Haiku of the Day: Went to a Movie Today (written with Michal)

where the wild things are
was made into a movie
which was very nice.

haiku of the day: walking to work by the coulee

A walk on the trail
calm water, crunchy brown leaves
cardboard beer cases

weekend tanka

Turtle River Park
hiking with neighbors on Sat
hiking again Sun
November, but feels like fall
the sun even came out Sunday

Road Trip Haiku Number 2

I felt so full of
energy driving today
until the car stopped

Road Trip Haiku Number 1

can't concentrate on
the badlands because I have
to watch the road now

Morning Walk Haiku

A lingering flu
and damp October weather.
The sun is rising!

Traveling and Sick

It's been an exhausting few days. I got the flu and went to the midwest writing centers conference. That pretty much covers the last week for me.

Haiku of the Day (not written by me)

Haiku is stupid:
five, seven, five syllables
Signifying zilch.

(I suppose this is a good example of what you might get if you asked someone to write haiku who really didn't want to.)

Poem of the Day

Here's a poem I have been reading off and on for the last two weeks.

Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant

by

Billy Collins

I am glad I resisted the temptation, 

if it was a temptation when I was young,

to write a poem about an old man

eating alone at a corner table in a Chinese restaurant.

I would have gotten it all wrong

thinking: the poor bastard, not a friend in the world

and with only a book for a companion.

He'll probably pay the bill out of a change purse.

So glad I waited all these decades

to record how hot and sour the hot and sour

soup is here at Chang's this afternoon

and how cold the Chinese beer in a frosted glass.

And my book –– José Saramago's Blindness

as it turns out –– is so absorbing that I look up

from its escalating horrors only

when I am stunned by one of his gleaming sentences.

And I should mention the light

that falls through the big windows this time of the day

italicizing everything it touches ––

the plates and teapots, the immaculate tablecloths,

as well as the soft brown hair of the waitress

in the white blouse and short black skirt,

the one who is smiling now as she bears a cup of rice

and shredded beef with garlic to my favorite table in the corner.

Haiku of the Day

Marta sick last night
woke up crying and so sad
better this morning

Haiku of the Day

white frost this morning
then snowflakes this afternoon --
grilling season over!

Conflict resolution poem About Beirut

Beirut is the capital city of Lebanon, a small country in the Middle East.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel, and the United States are talked about often.

Politics in Lebanon are bottomlessly complicated

In Beirut, I taught at the American University of Beirut (AUB).

Student elections there were about Hezbollah versus the west.

Student politics in Lebanon are bottomlessly complicated.

In one freshman composition classroom I had at least four groups of students:

Sunni muslims, Shi'a muslims, Maronite Christians, and Druze.

Religion in Lebanon, like politics, is bottomlessly complicated.

For reasons connected to politics and religion, Lebanon had a long civil war.

Some of my students had litte understanding of what the war meant for their families.

History in Lebanon, like politics, is bottomlessly complicated.

One of my students wrote something interesting in her journal for my class:

"I have never had a real conversation with a Muslim before this class."

Understanding how conversation can remove barriers is not complicated

I have now left Lebanon, perhaps for good.

But I miss the weather, the food, and my many friends there.

Understanding connections to a place and to people is not complicated.

conflict resolution poem

There's a conflict resolution center on campus that's sponsoring a poetry contest. They want a poem on that topic. I started drafting ideas for a poem about Beirut. Haven't gotten very far, but it's been good to try getting ideas down on paper.

Tanka of the Day: Michal and I find a fun book at the library

Trip to library
to find Shel Silverstein's book
called Lafacdio:
the lion who shot back. We
read a chapter together.

Yesterday's Haiku of the Day: Marta picked a Halloween costume

Marta excited
to pick Halloween costume.
It's Minnie Mouse!

Updated CV

Finally updated my CV to reflect what I've accomplished over the last six months.

Number 201

I noticed that this is post number 201 on this blog. One thing I've noticed because someone pointed it out last night is that I write a lot of haiku now. I've noticed that my walk to work is where and when I get most of my inspiration

haiku of the day

Monika and I
walked together this morning.
Let's slow down and see.

Yesterday's Tanka of the Day

had dinner with friend
in transition but happy
think I am the same
just twenty-four years ago
we met; still remember that

Saturday's Tanka of the Day

Fitting room yelling
because Michal does not like
trying on new clothes.
But we did end up spending
two hundred eighteen dollars!

