Reflections Upon 56 Up (I reveal details about the movie)

I can never remember if I've seen all the "Up" movies since 28 Up or if I missed 49 Up.  I guess the important thing is that I feel like I've seen them all and I that I have an emotional investment in these characters.  After all, in one way or another, they've been on my mind for twenty-eight years since I saw 28 Up in 1985 at the Cinema 7 theater in downtown Eugene.

When I watched 28 Up, back in 1985, I suppose I thought of myself as kind of a fourth-rate Anglophile.  I had been to England twice, in 1975 and 1979, loved it, and was a graduate student in English literature, which I also loved.

So, in 1985, I listened to Jackie and Bruce and Suzi and Symon and Nick and Neil and Lynn and Sue and Paul and Nick and Tony and Andrew (John and Charles did not participate) being interviewed, I was mostly mindful of Margaret Thatcher.

28 Up had been released in 1984.  Thatcher had been in power for about five years.  I had it in my mind that, as I watched 28 Up, that the subjects of the movie seemed less British to me in their dress; they seemed more Americanized on the surface.  I had it in my mind, back then, that the Reagan America was a model for Thatcher and that somehow it must all be going her way.

That meant that I experienced Neil, the homeless man wandering the north of England, as embodying the Thatcher wreckage.  I remember thinking that she had indeed punched huge holes in the social safety net and that while Neil fell through, someone like Andrew, a solicitor, was doing splendidly in Thatcher's England.

I know now that my response in 1985 was shallow.  I really didn't know how Thatcher's England was affecting these people in any learned way and it was silly for me to feel like the "England I loved" when I visited was giving way to American clothing styles.

So, a week ago today, I went to the Bijou Theater in Eugene and watched 56 Up.

As a fifty-nine year old, my response to the movie was much different.

I didn't really respond much to the surface changes in the characters, except their faces.

I loved how their faces had aged.  Each of them had weathered (and were weathering) tumult of some sort:  divorce, death in the family, infidelity, chronic illness, financial pain, criticism from the press, miscalculations about their lives, loneliness; in short, they had grown into becoming very unique individuals, but had also grown into becoming emblems of what is universal in the human experience.

Yes, in those faces one can still see the difference in social class and can still see that what was in the seven year old is in the adult.

But, at what I can only think of as the spiritual level, those differences faded away and these thirteen people had matured into something like a full expression of the benevolence that was always present in them.

This benevolence in each of the people moved me to weep.

Again and again, each person made it a point to say that what mattered most in their lives was love for others.

For Neil, it was love of friends and fellow worshipers; for John, it was not only love of family and friends, but devotion to charity work in Bulgaria; Tony's wife endured his stupid dalliances with other women, and now, less brash, more settled, Tony could see that what matter in life was not "birds" and "chasing skirts", but home, his wife, his children.  Symon and his wife extended love to the outcast as foster parents; Bruce married late in life and after having been a teacher to the impoverished in England and India, he was now a father, devoted to his sons, as he had been devoted to his teaching projects when younger; Lynn and Jackie suffer,  from illness and financial hardship, but their goodness, generosity, and devotion to family radiated in their stories.

Sue loves her partner and has taken up acting and is full of vitality.  Yes, Andrew is wealthy, but it was his love for his wife and sons that shone most brightly.  Did a man in his mid-fifties ever seem kinder, more benevolent than Paul, in his gentleness and warmth as he does handyman work at a retirement village and extends his kindness to those who live there?

Coming back to the Dales, pulling on his waders, animated Nick, softened him, put him back in touch with his origins, and I loved seeing him interviewed in England rather than the USA where he works. I loved also seeing how much kinder and mellowed Peter was. I was happy he returned to the project.  The arrogant kid he was in his twenties has nearly melted away and the joy he expressed in talking about his band and what we saw when he played his music was invigorating.    And, lastly, Suzi, who always expresses resistance to the Up project, has grown even more fully into her  elegance.  Almost all of the bitterness and sharpness of her younger self has worn away and she, like the others, is devoted to loving her family.  It was a bonus to see how fondly she and Nick feel for one another.  They've become great friends. 

