Teaser:Prospecting again?

Items Ward Cleaver digs out from the cushions of an upholstered chair in the episode Captain Jack:

1 marble
2 pieces of candy
assorted peanut shells
a Peruvian nickel
a caramel
1 sock

The sock is then used as a container for all the other items.


I've been talking about this for days.


Especially that Peruvian nickel.

Bradford

E: Who/what's adorable just now?

B: Kristin Chenoweth still comes to mind immediately. Did I tell you that Joey and I went to see her in Promises, Promises? The crowd went nuts when she walked onstage, and she looked terrific, but the role was just too dreary for her. No one wants to see Kristin swallow a bottle of sleeping pills! And although I'm definitely a Burt Bacharach/Hal David fan, their songs just don't make for a great, over-the-top Broadway musical. (Dionne Warwick's emotionlessness is what makes her versions so successful, right?)

Just remembered Cameron Diaz's karaoke performance of "Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" in My Best Friend's Wedding. Cameron was adorable.



E: What can you tell me about the tiers of living celebrities?

B: I tried to figure out why I'd gotten so excited about seeing Janet Jackson at Scarpetta. There are some legendary living celebrities that one never expects to see in real life--like Cher, Barbra Streisand, or Prince. They're all Tier One. Tier Two celebrities--in my mind--are probably closer to my age than Tier One folks, and they're still courting the limelight, unlike the Tier One crowd. So it's possible that one would see them out and about, but highly unlikely. Janet Jackson (Penny from Good Times! Sister of Michael!) is Tier Two. So is Beyoncé, although I know she's nowhere near my age our age. I never got around to figuring out who's in Tier Three. Anyone with a Twitter account is automatically Tier Three or below. [Whoops: I just checked, and both JJ and Beyoncé are on Twitter. Beyoncé has 0 tweets; I doubt that Janet is actually writing hers. -B]

I recognize that the more thought I put into this, the more it falls apart.



LIza: Tier One or Two?

E: My childhood friend-- really, the older brother of my childhood friend-- is Kristian Bush of Sugarland. I (unlike my father) have long acknowledged and appreciated his fame, but I wasn't truly struck by it until I saw him in the "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" video... standing right next to Barbara Streisand. In other words, inches away from Tier One. You're onto something here. Keep at it. New subject, I'm so excited about your house. Is there a spot in it that you're pleased with at the moment?

B: Yes. My desk makes me very happy. I love arranging and re-arranging all my little things, as you know.

Teaser

From the UW Archives: Lathrop Hall

Design Class in Lathrop Hall, circa 1912. This appears to be the
same room as pictured in Sunday's post.

True Stories: TN vs. WI

Kroger - Maryville, TN - June 2009



Metcalfe's Sentry - Madison, WI - April 2010

From the UW Archives: Lathrop Hall

Classroom in Lathrop Hall, circa 1910.


It's Lathrop Hall's 100th birthday, so I should celebrate with some images of the
building. I think I could learn a lot in that classroom.

communique

In my capacity as international dance conference and festival coordinator, I receive emails like the following:

Hello
The announcement that the WDA is [person's name removed].
The difference is marked as misspelled hayeoseo presenter is trying to change.
Total paper presenter spent three people please speak to two people.
Would it be possible?
Please.

Thank you.

I experience such intense frustration in the face of this because I want to understand and assist accordingly. Also, I'm hit in the face with just how weird linguistic communication is-- that which seems utterly natural to me is revealed to be wholly artificial. Thank heavens for the bilingual who assist me in these situations. The author of the above message is presenting a paper which was co-authored with another individual. However, the proposal they submitted erroneously listed a third author as well, and they are requesting that I remove this third name from the listing on the conference schedule.

Sudafed

[E. reading quietly in one room. K. dressing in another.]


[Long silence.]


K: In college, I drank a lot of Hawaiian Punch. It was in the vending machine at the dorm. I liked it. I liked Punchy. You know Punchy? The cartoon pitch-man? I have a pimple on my nose. It turning my nose red. It make me look like an alcoholic-- like W. C. Fields. [entering room where E. sits reading] See!?


E: Hold on. I'm writing all this down. You're in rare form.


K: I took a Sudafed.

From the UW Archives: Bombings

Primate Lab, having been bombed in an attempt to
destroy the Selective Service Office (January 1970)

Sterling Hall/Army Math Research Center, having
been bombed (August 1970)

simple French lemony yogurt cake w/ strawberry whipped cream

Only Tuff Gnarl Could Be Better

Young at Heart - Schizophrenia

Jeanna

J: I'm having a bout of insomnia, readjusting my clock after Roma... which was great and romantic and just what I needed...

E: Welcome home, love! Now. I've got some more questions. We experienced San Francisco together in the 90's. How were the 00's?

J: The 00s were great for me. The first half of the decade was about me settling into my career, developing this real love for teaching elementary school, and about getting to know myself and growing up with Ale by my side. Then along came little lovely in 06, to make it all that much more interesting!

E: Four years in, how's motherhood? High points? Low points?

J: Motherhood is, in a word, INTENSE! The highs are mind-boggling high, and the lows can feel devastating. So, yeah, it's been emotional.

I'd say the high is, in general, that for me motherhood is like the filling of a huge hole I never knew I had. I think people can be perfectly happy without ever having kids, but once you have one you really can't imagine life without the little bugger. My heart aches for Margo, and I find her magical.

