Blast from the Past

I always tell my students that we have to guess at a lot of the history of ancient cultures because history comes from the stories, written or oral, passed down through the generations. Oral traditions get lost or corrupted over time and many ancient cultures didn't have a written language. So for a lot of ancient societies, the info we have is a lot of educated guesswork.

Imagine the excitement of archaeologists and historians when an ancient written language is discovered! Doesn't happen often but, guess what? It just happened. The Picts were a conglomeration of Celtic tribes living in Ancient Scotland. We assumed all these years that they never had a written language of their own. We had hundreds of stones similar to the ones in the photo, all known as the Pictish Stones, that we believed was their artwork.

However, researchers have determined that instead of simply being artwork, the drawings on the stone represent the Pictish language. It's known as a lexigraphic language, one where the words are pictures of the words they represent rather than letters making up that word. So instead of writing out "horse" for a horse, Picts would have drawn out a picture of one.

Pretty cool stuff. Archaeologists, anthropologists and all the other "ologists" who study that kind of stuff will now try to decipher the language from the Pictish Stones. Check out the entire article at...

http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/ancient-scotland-written-language.htm

The Legend of the Dogwood

I love Easter. When Easter gets here, it really hits me that it's Spring. And, too, dogwoods are some of my favorite trees and they always bloom right around Easter.

Whenever the dogwoods start blooming, I always remember the stories from Sunday School about the trees and their relationship to Jesus' crucifixion. According to Christian legend, before Jesus came along, the dogwood was more of a stately tree, often growing very large like modern-day oaks, maples and magnolias. It was actually the largest tree growing in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' death. The cross on which he was nailed was supposedly crafted from a dogwood tree. After his death, the tree changed. I've heard two stories on this. First, Jesus himself dwarfed the tree, twisting its branches so it would never be sturdy enough to make crosses again or the other point of view- the tree itself was so devastated by its part in the Crucifixion that it never grew as tall or straight again. Either way, no dogwoods in crucifixions again.

The second part of the legend is that the flower of the dogwood is a living reminder of Jesus' death. The four petals of the flower represent the four arms of the cross on which He died. Each petal has a reddish color on its outside edge, signifying the blood Jesus shed on the cross. And the pointy red center of the dogwood blossom represent the bloody crown of thorns Jesus wore.

How true is any of this? I don't know. The Bible doesn't name the specific tree used in the Crucifixion. Roman records are unclear too- it probably depended on which trees grew in the area. Either way, it is food for thought and will make you think a little differently about the beautiful dogwood.

More Easter-themed posts to come!

Attn: Franklin Students Only

I honestly don't see how people who truly have dyslexia do it? I get in a hurry sometimes and mix up numbers but seriously, I can't imagine having to make the conscious effort to keep everything straight all the time.

So, as I said in the email I sent out to the class yesterday, my on-again, off-again dyslexia reared its ugly head when I was writing down grades from essay #2. I caught one that I reversed the numbers on. I don't think I did it on any of the others but to ease my own mind, I'd rather check to be sure. For those of you who received your graded essay last Friday, please bring it back this Friday. I'll check it while you are taking your tests and give them back to you.

This doesn't apply to anyone who turned in a late essay or hasn't turned in an essay at all (duh!). I'll hand back the late essays Friday also.

Attn Students: Last day to drop

Just to remind all my students, tomorrow, March 30, is the last day to drop classes with a "W." A lot of folks have just stopped coming to class. If you know anybody like that, please pass the message on to them. You have to go through the motions and actually drop the class. It takes like 5 minutes and a little bit of paperwork. Otherwise, you get an F on your transcript just simply because you were too lazy to do the procedures. That kind of F haunts you for the rest of your college career.

Blast From the Past

I was doing my morning stroll along the World Wide Web and came across this interesting story on Discovery.com.

Yesterday, March 25, marked the 203rd anniversary of Great Britain outlawing the slave trade. As part of the rememberance celebrations, a group has built a replica of the Amistad, a slave ship that sailed out of Sierra Leone headed for North America with a hold full of captives destined for bondage in the US. The slaves managed to take over the ship and took it on a zigzag course along the Atlantic coastline until they were finally caught off the coast of Long Island. The slaves were put on trial for their actions and it went all the way to the Supreme Court. This played greatly into the abolitionist cause in the United States and John Quincy Adams stood up for the slaves in front of the Court, advocating their freedom. In the end, the Supreme Court Justices agreed and the Amistad slaves were freed. The replica of the Amistad is currently in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. Its builders hope to foster better Cuban/US relations.

