Concept is out. My fiction editor Rebecca said it was like having a baby and I completely agree. We are so very proud of it, I honestly think it's the best one to come out in a while and I'm not just saying that because I did it. Now the search for the new editor is underway and I'm happy to pass the torch. There are a lot of things I wish I'd done better on, but I just have to cut myself some slack and remember that next year's issue is going to be even better since the editor will actually have some experience with the journal.

The Hub-Bub College Street Team has had two magnificent events. The first was swing dancing at the Hub-Bub Showroom. That was April 30th but I forgot to mention it last time. It was a swing lesson followed by a freeform dance, like they do at the Handlebar on Tuesday nights. There were college kids, older folks, a family with a toddler, and several seasoned swingers, some all the way from Clemson. Oh, and some dudes from Norway. We all had a blast, and we're talking about making it a monthly thing in Spartanburg. Paul Hoke is awesome.

Then this past Saturday was the jam at Morgan Square. A bunch of musicians got together, mostly college students, and made music. There were a ton of people walking by who were like "what the heck is that?" We had so much fun. The Bards played some Irish stuff, this awesome girl named Kerry played some stuff she'd written, and we also just kind of started a chord progression and everyone joined in. If you didn't consider yourself a musician, we'd hand you a pair of maracas or finger symbols or something. There were these two adorable little boys who came with their parents and wanted to play every single one of our instruments. It was especially cute when they got on the harmonicas while we were playing a boogie.

I met some great people who were really excited and committed to making it a regular event, so it looks like we'll be having another one on May 24. It's so exciting to be at the start of things like this. Kind of scary, though, when I've suddenly become the point man for something much bigger than myself.

Speaking of starting things, I wanted to tell you about this new program that Converse and Wofford are doing. It's called SPARK! and it's basically a 5-week summer residency for creative students to get together and dream big. The first week they conduct research and brainstorm, then they start hatching a plan for some kind of big project that will improve some aspect of Spartanburg life/development. It ends with a presentation of a polished proposal to the powers that be, and if it's well received, the students will be given the resources to execute their plan in the fall as well as a $1000 scholarship each. 

Yeah, it all sounds vague, but that's because it hasn't been done before. Sometimes you just have to take those first few steps into the complete unknown. This is such an exciting thing for Spartanburg, and for Converse. It'll introduce students to all the resources available to them, and help them develop new ways of thinking and planning that will have an irreplaceable impact on their approach to life and work. I am so there.

Life after Converse is coming at me fast. I still have a paper to write and a graphic design project, which are both, as far as schoolwork goes, relatively fun projects, but it's hard to get a grip on them. They're already fading into a past life...the life of academics & school & grades...it's so weird, that's been my life for so very, very long. I'm graduating in 5 days.

Monday, I had a 7-page paper on the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was a ton of fun to write, but exhausting. Friday I had a major research project due in Music History that I was trying to squeeze time in between finishing my BFA senior thesis, which I turned in Wednesday. That was huge. That was my capstone project. 35 pages of the best poetry I could offer. It was surreal. I didn't feel like a poet, or a BFA candidate, or much of anything. At that point, I was so sleep-deprived, I just felt like a zombie.

After all that work, I felt like I deserved a mini-celebration. Stephanie and Gwen were out on the lawn blowing grass - making goofy noises, you know, and I brought my blanket out and joined them. We lay back and stared up at the sky between the leaves of the big tree in front of Dexter...such a pretty day...and then we went into the Barnett room for Mexican food and tie dyed T-shirts.

After class my friend Bryant called, we ended up going to Hatcher Garden, that's a beautiful little patch of woods maintained to offer Spartanburg residents a place to immerse in nature. Lots of flowers in bloom, and the foliage was so green...just gorgeous. I also like to go to the Cottonwood Trail on the Eastside...a lovely walk for a warm spring day, haven't been since last year though. Then we went to the mall, PetSmart, got rum-flavored ice cream at the Marble Slab, and then came back and watched Juno. I hadn't watched a movie in...how many weeks? Except for A Hard Day's Night, that was a load of fun but it was for class so it doesn't count.

It was just the little celebration I needed, but of course I had to pay for it with a late Music History project. Cause --> effect, and I don't really care anymore. It's senioritis and it's got me in its apathetic grip.

Thursday was Founder's Day. I love Founder's Day, we eat strawberries and cream, which was Dexter Edgar Converse's favorite snack. The keynote speaker was really awesome, a Converse alumna who has led a very interesting and creative life, she cycled across the US with a group of women, from coast to coast. And she also did this thing called Outward Bound, that's like a survival school, where you learn how to make it in the wilderness with nothing but a knife, a blanket, and a flint, or something like that. Way cool. She was talking about how you shouldn't just think of creativity in terms of the fine arts - how life itself is an art form, and I was like "yes! that's exactly right!"

Last night, I went with a bunch of friends to see Much Ado About Nothing at Wofford. I hadn't been to a show at Wofford. It was hilarious. The actors were just such hams, and it's one of Shakespeare's wittiest comedies to begin with. We had a blast.

So yeah it was a tough week, but I made a lot of good memories. That's what senior year is really about, for me. Every time I think about not coming back next year, and how this is the last time so many of my friends will be all together, it makes me want to drop all my school work and job search stuff and just spend every moment with my friends while we still can. But...I've got to pass my classes and I've got to pay my phone bill...so...back to work.

Nonetheless... Athens was fantastic. I did get some work done, but I'm afraid the exploratory spirit got the better of me.

I started out with $25 cash and $75 in the bank. I packed my poetry books, laptop, Bible, journals, clothes and necessities, iPod, and lots of snacks. My hostess, Joy, was so kind. I had a room to myself, wireless internet, free breakfast and dinner when I was around, a ride to campus around noon each day, a ride back each night, and someone to answer my many questions. Oh, and she let me borrow her camera, so I have pictures! Couldn't have asked for more.

Day 1: Rode the free University of Georgia bus.

UGA is HUGE! Picked up literature, map of campus, bus map, etc. at the student center. It was Meat Out 2008, which is a vegan/vegetarian education day that they basically made a party out of, so I was treated to free food, break dancing, and live music on the plaza of the student center. Great band. Some nice vegetarians helped me get my bearings. They introduced me to Flagpole, which is this free weekly newspaper – community, culture, politics, pretty much everything interesting. From it I learned about all the fun things that go on in Athens…way too much fun to be had, every single night of the week…I'm kind of glad I didn't go to UGA...I would never have been able to force myself to stay in and study!

In the afternoon, I called my friend Tiffany and she was having a Bible study with the Full-Timers (= men and women whose full-time job is serving the saints – they conduct Bible studies, pray with people, listen, give godly advice, etc) so I went to that, it was nice, and then Tiffany and I hung out and talked for a while.

That night I ended up at the Sisters’ House, which is, in my church, where some of the college girls live along with the full-time sisters. (There’s also a brothers’ house.) My friend Lauren lives there, she cooked me tilapia and spaghetti squash, and we talked and looked at some saints’ wedding pictures. Did you know that tree climbing is an “official” hobby? This couple loved to tree climb, in fact, they had this whole series of pre (or maybe post) – wedding pictures in a big tree. They use harnesses and gear like rock climbers. Who knew?

Day 2: I love downtown Athens. Musicians walking around with their instruments, stopping and playing, people just hanging out. They’re not all after some agenda. I mean there were plenty of suit-type people and college kids who were just trying to get from point A to point B, but some people were actually there to just be there.

Wish this pic weren't so blurry, took it while walking. There was a guy playing guitar and singing, sounded like rockabilly, he had talent. I stopped and listened for a while.

These guys were on opposite street corners, right across from the Arch, UGA's historical entrance. The street between them is what I'd call the heart of downtown. The People's Party, understandably, drew a big crowd, but the Victory guy got plenty of honks.

That night I ate dinner at a nice family's house with Joy, the full time sisters, and a cool chic named Gene. Joy's the one holding the baby in this picture.

Day 3: Gene had told me about the Hot Corner, a 24 hour vegan-friendly coffee shop where the creative types hang out. She thought I'd like it, and I did, a lot. I spent most of Wednesday there.

  Lunch was a sarsparilla and a chocolate muffin that I think had cornmeal in it. Different, but good. Met a nice guy named Travis who helped me find some wireless internet when Hot Corner's broke.

  There at that big table is Ethan. I took that picture before I met him. We spent an hour or so at the same table basically ignoring eachother, he was reading a novel and I was reading Gerard Manley Hopkins and Lucille Clifton. Turned out, it was his 19th birthday and we ended up having a good long conversation. We talked a lot about Athens and Spartanburg. Also Jack Keruac, life choices, backpacking in Europe...fun times.

I found out in Flagpole that Mandala, UGA's literary journal, was having their release party Wednesday night. What a lucky coincidence, here I am about to throw a release party for Concept! So I went. It was at Barcafe Cine which was a neat place, wish I'd took pictures. Several poets read their work from the journal, and Shawn Hill read as a special guest. I met a really sweet lady, Pam, a retired cop-cum-watercolor artist, who helped me get to this other event I found out about in Flagpole, Poetic Confessionz, like an open mic poetry thing.

Unfortunately, this is the best photo I have. That's the MC, Montu. Dreaded Mindz Family was the host. They've got a real vision for their community. I respect that.

Entry was half-price for performers, so I pulled up a poem on my laptop and read it. It died halfway through, that was embarrassing, but Montu let me try again a little while later, and everyone was really supportive. They liked my poem, I think, but it was way different from most of their stuff. They had...attitude. Some of them incorporated song. I hadn't heard much like it before, but it was cool.

At midnight, back at Joy's place, I realized I hadn't eaten since the sarsparilla and muffin, so I made some quesadillas with leftover chicken and bell peppers. Oh, how I miss a fully-stocked kitchen!

Day 4: Funny, I stayed out latest on Wednesday night and woke up the earliest Thursday morning. Read some Seamus Heaney while eating Velveeta and crackers in the student center. I'd heard, at the journal release, about a poetry event on Thursday. I got real lucky, again, it was the Cave Canem annual symposium, and I got to hear Shawn Hill (again) and Nikky Finney with some superb poetry and a Q&A session. Turns out, Nikky Finney is from Newberry, SC! She just finished a poetry comission from Wofford! Talk about small world.

At the reading I met a cool gal named Scout, she's an English major at UGA, and we ended up going out for sushi.

Isn't it pretty? It was all very good, except for the raw quail egg.

After that late lunch, Scout took me traipsing around the UGA campus. It was lots of fun, again UGA is HUGE so there were plenty of hidden nooks, like this lovely little garden:

Scout doesn't really like photos of herself, but she took this one of me shortly before we parted ways:

I bought that Dreaded Minz T-shirt at Diverse Universe the night before. They were raising money for some kind of cool community project. Oh, speaking of raising money, on Monday, there were these sorority girls having a yard sale to raise money for two Mongolian children to have cleft palate surgery. Good cause, really cute stuff for cheap, a lot of it from Asia. Athens stores, while totally awesome, are fairly pricey, so I didn't do too much shopping. Nonetheless, my bank account's scraping the bottom of the barrel. Glad pay day is tommorow. (Today, actually...)

I got back home late Thursday night, and the rest of the break consisted of spending time with family and friends, and trying to get a little more work done.

The moral of the story is, you can have your cake and eat it too...no wait, that's been said...how about, you don't have to have a lot of money, know your surroundings, or even know what the heck you're doing, to have an unforgettable Spring Break.

Now I'd like to get at least a few hours' sleep...

Plans:

The weather is catching me off guard though. I really should have checked the forecast, I definitely packed with a rosy view of perfect, sunny Spring Break weather. It was like 45 degrees today. Brr.

In other news, God is still very good. He's been humoring me even as I do and say incredibly stupid things. (sheesh, I can be such an idiot.) His newest message: "My will, My way, My time." Amen, Lord.

So my new favorite phrase is creative collaboration. Converse is really getting into that spirit of late with the Strategic Vision - there's this new creativity grant that I would absolutely apply for if I could think of something awesome to do with it. I'm applying my creativity elsewhere, though. This Hub-Bub Student Street Team is really starting to get rolling. Wait, I haven't really told you about that, have I?

Well, I told you about College Town, a long time ago, but in case you don't remember, it's a consortium of college presidents and deans and city officials whose purpose is to promote Spartanburg's image and reality as a "vibrant college town." No offense, Spartanburg, but you've got a ways to go. :)  (I'm speaking from my lofty perch here in Athens...)

Anyway, what the Student Street Team is, is a collaboration between students of the different colleges, College Town, and Hub-Bub (Spartanburg's super awesome cultural arts organization) to A. Keep tabs on what college students really think and want, and represent that to the powers that be, B. increase communication between college students, different schools, and the community so that college kids are aware of all the awesome stuff that is already happening in Spartanburg, C. facilitate creative collaboration amonst the same in order to make more awesome stuff happen in Spartanburg, and D. be a hefty resource for Spartanburg college students who want to get plugged in and make a difference. This is my baby. Mine and Arielle Angel's (artist-in-residence at Hub-Bub). BTW, you should check out the AIR show, it's at the Showroom right now and it's incredible.

So what exactly have we done? Well, we met, we brainstormed a lot, we formed commitees, and the committees got to work.

One committee wanted to see a big community bulletin board downtown, a place for Spartanburgers to tell and learn about whatever's happening. These guys ran into Spartanburg Creative Energy who had the same idea only on steroids (they don't just want one little board downtown, they want a bunch of big ones all over the city!) so now they're working together.

Another committee wanted to see a monthly events calendar go out to all the colleges in Spartanburg, something that kids could hang up in their dorms that would tell them about the cool cultural stuff going on at other schools and around town. Some Wofford girls took this up as a service project and we saw the first issue of Best of the Spiz in our mail boxes just a few weeks ago. (Hey...if you're putting on a cool event in Spartanburg that college kids would dig, shoot them an email at bestofthespiz@gmail.com.)

What else? Ooh some events...somebody wants to do a student juried art show, someone else wants to do an improv comedy night (a la Whose Line is it Anyway only troops from different schools would battle it out), aand open mic nights are a must of course.

I'm working on two events: Swing Dancing at the Showroom, (pretty much like we had at Converse only with more boys) and a jam fest thing where musicians and music aficionados of every age and stage come together at my favorite park downtown and engage in glorious, musical mayhem. I got the idea from the folk jam sessions in awesome little North Carolina towns like Tryon and Hendersonville (In Tryon it's called the pickin' parlor and they do it every month). I know we have a lot of great musicians here in the Spiz. It's time to come out of the woodwork, y'all!

