Stream of Consciousness Continues:
Completed the A section of my iTunes and am now in the middle of B. Sometimes it is painful to not skip a song, either cause I'm not in the mood to hear or because it's something weird, but soldier on I do. (Caleb, Simon and Garfunkel's America came before Bernstein's, becase the artists were listed as Various, and obviously S comes before V.)
And now friends, the answer is blowing in the wind. After that I embark on the 14 songs in my library whose titles start with the word "blue" or "blues".
Thoughts thus far: Pat Metheny seems to have gotten a lot of play in the A section. Also some things are difficult to listen to out of context of their larger work, so that by itself, one little Allegro from Handle is a little bizarrish when it comes between two pop songs. Copland's Applachin Spring got listened to out of movement order because of the alphbetation, but this presented a fresh listen to the music I'm very familiar with. Because I also have many instances of the same song by different, and sometimes the same, artists it's been interesting to compare interpretations. For example the difference between the An American in Paris conducted by Gershwin, versus a version conducted by Bernstein.
Biggest surprise: Since the first time I heard An American in Paris in roughly middle school, I've thought I hated that piece. But it turns out I don't. Go out and listen to it.
Glory Hallelujah
Totally forgot it was Palm Sunday weekend, until I ventured to the grocery store Saturday evening and saw people lined up with Palm Fronds outside the Cathedral, it still took me a minute to put it all together. "What are all these people doing, and why do they have palm fronds?...."
Church! Faith! Thoughts!
Thought this was going to be a long section, huh? Nope. A friend of mine did ask me this weekend what I believe and why. This is always a challenging question. Not the what so much as the why. I'm still not thoroughly satisified with the answer I gave - I believe I probably could have expressed things more clearly. But it's always an interesting question to ask yourself - Can you give a good answer?
Also, I went to St. Paul's Episcopal on Sunday. I really appreciate the Easter season, for me it's where the heart of Christianity is wrapped up. And so there's no better time to ask the what and why then right now.
You know you teach in the inner city when:
A good portion of your faculty meeting is spent discussing the rise of gangs in the community and what colors to monitor and ask students to remove - this is a bigger issue in the middle school, but more prevalent in the elementary than you would think. We were also reminded that gangs recruit via MySpace - clearly technology makes everything better.
Recommended Reading:
If you're looking to be completely freaked out by the reality of drug culture in the inner city, the effects of poverty and lack of structure, then rush right out and get The Corner by David Simon and Edward Burns. It follows some Baltimore residents through a year of life. I won't say it completely changed my perspective, but it did give me a few missing puzzle pieces to understanding this city and culture.
If you're looking for lighter fare: Well, I probably can't help you, it's not my thing. I'm currently reading Watership Down on Melissa's recommendation - initial thoughts: This book is weird, why are rabbits talking (Hlao-roo, and flay-rah). But it has since hooked me.
I finished Lonesome Dove last month, but I can't talk about it yet, I'm still a little emotional over it.. You should read it though. Thanks to Blythe for bringing it my way.
And the whole comments thing:
Four comments on the last post is good, more is better. Come on folks, give me a shout out here. I recognize the writing is not up to Bears and Penguins usual standard, but gimme a break, gimme something. Consider the comments like instant validation for me - yes, I know it's selfish to ask, but there it is. It is to be hoped that Bears and Penguins returns to a higher standard in the near future...
4.02.2007
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2 comments:
What, seriously? You've never read Lonesome Dove before last month? You're a Texan, for god's sake. That's like me as an artist saying "Pablo who?" I had no idea; I mean, it never occurred to me. I would have sat you down and forced you to read it at gunpoint, if I'd known.
Actually, that would have been a fun college story. "I'd like a chance t' shoot at a educated man once in my life."
Meanwhile, at well over 24 years of age, alphabetical order continues to reveal disturbing truths to me. For instance, I've often noticed that my record collection, when placed A to Z, is a bit top-heavy. I never thought much of it until I was at my favorite music store with a friend a couple of weeks back. The store is fairly narrow, but very long, and it's arranged alphabetically starting at the front, much like you'd expect. We were looking around, and after a few minutes, as we approached the rear of the shop, I realized that I'd never been back there before.
Unless I'm shopping for something specific, I just start at the front and work my way back, but because I'm not rich, I never make it past the first few letters before blowing through my budget. As a result, while there are probably just as many artists in the "M" or "O" or "T" sections as there are under "B", guess which I have the most of? So now I'm making a conscious effort for the next few months to start with "Z" and work my way up.
Damn you, alphabet. Is nothing safe?
Timing is EVERYTHING. I am quite happy for you to thank Blythe for bringing Lonesome Dove to your personal space in Bmore. I must however point out that for all of your reading life, there has been a copy within arm's reach on a bookshelf near you. As always, so many books and so little time to curl up with them.
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