If you are interested in the story, Steven Spielberg put it on the big screen in his 1997 movie Amistad. Believe me, it is worth the watch.

TV Review: Glee

I'm not usually a fan of comedies. Don't ask me why; I'm just a drama kind of girl. But everybody needs those ROTFL moments just to recharge an overly dramatized brain. You know what Reader's Digest says, Laughter is the best medicine.

Well, I have found my medicine.

I saw the previews for Glee leading up to its premiere and thought, "Oh **** no!" I suffered through high school and I am so glad that nobody walked around throwing slushies into geeks' faces or I would have been dripping in grape goo all the time. So I avoided Glee like the plague.

Enter Friend Dawn. She was always gushing about the show and put the DVD on her must-have-for-Christmas List. She kept telling me and Caitlin that we absolutely had to watch it but we've been putting it off in favor of other, more dramatic things.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. She came over, bringing Glee with her. I figured one episode, maybe two. I just couldn't watch kids getting humiliated.
Whatever! I have never laughed so much in my life. It was absolutely hilarious and we ended up watching 5 episodes that night. Yesterday, Caitlin and I spent the day finishing the rest of the box set. Glee is the story of the glee club in an Ohio high school. Mr. Shoe, their director, is really into his job, and believe me, these folks can sing. Everybody is against them because, well, glee club is for geeks. When a few football players and cheerleaders join (for various funny reasons), they get lumped into the geek category and get the slushie facials.

Glee stands out for two reasons or should I say people. First, Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, coach of the Cheerios. She hates Glee because it takes attention away from her award-winning cheerleaders. She also loves to hand out her opinions, to students and her colleagues and via her weekly program on the local news. You can't help but laugh watching this woman.

The second reason is Matthew Morrison as Mr. Shoe. Morrison is a Broadway vet so of course his singing and dancing are amazing. I would give anything if I could break out in song like that in class, maybe even bust a move or two but rather than getting applause, I would probably get shot. Still Morrison does a great job playing the teacher who cares so deeply for his kids that he would do anything for them. You know that's a man after my own heart. And of course he's easy to look at so that makes it even better.

If you haven't watched Glee, you really should. It is so worth it. New episodes start back on Fox in mid-April, so watch the box set so you'll be caught up!

Happy Spring!

I love anything celestial. Throw a star on something and it makes it oh so much cooler. Combine the idea of no more winter with looking at the heavens, and I'm all ears.

Yesterday, March 20th, was this year's Vernal Equinox. Huh? First day of Spring! Warm weather, longer days, flowers blooming...aahhh, bliss. No, wait a minute, I'm not so sure about the last one because all those flowers blooming send my sinuses into overdrive and that means that I'll be walking around constantly with a Kleenex in my hand. Oh well, I guess that's a small price to pay for all that Spring beauty.

People talk about how on the equinox, the night and day are exactly the same length. That's not exactly true. On the equinox (spring and fall), night is exactly the same lenght for the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. I know, it's splitting hairs a little bit but clarification is always a good thing.

Historically, people looked forward to the Vernal Equinox each year because it meant that the time of rebirth was upon them. For the poor, it meant more time to get things done- more daylight=more work time. For the elite, more time to party. Bedtime didn't come upon you quite as early. The marriage of King Henry VIII of England and his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves, was an arranged one. Neither party saw the other until she arrived in England. Legally, the marriage was already a done deal; it just needed to be consummated in the marriage bed. Henry claimed that he was so disgusted by his wife's ugliness that he was unable to perform his husbandly duties. He decreed the next day that when he took his next wife, the wedding night would happen on the Vernal Equinox so he wouldn't have to worry about spending too long of a night with an ugly woman. Somebody should have given him a mirror, because at that point in his life, Henry wasn't much of a looker himself!

Regardless of Henry's marital woes, Spring is here! Whip out the flip-flops, pluck a buttercup or two and get ready for the beautiful days to come.

The Curve & Congrats

Just another example of my tardiness, yesterday I saw the press release on ChargerNet for the President's and Dean's Lists for the students last semester who were honored for their academic excellence. There are so many of my students (past and current) on those lists. Major kudos to you guys! I'm so proud of you!

Now, as for this semester's students. I got the tests from Clifton and Columbia graded so I wanted to give you all the curves so you won't be nailbiting over the weekend.

For Clifton... 4 points! Two students tied for the top spot at 96, so everyone benefits from their mistakes.

For Columbia... 2 points! Although one person set the curve with a 98, there were 6 others right on her heels with 96's.