Anyway, we just got word from College Town, we have funding, so stay tuned for more info on those two events, they should both be happening before the end of the semester. And definitely keep your eyes peeled, by next fall we want every student in Spartanburg to know who we are and we can do.

It is so exciting to be creating something like this from the ground up. We're actually doing it, and we're doing it our way. It's like my whole college career has been preparing me for this. Way back when I wrote about my "big ideas" for how an organization is most effective, do you remember? (here's the post) Well here's where I get to try out all my ideas. And I've had a lot more since then. The Street Team is going to have transparent internal communications, where everyone is in the know, ideas flow freely and every opinion is heard (relevant link). It's the people with the most drive and the right skills that'll move things forward, but they know how to listen, tap the strengths of everyone around them and draw in resources as needed. It's...creative collaboration. Sound too good to be true? Maybe...but I'm starting to buy into the notion that anything's possible.

So yeah, if you can't tell, I'm pretty excited. I also have my hands full. All this and graduation too. (BTW, my family is coming! All of them! We haven't had a real family reunion since my niece Shakti was born - I'm ecstatic.) This semester's been rough, but so worth it. My GPA might be taking a slight downward turn, but if I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Oh one more thing, I'm doing the Augustine Project when I graduate. It's a program that trains volunteers with the Orton-Gillingham method of teaching reading, in exchange for a commitment to tutor a low-income child with a reading disability for a year. This is so important, because if a child can't read, how can they learn? With a stunted education, they will be disadvantaged for the rest of their lives. I just can't stand around when there's something I can do about it, when I can make a difference for at least one child.

But this isn't completely sacrificial. I hear having Orton-Gillingham training opens a lot of doors for people in the education world. It'll certainly come in handy when I homeschool my kids and/or start up private tutoring. I was hesitant at first, because I was afraid it was not going to mesh with my job situation, especially since you're usually tutoring during school/business hours, but it's only 2 hours a week. I just had to take a leap of faith and hope my boss will be understanding.

Yes, I know, now I have one-more-thing-itis, but speaking of jobs,  I have a few irons in the fire. Converse/Wofford interview day was...interesting. (I wore a suit, woah.) A few good prospects there and elsewhere. But most importantly, I'm trusting God to open the right door.

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Matt 10:16

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

As I grow through phases, certain scriptures become my mottos. These two slapped me over the head this weekend. God has a way of doing that. Boy do I love Him.

I read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." If you've never read it, do it. It just might change your life. I have so much respect for this man, his learning, his integrity, his faith.

The funny thing is, as profound and ideological this letter was, and as crucial it would become to the civil rights movement, he did not write it under clear-cut, tell-your-kids-the-story circumstances. He was in prison, in the solitary confinement cell away from his co-workers, and unlike the prison stints of other civil rights activists, this one was arousing little public sympathy or media attention. He wrote it in response to the comments of a whole coalition of spiritual leaders who claimed his most recent action was radical and untimely, his religious fervor displaced. He had his own doubts, maybe this Birmingham campaign had been a mistake, had been ill-planned, would in fact hinder the cause.

Out of that came what is perhaps the 20th century's most profound statement on human dignity and Christian compassion.

This past week has been full of the most difficult choices I've ever had to make. Choices that I can't expect others to understand, choices that I expect people to trivialize or misinterpret, choices that if a past me saw the present me making, I would totally have said "What the **** am I doing?" Perhaps the future me will look back and say "what the **** was I thinking?" Yet for some reason I am compelled, and I can't help that reason has something to do with God.(Doesn't everything?) Some of these choices are probably mistakes. But I'd rather be the one who falls and learns, and others learn with her, than the one who never falls, never learns, and never teaches anything.

Or maybe I really am just a lost little girl.

This is my friend Ash. We go all the way back to freshman year, orientation in 2nd Williams. Ash was the first lesbian I'd ever met. I was a 15-yr-old homeschool kid, surrounded by older girls who seemed so seasoned by the world. It seemed like whenever I was around that bunch, they'd be talking about things I knew nothing about, didn't quite want to know about but which avid curiosity kept me from fleeing. Later they admitted to very intentionally changing the conversation to sex, drugs, or alcohol every time I came around, just to mess with me. Ahh, freshman year. Funny thing about Ash, though, she may go for the shock factor, but she keeps everything on the level.

Ash and I both became creative and professional writing majors, and got to know one another better through our writing in class. (You can learn a lot from a person by what they choose to write about.) It's an unexpected friendship, a biblical Christian and a gay rights activist. I don't agree with all of the things she does and stands for, and I won't. A lot like I will never be ok with heterosexual, extra-marital sex. (Yeah, you heard me. Jesus doesn't like folks sleeping around.) However, I love Ash with the same boundless love Jesus has for all of us. And I can't help but respect the courage and passion with which she strives for human freedom.

 I trust that one day on earth or in Heaven I'll be able to reconcile Sodom and Gomorrah with Jesus' love. But since when have earthly institutions earned the right to play God? The last I heard, the government was only around to protect people from bad people, and from an overbearing government. But then, I may be hopelessly stuck in the 18th century.

Incidentally, today I learned of a hate group which dares to use the word "Church" in its name. I will not honor it by giving you the rest of its name, because they would want that. Suffice to say, while many people condemn America for being "intolerant," others condemn her for being an "enabler." This division and hate grieves me to no end.

As do the methods of intimidation that I've been reading about in my 1960's class, associated with the Jim Crow South and the McCarthy era. Interrogation behind closed doors, secret, rushed trials where emotions ran high, proof ran low, and the punishment vastly outweighed the crimes...and most of all, that sense of fear, fear of being different, fear of getting a stigma that would ruin one's livelihood, fear of being punished for speaking out...I like to think that America has grown out of those dark ages, but sometimes I worry.

I'm beginning to see how difficult it is being Ash. As hard as I try to be "all things to all men," it seems there will always be people who dislike or distrust me, just because of something I am or do. In my case, both by certain non-Christians who associate me with bigotry or closed-mindedness, and by certain Christians who assume, by my unorthodox practices, that I am crazy or subversive.

However, I have never been personally, physically attacked, nor have I had to endure the kind of verbal abuse and threats that Ash and her friends deal with on a daily basis. I doubt I'll ever come close to knowing that.

Speaking of human rights being taken away, I am compelled to share with you something that has shaken me in a more personal fashion. In California, a court ruled that parents without a teacher certification should not be allowed to homeschool their children. This strikes a deep blow to the right of parents to "raise up their children in the way they should go." I understand that some parents are unfit to teach and I'm not saying that the government should stand around if someone is truly harming their child. But teacher certification is a little bit about how to teach kids and a lot about how to deal with beaurocracy and people en masse. Countless parents, including mine, have done a fine job supervising their children's education through high school, some without even a college diploma. It is not the responsibility of the government to educate a child, much like it is not the responsibility of the government to keep you from saying something naughty, or to tell you who you can or can't love.  (More information)

Firstly, I've been kind of keeping quiet about God lately because I know not all of you are interested in hearing about Him. However, He's such a huge part of my life, especially at the moment, that I don't think I can be quiet any longer. GOD IS AMAZING. He is more romantic than anyone I'll ever known (crack open Song of Solomon or any of the books written by the apostle John and you'll see what I mean) He is an exquisite artist (look out of your window) and as beautiful as this masterwork we call the world may be, He is infinitely more beautiful. A nonbeliever recently told me that she didn't appreciate people being scared into Christianity with the threat of hellfire. Well, neither do I. And I really don't think God is a big fan of all that fire-and-brimstone stuff. He's wooing us with his love and beauty - how can you truly love someone back if you're just turning to them because you're scared? I hope that someday you will fall in love with Him as much as I have (and even more so).

Ok, enough of that. But wait, I just also have to say, it's really great having spiritual companions. (Shout out to Pam Monahan and Liz Jones!) God has blessed me recently with some sisters that I can share my heart with. He seems to be bringing Christians at Converse together...it's so exciting! (and darn it, I have to leave it all soon.)

On to other news. I LOVE FENCING. Dr. Delapp...excuse me, Kevin (as he prefers to be called while in his "civilian clothes") is completely fun and very knowledgeable. Well I knew that already from going to Europe with him last January, but I forgot just how cool he was. I think he won a west coast championship at some point. We have had two meetings so far. It's very aerobic, and a bit rough on the thighs initially. But it's just so cool to gear up and swing sabres at each other (Sabre fencing = not just poking but slashing and swatting too) without getting hurt. I look forward to it every Monday and Wednesday. Another reason I'm sad to be graduating: Kevin wants get the club ready for competing locally within the next few years...not fair!

Reason #34 I'm sad to be graduating: the writers of Converse are uniting! My friend and fiction editor Rebecca Rawls and I have started monthly writers' lunches where students get together and share/discuss their work informally. If any students actually read my blog, feel free to join us for the next one @ 12:00 March 4 in the WC!  I've also been just getting a lot of good talks with writer friends. Last night, Heather Price and I put our heads together about our publications (the newspaper and the literary journal) and generated all sorts of ideas. Then I ran into Rachel Harman and Jo Gaillard, both also writers and friends, and talked about writing some more.

Last night was like a signal for Change. I hope y'all caught the lunar eclipse, it was pretty awesome (I'll confess though, I really didn't know what was going on - Jennifer Kaeser had to explain it to me). I went to two lectures, one by Dr. Poelvoorde on the presidential race and the fate of America (particularly the electoral college system and the presidency), and one by Micheal Curtis (fiction editor of the prestigious Atlantic Monthly journal) about the fate of the American short story. They were both incredibly thought provoking. Made me want to stand up and DO something. It's kind of hard for one kid to make a dent in american politics or contemporary literature, but maybe if I and my peers think hard enough about it, we can come up with some kind of positive action.

I really appreciate this kind of conversation amongst students and professors. ("This kind" being the conversation about present day things in the world that we really think are important, and about what we can do to make the situation better.) It's part of what makes the university such an appealing place. I have Medieval Music History and Music & Society of the 60's (two Vanemans and a Theilmann - they can't help but be interesting) and oddly enough in both classes we've been discussing the birth, purpose, and changing nature of the university. One interesting thing about it is that it is both a place of preservation (the wisdom of past centuries protected from war, chaos, and public apathy) and progressivism (how many innovative, world-changing movements have traced their roots to a college campus?).

I could keep on like this for a while, but it's late. Hasta luego!

He's 81 years old, and still so full of pep! He was a perfect showman, of the genteel variety who actually seems to care how the audience receives him. His manner was so gracious - he just beamed at us and extended his hands in welcome and entertained us with tidbits about his adventures in showbiz. He even danced a little. And his voice - still impeccable! And his band was flawless. He seemed so joyful, like he was doing his absolute favorite thing in the world surrounded by his absolute favorite people - his band and his audience.

Kris and I were dancing in our seats. I guess we really showed our pleasure because afterward the people behind us were like "You weren't having a good time up there, were you?" And one lady gave me Tony Bennett's autobiography. Apparently he's an artist too! We really wanted to meet him after the show but I guess it just wasn't fated to be. Oh and we kept giving him ovations and he just kept coming back out and singing for us...apparently he sang 30 minutes longer than was in his contract, because we liked him so much.

Here's a picture of us after the concert:

(photo thanks to Kris)

oh yeah and that's how my room looks now. I re-did it after Anna moved back home. It's sad because I miss her, but it's kind of luxurious having this big room to myself. And it's fun to entertain people - Kris spent the night, and last night the power went out at my house so my mom stayed over.

My semester's been good so far. Concept's really kind of taking over my life, since we're doing editing and layout, and I'm trying to get the office into some semblance of order and establish some kind of infrastructure for record keeping. But it's good work.

 Classes are really interesting. I'm taking Graphic Design, Honors 1960's Music and Society, Creative Nonfiction, Music History II: Medieval and Renaissance, and of course senior BFA seminar. Next week Dr. Delapp starts up our new fencing club. I'm looking forward to that. Voice this semester is going to be awesome because I'm focusing on swing/American Songbook stuff which is really where my heart is. Cole Porter, the Gerswins, Irving Berlin and the like. At last I feel at home vocally.

My last semester is going to be a very good one. Aggh, my last semester!! I'm so not ready for the real world. I'm going to have to...go to work and buy insurance and stuff! It's scary!

Oh dear, it's almost eight. I've got to get over to the music building, there's a guest soprano tonight. Until next time!

PS. this may seem completely random but I had to share this really awesome link: www.ReadHisWord.com it's a fully customizable Bible reading schedule creator. I'm reading the Prophets now. Interesting stuff.

What if I were a sort of "moveable brain?" Perhaps a more professional-sounding title would be "special projects assistant." Surely you're thinking "what the heck does that mean?"  Well, one unfortunate truth about Converse that it is a small school with huge goals. The huge goals part is great, don't get me wrong, but I've seen, so many times, how stretched the faculty and staff get. Like the QEP Implementation Committee. None of us has been hired to do this full-time, and none of us are getting paid for the extra hours we spend on it. (At least I  haven't heard of any money...) We do it because we love the college, and I think that's the reason so many faculty and staff stay at Converse, even though they may get paid more to do less elsewhere. I see real passion and commitment to the school in so many of its members, and that love goes a long way when the funding gets low and the hours get long. 

Converse students get stretched too. You may notice how "accomplished" a Converse graduate is, how many "shining stars grace her curricula vita." Well it's not easy. We work into the wee hours of the morning on stuff we don't get paid for, don't get a grade for, sometimes don't get enough credit for. We could "get by" doing a lot less. But I think we do these things because they are worth doing, and because we seem to be the ones that are supposed to do them. And hopefully because we love it.

Oh dear, that was a tangent. Back to my dream job. Noting this problem, and being of the sort who likes to find the solution to problems, I thought, wow, what if Converse had one more full-time employee who could lend a brain and a pair of hands anywhere on campus as it was needed? I have a pretty good brain (there's no way to say that and sound humble, is there?) and there are so many different things that I can latch on to and get passionate about. I also love research and learning the methods of something new. Obviously there are a lot of things at Converse that I know nothing about, am not good with, and/or don't give a flip about, but I think there's enough here to keep me busy. Obviously I'd need some sort of manager to assign me to various committees/departments/offices (it would be hard to decide who needs help the most!), and to make sure I wasn't given more work than I could handle.

I'm getting better and better at organizing and multitasking. Actually I think it's an inevitable result of a quality that some people may label ADD. (My brother has it and I think my dad does too.) My brain is constantly leaping from thing to thing to thing, and to make sense of it all, I have to organize its output as I go. Like today, I was keeping notes as I went through the QEP material, and I just kept starting new sheets of paper with different topics related to the QEP. That way I could record each idea in a place where I could refer back to it when it was time to focus on that subject. I can hyperfocus at times, and yet great ideas about completely unrelated things are constantly popping up out of seeming nowhere. 

