out from under the stairs which is now covered in a red liquid, mold, or the psychological invisible coating of something dangerous (thanks Mom). More later.

Senate

2010-07-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

I went to DC to see Senator Byrd lie in the Senate before being airlifted to Charleston, but unfortunately there is no visitor parking at the Capitol or the Capitol Visitor Center. Ironic? So after driving around for a very long time I finally found a parking meter. Get this: in DC a quarter will purchase seven and a half minutes of time at the meter. How much for a nickel, you might ask? One and a half minutes. I'd say that unless the ticketer is within sight, don't even bother inserting a nickel for that whopping amount of time. This is why I never drive into the city (combined with the traffic signals on the sides of the road instead of being overhead). Anyway, after emptying out the silver change from my car, I managed to buy twenty seven minutes of time in which I ran to the back side of the Capitol just in time to see the casket being brought down the Senate stairs and placed into the hearse. Here is a photo of the Senate house just after he left.

Garlic and Berries

2010-06-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

I could wait no longer - - and dug up some garlic from the garden. Perhaps I dug these heads up just a bit too soon...they are formed but a tad small. The garlic I dug up today was larger and they have all been delicious. Also, I went foraging for berries today. I picked a quart and used half of them for a custard pie I made with a golden oreo crust. It was quite tasty. Here you see the other half, some of which will go into the rumtopf.

Rumtopf!!!!

2010-06-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hey gang! After hearing friends recount the story of Lynne Rossetto Kasper's intriguing description of a rumtopf, I have researched the magical rumtopf and have decided to make one. Here's a photo. I just added some gooseberries which caused the splashes on the side of the jar. I hope I'm doing it right, because as Dad said, "[it] will either turn out to be incredible, or you will poison yourself." I'm paraphrasing. Essentially the rumtopf is seasonal fruits juiced in sugar for an hour or so and then put in the pot and covered with rum. This continues through the year and then sits some time before wintertime consumption (again, Dad commented, "Does your fantasy of this thing include fairies?") So far, "meine Rumtopf hat" strawberries, cherries, and gooseberries.

Potato Flowers

2010-06-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

The potato plants are flowering - see?

Phone Photo Updates

2010-06-19T10:00:00.001-07:00

Hey Gang. Here are some photos from my phone. While visiting Huntington with my sister and her kids, Hudson and I dug up lots of worms and then raced them.

Escape

2010-06-17T20:34:00.001-07:00

I should add that the most incredible thing to happen on this trip came from the radio. The Piña Colada song came on the radio and I mentioned how it always reminds me of my friend Heather, as she is one of the few people of my generation who knows that the artist is Rupert Holmes. And then - WOWIE - I drove into a town called Rupert. I called Heather to tell her and she pointed out that I was seeing Rupert homes while hearing Rupert Holmes. Now THAT is incredible.

And somehow, I think the whole time I was Near Kermit...

more photos

2010-06-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Here you see some more of New Vrindaban and then the New River Gorge Bridge and the Gristmill at Babcock State Park. This was my first time driving down into the Gorge to Fayette Station. I now have a better appreciation of the convenience of the new bridge. I haven't been to the mill since my sister and I went there in the early Aughts. Speaking of, I hope she is enjoying my more-detailed elaborations of these photographs. I certainly enjoy hers.

More Palace Photos

2010-06-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

New Vrindaban

2010-06-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

For a long time now I've wanted to visit the Pradhapada's Palace (aka the Golden Palace) in New Vrindaban, WV. Since I was telling stories at Oglebay this past weekend I made the trek to the Palace - wow, is it ever worth it. The palace has some 30 or so different types of marble, there is incredible moulding and gold leaf, and you can hear the meowing of peacocks from down near the temple. Photography is prohibited inside the temple, which is where the really astonishing beauty is, so look online for photos inside. There is also an award-winning rose garden, a lake, many statues, and a learning center (an Indian woman who spoke maybe ten English words was able to convince use to come back inside to watch a life story video of the Krishna). There wasn't enough time to visit the restaurant or the lodge, but I would have liked to eat there. This was truly one of the most spectacular places I've been to in my life.

Recent Storytelling Travels

2010-06-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks - Well, I've been on the road quite a bit recently and here are some photo updates. In this set you see me at the Vandalia Gathering Old Time for Young 'Uns playing the banjo. Also here are photos of the beautiful Camp Caesar where I told stories for the WV Conservation Camp. Everyone there was very friendly and welcoming.

