Us “old folks” have an unrealistic view of what a DJ ought to be. We think he/she needs to play every single song we want to hear when we want to hear it so we can dance our booties off. We think he/she needs to mix up fast songs with slow songs (for all the lovers out there to have a change of pace in their favor). We think he/she needs to play all the “happening” songs from our youth, like Love Shack, Thriller, and Walkin’ on Sunshine. If a DJ played (I Just Died) In Your Arms Tonight we would probably faint from the excitement. To us “old folks” that would be the perfect DJ. Continue reading “The DJ Must Die”
Today, I got to teach about one of the most interesting occurrences that ever happened more than once: the treacherous trip slaves took on their way to possible freedom via the underground railroad. While it was prompted by necessity and the unending need of each slave to gain a freedom that was supposedly guaranteed to … Continue reading Going Underground
I didn’t swear until I was fourteen More a statement of the world than of me Not a conscious rendering of faith or fear But of a young child’s ignorance instead The power of words is dynamic Focused and determined in its force Like a preacher imparting divine knowledge Or like a swan poised for … Continue reading Exhale
There was an old woman fishing on the edge of the creek today. I saw her there in the mid-morning hours, camped out there, as if she had been at it for hours. She was sporting a wide-brimmed fisher’s cap, or maybe it was even a gardening hat — they all look the same to … Continue reading Old Woman Fishing
“The room was full of bookshelves, from front to back, from wall to wall.”
I haven’t seen a room like that outside the confines of a library in about a month of Sundays, maybe even longer. It seemed like in another era it was common to have rooms such as the one described by a colleague of mine yesterday. And the house that contained such a room didn’t even have to be a mansion, even though those bastions of civility also had large insular libraries. A regular, standard house in the olden days would have perhaps a converted closet as a book repository, but it was still there. What happened? Continue reading “Personal Library, R.I.P.”
Through the years there have been television programs geared towards teenagers of the moment, whether it be teens of the ’70s (Welcome Back, Kotter), teens of the ’80s (Head of the Class), teens of the ’90s (Saved By the Bell), or teens of the ’00s (The O.C.). The lure of these shows is that teenagers definitely watched, either because they identified with the characters, or because they enjoyed making fun of the language they used. And they still watch. The problems arise when the shows move beyond the teen years. It becomes harder to keep the viewers they had, and most teen shows fade after three or four seasons because of it. Here is my ode to the teen dramas that have affected me the most.
There is but one.
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer –
I’ve worked hard to make my peace with the lack of a comma in the title of this series, but otherwise the show was perfect. It had everything you could possibly look for in a teen drama: the romantic entanglements (remember Angel? Spike?), the constant issues, the friend conundrum, and the evil vampires that HAD TO GET SLAYED! What? You don’t remember the evil vampires in your high school? That was the true glory of the show, that it mixed the mundane and the supernatural, and while it was hokey at times, it filled that niche that had never been filled before. Or since. Continue reading “Friday Top 5: Teen Dramas”
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