In this dream job that would be to my advantage, as I would be able to manage a number of very different projects at once. I would also be happy because of the variety. It would be like working several part-time jobs, with all the convenience and health benefits of full-time work. Sometimes I'd get a project that I would have to do research on and learn new ways of thinking and doing. And then there would be those projects where I could utilize what I already know, my experience with the college and with life in general. I'd hyperfocus my brain power on it in measured periods until it was done - maybe in a day, maybe in a few months, maybe years.  Ah, the sense of accomplishment at a task completed, and a job well done! And oh, how I'd grow and grow and never stop!

Now you know what nature of rosy fantasies occupy Lydia's head. What a strange bird. I may wake up tomorrow and think, "you idiot!" but that's ok. It sounds great tonight.

But I really need to get back to the QEP, and after that, I have to review poetry submissions for my meeting with Megan. Back-to-back meetings, what are the odds of that? And then an appointment to cut Kandice's hair. Last week's lazy snow days are such a distant memory...

It's been about 5 years since that happened. Last time, I made an igloo. This time, my friends and I made a 6 1/2 foot snowman:

Pictured: Kandice Jeske, Pamela Monahan, Buff, Me, Triona Gateley, Jennifer Kaeser, Ashley Brunjes

It was...ethereal.

After playing in the snow for a good long while, we went back to Jennifer's room for hot cocoa and spinach dip. Not before a mini unwrapping party in the bathroom:

The next morning, we woke up to this:

All above photos courtesy of Ashley Brunjes. Thanks!

Thursday was an official snow day, so we students didn't have to go to class or work. I really don't think the conditions were that bad, certainly if we were West Virginia or Alaska nothing would have closed, but snow is just so novel in the South that I think we just all kind of freak out about it. (All the grown-ups wanted to go out and play in it too I'm sure.) Not that I'm complaining.  We had a great afternoon of snow penguins, snowball fights, and sledding down the soccer field hill on Rubbermaid tubs, lids, trashbags, and whatever else we could get our hands on. Sadly, I have no footage of that.

Naturally, this romping about in the cold did nothing for my congestion and cough, which grew rather gut-wrenching over the next few days. But I slept a lot and drank a lot of orange juice, so I'm pretty much over it now.

On Saturday we (Me, Triona, Anna Bennett, Jessica Pittard, Liz and Dempsey, and Dempsey's brother TJ) went to the Cowpens battlefield. They were having some kind of anniversary commemoration, with lots of costumed reenactors. It would have been quite fun, I'm sure, had it not been 30something degrees, raining, and me hacking up my insides. When the rain started to turn to ice we headed back to campus, where we enjoyed more hot cocoa, Nutella, cheese and Wheat Thins, and watched Mystery Science Theater. (Quest of the Delta Nights = funny.)

Then Liz and I got ready for our second performance (I guess I forgot to mention the first, huh) of Hildegard of Bingen's "O Frondens Virga" at the Chapman Cultural Center. We were guest artists of the Spartanburg Philharmonic.  That was pretty cool.

Life has been kind to me, overall. I wrote a funny article for the Conversationalist about Muggle Quidditch. Read this article. I am so happy for the Conversationalist. My friend Heather Price is the new editor. She is an awesome person and is doing fantastic things for the newspaper. I think the January issue is going to blow Converse's mind. (with its awesomeness.) Oh dear, I better shut up and get some sleep before I succumb to silliness entirely.

Oh, but before I leave you, I thought I'd share a fond memory of what my hall gets up to at 2:00am...(photo credits to Elizabeth Dempsey)

Principal Faith, Tracey from Hairspray, Spaced-Out Hippie, and Emo Spiderman

Pat from Saturday Night Live, David Bowie in Purple, Scared Frodo, and Pat Benetar

(they are going to kill me for posting these...hahahaha!)

Back on campus, things have been great. I’m taking two classes (a little unusual for January term). I’ve got Honors Arthur and the Matter of Britain with the awesome Mr. Charles Morgan, and Advanced Tutorial Poetry with the amazing visiting poet R.T. Smith. He’s the editor of the literary journal Shenandoah, how cool is that? Speaking of literary journals, Concept is running right on schedule. We’ve read the submissions and will be sending acceptance letters come February. Got some good stuff this year. It’s hard to choose.

Our first weekend back, my best friend Pam and I took a lovely afternoon stroll downtown. We spent some time reading at the Spartanburg Public Library, then got some coffee at the Cafe on Morgan Square. It was devastating to come back to school to find that both of our coffee shops, Ishi and Crossroads, had closed, probably for good. But as far as coffee goes, we lucked out to find the Cafe on Morgan Square. They feature the same coffee as Ishi did, roasted by Spartanburg’s own Little River Roasting Co., and their chai is none too bad. The interior is cozy with lots of dark wood, some soft wingback chairs, and a few board games. They’ve got a great location on Main Street, tucked in the row with Monsoon, Delaney’s, and the furniture company. Look for "the Sandwich Factory" above a big awning.

The only problem is, they close at four pm. Not cool. But with the big void left by Ishi and Crossroads, a few hints might change that. I talked to the owner today actually. He’s a nice guy but a keen businessman. If a bunch of generously tipping college students came and told him that late hours would make him more money...

Today’s rant #1:

BOYCOTT STARBUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I said it.

On the up side, Mellow Mushroom just opened yesterday. Come payday I’ll check it out. Back to last Saturday. When the Cafe closed at 4:00, Pam and I headed to the Hub-Bub Showroom. We just wanted a place to chill and finish our coffee, an art show would be a plus. Well they were between shows, but it was a cool time to stop by because they’d invited a bunch of graffiti artists to adorn a wall in honor of the upcoming show, Art of the Street. I’m gonna try to make it to the reception this Saturday (7:00-9:00) it should be pretty cool. So yeah, we hung out with the grafitti artists for a bit, then headed back to Converse. All in all, it was a great day.

Rant # 2:

All you rich Main Street property owners, please LOWER YOUR RENT! You might not care if you’re forcing the coolest business owners out of town, but you don’t have to walk past all those heart-wrenching empty windows every day. I and the people of Spartanburg implore you...we beg of you...

Might not do any good but I feel better.

Oh yes, we found out about something else cool happening Saturday: the Church of the Advent is doing an art & faith conference. Lectures on worship through art and music, plus hands-on projects! Pam worked out a hefty student discount with Father Roy (he’s so nice!) so if you’re interested, just let them know if you’re a student. (Link to Brochure)

What else? Oh yeah, Professor Mulkey’s gonna read at Hub-Bub on Monday night, and R.T. Smith’s reading at Converse on Tuesday. My schedule’s packed!

I’d offer you pictures but I misplaced my camera in Kentucky! Horror! (If you pray, can you mention me and my camera? I’d appreciate it.)

Until next time!

PS. Stay tuned for the new issue of Root –I'm writing a story it’s gonna be great!

PPS. Look, it's the Valkyries:

This was the last week of school, all that's left is exams and final projects. I have one exam and a final critical essay, a short story, a journal, and a poetry sequence due. Not too bad. It's a good thing too because the brain is fritzing out on me as it is.

Last Saturday the Bards went "on the road" for the first time. We played at the St. Nicholas festival at Sarah's church in Columbia. Still not getting paid but Sarah's family's generous hospitality and the memories we made were well worth it. It made us all remember why we started doing this to begin with and wish we had time to do it more often.

We also played at the SGA Christmas party the Monday before last, which was really fun. There were a lot of students and some faculty there (it's always a pretty big deal) so you could say it gave us a lot of publicity. Except that we weren't introduced so nobody knew we were the Bards of Eireann. We led a student sing along, which, although there were only a few hardcore carolers, seemed to lend a warm, festive air to the whole event. Several people came up to us individually later and told us how much they enjoyed it.

It's going to be so hard for us with Sarah Bracey gone to France in J-term and the spring semester! I know she is going to have a wonderful, life changing experience at the French university, but I for one am going to miss her like nobody's business. She is one of the most brilliant, beautiful people I know. It was especially hard thinking that I would be off to Austin as soon as she got back, but knowing that I'll be around Spartanburg for their senior year makes it a lot easier for me to graduate. :) Call me lame, but I'm probably going to be one of those alumnae who spends every free moment back at Converse. Hey, give me a break, going by age I ought to have another two years at the school!

I have pictures!! Last Saturday was my last Peppermint Ball. Of all the traditions at Converse, that's the one I think I'll miss the most. Now I'm not much of a dance person - the type of music and dancing that most of the college crowd considers normal I find utterly distasteful - but the Peppermint Ball is a class of its own. It's a formal ball held in Gee Dining Hall - transformed by festive and elegant decorations - that features the Dick Goodwin Band, a big brass variety band that plays shag, swing, and a little of everything else. Swing is my absolute favorite type of dancing, and shag is basically just a slowed-down swing with one hand free to hold a beer. (I'm not kidding, they say that's how it started!)  I always have a blast.

A whole bunch of West Wilson and 4th Pell girls got ready in Triona and Sarah's room this year, so that was like a party in itself, and then we all went out in our makeup and curlers for sushi. Usually I rope a handful of guy friends to dance with, but this year none of them could come so it was just me, the girls, the boyfriends, and the dates who were willing to be shared. :) We had a lot of fun flitting about, taking pictures, dancing the Electric Slide, etc. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect senior Peppermint Ball.

Grace Suggs, Jennifer Kaeser, Pamela Monahan, and Emily Green

Heather Price, Martha Miller, and me

Me and Triona Gateley

Sarah Bracey and boyfriend Charlie

Standing: Liz Jones, Elizabeth Dempsey, Jessica Pittard, Jennifer, Pam, me, Emily. Sitting: Heather, Daniela Burrows, Sarah, Triona

Hmm. this might be it before the holidays. If so, it's been fun blogging for you this semester! If you've enjoyed reading, please hit the "gimme a shout" button over on the left side and leave me a note.

Best wishes!

After a fabulous meal, Kaity and I went outside to set acorns and things on fire, then we went back inside and messed around on the piano while the rest of our families chatted. Later on, we had turkey sandwiches and some more pie (Chocolate, Pumpkin, and Key Lime!) and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. That's apparently a Dixon tradition for Thanksgiving evening. It was nice to be a part of it.

And then came Black Friday. Not only did I wake up with a bleakly clear vision of everything I have to accomplish in the two weeks left before the end of the semester, but I also realized that I have to come up with presents for all my family and friends, with next to no money.

Man I wish I'd been a little more stingy at the Ren Faire. By the way, it was great fun. The highlight of the day was definitely when I met my hero, Leonardo DaVinci. Not only did we have a great chat about the challenge of achieving flight, but he also invited me to dance with him. My friends and I saw acrobats, musicians, belly dancers, the Chicken Man...I had a great time but was a little too loose with the purse strings....

So yes, I was pondering gift-giving, and I was reminded of something that I like a lot but have never actually done. You know that charity that's like "Honor your loved one by providing a llama/cow/goat/chickens to a needy family in South America/Asia/Africa"? I've always thought it was such a cool idea, especially since most of us don't really need more stuff and the gift is really just about the kind gesture. But I'm worried that people will feel gypped if their present goes to someone else. But maybe I'm not giving my friends and family enough credit. I just found out World Vision is doing the same idea, only more broad. It has things like "$25 to provide $325 of necessities to an impoverished child in NYC"

It got me thinking about ways to make my gifts this year go farther. My sister told me that she's getting a lot of gifts this year from The Greater Good Store, which has a lot of cool, reasonably-priced products with which you can actually choose to support the breast cancer battle, literacy, child health, rainforest conservation, animal rescue, or the fight against world hunger. They also support fair trade and offer "Gifts that Give More" (the same idea as the World Vision/ llama gifts.) I'm definitely hoping to do a lot of my Christmas shopping there.

I'm tuning into a great trend of charity working with mainstream culture and capitalism. Examples of this are Product(RED), Invisible Children, Ten Thousand Villages, and ONE. Charities are realizing that not everyone is prepared to give and get nothing in return, but it turns out that most people love the idea of meeting one of their own needs/wants and helping someone else in the process. I'm also witnessing the culture change: it's starting to be "cool" to give.

While I'm on this vein, I thought I'd introduce you to two more links.  Idealist.org is an amazing resource for positive-action-minded individuals, organizations, and businesses. I can't even tell you all the great things it offers, but one of them is a job search tailored to those who want to work in the non-profit sector or in support of a greater good. Lucas Patterson, the editor of Root, introduced me to this one and it has pretty much rocked my world.

The Charity Navigator is a guide to making informed and intelligent decisions about giving. Good for people trying to decide where their dollar will make the most impact.

And now for something completely different.

 Today I went to the meeting about Converse's Strategic Vision & Plan. At it, President Fleming presented Converse's big vision, goals, and action plan for the next five years. I was so happy about the whole thing. Not only could I see and appreciate the process they went through to make it happen - so much research, careful thought, and community involvement - but the resulting goals and strategy were something I could fully support. I can't explain it very well, but the big thrust is that of creativity - fostering the creative minds of students and teachers, and breaking out of the box as an institution to discover innovative solutions and advance the college community. The committee also developed 7 core values that will unite and guide the entire college. Here's the draft of them that President Fleming sent us over the summer.

EXCELLENCE drives us to achieve the best in all that we pursue; to develop competence, confidence and courage to realize full potential in mind, body and spirit.

INTEGRITY calls us to cultivate and exercise honor, character and vision in daily decisions and actions; to act honestly and justly when confronted with ethical dilemmas and life’s challenges.

EXPLORATION compels us to think critically and creatively in the acquisition of knowledge and skills; to discover and enrich scholarship and research, disciplines, methods and vocations through hands-on learning and leadership and through discovery, discourse and debate.

DIVERSITY inspires us to embrace the different perspectives, experiences, cultures, backgrounds, talents and contributions that comprise a global society; to enhance and expand inclusivity as we build a stronger multi-dimensional community. 

RESPECT leads us to value self and others, recognizing the legitimacy of individuality in belief, expression and perspective; to exercise civility, mindfulness and responsibility in words and actions.

COMMUNITY motivates us to develop a dynamic network of relationships through a balance of work and play that nurtures the abilities of each member in order to establish a better whole; to mentor, collaborate and communicate as engaged citizens who effect positive change.