Watching this movie, having followed these thirteen people for twenty-eight years, makes it tempting to think about what I would talk about with Michael Apted at this stage of my life, were I part of an "Up" series.

But, I don't really need Michael Apted to talk about these things.  The Deke and I talk about our lives all the time.

Neither one of us is very savvy when it comes to money and neither of us wants much from the world in that way.

What matters most to us is family, friends, and service through teaching (and for me at church).  We have settled into our benevolence, into our appreciation for those we love:  our kids, grandchildren, our siblings, my mother, our extended families,  and for our friends.  The bonds we have with family now have long history and somehow all that time that seems to have passed, really has not.  It's all alive in the present when we are with those we love.

Experiencing the strength and the security of the past in the present is especially alive in my friendships, not only with my Kellogg friends, but with the longtime friends I teach with, some whom I've known for nearly thirty years, and with my Westminster Basement friends from Whitworth, whom I've known now for over thirty years.

Yes, we live in the present, but with friends and family, our shared history is a bedrock of strength and reservoir of goodwill, both of which invigorate each moment in the present we are together. 

I saw the people in 56 Up drawing upon a similar strength, a similar goodwill, giving them the vitality that goodness and benevolence bring to life in a person.

Three Beautiful Things 03/18/13: Almond Butter, Rehearsal Pictures, Photos Everywhere

1.  I've decided to replace peanut butter with almond butter, legume butter with nut butter.  Good move.  The almond butter in my oatmeal this morning was tasty, really tasty.

2.  I took over 250 pictures at Friday night's dress/tech rehearsal for the Shakespeare Showcase and this morning and afternoon I made some albums of those pictures available on the SPA Facebook page and posted the pictures as a set on Flickr. 

3.  The documentary Black White + Gray was a compelling study of art/photography collector-curator Sam Wagstaff who was Robert Mapplethorpe's patron and lover.  Watching this documentary capped of a stimulating afternoon and evening of looking at photographs online, a period of looking kicked off when Siskanna posted a link to pictures by Paul McDonough, here, and this led me to look at the photographers listed at the Sasha Wolf Gallery, here, making me wish I could see the McDonough exhibit, "Sight Seeing".  This link will take you directly to the artists, here.

It was a stimulating day for working with my own pictures and for looking at a ton of inspiring work by professionals.  Really.  So much beauty. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/17/13: Time and Lifting the Fog, Lots of Pictures, Accidental Corned Beef

1.  For a variety of reasons, including problems with health, the years between about 2004 and 2012 are a blur to me and today I spent time trying to sort these years out, with the help of this blog.  The fog began to lift a bit and suddenly I realized that things that seemed to have happened only a couple of years ago actually happened seven years ago, like performing in Much Ado About Nothing.  Today became a day of reflection upon time, its passing, and memory, the tricks it plays.

2.  I spent a lot of time beginning to sort out the nearly three hundred pictures I took on Friday, the 15th.  I still have a lot of work to do with the pictures I took at Friday's Showcase rehearsal.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with those pictures and I look forward to the next dress/tech under the theater lights when I can get more practice taking pictures of actors bringing Shakespeare to life.

3.  Neither the Deke or I wore green yesterday.  In fact, when we decided to get out of the house for a while, we only gave St. Patrick's Day a thought because we were concerned the Cornucopia might be too crowded.  We arrived, however, at a good time and, without planning to, each ordered a corned beef dinner.  I enjoyed eating half of my corned beef and cabbage dinner (boxed up the other half) and marveled at how good that Irish food tasted with Guinness beer.  And, by the way, the Deke and I had a great time talking about all kinds of stuff.

Three Beautiful Things 03/16/13: School Saves Lives, Sara Smiled, Melissa! Wow!

