Thankful

Tags

British Library, Extended family, family, holiday, Illuminated manuscript, medieval, Public Domain Mark, Thanksgiving

Could go on a long time about this, and some friends have been microblogging thankfulness all month. Two things in particular for Thanksgiving Day:

1. My family. I know many people have to deal with difficult, annoying, even dangerous family members, and there are many comedy routines and movies about this kind of films. I don’t mean to boast, but my immediate and extended family is pretty great and I was blessed to have the opportunity to see quite a few of those I rarely see (because of distance) at my nephew’s recent wedding.

Three members of my dear family.

2. On a completely different subject, the British Library announced today that their ” Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts content is now available for download and reuse. Although still technically in copyright in the UK (and a number of other common law territories) the images are being made available under a Public Domain Mark* which indicates that there are no copyright restrictions on reproduction, adaptation, republication or sharing of the content available from the site.” Obviously, reason and respect, and acknowledgement of the source is expected.

This will make future presentations and studies so much more interesting.

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Family, friends, and students—oh my!

Tags

education, family, students, teaching, technology, university

The fall semester began today, or last Thursday, depending on how you’re counting. It’s been a whirlwind of a week, and it isn’t even over yet. Faculty began with the usual 2 day orientation full of introductions and updates: things are going pretty well, so that’s encouraging; we have a new, fabulous library; future plans are ambitious. It’s a good time to meet new professors and catch up with returning friends/colleagues.

Normally I would spend the weekend after these meetings and greetings holed up in my office putting the final edits on my syllabi and course websites (nothing is just on paper any more). This year, however, my father’s extended family had planned a reunion at the beach. They’re still there! But I could only run down for Saturday &.Sunday, exchange some hugs, smiles, and too brief conversations, take a few photos. Not to brag, but I really am blessed to have wonderful relatives who are a joy to spend time with. I won’t say more about their many accomplishments, because that would seem like bragging.

So Monday AM I’m back at CU, meeting and greeting students—we’re delighted to have one of the largest groups of incoming English majors in a long time! Advising, and doing all that course prep I should have been doing over the weekend (note to my family—I don’t begrudge a minute of time spent with you, the best family ever!)

Classes began today (did I say that?) and so far, so good, once I conquered an unplugged computer monitor in my first classroom. Every time I have to wrestle with some technological glitch, I reconsider the possibilities of SMU Dean Bowen’s call to minimize computer use in classrooms.

And I finally learned the basics for getting this post from the iPad app to the blog. Small victories.

Happy new year

Tags

English majors, family, university

What I did during the holidays: celebrated Christmas with my father, my siblings and their families.

Moved my office (along with my entire department) from here:

Demolition of English Dept office building December 2009

To here:

New office Jan 2010

Actually, the new office looks much better than in this photo—furniture is more or less where it should be, so now it’s just a matter of unpacking boxes and hoping that the most recent renovations and shoring up of the most venerable building on campus keep it standing for at least another twenty to twenty-five years. And we all agree that the location of the building, in the heart of the campus and close to the library, is definitely an improvement. We hope more English majors and students in general will find us more easily.

Thanksgiving, day 2

Tags

family, Thanksgiving

My dad and I spent a great afternoon with my sister & brother-in-law’s families. My nephew & niece were home from college and we enjoyed visiting with them. More than enough delicious food was consumed by all, including (if I recall correctly) four or five different desserts.

After dinner, we tormented all assembled with a variation of  “What are you most thankful for?”—questions from the Thanksgiving Box such as “What should be your family motto?” “What have you learned from a culture other than your own?” and “What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?” Similar boxes available for all occasions—entertain and annoy your friends and families!

Thankfulness

Tags

btvs, Buffy, family, TCK, Thanksgiving

Thankful today for many things, with one exception: the big traditional family feast. That will be happening tomorrow. In our family, with our TCK/CCK heritage of missionaries and military, we focus on celebrating when and where we can. If that doesn’t exactly match the officially designated time/place/menu, we celebrate anyway. For us, this year, Thanksgiving day will be on Friday.

However, this has not stopped my father from watching football this evening!

And nothing can stop me from quoting from the only Thanksgiving-themed Buffy episode, “Pangs”:

GILES: Well, you know, you should be very pleased.
BUFFY: Wasn’t exactly a perfect Thanksgiving.
WILLOW: I don’t know. Seemed kinda right to me. A bunch of anticipation, a big fight, and now we’re all sleepy. And we did all survive.
BUFFY: I guess that much is true. First thanksgiving on my own, and we all got through it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.

In which I brag on my nephew*

Tags

English major, family

This is my nephew Erich, a senior midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy.

US Naval Academy Selection for Marine Aviation!

This week the seniors were notified what “warfare area” of the service they would be training in following graduation. Erich is very pleased to have been chosen for Marine Aviation, and his entire family—especially his Marine aviator dad and Naval veteran grandfathers—are very proud of him. I may have mentioned that Erich will be graduating as an English major. (His father is also one of the best writers I know.)

