Archive for October, 2009
My Boring Life
Posted by Michael Livingston in Academics on October 11th, 2009
And the reason I’m going so long betwixt posts is… I’m boring. Seriously, I’ve been swamped with work, and not a lick of it is interesting.
Probably the majority of my time, in one way or another, has been devoted to my Mythology class. I’m loving it, but one of the downsides to teaching a big lecture class for the first time is that I have to spend a lot of time on class preparation. This is especially true of a class, like this one, for which I’m preparing big PowerPoint lecture presentations.
On the plus side, those presentations will pay off for years.
The Good Life This Evening
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on October 5th, 2009
Life is, at this moment, wonderful.
I think folks these days tend to complain about things more than they ought to, so it’s worth taking stock now and then about just how good life can be. Right now…
- I have a good family.
- I have a roof over my head.
- I have a steady income.
- I have my health.
You’re rolling your eyes, I’m sure. Those are stand-by graces, I suppose, even if those of us that have them tend to overlook how rare they can be in our world. Fair enough, though. I’ll give you four more specific reasons I’m happy right now…
- I’m done with grading.
- I’m almost done with writing a book review that’s nearly bled my muse dry.
- I’m still celebrating another victory by the 4-0 Denver Broncos.*
- I’m listening to a new album my Mark Knopfler.
Oh, yes. Life is good.
–
*On a fan forum I found this little animated gif image of a moment in Sunday’s game. I include it here as an added bit of delight and a reminder why football is the most frighteningly beautiful sport yet devised.
Roy Williams of the Cowboys meets D.J. Williams of the Broncos.
Seriously. Imagine this at full speed. Roy is fully extended, reaching for a ball just off his fingertips. He knows he’s likely to get hit. D.J. is running at full-tilt across the grass, knowing he needs to separate Roy from the ball if he somehow manages to catch it. In the half-step before the impact, in the split-seconds of pulse-pounding rush, D.J. coils his upper body and tucks his head down and to the side in order to avoid a dangerous spearing — dangerous for both hitter and the hit, in addition to being a personal foul. Then, pushing off the turf, he erupts that kinetic energy into the receiver’s torso with perfect timing. Roy’s body flutters with the blow even as he folds up and falls to the ground, his feet instinctively going taut in order to avoid the twisting of his ankle.
It’s violent, I know. But no one was hurt. Which makes it also marvelous.
Tim O’Brien Talk at the College of Charleston
Posted by Michael Livingston in Academics on October 2nd, 2009
Tim O’Brien is the magnificent writer who penned The Things They Carried, which is (I humbly submit) the single most powerful work of literature to come out of the Vietnam War. I’ve taught the lead chapter in the volume (“The Things They Carried”) on numerous occasions, and it never ceases to move me.
This evening, I’m very pleased to report, I had the great pleasure of listening to O’Brien give a lengthier-than-planned lecture at the College of Charleston. He was, by turns, engaging, self-effacing, funny, poignant, honest, and insightful. In other words, like many of the stories he writes, he was human.
Listening to a good writer self-reflect on his or her place as a writer is always a wonderful thing, but I found this particular talk to be particularly fascinating. Much of it, I’m sure, is how O’Brien’s unscripted nerves were laid bare again and again. To hear his voice crack as he read his own description (from the chapter “Ambush” in The Things They Carried) of the killing of a young Vietnamese soldier — a story that isn’t true in a literal sense but is, as his own raw reactions made clear, true in the more powerful emotional sense — was really remarkable. The entire audience felt the moment come alive, which is what a born storyteller can do. It was a real honor.
Best Mexican in Charleston
Posted by Michael Livingston in Uncategorized on October 1st, 2009
Food, that is. I remain convinced that it’s actually outside of Charleston, on John’s Island, at a little strip-mall restaurant called “El Mercadito.” Delicious. I highly suggest the chorizo tacos with a smattering of onions and cilantro, garnished with fresh-squeezed lime. It’s magnificent.
The margaritas are very fine, too, but not necessary to the experience.
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