I found out a couple of days ago that a favorite teacher of mine died last month. After hearing about it, I searched the web and found her obituary, but it is archived and I had to pay $1.25 to view it, so I can't link to it. I did find this tribute to her, though. I believe "pig" should be "pug;" one of the other things that the Google search turned up was a post she wrote on a dicussion board in 2003 about her dog.

Every semester, in my foundations class, I have the students discuss or write about the concept of mentors and role models, whether they have had one in school or college, and whether we should expect teachers to take on this responsibility, or if that is unfair. A lot of students remember some wonderful teacher and share a story about the impact that teacher had on them. Not as common, there are others who can't remember any teacher having such a significant role. But even the students who remember a great teacher will sometimes wonder about the large number of teachers they have encountered, and the fact that only a handful have been memorable in this way.

I wouldn't say this favorite teacher of mine was a role model, or even a mentor exactly. But I do remember that she was nice to everyone - including, and especially, the troubled students. She was a high school English teacher, and in my case, she really encouraged me to write. She always assigned a journal as an assignment in class; that has proved to be a valuable lifelong habit for me, and I require the students in my foundations class to keep one, too. Maybe I wouldn't be keeping this online journal if it wasn't for her. She wrote "keep writing!" in my high school yearbook. When I told her that I was going to go to Oneonta to college, she shared that Oneonta was her alma mater. She even wrote to me a few times when I was a freshman. Although I hadn't kept in touch with her in years, I think the world will be a little less bright with her gone.

I caught another student plagiarizing yesterday. He handed in an essay that another student wrote for class in Spring 2005. He added three sentences. I had changed the questions, so the essay no longer was appropriate for the assignment. Did he think I wouldn't notice? Really, it is insulting. I have already sent everything to Judicial Affairs. Buh-bye.

Sam was nearby as I was working on the essay nightmare (and hardly making any progress, as I spent so much time on this one case). I said to him, "this is only one reason why dogs are better than people." Sam wouldn't cheat if he was a person.

Which reminds me, today is the sixth month anniversary of Rudy's death. Still think of you every day, my sweetie.

This opinion piece, from yesterday's TU, captures the mood nicely, and is a good read.

I might be getting another story published!! It is looking good. The story is "Christmas Paper." Keep your fingers crossed.

Well, they didn't win...but they certainly played a great game. Also notable, I watched televised sports...a first!

Now, sports of any kind are VERY low on my list of priorities. Forget that - low on my list of interests, no way could sports be a priority! Actually - revise again, sports doesn't even make my list of interests. (For the curious, check out this post to see the roots of my anti-athletics disorder.) But the university's basketball team has won the America East Conference championship, and for the first time is headed to the NCCA tournament. They will be playing #1 UConn in Philadelphia tomorrow. How many times has a #16 beat a #1? Zero. (Before you are too impressed, I had to look up most of that information before I typed; although everyone, everywhere is chattering, and I have been listening to radio and TV and reading the paper, it was not retained, and so it was not off the top of my head.) Anyway, to say this is a big deal around here would be a major understatement. The campus is buzzing. But more than that - and this is truly incredible, because as a "State school" in the northeast, we don't exactly feel the love from our community - the entire region is excited. The idea of an upset victory really captures the imagination. It would be nice if people got this worked up about academics, but oh well! A couple of the players have been in my classes in the past, or are in one of them now. Better to not comment specifically, or even generally, on their performance, OK? Except for one young man, who was in my summer class last year. He's a great student, a really nice kid, he made a lasting good impression on me, and he deserves to win! So, just for him, I have generated some interest in this one game. Go Great Danes!

I haven't been posting here very much lately. If this was a paper journal, this is probably one of those points where I would abandon it for a while. I checked my referrer logs - and the #1 search terms for landing here are bungalow houses or craftsman houses. That is usually the case. But the #2? Rodents! Pretty funny.

We had a little snow this morning, which is only notable because we have had so little snow this winter. I was thinking as I looked into the yard that we didn't have a lot of snow this winter because Wuj wasn't here to roll in it. Sniff.

We saw Roseanne Cash at the The Egg on Friday. She is a real class act! The opening band was the Greencards. They were great, too.

Blogger seems to be acting up?