Saturday's Haiku of the Day

no tan tap shoes at
the ballet store, but they did
have a magic store

Haiku of the Day and a Letter

another writing talk

this time I decide to teach

them how to haiku

Dear Trio People,

Today I learned that small gatherings can be fun to teach in because they are intimate. It was fun working with you.

best wishes,

Scott

Haiku of the Day: Michal rents an instrument to join band at school

clarinet rental
today at Poppler's music
now a musician

Guest Teaching Today

Someone asked me to come and talk to their class for an hour today to talk about the writing center and to say something useful about writing to the students in the class. The class is a first year class called introduction to university life.

I decided that I would talk about the writing center for 10 minutes and then teach them how they could use poetry, specifically haiku, as a tool for learning. They seemed to respond well. Here's a short excerpt from my handout:

A haiku is a short imagistic poem with three lines and 17 syllables, arranged in the serial order 5-7-5. "Imagistic" means using concrete words, such as, for example, ice cream, cicada, spider, or dollar to convey a general or universal feeling, idea, or phenomenon, such as love, beauty, persuasion, truth, or happiness. Haiku also usually have a cut word and some irony or surprise in the second and/or third lines of the poem.

Haiku of the Day Inspired by a Walk During My Lunch Break

Crickets chirp, wind blows
but the coulee water is so
peaceful and so still

Ola Has Left for Warsaw

We were all so glad that Osusia was able to visit us for two months. We got a chance to go camping with her, show her Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and some of the local sights in and around Grand Forks. Michal and Marta, especially, will miss her.

Tanka of the Day: Thinking about mornings and afternoons now

The mornings start cool,
but the afternoon is warm.
That's worth cheering for;

especially in this state
where winters are very cold.

haiku of the day

As I walk to work
I see the coulee and hear
chattering squirrels.

Marta's Letters to Her Friends Transliterated

In case you have trouble reading Marta's letters, here's what they say:

Dear Corban,

I am going to ballet class.

Love,

Marta

***

Dear Hannah,

I got a new magic wand.

Love,

Marta

Marta decided to write letters to her two friends in Beirut

Trying to earn Wimpy Kid 4

Today Michal and I came up with a system of points as a way that he might earn the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4 when it comes October 12.

Here's the basic ideas:

• he needs to earn 500 points to get the book. 750 points to get a bonus book. 
• He gets 10 points for doing good deeds. 50 points for extra good deeds.
• He also can lose 10 points for "below the line" behavior. 50 points for extreme cases.
• 100 points maximum per day.

So far he has 60 points.

Yesterday's Haiku of the Day

Helped a person with

a story about a goose.

certainly unique!

Yesterday's Tanka of the Day

Kim called in sick

Erin didn't realize that

she needed to work

So I had two appointments:

a goose story and medical school.

Haiku Written on the Trip Back from Watford City

a view of a lake
at a highway rest stop and
three puppies running

A few More Haiku from the Trip to Western North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit

Here are a few haiku I scrawled iabout the park.

The wind is cool as
I look at the badlands view.
The heat is coming.

grain elevator
obscures the morning view of
Teddy Roosevelt

stop the truck to see
the badlands at an overlook
Grandma waits in the truck

rolling hills on one
side; the badlands on the other
the wind mutes the heat

green sage and cactus
the loudest grasshopper I
ever heard flies by

only a few bugs
chirp until the wind blows as
loud as anything

oxbow bend overlook
one minute it's calm, the next
the wind blows so hard

little mo trail
perfect weather -- partly sunny.
trees for shade

just thirty minutes
in Theodore Roosevelt
making a movie

badlands wildreness
makes me pause, reflect, and think
as I hear the wind

Trip to the Badlands

Just back from a trip to Watford City and Theodore Roosevelt National Park (north unit). The trip was a birthday present for Michal.

It was a short trip. But I did get a chance to write a few haiku along the way. Here's a couple about the trip there:

North Dakota road
boxes of bees and honey
yellow sunflowers

the longest bridge in
North Dakota crosses
Sakakawea

Haiku of the Day, Based on My Walk to Work

cool morning trail
while walking to work I see
a racing rabbit

Haiku of the Day

This Morning

This morning I woke
up tired, ate oatmeal
dressed yellow and brown

(Michal and I wrote this one together this morning.)

Michal's Poem About Polish Apple Cake

Szarlotka

Grandma made a delicious cake
called szarlotka.
When will the next one bake?