PROGRESS challenges us to think strategically toward the future by employing creativity, adaptability, ingenuity and innovation; to advance and transform the world around us.

I'm so excited for Converse's future. Actually pretty sad to be graduating now, because I want to be a part of what I'm sure will be some of the school's most exciting times since its founding. But hey, I can stay involved as an alumna. Plus (and I'll let you all in on a little secret) I'm thinking I want to stick around Spartanburg for another year or so.  I'm beginning to understand why so many Converse alumnae want a job at their Alma Mater!

Tuesday was Concept and the Writing Center's collaborative event, Literary Heroes. It was pretty much my brainchild and I had to be the MC so I was majorly stressing about it, but it went really well. It was in the Cabin, which is a beautiful, cozy little space just right for readings and such. Students and faculty read a selection by one of their "literary heroes." We had Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, and J.K. Rowling, just to name a few. There was also lots of cheese. I love cheese.

Speaking of cheese, I just got back from the Hub-Bub showroom, where Converse had brought their final visiting writer of the semester, Margaret Hathaway, who wrote a great food/travel memoir called the Year of the Goat. She read a selection from her book, which tells the story of the year she and her husband took to explore a simpler life as goat farmers. It was a great reading and then Evin Evans, who owns an award-winning goat farm in Anderson, talked a little about her life as a goat farmer. We learned a lot about goats, some about sustainable small-scale farming, and sampled a lot of goat products. And it's just so fun to spend time in the Showroom. I had a little time to peruse the new art show, which was by Converse's own art faculty Teresa Prater and Andrew Blanchard. I loved it.

Thanksgiving Break is coming up. I am so ready!! Of course I'm going to have to spend most of it researching for my English Lit paper, but still. No class! My parents and I are going to get together with some good family friends for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm excited, especially since Mrs. Dixon is a fantastic cook.

This Saturday I'm going with some friends to the Renaissance Faire outside of Charlotte. It's like our yearly pilgrimage. We are dorks to the max, and not a bit ashamed. We deck out in our renaissance finery and ham it up with all the fair workers. Last year, I got invited into a courtly dance by a visiting Rennie who thought I worked there. It's so much fun to just be as crazy as you want.

I am so tired. It's 11:00 and I still have to read for class tomorrow, write poetry, compose, and get the publicity together for the search for a new Conversationalist editor. That's right, our student newspaper needs a leader. If you're a Converse undergrad and are interested in revolutionizing the information network on campus, contact Witney Fisher. Ok there's my plug for the night.

Props to Belda Thomas and the Academics Committee of Senate. Today they conducted a survey on course evaluations. Those are what students fill out on the last day of every class to provide feedback for the professor and administration. But since they get squeezed into the last ten minutes of the semester, they don't always reflect serious insight. From what I understand, the Academics committee is looking at revamping them, possibly even computerizing them. It's things like that which are constantly making Converse a better place!

Goodnight.

Last week was 1889 Spirit Week. That is a week of friendly competition between classes over various acticities, culminating in the awarding of the 1889 cup to the winning class. I was in the skit and the dance. For the skit, we did a video of interviews with seniors, answering the questions "What are you Wild About?" and "What do you think is the legacy of the class of 2008?" Then we sang "In My Life" by the Beatles. I was pleased because although it was touching, I think our skit avoided the usual senior sap-fest. In the dance, not only did we have a slew of dancers but it also had a fashion show element with models (including me) and photographers.

Other highlights of skit and dance night included Coach Moore's delightfully flighty impersonation of Talisha Flegler and Dr. McDaniel's simultaneous performance of roommates Hannah Eisengrin and Brianne Cross. The junior class showed abundant energy in their dance, which made use of 80’s music and dance moves. The junior skit was also highly creative, involving a time-traveling Valkyrie, President Fleming, and a secret society dedicated to the multiplication of campus statues.

Despite a few hard works between classes that were quickly regretted, I think that over the week, relationships were strengthened. The highlights of my week were when some freshman decided to donate their can drive cans to their big sisters, and when the sophomores and seniors made a pact not to compete with each other in the coin war. Of course we raised thousands of dollars and donated thousands of cans to charity, but I think most of us view that as an added bonus. :)

On Saturday, I got to sit with President Fleming in the front row seats of Twitchell to hear Barack Obama speak. I’d never heard a presidential candidate speak live before, so it was pretty exciting. Now the hour-and-a-half wait before his 30 minute speech was pretty lame, but whatever. He had some interesting things to say and he certainly was charismatic. President Fleming, some other students and I had a nice discussion about him afterward. She had some pretty insightful words about positions of leadership of that kind. She said you can’t always go in with a plan, sometimes young, less-experience leaders have to be trusted to go in, listen to the needs of the community, and then act upon them. She also said leadership skills are often more about inspiring and directing others to get things accomplished, than doing a lot of things oneself.

Next was lunch in the soccer field to watch the powder puff football game. Despite the ferocious determination of the senior players, (and their very large group of cheerleaders) the exuberant freshmen class claimed the victory.

Then it was the Senior Champagne Toast at President Fleming’s house, and then the 1889 dance, where naturally, the seniors were awarded the cup. Our happy surprise came when our little sisters took second place.

This week it's all about writing: poetry (This Friday is Concept's submission deadline!) an article for the Writing Center newsletter, and an article for Correlations.

First things first. Iowa. It was....life changing. I flew, by myself, to a state I had never set foot in, in which I didn't know a soul. That in itself is an unforgettable experience. In Chicago, I had an hour and a half layover. As I wandered the concourse at the O'Hare airport, I knew.

I knew then that I can do anything. I can go anywhere. Yes, that sounds trite, but I was overwhelmed with this spirit of adventure. I wanted to set foot in every state in the US and then start on the countries of the world.

All that and I wasn't even in Iowa yet. Well I had a lovely flight, had pleasant conversation with my seat mate, and upon arriving in the Cedar Rapids airport I found my driver without a hitch. He was a very nice, talkative man of Amish background. He was friends with the Kauffmans (the family I would be staying with).

It was overcast, windy and a bit chilly when I arrived at the Kauffman farm. We parked next to a buggy (In Iowa they are made of black canvas) and I was about to get out and greet the young man standing in front of the house when my driver told me that that was Cephas's son's house and to get to Cephas's house I would need to go down that path. So I went down the path to a smaller house with no driveway, where I met the three unmarried Kauffman daughters: Ada (26), Nettie (23), and Joanne (18). They and their unmarried brother Jonas (21) live there with their parents.

Since the elder Kauffmans retired and handed the farm over to their son Abe and his family, they run a small sorghum (molasses) business. Nettie and Joanne have an operation called Bent & Dent, where they clean, sort, and price damaged groceries for a salvaged grocery store run by some of their cousins. Ada has a sewing business, and the three sisters make and sell "greetings" with stamps and ribbons and such. Jonas finds work seasonally with his brothers, often selling produce or doing construction. (They have 7 married siblings)

That day I saw the sorghum operation, helped out at Bent & Dent for a few hours, and helped Joanne stuff venison balogna. Jonas had caught that deer with his crossbow – that’s where the family gets most of their meat nowadays. Now that was a messy project. We didn’t clean up after ourselves immediately, which meant we had to go back out after dinner with a kerosene lamp and clean up all that meat in the dark and cold. It was kind of fun though. Oh and I saw Joanne’s meat rabbits (they sell fryers) and helped her bring in the laundry. Here is a picture of the laundry:

While I’m at it, here’s a picture of their garden.

Dinner was served in wide bowls. It consisted of bread and jam, pancakes (eaten plain), leftover veggie soup with oyster crackers, balogna on bread with ketchup, and fresh bell peppers, with water to drink. They ate so fast that I ended up being hungry a lot of the time because I didn’t want to get seconds and make them wait on me...(they pray silently before and after meals and it’s kind of awkward being the last one everyone’s staring at). After dinner, Cephas spoke an evening prayer while everyone knelt. Then we sang a hymn from the Christian Hymnal, which is a shape-note hymnal. I knew a couple of the songs in there, though not many. The singing was quite distinctive, somewhat nasal and dwelling on consonants. The men sang in harmony with the women, and Nettie and I sang alto.

On Sunday, Joanne and I went with Abe and his family to a neighboring district’s church meeting. It was my first buggy ride and I was a bit scared because the horse kept shying away from the rainsplashing of the oncoming cars. I don’t blame him, but it felt like the buggy was going to overturn every time.

The service was long and all in Pennsylvania Dutch/High German. I tried to sing along with the songs though. It’s held in an Amish home and afterward there’s a big fellowship meal. Joanne and I sat with some younger, very quiet girls. I think they might have been a bit afraid of me. They sure stared. Afterward we had a lovely afternoon full of visiting and surprisingly genuine Christian fellowship. We ate dinner with a very jolly family and then went to the youth singing, which is a time for all the unmarried folk to get together and sing and visit.

Monday morning, Freda (the mother) took me around town. We visited an Amish general store, an Amish bookstore, three Amish schools, a few families, and the salvaged grocery store that the girls work with.

That night we ate dinner at Abe and Lovina’s next door, and another sibling family joined us. It was heartwarming, with so many kids around and everyone just enjoying each other’s company. Tuesday morning I flew back to earth, and Wednesday at nine I was back in the Writing Center.

I could spend hours and hours writing about my trip. I made a few new friends who I will be writing to and probably visiting again. It was rest for the soul, if not for the body. And comfort for the spirit. They are such sincere Christians, and just genuine people.

Incidentally, Monday was my birthday. I am 19 now. My mom bought me steak at Delaney’s, that was nice. And I got like two dozen Facebook birthday wishes.

This week something really different is happening in Spartanburg. An artist and a writer are living in a shop window downtown for five days. Read their stories in Arielle’s blog and Rachel’s blog. I visited them with my roommate today, and later on when some friends and I went to Wild Wing. I’d met them before in the Hub-Bub showroom. They’re really cool, creative ladies who aren’t afraid to live art. I sure hope this drastic measure will knock some sense into people (namely the owners of those empty buildings who are keeping away tenants by expecting too much rent, and the young crowd that thinks it's too cool for downtown), and further the budding downtown revival. I don't get why people aren't as in love with downtown as I am. It’s got great green spaces, historic buildings, and quirky photographable detail. A charming hangout spot, methinks.

Speaking of downtown, you should check out the Chapman Cultural Center. It’s pretty amazing.

It’s 3am. I’ve had a great day full of poetry and art, and a great night with close friends. Now it is time for sleep.

Anyway, now I am a senior. It's a whole new animal. Some people coast through their senior year, having already taken their hard courses, now just taking fun classes and making memories. Others are just feeling the thumbscrews come on, as they start on senior projects and graduate school exams and job applications. I can't say I'm either kind of senior. No, I'm not taking the most difficult classes - not in the sense of "if I don't work my butt off I'll make a C" but being a writing major is by no means easy.

Sometimes I wish I had the kind of major where you do this number of problems, they are either right or wrong you get a grade, and you move on. Writing is so...personal. There are no correct answers. You've got to generate something from inside yourself (no small effort), and then you have to take a good look at it and decide what it needs to bring it up to your standards, and those of a readership you're not entirely aware of. It takes time. Lots and lots of time. There are no short cuts.

I had this shocking revelation at the begining of the semester. I'm a writing major, so maybe that means I should be in the habit of writing...? A music major habitually practices, right? Prof. Howie and Prof. Mulkey keep telling me that the difference between a writer and someone who likes to write is that writers make the time to write, no matter what else is going on in their life. So that's what I've been trying to do. I've actually marked it in my weekly planner: these hours are for writing.

This semester I'm taking three 3-hour courses: English Literature before 1500 with Professor Morgan, Short Fiction with Professor Tekulve, and Poetry Sequence with Professor Mulkey. Then I've got volleyball, voice lessons and chorale, and I've started taking music composition lessons with Dr. Robbins. In addition, I am editor-in-chief of Concept, Converse's literary journal, and back working in the Writing Center. The band is still hanging in there, and I'm still helping plan events for SAC. It may not be quite as crazy hectic as last semester, but I'd say it is more of a challenge.

Now, how about some pictures?

Here's me in my (messier than usual) dorm. Yes, I am living the dorm life now. I like it. For the first time I feel that my life is entirely my own. And I have a fantastic roommate. (and communal bathrooms aren't nearly as bad as people make them out to be)

I had just got back from the Senior Hats On party, where we'd decorated the whole campus in pink to celebrate Opening Convocation.

And here we are, processing to Twitchell for Opening Convocation. We're decked in our Pink Panther finery, per Converse tradition. So many of my senior friends are in this shot. I think it's going to be one of those pictures I'll look at 10 years from now and shed a tear or two.

Gwen and Laurann at the T Shirt Reconstruction Party. (My first Late Night event this year.)  President Fleming donated some of her old shirts for us to use. Thanks President Fleming! It was a smashing success. (In my humble opinion.)

Mari and Christina definitely win the "most artistic T" award. They had an eye for design and some fine sewing skills!

Sarah, Triona and Liz (aka Miss Scarlett, the Leprechaun, and Glinda). This is how my friends do Big Sis Little Sis. (I had so much fun helping them deliver presents, it was almost as good as being a big sis again!)

Now I've got to get packed because I'm leaving for Iowa tommorow. I'm going to stay with an Old Order Amish family over fall break. I've never been to Iowa so I'm a little scared, but excited that I'll finally have a chance to really get to know some Amish folks. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

Where did I leave off?

The paper is FINISHED. (well, I mean it's the first completed draft but for our immediate purposes, it's done.) Sure glad that's off my shoulders.

My visit to the New Order Amish in North Carolina was lovely. The bishop there is so friendly and helpful! He took me all around the neighborhood showing me Amish houses and the school and the church building and explaining how they do things and why. He took me to visit an Amish-run general store and a jam factory, as well as to see some friends who are building a new house. He also told me all about his business. It was wonderful to see how each one of his sons, from the oldest married son to the little 7-yr-old, had an important task to perform at the shop. They are so family-centric! It's beautiful.

Ah yes, the Christian training. It was great. God is amazing. And so is the book of Ephesians - you really should read it. (hey it's only six chapters long!) But it was rough - we had a tight schedule from 6:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night! I imagine it's a bit like what boot camp feels like. But I appreciated the discipline, Lord knows I need it.

Then, after half a week of recuperation and preparation, off we went (my dad and I) to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Now that was an unforgettable experience. I don't even know how to describe it. That's why I uploaded a bunch of pictures:

Here's an Amish farm. The Lancaster farms all look about like this, big and white with silos, but you can tell the Amish ones by the Amish clothes on a line stretched between the buildings way up high like a banner, plus the absence of electrical accoutrements and motor vehicles.

