Playwright Arthur Miller died yesterday at the age of 89. He was best known, perhaps, for Death of a Salesman, an examination of the death of the American Dream, in my opinion similiar to The Great Gatsby. His most often produced play is The Crucible. I have taught that play several times. Students usually really like it. He’s made some valuable contributions to American drama.
Favorites in Pictures
It’s been a long time since I participated in a meme, but I thought this one was clever, via Jennifer.
- First car:
Mazda 626 (this color, too) - Where I grew up:
Denver, ColoradoNighttime skyline:
- Where I live now:
Atlanta, Georgia - My name:
Dana (but not quite Dana Delaney) - Grandmother’s name:
Doris - Favorite food:
Bread and dipping spices, but I make my own (click link for recipe) - Favorite drink:
The Real Thing - Favorite song:
“Ten Years Gone,” Led Zeppelin
Then as it was then again it will be,
Though the course may change sometimes
Rivers always reach the sea… - Favorite smell:
Honeysuckle - Favorite pair of shoes:
These look brown, but mine are black.
1 T basil (recommend fresh)
1 T parsley (recommend fresh Italian)
1 T minced garlic (recommend fresh or jar-kind, not dehydrated)
1 t dried thyme
1 t dried oregano
1 t ground black pepper
1/2 t minced rosemary (recommend fresh)
1/2 t salt (recommend kosher salt or ground sea salt)
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t olive oil
1/8 t lemon juice
Combine all ingredients. You can use a food processor if you like, but I don’t and it comes out okay. Put on a dish and pour olive oil over spices. Dip bread in mixture. Crusty french bread is good.
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Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles
Prince Charles will marry his long-time love Camilla Parker-Bowles on April 8. I am a huge fan of Princess Diana, but I am very happy this has come about. William and Harry have issued a statement of support, and the Queen has put her blessing upon it. The two of them have been in love for about 30 years.
To those who say this is the death knell of Charles’s hopes for the throne, I say bullshit (and pardon my language, but it’s true). I couldn’t have said it any better than a letter to the London Times Online:
Sir, I am just thankful that the Church of England’s founder, Henry VIII, and his wife Catherine of Aragon, and his wife Anne Boleyn, and his wife Jane Seymour, and his wife Anne of Cleves, and his wife Catherine Howard, and his wife Catherine Parr, are no longer here to witness this assault on traditional Christian marriage.
And to Bonnie Prince Charlie, I say congratulations, and it’s about time you were able to wed your true love.
OCD in Teens
Joseph Alterman, a student at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, published a guest editorial in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. I thought it was very informative, but I really hate that AJC makes you register to view archives — and by the time you, whoever you are, happen upon this article, it might be in the archive. So to that end, if you click on the link below, you can read the entire text of the article.
Continue reading “OCD in Teens”
Hatfields and McCoys
My daughter Sarah has Hatfield lineage. I find nowadays I have to explain who the Hatfields and the McCoys were when I teach, say, Romeo and Juliet or Huck Finn, and happen to mention them as being similar to the Montagues and Capulets or Grangerfords and Shepherdsons.
Actually, the truth is that I find the whole saga fascinating. If you want to learn more, try these sources:
- Hatfield-McCoy Feud; Roseanna: Juliet of the Mountains
- Life Magazine Visits the Hatfields and McCoys
- The Hatfields and McCoys
- Hatfields and McCoys (Genealogy)
And most of all, read the young adult novel The Coffin Quilt, by Ann Rinaldi. It’s a wonderful book.
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Specialty Blogs
I can’t help but comment upon the popularity of “specialty” blogs. Steve noted that the stats for his true crime blog have been through the roof. People are interested in that type of thing, or Ann Rule wouldn’t have a career, right? And I’m not knocking that, either. There are blogs that specialize in technology, namely Slashdot and Kuro5hin. There are political blogs, like Daily Kos, InstaPundit, and Little Green Footballs. There are homeschooling blogs, knitting blogs, and whatever you name it, there’s a blog for it. I myself keep a blog with an admittedly narrow focus — Harry Potter. I’m not alone there, either. MuggleNet, The Leaky Cauldron, The Dark Mark, Veritaserum, HPANA, and many more are also available in that narrow niche.
There are a plethora of so-called personal blogs, which, in my opinion, resemble nothing so much as journals. Not many of them reach the upper echelon of blog popularity. There are a few, I’m sure, but I’m stuck trying to think of a personal blog that doesn’t have some other agenda or focus tied to it, whether that be technology or politics or whatever else. Just a flat out, “this was my day” or “this is what I’m thinking” type of blog. Some people dismiss these types of blogs as “not real blogs.” So what defines a blog? Some definitions I’ve found, with a quick Google search are:
- Blogs have comments (defined by, of course, a commenter and not the author).
- Blogs are updated daily (the author points out he doesn’t believe this, but references another who does).