Michal's Haiku Written After Helping Make Dinner Yesterday

A Helpful Sandstorm

While helping Tata
I make a little sandstorm
inside a mixer

Michal's Poem

Michal wrote a poem yesterday

Helping with Dinner

Tata asked me if I could
help with what's for dinnner.
I said that I would.
Piadina dough tastes good!

Fargo Road Trip Haiku

The West Acres mall
yellow or green? stride rite shoes.
Marta gets new socks.

Mr. Happy

Here is Marta's first kindergarten art project.

Marta in kindergarten

Marta finished her first day of kindergarten today. I think her teacher must call all the students honey because that's what Marta started calling all of us this afternoon.

A New Place in North Dakota

Today we visited Graham's Island State Park for the first time.

Getting Ready for Kindergarden

Marta is quite excited about kindergarten, which starts on Wednesday. She picked out her own backpack and lunch box.

Pictures of the Bus Tour

Just put up the pictures I took of the bus tour on the web.

Bus Tour

Just came back from a bus tour across the state of North Dakota with new UND faculty members. The UND president's office has a blog and today's entry has several pictures.

What Does a Poem Mean

Related to a workshop I hope to give later on poetry across the curriculum, today, I asked Jana, the administrative assistant in the writing program what she thinks poetry means. One of the things she talked about was that poems might mean different things to different people; she feels uncomfortable with the idea that a poem must have one meaning or interpretation. Related to that, there's a nice poem found in the poetry 180 web site.

Introduction to Poetry

Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

from The Apple that Astonished Paris, 1996
University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Ark.

Copyright 1988 by Billy Collins.

Itasca Part II: More haiku and Tanka

A haiku written while camping with my family in Itasca State Park:

Leave tent for showers.
Check the temperature in truck:
52 degrees.

A tanka from the same trip:

Wake Michal up early.
Nature hike on Brower trail.
What are those bubbles?
-- bugs or fish on the surface?
Mosquitoes make us turn around.

Fear of Poetry

I started thinking about the idea of some sort of a poetry initiative in the writing center and the possibility of giving a workshop on using poetry as a tool to teach in the disciplines (psychology, linguistics, nursing, etc.). I came across this poem that reminds me that some people can be fearful of poetry.

Bud & Night Terrors

Can't let them catch me!
If my patents find out I'm writing poems
They'll cancel Christmas. No nikes, no Play Station III,
No kick-butt pants with twenty miles of chain on them.
They empty my college fund, certain I'll never be
The doctor or lawyer they want me to be. Worse,
Coach will kick me off the team, or knock
Me down to towel or water boy. My minister will
Unbaptize me, my Boy Scout pack will rescind
My merit badges, the Marines will get me
Though I'm only 17! All because of poetry.
What got into me? Why wasn't watching ten hours
Of TV a day good enough for me? Why?

-- Cyrus Watson
from McDowell, R. (2008). Poetry as Spiritual Practice: Reading, writing, and using poetry in your daily rituals, aspirations, and intentions. New York: Free Press.

Tanka of the Day: Art Show Tanka

Rain on my walk there.
Sign the butterfly guest book.
Follow paper feet
to see the mosaic show:
paper, stone, and glass objects.

Haiku of the Day

Lunch outside with Michal.
Rain begins; time to go to
NDMOA

summer art camp

Michal spent this week at summer art camp making mosaics. Today all the kids had a show and we got to see all the things he created. Michal was proud of his paper, stone, and glass mosaics.

change of address

When we moved to Beirut, we had all our US mail sent to my parents in Michigan. After we returned to the US and settled in North Dakota, we filled out a couple of change of address cards to have our mail forwarded from Michigan to North Dakota.

However, now there seems to be a problem. Now we are getting mail addressed to my parents here in North Dakota. Just today we got a netflix movie for them and a request that my brother visit his dentist.

Not sure about the solution to this problem yet.

Itasca Poetry: Part I

Here are the first two poems I wrote while at Itasca camping with my family last week. First, a haiku:

Sitting with Michal
     by the shore of Lake Itasca.
A red-wing blackbird.

And here's a tanka:

First sound in my tent.
I don't recognize it yet.
Could it be raining?
Let me think what it could be --
     the wind high up in the trees.