1.  A student of mine from eight years ago attended the matinee performance of the Shakespeare Showcase, introduced herself to me, and took the time to tell me how much the course she was in back in 2005 helped her when her mother died suddenly that quarter.  She said it saved her life.

2. Sara, a student of mine from the turn of the century, came to the evening performance and we had a splendid talk about what we've been up to and I think both of us were reminded of how much we enjoyed working together as teacher and student over ten years ago.  It sure brought back a lot of great memories for me.

3.  After the curtain call, as people socialized in the Blue Door Theater, Melissa, a student of mine from about three years ago, sought me out and I learned she is about to finish nursing school and has great plans for earning a Bachelor's degree in nursing.  She loves her vocation.  And it was really fun to learn that that was her son who gave the splendid performance of Othello.

What a day!
What an evening!
So many of the roads of my life crossed in that little theater on March 16, 2013.....

Three Beautiful Things 03/15/13: Rehearsals, Campus Pictures, Turner Turns Text Reporter

1.   This was a day dominated by the Shakespeare Showcase.  Rehearsal at 9:30 until 11.  Back to the theater at 4:00, left the theater about six hours later.  The most fun part was for me was taking pictures.  I look forward to seeing how they turned out.  I'm hoping I learned some things about light and settings from when I took pictures last fall during dress/tech rehearsal.

2.  Between rehearsals, I wandered down to the University to take pictures and I found a spot on a bench where I seemed the most inconspicuous and took street pictures.  I haven't looked at them yet, but I'm hoping that I'm discovering places to shoot from where I can compose the kinds of pictures on campus I enjoy shooting.

3.  Terry Turner became a text message sports reporter and kept me up to date on the Utah/Oregon game.  It was fun to know how the Ducks were doing, even as I provided narration for the Showcase and as I rode the bus home when the rehearsals were over. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/14/13: Final Grades, Garlic Ginger, Devil's Bitter

1.  Ah!  WR 115 final folders came in.  Almost done with grading.  I don't think I've ever been almost done this early.

2.  I loved the garlic ginger stir fry at Tasty Thai Campus.  The taste of the generous slivers of ginger permeated the entire dish, and, since ginger is my favorite flavor, I was really happy.

3.  Some Devil's Bitter at High Street helped me wind down after a good evening of rehearsal for the Shakespeare Showcase. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/13/13: Wednesday Eucharist, Camera Mailed, Taking Pictures and Strolling

1.  I walked to St. Mary's Episcopal Church and participated in the Wednesday morning Eucharist, a splendid way to continue my morning.  I'm really enjoying getting into this habit.


2.  I decided to send my broken Canon S95 to the Canon Repair Center, almost as an experiment, to see what they can do and how their service turns out to be.  The guy at the Hirons' post office was a totally friendly and helpful public servant.  I wanted to tip him, he was so helpful.

3.  On my walk home from Hirons and then on my stroll to Billy Mac's, I enjoyed taking pictures of flowers bloomed, blooming, and getting ready to bloom.  Very satisfying.  So were the small handful of street pictures I took...and the shadow pictures of porches.

Three Beautiful Things 03/12/13: Hugo Paper, 56 Up, Post-Vestry

1.  I occasionally add a bit more to my paper entitled "On Needing Richard Hugo" and it's up to twenty-five pages now and I decided I'd read it to any of my WR 115 students who wanted to hear it.  Four students in my first class stayed, but one of them worked on his own writing all through my reading and two students stuck around in the afternoon.  That was fine by me.  I honestly didn't want anyone in the room who didn't care to hear it.  I think the students who listened to the paper enjoyed it.  One found it beautiful and another said it helped him understand workers in a way he never had before.  I came home and told the Deke that I thought it was pretty good.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

2.  I went to the 4:00 showing of 56 Up at the Bijou and am I ever glad I did.  What made me most happy?  As these men and women spoke from the perspective of being in their mid-fifties, each one of them had grown more benevolent (in some cases even more benevolent) and I loved hearing one after another talk about that what really matter to them was family, children, grandchildren, and friends.  I was often moved to tears.  I've been following this series of documentaries for twenty-eight years.  These men and women have taken residence in my heart.

