Wiffle Ball Excellence

I think the reason why my friends here at Champlain missed me when I was gone (although I'm sure they didn't miss me as much as they let on) is that I tend to be the one who organizes general tomfoolery such as chicken wing eating competitions or suggests tail-gating at schools we don't attend or browbeat friends into visiting the Creation Museum or any number of other silly things.  The other day I was at Shaw's when I came across a wiffle bat and bat on sale.  Immediately it seemed to me that what could possibly be a better break from finals week grading than to spend some time out in the sunshine playing wiffle ball in the front yard of Aiken. Eventually I'll post the individual baseball card shots of all the participants, but here's something to get us started.  There are unpleasant rumors going around that I deliberately plunked all the batters I faced, which is not entirely true.  There were some folks who were leaning in over the plate and had to be brushed back, but that's just part of the game.  I did drill Andy in the back, but his crimes are so profound that he definitely deserved it.

Mike pitching to Linda, with Andy and Kerry playing the outfield.  As it turns out all the women were much better hitters than the men, although that was mainly because I dragged down the average.

W is for Wicked?

There is nothing like coming home and receiving a letter from the Vermont Secretary of State (unless it's from Homeland Security, but that's another story).  In this case the news was good because it was my official appointment as a Temporary Officiant for my excellent friends Andy and Heidi's wedding for this summer.  We had a nice cook-out and wedding planning session the other night.  I told them my plans, which were met with approval, and then I gave them some homework, which they have to email me separately.  The whole thing makes me nervous, mainly because I hate public speaking so much, but it is such a tremendous honor that it is hard not to be excited about it.  Apparently anyone in Vermont, as long as they are eighteen or over, can marry any one else in Vermont.  You just need to fill out the Temporary Officiant form, which takes about two minutes, and can send along a check for $100.  I can't believe that more people don't do it. The only potential glitch is that the state managed to get my name wrong (middle initial W instead of E), but I can't  believe that it really matters - although I did tell Andy that they had better not have any children until the case works its way through to the Supreme Court.  The only consideration now is exactly what the W is supposed to stand for - Laura says either Wanker or Weirdo, and I can't top that.

You can't get more official than that.

Simple Men

Today is the last day of the semester and I think everyone, both faculty members and students, is officially punch drunk. This semester I have some really great students and they have have been a pleasure to teach.  I have this really energetic 12:30 Heroines & Heroes class which, in addition to actually always doing the reading and coming to class prepared, are always energetic and engaged.  Last week I had showed a small group of them - Erica, Davi, Christian, Michael and Ben - one of my favorite films, Simple Men, by the independent director Hal Hartley (who is also a personal favorite of my great friend Erik).  They liked the movie, although I think they struggled initially with Hartley's deliciously peculiar sense of humor and timing.  They did, however, love the classic dance routine which is featured in the movie (and which you can see by clicking on the link).  We had discussed my desire to have the same sound effects in my class that follow the characters in the movie, which inspired Christian to bring in his guitar today to try and replicate.  Eventually at the end of class they played the music from the movie, which led to a spontaneous (or maybe not so spontaneous - Erica definitely had the dance memorized) performance.  An inspired way to finish the semester.  Also, be sure to check out Simple Men and the other Hartley films.  Great stuff.

Left to right: Michael, Erica (who I suspect was the ringleader, or who at least had memorized the dance), Ben (who  I think, shared my horror of dance) and the obviously inspired Davi.

And we have Christian in on the left, although you can't see his guitar.  You have to watch the video to get the beauty of Erica's swim move.

Inspired.  I do love my students.

Missing Australia

Another craptacular day in Vermont weather-wise, and beat down from end of the semester exhaustion.  Missing the beautiful sunshine and pleasant souls of Australia.  Here's a picture I snapped at the beach, during a great outing with my new friends Ruth and Mikaela.

 The wind was howling and the waves were crashing, and I could have sat there for hours.

Lisa

A really nice picture of my sister Lisa and some fool up on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in the UAE.  I haven't even gotten around to posting on the trip to the world's tallest building yet, so, once again, I'm running behind on blogging.  It's very rare that I produce a nice picture, but this one turned out well.  Lisa, Garrett and I had a great time on their visit.

Believe me, I never smiled this much when she made me late for school every day in high school.

Rabbit Hash

And, briefly, just to refute my friends who don't believe me that I grew up across the river from a town called Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, here is a picture of the Rabbit Hash General Store.  I did manage to drive my excellent friend Sanford to Rising Sun, so that part of my mythic childhood is documented, but I have yet to drag anyone over to Rabbit Hash.

However, I do think that Jack Schultz, my best friend from high school, and I used to drive around here and steal confederate flags, although I am not legally admitting to anything (and it was Jack's idea anyway).