While I'll continue to post the occasional meandering/life update on this blog with Angela, I've been posting literature/media responses on a separate blog. It will bore most people, but if you're interested in what I'm reading/watching/listening to, you can check it out. So far it's only been poetry and poetry criticism, but the last thing I read was Raymond Carver's collection of short stories, Cathedral, so I wrote a few thoughts about that. I also have a few movie and non-fiction reviews I'm working on getting published elsewhere, but if they don't pan out in a while, I'll put those up as well. The link to the blog (Stranger Passing) is on the blogroll to the right.
It's been a good summer for reading. I just recently graduated with my MA in creative writing (A poetry focus), and I was worried I'd be burned out after ploughing through my reading list. But, I actually feel liberated, and have finished a number of books. I decided to take a break from writing until June (I finished in May), so now that June's here, I'm working on a long poem based on my experiences at the farmer's market I'm working at this summer, and I'm playing with incorporating song lyrics from Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. How do they relate? Not sure. Sound boring? It probably will be.
That's that. I'm adjuncting at Miami next semester, teaching three sections of Freshman comp. and possible an intro to creative writing course (please god), and until then I'm working and reading. So far I've finished the latest Robert Jordan novel (fantasy), Apology for Want by Mary Jo Bang, A Boy's Will and North of Boston by Robert Frost, Great Books by David Denby, and I can't remember what else, but I'm currently tackling Legacy of Ashes, a history of the CIA. Pretty wild stuff.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
We Care
This Spring I watched, No Impact Man, twice. The first time I was just checking out the movie Brett put on the instant que and then a second time because I wanted Brett to see the husband and wife interaction through the whole project. It did get me interested in a compost pile once we have some yard beyond a patio. I have a feeling a pile of our scraps and worms would gross the neighbors out! I did think that it looked fun to make your own household cleaners. I honestly have no idea what borax is but may be looking more into it once my Costco bins of bleach wipes are gone. Actually now that I am writing this out maybe I should make some while I still have my Costco bleach wipes in case I botch the whole thing!
Then in April my first grade class began a unit titled: We Care. The class learned all about recycling, reusing, and reducing. They brought in items from home they could reuse and we looked at a massive picture book filled with pictures of a landfill, pollution, and how items like cans are recycled. The students brought in a graph of items they recycled or could recycle at home.
I feel like I'm a person who recycles because we used to recycle at home growing up. However, I am four years out of college and we have not been recycling, at all. I felt like a bit of a fraud turning the pages of the gigantic picture book of landfills. (Really I need no reminder, I drive past Rumpe dump everyday.) So I looked into some options. I discovered that right behind the campus police station are bins where we can put our plastic, cardboard, cans, and glass for recycling. Three trips and counting! It's a start.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
A book and a movie.
Brett gave me this book and I am fascinated with the story and all of the studies it reports. I have yet to finish the book but am processing the information and encouraged by what I am learning.
I completely forgot to put up anything about Where the Wild Things Are when it came out in theaters. I loved the book when I was little, own a few copies now, and really enjoyed peeling away the layers of the movie afterward.
I'll eat you up, I love you so.
Angela
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Aller Voir
my view from french classApparently, Aller Voir directly translated means "to go to see." It looks familiar to me but I was too distracted by anything and everything in Libreville to listen during Maxime's French lessons so I will have to rely on About.Com's translations. To Go To See is the perfect summary of the September - November picture collage/ mess below.
These pictures are from when Jared and Alyssa came with the girls for a visit. Brett and I tried to "child proof" our townhouse before they came. Live and learn, we now know to put things like sugar jars out of reach in case a wandering three year old decides to begin eating it by the first full! It was great fun and we were glad they made the drive down to see us in Oxford. We miss you! 
Next on our visitors docket is our friend and Brett's Race Street roommate
Jeremiah. We were able to see him and his fiance Casey in Cincinnati last time she was in town and this time Jeremiah came up for a weekend in Oxford. I just got a picture on his way out of town, because if I don't get a picture then the visit didn't exist. Kind of like Kyle's visit and Casey's second visit. No picture = it did not happen. (in my blog world) When Mom, Dad, Larisa and Cameron came for a visit/ half marathon of hills we decided to move the indoors outside for our pre-race day meal. They always say to eat pasta which we did, but pizza seemed to also fit.
