A Scholarly Scholar

Over this past ten days or so, I have enjoyed a roller coaster of emotions. Being already one who vacillates between happiness and profound self-loathing, you'd think this wouldn't be anything new for me. Ah, but you'd be wrong. This time I did it like a scholar.

First, it proved very tough to get over the fact that my houseguests went back home to Sacramento. So, I was a little blue. Into town, though, came the great and powerful Kenneth Pomerantz. And I was happy--like a scholar. 

My love for Dr. Pomerantz began in the MA program at Sac State, where the admirable Dr. V. assigned The Great Divergence to my World History reading seminar. After having read the exclamation-point-happy, self-citing Andre Gunder Frank the week before, Pomerantz was like coming up for air. Plus, I wrote a fabulous book review which garnered a grade that finally(!) surpassed that of my school-husband Tim. So Pomerantz has long been the source of a happy CSUS memory for me. 

Pomerantz in real life did not disappoint. He met with grad students and faculty before lunch on my first day back after break. He was so friendly to everyone, and he answered all the questions the grad students asked him. It was amazing to get to quiz the prior president of the American Historical Association on the state of our profession. In the afternoon, he gave a lecture on farming society and economic relationships in China. OK, so it's not exactly in my field (or remotely close to my field), but the guy sure seems to know his stuff. 

Dr. Pomerantz was kind enough to take a picture with me, the camera wielded by Dr. W.  I posted this on Facebook quite proudly, causing Dr. Bob to proclaim upon seeing it, "Lorraine had her picture made with him."  People in the South don't "take" pictures. They have them "made."

Even with that sunny beginning to the week, I still suffered over Tuesday with quite the malaise. I simply didn't want to do any work. So, since our Japan class didn't meet, I used Tuesday to be a slug. Wednesday, though, was upbeat because I met with my advisor, Dr. F.  I have not yet left a meeting with that guy without feeling better about myself. We plotted out, well really, the entire next year. I'll be staying busy this summer doing a directed readings with him as well as working on typing and organizing my notes from this past year and studying for my foreign language exam next fall. I'll be taking three classes, of course, in the fall. In the spring, Dr. F. thinks I'll be ready to take my comprehensive exams. That seems sooooo fast to me, but he thinks it's doable. Yikes!

I left Dr. F. feeling like a scholar with a plan. Unfortunately, I had African American history that very afternoon. I NEVER leave that class without feeling like a loser. And that loser feeling lasted all weekend, right up to Sunday night.

Sure, some of that was missing Easter with my family and the traditional slaughter of the lamb....cake. But I was just not feeling the papers I had to write for this week. I was deep in the depths of scholarly despair. 

Ta Da!  In steps Yvette the Magnificent. We propped each other up via text messages and came up with a joint plan to get our shit together for Monday. And damned if we didn't. I put in a good day's work on Monday--then I did it again today. Whoo Hoo!

Tomorrow is African American class again, so I expect I'll be contemplating shaking off this earthly coil by this time tomorrow night. But Thursday will see me make another comeback. Time to start wrapping up the semester. Time, as Yvette would say, to finish strong. 

Uh, apropos of nothing, I tweeted during Sunday's NASCAR race that actor Eric Dane gave an excellent command to fire engines. AND HE LIKED MY TWEET!  That's right, world, McSteamy liked my tweet!

On that note, I'll finish up here. I've got a chapter to read for next week's Japan class before I'll let myself fall into bed and watch The Young and the Restless. 

What wickedness is Victor up to now?

Spring Break 2016

Don't expect to see pictures of girls gone wild in this blog. It wasn't that kind of spring break. My spring break took place in and around Knoxville and involved three generations of Stratton women engaging in various combinations of mother-daughter bonding. Amd it was fabulous.

It began last Saturday when intrepid travelers Punky Dias and Heidi Herbon landed at the Nashville International Airport. I was right there to meet them and soon had them bundled into Stella for the ride to the tiny flat in Knoxville. After a long day of flying for them and a long day of driving for me, I ordered in Chinese food, an astonishing innovation for Mom who can get nothing but pizza delivered to her humble Sacramento home. 

An early night was called for, so Mom was installed in the plain-but-serviceable guest room while Heidi settled down on Lovie the loveseat. I was nicely asleep in my gorgeous big bed when a figure appeared in my doorway. Just like when she was little, Heidi wanted to sleep in my bed. Nothing could have made me happier. Of course, I paid for it the next day because Heidi and I stayed up talking into the wee hours. But it was worth it. It was sooooo good to have her to talk to!!

