Among the Mother Lode.

January 4, 2009

Arkansas Highway 314 between Onyx
and Hollis is the mother lode of abandoned barns. For that matter, the region is populated with more than a modicum of abandoned residences, too. They are all in the same stage of grayness, almost as if the Death Angel had swooped, reappeared, and made a low pass over the neighborhood with buildings in her crosshairs.

To Kill the King: The Making
Of an English Regicide.

December 11, 2008

To execute a king.... Was it a cruel necessity, or an unholy travesty perpetrated by opportunists upon one of God's representatives on earth? The beheading of King Charles I of Great Britain in the winter of 1649 was an unprecedented event wrought by a legion of high-born players.  Focusing on one of those players, Henry Marten, historian Ron Fritze evokes the spirit of an age of bloody civil war and religious turmoil.  Interweaving Marten's life story with an account of Charles I's last hours on earth, Ron paints another compelling portrait of Tudor Stuart Britain. 

Mission Accomplished:
The Conference Was a Success.

December 8, 2008

What do you get when you put together ninety-five foreign language teachers? You get six hours of professional development, authentic ethnic food, incredible presentations, camaraderie, and even a little flamenco dancing.

The Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association District III conference organizers, Anna Beaulieu and Celine Simpson, both French teachers extraordinaire, joined me in hosting a full day of food, fun, and fellowship at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. Greeting colleagues from schools throughout the region, we shared ideas, activities, and strategies to promote student engagement and learning under the theme, Opening Minds to the World through Languages.

Composing with the Man in Black.

November 20, 2008

Inspired by the music of the late Johnny Cash, the four lessons and follow-up activities that comprise Composing with the Man in Black emphasize the writing techniques of voice, style, and self-reflection. Created for LitTunes by William C. Sewell, an innovative high school teacher from Ottawa, Kansas, the unit of study is based on an integrated theme to anchor ongoing writing lessons over a semester or an academic year. Each lesson can also be taught as a stand-alone writing exercise. 

Hope Most Cruel.

October 21, 2008

This won’t be pretty, not smoothly done.
I’m navigating choppy seas today, trying to get outta this place. Everywhere I look are shadows on the swells of the deep.

“If the devil fell away from God of his own free will, this proves firstly that evil was in the world before man, and therefore that man cannot be the sole author of it, and secondly that the devil already had a ‘mutilated’ soul...."
   — Aion, Carl Jung, 1950

Among a universe of topics, why mass murder at schools?

Ay Chihuahua.

October 18, 2008

Planet Clio's intrepid historian and pop culture critic Ron Fritze has gone to the dogs lately. His latest foray into historical investigation takes him to Aztec ruins and Hollywood — with a postscript journey to the garden of old Communists. Ron writes: "I would imagine that everyone who watches a bit of TV has seen a commercial for the new Disney production Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Some of you, I’m sure, have already taken the time to see it at a theater. As I child, I was a big fan of Disney. I struggled to keep the Seven Dwarfs’ names straight, was terrorized along with the original hundred and one Dalmatians, and cried when Bambi’s mom died."

It's Over. Let's Get Ready Again.

September 28, 2008

"No, no, I am not still in Taos. We did survive the power outage, and we did read Martin Luther a little bit by flashlight. But after the power outage, the final stage of the summer school kicked in and VROOOOM! Suddenly it was Sunday the 28th of September. We had a great summer school, and the students really learned a lot, about a lot of things. I am fortunate enough to see the leaps and bounds on a daily basis, as some of the Taos students are also my students here in Fayetteville...."

Two States, Indiscernible.

February 7, 2008

He comes in search of unification.

From the salty mist he walked onto wet sand, greeting me in the earliest rays of the day. "We've work to do," he said, his voice like gravel under boots, his bare feet like brush bristles on the surface of the beach. "We've contradictions to merge into a higher truth. Be ready."

We named him O....

Letter from Abu Dhabi.

June 10, 2003

Soon after the USA launched the war in Iraq in March, 2003,
a friend of CornDancer contacted us to ask if we were interested in publishing a series of dispatches from Abu Dhabi, where he lived and worked with the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates. Yes! Thus was born the Letter from Abu Dhabi, a series of eight dispatches filed by Jack E. Vines, recounting his experiences as an American ex-patriot caught-up in the intrigue and passion of a region consumed by thoughts of war.