The art parade

2010-05-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

So for my sister and all others interested:
The art parade was an "art" "parade." Much of the genesis came from a collabAttack idea (collabAttack being the art collaborative I'm part of) and was fulfilled as a Visual Thinking project in the art department. Four VisThink classes worked on semester-long projects for the parade, including costumes and sound devices (I won't go into the full assignments here). I helped critique some of the costumes as a guest artist. I also contributed to the research that went behind the sound devices. Members of the music department joined in on parade day.

The campus and parts of town were blocked off on parade day and the 80+ participants paraded through campus and town (in the rain, I should add). The police helped out and the mayor got really mad but Sonya Evanesko (art dept faculty) came to the rescue. What a parade!

Old things from my camera #4

2010-05-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

A vid of the art parade.

Old things from my camera #3

2010-05-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the Shepherd U. President at the end of the Art Parade. Then there is a drawing of one of my students and his twin brother hitting me with their car.

Old things from my camera #2

2010-05-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

Photos from the very awesome Shout Out Louds/Freelance Whales concert at the 9:30 club.

Old things from my camera #1

2010-05-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

Some photos from Second Job Birthday parties and another funny sign from the volcano.

Chihuly

2010-04-11T17:58:00.001-07:00

I went to the Columbia Art Museum during Southern Tour '10 and happened upon the final day of installation of a new Chihuly piece. How cool!

Chihuly

2010-04-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

I went to the Columbia Art Museum during Southern Tour '10 and happened upon the final day of a installation of a new Chihuly piece. How cool!

ZOMBIE!

2010-04-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of the zombie I found coming out of the ground in my back yard.

Gospel Concert

2010-03-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir came to town last Friday (not a great video).
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First Signs of Spring

2010-03-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

The bulbs are growing and the crocuses and snow drops are blooming...

More Philly

2010-03-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Check out all of the cool sculpture, architecture, and history Philly had to share:

Philly Trip

2010-03-15T10:04:00.001-07:00

Philly reminded me a lot of a big Huntington in its architectural style.

Burning Old Man Winter

2010-02-15T15:46:00.000-08:00

For a list of posts in the correct order, begin with the first Fasnacht post and then come upwards toward this post.

More Parading

2010-02-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

Parading Around Old Man Winter

2010-02-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

Fasnacht #2

2010-02-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

Here is the effigy of Old Man Winter hanging in the Community Hall as everyone danced around

Here is the post of directions in town

And this is what I woke up next to the following morning

Fasnacht #1

2010-02-15T15:36:00.001-08:00

Here are some shots of the parade around Old Man Winter in the Community Hall...

and here you see the Hütte in Helvetia where a delicious meal was had by all

The next big problem...

2010-02-15T15:32:00.000-08:00

...is the melting and refreezing of the snow in town. Here are examples of the result:

the great snowstorm of 20-10!!! #4

2010-02-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

The great snowstorm of 20-10!!! #3

2010-02-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

The great snowstorm of 20-10!!! #2

2010-02-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Well folks we sure got a lot of snow - check out these photos around town.

The great snowstorm of 20-10!!! #1

2010-02-08T13:08:00.001-08:00

collabAttack - Constant Winning

2010-01-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

You'll notice that my posting ceased around the time that HomeComputer got the axe. I think I might be back in the game for posting, pending that I can remember to bring the photos to work. In the mean time, here's one of my arts collaborative, collabAttack, from a photo shoot we did in preparation for upcoming events. This is from an in-progress project called "Constant Winning"

Challah

2009-11-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of a marbled raisin and cinnamon challah I made. I forgot to take a photo of the bread out of the oven, so just imagine what it looks like. This is a five strand braid before and after rising.

Warm weather

2009-11-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

Here's what happens with November is unseasonably warm. You can't tell from the first photo, but look in the second photo and you'll see that two rows of garlic had already sprouted and grown a few inches. Here's another of a snapdragon blooming and then one of lettuce that I'm hoping will go to seed.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T11:11:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos from my Thanksgiving party. The menu included turkey, sweet potato casserole, sweet potato orange cups, mashed sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, parker house rolls, raisin challah, cranberry sauce, pasta salad, green beans with cranberries and almonds, split pea soup, roasted root vegetables and squash, sweet pepper jack macaroni and cheese, quinoa and pomegranate salad, horseradish scalloped potatoes, bread dressing, salad, roasted rosemary potatoes, olive hummus, molasses cookies, jefferson davis pie (in photo), and pumpkin pie.

Waffle House Birthday!

2009-11-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

The local Waffle House was celebrating its tenth birthday so we made an outing to the party!! w00t w00t! We won Waffle House Santa ballcaps from Christmas 2008!