Shannon: A poem of the Lewis and Clark Expidition

George Shannon was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. At one point, he got lost for 16 days. Campbell McGrath's book/poem is an imagination of what these days might have been like for Shannon. Here are a couple sections I liked:

Why would God create a thing
That wanders aimlessly?
He would seem to prefer
Straight-thinking
If I may presume, so as to simplify
The task.  Why would he
Create such an animal as these buffalo?
To feed men, which purpose they no doubt admirably
Fulfill for the Indians at any rate?
(pp. 35-6)

This much for certain -- if God
Did create the buffalo
He made one great, strange, daft animal.
(p. 39)

Started the New Job

Today is my second day of work as coordinator of writing programs at the University of North Dakota. I am responsible for directing the writing center and doing writing across the curriculum and faculty development work, under the direction of the university's office of instructional development.

Back in Grand Forks, ND

Last night we arrived in Grand Forks after a week of camping at Itasca State Park in Minnesota. More posts on that in the coming days.

On Monday, I start a new job as writing center director at the University of North Dakota.

A Poem I Wrote About Dorm Life at My Conference

1940 Dormitory
A Series of Three Lists
(Inspired by Sei Shonagan's The Pillow Book)

List Number 1
Things the Dormitory Does Not Have

Toilet paper
More than one washcloth
laundry detergent
A thermostat that can be adjusted
Warm carpeted floors

List Number 2 Some Reasons I Am Glad I Did Not Get an RA Room
A Series of Three Knocks
(Based on a Conversation I had with Jule Wallis after 2 or 3 glasses of wine)

Knock Number 1 11 pm

Question: Can I get more than one sheet?
Answer: Honey, I'm sorry I wish I could help you, but I can't even get another one myself

Knock Number 2 midnight

Question: Where can I smoke?
Answer: Just go ahead and smoke in your room.

Knock Number 3 1 am

Question: I'm having some boyfriend issues. What should I do?
Answer: Just dump him and sleep with his best friend.

List Number 3
Things the Dormitory Does Have

Broad shouldered football players
-- very broad shoulders
A fifth floor lounge that has wireless
Starting after 9 pm -- a fifth floor lounge with some very friendly people

Philadelphia Conference

I'm in Philadelphia at the moment. Just finished the IWCA summer institute. International writing centers summer institute, that is.

The Long Season

Just finished Jim Brosnan's The Long Season -- his journal of his life in professional baseball in the 1959 season. It's funny to see how much baseball has changed, yet remained the same in fifty years.

Last Trip

Yesterday we had our last trip outside of Beirut before we leave Lebanon for America. We saw the Beiteddine Palace and the Chouf Cedar reserves. The mosaics at the palace are quite impressive.

Up in 3-D

We saw the movie Up today; it was very good. The kids liked it a lot too. Although I do have to say that I don't really see the point of the 3-D; I could hardly tell the difference most of the time.

Detroit Red Wings

Today, my hometown of Detroit made it to the NY Times:

DETROIT — The Motor City has been hit by pretty much every crisis imaginable this last year, save for famine and a plague of grasshoppers.

A nonprofit group failed to stop the demolition of Tiger Stadium, but that hasn't stopped the Tigers from tearing their way to the top of the American League Central.

Its mayor resigned and went to jail. Two of its three car companies wound up in bankruptcy. Unemployment soared to the highest level for any metropolitan area in the nation, and the wrecking crews showed up to take apart Detroit’s beloved Tiger Stadium.

But this week, sports is providing a much-needed lift to this beaten-down city.

The Red Wings face the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals Friday night, and Detroit is hoping for a repeat of last year’s championship.

The Detroit Tigers are also first in the American League Central.

Tanka of the Day

Two hundred two steps
from apartment to office.
Still another trip.
Palm, cypress, pine trees obscure
the Mediterranean.

Haiku of the Day

boxes on stairs, sweat
hardcover paperback books,
back to America

Hardly Worth It

Yesterday or today we realized that it is not worth it to ship all our things to America. The shipping companies want something like $2000 to ship everything from our apartment in Beirut to Grand Forks, ND. And we decided that it would cost less to replace most of the things than to ship them.

But that meant that we spent much of today unpacking boxes and trying to decide what to do with all the things we will not ship. In addition, that means we'll have to buy even more things once we settle in Grand Forks: clothes, books, toys...

Tanka of the Day: Pirate Tanka

bandana: pirate hat
where is the hidden treasure?
handwritten map shows
Marta steals Michal's treasure
Michal finds it and hides it

Haiku of the Day: Morning Haiku

breakfast on the table
birds chirp outside our window
anger becomes joy

Haiku of the Day

Blue sea with slight breeze.
One, two, three, four tanks roll by.
Elections come tomorrow.