- They’re not corporate blogs.
- They’re not professional or celebrity diaries. I’d argue Wil Wheaton DOT Net is a real blog that just happens to be written by a celebrity.
I’m sure you could add to that list, but that will do for starters. Then there is the problem of nefarious sites masquerading as blogs. This has become a big problem, prompting lots of comment spam designed to improve Google rankings and increase traffic. Read more:
- Porn Blogs Manipulate Google
- CyberQuest Disavows Porn Blogs
- Porn Sites Hiding Behind Blogs
So what makes a blog good? And why, inexplicably, is this an extrememly popular blog? Go figure.
I guess people read specialty blogs because people are interested in fitting themselves into niches and reading news about that niche moreso than they are interesting in reading the ramblings of, say, your average high school English teacher with three kids, two stepkids, a minivan, and a small house in the suburbs of Alanta (for example). Not that I’m complaining about a lack of traffic. Actually, believe this or don’t, I don’t really care about traffic. Not here, anyway. But it does bug me that I get one or two visitors a day at the Pensieve. I realize part of the fault is mine. I don’t update it often enough. But it is hard to update it without turning it into another Harry Potter news aggregator. I never wanted it to be that, and anything else requires more time than I have. It takes time, for instance, to research the characters’ name origins or to speculate about rumors and make predictions based on logic and clues in the books. I want to do it justice, which means I don’t update much. Still, I think there is some good stuff there.
So… is there such as thing as being too narrow in focus? *Scratches chin thoughtfully* Maybe. But I’m not going to change the focus of the blog just to generate traffic. People can get Harry Potter news in a variety of places. I don’t have the time or inclination to add my site to that pile.
A New England Nun
The other day I read a short story by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, a local color writer, entitled “A New England Nun.” It’s a charming little story. I don’t think most of the newer high school American Literature textbooks anthologize it anymore. At least, I don’t believe Prentice-Hall or Holt do (and those two are, in my opinion, the best textbook series for literature that I’ve seen). I can’t recall if I read it when I took American Realism and Naturalism in college — we read a lot of women regionalists then, including Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary Noailles Murfree, Kate Chopin, et. al. If we read Freeman, we probably read “The Revolt of Mother.” Truthfully, we read so much that quarter that I barely remember some of it. Anyway, get to the point, Mrs. Huff. Okay, little Louisa Ellis is one of the most blatant examples of a literary character exhibiting signs of OCD that I’ve ever seen. I am not sure when it was written, but Freeman died in 1930. Freud described OCDers, but I am not sure when OCD was recognized by the medical establishment.
Google renders no hits matching this story to OCD, so here’s one for you, Google:
Louisa Ellis demonstrates the following compulsions that could be attributed to OCD:
- Louisa wears three aprons: an outside gardening apron in green, a pink apron for sewing, and a cambric-patterned apron for company.
- Louisa routinely rips out her sewing in order to do it again. The author says it is just pleasurable to her. I advance that it is pleasurable to her because she has OCD, and it makes her feel better to rip out the work and resew it so it will be “perfect.”
- Louisa used specific dishes to prepare her food.
- Most telling: a description of Louisa’s insistence on having items in a certain place
Presently Dagget began fingering the books on the table. There was a square red autograph album, and a Young Lady’s Gift-Book which had belonged to Louisa’s mother. He took them up one after the other and opened them; then laid them down again, the album on the Gift-Book.
Louisa kept eying them with mild uneasiness. Finally she rose and changed the position of the books, putting the album underneath. That was the way they had been arranged in the first place.
Dagget gave an awkward little laugh. “Now what difference did it make which book was on top?” said he.
Louisa looked at him with a deprecating smile. “I always keep them that way,” murmured she.
- And yet another example, a cleaning compulsion
Then she set the lamp on the floor, and began sharply examining the carpet. She even rubbed her fingers over it, and looked at them.
“He’s tracked in a good deal of dust,” she murmured. “I thought he must have.”
Louisa got a dust-pan and brush, and swept Joe Dagget’s track carefully.
- Her brother’s dog Caesar bit a man once as a puppy and remained tied up for the rest of his life — Louisa was terrified he’d go on a rampage. Some OCDers imagine terrible things happening and perform compulsions to keep them from occurring. Louisa also feeds the dog only mild food like corn mush cakes, because she believes he will become wild if he eats meat.
It’s actually amazing. I think OCDers (and those that want to learn about OCD) might appreciate that story. Go check it out.
New Stuff at the Pensieve
I have been tweaking the Pensieve, my Harry Potter blog, today. Here’s a list of what’s new:
- Half-Blood Prince predictions (entry)
- Buy Harry Potter books and DVDs through the Pensieve
- More links to goodies (AOL Buddy Icons and Images)
- Minor tweaks to the templates
Check it out, if you are so inclined.