Falling into October

Quetzalquatl Rising

Another season passed between blogging entries. As an update, we moved from Lancaster to Southlake -- about 50 miles as the owl flies, but drastically different in cultural attitudes. Folks from South Dallas and Wilmer-Hutchins have continued the western migration, and most of the southern Dallas County has a minority slant ... whereas Southlake remains unremittingly Anglo in contrast. Plus, I suspect that there aren't any LEP or SED students in the area. Believe me, if you glimpse a person of color around this town, he or she either works for someone or earns twice my salary.

Also, the school year brings its own new stresses as we move from TAKS to EOC ... The new test looks like a pre-AP test; I wonder how long it will take before the powers-that-be notice that the "learning curve" to pass the test for graduation will take longer than 4 years ... and they claim that LEP kids won't get an exemption once they're in regular classes.

Enough boring stuff -- Joy and I went out to Four Winds for the Celtic Music Festival. They had a small crowd; as usual, the advertising came out at the last minute. Worse, there were 2 state fairs, Canton First Monday, TJC football game, and who knows what else competing for people. Two friends of ours showed up, which improved the day -- and we did sell a little jewelry. Of course, we spent some on a new hat for a BJD and a new CD by Jed Marum, the "Yankee in Texas." Unfortunately, the Southern rockers took over the final set, so Jed put away the sound system and didn't sing. A disappointment because I hadn't had a chance to listen to him perform this year -- and he was one reason why we chose to go.

This weekend brings the first Wild West/Steampunk Weekend at Four Winds. I don't know how it will go -- for all of social media's claims to put you in contact with other people, I haven't seen impressive results. As Hope says, until you see the people in the audience, you can't count on their online promises to attend. My only concern comes from teaching on Monday ... though, if it's an A-Day, I'll only have 3 classes ... that might not be too bad. Ah, corsets and clockwork (to quote a book title) promise to create a memorable weekend.

Scorching School Daze

Benedict & Beatrice, 2011

School started last Monday with little fanfare at SHS. We are still a construction zone -- no kitchen for the cafeteria, no auditorium, ripped-up walls. and few water fountains and restrooms ... What a beginning to a new school year! The old lady of brick and mortar is getting a facelift, but we're in the middle. In fact, the Thursday & Friday when I moved my classroom and organized it, there was no AC -- and it was 105* in the room! The room also had no ceiling; you looked upwards and saw the 86-yr-old joists and beams that support the roof. In the workroom opposite mine, we found windows looking onto nothing -- they had been sealed years before. The journalism teacher braved the heat to take photos; we joked that they were windows for the mysterious "fourth floor," a legend in the school ... SHS has its own urban legends of ghosts and goblins.

A hurricane on the East Coast and the heat in the Southwest -- I don't want to wish storms on the Gulf, but I wish we could get something besides heat and more heat.

David Tennant & Catherine Tate re-united in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. I hope there's a cast recording, since that's the only way I'll experience their Benedict & Beatrice sparring. I loved the movie version directed by Kenneth Branaugh and for the longer time thought that he and Emma Thompson's performances couldn't be topped ... Well, the current stage versions may prove me wrong. I worked costumes & front of house when the Dallas Theatre Center did the play in the 70s -- we costumed it as warriors returning from the Texas war of independence in 1835. (Remember the Alamo!) Google and check out the gallery; Tate's Beatrice wears overalls in the early scenes, and Tennant wears a Navy uniform. It's a fun play; for those of you who aren't familiar with the plot, think Romeo & Juliet in a comic universe: no matter how bad things seem to get, the universe works to unite the lovers, despite their avowed dislike for one another. "Our hands against our hearts," as Benedict says. It all works to the good.

Let's hope the same goes for the 2011-2 school year.

Mother Nature's Crying

If you live in North Texas, Saturday brought a welcome surprise ... The clouds had a pity party for the farms & fields that have turned brown during this long drought. I'm sure the sun will come out tomorrow -- and with it 100+ heat -- but for today I'm enjoying the unexpected precipitation.

This week has brought a funeral as well as a rainstorm ... Even us city kids watched the different clouds and the way the wind shifted north and west from Oklahoma. After the funeral Mass, we drove to the Mt. Carmel Cemetery outside of Electra, past Punkin Center. The fields had been burned to a crisp -- not even the cows were in sight. Still, each family took the cemetery tour after the internment. Most of the names were German ones: Fluesche, Hartmangruber, Roessler, Jacobi. According to Chuck, one ancestor -- Emil Fluesche -- settled there and brought other people from the Old Country to farm cotton and wheat in the 1870s & 80s. Chuck gave the quick tour to one of our cousins who'd come up from San Antonio for his mother's funeral ... I doubt that he knew how much history was contained in such a tiny plot of red dirt.

So, what does Sherlock have to do with rain and funerals? On the drive back to Dallas, I discovered that my cousins also watched Doctor Who and other British shows ... even the old ones like Up Pompeii. Perhaps it's because both attended schools that taught Latin. Who knows? I should've guessed since Chuck's vehicle has a Union Jack pasted to the back window. Strange that we don't have that much time together, yet we wind up in the same cultural place ... Hmmm. You might deduce that nurture tops nature, as far as personality development goes. Either that, or I read waaaay too much.