I ran both classes through the Scantron at the same time and the overall average score was 76. I'll give you back your grade sheets on Monday with the curve and any biscotti bonus points added in.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (belated)

I know, I know, I'm a little slow on the uptake this week but the late night from the Muse concert (oh so worth it) and the time change (oh so not) have really played havoc with my internal clock. When I got home yesterday from my grueling job of giving tests, I just crashed and burned. Therefore, what should have been yesterday's posts have been moved to today.

So, who was St. Patrick and why does he have a day? Patrick was born about 1600 years ago in Britain, back at a time when the area wasn't really "kingdoms" but more like "chiefdoms." Ireland was a Celtic area much separate from the Roman influenced Britain and the two areas were often at odds with each other. As a teen, Patrick was captured by a group of Irish. He ultimately managed to get away from his captors and made his way to Gaul (modern-day France) where he became a Catholic priest. But Ireland drew him back- he felt a divinely inspired calling to bring Jesus Christ to the pagan Celts there. We associate the shamrock with him because he used the 3 leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish- one leaf each for the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Patrick spent the last 30 years of his life spreading Christianity in Ireland and for this is remembered as their patron saint. Within 500ish years, the Irish were celebrating a day in St. Patrick's honor as one of their sacred religious feast days. As Irish immigrants spread into Europe and America, St. Patrick's Day came with them. Of course in Ireland it's a huge deal, from a religious and social perspective but here in the US, there are big celebrations too. All over the country, there are parades and festivals. Many places dye their waterways green. In 2009 and 2010, the fountain on the North Lawn of the White House got the green treatment too.

You might ask, if St. Patrick's Day is religously based, why do we put up cardboard cutouts of leprechauns? What do surly little gold-hoarders have to do with St. Patrick? Well...actually nothing. I did a lot of net digging on this and all I can find discusses how the Irish Celts believed in all sorts of fairies and other nature sprites. Leprechauns were gruff little buggers (think Grumpy from Snow White, just dressed in green) who earned their gold by repairing fairy shoes. They kept this gold in a pot hidden at the end of the rainbow. On St. Patrick's Day, if you were lucky enough to see the elusive little leprechaun and keep him in your sights, he might just lead you to a big payoff. Sounds like a get rich quick scheme to me and nobody has jumped up waving the pot or the gold.

Well, then, why do you get pinched if you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day? This seems to be a primarily American thing. From what I can find, Irish people don't do this. But there are two schools of thought on the pinching. First, if you are wearing green, you'll blend in better with the leprechauns, therefore making it easier for you to find their gold. You don't wear green, you don't blend in, you get pinched. Or, and I like this one better, green is the traditional color of Ireland and by wearing green on the day, you are honoring St. Patrick's work. If you don't wear green, you need punishment. I always try to wear green of some sort because if you pinch me, I punch back!

Another MUSE-ical Evening

Yesterday, as soon as I got done with lecture and biscotti pass-outs, I hit the door running. Literally. I was chunking it across the bridge to the parking lot as fast as I could because I had a date with amazingness. Yes, once again, Caitlin and I spent our evening with the rock phenom known as Muse. I know, we just drove to Atlanta less than two weeks ago to see them. Why in the world would we do it again so soon? BECAUSE THEY ROCK, duh!

I was hurrying because I knew that all the construction on Broadway in Nashville could negatively impact my getting a parking place that didn't require me hiking 3 miles in the 3 inch black boots I was wearing. But it was a pleasant surprise when we got off the Interstate and found an open parking area right behind the Nashville Arena/Gaylord Center/Sommet Center/Bridgstone Arena (seriously, that place is having a major identity crisis).

The bad part of getting there easily was that we had a 2 hour wait before the concert started. As we were standing in line, I figured why not make a few new Museaholic friends. We struck up a conversation with a cute guy from North Carolina, a young couple from Illinois and a mom and 2 daughters from Kentucky. Nice folks. Talking to them made the time pass a whole lot quicker.

When we got inside, I was tickled pink over our seats. I thought the seats we had in Atlanta were good but this time we were sitting just to the right of the stage, close enough to get great pictures. Unfortunately the guys who sat behind us looked like a couple of Jolly Green Giants meet the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. I thought I was going to have to smack the shitake mushrooms out of one of them because he thought it was funny to keep pulling my hair. Reminded me of flirting in the 3rd grade- I didn't like it then and can't stand it now. Luckily our section wasn't completely filled so once the lights went down, Caitlin and I were able to move to different seats- about 4 rows closer (see, silver lining!)

