Moment of Zen: That Kiss

Yesterday & Today

I had a bad headache yesterday. Hopefully, it will be better today, since I have an interview today. I hate having headaches. I had to go home from work early yesterday. Hopefully, today is a better day and my interview goes well. Wish me luck.

Interview

After God only knows how many applications I’ve sent out, I finally got called for an interview. It’s a Skype interview Friday with a military college in the Southwest. I just sent the application last week, so I’m hoping that with them moving on it so quickly, it means they are really interested. It would be back to teaching which I’m okay with, and it would also be a permanent job.

The Voice of God

The Voice of God

 

 by Crystal Williams

          Poem for Aretha Franklin

when she opens her mouth

our world swells like dawn on the pond

when the sun licks the water & the jay garbles,

the whole quiet thing coming into tune,

the gnats, frogs, the dandelion pollen, the

pebbles & leaves & the whole world of us

sitting at the throat of the jay

dancing in the throat of the jay

all of us on the lip of the jay

singing doowop, doowop, do.

 

 

About This Poem

 

“Many years ago I heard someone describe Aretha Franklin’s voice as the voice of God, which was an amazing thing to say. This meditation is my attempt at understanding why that statement struck me as profoundly true. In the end, Aretha’s voice is an aggregation of the choruses of the natural world—all of their harmony, complexity, and distinctiveness—and it is as close to the divine as I can imagine.”

—Crystal Williams

Normal

This week should largely be back to normal. Last week was quite a whirlwind with the director job candidates on campus for interviews. The search committee will meet today and make their recommendations to the president and provost who will then decide who is ultimately chosen.we have one candidate that seems highly qualified so I am hoping they do the sensible thing and hire him.

This weekend was also a bit of a whirlwind. I went down to Springfield, Massachusetts, to see the Dr. Seuss Museum, which was fantastic and fun, even if it was filled with children. Also, if you’re ever in Springfield, there is a great Italian restaurant called the Red Rose that had the tenderest, most succulent veal piccata I’ve ever eaten. After Springfield, we headed up to Northampton where we stayed the night. We stayed in the beautiful Hotel Northampton, and ate at its Wiggin’s Tavern. I had the salmon over rice pilaf and rainbow carrots. The waitress told us the rainbow carrots were in honor of pride.

Saturday had been Northampton’s Pride celebration so we went to a Pride after party which was supposed to have the drag queen Sherry Vine. Less than two dozen people showed up. The drag show was so bad that everybody left. We didn’t even stick around for Sherry Vine because we were the only two left in the bar. It was a really sad experience. I felt bad for Sherry Vine because no one was there to see her after we left, but I also didn’t want to be the only two people in the audience. I doubt she would have performed for just two people anyway.

Sunday brunch was at Sylvester’s in Northampton. Sylvester’s is a restaurant housed in Sylvester Graham’s House. Sylvester Graham if you didn’t know invented the Graham cracker. I had the Sylvester’s Special which was eggs, bacon, home fries, and toast. It was good but the eggs and home fries needed salt. And then we headed home.

Be Content

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (KJV) (Philippians 4:11)

Could you learn to be content without a new car, iPhone, or house?  If we let them, our desires begin to control us with a never ending thirst that can't be quenched.  It is a daily struggle to consistently trust that God will provide for our needs as He has promised.  We can learn to be content when we rely on God's promises daily.  When you find yourself wanting something today, try practicing contentment with what you have. 

Moment of Zen: Scruffy

Last One

Today’s candidate is more of a mystery to me. I don’t know as much about him as I did the other two. It’s going to be a marathon day for him. The search committee has packed a lot into these interviews, including dinner tonight.

Also, I’m hoping to go away this weekend. I’m supposed to go to Springfield, Massachusetts, to the Dr. Seuss Museum for my museum studies class. I have to visit at least one children’s museum. If all goes well, I’ll also be going to Noho Pride in Northampton, Massachusetts. A friend and I are supposed to go, if she’s feelin well. I hope she is. Noho Pride should be fun. The drag queen Sherry Vine will be headlining the night.

Another Candidate

Today is the internal candidate. While I like him personally, I don’t want him as my boss. I just don’t think he’s ready. I favor the first candidate. It’s just a wait and see game at this point. 

Still I Rise

Still I Rise

Maya Angelou, 1928 - 2014

 You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

"Still I Rise" is a powerful, empowering poem all about the struggle to overcome prejudice and injustice. It is one of Maya Angelou's most popular poems.

When read by those who understand the meaning of repeated wrongdoing, the poem becomes a kind of anthem, a beacon of hope for the oppressed and downtrodden.

It is a reminder of the abuse of power by those who sit in government, the judiciary, in the military and in the police force. For members of the public, for society, it sends out the clear, repeated message of hope. No matter the circumstances, there must always be hope to cling on to.