Back in December, this appeared in the Ms. Mentor section of The Chronicle (sorry, it requires a subscription). Basically, one faculty member wrote in for advice about something petty; the instructor who preceded him or her (can't remember) in the classroom never erased the chalkboard, in spite of being left a note on the board asking that he do so, having the annoyance mentioned by a mutual colleague, and being emailed about it. Now, I was surprised by the letter, because I have no clue who uses the classrooms before me (I guess Ms. Mentor's correspondent must teach at a very small place), and even if I did, I would never write notes or emails or gossip about the subject. But since then I have been thinking about it, and wondering if there is an unspoken etiquette about chalkboard erasing. I notice that most of the time, the chalkboards in the rooms I use are not erased - they are full of scribbles. This is even true in the smart room. I always erase whatever is there when I enter - and also never fail to erase anything I write on the board before I leave. It just seems the appropriate thing to do, yet others do not extend the same courtesy.

We visited Oneonta on Friday, something we do every year or so. It was a nice time, as always. But I was left with a melancholy feeling. Later, I tried to figure out why. Because I could have happily lived forever in that little city? Or is it the passing of time and aging? On campus, after the trip to the college store to pick up tee-shirts and other alumni paraphernalia, despite the bitter cold, we walked around a bit near the academic buildings, and went inside one that used to house a favorite coffee shop. It was sad to see that the coffee shop is gone, replaced by a vending room. All the chairs and tables were there, as well as the memories. In '70s orange. I scanned the faculty directory. The offices for mathematics, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, and education are located there. I only recognized one name in the list. We both noticed how friendly the staff and students were at the college union, such a contrast to here in Albany. Because it is a smaller campus? Because it is in Central New York? Because the focus in undergraduate education? We weren't sure why. Later, someone told us that the coffee shop we missed moved to a different building, and transformed into a Starbucks. Typical.

Downtown we visited a favorite bar and found it unchanged, the pizzeria where Bob worked (which has been extensively renovated), and a health food cafe. It was vegetarian when we were students, but now it serves meat. We bought a funky lantern at a small gift shop that sold used DVDs (Bob guessed they are like currency to cash-strapped students), tapestries, a huge selection of pot pipes, and incense. We ate at Brooks (yum!) and had dessert at at small cafe.

As we strolled along Main Street, we were saddened by the empty storefronts. Even when we were students, there was talk of the difficulties of owning a store there, of the threat from the east and west ends of town. But as it turned out, the suburban fringes didn't do that much harm. Students didn't have cars, the campus bus stopped near Main Street, it was tradition for folks to drive in from the outskirts to shop on Main Street, and the chains Ames to the west, and Barkers to the east both have gone out of business long ago.

The anchor of Main Street was Bresee's, a classy three-story department store that was founded in 1899. Little shops, restaurants and bars filled the rest of the street. In the basement of Bresee's was the "Health Bar," a wonderful coffee shop. I still remember two cookies were 15 cents, and a turkey sandwich on a roll was $3.00. Another sandwich choice was cream cheese on banana bread with canned peaches for that same low price. They were closed Sunday, open the other days until 5:10 and Thursdays until 8. We ate there nearly every day - twice on Thursdays - and our favorite waitress was Grace. The last time I saw Don was sitting in a booth at the Health Bar. Several of us had coffee and talked about Pink Floyd "The Wall."

In 1994 Bresee's went out of business; the Health Bar closed, as did many departments, but the store stayed open - it still operated under the Bresee's name, but sold only furniture and appliances. At least it was still there, in a way, the building maintained, a friendly presence. So I was shocked on Friday to see it vacant, and many of the surrounding stores out of business, as well. When we got back to Samsonville, I searched in Google, and learned that in late 2003 the building sold. The store stayed open, but they auctioned off much of the memorabilia that was stored inside - a lifetime of retail point-of-purchase. At Christmas time there were enormous snowflake lights that would adorn the storefront, and in the windows, a series of animatronic elves entertained passersby - all sent across the block. I wish I knew about that auction! I would have loved to go, and get something. There was a carousel horse that they sold - of course that would probably have been out of reach. But even a Health Bar menu would have been nice to have.

I could find no mention of the store going completely out of business since then, but the posters in the window said that the inventory and restaurant equipment had been auctioned off in January. There was no year, but we assumed it was 2006, since the poster was still intact. So perhaps I felt sad because Bresee's is gone?

There is no mystery as to why. Students bring cars to campus now; Oneonta has paved some formerly green spaces. Perhaps the newer generations, who inherited the buildings and stores on Main Street, are not interested in retailing. Then, people in general are willing to travel greater distances because of the allure of the malls - I'm sure lots of folks go to Binghamton or Albany to shop. Just have to have lots of selection and the latest plastic thing, you see. And it seems few people are loyal to old fashioned, small retailers. This is the philosophy: If it can be made in China, then bought for 5 cents cheaper at a big box store at midnight the day after Thanksgiving...stay outa my way on the highway, baby.

