On the Shelf

Normally I don't read much fiction. I will get too caught up in the concepts and ideas of the story and then crash into disappointment when it's not as real as I want it to be. (I -WILL- have an army of robots at my command. Mark my words...)

However, I am starting to experiment with new things and one of them is to read a series of books by Jim Butcher, the author of the Dresden Files.

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Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things -- and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a -- well, whatever.
There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get... interesting.

Magic. It can get a guy killed.

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The books were turned into a pilot series on the Scifi channel but it only had 12 episodes shot. I would have liked for them to have made more. The characters of Harry (the wizard), Bob (the ghost of a warlock who is condemed to live in his skull for eternity) and Murphy (the plucky, street-wise detective) is a bit archetypal but still fun to watch.

Just something Funny

Power Outtage

Shawnee Obelisk
Originally uploaded by Green Pilgrim

Tuesday marked a weird event on Shawnee's campus.

While I was teaching my morning Psych class, the power went out across the campus. One minute I was talking about fear and phobias and the next we're sitting in almost complete darkness with just a faint glow coming through the doors. There was nothing to do but to close the class early and let them go.

So I went out to the President's Porch and grabbed my notebook for a bit of a break. I didn't know if they were going to cancell classes for the rest of the day or if it was something simple like a blown fuse. Well, it was something close to a blown fuse but it would take more than someone flipping a switch to repair it. Rumors began to spread from group to group as to how long it would take for the problem to be fixed.

And then security upped the anty.

Several security guards wandered from group to group and told us that it would take between six and eight hours to fix the problem. The immediate response from all of the secretaries and faculty was:

WHEN ARE THEY RELEASING US?

It took about a half hour for the word to go out that classes were going to be cancelled for the rest of the day. As soon as I heard, I jumped into my car and headed for the exits because I didn't want to be caught in what would have been a huge traffic snarl; all of campus leaving at once.

Well, two hours (or so) later they sent word, via the emergency call-back service, that power had been restored. By then, I was on my way over to a friend's house to head out to the lake again.

Somedays you don't argue with the universe. You just accept things as a gift and move on.

Waterfall - 1934

lake-11
Originally uploaded by Green Pilgrim

In 1934 several things were happening around the world.

May 23, Police kill Bonnie and Clyde
May 11, Massive Dust Storms sweep across the Great Plains
Oct 16, Chinese Communists break through the Nationalist enemy lines
Aug 11, Alcatraz Island is opened as a Federal Prison.

And...

Some guy carved the date and stuck the rock near this waterfall in Scioto County, Ohio.

While out with some friends at the lake yesterday, I came across this waterfall. The fall is actually there to drain water from the hill above the lake and under the roadway. However, the drain is reinforced with what appears to be a stacked-stone wall. (I don't have a larger shot of the whole wall, but the stones here are tiny compared to the larger stones that stretch out down the hill.)

I took a moment to see if I could capture the water as it fell from the rocks and down to the splash-point. I'm still learning how to use my camera to capture "action" shots such as moving water. It wasn't until I got home and was sorting through the pictures that I saw that someone had carved the date 1934 on one of the rocks (I was at a considerable distance when I took the picture) near the fall.

I wonder if the waterfall was built in 34 or if someone just decided to commemorate the year for some other reason. Who knows.

It was still a nice day to go out to the lake.

-Tom

Bedside Archaeology

Archaeologists often identify people by the objects found along side them in their graves. However, I was wondering what someone could tell about me if they were to examine the contents of my bed-side table.

So the question evolved into: What's beside your bed?

1. Field Book
2. Coffee Cup full of Pens
3. Lamp
4. Cellphone (and charger)
5. Laptop (and charger)
6. Dictionary of the Supernatural (Published in the 70's)
7. Introduction to Watercolors (Borders bargain books)
8. A small, cast-iron pipkin (think mini-cauldron)
9. Bottle of Water
10. A sleepy cat named Rusty (he decided to sprawl himself across the top)
11. The history and truth of the Unicorn* (A faux 'journal' with illustrations and some awesome calligraphy)
12. Marine K-Bar knife with sheath
13. Stack of blank note-cards

It's supposed to be ... Spring?

Well, that's the rumor that I've heard.

I'm out on my front porch this afternoon to enjoy a bit of the not-cold weather and guess what - it's still cold. The high today is just barely within the 50's. I was hoping to enjoy some not-winter-like weather and get some work done out on the front porch today. That doesn't seem to be a good choice since everytime the wind blows my fingers seem to stiffen.

Classes are going fairly well this week. There's nothing on the schedule; no exams or papers to grade. Next week, however, I get to tackle the mountain of Criminological ephemera that will be thrown at me in the shape of research papers. Can you hear the sound of joy in my voice? No? Well, that's because it's been squashed under the foot of aggravation. Every time I read my student's papers I'm hoping that I will at least be able to track what they are writing about; never mind how they're writing it. If I can at least follow, with some clarity, what they're talking about and where they're going with their topic, I'm fine. When it comes to HOW they write, I try not to get too freaked out. I remind myself that these students aren't what I would call 'academically minded'. Though part of me would hold them to a standard that I was used to at Ohio University, there is another part of me that is a bit more practical about such matters.

This is not the place to begin a crusade.

The University is slowly starting to up the bar on its students, but such things are done with patience and lots of meetings. Not only do the students have to be coaxed up out of their shell, some of the professors also have to be encouraged (sometimes with a lead pipe) to come out of their Ivory Tower and...well... teach.

We have some professors who are keeping their students involved and participating in their lectures and others just drone on as though they were giving a presentation to a group of people who already know what they're talking about; ignoring any question presented to them because it 'disrupts their flow'.

If your students are unable to learn the material, how can you 'Profess' to be an educator of any kind. I've had my fair share of students who just don't give a damn, but when the ones that are trying don't understand and, more importantly, can't get clarification, there's something wrong.

The job that I was hoping for on campus, apparently has been sucked through the black hole of a budget sheet. Lack of funding. So I will have to find something else to occupy myself. I have been told, several times, that I am appreciated and an asset in the Department. I love working on campus and if I had the choice, I'd continue to work there in other capacities, but that requires that they have the money to pay me.

Ok... fingers really getting cold now. Going to have to shut down and go back inside to the constant drone of 'World of Warcraft' in the guest room.

Ugh.

I wish it was warmer.

-Tom

Donkey!

donkey
Originally uploaded by Green Pilgrim

A morning in Athens with my beat-up satchel, heavily used notebook and new Donkey Coffee mug.

Life doesn't have to be complicated to be good.

-Tom