Morgantown and the couch

2009-11-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

Well, the couch finally decided to come downstairs. Here are some photos of it slowly climbing down to the first floor. Also, here's a photo of Mariah playing a graffiti melodica.

Autumn Glory

2009-10-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

And the Autumn Glory festival was the only fair I've been to with a Thai fair food booth. It actually looked pretty good...

Cathedral State Park

2009-10-17T11:43:00.001-07:00

And now some photos from a hike we took in Cathedral State park, site of 200 - 500 year old giant hemlock trees, strange plants, and lots of amazing fungi!

More Photos from Dolly Sods/Oakland Trip

2009-10-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the men's bathroom in Hellbender's Burritos, my new favorite restaurant in Davis, WV. Apparently a hellbender is a kind of salamander that lives around there. I had just bought 941 postcards for $7.00 at the Blackwater trading post so everyone in the restaurant played "guess how many" (kind of like the jellybean game) and the person closest to the actual number won a sampler of postcards. Anyway, here's an X-files scene in their bathroom. You also see some photos of the smallest church in the lower 48 states.

Dolly Sods #2

2009-10-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here you see more Dolly Sods photos. This is the first overlook. K-Gerg went camping with me and we both nearly froze. Its great to have another friend who loves the outdoors so much. The third photo is of a bog at the Dolly Sods.

Dolly Sods

2009-10-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

And now some photos from the Dolly Sods. October is the best time to go up there - and they had fixed the road since the last time I made the voyage. In one of these photos you can see the one-sided trees that grow because of the extreme winds. You can see how blurry the others are - it was hard to hold the camera steady.

Blackwater Falls

2009-10-14T09:39:00.001-07:00

The first set of photos from my storytelling trip this past weekend. Here's the incredibly beautiful Blackwater Canyon from above.

Shoes

2009-10-04T18:24:00.001-07:00

Here I am with Don Davis - its a footsteps thing.

National Storytelling Festival

2009-10-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from Jonesborough. Here we see Don Davis's tent - so many people were there that we had to stand outside. That's what happens when they have one less tent this year. Also you see Granny Sue, Lorna, and Kevin as we swap ballads by the ISC.

Harvest Table Food

2009-10-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

And here's what I ate. First, a tomato bisque that nearly made me cry (it was that good). Second, a pizza with lamb sausage, peppers, onions, and sundried-tomato cheese. Have you noticed that I write about food a lot on here?

Harvest Table

2009-10-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

I stopped in Meadowview, VA en route to the National Storytelling Festival - its the restaurant associated with with authors of the book I'm teaching in my PHIL classes this semester. Here are some photos.

Here you see the kitchen, the creative outdoor seating (which smelled of so much basil), and the storefronts for the restaurant and general store, which made up most of the downtown.

Oktoberfest at the Bavarian Inn

2009-09-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from last weekend's Oktoberfest, one of my favorite days of the year. You can see the Alphorn being played, bell ringers, and dancers. What you can't see is all of the delicious food I ate.

Holla!

2009-09-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

har-dee-har-har

Table Update @2

2009-09-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Grouting begins today...

Table Update

2009-09-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Updates on the table project which is taking forever. Thanks, new job.

Pizza Party

2009-09-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from our gourmet pizza party. Good luck trying to imagine what they tasted like:
1. Bacon, BBQ Sauce, Tomatoes, Basil, Colby Jack
2. Feta and caponata
3. Cantaloupe, goat cheese, capers, sautéed julienned beets, rosemary

Challah!

2009-09-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Happy new year to ME! Here are the early stages of my new Rosh Hashanah raisin challah recipe. Look for another post with photos of the baked bread.

County Fair

2009-09-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

Some shots from the county fair. The cow photo is an illusion - I'm not trying to put my finger in its butt.

Collabattack!

2009-09-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from when we (Kristy, Karen, and I) set up our installation in the Shepherd Faculty Art show. I did the sound design, which, unfortunately, doesn't come through on here.

Table

2009-09-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a mosaic on the top of my porch table. The plan is to make it look like an illuminated manuscript from a Medieval "Gloria." I haven't put any grout in so the staves and notes don't pop out yet. Next comes the big colorful G in the upper left corner.

Potpourri

2009-09-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of one of the many Naked Ladies that popped up in my backyard (I put the bulbs in earlier this year). And here's a shot of Camden Yards from when I went to see the Indians play the Orioles.

Gallery opening

2009-07-30T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the completed Warhol-esque pop paintings from my NYC 60s class. First, the light switches, the "I'm not a plastic bag" with detail, and then a hummer and polar bear.

