from A. Bronson Alcott's Maxims for Teaching...
I. To teach, with a sense of the accountableness of the profession.
II. To teach, with reference to Eternity.
III. To teach, as an Agent of the Great Instructor.
IV. To teach, depending on the Divine blessing for success.
V. To teach, as the former of character, and the promoter of the collective happiness of man.
VI. To teach, to subserve the great cause of philanthropy, and benevolence.
VII. To teach, distinctive from all sinister, sectarian, and oppressive principles.
VIII. To teach, with charitable feelings toward all rational and animal beings.
IX. To teach, distinct from prejudice, from veneration of Antiquity and from excess of novelty.
X. To teach, to improve the Sciences of Instruction, and of Mind.

there is something about
deserted structures
in decline
that makes them
beautiful
holy and
profound

... way cool stuff from suzanne

of note... patrick herron, organizer of the Carrboro Poetry Festival in Carrboro North Carolina has indicated that he's looking for "outsider" poets... defined as "... poets who have *not* received university-level degrees (or are not currently pursuing such degrees) in creative writing/language arts/lit, and who do not teach literature or poetry at the university level." ... said poets would join with slam poets and academic poets at next summer's festival...

on wednesday our first snow came quickly... jay and i drove right into it... south on 55... the normally tedious trip of four hours became an abnormally tedious trip of eight hours... jay counted eighty-four spin-outs... i did not intend to become one of that number... so we went slowly and crawled on our bellies for an hour and a half at bloomington... mom and meg met us with relief, thanks to god, and some real yummy chicken fajitas at nine p.m. ... then we were ready for thanksgiving... i had the camera...

Louisville Scene | Smith-Berry tasting pairs wine, poetry

Environmental Working Group || Farm Subsidy Database

The Blog of Henry David Thoreau...
The first spitting of snow-a flurry or squall-from out a gray or slate-colored cloud that came up from the west. This consisted almost entirely of pellets an eight of an inch or less in diameter. These drove along almost horizontally, or curving upward like the outline of a breaker, before the strong and chilling wind. The plowed fields were for a short time whitened with them.

our first snow is due today... too

The New York Times > Opinion > A Very Haitian Story
Like Nicaraguans and Hondurans, Haitians should be granted temporary protection status while Haiti tries to recover from the political plagues and environmental disasters suffocating it.

The New York Times > Opinion > Apocalypse (Almost) Now
The 'Left Behind' series, the best-selling novels for adults in the U.S., enthusiastically depict Jesus returning to slaughter everyone who is not a born-again Christian. The world's Hindus, Muslims, Jews and agnostics, along with many Catholics and Unitarians, are heaved into everlasting fire: 'Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and . . . they tumbled in, howling and screeching.'

Thanksgiving's Hidden Costs...
In today's American supermarket, there are no seasons, no limits. The world's harvests and manufactured meals are at your fingertips. The supermarket appears to symbolize the best of democratic capitalism, offering consumer choice and a largess born of amazing productivity. But how does all this food actually get here? Is it really as cheap and convenient as it seems?

Using Technology in the Classroom

paul celan... via john felstiner...

ILLEGIBLE this
world. Everything doubled.

Staunch clocks
confirm the split hour,
hoarsely.

You, clamped in your depths,
climb out of yourself
for ever.

woulda been 84 today...

since today is the feast of St. Cecilia... and since Without music, life would be a mistake. (friedrich nietzsche)... listen to some good music today... i've got purcell's odes to st. cecilia going on...

DVD Empire - Richard III / DVD