Tanka of the Day

Elections Sunday.
March 8: pro-Hezbollah?
March 14: pro-West?
Today the sea has no wind.
Who can predict the weather?

Haiku of the Day

Wynton Marsalis'
new book from the library
shows the joy of jazz.

Page 572

That's how far I got in the book Cryptonomicon before I decided, this afternoon, to give up. Interesting, but there's still about 350 pages to go. I'm sure I can find another book to read.

My First Tanka

So, I've learned about a new type of poem: tanka. The characteristics of tanka are, as I understand them:

• 31 syllables
• arranged serially 5-7-5-7-7

Here's my first one I wrote at lunch:

Fish, green beans, carrots.
Wind blows brown and white placemat.
Water drips from glass.
No American coffee;
double espressso instead.

Haiku of the Day

First day, new school year,
backpack harbors a fossil...
last June's cheese sandwich.

-- Kristine O'Connell George
Published in the book A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms.

Exam Haiku

Taking an exam
on a hot day violates
basic human rights.

(written by one of my students, Darim Khouja, slightly edited.)

Waking Up Early to Come to the Office and Grade Student Work

Sound of birds, cool sun,
even when not in the shade.
Campus gate still closed.

A Haiku Written After a Trip to the AUB Beach

Crab hunting with Chas
small striped fish swim in the sea
sharp rocks hurt my feet

Haiku Written at Lunchtime While Taking a Break from Grading

Shade: no heat, no glare.
Shish taouk is delicious.
Lunchtime is over.

Haiku of the Day

The writer Richard Wright, in his final year of life, grew quite fond of haiku and wrote hundreds of them. Here's one I particularly like:

It is so hot that
The scarecrow has taken off
All his underwear!

Trip Haiku

Yesterday we were invited to someone's beach club chalet in Tabarja. Michal and I wrote a haiku about it:

Trip to Aquamarina 2 Haiku
by Michal and Me

Bright sun, swimming pool.
Pizza for lunch: delicious.
Sandwich takes too long.

Poetry and Frustration

Just five minutes ago, a former student of mine emailed me and sent me a poem. Since I was just writing about poetry, I thought it would be good to post it. (Slightly edited.)

[Class xxx} problems seems to never end
Registration gave me hell of time
Yet tuition fees got me out of mind
What to do other than to petition
Out mind soon I will be

Haiku Economics: part III poetry as a tool for teaching science

Related to this question of haiku in an economics class, here's a nice excerpt from a paper on the value of writing an occasional poem in a science class:

What Good is Writing Poetry in a Science Course?

Science teachers are fully justified in asking that question. Many science courses, especially at the introductory level, enroll too many students to permit much writing of any kind. If the teacher’s precious time is going to be taken up with reading student work, shouldn’t it be more explicitly scientific writing, or at least expository (i.e., explanatory) prose?

     Most of the literature locates the value of writing poetry in the student’s general development rather than in course specific learning. So Joseph Moxley, quoting Dave Smith, points out that “creative writing is one of the few formal opportunities in education for self-discovery and self creation” (1989, xii-xiii), and Gorman, Gorman, and Young cite James Britton’s assertion that “poetic writing encourages students to explore their own feelings and values” (1986, 139). While no one would deny the value of self-exploration and discovery, we are asking how writing poetry can help students learn science.

     In the first place, most poems are short. This makes them useful for focusing intensely on specific processes or ideas and also means that teachers won’t have to read prohibitively long papers in large lecture courses. In the second place, poetry is relatively dense for its length; often, a great deal of thought goes into the production of just a few lines. Some of this thought may be expended on purely poetic questions of rhyme, meter, and so on, of course, but some of it will inevitably go to better understanding the scientific processes the student is writing about, to choosing the word or image or analogy that most exactly expresses the understanding the writer wishes to convey. The tendency of poetry to encourage precision—because it is not expansive and explanatory, one naturally wants to get each word right—is also an effective device for helping students focus on the intricate details of, for example, the Krebs cycle, as we shall see, or the electron transfer chain.

     Besides its brevity and focus, poetry also encourages the careful observation of physical details (imagery), a habit of mind particularly valued by the sciences as well as other academic disciplines. In Researching and Writing in the Sciences and Technology, for example, Christine A. Hult devotes a whole section of chapter one to “The Importance of Observation in the Sciences,” and every lab manual for introductory biology courses stresses the importance of careful observation in the formulation of questions that lead to hypotheses and in the monitoring of actual experiments, as well as in the discussions of their results. Furthermore, the analogical nature of poetry, with its metaphoric and similistic comparisons, promotes careful, detailed thinking about the nature of biological processes. If you compare electron transport to riding in a cab, for example, as one of our students did, thinking about the ways the two kinds of transportation are similar as well as different means that in the end, you have thought a lot about electron transport. Generally, then, poetry focuses attention on the fine details of scientific knowledge in a limited space where other kinds of writing might require many pages.