This first picture shows two Amish boys mowing the lawn. the Amish do not believe in posing for pictures because a) they believe it's a violation of the commandment against graven images, and b) they believe it would be a show of pride to display your own image or that of your family. However, I've heard that they don't care if a photo is taken of them without their participation if they are unrecognizable in it. I felt a bit sneaky doing it though, so my few pictures of Amish people are blurry and far away.

     This Amish man is riding a scooter. Scooters are actually very popular among the Lancaster County Amish, because, as I heard from a local Mennonite man, the Ordenung in LC bans pneumatic tires in any transportational device that is not pushed. Thus, bicycles are not allowed but scooters are. Tractors have metal wheels; this prevents them from being used for road transportation.

Speaking of transportation, here's a typical Lancaster County Amish buggy. It's made of fiberglass, generally. This particular buggy is parked outside the Gordonville Book Shop, which is a great Amish book store and printing company. I made several trips and spent a long time there pouring over the books. They sold Amish-written books, older books reprinted only by the Amish (they like a lot of the moralistic primers and such from the 18th century,) books written about the Amish, and books written by conservative Mennonites and other conservative Christians. There was a lot of Pennsylvania German and High German...it has a really rich look because of the Gothic font...

I also saw a lot of Amish women and girls there. They often hire vans to take them longer distances, or when taking the whole family. It was such a picture when this van pulled up and this string of sisters poured out, maybe eight or ten of them, from late teens to toddlers...with their identical dresses in all different shades....they reminded me of flowers...

Aagh! it's late in the day and I have to finish packing...I'm moving onto campus tomorrow! Well here, I'll just caption the rest of these pictures. You'll have to use your imagination for the details...

 
This is what happened on the way to meet Dr. Kraybill. Dad and I were the first on the scene, he saved some cows while I called 911... 

Me at the end of that day. Man was I tired.

Town of Intercourse

Smuckers' Dry Goods Store (note the colors of the fabric: Plain People wear almost exclusively cool colors)

     
riding my bike through LC farmland (that was surreal)

After a few days of rest, I was off to Austin!

My brother Aaron and my beautiful baby niece!

There's us with Shakti's beautiful mamma, Cassie

Cassie, Shakti and my sister Esther at one of Austin's great vintage stores

Shanti is the newest member of our family (she belongs to Esther and Brandan)

Shakti, meet Shanti.

Shakti's heirloom pillow, handcrafted by her doting aunts

In the two weeks since I got back I've just been resting, reading, crafting a little, and packing. I was so tired at the end of all that. I'm still a little tired, but ready to go back to campus, set up an awesome room, see my friends...

Hey, I guess this is the end.

Hmmm.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog. It's been fun.

Hasta luego!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday last week. Mine was great.

I think I forgot to mention in that last post that it was Beth Lancaster's idea for me to drop a few lines during the summer. It wasn't like "Oh, I think everybody is so in love with me that they will want to hear all about my little summer escapades..." I'm still not entirely convinced that many people read this...considering I've gotten like 3 shoutbox comments since the blog started...(*nudge nudge* if you've read my blog, gimme a shout!)

Anyway,

The bad news is, the DIS paper is still unfinished. "How could this happen????" you probably want to know. Well, I'm not entirely cured of being a slacker, and I'm also chronically scatterbrained. The path my research has taken resembles an irreparably tangled Slinky. The good news is, I'm still working on it, and I don't plan to stop until it's finished. Dr Keefer and Dr Brown (Mrs.) have been so informative and encouraging. I feel way more prepared for grad school after this summer's education.

Hmm...I really should share some of this hard-come-by learning...

5 Tips for Procrastinating, Perfectionist, Attention-Deficit Researchers

1. Get the big picture first. it's not wasted time to read some really broad, overview/history books, especially if your research involves something you haven't had at least an introductory class about. I wasted much more time reading specifics that didn't make a lot of sense without context.

2. Sketch out your topic, thesis, and a preliminary outline ASAP. It's ok if it changes and you have to update it, but without the direction and support these things give, researching will be as shifty and evasive as an ameba. Backbones really are important!

3. If you can't do one thing, do something else. Probably my #1 time waster was unnecessary waiting. Like twiddling my thumbs waiting for ILLs, or giving up for the day because I couldn't focus on a book.  It took me so long to realize that all I was ever waiting on was me! And it was a big day when I realized I didn't have to let all my writing wait on all my research. I could have written at least a rough draft of my Amish arguments while it was all fresh in my mind, instead of letting that sit and molder whilst I dove into the State perspective.

4. You can't abuse Inter-Library Loan! If you think there's any chance at all a book or article might be useful, take a look at it as soon as possible. If you get it and it's not helpful you can just turn it right back in. Maybe my #2 time waster was being too selective in my ILL...weeks after reading what I got, I realized that some books I had crossed off initially were exactly what I should have started with.

5. KEEP A RESEARCH LOG. Write down every hour you spend and every thing you've read. Keep detailed notes of what you did during each session and what you should do next. Dr. Brown makes the best of slivers of time that I would have deemed unusable. She sets a timer at 15 minutes, even when she feels she's too (fill-in-the-blank) to get anything done. Often when it rings she's just getting fired up and good for another few hours. Other times she realizes it's diminishing returns and moves onto something else, but not after being able to mark that 15mins in her log, knowing that she did accomplish something.

Not that you can judge these methods by their product...yet.

On to other updates. This is the last week of camp. It's bittersweet, really. This last session was the best. I only had eight kids (as opposed to fourteen) and finally got together a discipline system that works. Now it's almost auto-pilot till Family Day...

Monday I'm leaving for Athens and the Christian training. It's going to be difficult to leave my research and plans behind for a week. But this training is so important. It's my introductory taste of the Full-Time Training, which is my #1 plan for after graduation. Think of it as kind of a cross between a monastery and seminary, only for lay people. (we don't believe in clergy) In case that made you curious, here's the FTT link.

As far as the Amish trips...I finally got to talk to the bishop of the New Order Amish church in NC...he wants me to visit his family! I'm going the week after I get back. After we've made "first contact," I'm going to come back for a Sunday service and fellowship meal afterward. I can't believe it's actually happening!

Pennsylvania is still on. I emailed Dr. Kraybill of Elizabethtown College - universally-recognized author and scholar of Amish culture - (I still can't believe I actually did that - he wrote my textbook!) to see what recommendations or help he might give. We'll see what he says.

Oh and I'm going to Austin to visit my sister and brother (and brother-in-law, niece, and niece's mother) on August 8th. Yay!

In all likelihood, you won't hear from me until all these adventures have come to pass.

I want to apologize for never writing that one more goodbye post before the summer. Exam week kind of...well, I am trying to learn not to make promises I can't keep.

What I was going to do in that message was tell you about my summer plans. So that's what I'll do now.

I am still working at my directed independent study. It was getting close to  the end of the semester and I hadn't really given Dr. Keefer much to grade so we agreed upon a topic for a final research paper. I told him I'd much rather take an incomplete and give him a really great research paper having spent some time on it than throw something together during crunch time. (I wouldn't be learning anything by that process - I've done it enough already) My big vision was to spend a solid week in the library, working on the paper from open to closing, and by the end of the week have something fantastic written for Dr. Keefer. Well I had my week, but the paper is still in the works.

I also decided to be a counselor at the Fine Arts Day Camp again this year. I was a kindergarten counselor last year and loved it. This year I moved up to first grade so I have a lot of the same kids. There are three 2-week sessions and I started on June 4th. It's rough, but I really love my kids and they love me.

The summer is prime traveling and research time, so I am reading up on the Amish for my BFA senior project. I'm also going to take a few trips. I have this amazing contact who is setting up a weekend visit with his Old Order Amish friends in Kalona, Iowa at some point this summer. I couldn't believe it! To actually be able to attend an Old Order service, listen to the singing, spend time in an Amish household...it's sobering really. It is such a private, protected world and they work so hard to keep it that way. I have to be so careful in my actions and words, as well as what I take away. He gave me the contact info of a New Order Amish friend in North Carolina, so I may be able to experience a little of New Order life as well.

My dad and I are also planning a week-long road trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is like the headquarters of Amish tourism. I've read so much about Lancaster, it will be awesome to experience some of the "attractions" for myself (with a very tongue-in-cheek attitude). What's even better is that Dean Barker lived in Lancaster for 20 years and so he has a total inside scoop. He has given me a list of places to see and is helping me plan bike trips through the countryside, since he believes the very best way to experience Amish Country is biking through the backcountry roads. It is going to be amazing: The fresh air, open farmland, sky above me and dirt under my wheels. I'll stop at the roadside fruit/vegetable/craft stands that the Lancaster County Amish make much of their living with, get some fresh produce, have a chat. The very thought of it is so exhilarating!

I am happy to announce that I will be the Editor-in-Chief of the 2007-08 issue of our literary journal, Concept. I love everybody on this year's staff and we are all very excited, though I've already had a few bumps in the road. You know my whole "criticism greatly appreciated" thing? Well, I finally got some. It was big. It was very, very painful, and much more public than I would have liked. I was shaken. But I deserved it, mostly. I've got a long way to go as an editor.

  Almost done writing that article for Root. It's on Spartanburg organizations that work with animals to provide therapy for humans. The process has been a lot of fun, I conducted interviews and observed a pet therapy session at a nursing home. It was like "wow, maybe I can be a writer!"

What else? Oh yes. After camp, in addition to the Lancaster trip, I am attending a week-long Christian college conference in Georgia and going to Austin, TX to visit my sister, brother-in-law, brother, brother's girlfriend, and baby niece. I don't think I've ever had a summer this full! It's that whole not-being-a-slacker thing. I can't seem to let myself off the hook, not even in the summer. (Grr.)

I'm not going to promise you anything, because I'm trying to break that habit, but I will probably want to fill you in more later.

Oh, wait! I just wanted to say, President Fleming is awsome. She sent this email to the whole Converse community about Converse's strategic planning and in particular something she calls the "core values statement." Remember my big ideas from the QEP post? It's like she read my mind (Or my blog lol). She gave a thorough history of a critical planning process at Converse, a timeline for its future, and (what I really love) the actual draft of her comittee's work so far. And she made it clear that all of our participation in this process is not only welcome but valued and needed. And this is all happening early enough in the process that our suggestions can actually be incorporated into their work. Wow! That's exactly what I was talking about!

Ooh, one more gold star sticker (day camp is getting to me) to Whitney Fisher. She is starting a big campus-wide recycling program! Way to go!

Ok I'm done now. Until next time!

 There was this one article about this local organization called Globalbike. It was envisioned by this Wofford professor who went to Africa and saw how people are dying left and right from HIV, because they don't have the medicine and nutrition to cope with the weakening of their immune system. And there are these volunteer "Home Based Care Workers" who travel to the homes of  HIV victims on foot, and bring them food and medicine. Every day they walk several miles just to care for these people who can't help themselves.

And the guy realized that these people could reach twice as many people a day, and have more time for their own families, if they just had bicycles. So back home in Spartanburg, he got together with some friends, including the owner of Bike Worx (a bike shop near Converse) and Monica Foster, who I work with at Launch, and figured out how to make it happen. They researched the design needs of the home care workers and designed a bike that would be practical and inexpensive. They found local manufacturers in Zambia and ended up being able to make and deliver the bikes for a total of $85. For some people, these bikes mean the difference between making it and having companionship versus dying a slow, lonely death. For others it is a way to do more in less time, and be able to spend more time with family. It was such a beautiful story. And it's really happening, in Spartanburg! I know some of these people!

If you want to learn more about Globalbike or sponsor all or part of a bike, here's the link.

That's only one of the amazing stories Root has to tell. I emailed the editor, Lucas Patterson, to express my appreciation and ask what I can do to help. He is so cool, one of those people who's always open to suggestions and always working to improve things. Now I've got an article planned for the next issue. It's coming up in June so keep your eyes peeled!

What else is new? So much has happened, it's hard to know what to tell you. Oh, I had my two Late Nights, they both went stellarly. I would post pictures, but guess what. Yep, camera cord disappeared again. But here's a pic my new friend Jon sent me of Swing Night:

The five of us held out after all the others headed home. We danced 'til the wee ours of the morning...

Jean and Jeremy really knew what they were doing, if you can't tell by the pic. Jeremy taught me how to swing dance a year or so ago, he's great. That's my best friend, Pam, mostly hidden, and that's Jon in the white shirt. I met him as he was walking through the streets of Spartanburg, taking random pictures. That's what I'm talking about, man!

Yeah. So exams are next week, and I actually had my last class today and didn't even realize it. Now I'm working on my final portfolio for Feature Writing, my final research paper for Amish Studies, and studying for Theory and Aural Skills finals. I will write once more next week to say goodbye.

I guess I'll leave you with a word from the editorial of Root.

"Find something that serves a greater good but doesn't seem like work. And when that happens, sit back and watch the changes that occur within yourself, in Spartanburg, and (if you're up to it) the whole world. Thanks for reading. Now go and do something nice."

Sometimes I just want to make a big sign that says "Constructive Criticism Greatly Appreciated" and wear it on my head. People are so afraid of offending people these days, and I guess they have good reason because there are a lot of people who are easily offended. But it's sad because they refrain from saying so much that could potentially be very helpful. Maybe it's my personality or maybe it's from so many writing workshops, but I'd rather somebody tell me what they don't like about me than hide it, any day of the week. I'm all about self improvement, but the faults and mistakes I catch myself are such a small percentage of the ones I actually have/make.

Last night I had an email interchange with a girl on the Student Activities Committee. I dish out criticism exactly as I'd like to receive it, actually probably more harshly. Maybe I'm overcompensating for everybody being so nice to me, maybe it's my way of telling them that I want them to be harder on my case. Either way, it's not very effective and sometimes hurts people's feelings. This girl replied to my email and told me that she felt offended and belittled by my condescending reprimand. I looked back over the email I sent her, and I realized I was being arrogant, inconsiderate, and selfish. Yipe! I apologized to her and am now watching myself to try and avoid being that way.

I was so grateful for her honesty. But I was sad because I thought, if it took something this blatantly awful to make her cry out in pain, how many people have I unwittingly hurt in a smaller way, and will never know about because it wasn't worth them telling me?

I'm feeling a similar concern, only on a different plane, as a member of the QEP revision committee.

The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is a self-improvement effort that every college that is a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) must make in order to be reaccredited. Its purpose is to identify an area of student learning that the college can improve upon, implement a plan to strengthen this area, and then evaluate its own success. Last year, Converse's QEP committee decided it would be "communication fluency,"  the ability to communicate effectively through writing, speaking, and the use of technology. You can read more about it here.