Holy moly! I didn't think Muse could have been any better than they were in Atlanta but I was oh so wrong. I can't hear or talk still because I screamed and sang the whole 2 hours that they played. Caitlin has a pair of sparkly Converse just like Matt, the lead singer, was wearing. She thought it was cool- they have the same SuperMassiveSparklyShoes! At one point, he grabbed a spotlight on the stage and shined it around the crowd, looking for the loudest group of fans. Yup, you guessed it- it was us!!!! He kept the lights on us and the people in front of us for about 15seconds while we sang and danced in the aisle. Oh yeah, we're famous!

It was also really cool at the very end when Dom, the drummer said "Thank you Nashville for letting us rock in the home of country music." Well, Dom, just come on back ASAP! I can't wait to see them again! I guess I'll just have to settle for their cd's and the 150 or so pictures that I took.

Spring Forward; Fall Back

Arghhh, I hate Daylight Savings Time. I have to remind myself 50 million times to change my clocks. Half of them change on their own, half don't. So if you know me very well, you know that it might be next weekend before my lazy butt actually makes the change. Since we "Spring Forward" tonight, we'll lose an hour.

I guess the question there is why? Why do we even make this completely annoying change that messes with our internal clocks twice a year? Anybody who's seen National Treasure can tell you that the blame lies with Benjamin Franklin. In 1784, he proposed making the change to help cut back on candle usage in times when it gets darker earlier. Whoda thunket, Benjamin Franklin was the original environmentalist!

It actually didn't become official until the World War II era when the US Government was looking for ways to cut back on energy usage at home while our boys were in Europe fighting against Hitler. There have been a couple of government acts that legislated what days each year the changes were to be implemented. And did you know...states do not have to participate in Daylight Savings Time. Arizona and Hawaii do not. Who says state's rights are dead?

Was Ben right; does changing the clock save energy? According to an article I found on Discovery.com, yes it does. One 1970's study said that we save 1% in energy costs because changing the time cuts back on the amount of time people in warmer climates have to run their air conditioners. I know, 1% whoo-hoo! We're rolling in the dough there! But hey, 1% is better than nothing. A more recent 2007 study said that the number of evening car crashes decrease 10% during the Spring and Summer months thanks to the clock change.

So it might be annoying but I guess it does save a little on energy costs and 10% fewer auto accidents sounds good to me. Therefore, I bow to you, Mr. Franklin. Good idea.

Blast From the Past

I know that history is not everybody's cup of tea but seriously folks, can you really hear about all the archaeological stuff that has been going on over the last few weeks and not get a little excited? It all makes me drool like one of Pavlov's pups.

King Tut lived over three thousand years ago but we are still finding out more about him every year and are always clamoring for more. Egyptologists have recently announced that thanks to DNA testing, one of the unidentified mummies from the Valley of the Kings has been proven to be Tut's mother. How cool is that?

Egypt doesn't have the market cornered on archaeology though. People working in England at the site of the 2012 Olympics discovered a cache of 50+ bodies, obviously the victims of a massacre. Untouched site like that?!? Now I have the drool and the shimmies. Today, CNN and Discovery.com are blowing up the net with the findings from the burial site. The massacre happened about 1000 years ago and the 50+ men were Vikings, all from their late teens to early 20's. (Go ahead and imagine Eric from True Blood here- I did) They must have been the losers in a battle because all were beheaded before they were thrown into the mass grave. To make it cooler/creepier, one of the guys also had his hands cut off. Forensic historians think that even though his hands were bound for his beheading, he somehow managed to try to stop the blade, hence the loss of hands and head.

You gotta admit, even if you aren't into history like I am, this is interesting. Creepy, yes. Gross, yes. But oh so very cool and interesting!

Spring Break Blues

Spring Break...a whole week off to reboot, rejuvenate, any "re" word you can think of. Sounds so good when you are APPROACHING Spring Break. Not so much when it's coming to a close and it's time to think about the stuff that I intended to do but didn't get done. Waaaaay too much. ***deep sigh***

I guess I need to put my teacher had back on and address a couple of things- directed at my Columbia and Clifton students only (Franklin babies, you're off the hook for this one). A student emailed me to ask about test #2. I announced in class that we would be having in on the Wednesday after we get back. I know, I know- it's not what's on the revised schedules I gave out. But like I said in class, I think that everytime I try to plan out a semester, the schedule gods laugh and say "hey, let's send a freak snowstorm to completely screw her plans up."

