Something New.

Monday, August 20, 2007
Fayetteville, Arkansas

We were watching the mail for a report from Tupelo about the birthplace of Elvis, but it hasn't arrived yet. Just as well. There are other fish to fry here at Crow's Cottage, where the menu's Special of the Day is the CornDancer web and its redesign.

Today is the first day of school on the campuses of two universities (that are) unofficially aligned with the website. New pages are ready for new students. Newness abounds.

One new set of web pages features a course of study taught by Freddie Elizabeth Bowles, newly minted Ph.D., Philosophiae Doctor, in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. This is especially meaningful at Crow's Cottage because Dr. Bowles is not only an accomplished educator, but also my bride and true love of twenty-nine years. You can visit her new web by clicking on her name to the right and following the link named Classroom Management Concepts.

The other new web showcases the essays of Dr. Ron Fritze, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Athens State University in Athens, Alabama. Information about Ron's history course for the fall semester, Christopher Columbus and the Great Age of Discovery, can be found by visiting Ron's homepage. The link is displayed at the top of this page.

Let's Look for Joseph.

CornDancer will activate another new web before the sun sets on Saturday. Our esteemed colleague (and world-class photographer) Joseph Dempsey has agreed to post a new image each week to a cyber gallery we're calling, for want of an original title, Photo of the Week. Perhaps Joseph will think of a sweeter moniker between now and then.

Outstanding! Having Ron and Joe commit their considerable talents to CornDancer is wonderful news indeed. They bring new life to the cause — new life that shall help Dr. Freddie Liz and I brush away the cobwebs from nooks and corners of Crow's Cottage and move ahead into something good.

It's a wonderful life . . . sometimes. "The only constant is change," Professor L. Schaefer said on January 22, 1976. Change abounds here today. For one, I'm without a classroom for the first time since August, 2004, having chosen to leave my last teacher's contract, unsigned, on the table. The wrangler within would like to say why, but I've pledged to be nice -- and nice I shall be. It's a novel tactic, one I've learned (with stops and starts) from my true love through millions of moments of close observation. Even a warrior can learn to tend the garden, especially when he becomes old.