3.  I had a really good time meeting up at the Rogue Public House with the Senior Warden/Troxstar for a couple of beers after he was done running the vestry meeting.  It was a relaxing way to cap the day. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/11/13: Lazy Day, Dinner, Kiwanda Cream Ale

1.  I enjoyed the laziness of Sunday afternoon so much that I carried it over into Monday. 

2.  I did, though, get out the George Foreman grill and make ground beef patties along with rice and cauliflower. 

3.  And, I did muster up enough energy to pry the cap of of a Pelican Brewery Kiwanda Cream Ale and managed to pour its refreshingness into a glass and drink it.

Three Beautiful Things 03/10/13: Sunday Eucharist Again, Falling Sky Bitter, Be Lazy

1.  I had thought about making Wednesdays at 9:30 my primary time to celebrate the Eucharist at St. Mary's, but this mornng I said, naw, I want to resume worship at 11:00 on Sundays as well.  I'm happy I decided to celebrate the Eucharist this morning.  It was good to see fellow church members and I also got to hear Tom English give his sermon on the prodigal son.  It was insightful and issued a difficult challenges regarding the broken system of criminal justice in our county and our country.  To sum up, paraphrasing Tom's quoting of John Dominic Crossan:  love without justice and justice without love is a moral corpse.

2.  After church, the Troxstar and I strode (confidently) to Falling Sky for a Daylight Savings pint of beer.  We both had a Wind-Up Bird Best Bitter.  It was very tasty, easy to drink, well-balanced.  One of the things I admire/love about Falling Sky is their devotion to type of ale known as the bitter.  For my money, it's the best place in town for the bitter ale and I've drunk, I think, four different kinds of bitter at Falling Sky.  I hope they keep the bitters coming.

3.  The Deke and I let the afternoon be lazy.  She took the corgis to the groomer so did a little more than I did, but the words of the day were "be lazy" and "relax".

Three Beautiful Things 03/09/13: North Idaho at Elmer's, Armitage Park, NBA Tedium

1.  It was fun to wake up and head to Elmer's with Mike Stafford and Terry Turner and enjoy breakfast and some fine conversation together.  Before leaving Albany, I got to see Terry's booth where he is promoting his business, Terry's Custom Rods, and look around the expo a bit.  Great start to the day.

2.  Gorgeous day for taking pictures and Russell and I decided to get a little ways out of town and visit Armitage Park and take pictures of the old railroad bridge, now a biking/walking bridge.  My experiments under the bridge with aperture meant slow shutter speeds and long exposure times and most of them failed.  I needed my tripod.    I'll take the tripod next time.  I enjoyed imagining different kinds of pictures and can always return and try again. 

3.  I watched a bit of the Knicks and the Jazz game while at Billy Mac's.  I swear, for about ten minutes or so only two things happened on both ends of the floor: either a player launched a three point shot, often missing, or a player drove to the basket and got fouled.  No one took a shot from the area in between the three point line and the key.  Neither team even seemed to think about working for a 12-15 footer in this range.  No one ran much of an offense. It was repetitive and tedious. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/08/13: Finley Refuge, Oregon Trail IPA, Eat Like a Hungarian

1.   After picking up my rental car, I decided to make the most of my drive to Albany and stopped, for the first time, at the William F. Finley Wildlife Refuge.  I took pictures, stopped at several turnouts, breathed the fresh air, deeply, and took pictures.  I am eager to return.  Maybe this picture will help you see what I enjoyed so much about this place: 

2.  I strolled around Corvallis for a while, taking a few pictures, and then went to Old World Deli, where I hadn't eaten since 2004.  While I enjoyed my roast beef and swiss sandwich, the real pleasure of my light lunch was drinking some Oregon Trail IPA.  I rarely drink IPA, but since Old World has been brewing beer for over twenty-five years, I thought maybe they brewed an IPA that didn't hyper hop its beer.  I was right.  The Oregon Trail IPA was balanced, citrusy, refreshing, and not revved up with hops.  It was a pleasure to drink an IPA I could really enjoy.