I look forward to attending Erich’s graduation next year!

*I actually have three nephews, a niece, and a goddaughter, all praiseworthy, but I’ll have to brag on the others later.

My favorite sister

Tags

family, gratitude, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans

…OK, yes, my only sister, but I could not have asked for a better one. And look at this, her guest editorial celebrating the town that has become home (again) following her family’s relocation after Hurricane Katrina:

Scary? You bet! A high school senior son, a freshman daughter, their dad serving in Iraq, and each one of us trying to figure it all out and make a plan. Now, looking back, I’d like to share how it has turned out…

One thing she doesn’t mention (only because of limited space, I’m sure) is that it has also been a gift to me to have her and her family within easy driving distance. New Orleans is a great place to visit (still), but travel is expensive and/or time-consuming and I only managed the journey twice while they lived there—totally worth it, of course! Now we can meet for holidays, or milestone events like my niece’s high school graduation, or something trivial but fun like dinner and a movie.

My sister writes about the many members of the community who helped her family over the past four years. I have to point out that she has never stopped helping others herself—volunteering with MCEC an organization that supports “quality educational opportunities for all military children affected by mobility, family separation, and transition,” with the USNA parents’ group, and her church. She’s also been a great encouragment to me when I’ve gone through trying times. Best sister ever.

Book review by my brother

Tags

books, English majors, family, writing

Recently I posted about connections between the skills required for success as an English major and how they could also contribute to success in science or medical fields, my brother Bill commented that he was reviewing a new novel, Cutting for Stone, by Dr. Abraham Verghese. Check it out.

I’m especially interested to read the book for this element:

Verghese also captures the feeling of rootlessness that is experienced by expatriates in Africa, and America, and the unusual ways that sojourners may find anchors and maintain relationships.

While we’re on the topic of family and doctors who have written books and other things worth reading, my father sent me links the other day for the obituary of Dr. Bill Close (1924-2009):

Dr. Close spent sixteen years in Africa, often joined by his wife and children. He arrived in the Congo just before independence and in time for the mutinies, coup d’états and rebellions that have marked the history of that country.

For his first year there, Dr. Close was responsible for surgery as one of only three doctors in the capital city’s 2,000-bed hospital. He became the personal physician to the president, and chief doctor for the Congolese Army, as well as seeing any citizen who came to his clinic for care. In 1967 Bill took over the management of the general hospital. . . .

Dr. Close is the author of four books, including Ebola: Through the Eyes of the People; A Doctor’s Life: Unique Stories; and Subversion of Trust, a novel. His most recent book is Beyond the Storm: Treating the powerless and the powerful in Mobutu’s Congo/Zaire

Dr. Close gave the 2001 commencement address at the University of Utah. His advice:

Get and stay involved with people whose perspectives are different and often bigger than any one of us. Avoid the old-fashioned colonial great white father approach that sought to tie up needy natives in the bonds of self-righteous care. Learn languages – Spanish, Navaho, French, Swahili, whatever — go there, see there, feel there, cry there, laugh there. Hands on, one on one, as brothers and sisters of the human race who care in real and practical ways. These human bonds will grow in strength and effectiveness as you learn more about people, as you take the time to listen, to learn, and especially to persevere

Good start, anyway.

Now with Twitter

Tags

family, friends, technology, Twitter

As if I don’t have enough forms of electronic communication in my life, I had to experiment with Twitter, having seen a colleague, relative, friends, and students use it—or play with it? If nothing else, I enjoyed the challenge of installing the feed on this blog, since WordPress, for all its many good features, doesn’t include any automatic “widget” for connecting to Twitter. So while I may never have anything much to “tweet,” whatever I do say there will appear here. Somehow.

We’ll see how it goes. I suspect my ability to or interest in twittering will be limited because I do not “text.” I’ve never sent a text-message on my cellphone and I don’t plan to start any time soon.

Any thoughtful readers with suggestions for making the most of Twitter—comments welcome!

Rambo family weekend

Tags

family, India, medical missions, V.C. Rambo

Fun fact: if you have to fly to Toledo, Ohio, the closest airport is Detroit, Michigan. Fortunately, a significant number of my Rambo relatives actually live in Ohio or states within driving distance, so only a few of us had to fly in to join what rapidly grew into a family reunion when the Medical Mission Hall of Fame, affiliated with the University of Toledo College of Medicine, announced that my grandfather, Victor C. Rambo, M.D. (d. 1987), would be one of the four 2008 inductees.

My uncle Thomas Rambo gave a talk about Grandfather’s work, one of several speakers at a symposium on Saturday. In addition, my father and his younger sister were there, and all their children. The Mobile Eye Service clinics my grandfather started are still operating in India.