The lows come when I blow it. Parenting is hard work, and the thing I work most on is controlling my temper and reacting with love and patience when she's being difficult. And yes, even though she's magical, she can be really, really difficult.

E: What are Margo's favorite foods?

J: Margo hasn't met many a food item she doesn't like, but favorites include pork buns, edamame, carrots and hummus, all fruit.

E: Those are delightful favorites. How does being a mom compare to being a schoolteacher?

J: Mom/schoolteacher have a lot in common, but most significantly, patience, patience and more truckloads of patience than you thought humanly possible. I find it worlds easier to be patient at school than at home. It doesn't affect me personally when my students are little assholes, but I find it hard to be rational when Margo's one. School is also about crowd control at moments, using my presence to command attention. WIth Margo, it's all personal and small, one on one, quiet and intimate.

But in both roles, the best strategies are the same: be sincere and caring: never ask a question if you don't want to hear the answer the kid wants to give, catch kids doing right and let them know how much you appreciate it, be interested in what they say and do.

E: A favorite from recent mom stories?

J: Margo just turned four and we had her b-day party in the park. She was asking for the cake to be served pretty much the second we got there, so I told her to relax because her birthday lasted all day... there was no rush- she should go play and enjoy herself. Next thing I know I overhear her saying to a friend's mom, "Um, my birthday lasts all day, so you need to stay at the park with me for a long, long time. Just so you know."

E: She's just communicating the conventions of the event. I respect that. A favorite from recent teacher stories?

J: At a school fundraiser the other night, a parent of a kid I had in my class 2 years ago (now a 6th grader) told me that he had an assignment for school to write about a time in his life when he was surprised by something. He chose to write about how hard he thought math in fourth grade was going to be, but how he learned so much with me he realized he really liked math. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

E: What's happening in your book now?

J: Just read Ian McEwan's In the Comfort of Strangers while in Rome. Totally captivating and totally creepy.

E: Favorite things to wear just now?

J: [In response, Jeanna sent images of the Marni dress and Gola sneakers seen above, but she punctuated her pictorial response with the following.] I bought the Pamela Love talon cuff I'd been coveting for a long time... it is truly my favorite thing. Period.

My Abu Ghraib

Happy Days Are Here Again

for kenneth

Teens on the Bus

Bus ride in.
[Bus passes a group of Jews, a handful of whom appear to be Orthodox.]
High school student1: Amish!
High school student2: Did you see that guy?! He was right out of The Crucible, like... I can't remember the names.
High school student1: The Crucible is hoooorible.

Bus ride out.
Two sugar-addled teens make a tentative arrangement to have sex later in the evening. That strain of the conversation was introduced when one asked the other, "Are you a virgin?" Before that, each asked the other, "Do you smoke pot?" Both answered in the negative.

Kenneth

E: Tell me what’s so interesting that you’ve just learned about Warhol.

K: His breakthrough show was in L.A., not New York. The soup cans weren't his idea. He wore wigs.

E: What are ERK’s favorite songs to sing?

K: Does whistling count? "Waltzing Me All the Way Home," "Olympic Fanfare and Theme," "Pretty Little Angel Eyes."

E: You’re very cautious in writing, even in your speech. Why?

K: I'm afraid of being wrong.

E: What’s so fascinating about makeup?

K: Makeup is very pretty, especially eye shadow and lip gloss. I admire the fact that women can transform themselves this way. What Carmindy does with women on "What Not to Wear" is breathtaking. Then with men she's like, here is some lip balm.

E: If you could set up shop anywhere, where would you and what kind of shop?

K: I daydream about taking over Ivo Baldoni's accordion store when he's ready to hang it up.

E: What’s the best episode of Star Trek TNG?

K: The one where a planet is going to be destroyed in a natural disaster, but the people can't leave because the population is perfectly engineered, and that would upset the balance. The one where the brave young Bajoran gets killed made me cry.

E: Ah, the one about the junior officers. I'm keen on that one as well. What’s happening in your book now?

K: It's 1938 and Victor Klemperer is realizing he is in real trouble amid the intensifying anti-Semitism. But he still is able to do his independent scholarly work, and he and Eva take a lot of driving trips. Now a question for you-- What things need to happen for me to be able to sleep? Name three. Extra credit for more.

E: Bonnet (sheet tucked into a headdress), fortress (two pillows placed around body), sleep sound (white noise), book* properly propped on pillow, light source, pillow for head, ear plugs, closet door fully shut, and no air blowing directly on the body. During the cooler months, you favor three blankets folded just so on top of the duvet and neatly tucked under the bed frame. Lest anyone think all this is oppressive, I must declare that I think of your sleep needs as something akin to charming affectations. Now, in exchange for my extra credit, please give me your best Charlie Rose.

K: James Taylah, Stevie Wondah, Cahly Simon...

[The next day, K filled me in on his overnight reading: Jews' licenses were confiscated putting an end to the driving trips.]

*Tiny 'puter may be substituted for book.

Image-Music-Text

Bruce has the best ever Google Image Search page 1 (above with non-captioned text cleared away). The captions comprise my newest lyric, the song that I'm humming:

For Suzanne

Golden Slippers

Lighter gym use over spring break enabled
clearer captures of the haunting flip-flops.