Dad and I ran the State to State 1/2 marathon together - a.k.a. ran up and down hills for 13.1 miles:) My red face shows the exhaustion I had at the end just putting one foot in front of the other. Dad on the other hand has a great smile and was dancing in the streets next to me to the live music playing for the final miles. 
As usual my pictures are all over the place but on the left are the leading ladies of our curb crew. I
had a picture of Brett and Cameron together but they did not take advantage of the photo opportunity so I sided with the smiling ladies.
We were able to catch a game the weekend Brett's parents came down for a visit. We checked out all our regular spots around town and took full advantage of the nice weather by walking around town with our Kofenya drinks. We are soaking up Oxford right now as Brett is in his final year at Miami.
For my birthday weekend Brett and I drove up to H2Oville. The girls went to Plate 22 and caught up on life while the fellas shot at targets by the river. Brett went to Google Images and found all these animal pictures with Brielle. She would name an animal and then pick the pictures to click on. It lasted for a long time!
Brett drove back to Perry and met our nephew. . . Bob! Brett may or may not have had a camera with him but either way did not take a single picture. Luckily Bob's mom Taylor had a few we could share. Apparently Bob can high five, low five, play dead, and more things that Brett will be able to remind me of when he reads the blog.
Just yesterday Larisa and Cameron drove back to H2Oville from the best weekend of their lives. The weekend of fun started with Brett and I at the Grand Opening of Chipotle in Uptown Oxford. It all sounds so grand - I even got a cloth bag! Then on Saturday Larisa and Cameron came down for the weekend. There is more. . . then Grant and Emily came down for the evening. These are the most recent pictures taken with our camera posted on this blog. I am now going on and on because it is getting late but I put on my calendar to do list to blog today and I am determined to have a blog complete before I go to bed! 
Love, Angela
Friday, September 25, 2009
Miami Police Beat
The Miami Student, Miami's twice-weekly paper, always has a "Police Beat" side column. Reading about the sort of trouble Miami undergraduates get in, and their response to authority, is often entertaining--this week's three stories, however, made me laugh out loud. All transcribed from The Miami Student.
Male with wet crotch claims he works for U.S.
At around 2 a.m. Sunday, officers were dispatched to a disturbance at Woody's One Up at 11 S. Main St. When police arrived, an employee of the bar reportedly said a male subject had urinated in the bar and on the dance floor and attempted to punch the owner when he tried to remove him. Police reportedly met with the male who gave them a Kentucky driver's license issued to Ryan Harrison, 26. When officers were speaking with the male he reportedly yelled at them and said they would not dictate terms to him. When police spoke with the male, his crotch was reportedly wet, he had the odor of alcohol on his breath and was slurring his speech. Officers reportedly told the male to leave the area and not to come back. The male began walking away but then stopped and yelled expletives at the police and repeated that they didn't "dictate terms" to him. Police then reportedly took the male into custody and found another Kentucky driver's license issued to Miami University student Michael Sebastian, II. Sebastian was taken into custody and allegedly told officers he was an employee of the United States of America, and they would be fired from the United States of America for arresting him. Sebastian was charged with underage intoxication, possession of a fake I.D., disorderly conduct and obstructing official business.
Female drives recklessly, thinks it is funny
Around 1:40 a.m. Saturday, officers reportedly observed a black Nissan traveling north on College Corner Pike that accelerated above the speed limit of 35 mph and swerved from curb to curb almost losing control. When the officer stopped the car, the driver was identified as Miami University sophomore Casey Ellerman. Police reportedly detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath and when they asked her why she was driving recklessly she said she thought it was funny. Ellerman reportedly told the officer she had consumed a couple of vodka shots and some beer at a party. Ellerman reportedly performed poorly on field sobriety tests and asked police "Are you f*cking kidding me?" after they gave her directions to perform the one-legged stand. Ellerman was taken to OPD and a Breathalyzer found her BAC to be 0.26. Ellerman was cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, underage intoxication and willful or wanton disregard for safety.
