Wednesday, January 2, 2008
2008

Where has 2007 gone? Surely 365 days can't have passed since last January 2.

I seem to spend less and less time on the net, and more time either reading or watching TV with family. I have discovered a TV world beyond Stargate. Ongoign dramas like "house" and "Bones" have become addictive. My husband, who heretofore said he could live without a television in the house, has purchased seasons of House and Bones. the Second Coming is surely at hand (no disrespect meant to my Lord).

I want towish all of the wonderful folks at sffworld a happy and prosperous New Year. Prosperous in the sense of discovering richness in family, friends, and the privilege of life.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2008-01-02 17:28:12

Monday, March 6, 2006
Time for Conversation

I wish there was more time in the school day for teachers and students to sit together informally and simply talk......maybe about classroom topics and issues but also about other things. My favorite times, at school, are when students and I have a chance to enter into honest, real dialogue. I enjoy talking to teenagers, even though at times their emotionalism and intolerance can get to me.

I am teaching Ayn Rand's Anthem to my accelerated freshmen, and they seem to be feeling a lot of frustration and confusion. I don't believe any of them have ever engaged with a "philosophical" novel before. Some seem to like the book......tomorrow we begin discussing it, and I'm looking forward to hearing their ideas. One special challenge will be to present the objectivist view in a positive light for predominantly evangelical Christian kids. We'll have to consider the tension in trying to live and think independently while maintaining an attitude of Christian service and self-sacrifice.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2006-03-06 16:10:14

Monday, February 6, 2006
Male Bonding

I have been encouraging folks to see Brokeback Mountain, because I consider it such a luminous, subtly painted, complex love story. Of course, as expected, many say they don't wish to see it because of the homosexual nature of the passion between Jack Twist and Innis Delmar. It is my contention that one does not have to totally approve of the characters in any fictional piece in order to appreciate the artistry of a tale.

My daughter and I watched our favorite parts of Master and Commander yesterday afternoon, just to get a little dose of Paul Bettany's superb performance as Stephen Maturin, not to mention everyone else's wonderful job in that film (which would have taken Best Picture had it not been for the Peter Jackson juggernaut that year).

It occured to me that much of the dynamic between Aubrey and Maturin is similar to that between Delmar and Twist. Only in the case of the former relationship, their mutual affection and respect is tightly contained within acceptable boundaries of societal expectations. Although there is never a real hint of homosexuality on the part of either officer, still the passionate tension between the two is there for any watcher/reader to see.

I find a likeness in the BM scene in which Innis sees the two shirts (don't wish to give too much away) and the MaC scene in which Capt. Jack gazes upon Stephen's quiet cello, torn between follwing his French enemy and stopping to enable a critical surgery.

Men can and do love one another. How sad that society constrains the expression of that tenderness, so that any time a man seems tender or concerned or affectionate toward another man, gayness is assumed.

The absurdity of this is evident in the silly tittering of ignorant audiences when Aragorn bends to give a warrior's kiss to the dying Boromir. I saw that film in the theatre thirteen times, and yes, there was laughter from the audience at that moment in almost every showing. A similar reaction occurred when Sam and Frodo embrace in the boat as they leave the Fellowship to continue to Mordor on their own.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2006-02-06 12:14:57

Monday, November 21, 2005
Riding Through the Ghost of New Orleans

Drove through the Crescent City this past weekend, for the first time since Katrina. Visiting my mom and dad - he's in the hospital after brain cancer surgery and radiation treatments.

First of all, it took forever to cross Lake Pontchartrain on just one side of the I-10 Twin Span conncecting Slidell to New Orleans East. Work crews were busy trying to put up emergancy grating to make the other side drivable, but from the looks of things it won't be open any time soon.

It was really difficult driving from that bridge to the Central Business District. So much damage, everything looking abandoned and dead. The bright blue of the temporary roof tarps dominated the vista from off the elevated !-10 traversing the city. I had a hard time driving, with the tears falling uncontrollably as I mourned my beloved city. It is probably strange to some folks, to think one could be so deeply attacehd to a place one has never lived in, but New Orleans is like a member of my family. I don't think of it as just as city, but like a personality, a soul.

But the true heartbreak came on my way back home, driving through at night. Crossing the Mississippi River on the Greater New Orleans Bridge, I noticed how much dimmer the skyline was. Signs of dark abandonment were everywhere. But once we passed the Elysian Fields exit, things went from bad to hellishly surreal.

I have always taken immense pleasure in driving over the city at night.....I love the bright lights and busy-ness, the urban pulse flowing strong. But beyond the interstate, on either side, things became darker, and darker, until finally there were no signs of habitation or life whatsoever. After a while, not even the distant glimmer of a streetlight. Where shopping centers, car dealerships, apartment complexes, churches, restaurants, and all the other accourterments of city life were, there was only black. Someone not familiar with New Orleans East would have thought they were driving far out in a deserted countryside with no signs of any development or life.

My husband and I were appalled at the utter nothingness, and found ourselves wondering if this city can ever rise from this grave. I am still in a state of shock over it. What we see and hear about the struggles of New Orleans to rise again convey nothing like actually seeing firsthand what is no longer there.......life. Light. Sound.

God help them. God help us.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2005-11-21 13:20:39

Tuesday, April 26, 2005
A Month? No Way!

I knew it had been some time since my last entry, but a month? I am just plain shocked......real liufe as kept me jumping, it's true. The end of the school year tends to get busier and I get tired more quickly.

I have always experienced a sort of emotional, physical, spiritual slump this time of year. Back when I kept a regular journal, one could look at my April entries and they read like a broken record. Every spring, that roller coaster seems to hit a huge, long trough right before school ends.

I am beset this time of year by all kinds of feelings of inadequacy. My house is usually a cumulative mess......moreso this year because I "lost" spring break to travel when I could have been spring-cleaning. I tend to focus on all the stuff I didn't get to in my classes instead of all the stuff we did. The allergy season usually makes me sick, and sure enough I am in the middle of a bad bout of sinusitis and sore throat and cough.

Don't mean to be so depressing.......I'll try to think of something on the brighter side to write about tomorrow.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2005-04-26 15:26:15