Tag: Stephens College Summer School

Cloister Commentary, Day 75: Boogids!

COVID-19 Test: Up my nose with a very long Q-Tip! The health worker who tested me had gotten so good at the process that, when she experienced some difficulty breaching my right nostril, she had another swab up my left and out before I even knew what was going on. I swear I saw her grin just before we drove away.

Stephens virtual class: I love this Zoom stuff! (I have a history in my teaching career of loving stuff I start out hating or vociferously arguing against. I’m not very smart.)

First-ever absentee ballot: 100% success. Thanks, fellow voters, for supporting the school bond in these tough times.

Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman: Even the acknowledgments choked me up a bit; on other fronts, it includes some of the sweetest and wittiest discussions about and depictions of sex I’ve ever read, and I now know “boogid” is Chippewa slang for “fart” (there’s a female character who always boogids immediately after eating a hard-boiled egg).

Neighborhood: Nicole and I read and enjoyed a cocktail on our front porch without all hell breaking loose in our vicinity.

Streaming for Shut-Ins:

The warm twang of this great Floridian graces a brand new and very solid album, but I always turn in this direction when I “need” him.

Cloister Commentary, Day 61: Mind-Body Togetherness

I haven’t exercised much during this mess, but a) I did stretches yesterday, and b) without really thinking of it this way until yesterday, my writing is getting such a workout that I think it is getting stronger–not so much here, where I’m just logging, mostly, but in my other project. Funny how that happens.
With some of the bat-shit craziness flying around, I wonder if one day I will take incoming for simply indicating I am cloistering. Some will need to look that word up.
The on-line summer comp class I’m teaching for Stephens is a go. My students will mostly be incoming Stephens freshmen and possibly some dual-credit Missouri high schoolers. I don’t want to Zoom MTWTh for eight weeks, but I’ll get used to it.
I will miss Battle High School’s Vehicular Valedictorian Victory Caravans. As a driver, I participated in three over the past week, and they were joyful. We made all five stops yesterday, which isn’t easy when the caravan numbers 20+ cars.
Is there a difference between denying someone is no more and simply reflexively forgetting that fact? It’s almost a mind-body separation issue, and I don’t really believe in that divide. Maybe I’m bat-shit crazy…
Streaming for Shut-Ins:
Musically, I’m still in Texas, though I’ve gone west over the last few days. There are few if any West Texas albums that top this one, especially for top-to-bottom excellence. Killer band, killer songs, killer atmosphere–and an emotionally rangy front man.