The east and west ends may have been no match for the venerable Bresee's, but Southside is booming. What was only a Howard Johnson's, a Holiday Inn and (ominously) a new, small mall (that struggled) when we were students, now has a variety of bland, awful chains: Home Depot, Hannaford, McDonald's, Taco Bell, WalMart. I didn't bother to look, but there probably are Target, Olive Garden, etc. too. You could be anywhere on this planet. It isn't special enough to be Oneonta. A flyer in the newspaper announced the grand opening of Lowe's. Samson Floors, where Bob bought paint and wallpaper, left Main Street - moved into the closed movie theatre building (because, of course, the mall has a cinema 1-50) and has since gone out of business there, too. If Samson Floors couldn't make it, how can Oneonta need both a Lowe's and a Home Depot?

I was thinking that I understand better something that eluded me when I was younger. When a senior citizen would say, "I'm glad I'm not young, because I don't like X and I don't want to see Y in the future," I would think, how ridiculous. Change is exciting, progress is good. The past may have been great, but the future will be too. Now I see all the big box chains that people fall all over themselves to support, the destroyed community that is left behind, and I see a part of contemporary culture that I don't like at all. I mourn for Bresee's, and Main Street. I even mourn the two small supermarkets adjacent to Main Street, on Chestnut Street, both now bankrupt. So now you would have no choice but to have a car, if you wanted to buy groceries. Southside is not residential, or pedestrian friendly.

A few small businesses have opened recently, to replace some of the grand stores that once graced the street. They are mostly small, exotic gift shops, and cafes. They seem to be low budget operations that cater to students; I hope they make it. Anyway, in searching, I found this blog with pictures of Bresee's, and this website, with pictures of Main Street.

On AOL today, I read this article about tips for successful online learning. Of these 10 tips, only #9 and #10 are useful, in my opinion. The others are OK, but they strike me as either too common sense to rate more than a "duh," or not important enough to warrant inclusion in a list of so-called "secret" tips. A piece of advice for students in the online world? Don't make the mistake of thinking an online class will require less effort than an on campus one. Be sure to stay on top of the work, don't procrastinate. Check the course website regularly. And read everything that is posted by the instructor!

We are overrun with squirrels - we have moved the bird feeder several times to try to outsmart them - but they hang by their back feet from a branch, next to it, using their little hands to get the seed so their weight isn't on the feeder, and the trap doors stay open. We do have some birds coming also, but I think every squirrel in Castleton is coming here, they far outnumber the birds. Ma says, "tie the cat out there."

Speaking of the cat, we moved the bird feeder to a bracket near the kitchen window (we still throw corn on the ground for the squirrels) and now Edna is perched on the sink, watching the "banquet." It is a real banquet for the birds, and an imaginary one for her.

Bob and I had a funny conversation last night. Strange, but funny. We were discussing the odd weather - such a warm winter. Then, today it is extremely windy and the temperature is dropping something like 60 degrees in a 24 hour period. So I said, "maybe the world is ending." He agreed, suggesting that the assumptions that it has to be by freezing or fire could be wrong. I told him that if it is, I don't want to be one of the chosen ones, who is left to pick up the pieces. I might be capable, but I am not interested. That got us to thinking about writing up a list of rules for the new world. Something that future people could find and follow, believing prophets were the authors. Some of our bullets: In the New World, there will be no cars. In the New World, there will be no television. In the New World, there will be no lattes. In the New World, there will be no WalMarts. In the New World, there will be no Targets. In the New World, there will be no sports. In the New World, everyone will be a vegetarian. In the New World, wine will be free. There were others, but I'll stop there. It would make a science fiction story, if I was so inclined.

I don't want you to think from this that I am some kind of conspiracy theorist, or caught up in morbid end of the world thinking. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This is the sort of stuff we would amuse ourselves with in college - groups of friends would sit around, talking about the new ideas we were learning, and letting the conversation meander wherever it wanted, sometimes into absurd territory. I see an absence of that today on campus, it is crowded out by cell phones, blackberries, instant messaging, television, ipods. But then my day class this semester seems to be a throwback, filled with students who are introspective, and like to discuss theories. So perhaps I shouldn't generalize.

One other thought, about students. I am struck, every semester, about how so many people look alike. I have about 120 students every semester, in my four classes. Approximately 90 of them are in my on campus classes. In every class, I have a few students who either look almost identical to someone from a past semester, or resemble some friend or relative of mine strongly.

Here's a nice column from the Troy Record.

