Archive for October, 2008
Halloween in the Barracks
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on October 31st, 2008
This Halloween, I dressed up as an Army captain to teach class. Would’ve been exciting if I hadn’t done the same thing every Friday (and Monday and Wednesday).
This evening, though, I did pull the fur and leather out of the attic in order to dress up as a good ol’ fashioned barbarian to take the knight-garbed Hobbit out for his festivities. The cadets in one of the battalions (go 4th!) put together a wee Halloween Carnival for the kiddos, and we had a blast. I’m not sure if the cadets were more amused by the little tikes in costume (mine was the cutest!) or the English professor wielding a battle-axe*, but good times were had by all regardless.
*What? You think I’d do a barbarian costume half-assed? Of course I took an axe!
Charleston Weather Haiku
Posted by Michael Livingston in Uncategorized on October 29th, 2008
Fifty-four outside.
Carolina cadets shiver.
But no winter here.
The Other Sequel in Progress (Listen!)
Posted by Michael Livingston in Uncategorized on October 28th, 2008
I posted yesterday about starting the sequel to the novel I finished last summer. Today I thought I’d post about the other sequel hereabouts, the one that’s, well, due to be finished this coming spring. May 9, in fact:
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The Wife is doing most of the work on this particular sequel, of course, though I contend I was, um, inspiring at the beginning.
The Sequel Begins
Posted by Michael Livingston in Fiction on October 27th, 2008
You might notice, dear reader, a new item down yonder in the left column. Gone is the progress meter for the completed (and being agent-shopped) The Shards of Heaven. In its place is the progress meter for the just-begun sequel to that novel in the Angels of Earth series: The Gate of Hell. Outlining is complete to my comfort, so last night I pounded out the first third of the Prologue.
It will surely change, but here’s a first draft of the opening paragraphs for the book:
The night the Republic finally came to an end, thirteen-year-old Cleopatra Selene fell asleep in her room while waiting for the emperor’s son. Not for the first time she dreamed she was ten again, sitting on the cold stone bench of a Roman prison cell, her head against Alexander Helios’ shoulder, pretending to sleep. The yellow light of an Italian dawn was just beginning to stream in through a barred window high on the outside wall, taunting them with unreachable warmth.
Helios shifted his shoulder beneath the weight of her head. “Wake up, Selene,” her twin whispered.
Selene didn’t move her head. “I am awake.”
“Did you sleep?”
She let the air out of her lungs, then yawned it back in again and regretted the instinct: the air was thick with humid smells of mold and mildew and human despair. She coughed off a gag.
“Me neither,” he said.
Through the window came the voices of the gathered crowds: jubilant cries of celebration at the festivities of the Roman Triumph, mixed with angry shouts for the death of the traitorous Egyptian royalty that Octavian had brought back from Alexandria, the children of Antony and Cleopatra.
Selene felt their hatred run like cold fingers up her spine. Before she could shiver she lifted her head from her brother’s shoulder and stood, rubbing at her numb arms. The roiling mass of emotion outside had been building for more than two days, but today it came to a final climax. Today was the end.
Palin and the Thin Line Betwixt Satire and Reality
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on October 26th, 2008
It’s no secret that I found John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin to be, well, unfortunate at many levels. On the plus side, though, it’s made for some fascinating occasions to examine rhetoric and syntax and other English professorial excitements. Regarding Palin in particular, I’ve been fascinated to see the lines of satire and reality get blurred so quickly and profoundly. We all know about the power of Tina Fey’s spot-on impersonations, of course, especially how easily the SNL skits can slip in and out of actually quoting Palin’s twisted loop-de-loops of language — leaving the viewer in doubt about what was real Palinspeak and what was fake Fey-as-Palinspeak.
I found a less famed example of this process in the Washington Independent. Bruce McCall writes an occasional satire column for its virtual pages, and this week’s was headlined “Palin Lauds Old Glory, Dares Obama to Differ.” It’s satire, through and through, “quoting” her as addressing (among other patriotic items) an American flag:
Read the rest of this entry »
Terry Tate on Sarah Palin
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on October 25th, 2008
Reebok’s Terry Tate “Office Linebacker” commercials, which first aired during the 2003 Super Bowl, were absolutely brilliant. Here’s one of the first of them:
I remind you of this highlight in the history of advertising because, well, “Terrible” Terry T is back. Watch to the end…
How’s that for Drill Baby Drill! You just subscribed to Terry’s Journal of Pain!! And the first issue is free, baby! Whoo!!
Whoo, indeed, Mr. Tate. Whoo, indeed.
Grading M.A. Comps
Posted by Michael Livingston in Uncategorized on October 25th, 2008
This year the English Department pinned me for service on the Graduate Committee, which among other things means I have to grade the M.A. degree comprehensive examinations twice a year.
I could list the ways I would have preferred to spend my Saturday afternoon and evening, but it would probably just depress me. Better to just report that I’m done.
Mark Knopfler Poster
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on October 24th, 2008
Back toward the start of the semester, I posted about receiving a most surprising gift from one of my cadets: an autographed poster of Mark Knopfler, who ranks as #1 or #2 among my favorite recording artists. It was an astonishing gesture, and I’m proud at last to produce an image of it. Knopfler’s signature is in the bottom right-hand corner.