Texas Toast

Testing the Waters

Keeping an eye out for Mother Nature's heat seekers ... We had these visitors at the community lake (pond, rather) in Lancaster. I've seen a few near the megachurch just west of the apt. Good luck, birdies!

I don't think heat was a contributing factor in my aunt's passing in hospice ... She had spent years in a nursing home; her family had scattered decades ago. I'm not sure that my other aunts have any contact phone numbers for her ... We shall see on Thursday when we go up for the funeral. Ironically, we had planned to drive to Wichita Falls to visit with her.

This weekend I said farewell to the church that I had attended since 1980 when I moved to Lancaster. The congregation has steadily shrunk as children moved away and the demographics have changed ... At best count, we had 12-20 people who regularly came to Mass. Although we had moved in June, I regularly went down on Sunday; but with the start on school next Monday, summer is ending -- and it's time to move on. They understood why I didn't want to make a 40-50 mile drive ... gas hasn't gotten any cheaper since June. I made the announcement, and -- for the last time -- stayed for cake & coffee. St. Martin's is a good country church ... I only wish we had found a way to "grow the congregation" where we were planted.

Texas

On the Move

Ah, the waltz from Labyrinth -- "Worship me, fear me ... and I will be your slave." Now that was a line that made many women sit up and think seriously about the temptation that Sarah faced ... A different version of "Beauty and the Beast," I suppose, although I've gotten quite tired of the variations on the vampire and werewolf themes. Perhaps I've just tired of the usual plot motifs for romance novels.

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray cured me of the "love conquers all" theme (at least for the moment). Love and family constantly war against the desire for money (security enters into it for a while, then Becky subverts everything to her quest for the good life). Amelia worships her wastrel husband, who marries her despite his family's disapproval (since her father lost all of his money in a economic crash); he dies at Waterloo, and she spends most of the money spoiling their son and worshiping her husband's memory ... Either way, the satire cuts through sensibilities like a scalpel. What hurts is the fact that, except for the corsets and cravats, the same conflict haunts 21st century society ... except that our creditors can't send us to debtors' prison. (Yes, someone said that during a bankruptcy meeting ... and the speaker agreed!) Although Thackeray's novel is set during the same time as Austen's novels, their views of society and love are polar opposites. Interestingly enough, Thackeray's allusions point out that the common Victorian readers recognized more allusions than many modern readers ... He only caught me once or twice ... and even the Cliff Notes didn't mention the ones I didn't know, so I don't feel totally culturally illiterate.

The recent anthology Hot & Steamy edited by Martin Greenberg proved that non-romance writers (and readers) just don't understand what constitutes a romance. Shoot, Corsets & Clockwork (a YA anthology) fit the genre better ... Both anthologies claimed to combine romance with steampunk, but the adult anthology generally had unhappy endings -- the last story, which had the most imaginative premise -- tunneling under the North Sea to provide the coal for engines -- ends with the death of the girl's newly-wed husband. Several had automatons involved in love triangles ... The one set during Sherman's march to the sea chilled, since the crazed Southern inventor epitomized every stereotype of the evil plantation owner, like a mechanically minded Simon Legree. The YA anthology fit the romance genre more closely; I think the story set on the train with the female sharpshooter and the rustler on the run put the best twist on the historical links that lurk in the steampunk era -- Jane and Jesse make quite a pair.

Unfortunately, "hot and steamy" describes Texas all too well this summer. 40 days (more or less) of days at 100* or over ... no wonder we can't get anything done, except read and enjoy other worlds.

The Heat Is On

... and the rising sun will scorch us one more time. Thanks to the Doctor, we aren't falling into the sun itself -- but with the projected high at 106* (and no telling what the heat index will be), we'll feel like the poor Brits in a Doctor Who adventure.

I haven't updated this blog -- because we've moved from Lancaster to Southlake. Some people have no idea where either town is located, so here's a bit of perspective. Lancaster sits south of Dallas on I-20 between I-45 and I-35. When we moved there 30 years ago, it was a quiet town surrounded by country ... Now it's a town surrounded by truck stops on the north and chain businesses on the west. The largest employers are the Lancaster school district and Wal-Mart. Southlake grew up west of Grapevine when commuters decided to leave the urban sprawl behind and create their own upscale community. Highway 114 is the main road in or out, although I'm learning a series of back ways since there's a massive piece of road construction between my abode and my job.

The other reason I haven't written lately is connected with the ballet studio. See how good the Doctor looks in his suit? Believe me, some tailor worked hard to get the right fitting for the pants and coat. And that cape? Don't get me started! Since ballerinas show a lot more arm and leg than a Time Lord, their tutus need an even better fitting. One miscalculated seam, and you're in for a massive amount of pinning and sewing. That was a nightmare that eventually had a happy ending ... though I bet we'll do another round of precision tailoring before the August show. We won't have distance and stage lights to enhance the illusion.

14 days, and I'm back in school. My, how time flies! and I didn't have a TARDIS!