3.  Mike Stafford, Terry Turner, and I met at the Albany EconoLodge, checked into our rooms, and drank a couple drams each of Jameson's Irish Whiskey.  We fell right into easy conversation and good hearty laughs, further sealing our Kellogg brotherhood.  We took our brotherly spirit to Novak's Hungarian restaurant and enjoyed a chicken pate appetizer plate, the house pilsner beer, as good a beer as I've had, and our food.  I had Beef Porkolt, cubed sirloin tip in a specially seasoned mushroom gravy, served over homemade Hungarian pearl noodles. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/07/13: Polite Young People, Emily After All, Promise Kept

1.  Every single rider, between the ages of 18-24, who deboarded the bus between Lane Community College and 13th and Patterson, a stretch of about four miles, thanked the driver.  Every single one of them.  I experience this kind of politeness in young people all the time at work and other places.  Yes, there's the occasional lout, but my experience tells me that the idea that young people today have no manners is not true and exaggerated. 

2.  Usually I walk from Safeway to Cornucopia after work on Thursdays, but today the Deke wanted to meet at Sixteen Tons and what a lucky thing that turned out to be.  Emily is in town for a couple of days and I ran into her for a quick hug and a word or two -- after having to decline lunch with her and the Troxstar earlier today.  In addition, Abi was working the taps and it's always fun to see her.  Oh..by the way...the Deke and I had a very relaxing time together.

3.  One of my students has had a terrible time because of family problems over the last three weeks or so and, when she first came to talk with me, she vowed she would finish the course.  I said I'd work with her.  We had a thirty minute conversation today in my office and she's kept her word.  Her work was in good shape, we covered what she needed to do to finish the course, and I told her how proud I was of her, that under very trying circumstances she would be finishing WR 115.  I was moved by her determination. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/06/13: Quiet and Solemn, Not Hot Drumettes, Lakers Drama

1.  A retirement benefit:  The Wednesday 9:30 a.m. Eucharist at St. Mary's is perfect.  Again this morning, it was intimate, quiet, solemn, and focused.  I got some time to myself afterward to light candles for friends in need as well as those who have had loved ones die. 

2.  I went grocery shopping and chicken drumettes were available in the meat department and I had a very modest realization that the drumettes would be tasty for dinner, even if I didn't prepare them as hot wings.  I was right!  I seasoned the drumettes with Greek seasoning, pepper, and garlic powder, fried them up in the cast iron skillet, and I was especially happy that the Deke loved them.

3.  I'm not a Lakers fan, but I sure enjoy their dramatics.  Every day another story surfaces about internal conflict, you know, Kobe outs Dwight Howard for being soft, that kind of thing.  Then, tonight, against the Hornets, the Lakers outscored New Orleans 33-9 in the fourth quarter and stormed back from over twenty points behind to upend the hapless future Pelicans.  I knew the Lakers had been way behind and when I checked the score as the game came to an end, I had a good laugh:  the Lakers never fail to create great drama!

Three Beautiful Things 03/05/13: Good-Natured Students, 'Copia Surrealism, Can't Harsh Our Mellow

1.  As the winter quarter's end draws near, I am grateful for the good nature of the students in both my sections.  They are easy to work with, receive my advice and instruction well, and even laugh at my wise cracks.  When students, as they say in the world of sports, buy in, it makes the whole experience in the classroom and the difficult task of learning so much more fun and pleasant. I was reminded of this today as both my class sessions not only went smoothly, but my students learned a lot and had fun doing it.