     Poetry also has value for students in the way that it promotes imaginative and emotional connection with the subject matter, as has been well recognized. In several places, for example, Art Young has argued that poetic expression helps students engage with a subject emotionally and appreciate the values at issue (1982; 1997; 1998; 1999; 2000. See these same sources for his discussion of poetry’s ability to help students “engage the fine details of the information.”) The ability to visualize the implications of a process like cloning, for instance, and to respond to those implications emotionally, out of their own values and beliefs, helps students establish a framework in which everything about cloning, from the mechanics of nuclear cell transference to the ethics of therapeutic cloning of humans for stem cell research, is more clearly understood, as we shall see in one of the poems we consider below.

     Finally, we would like to add that the role of creative thought in the sciences is sometimes forgotten by the rest of the academic community. Most scientists, though, are familiar with stories of dream-like, visionary inspiration in great discoveries like those of Rutherford (atomic structure), Kekule (the benzene ring), Loewi (chemical transmission of nerve impulses), Watson and Crick (structure of DNA), and Curie (radiation). At a dinner given in 1998 in honor of the great Australian biologist Howard Florey, who first developed antibiotics for use in human beings, Michael Wooldridge, then Minister for Heath and Family Services (Australia), remarked: “I . . . hold to the view that there is no essential difference between artistic creativity and scientific creativity” (1998). Many scientists feel the same way, although those in the humanities tend to see more of a gulf between their subjects and the sciences than scientists do (see Standler, n.d., for example). Writing poetry about biology helps to call attention to the creative impulse present in both areas.

Haiku Economics: part II

Take a look at Stephen T. Ziliak's web page, incuding his Haiku economics of the day and a paper on using haiku to teach economics.

Haiku Economics: part I

Recently on NPR's Planet Money blog, they had a recession economics haiku contest. As they said:

We're assigning you a challenge: Write a haiku for the recession and drop it in the comments. It's 17 syllables, in three lines, with a pattern of five syllables, seven syllables, and five more.

Here are a few of their favorites:

How much are apples?
Don't recall caring before.
Little things add up.
-- Aaron Rosenthal

Technical writer
Moved to Haiku Department --
Still paid by the word.
-- Thomas Lanaghan

Put off surgery
it's not that noticeable,
if you wear a hat.
-- Deanne Witkowski

Granny rolls over
On her mattress
Filled with twenties.
-- Trey Bien

more travel

We took a trip to Anjar this weekend, an Armenian town near the Syrian border. Shortly after we left the town, there was a story about Armenians in Lebanon in the NY Times. The picture below shows the main tourist site -- some ruins of the Umayads.

An Unexpected Holiday

Yesterday and today I got the following email messages. So, even though I was not expecting it, Monday is a holiday at the university and at the kids' school. I'm not sure what the resistance and liberation refer to, but I can't help but wonder about an unexpected holiday celebrating resistance and liberation shortly before national elections.

Dear Parents:

The Ministry of Education has announced that May 25, 2009 will be a holiday for all schools private and public schools in recognition of the Resistance and Liberation Day. Please plan accordingly.

George Damon
Headmaster

Dear All,

In accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers, there will be no classes on the National Liberation Day, Monday, May 25, 2009. Quizzes on this date will be rescheduled by the concerned instructors.

Moueen Salameh
Registrar

Packing is Difficult

It seems that we are all struggling with the moving and packing process. We have decided (mostly to save time and money) that we will not ship everything and we are all giving up some things. But we also recently heard that in Grand Forks the administration could provide us with a two bedroom apartment, but NOT a three bedroom one. It's not the worst thing that you can experience, but moving a family to another continent takes a toll on the soul.

Trip to Byblos on Sunday

We went to Byblos yesterday. Nice town. Michal likes the castle from the Romans there. A rather expensive seafood restaurant for lunch -- although it did include this view. But it was too hot 30C (about 86f) and on the way back the bus driver tried to cheat us by trying to take more money than it should cost for the trip. It will be nice to return to America

Jack Kerouac's Baseball

I never knew that Jack Kerouac was big fantasy baseball player. He filled notebooks with stats from his team as can be seen in this New York Times article. Interesting names for his teams in light of current auto news.

