danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

We had our first test of the semester on Tuesday in my English Romanticism class. It was brutal. The instructor, Professor Twitchell, had warned us that it would be difficult. He had emphasized it repeatedly, in fact. But you can never be too sure what one person’s definition of hard is, so I didn’t fret about it, and, in any case, he told us if we took decent notes we’d do well.

On Tuesday morning, however, as the test was handed to me and I looked over the fifteen or so questions, I was crestfallen. While I knew some of the material right off the bat, some of it had long since disappeared into the recesses of my mind. I hadn’t anticipated that he’d give us lines from poetry or prose and ask us to identify the author, title and significance of the passage. And I blanked on a question asking us to cite three “solitary” figures in Wordsworth’s poetry. Nor could I remember the genre of “The Prelude”, which I confused somehow with the preface to the Lyrical Ballads. I felt even worse, though, as my classmates all finished their tests before me and departed, leaving me almost alone in the room to struggle and wonder how they could possibly have been better prepared.

This morning I came to find out that they probably weren’t better prepared. My classmates were all chatting about how terrible the test was, trying to see if they could, between themselves, put together the bits and pieces that they missed. When Professor Twitchell entered the room he seemed to recognize we were all worried. He said he hadn’t graded them all, but he must have graded enough to know that a lot of people missed a lot of questions. Moreover, I think he sensed we were all a bit resentful. He is a cheerful and good humored fellow. Brilliant, too. “I know…you’re all angry. So, let me hear it,” he said. I expected a hiss and some boos, maybe, but one kid shouted, “you son of a bitch!”

Filed under: Literature and Books, School on February 28th, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Congratulations, Gainesville Roller Rebels! GRR was profiled briefly in Monday’s Independent Florida Alligator. There was even a picture printed, too (Miriam’s bright blue socks are visible in the background).

It was good that they got to interview Robin–aka Patsy Clothesline–because she is the perfect example of the kind of girl that does derby. She’s married (her husband loves Telecasters like me), she has a cute kid, she has a steady, respectable job, she has her own house. And she’s not afraid to get out there and push herself physically several times a week. Of course, not all the girls are in their 30s with children; a goodly number of them are younger, are students or waitresses, and they come in all shapes, too. In other words, this is something a lot of girls could do if they had the desire and the skates. I am very proud of Miriam for being part of this.

Filed under: Gainesville, Sports on February 26th, 2008 | No Comments »

Let no one doubt the power of music as a universal language.  The New York Philharmonic is in Pyongyang, where earlier today they played before an auditorium full of North Korean dignitaries, and to the rest of the country via radio and television.  The NYPO is “the largest contingent of Americans to visit this isolated, totalitarian state since the Korean War ended in 1953.”  This is a big deal.

Lorin Maazel is perhaps not as exciting a conductor as Leonard Bernstein was when he conducted the same orchestra in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s.  But Maazel is an extremely dignified emissary, and a certifiable musical genius, and his choice of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” was apt.  It was a fine touch playing a traditional Korean folk melody and the North Korean national anthem.  It was especially decent of the North Korean audience to remain standing during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

During this age of outright contempt for the arts in the national media, it was refreshing to see coverage of the NYPO visit on all the major network newscasts and cable news programs.

Filed under: Current Events, Music on February 26th, 2008 | No Comments »

Recently I remarked about the contrast between writing for pleasure and writing for school. At the time I was composing an essay for a course I am taking called History of Consumption. I found the assignment to be daunting, particularly considering how little I felt I knew about the subject of my paper, namely, mercantilist sugar production utilizing slave labor in the 18th Century, and the British abolitionists whose boycotts not only helped end the practice, but also wrought social change at home in England. I managed to write five pages, and actually felt proud of my work when I read it to myself.

But in class last week, the professor, Dr. Kroen, remarked how seldom she gave As, though there were a couple she wanted to share with us so we could get an idea of what an A paper sounded like. She proceeded to read back a paper involving Marx and Smith and aristocratic social reform and so on, and seemed genuinely pleased with it. But my heart sank after she finished a particularly baffling paragraph of the A-student’s paper and said, “wasn’t that a clear presentation of the argument?” I was about as clear to me as if she had been speaking Estonian. Indeed, she had been speaking English, but the words she said made almost no sense to me at all. (In some subjects–math or physics, for instance–I expect to be dumbfounded, understanding nothing; but this was not a course in which I expected that to occur.)

Yesterday I had a conference with Professor Kroen in her office in the wonderfully restored Flint Hall, completed in 1910. She had my paper on her desk, which sits before a fantastic, tall window, and though she seemed happy I didn’t want to assume anything; she usually seems happy. To my surprise, she said the paper was wonderful, and was one of those very few A grades that she gave. In fact, looking through the notations she left in the margins I see complimentary remarks.

I am thrilled at this development, not merely because an A is an A, but because it means that my anxiety is unwarranted. She told me that the reason that other paper she read had so confused me was because it wasn’t what I had written about, and the sources weren’t as familiar to me. Her next appointment was a no-show, so she and I had some extra time to chat about the course, and about the subject of consumption and consumerism in general, and it was all fascinating. I really cannot praise Dr. Kroen enough. Even if I hadn’t gotten a good grade, I am still in awe of her grasp of the subject and her enthusiasm.

So, if you were just dying to know about the politics of sugar production in the 18th Century, read my paper.

Filed under: School on February 20th, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Yesterday evening I joined Mrs. Hill for a spaghetti dinner at the home of one her Gainesville Roller Rebel teammates.  Patsy Clothesline’s house is up on the northeast side–almost within sight of Steve and Kathleen’s house–and is a very big 1960s ranch with a huge yard.  Her husband was making the biggest pot of pasta I’d ever seen in a non commercial setting.  Lots of the other roller derby girls were there, too, and everyone enjoyed the food, followed by DVD action involving the derby team from Tampa.

I am very happy for Miriam for becoming involved with GRR; these girls are all so nice, everyone’s different and it’s good exercise, to boot.  I can’t wait until they start competing. 

Filed under: Food, Friends, General on February 18th, 2008 | No Comments »