2.  The Deke and I met at the Cornucopia for a drink or two and I was laughing much of the time we were there at the Deke's way of making wise cracks and saying absurd things to our server, who also enjoyed the surreal world the Deke invited him to be a part of.  (I helped out a little, but, hey!, I know the Deke and I'm no Deke.)

3.  When it's still early in the evening, not even six o'clock yet, and nothing is happening at home or anywhere else, it's hard to resist a late afternoon/early evening nightcap at Billy Mac's.  It's comfortable.  It's quiet.  We can talk some more, enjoy the Billy Mac's staff (Amber was fun today), and continue to wind down.   Mellow.  We came home mellowed.  Nothing at home harshed our mellow.  Ahhhh.

Three Beautiful Things 03/04/13: Hult Plaza Trust, Holding Hands, Exhausted Deke

1.  I needed to pick up some things at the Univ. Bookstore, so I walked to campus.  I broke up my walk with breakfast at the Hult Plaza Coffee Shop and experienced it fully today because the woman who serves the counter, the tables, and the booths was back at work.  I especially enjoyed the pan fried potatoes.  What will keep me coming back, though?  It's a cash only spot.  I didn't bring cash and the waitress didn't bat an eye when, after I'd eaten, I told her I'd be right back, that I had to go to an ATM.  She trusted me.

2.  I made my purchases at the Bookstore and then sat on a bench near 13th and Kincaid and took pictures.  I liked a lot of my pictures.  I caught students smiling and laughing with each other, talking about weekend parties, among others.  I also took a few holding hands pictures and this one -- well, I don't know if it's a great picture, but it stands out to me as unique.  I've never taken a hand holding picture quite like it.  I like it a lot:

Maybe I should crop out the stop sign.  I might try that later.

3. The Deke arrived home and dropped on the couch, exhausted.  It felt especially good to have planned dinner and it felt good that the boneless pork loins, brown rice, and green beans satisfied her. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/03/13: Bracing Stroll, SundAle Afternoon, Mess of Beans

1.  I had a bracing walk out at Delta Ponds under clear skies in a stiff breeze.  I took a few pictures and did a lot of thinking about stuff.

2.  The Troxstar texted me while I was on my bracing walk and we met at Falling Sky where I enjoyed some quiche, a glass of The Dozens Extra Pale (for some reason I enjoyed its hoppiness...I don't usually want my beer quite this bitter, but it worked), a pint of Golden Glacier (easy, refreshing) and a glass of my current favorite at Falling Sky, Reelin in the Oats.  It was a perfect after quiche beer.  I enjoyed this session of yakking and ale quaffing with the Troxstar.  (Later we went up to the 16 Tons cafe for a glass of farmhouse ale:  The Bruery Saison de Lente to be exact.  Another tasty and refreshing ale.)

3.  The Deke put together a mess of white beans, ground beef, spinach, tomatoes, Greek seasoning and I'm not sure what else in a pot and cooked it up and it was as good of food as I've eaten.  It wasn't like chichi chef foody good, it was more like straight shooting, no bullshit, peasant food good.

Three Beautiful Things 03/02/13: Yarn Crawl Day, Inland Empire League, Ground Beef Scramble

When I retired, I thought about what I might do in my retirement, but I totally underestimated how my days of retirement might intersect with other friends from Kellogg who were retired.  I will never underestimate this source of joy, pleasure, and satisfaction again.  And it's so simple. 

1.  The Deke and I drove to Gladstone to Terry and Nancy Turner's house so Nancy and the Deke could join in the Greater Portland Metropolitan Area Yarn Crawl and so Terry and our Kellogg pal Jimmy Byrd could get together for NCAA men's basketball games and a few cold ones.  Our drive was easy, the Deke and Nancy, who hadn't met, hit it off, and the women buzzed off to yarn shops, I buzzed over to West Linn to pick up Byrdman, and the day was underway. 