Sleeping student says he had a 'rough night'
At 1 a.m. Saturday, officers observed a male subject passed out on a park bench near the intersection of Main and High streets. The officer reported noticing a number of females taking inappropriate pictures with the male subject, but when the officer approached they quickly left the area. The male was lying on his back with an iPhone on his chest and appeared to have vomit on his shirt. According to police reports, the male was originally unresponsive but sat up quickly after a few attempts to wake him. The male was identified as Miami University sophomore Alexander Campbell, 20. Campbell reportedly had the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and told police he had been drinking, and it had been "a rough night." Campbell reportedly told police he knew nothing about the pictures that were being taken of him. Campbell was charged with underage intoxication and public intoxication.
Male with wet crotch claims he works for U.S.
At around 2 a.m. Sunday, officers were dispatched to a disturbance at Woody's One Up at 11 S. Main St. When police arrived, an employee of the bar reportedly said a male subject had urinated in the bar and on the dance floor and attempted to punch the owner when he tried to remove him. Police reportedly met with the male who gave them a Kentucky driver's license issued to Ryan Harrison, 26. When officers were speaking with the male he reportedly yelled at them and said they would not dictate terms to him. When police spoke with the male, his crotch was reportedly wet, he had the odor of alcohol on his breath and was slurring his speech. Officers reportedly told the male to leave the area and not to come back. The male began walking away but then stopped and yelled expletives at the police and repeated that they didn't "dictate terms" to him. Police then reportedly took the male into custody and found another Kentucky driver's license issued to Miami University student Michael Sebastian, II. Sebastian was taken into custody and allegedly told officers he was an employee of the United States of America, and they would be fired from the United States of America for arresting him. Sebastian was charged with underage intoxication, possession of a fake I.D., disorderly conduct and obstructing official business.
Female drives recklessly, thinks it is funny
Around 1:40 a.m. Saturday, officers reportedly observed a black Nissan traveling north on College Corner Pike that accelerated above the speed limit of 35 mph and swerved from curb to curb almost losing control. When the officer stopped the car, the driver was identified as Miami University sophomore Casey Ellerman. Police reportedly detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath and when they asked her why she was driving recklessly she said she thought it was funny. Ellerman reportedly told the officer she had consumed a couple of vodka shots and some beer at a party. Ellerman reportedly performed poorly on field sobriety tests and asked police "Are you f*cking kidding me?" after they gave her directions to perform the one-legged stand. Ellerman was taken to OPD and a Breathalyzer found her BAC to be 0.26. Ellerman was cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, underage intoxication and willful or wanton disregard for safety.
Sleeping student says he had a 'rough night'
At 1 a.m. Saturday, officers observed a male subject passed out on a park bench near the intersection of Main and High streets. The officer reported noticing a number of females taking inappropriate pictures with the male subject, but when the officer approached they quickly left the area. The male was lying on his back with an iPhone on his chest and appeared to have vomit on his shirt. According to police reports, the male was originally unresponsive but sat up quickly after a few attempts to wake him. The male was identified as Miami University sophomore Alexander Campbell, 20. Campbell reportedly had the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and told police he had been drinking, and it had been "a rough night." Campbell reportedly told police he knew nothing about the pictures that were being taken of him. Campbell was charged with underage intoxication and public intoxication.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Holy Toledo!
>Holy Toledo
Most likely first used in the early 1900s, either refers to a sarcastic remark about
- Urban Dictionary
One the left is Brett, the blogger, who kept the blog alive all summer, and on the right is Angela. . . who did not.
On the right is the Kalb family rocking the ice cream business. I was super jealous of their fun and took a few pictures of myself pretending to serve people ice cream through the window. We were stopping through on our way to good . . read the sign.
Brett and his parents (I spared everyone the fat cat Willard Pics)Below I was going to put a pic. from Larisa's Bridal Shower but this picture was too cute and Roz was there so it feels relevant.
I don't believe we ever really introduced Leon to anyone. If you don't know where this name came from then you missed out on a really great series.Unfortunately in this picture Leon had already "passed." We bought him at our local Walmart and
even though the guy said there were too many minerals in the H2O and their fish were dying we thought we would give him a chance. It weirded (spell check does not recognize this word but I am just going with it) us out to have another living thing in the house, but technically he was only there for like a day. We are trying a cactus now. One the right Brielle is just being her awesome self. Floating around on the blow up wave runner - why not?