The reason that I chose to do it this way is because the last day to drop with a "W" is fast approaching. Some folks wait until they get a 2nd test grade to make that decision. I want to make sure everybody has 2 test grades and 1 paper grade under their belts before drop day arrives. And seriously, if you decide to drop a class- mine or anybody else's- please, Please, PLEASE fill out the required paperwork and officially drop. Don't just stop coming to class. You'll get an "F" and it might screw up your financial aid from here on out.

On Monday, we'll finish discussing World War I (Ch 22). I'll also give back papers and we'll discuss your research findings. And by "we" I really do mean you guys have to talk too. Before I get the "Oh what horror, I have to talk in class" thing, remember, part of your grade depends on participation. Some of you need to be speaking up. Just because I haven't thrown a marker at you doesn't mean I haven't seen you texting. I keep up with that kind of stuff.

What I want to do is brainstorm out loud. Throw out ideas that you found in your research on the changes for women from 1877-1920. I'll type them on the screen so you can write them down as we go along. This will make it easier on you when it comes to doing that part of the essay on the final.

So to sum it up, start studying your notes beginning where we left off for test #1 (somewhere around Coxey's Army) and come in Monday ready to participate! As always, post a comment here or email me if you have any questions.

Happy rest of Spring Break!

Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland

Those of you who know anything about me won't be surprised to learn that I headed to the theater to see Tim Burton's interpretation of Alice in Wonderland this weekend, along with about a million of my closest friends it seems. I know, I know- I would spend good money and a lot of my much-needed book writing time watching a movie where Johnny Depp was sitting in a chair staring at a wall watching paint dry. Oh Johnny!

However, I was pleasantly surprised to note that this wasn't the Johnny show. I went into the theater thinking "just let it be OK." What was I smoking? OK? OK??? It was SOOOOO good. This was the sort of movie that kids of all ages can get into. The best part about it was that Alice held her own. Mia Wasikowska was great as the titular character- sweet and unassuming when she needed to be, strong and vocal at other times. I especially loved two parts of the movie. The first one was when she chastised everyone for telling her that saving the Hatter wasn't in the plan. She was all like "screw the plan, I'm making my own plan as I go along." (Not in those words of course, but you get the gist) The second was when she came back from Wonderland to confront all the guests at the engagement party and just wailed on all of them. It almost reminded me of the scene at the end of Waiting where the shy, sweet guy lets everybody have it.

The special effects were great. I didn't see the 3D version because I'm not particularly partial to 3D (Lasik and 3D don't work too well together). The voiceovers really got me too. I loved how Tim Burton and the animators didn't make the characters look like the people doing the voices. It wasn't Michael Sheen doing the White Rabbit, it was the White Rabbit speaking with Michael Sheen's voice (Sheen's another guy who makes me drool BTW). Same thing with Alan Rickman's Blue Caterpillar.

And you know I can't end this post without a little bit about the man himself. Seriously folks, who else but Johnny Depp can make a poisoned lunatic look sexy? He's getting good at it though- lunatic yet sexy pirate as Captain Jack, cowardly yet scholarly police investigator as Ichabod Crane, emo science experiment as Edward Scissorhands. The futterwacken scene after the battle- priceless! Even if the rest of the movie had been crap (which of course it wasn't!!!) just seeing Johnny futterwacken was worth it!

Attn: Franklin Students- The Curve

I love it when students give me ideas for blog-stuff that I haven't even thought about. Keeping in mind that I do not discuss grades over the internet, I was asked if I would at least post the curve for the test. That I can definitely do.

So for yesterday's test in my Franklin class...drum roll please...the curve was...

*** 7 points ***

Congrats to the 3 folks who set the curve this time. I'll brag on you personally when we come back from Spring Break.

Where did the snow go?

I'm almost hesitant to post this but...it's Wednesday and the threat of the "Earth-shattering biggest snowstorm in weather history that's going to shut down the worlda and make us all lose power for weeks and months and have to huddle against each other might have to resort to cannibalism to survive" fell to the wayside like many other predictions by the weather folks. One of these days, they are going to get it right. I'm hoping that when they do, the prediction will be something on the lines of "tomorrow's going to be sunny and mild, Ramona needs to break out the flippy flops." See, if I get to break out the best footwear in creation, it's good for us all. I'm thinking about everybody here.

Now, two things about the missed weather prediction. #1- if the weather folks were just off by a day or so and it hits late, IT IS NOT MY FAULT!!! I did not jinx things with this post. And #2- I won't have to do a 2010 reenactment of the Donner Party because I took my own advice. The pantry is full of Kit-Kats and Barnes and Noble has left a box o' books on my doorstep.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope that the snow is gone until next year and Spring really is on the way.