Well, I had been hearing a bit about the QEP all last year, and after helping increase student awareness of the General Education Program revision, I was extremely curious about the QEP. I really wanted to learn how such a planning process worked, and what the actual details of the plan were. I composed an email and almost sent it to the Dean of Arts and Sciences, but I was afraid I was A) poking my nose in where it wasn't wanted and B) annoying Dean Barker after just causing him so much grief over IDC. (Yes, the cat's out of the bag. That is the big change I was talking about fighting in the last post. I figured most of you probably already knew anyway.)

So I let it go, until I was invited to join the augmented QEP committee. I was actually excited. (I'm such a dork.)Finally I could get the info about the QEP I craved, and even be in a position to help out with it. They knew me well enough by now that if they just wanted a "token student," I was not the one.

So I read the stuff they sent us and went to the first QEP committee meeting. And suddenly I found myself having big ideas. Like really big. Like, I envisioned the whole campus community being tightly involved in the planning process. Not just the QEP planning process, but every big decision Converse makes. What if every person on campus, faculty, staff and students, were thoroughly informed and given the option of lending their mind to each quandary Converse faces as an institution? Realistically speaking, a lot of them probably wouldn't care. But some of them would, and among them, there would probably be some amazing ideas generated. The powers that be might even discover potential committee members who had passion, ideas, and useful skills.

Then, I thought, the committees made up of qualified persons could take those ideas, do some research and serious thinking, and shape them into a workable solution. They'd supply the blood, sweat and tears, but they'd have an excellent sendoff from the community as well as a treasure trove of possibilities.

I can't claim that this came out of nowhere. In the QEP meeting, Dean Kelly Harrison-Maguire made some comments that sparked me in this direction, and it was also upon reflection of my experience last year with the GEP, IDC, and a few other things.

But yeah, pretty revolutionary for a lowly undergraduate. I don't expect to be taken seriously, I'm not even sure I should be taken seriously considering how little I actually know. But I didn't see what the hurt could be in sharing, provided I was as respectful as possible. If my ideas were bad, they would be discarded. If they were good...well good things might come from them. So I took my big ideas to Dr. McDaniel. He actually listened. In fact, he assured me that he would hear any more ideas I had to offer. That was really good news because I'm always full of ideas.

But I have to be careful. There is so much hierarchy in academia, and I don't want to offend anyone, or step above my place. I don't really understand how the whole committee system works. I haven't let being assigned to a single subcommittee stop me from thinking about the QEP as a whole, and even aspects that may be the domain of another subcommittee. Maybe that's bad. Maybe I really am getting too big for my britches. But the QEP is such a tantalizing problem and my brain loves a good challenge. I also believe in the fundamental worth of ideas. If it's a good idea, it's good no matter who or where it came from, likewise with bad. So far, I've had some of both. Mainly I'm leaving it to the experts to judge which is which.

I just hope that Dr. McDaniel or somebody else will let me know if I'm stepping too close to the line. So far, I'm trusting I'm safe. And to me, it's worth the risk.

Last Wednesday I went to President Fleming's house for one of her "fireside chats." That's where a handful of Converse girls (selected at random I think) get to eat with the president and discuss an article she picks out for us, as well as any topics of concern. I thought the idea was awesome since I heard about it and was eagerly awaiting my invitation.

The article we read was called "the Greening of America's Campuses." It was about the new generation of environmental activists. The author called our generation the "Millennial" and praised us for our passion and organized, techno-savvy strategies for making positive changes in the global community. Even though I am involved with WISE (Women Involved in Saving the Environment - Converse's eco-consciousness club) I can't say that I'm in any way connected with the global movement the author of this article was talking about.

But what really resonated in me with this idea of Millennial activists- how this generation realizes, as never before, what a difference we can make, and how responsible we are now for the world we will soon be in charge of. His observations ring true with my own experience in becoming an activist.

Last fall, the college planned to make a change I truly believed would be detrimental to all future students. So I found myself spearheading a student movement to speak out against this change. It was so strange, I've felt for a lot of causes before and been disgusted at myself for not doing anything about it. But this was different. I felt like if I didn't lead the effort, nobody would. I believed so thoroughly that Converse was about to gravely injure herself and I felt so strongly compelled that I could not just sit around and let it happen. 

I didn't know what I was doing - we were just figuring it out as we went along. But we had a calm desperation that fueled our actions - knowing we must be articulate, persuasive, respectful and thorough or there was no chance. We felt like the last hope. 

It seems the students' voices were really heard. The change, for all the outspoken supporters and predictions that it was as good as done, was averted by a landslide vote of the Converse faculty.

Sorry if I'm not making sense. But what I'm really trying to say (I think) is that over the course of this year, I've realized that I am capable of so much more than I thought possible, and furthermore, I will always have a responsibility to improve my community.

Which particular institution one is trying to protect, or program one is trying to initiate, (in other words, where does one focus one's efforts?) is a constant dilemma, as there are so many worthy causes in the world. I am developing criteria to determine this: One is, Who needs me the most? In other words, if there is some worthy cause that has no champion? Naturally I am more drawn to this cause. Another is, Where can I make the most difference? As I learn my strengths, I examine the needs that exist. Is there a place where I, with my unique gifts, can be more useful than I would somewhere else, or more than perhaps another would be in that same position?

Maybe I sound crazy. Maybe I have a major hero complex. But I am inspired by the realization that I wield power to change the world for the better, and I am seeing signs of this same realization in the young women all around me. It's exhilarating.

Before you keep reading, go look at the 30 something photos I just posted.

Bryant and I finally went out and played guitars at the Dennys park downtown for a few hours. We got some funny looks. The revolution has begun.

Last Tuesday, Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia, came to speak at Converse. It was awesome. I really like his attitude and the philosophy behind Wikipedia. "If somebody's made a mistake, don't just complain about it, fix it!" Connections just did a pretty good article about Wikipedia, it covers a lot of what Jimmy discussed: article

Jimmy mentioned a recent study done by Nature Magazine that was pretty cool. They got expert physics scientists to compare articles in their field of knowledge from Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica. It turns out, Encyclopedia Britannica had, on average, 3 errors per article and Wikipedia had 4. That's proof that Wikipedia, edited by "the people" is nearly as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica which is edited by "experts."

Friday night I went to Relay For Life which was hosted by Spartanburg Methodist College this year. I felt pretty stupid being there since I hadn't helped raise any money and I didn't have any money to donate, but it was fun. A bunch of local bands played including the Bards of Eireann. It was weird being on such a big stage with all those mics, but it was so late at night we were too tired to be nervous, and everyone else was too tired to pay much attention. My teammates and I took turns walking along a path that was lit by luminarias donated in honor of cancer victims & survivors. I met a nice girl who told me about SMC as we walked. My friend Peter and I re-lit the luminarias. That made us feel useful.

It's not too late to support the fight against cancer, here's my site: link

I am reading a book called "the Amish in the American Imagination" in my DIS. It's weird because it is a study of the non-Amish people who portray the Amish to the world, which is exactly what I'm about to do with my senior BFA project. So it's like reading a study of  me.

Hey, I've got super exciting news! My brother's baby was born over spring break!! I'm an AUNT!!!

Say hello to Shakti Mikayla Anthony:

Enjoy!

AWP Conference:

Random:

Pearson's Falls trip with family:

Bards of Eireann:

Montgomery:

Carmicheal:

Menage and Seth Walker concert @ the Showroom:

Campus:

Today I went to a CollegeTown panel at the Hub-Bub Showroom.

Let me introduce you to these two important Spartanburg organizations:

Hub-Bub (link), in their own words,

"is a fly-by-the-seat-of-its-pants arts initiative, born in unsuspecting Spartanburg, South Carolina, that seeks to support and applaud the creative folks here and everywhere the artists, musicians, actors, activists, dancers, performers and all the rest in between who may just think outside the box."

I had heard about Hub-Bub and what they were trying to do my freshman year, but it wasn't till last fall when I and a few students were invited to do a poetry reading that I actually went to the Showroom. It's a lovely little art-filled all-purpose venue which hosts independent films, art shows, indie musicians, literary events, community focus groups, etc.

Hub-bub also supports artists-in-residence and the Hub City Writers project. Tomorrow night they are hosting the band Menage, which I definitely want to go see.

CollegeTown (link) is the organization that seeks to support and connect all the colleges in Spartanburg (we have six) and work with the city to develop a more college-friendly environment. In other words, their goal is to make Spartanburg the place where all the college kids wanna be.

The only thing I knew about CollegeTown was CSI: Spartanburg (CollegeTown Service Initiative). It's this big community service event where college kids from all the schools get together, eat free doughnuts, go out in groups and serve the community at soup kitchens, historical cemeteries, Salvation Army, animal shelters, nursing homes, etc, and then get back together and eat Zaxby's lunch and go home with a free T-shirt. I went my freshman and sophomore years and had a blast.

Well anyway, CollegeTown was having this, well basically a brainstorm session. Faculty, staff, and students from all the colleges were there, as well as City of Spartanburg people. We were all assigned to a table where all the group mingled together. At my table there was one student from Wofford and a Converse student (me) a Converse art teacher, a professor from Sherman, a USC Upstate staff member, the Spartanburg Methodist dean of students, the Wofford president, and the Spartanburg City Manager.

After a brief introduction from President Fleming (who is this year's CollegeTown chairperson) we started on a list of discussion questions about CollegeTown. The question my table spent the most time on was what can we do to make downtown Spartanburg a more vibrant fun place for college students to want to spend their time there. We had a lot of great ideas and since the City Manager was there, he could actually take them back with him and make things happen. That's a really awesome feeling.

Then we had a spokesperson from each table (who had been facilitating the discussion and taking notes the whole time) go to the mic and share the ideas we'd generated. I was so inspired, not only by things I can do personally, but by the kinds of positive movements these big organizations can make and how I can make a difference through my input, and through communicating and linking between them and my fellow students.

It was amazing and it got me thinking a lot about Spartanburg. Now I'm about to be very frank and maybe rant a little but hear me out. Spartanburg has long suffered a bad reputation among young people. High school and college kids are always complaining about how there's nothing to do in Sp'brg and how they have to go to G'ville for fun. Well maybe that was the case a few years ago, but Spartanburg is changing every day. We have two coffee shops, one of which with live music all the time, a bunch of bars/clubs, a hardcore rock venue, city festivals like the International Fair (a real must if you're around Spartanburg in the fall), a vibrant arts community - visual arts, theater, dance, music - and beautiful downtown green spaces to boot.

No, we're not Ashville or Berkeley. Not yet. But these complainers have such a negative attitude that they are staining the perception of the rest of us and squashing our creativity. Instead of embracing the efforts of these noble-minded organizations like Hub-Bub, they are ignoring or even laughing at them. That's not the way to make things better.

So much of what makes a place "happening" is the attitude of the people in it. I've always believed that boredom is the malady of boring people. So here's what I think is what Spartanburg really needs to be a true college town: Creative, cool people who spread happiness instead of hate, and who are crazy enough to make good things happen. An attitude adjustment to all those haters. More college people actually reading the 'Scene' section of the newspaper and going to these art, music, theatre, and film things that are always going on. People walking the streets of downtown, dipping their toes in the fountains, spreading their picnic blankets in Barnet park, chilling in that gorgeous little public lawn/garden next to the Denny's building.

And especially, music in the streets. This is something I've been thinking about for several years now. I used to live in San Francisco, and I'll tell ya, there was a musician on every street corner. Some of them were world-class, some pretty much sucked. But just the fact they were there gave color and joy to the experience of the people walking around. In the subway station, there was this quartet made up of students of a nearby music conservatory and they held practices there. In the subway station! It was awesome.

I think about the people in the Petrie school of music. Some of them practice like 5 hours a day. Surely at least one of those hours in a week could be relocated on a sunny day to Morgan Square, or one of Spartanburg's many little garden nooks. Why not? Share the music!

I've mentioned the idea to the Bards, hopefully we'll get out there one day before the semester ends. My friend Bryant and I keep talking about it. Maybe we'll do it next week during Spring Break. I really gotta spread this idea around. Maybe some flyers.

Hmm it looks like I've joined the Spartanburg Revolution.

Ok I oughta give an update on the Talent Show. It was great, there was a huge turnout and some great acts including a traditional Sri Lankan Ballet performed by my favorite Sri Lankan, Eranga. The Bards had so much fun playing for those folks, and they received us really warmly too. We ended up winning Second Place, which was terrific because we were really only doing it as an excuse to play for a bunch of people. In Third Place was the amazing Shameeka with an original composition which she sang and accompanied herself on the piano. And in First was the fabulous Christine (Wells) for her drop-dead awesome rendition of Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)."

The Poetry reading on Tuesday went well too. Ishita gives free coffee to the readers. I had a frozen Connie Cappuccino (Milk & White Chocolate + Hazelnut) which was divine. Everyone read really well and my poetry seemed well-received. In fact my latest piece, the one I accused of being crappy in my last post, was a favorite. They liked it in workshop too. I guess what it lacks in page presence it makes up for when read aloud. Well decide for yourself:

Hannah

Have you ever been involved in so many important things, that you give none of them the attention they require, because you're so preoccupied with everything else? That's exactly what's happening to me. I knew, theoretically, that with this semester's course load plus SAC, the band, and other obligations, something would have to give. I had hoped it would mean cutting down on all that time wasted goofing off, and getting more efficient in my studies.

Well maybe that's happening a little bit, but to my surprise, the main sacrifices being made are sleep and quality of work. It's killing me. I hate turning in shoddy work. My friend Tiffany and I were talking about this the other day. We were both homeschooled, and I think with a lot of homeschoolers there's this degree of perfectionism. We do something and keep doing it until it's done, and done right. But you just have so many more hours in the day when you are homeschooled. This semester I'm learning a lot about give and take.

So, this weekend, I saw the Spartanburg Repertory Company's production of Brigadoon, after eating at the Beacon with Liz, Dempsey, and Anna. The show was delightful. The music, the harmonies - gorgeous. It just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Spartanburg really has some talent. Certainly not the least of which is Anna, my roomie-to-be, who stole the show as Meg the Milkmaid. I never knew she had it in her - she played a Scottish gypsy floozy with such finesse...

I just finished cranking out the latest of a series of really bad poems for Poetry Tutorial. That's one of the things that's killing me this semester. I love poetry and I hate bad poetry and that's what this class is turning out to be for me...and I've got to go to Cafe Ishi Tuesday and air out this terrible poetry to a room full of victims...

