Three Beautiful Things 01/30/09: International Workers of the World, Radio Neighborhood Tour, Au revoir Caroline

1. In Fat Cats and Underdogs we watched the 1979 documentary film, "The Wobblies" and listened to a series of men and women bear witness to the labor struggles of the early 20th century. It's a chapter of USA history that's been largely silenced.

2. I arrived home from school, parked in front of the house, and was so enthralled with a radio story on "Day to Day" about a New York City U. S. Attorney who survived a violent robbery and kidnapping that I took a slow tour of the Whitaker neighborhood until the story was over and then I parked in front of the house again and shuffled into the house.

3. The latest issue of "New Yorker" published a profile of Caroline Kennedy that casts a somewhat sympathetic light on her decision to withdraw from consideration as a candidate for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. I found the piece enlightening. I'm saddened by her withdrawl and I understand better that such a public office may not conform well with her personality, character, or way of life.

Three Beautiful Things 04/25/08: Teaching Talk, Dan's Retirement, Wobblies

1. Our English department spent time in discussion about different aspects of our teaching life. It's rare. Most of the time when we meet we talk about college business and almost never about classroom teaching and the pleasures of our discipline. It's a shame that institutional life is usually so uncertain that the governing of the institution demands so much attention.

2. We devoted time during our day together to honor the distinguished teaching career of Dan Armstrong. He and I were hired into our full-time positions on the same day in 1990 and started our full-time work in January of 1991. We have had offices next door to each other for many years and have grown close over the years. I'll hate to see him go, but I'm ecstatic for Dan that he will move into his retirement life and live his life at a slower and more relaxed pace.

3. Our Working Class Lit/Research class watched a compelling documentary this morning, "The Wobblies", a series of interview, archival footage, and other forms of film examining the short, but passionate history of the Industrial Workers of the World.