Things to Get

I started thinking about things involved in our move from Beirut, to Detroit, and, then, to Grand Forks. We still need to buy plane tickets and arrange to have our possessions sent. In Detroit, we would need to buy a car. After we move to Grand Forks we will need to get/buy:

• two twin beds
• one double or queen bed
• a kitchen table and chairs
• a couch and probably at least one chair
• plates, bowls, silverware, dishes
• pots pans and other things to cook in
• miscellaneous kitchen electrics such as a blender and food processor.

Less essential, but probably important:

• both kids would like bicycles.
• And we'll probably look for some toys or sports equipment such as soccer ball, baseballs, or other things to play with
• two or three chests of drawers
• a couple mirrors
• two or three nightstands.

The nice thing is that we can avoid buying booksimmediately and use the public library.

Chrysler Shedding Dealers

Chrysler today announced that they will close almost 800 dealers. In my hometown of Detroit, quite a few are closing. The NYtimes has an interactive map if you are curious to see where the dealers are that will be closed.

In June we are hoping to buy a car. Probably not a Jeep or Chrysler though. Monika had discussed a RAV4 as a likely choice. But who knows, perhaps a Ford Escape. No matter what brand you talk about, they are not selling a lot of cars and trucks in the US now.

Been a Busy Weekend

This weekend we went on two different hiking trips.

1. On Saturday, we went with a friend to the Tannourine Cedar Reserve.
2. Then, on Sunday, we joined the Cyclamen Hiking Club and went to Kobayat Akkar, in the north near the Syrian border. Definitely one of the most remote areas of Lebanon. There we went looking at the wildflowers.
   

In both cases, it was tiring, but good to be reminded that Lebanon, in addition to having the traffic of Beirut, also has beautiful green mountains.

Pink Taxis for Women in Beirut

I haven't actually seen these, but I just read that such things exist here in Beirut this morning.

Some Excerpts from AUB's Presidential Inauguration Speech

I was rather impressed by Peter Dorman's speech yesterday. Here are some excerpts:

You will all have seen that the New York Times named Beirut as the world’s number one travel destination for 2009, a ranking that astonished everyone—except those of us who live here.

At AUB we encourage students to ask themselves: how am I bounded? How am I free? What values do I choose to embrace? For what causes do I devote my energies? These are questions we cannot answer for you—we can only place them before you, along with the invitation to formulate your own response. This is, in essence, the subversive nature of the liberal arts experience: it affords you the gifts of critical thinking and positive skepticism.

Although it’s possible—superficially—to view AUB as a collection of buildings and people and classes and research labs, it is in essence a series of dialogues, relationships, and interactions. I hope you will feel challenged during your time at AUB. I hope that, from time to time, you will even feel uncomfortable by the choices placed before you by your professors and friends as you strive to understand the common threads that connect us as human beings.

The commonality of humankind is hardly a new ideal. It is recognized even in an instructional text from ancient Egypt, the “Maxims of Ptahhotep,” written some 4000 years ago. The words are placed in the mouth of a vizier of the Old Kingdom, who offers as a guide to proper behavior, the following advice:
"Don’t be arrogant because of your knowledge, but confer with the unlearned man as well as with the learned, for no one has ever attained the perfection of skill; there is no artisan who has fully acquired the mastery of his craft. Good speech is rarer than malachite, yet it may be found even among the women at the grindstones."

Damascus (again) and Palmyra, Syria

Just came back from a trip with my family to Damascus and Palmyra, Syria. Perhaps I'll be able to post some pictures later -- Michal took a lot -- but, in the meantime, some good images can be seen on the web.

Presidential Inauguration

In twenty minutes, I will begin marching with other AUB faculty for the inauguration of Peter Dorman as president of the university.


This is the first presidential inauguaration at AUB since 1982. Since then, one president was murdered and one was kidnapped; a terrible war engulfed the city and the country, and the armies of Syria and Israel came and went. Many things have happend in Beirut and at AUB since 1982. And I do honestly believe that, looking back, we can see that the world is becoming a better place, and AUB along with it. The university continues to attract the best and brightest students in the region who later go on to great things.