We decided to just take it easy the next day, so we grabbed what breakfast we could from the larder. Then back into Stella for a drive to campus. I showed my guests the construction nightmare that is the strip and the long stretch of Lake Avenue that I climb up each morning. We went into Dunford Hall, but Mom and Heidi did not seem too interested in my unadorned office or the plain little lounge where I spend a lot of my time. We went next door to the library--so they could see a little of it and I could return some books. Back into Stella and up to the hill, the only part of campus worthy of a photograph. 

Leaving campus we meandered over to Market Square. Peeking into the shops and eating frozen custard made for a very nice visit. 

Being good NASCAR fans (except Heidi), we came back to the tiny flat to watch the race--boring without my beloved Smoke. For dinner, Mom had to please her youngest daughter by having Southern food. We went to a place called Aubrey's just a few minutes from the tiny flat. God, it was good, especially the banana pudding with macadamia nuts. 

On Monday morning, Heidi and I left Mom at the tiny flat with a refrigerator of food, a book, some knitting, many blankets, and the TV remote. Heidi and I then headed off to the West Town Mall for some pretty serious shopping. My bank account took quite a hit but we had a blast. Thank goodness Heidi came to Knoxville with an empty suitcase.

We even got all the items necessary to finally decorate the guest bathroom. 

Monday night was time for more Southern food, so we went to Calhoun's on the River. Not only did we enjoy a delicious dinner (fried okra!!!) but Mother Nature gave us a terrific rain storm followed by a rainbow. As it was 3.15, we got key lime pie to go. 

Tuesday meant it was time for some shopping and some more Southern cooking before we began our  sightseeing. We began our day by running to Joann's for fabric for me to recover my desk chair and buttons for a baby sweater Mom is making. Buy Buy Baby was also on the agenda (a little something for the future granddaughter of pal Marijo). We needed sustenance by this point so we had breakfast at The Egg and I, a spot discovered by Yvette and Maddie last August when we first got here. Then it was off to the Knoxville Zoo.

Now, sadly, Heidi was not a big fan of the zoo. Too many children and too many BIG BLACK BEES!!  While they didn't sting, they really managed to freak out my youngest daughter. 

To help her recover from her near-BEE experience, Heidi and I went over to Super Cuts for trims and bangs. While that helped, it wasn't until she had some decent Mexican food that Heidi truly recovered. 

Wednesday morning was our last day for real sightseeing. Into Stella and off down Highway 40 east to Greenville, Tennessee, home of our seventeenth president, Andrew Johnson. First stop, though?  Cracker Barrel--Heidi's first time. 

For those readers unfamiliar with my madre, she has a passion for all things First Lady. Andrew Johnson and wife Eliza can now be added to the list of presidents she has visited. 

Now here's a little review of the Andrew Johnson State Historic Park. While it's a nice place, well kept, excellent NPS ranger for a guide, the overall narrative of Johnson is a little lopsided. In his Staye Historic Park, this AJ is remembered as a fierce defender of the Constitution, not as a guy that allowed himself to be flattered and cajoled into pardoning Southern leaders. Amazingly, in a little ballot box in the museum, visitors were encouraged to vote whether AJ had been guilty in his impeachment. Hands down, Trump style, people found him not guilty. I wonder how such a vote would turn out in a Charles Summer or Thaddeus Stevens museum?

No visit to a president is complete without a pilgrimage to his final resting place. This AJ got a nice spot on the top of a hill. 

We drove back from Greenville along some back country roads, getting a real feel for just how rural life is outside of the towns and cities of Tennessee.

For our last dinner in Knoxville, we enjoyed a fancy meal at Copper Cellar. Early to bed for everyone as we wanted to make an early start back to Nashville in the morning. 

As the flight back to Sacramento was until late afternoon, we had time to visit the Ryman Auditorium before heading to the airport, fulfilling my mother's wish to see the Grand Ol' Opry. 

A snack at the Ryman, then off to the airport to send my visitors home. As these were my first house guests, I sure hope they had a good time. It's funny, but on Thursday I couldn't wait to have my flat to myself. I woke up on Friday to wish they were still here. May seems a long way off.