Late Night Friday went really well. We had some major/minor fiascoes, but all in all I think it was a smashing success. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Mark and his friends before and after he played. He gave me and Jenny his CD, wasn't that sweet?

The Bards are playing at the Talent Show Wednesday. We don't have any time to practice this week except very late at night. Oh precious sleep, how I miss you!

I think the camera cord has gotten lost somewhere in the wreckage that used to be my bedroom. Hopefully I'll find it during Spring Break Cleaning. Then I'll have time to post all those pix anyway.

5 more days to Spring Break...I don't believe I've ever needed a break more in all my life...

 Hello!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, my week was all filled up with life.

My sister and brother-in-law came.  Esther is a 4th grade bilingual teacher, she and Brandan live in Austin TX. It was so awesome, although a little hard since I wasn't on Spring Break. But that was kind of cool because Esther got to meet my friends and hear me sing at Seminar and we even went to Wild Wednesday to hear Joe McCready. I got to know my brother-in-law, which was nice because I'd only met him like twice before.

It's so weird, I am finally getting to know my sister. Like really. Because I am 11 years younger than her, we've never really been on the same page, developmentally. I was 9 and developing my favorite hobbies was while she was in college developing her core beliefs.

Finally, as I enter into adulthood and am becoming a distinct entity, she's getting to meet Lydia, not the little sister who is still under the parents' umbrella, but the person. Likewise with her. Because I'm finally old enough to know what people are like, what makes them different, what makes them tick, I'm getting a sense of who Esther is.

I think the point at which my family life and school life most intersected is when the Bards came over for a dress rehearsal/private concert/dinner. It was weird because Brandan is in a band himself and both of them have pretty cultured (in the ethno/pop/jazz sense) musical tastes. They seemed genuinely pleased/impressed with us though and that was really worth something to me.

The Bards played this weekend after Esther and Brandan left. It went as well as could be hoped considering half the music we played was brand new to me at our dress rehearsal that Thursday. My advice to anyone who performs: Don't ever do that. Just don't.

The experience was actually good for us, I think, because it forced us to be disciplined and learn the music ridiculously quickly. Considering the circumstances, I think we managed two really commendable performances.

We also had a really solid band meeting Saturday. I learned so much from this weekend. I would tell you all but I think I'm just going to have to write a book about it. 'Memoirs of an Amateur Irish Band' Ok the title definitely needs help. we'll work on that.

Saturday night after the Crossroads gig we had a St. Patty's Day Party at Triona and Sarah's room, with favors courtesy of Triona's mom :-) Sarah's boyfriend Charlie was there, and our best groupie Kara and her boyfriend Chris (our unofficial graphic designer) and Lawrence. We ended up watching a bunch of Monty Python Flying Circus skits and had a blast. (If only America had our own Ministry of Silly Walks...)

At the end of this coming week is my Late Night with Mark Wagner. I've really learned a lot from being on SAC, and preparing for this Late Night in particular. I feel really good about being on SAC again next year.

So yeah, the Mark Wagner Late Night. You are all invited. It's going to be this Friday (the 23rd) at 8:30 pm in Sneakers/Loafers (which is in Montgomery Student Center). We are going to have some really great free appetizers and fruity drinks. Jenn and I are pretty psyched. Seriously, it's completely free music & food. You should definitely come.

I'm sorry I still don't have pictures for you but I misplaced my camera cable.  I'm just going to have to pack like 20 pictures into my next blog post to make up for it.

See ya!

Greetings from the other side!
The other side of my weekend adventure, that is. Ha, I really was losing my mind during that last post; I wrote it last Tuesday and forgot to publish it till after I got back! sorry.

First, a correction: The Bards' gig has changed. We are now playing Friday night (the 16) at Cafe Ishi at 8:30. But we got another gig for St. Patty's day, we're playing at Crossroads Coffee which is downtown across the side street from Wild Wing. (8:00) Ha, this is the one time of the year people are actually seeking us out to play.

The AWP conference was great. Wednesday, after driving down there and signing in, we had a nice Mexican dinner at "Tia Ninfa's." They make guacamole with cucumbers, it was tasty. Then we ran into Dr. Mulkey walking down the street. It was so nice because we hadn't seen him in a year. He used to be head of the creative writing program but he went to Wichita State to head up their MFA program. We missed him a lot. But the good news is (and this is what I was hinting at the other day) he's coming back!! That means Dr. Tekulve will be staying at Converse too (they're married) and our department will be in great shape for my Senior year!

Back to the conference. On Thursday I went to a panel on historical poetry, followed by one on historical fiction. They gave me great ideas for my Senior Seminar project. Went out to eat with Anna and then we stopped by the book fair. I have to explain this book fair to you. It was masssive. It was held in the bottom floor of the Hilton (where the conference was at) and there were about 300 booths. Imagine a huge underground space with wall-to wall booths of colleges, publishers, MFA programs and journals. It was dizzying just being there. Especially since everyone wanted you to come to their booth. They were giving out candy and flyers and even free back issues. I think I brought home a couple pounds of literary journals.

That night Ashley and I went to the "dance party," but I wasn't too impressed so I wandered around in the lobby and found a promising group of people sitting on the floor. Turned out they were grad students from Warren Wilson. Warren Wilson has kind of a reputation as a hippy college. They were certainly interesting people. I think I might get my MFA there one day.

Friday saw more awesome panels (there was one on fairy tales in contemporary fiction. I met an Amish writer there, how cool is that?) and more book fair madness.  That night Anna and Ashley and I went "reception hopping" because all these different schools and publishing companies were giving free receptions. One was hosted by Emory University in honor of their Teaching Fellowship candidates. I met one of the candidates, Kevin, he was from California. He was pretty cool and we ended up hanging out for the rest of the night.

I got back around 10 because I had to get up early in the morning to hop on the train to meet my ride to Athens. Sadly, this meant I had to miss the Converse faculty's panel on Appalachian writers, which was a little later on Saturday. In the morning, after a few adventures and minor mishaps on the way to the station, I got to Doraville where a really sweet older lady picked me up. On the way we ate breakfast with some saints at the Church in Atlanta meeting hall. I slept most of the drive.

In Athens (at Fort Yargo) I had some more adventures with luggage, cabins, and bed linens (when I was packing I forgot that campsites don't provide bedding & towels like hotels do...) but really had a lovely time. I got to spend time with good friends and enjoy the presence of the Lord. My friend Lauren even brought her banjo and I learned how to play it! (sort of)

It was kind of weird coming from the writer's conference to the church conference. At AWP I was so in my human element, strutting around confidently, feeling like a "social butterfly." But then the Lord really humbled me at the conference. He asked why, if I am such a strong-willed person, do I tell Him all the time that I just don't have the strength to come to Him in the morning?  If I can make a way to travel to Europe for a month, why can't I use just a little bit of that will power to open to Him, to His Word, and let Him do the hard work in me? I didn't have an answer to that.

It might not be apparent in this blog that I am a "devoted" Christian. That's because it reflects the superficial level on which I live, sadly, most of the time. None of these favorite things, the things I talk about, really matter, and I know that. They are part of me, but not the truest me. The true Lydia is the one in commune with God, the spirit which is like a unique and precious jewel that He created to be a part of His beautiful New Jerusalem. I just hope that He's not the only one who ever sees that me.

My friend Anna really ministered to me with a verse on the way back from the conference. The second half of 1 Corinthians 12:3 says "no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." That is such a sweet and beautiful thing, because it means, whenever I say those three words, I am one with the Spirit of God. Whenever I want the Lord to work in me but can barely lift my heart to look at Him, all I have to say is "Jesus is Lord," and He is right there, strengthening and supplying me.

Thank God for Anna, and for His Holy Spirit.

When I got back Sunday afternoon, I was pretty much completely spent. Too tired to do homework just yet, I got caught up to the current episode of Heroes and then got cracking on Music Theory. I've been struggling this whole week trying to make up the homework that I missed. I've also been pretty loopy. Like today when I saw a squirrel and started after it to pet it, thinking it was one of the campus cats.

But it was totally worth it. The AWP conference introduced me to the "real world" of writers, and I have a better sense, now, of what it's like to be a writer in this generation. I am so glad I had the opportunity to go (and that SGA paid for my hotel!) No lie, this is something really special about Converse, because there really weren't very many undergrads there, and everyone I talked to was amazed at how supportive my school was. I really want to go again next year, but it's in New York. Hey SGA, how's about coughing up a thousand dollars for plane tickets?

Whoo.

Where to start?

Tomorrow I leave for the AWP writer's conference in Atlanta. Though I truly am excited about it, it's been such a hectic process just making it happen. I needed a ride and a roommate forever, then I found one, then we couldn't book a hotel because neither of us is 21, then I lost her entirely, then Anna Harris told me there was a vacancy in their caravan/hotel. What a roller coaster. It's actually working out for the best because now I don't have to pay for the hotel or the entrance fee, since they petitioned funds from SGA.

So Anna and Ashley Thomas and I are setting out tomorrow afternoon. Then on Saturday morning I am catching a ride to Athens for a Christian conference. I'm really excited about that because I will get to see some friends I haven't seen in about a year. Hmm something about going to Europe. I don't think I would have had the confidence to work out something like this before.

I will take lots of pictures of my two conferences for you!

The day after I get back, I will be performing in a Chorale concert, and that's also Vagina Monologues week. I'm pretty psyched about the Vagina Monologues, though I haven't seen them yet. There is so much silence about things women really need to be communicating about, things nobody even realizes they're completely ignorant about. I think this is a really positive step for Converse as well as our community.    info

The week after that, my sister and brother-in-law are visiting, and that Saturday, (March 17th, St. Patty's day) the Bards will be playing at Cafe Ishi! Yay! If you are in the area, come see us! We'll be playing at 8:00, at Cafe Ishi which is on Main St. in downtown Spartanburg. (yes, I know, shameless plug.)

The action never ends! Sheesh!

Well I really need to get packed for tomorrow, but I'll give you some pix before I go.

I got to spend a lot of quality puppy time with this little guy, because he ended up coming with Monica to work every day. Here he is on the last day I saw him. *Sniffs* He's found a good home though (and raised a whopping $800 for diabetes).

This is my Feature Writing teacher, Dr. Tekulve, after class today. She always looks so nice. Makes me want to be a professor just so I can be known as a stylish professor.

"Ooh, look at the pretty flowers!" I love you Sadie.

I think this is my favorite tree on campus.

Tata for now!

Mmm. What a good day.

I had a lot of fun in Aural Skills this morning. That's right, fun. I know I complain about him a lot, but the truth is, as hard as Dr. Couch is, he's a brilliant Aural Skills teacher. He is passionate about every facet of music and that's very catchy. Now if I could just get that practice time in so I won't fail his class...

I had my directed independent study today. It was our first real class meeting. Dr. Keefer and I sat in his office eating peanut butter crackers and discussing this book on the history of the Amish. My directed independent study is basically an introduction to the Amish, from historical, religious, sociological, political, and cultural perspectives. Why? Because we can. I've always wanted to learn about the Amish, and this DIS is giving me honors credit as well as letting me explore a subject that really fascinates me. Where else but Converse?

Dr. Keefer also let slip a little piece of majorly good news. Suffice to say, it's really exciting for everyone in the Creative Writing department.

The weather was lovely. I didn't need a jacket and the sun was shining and there was this breeze ruffling the bright green grass of the garden behind Gee. I ran into some friends I don't see very often and we had all just checked our mail and gotten Mortar Board invitations, and then we all walked to the dining hall and decided to eat lunch in the garden behind Gee. It was picture perfect, and I didn't have my camera. So I did the next best thing: camera phone. This photo probably cost me like three bucks, so eat it up.

Sadly, Jennifer's only half here. That's Tiffany in the blue shirt, then Christine, and Adela. Stephanie was taking the shot. Yipe, I just dyed my hair and I look like Ariel.

Feature writing was good, too. We were workshopping personality profiles and they went exactly the way a workshop ought to go: we talked about the good and the bad, helped the authors make their pieces better, and learned a ton of useful stuff.

One of the articles was on Paula Just and the feature magazine she just put together, Correlations. I was amazed by the amount of work she had to do for that. She started from complete scratch. That article gave me a lot more respect for the magazine, and for Paula. I am actually excited, now, to be able to write for it and the Conversationalist (student newspaper). In my first post I said something about "pesky random commitments like writing for campus publications." I want to clear this up. It's not that I have a problem writing for campus publications, in fact if I have a good story it's a lot of fun. It's just that when I get really busy, it becomes another item on the overwhelming pile of things I have to get done and then its a burden. But I've been trying to give the three C's (Correlations, Conversationalist, and Concept [literary journal]) a little more significance in my life. Those girls work hard to put it together and they deserve good writing. (plus, writing is my major! duh!)

There was one event in my day that wasn't so happy. I was walking to Montgomery and I saw a sparrow crash into the window. I ran over to see it fall on the ground and it  landed on its back, twitching horribly. It opened its mouth in a few pitiful, spasmic silent cries and then was still. I was kneeling about a foot away and kind of talking to it as it died. it was unspeakably sad.

SAC was back to being good. I just got roped onto an upcoming Wild Wednesday involving "Splatter beat"  (think "Miss Congeniality" the movie). It is so cool being in charge of events. Makes me feel so responsible and adult. ;-)

I am really excited about my upcoming late nights. In March we're having this singer/songwriter dude, Mark Wagner, come to Sneakers/Loafers. And then in April I'm at long last bringing Swing to campus with a huge swing lesson/party/dance. (this makes me unspeakably happy) As the grand finale in May, we are throwing a reconstructed tee party. People will bring their own tee shirts and decorate, slash and tie, sew, glue, and otherwise destroy perfectly good T Shirts to make them perfectly spectacular. You're all invited.

I'm running for SAC again next year. I hope I'm appointed Late Night chair again because it is really my cup of tee. (ok that was a horrible pun.)

After that and a tasty fried-chicken-with-pico-de-gallo dinner in Gee (my ethics having been sorely tested by the absence of workers at the cash register), I had band practice. Yes, my little Irish band, the Bards of Eireann. It is so much work but so fun. (my life in a nutshell) What's awesome is that music theory and aural skills are beginning to pay off because we have to come up with the chords given only a melody. I will have to tell you more about the Bards at some point. There is so much more to being in a band than you hear about at movies and on those MTV specials. I have learned so much that I'd been trying to discover on my own for years. There is no kind of teamwork like the teamwork you must have to survive as a band.