Here is what Peter Dorman had to say about the event in an interview:

Inaugurations are kind of strange and to some extent unique things. Very few institutions other than colleges and universities carry these inaugurations out. You rarely hear about inaugurations in banks or big companies or engineering firms, for example. But universities hold them for a variety of reasons, and AUB is very much in that stream. Inaugurations are a way to link the present activities of a university with its history and tradition, as it's been observed over the past. It's a way of acknowledging important transitions at the University.  Inaugurations generally involve ceremonies or symbolism that reflect [a university's] history. We want to reflect on our past and discuss what we are doing now in the light of our 140 year history..., and we want to look around the region and place AUB within its present context in light of what is happening in the Middle East today. It is also a way for us to cast a wider eye over the educational landscape...to confirm the fact we are more than a faculty and their students. We have a much longer tradition with alumni who feel very strongly about their university.

Trip to Syria: Part II

Unlike in Beirut (which really does not have that many westerners, truth be told) we were treated like the exotic foreigners a couple of times when we were in Damascus. Two examples:

• At the national museum, a huge group of kids were there and most of them wanted to say, "hello, how are you?) Many of the girls wanted to touch and kiss Marta. At one point, there were so many that Marta broke into tears.
• In the Umayayd Mosque, one woman with a six month old baby asked my wife if my daughter could hold her baby so that she could get a picture of Marta (barely 5) holding this little baby. She seemed unaware that Marta might drop her.

I should mention that Marta has blond hair.

plane tickets

Our plan for the summer is:

1. Pack and ship things
2. Take a plane from Beirut to Detroit around 22 June
3. Stay with my parents for a couple weeks
4. Drive to Grand Forks ND
5. I go to a conference July 11-18 at Temple in Philadelphia
6. Start my new job at UND 1 August
7. Perhaps we'll have a chance for a camping trip sometime in July?
   

Visiting the Cedars

Back in the fall, we were going to visit the Cedars, but Michal got sick, so only Monika and Marta went then. Today, a friend was going to take us there, but we hit a large pothole on the highway and couldn't go because she got at least one flat tire. Perhaps another day we will go.

Reason to Eat Less Meat?

Mark Bittman had a link to this graphic today. It is something.

Trip to Syria: Part I

We took a service taxi from Beirut to the border of Syria. It was an ailing Chevrolet Caprice from about 1986. We shared it with two Lebanese ladies (a bit squished). It was 75000 Lebanese pounds ($50).

At the border, the soldier said it would be at least an hour or two before they could process our visas. Something about sending faxes. So, the taxi driver left us there, assuring us we could walk across the border and catch a ride there for about $1 per person. So, we had lunch at the duty free station and let the kids play at an indoor playground there. It was clean and mostly empty.

About 90 minutes later, I went back and the soldier was ready to process the visas. I paid $16 for the three American passports and $28 for Monika's Polish passport. After that, we gathered the kids and our bags and walked across the border.

We expected to ride in a bus, van, or taxi after crossing, but, soon after crossing, a young man in a Kia stopped, opened his window, and asked where we were going. When we said Damascus, he asked us to get in. He told us there was no charge for the ride, just a gift. His name was Ibrahim, and, based on the crosses and icons in his car, I would say he was an orthodox Christian. He spoke very little English.

Ibrahim dropped us off at a taxi stand at the edge of the city, and we negotiated that the driver would take us to the city center for $4 (few prices are fixed in this part of the world, especially taxi fares). The driver brought us to a hotel and we checked in. It was $55/night and it had a double bed, a twin bed, and they brought a fold out bed.

We walked to the old city and saw a little bit of it before having dinner and walking back to the hotel.

next time: we were the exotic westerners...

Countries I Have Visited

Just came back from Damascus yesterday. I will write more about that later, but, on the way back, I started thinking about all the countries I have visited in my life:

1. Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City)
2. Poland (lived in Poznan for three years)
3. Germany (one day in Berlin)
4. France (a few days in Paris)
5. Czech Republic (conference in Prague)
6. Puerto Rico* (campus visit to U of PR in Mayaguez)
7. Bulgaria (lived in Blagoevgrad and taught at AUBG for one year)
8. Romania (three day trip to Iasi for conference)
9. Spain (a few days in Madrid)
10. Lebanon (been here in Beirut since August teaching at AUB)
11. Syria (a few days in Damascus)

Related to my foreign travels, I recently came across this quote from Mark Twain on Roger Ebert's blog:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

*part of the US, but, as an island a long ways from the mainland it is very different. Spanish is the official language, they can not vote in presidential elections and do not pay federal taxes (although they get benefits from federal government).

taxes today

So, I finally started working on filing taxes today. Somewhat complicated with income from two countries and two states in the US