2.  Conversation between me and Byrdman and Terry was all over the place.  I enjoy going back in time to the days of the Inland Empire League and high school basketball, when I often had the best seat on the house on the end of the bench, and remembering players, games, and even refs (like Scrappy Curtis) whom we admired or annoyed us.  I enjoyed the Intermountain League, too, even though it wasn't our conference, because a lot of those fellas were both teammates or opponents when American Legion baseball rolled around.  I could converse about this stuff all day.  Oh!  Wait!  I did!  (My favorite beer of the day?  Pelican Brewery's Kiwanda Cream Ale.)

3.  Yeah..okay...I-5 was a little rainy.  There were a few aggressive drivers.  Overall, though, pretty easy.  It was nice to return home, see the dogs were safe and sound, read that the fire in our neighborhood didn't hurt anyone and got extinguished, and I enjoyed frying up a little ground beef, sauteing some mushrooms, frying up a little brown rice, and scrambling it altogether with a couple of eggs.  It was a simple meal to bring a thoroughly enjoyable day to a close. 

Three Beautiful Things 03/01/13: Troxstar Breakfast, Pictures at/around the U. of O., Appetizers at Billy Mac's

What a day!  I'm going to pack more than 3BTs into my reflections of this day!

1.  On my way to have an executive breakfast, seated in our executive booth, with the Troxstar and the First Lady of the Troxstar Empire, I enjoyed the morning sunshine and the many shadows it cast and took pictures of shadow patterns and other things and, just before going into Brails Restaurant, who should pop out of Brails Coffee House to hug and say hi and chat, but Patsy!  Wow!  This first Friday of March was off to a stellar start.

2.  Before returning to Brails Coffee House to have coffee with Jeff and MB, I roamed a bit around the west campus area of the University of Oregon and enjoyed taking pictures, taking significant pauses to sit and ponder, observe, listen, and reflect upon the hurrying fast-talking students, ashen-faced professors, and countless people of all ages talking about relationships.  Is the concept of relationships, hooking up, whether to get serious, disappointments, what's gonna happen next -- is this the primary conversation topic among people?  I swear, in at least 85% of the pieces of conversation I heard today the topic was relationships.  I honestly wanted to declare a moratorium on the very word.  Almost nobody talked about academic subject matter -- not even those ashen-faced professors.  They talked about department or university politics.  I think another moratorium would have been in order. 

3.  After attending Don King's funeral and having a wonderful, but short amount of time to get caught up with Rita, I met up with the Deke and we sat at the bar at Billy Mac's and enjoyed a couple of appetizers -- chicken strips and hot shrimp -- and had a nearly perfect hour together winding down, debriefing, getting relaxed and making plans for our trip to Portland on Saturday. 

Pictures!  Patsy! Breakfast!  More Pictures!  Coffee!  Conversation!  Memorial Tribute!  Rita!  The Deke at Billy Mac's!  Portland Plans!  Perfect Day! 

Three Beautiful Things 02/28/13: High Street Redux, Sixteen Tons Perfection, Early Release

1.  I had such an enjoyable time at High Street on Wednesday that I went back today to try some other beers and wait for the Deke to be finished with school stuff.  I enjoyed a Hammerhead cask, a pint of Devil's Bitter, and a glass of Californian. 

2.  The Deke and I met at Sixteen Tons and it was just about perfect.  Abi was working the taps and she's smart, fun, and funny; I didn't talk with her much, but enjoyed out little bit of back and forth.  Jessie, whom I hadn't seen for quite a while, strolled in and he and the Deke and I had great conversation and I really enjoyed a pint and a half of Agrarian's Small Axe stout on the Nitro tap.

3.  This afternoon opened up for me because my WR 115 sections had short class meetings.  I wanted to make sure they understood my expectations for their next writing project and then I told them that there wasn't much use sitting around talking about their writing.  I sent them off to do it.  I look forward to the results.