Wedding Redux

Recently I had my second chance to officiate at a friend's wedding.  As we discussed last year one of the pleasant oddities of life in Vermont is that anyone can marry anyone - as long as they fill out the temporary officiant form and pay the $100 fee.  You are then empowered to marry two specific people on one specific day.  The first time I did it was last 22 June for my excellent friends Andy and Heidi.  During that event my friend Sandy met a lovely woman by the name of Debbie, and now, huzzah, a year later they were married - on the exact same day (which increased the chances that Sandy would remember his anniversary).  This wedding took place at the prestigious Saint John's Club, at which most members of the Gentlemen of Excellence are a member (at the exorbitant fee of $50 a year).  It was a lovely day and everything went off brilliantly, even my clumsily worded sermon (which I may or may not publish here on the blog - although I guess I should because Andy and Heidi are still trying to get me to publish theirs a year later).  This one had a Denis Diderot theme, who is Sandy's favorite philosopher - it made sense to me anyway.

The happy couple.  It's now been two weeks and they're still married, so I'm 2-2 in weddings/marriages.

And the lovely set-up on the banks of Lake Champlain.  It is easy to forget how beautiful Vermont is.

And excellent friends.  There were many factors that went into last year's Hong Kong decision, but not the least of them was the depressing prospect of giving up some extraordinary friends.  I find that I'm even more persistent about carving off time to spend with them.

Crypto-Cryptozoology

The excellent Mike Lange and I made a recent trip up into Canada in search of a "town in north Ontario," but more on that later.  Along the way we decided to become cryptozoologists (sort of like the famous Seinfeld episode where George argues that he really wanted to pretend to be an architect).  We decided to try and find the Markham Monster.  Unfortunately Markham turned out to be a lovely little bedroom community for Toronto, and the closest we came to beastly behavior (although in a good way) was Lange discovering an amazing chocolate-covered dessert in a Greek bakery.  Still, it has inspired us to plan several cryptozoological trips into Quebec in the coming months.  Seriously, what could possibly go wrong?

You can just make out the brutish creature.

Ridiculous State

My side yard, 16 April.  Wallah?

I suspect Abu Dhabi received less snow today.

Art

My students love me - or at least know me.  I found this work of aesthetic brilliance when I walked into my COR 330 Dar al-Islam class today.  The artist is a mystery, although I would suspect a certain gentleman (and I use the term loosely) by the name of Spencer may be responsible (and I especially use that word in its broadest possible context).

It is a good likeness.

Trade Winds

Maybe it's just another bitterly cold day in Vermont, or maybe it's reflecting on the more sedentary nature of my life now, but I'm suffering from some serious travel blues at the moment.  I guess one never gets rid of the travel bug when you've been bitten.  Mainly, I keep hearkening back to places like Sana'a and Zanzibar, maybe simply because they are so exotic and thus the opposite of my decidedly non-exotic life.  Also, I just have very fond memories of both places, especially Zanzibar, which was one of the most wonderful experiences of my entire life.  I found myself staring at this mask that I brought back from Stone Town, and which hangs on my wall - and stares accusingly at me.

I actually use this mask in my Aesthetic Expression class and have my students analyze it as compared to an African aesthetic of beauty.  No matter how it's judged, it's one of my favorite souvenirs.

OK, time to get back to work.  Actually, I'm getting some productive writing done lately on my long-delayed epics project.  This morning I actually felt that I had found my voice, which is not an easy thing to develop.  It also seems like the voice is different depending upon whether you're doing scholarly vs. creative writing, and I suspect there are sub-sections of both categories.

Nano Cheating

In more whimsical moments I've proposed that while each new technological innovation might have had noble goals, in the end they are always subsumed by the need to provide porn more quickly and elegantly.  This is, sadly, probably true whether you're talking about the printing press or radio or TV or the Internet or smart phones.  Following hard on the heels of porn, however, is the endless ways that technology allows students to cheat.  Here is a classic example, a Nano wristwatch that was confiscated from one of the students at Zayed University when I taught there.  Essentially, it's a class Powerpoint called up on the device.  If only the students devoted as much time and dedication and innovation to studying as they do to trying to find ways to get around studying.

Russian Memories

Just a brief post inspired by my excellent friend Kerry sending along a picture from the time I led a team of Champlain professors to Moscow as part of the now sadly-deceased Global Modules program.  Home visits - and meals - are always the best parts of overseas trips.