Well, that's the story of Spring Break 2016 and the Great Visitation of Family from Sacramento.  I spent yesterday recuperating, and today Annie and I went for a short walk along one of Knoxville's many beautiful walking/riding/skating trails.  Then, I did something that will slow the pace of Annie's academic endeavors--I introduced her to Ancestry.com.  God have mercy on her soul.

Knighty-Knight from Knoxville....

More Snow?

No, not really.  But it did snow a little on me while I trudged up Lake Avenue this afternoon, on my way to my office and a quick finish to today's assigned reading in Teaching World History:  Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World.  The book is, yes, about shit.  And, yes, that versatile word also applies as an adjective to describe the quality of the book.  But enough of that....

Spring break is growing closer, but it cannot come fast enough.  I've got a wicked case of spring fever, finding little interest in my school work and much more interest in my mind-numbing new habit of watching The Young and the Restless.  It serves as a very effective sedative when I just can't take any more knowledge.  Don't judge me.  You don't know the stresses of a doctoral program. And you probably cannot imagine characters that are the same age as their offspring.

An evening out with school chums last Friday night really did help chase the mid-semester blues away.  It began with Minami, Chantalle, and I meeting in the library.  First stop:  Girl Scout cookie table outside the library doors.  Thin mints purchased, it was then into Stella for a drive to the nearby Cracker Barrel.  

Ah, Cracker Barrel.  What can I say about this little piece of heaven here on earth?  The first people who ever told me about this amazing fairyland of food were CSUS friends Tim and Steph.  Huge fans of the CB, they encouraged me to visit the restaurant chain whenever possible.  I went during my first week here in Knoxville, then again in Montgomery with my Aunt Mona.  Last Friday night, it was Chantalle, me, Minami, Alicia, and Adrien enjoying breakfast for dinner.  Well, except for Adrien.  This guy can't get enough fried food in his diet.  If there's fried catfish on the menu, my Frog friend from Calais will order it.  Chantalle also went for dinner but the other three of us had the most delicious breakfasts.  

Our waiter took his own picture as well as ours--nice!

Feeling uncomfortably full, I dropped Chantalle and Minami off at their apartments on campus, then headed to the Fountain City part of Knoxville for a third round of bowling with the party office.  Unlike the first two times, however, I actually did O.K.  Not as many gutter balls, and one game over 100 (during that same game, I beat Matthew, but that was really just a fluke).  Catching on even faster than I am is Annie, who is now bowling up near the Matthew level.  Heaven help J and young Matthew once that girl get more practice.

With spring break nearing, I'm even more homesick than ever for my babies--and my beloved dingo.  I asked Heidi to snap a pic of Penny with herself, Randi, and Maddie.  Here are the pix I received.

WTF, Maddie?  What did you do to Penny and Michonne?  Dang, I miss that dingo!!  Even when she's clearly possessed by aliens.

I guess that's all from here today.  Gotta get back to work to finish strong before the break.  After the break comes the difficult, scary, and stressful work to finish the major assignments for the semester, two syllabi and an annotated bib.  Having never prepared a syllabus before, I'm sure it's going to be an eye-opening experience.

Yikes.  I almost forgot.  Last night, I had a dream (thank you, Dr. King for spoiling that line for the rest of us).  I was at a fancy party with long-time friend Amy Ellis Scheid.  Amy told me, at this party, that her aunt could arrange for she and I to have our photos taken with some of the famous attendees.  We did pose for a picture with a celebrity who I couldn't remember this morning--but seemed mildly impressive during the dream.  Then suddenly it was my birthday, and I was ushered into this other room to find that my family had arranged for Tony Stewart to appear as a surprise.  

I was certainly surprised when Smoke came over to give me a terribly awkward hug.  When I apparently appeared disappointed in his hugging abilities, he grabbed me around the waist and made what can only be described as a "humping" gesture toward me.  Hmmmm.  Not what I expected from the man I adore.  I was soon distracted from my bitter disappointment over Smoke's behavior by the news that Amy's aunt had arranged for me to have my picture taken with....wait for it....

That's right.    The King of Rock and Roll.  And it wasn't old sweaty Elvis.   It was Viva Las Vegas Elvis. We sat down together on a little bench thing and had our picture taken.  Then he rested his head on my shoulder because he was tired.  He was so much more of what I wanted then poor Smoke.

Now that I've described my dream, I'm off to my therapy session....