We celebrated Valentine's Day at Lombardo's. There are a lot of restaurants I like a lot, but that is easily my favorite Italian restaurant in Albany.

I'm caught up on my work (sent off a book review I've been working on yesterday), so I started to read Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood. I haven't read any of her short story collections before, but as with all her books, it is a good read so far. I am two stories into it.

Last night we saw Phantom of the Opera at Proctor's. It was great! We'd seen it before, in 1994 on Broadway and it was wonderful (that's a funny memory, maybe there's a story there for another time). The movie from a couple of years ago was an abomination! Ugh! All DVDs of it should be confiscated, and snapped in half. I am happy to have seen it again live, to erase the image of that piece of crap out of my mind.

Tomorrow we are going to see 1776 at the New York State Theatre Institute.

I've figured out the dynamic in my lower division class...it is 57% male! That's rare at this university, and unheard of in the school of education.

Lately, we have had a run of movies from Netflix that I didn't enjoy very much. First, was Dogville. Twice I tried to watch it - and both times ended up turning it off after torturing myself. Then it got sent back. Next, Brazil. I'd seen parts of it on TV before, and found it interesting. But the first time it came in the mail from Netflix, the DVD was damaged, and wouldn't play after a while. The replacement was in good shape. I enjoyed the movie more than the awful Dogville, but it was too long. Way too long. After a while, I lost all empathy for the characters. Finally, 25th Hour. This movie was more watchable than either of the other two disappointments, but again - it was just too long. Why are film editors so reluctant to cut? Not every scene is a masterpiece, or necessary.

Contrast this to PBS, which so often has wonderful, interesting, worthwhile programs. Recently, I saw Influenza 1918. It was amazing! Another history subject that is not covered enough, or at all, in school. In the cemetery behind my house, the one Rudy loved to explore during walks, there is a small tombstone with the inscription: "In memory of all the infants who died in the epidemic during the winter of 1918-19." Yesterday, I met with a prospective graduate student who was telling me that if she could persue her true academic interests rather than more practical ones, she would get a PhD in anthropology. The same is true for me and U.S. History. There are so many topics to research, I would never run out of material. The 1918 flu epidemic is an example.

My 100-level class is going to be a classroom management challenge this semester. In the Fall, the students were serious. Perhaps they were nervous, since most were at college for the first time. But this Spring, there are several young men who are not rude to me or anything - they pay attention politely when I am speaking - but they do a lot of horsing around when there is "down" time, or discussion. Something like classes I remember from high school. I didn't mind so much last night, since we are just getting into the swing, and an active, even at times rowdy class is OK with me - but as the semester goes on, I am going to have to be careful that the atmosphere doesn't disintegrate to the point where the other students get turned off.

This semester, for the first time, my classes are back-to-back, which means that I teach straight from 2:45 to 7, two days per week. I am finding it very tiring. I suppose I will get back into the swing of things eventually, but it is hard to be "on" for that long.

The first week of classes went well. My Thursday class is too big (43 students), but I had a hard time saying no to students who asked to get in after it had closed. It is a lower-division, 100-level course, and last semester it was mostly freshmen. This semester, there are only a handful of freshmen, and about an equal number of seniors, who had to get special approval to take it.

My day class was quite active in discussion yesterday. That was great! I hope they stay this engaged all semester.

The dogs have been a real handful today. There was a lot of noise coming from the living room this morning, so I went downstairs, and Sam had gotten a shoebox with my new shoes in it. He had taken all the tissue paper out, and was running all around with my shoes in his mouth. It was cute as he-l. He didn't damage them, and has not chewed up any shoes ever - but there's always a first time. Then, this morning, Bob tried to start Sophie's shots. (She had extensive blood tests at the holistic vet and the recommendation was for us to give her injections of adrenal cortex, like we did for Rudy.) But she became vicious, as she did when we tried to cut her nails. She isn't having any of that, I guess.

Classes start tomorrow! This has seemed like a fairly long break, so I guess I am ready. I'm getting inundated with requests to get into one of my classes - the online class in particular. I don't like turning students away, but I can't handle enormous classes, and in my experience, students who wait until the last minute usually are not great students. This is especially true in the online class.

It snowed today!

A friend has died. We worked together years ago when I first moved to the Capital District. We kept in touch over the years because we both were living in Castleton. He was a nice, warm, caring, funny person who loved animals, especially cats. I saw him shortly before Christmas and he seemed very ill, not himself at all. But I have a much better lasting image of him, when on his 40th birthday, all of his friends at work chipped in and sent him a Zing-A-Gram.