Practice went late into the night. We're moving past just playing notes, at long last. We were working on expression, which was mixed with a lot of goofing off: playing the polkas as if we were pirates that just kept getting drunker. We even tried being a heavy metal band for a reel. You should have seen the look on Sarah's face when Triona started beating her head with the drum. O.o

Now I must decide if I'm going to spend the next three or four hours working on a ridiculously large music theory assignment, or sleeping. Dr Berry did say he would drop the two lowest grades...

Ahh, Saturday. [please excuse my delay in posting.] I just finished a tortilla made fresh by my dad with honey-coconut butter spread. Mmm.

So I was going to tell you a little about my internship. It's at Launch, LLC which is this sweet little public relations firm in downtown Spartanburg. The company is composed of 6 young, hip and very professional people, and its office is this awesome renovated turn-of-the-century house. I love pretty much everything about it.

They are a project-based public relations firm which means basically any business/organization can come to them with any need, from brand new local businesses needing a logo/identity to huge national organizations like the Boys and Girls club needing a major fundraising event. Their projects and clients are extremely diverse, which is great for me because I get to see a little of it all.

In fact, when they asked me what kind of work I was interested in, I was like, "Pretty much all of it" and they were like "Great!" And, because they are so small, I can get to know each of them and what they do, and everybody knows what's going on in pretty much every aspect of the company, so they can answer all the questions I throw at them.

A lot of majors have internships as required coursework. My major has an internship as part of a set of major electives I must choose from. I knew the practical experience of an internship was something I really needed. The reason I looked at Launch is because their copywriter, Meredith, graduated from Converse about two years ago, and she came to speak at our Professional Writing class in the fall. Meredith is now my internship coordinator and she is so sweet and helpful. They all are.

Here are some pix:

This is Mark. He's the creative director/graphic designer. I'm getting to know him pretty well because I'm sharing the Green Room with him. Most of the time he's working on Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop creating a logo, advertisement, or document template for a client. This involves a lot of pointing and clicking and a lot of testing out different colors, effects, fonts, and proportions. He also makes a lot of calls to printers. Launch works with a couple of different printing companies for different kinds of projects. On Tuesday I sat in on his meeting with a representative of a new printing company, and one of their strong points seemed to be bound books. He might consider them for certain projects.

Here I am at my desk. It's a very sweet space, it used to be the old graphic designer's desk so it has this massively powerful Macintosh with a huge high-res screen. The Mac has Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator on it so I can have some firsthand experience with them, plus just getting used to using Macs.

Here is Meredith, my coordinator/manager and the copy writer. (It's lunch time) She shares the purple room with Allison and she writes the copy (words) that goes into all of Launch's projects. Sometimes she takes raw copy from the client companies, usually factual information or personal narratives, and edits it into something concise and appealing to the reader. It often requires a lot of research, and sometimes she conducts interviews to collect the info. She was the first person to graduate with my major at Converse. What she does is one of the things I'm being trained to do.

Monica is the event planner at Launch. One of the company's services is events, which is, I think, a departure from traditional public relations services, but which gets Launch a lot of business. Most of the work I've done so far has been for her. I've been helping her with this huge fundraising event for the Boys and Girls club, called the Back-to-School Fest-O-Ramathon. Here she's getting ready for the Sugar Ball, which is a benefit gala for the American Diabetes Association. It's a grand black tie affair with dancing, music, bar, and auction...

This adorable Yellow Lab puppy is the grand prize to be auctioned off at the Sugar Ball.  He is 7 weeks old, is AKC certified, and does not yet have a name. He spent the day with us in Monica's office Wednesday. I got to walk him. He was so nervous, it was just precious. Monica said that he must never have seen grass before, because when she took him out of the van and set him on the grass, he  lifted his paws way up high and took giant steps like he was wading. How cute!

Here's Allison meeting the puppy. Allison is the project manager. She interacts a lot with the clients and gets needed info and input for Meredith, Mark and Monica. She also does estimations to give the clients price quotes, as well as helping keep everybody on a timeline so we can meet the clients' deadlines. I haven't gotten to work as much with her yet, but I sat in on a meeting with her and Thomas, the new art director, and it was really interesting because they were discussing this one project, a big picture book for an upscale real estate company, and the kind of labor hours that would have to go into it, and the supply costs, as well as the time frame Launch needed to work in. Fascinating.

Sorry, I don't have pictures of Thomas and Sims yet. I haven't gotten to talk with Thomas a whole lot, so my idea of what he does is kind of fuzzy, but I think it has something to do with coming up with the big concepts/themes behind all the artwork for the client's project, and getting feedback from the client about it, as well as overseeing Mark and any professionals who work on the projects, like photographers.

Sims is our supervisor. She founded the company. I haven't gotten to talk with her a lot yet either, but I know she does a ton of client/potential client relations. She's kind of the face of the company in that she's the one who goes to propose new projects and pitch strategies to the clients. She's also mostly responsible for coming up with the strategies - she will talk with the clients, assess their needs, and come back with a plan of action.

Wednesday was awesome. I basically just followed people around and listened to their meetings, and then we went out to Nu Way for lunch. (now that's an experience!) Plus I spent a little quality puppy time. It's not always that fun though, one day I spent the day calling all these CEOs and managers of companies trying to get appointments for Sims to come speak with them about a fundraising project. Terrifying. But it was good for me because I need to develop phone skills. Meredith and I are working out the balance between tasks and observation time, because they're both an important part of learning. And I want to be productive so I can give back to the company who is giving so much to me.

Now, for a complete change of pace. I wanted to tell you a little about Senate Thursday. I usually don't go to Senate, but I'm running for SAC senior rep and in order to run for any sort of elected office at Converse one must attend at least two SGA meetings that semester. Which is a good idea, I think. Anyway, I went to Senate and Jolene, our new Dining Hall manager, was there to speak with us. What she had to say came as a huge surprise and unearthed a lot of misconceptions I had about the dining hall. I've been confronted by my unethical behavior and it's made me realize I'm going to have to change.

I'm about to tell you the dirty truth about me and the dining hall so it's gonna get pretty ugly. Just a warning.

The dining hall operates on either a meal plan or pay-as-you-go basis. I am a commuter and so I deposit money into my account, and each time I swipe my card to eat, my account is charged $5. Resident students have a meal plan, which means that a certain number of meals a week is included in their tuition, plus some "flex dollars" to spend on treats at Sneakers.

Now I consider myself a pretty conscientious person. Sometimes I run out of money and am stopped at the door of the dining hall. The people there are pretty friendly and they usually tell me to go ahead and eat and pay double next time, or get the money in as soon as possible. Even though technically they're not supposed to do this, they know me and know that I will pay them back. And I always do.

Sometimes, however, I abuse their kindness. At the very end of a meal hour, the employees have a lot going on. they're trying to clean up, and they aren't always manning the cash register. The understanding is, when nobody is around, you swipe your card yourself. At first I didn't know how, and so I used that as an excuse not to. Then I learned how, and though I do it most of the time, sometimes I just don't. And sometimes I'll run in at like 5 minutes after "closing" and not be able to find my card, and the person there will be like "go ahead, we're just gonna have to throw a lot of it away anyway."

I guess, freshman year, just a couple of time, that was ok. But just last month, I actually told Lawrence "Well hey, if I can get in close enough to closing time, they'll let me in for free," like it was some kind of strategy I was sharing. As I looked straight into his blue eyes I suddenly had a fuzzy feeling that maybe there was something wrong with that.

Sometimes I will be out of money and my friends will bring out a double meal from the dining hall to share. We justify it saying, "I never eat all 21 of my meals anyway, so I'm just giving you one of my meals." I told my friend one day that I felt like a scraggly stray cat. Ethics aren't part of the picture for stray cats, they just do whatever it takes to get a meal. But the truth is, I'm not an animal, I'm a human being. I'm not so desperate that I can exempt myself from moral responsibility, even in the little things.

Here's what I learned from Jolene at Senate that made me realize I was doing something wrong. She started out with a number. It was just a little under $50,000. She said, "This is the approximate amount of money we lose every year in food that walks out of the dining hall." That is, the drinks people take out in their little Styrofoam cups, the ice cream, the apples, the Tupperwares full of salsa, the half loaves of bread. Most of us agree that there is such a thing as excess. Girls were telling stories of people they saw sneaking in gallon jugs and filling them with orange juice, or stuffing the entire fruit stand into their purses. But I don't think most of us think twice about grabbing an apple on our way out, or filling up a Styrofoam cup of ice cream to eat as we walk to class. "We're paying for it," we say.

But the truth, as I learned from Jolene, is that we're not paying for it. Our meal plans do not include a take-out allowance. They only strictly cover the food we eat while sitting in Gee, or what we buy from Sneakers. "But what if we would eat that amount of food in Gee anyway, we just don't have time?" That is a common problem among students. Sometimes one has 10 minutes or less to grab a bite before running to class, so they pack up styrofoam cups of fruit and PB&Js. This is the problem Sneakers was designed to solve. Unfortunately, it is not very effective right now. Lunchtime lines often make Sneaker slower than the dining hall, and their choices are also much more limited. Jolene sees this and she's trying to get with students to figure out how to fix it.

The current policy is that it is simply not allowed to take any food out of the dining hall. Of course this is not currently being enforced. That is partly because they are sympathetic to the plight of those students who wouldn't be able to eat at all unless they can go to the dining hall and take their food with them. However, allowing this also allows students to get more than just that meal on the go. We go back after we eat and we take another drink, cereal, ice cream, sandwich making stuff, Tupperwares full of pasta. Even though we feel we have the right to this, it is in fact, food we have not paid for.

Resident students have more of an excuse than I do, that's true. "I have a 21 meals a week plan," one says. "I never eat all of those meals in the dining hall. The meals I take out are paid for by that extra I never spend." This is going to come as a big shock: The dining hall calculates in a "missed meal factor." That means that they know the average college student only uses about 17 out of their 21 weekly meals. Because they know this, they can lower the price. They are counting on students missing meals, and not counting on students taking meals out. If they can't count on this, the Dining hall will have to raise our prices to cover all that extra food, or they will continue to lose money and have to start cutting back on stuff to make ends meet.

If this is not a satisfactory arrangement, we (Converse: students, admins, dining hall) will have to come up with a new plan together. Jolene is ready and willing. But until that happens - until we make it happen - we students have to realize it is wrong to take food out of the dining hall. It's just not part of our agreement.

Meeting Jolene in person and hearing her plight made me stop and really think about my dining hall ethics, and I realized that they are just not up to snuff. Armed with my new knowledge and conviction, I'm gonna have to change my habits. No big cups of ice cream on my way to class, no trying to sneak in for free. And no shared meals.

Ouch. Sometimes it hurts to be righteous.

Hello again. A few by-the-ways:

Click on the picture thumbnails to see the big pix. Just in case you didn't know.

If you were wondering, the January term trip I mentioned in the last post was a Converse Study/Travel trip, we have a handful of options every January of trips abroad we can take. My group went with Drs Hughes, Maynard, and Delapp to several cities in Greece and Italy, and were gone for 18 days. if you want me to tell you more about it, I can. Just send me a line using the form over there to the left. In fact, if I ever mention something you're curious about, ask me to write more about it and I will. I tend to be a little bit scatterbrained and I probably won't notice if I haven't covered something very well.

Anyway, on to the promised photo:

The King's Singers! Mine was the only group pic they allowed to be taken that night. Woot!

Here's some pix of Chorale on Wednesday:

and some random shots in the music building:

the funny thing is, I didn't even remember it was Valentine's day as I was getting dressed that morning.

Wow. uploading pictures is a lot of work. I was going to tell you all about my internship and the lovely day I had there yesterday (spent the day with the most adorable yellow lab puppy!) and about my directed independent study and about the Senate meeting I went to today and how it revolutionized the way I thought about the dining hall, but it is 12:23am and I have......take a guess......Aural Skills. I will try to write about them tomorrow, and if I forget, remind me.

 Last semester, before registering for Spring classes, I told myself, Lydia, you need to stop being such a slacker. Stop coasting on your smarts and learn to give something everything you've got. I guess I listened.

Try Aural Skills with Dr. Couch (infamous for making you work three times as much as other professors); an internship - which, mind you, forced a temporary leave from the Writing Center, where I got money to sit on a comfy couch and study, in favor of getting no money for 10 solid hours a week of errands, phone calls and Excel; add in Poetry workshop, Music Theory, voice lessons, Feature Writing, a Directed Independent Study, Chorale, Relay for Life, Bible study, a budding Irish band, SAC meetings plus chairing a monthly event, and then add friends, homework, practicing, and those pesky random commitments like writing for campus publications. You might, then, have some idea of what my Spring semester is like. I can hardly sit down, I'm stretched to my limit. It's the busiest I've ever been in my entire life. But I think it will be the best semester I've had yet.

I would post the super awesome photo of me and the King's Singers (yeah, you heard right, the King's Singers) but I left my camera cord at school. I'll show it to you later. So the King's Singers came to Converse, and Christine and I had the luck of being a part of their masterclass! (a masterclass, in case you don't know, is where a really renowned guest musician comes and critiques a student [or ensemble]'s performance in front of a bunch of students and faculty) We (the Converse Chorale) sang a madrigal for them. They ripped us to shreds. But it was good for us.

I got to spend a little time with Sarah Massengale before and after the masterclass. She is so funny. She totally had a crush on one of the King's Singers' speaking voices. (Don't worry, Sarah, I won't tell which one!)

They gave a concert tonight. It gave me chills and almost brought me to tears. They have such a balanced, clear, dynamic sound. It made me want to start my own small singing group and arrange poetry for us to sing. Meh, maybe next semester.

While you're waiting for photos of today, why don't I entertain you with a few pix of my January trip to Greece and Italy?

Dr. Delapp having a philosophic moment in the Agora. That's the ancient marketplace in Athens, Greece, where Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the like did their thing.

Mary-Caroline, Michelle and Beth after winning the footrace at the original Olympic stadium, in (where else?) ancient Olympia. Michelle's wreath of olive leaves was lovingly handcrafted by our most fantastic tour guide, Anna.

Me on the very famous bridge in Florence. (I can't for the life of me remember what it's called but it's the one with all the jewelry stores and the Medici passage that connects the Uffizi with the Pitti Palace.) Very cool spot.

Dr. Hughes, Dr. Maynard, Sarah Johnstone, and Veronica playing "Spades" at our hotel in Rome. It was our last night in Europe and I had just spent my last two euros on a (very delicious) cannoli.

I could go on, but it is 2:45 in the morning. I would like at least a few hours sleep.

For some reason I don't think I'm going to get any Aural Skills done.