Then there is Brett at the Toledo Mud Hens Game. The first event I am pretty sure with all the siblings married off. The Kalb's now include the Stricklands AND the Beadles! I think this makes everything very fun!
Below is a picture of the bridal party searching the grass for Larisa's wedding band which was lost before the ceremony. Larisa could not have been more calm. . . it was pretty impressive! Happy ending - we found it!
Left would be out beloved Thursday nights at the Oxford Summer Music Festival. The last one had a pig roast and this guy running around with his shirt off playing an air guitar on the stairs of the stage with the band. He was not part of the band but very sweaty and he LOVED playing his air guitar in peoples faces, quite enterainting! Maybe Brett will post on all of the craziness as he captured it with the camera.
Brett and I spent some time in Northern Michigan with his parents, sisters, and Tim. Yes, just like the Kid Rock song. Most of my time was spent laying out on the boat by day and becoming emotionally attached to the Twilight book series by night. Brett caught a couple fish and scored a nice tan! Good times had by all.
Dad came Monday night for a short BUT sweet trip! He actually came with mom a little bit ago when Larisa and Cameron went to Cinci, but I didn't take pictures then. So, its like it never happend in my blog world. Dad came down after work and we ran, hung out, ate, and had some homemade apple dumplings from mom as an early Happy Birthday to Brett (three days early). It kicked off his birthday week. Thanks for coming down Dad! It reminded me of our Libreville days when Dad would stay at our place on his way back and forth from work team building trips.I hope I am out of pictures to make notes on. Here is my final picture. . .of this post. Our neices are coming to visit Auntie Angela and Uncle Brett soon!
- Angela
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Love in a Time of War
Funny story. A while back, I posted that my review of Yusef Komunyakaa's Warhorses was accepted at an online magazine. Well, the issue is currently being put together, but my essay was one of the first up, so I was able to view it a couple days ago...but before I get to the interesting part, a bit of backstory.
I was told that since I was submitting a book review, I didn't have to title my essay-- it could just be the title of the book, and underneath "Reviewed by Brett Strickland." Or something along those lines. Since I had no snappy title, that's what I left it as. What I was not told, was that if I didn't pick a title the editor would slap one on for me.
So imagine my surprise when I clicked on the link to my review, and was greeted with an essay titled "Severed Genitals." Whoa. For a few moments, I was in a state of mild shock.
Now, I have to admit (sorry mom) that phrase is in the essay. But as a title, I'm not sure what it's meant to convey...luckily the editor was kind enough to let me change the title to "Love in a Time of War" (the title of section I in the book), which is a bit more fitting for the contents of the review.
I've included a link below for anyone interested in reading it. It's only about 600 words. The goofy picture of me at the bottom was taken by Angela before I left for "my first day of school" last summer.
Komunyakaa Review
I actually sent the review to Yusef Komunyakaa (he won the Pulitzer for poetry in '94, and is currently teaching at NYU), and he responded this morning, saying thanks, and that he was in Poland. Sort of fun. It's nice to be part of a subculture where the celebrities can still be tracked down for correspondance.
cheers.
I was told that since I was submitting a book review, I didn't have to title my essay-- it could just be the title of the book, and underneath "Reviewed by Brett Strickland." Or something along those lines. Since I had no snappy title, that's what I left it as. What I was not told, was that if I didn't pick a title the editor would slap one on for me.
So imagine my surprise when I clicked on the link to my review, and was greeted with an essay titled "Severed Genitals." Whoa. For a few moments, I was in a state of mild shock.
Now, I have to admit (sorry mom) that phrase is in the essay. But as a title, I'm not sure what it's meant to convey...luckily the editor was kind enough to let me change the title to "Love in a Time of War" (the title of section I in the book), which is a bit more fitting for the contents of the review.
I've included a link below for anyone interested in reading it. It's only about 600 words. The goofy picture of me at the bottom was taken by Angela before I left for "my first day of school" last summer.
Komunyakaa Review
I actually sent the review to Yusef Komunyakaa (he won the Pulitzer for poetry in '94, and is currently teaching at NYU), and he responded this morning, saying thanks, and that he was in Poland. Sort of fun. It's nice to be part of a subculture where the celebrities can still be tracked down for correspondance.
cheers.
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