More photos

2009-07-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the quilt that one of the seminars created. It is being donated to a local caregiving organization that helps teenage mothers.
On a different hand, things in the dining hall took a turn for the worse when I had to create a cookie and saltine sandwich.

Class photos

2009-07-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

Here we have several class photos. First, my Andy Warhol class opens their time capsule on the last day. Second, sharing a final project in the graphic novel course. And third, a visit to the Chrysler Museum for the Cooool class.

Updated Painting Photos 2

2009-07-25T20:12:00.001-07:00

Updated Painting Photos

2009-07-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

GovLove

2009-07-25T19:59:00.001-07:00

The first photo is of a bathroom scenario that I found amusing. The urinal was out of order, so someone posted a sign with the comedy-tragedy masks.
The second photo is of a praying mantis I saw one night as I was making phone calls and eating broccoli.
The third photo is of some students enacting the last supper.

More Warhol Kids

2009-07-15T14:24:00.001-07:00

NYC 60s: Andy Warhol

2009-07-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

My Warhol kids are creating pop-art style paintings on the theme of "Environmentalism."

Just Dance!

2009-07-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

Our first dance was on Saturday night. Here you see shots of students and faculty letting their hair down after a hard first week. One of the most popular artists of the dance was Lady GaGa, so we talked about her today in "Coooool" and it turns out that none of the students really like her. i don't get it, and yet I have "just dance" stuck in my head.

Week 1 Update

2009-07-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here I am, Saturday night, end of week 1. It has been a trying week. We have had the normal setbacks, such as being locked out of rooms and/or buildings, miscommunications while learning the ropes, and so on. There have been other setbacks (or displacements or insert your own euphemism here). I've had interesting teaching experiences to say the least, but it looks like we're revamping some "educational prerogatives" and hopefully next week will recapture the students.

Speaking of students - they are incredible. It is scary how eager they are to engage in intellectual discourse. I love teaching PopEd and popular culture. It is also great to watch the students as they realize that everything before this very moment is history, which means that yes, we can study Queen Latifah as a historical figure and discuss the semiotics of Verizon Wireless ads.

My telephone doesn't work inside any of the buildings here and my dorm phone has some issue where it doesn't ring. Feel free to text or leave messages - I get them at some point when I go outside into a green space.

We've been blessed with AMAZING weather and a FLAT campus. The theaters here are really fantastic spaces and the classrooms are...well, some of them are great and some of them are in need of a renovation.

I'm readjusting to the concept of having a roommate and what it is like to never truly be private. It hard to think that I did this for two years in college, but it has given me a lot to think about concerning cultures of the world where multiple generations of multiple families occupy the same living space and sometimes the same room.

So far this week we've been treated to a reading of the play "Love Letters," an artists' panel, and a Bollywood film festival. The faculty had a rehearsal today for the Variety Show to be held on Monday (notice I didn't say "Talent Show" - that moniker is long gone). I managed to get out of bed to do my tech, which lasted for about three minutes and consisted of me choosing a stool and lighting. Which leads me to mention that I have been sick - lucky me! But I slept a lot of it off today and now I'm on the upswing.

So far I've only had one student injury, which was a fractured elbow, and the monkey-bite count is still at zero (hoping to not surpass last year).

And now I'm off to supervise a few minutes of tonight's Around the World dance. I'll update as the time comes.

Birthday

2009-07-08T20:19:00.001-07:00

Ad you can see, we had a pretty crazy birthday party....for about twelve minutes. Then we all had to plan.

CNU at Night

2009-07-08T20:13:00.002-07:00

Here are the library and Student Union - much more impressive at night.

Incompetence or Overly Safe?

2009-07-04T21:31:00.004-07:00

This is one of the first things I saw upon arriving at CNU. I found this gem in the stairwell.

Shiny Happy People

2009-06-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

I learned that I can upload video

Jackson's Mill

2009-06-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Look at how beautiful Jackson's Mill is! I told stories here to the WV Higher Education Leadership Conference in May. I'll be returning in October as a featured performer in the 13th Annual West Virginia Storytelling Festival. Just imagine it with the changing leaves...

Chincoteague Trip

2009-06-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

Here are a few photos from the trip, though I guess I didn't take any of us at the beach or doing anything.

Pies!

2009-06-15T08:13:00.001-07:00

Here are some pies I've made recently.
There's a lime pie with strawberry sauce, a strawberry rhubarb, a glazed strawberry with a ghostly lemon chiffon, and a raisin rhubarb. Yum!