Back in the Saddle, Albeit Briefly

Posted on January 11, 2013 by fsdthreshold

Happy New Year to all!

What a glorious week this has been! It was my great joy and privilege to substitute teach for a friend who needed a sub at the Community College of Beaver County. So for the first time, I have stood in an American college classroom as the teacher! I have taught a week of writing to native speakers of English! And, wow! — nothing could have motivated me more to try to find a way to do this full-time again. No matter how hard it is, one way or another, I need to get that master’s degree. The classroom really is where I belong. To be using more of my primary gifts again was wonderful.

I had twenty-three students. For the most part, they were responsive and seemed appreciative. They were willing to try the activities I had ready for them. Yes, full-time writing is still what I’d choose if I had the choice; but it sure felt good to be teaching again!

I’m also grateful to my regular bosses for letting me off recycling work so I could do this. I will say this for my job: it does offer a lot of flexibility. As long as I arrange it well in advance, I can take the time off to do good things.

I’ve used the freer schedule this week to forge ahead on my book, too. Alas, Frick Park is still too cold and wet to allow for writing there, but I’ve discovered the best indoor writing location in Pittsburgh: the main branch of the Carnegie Library. I’ve spent a lot of time there this week with the Neo. My favorite place there is in one of the grand halls on the second floor, where I can write beneath the high-arching, molded ceiling, surrounded by books. The library even has a coffee shop on the first floor. Coffee, slow time, soft lighting, the scent of pages and scholarship, the stir of quiet, occupied people, and writing tools . . . sigh . . . another earthly glimpse of Paradise.

Catching up — it’s been forever — I am going to try my utmost to write blog entries more often in this new year! . . . I saw The Hobbit for a second time, this time in 3-D. I’m still not a big fan of 3-D movie technology, but the film itself is amazing. It gets even better under scrutiny. I was talking with Marquee Movies about this, and I concluded that, much as I love the LOTR movies, there’s something I love just as much about this one. I think it’s because The Hobbit is simply pure adventure. The world isn’t at stake. Either the Dwarves will reclaim their home, or they won’t. Middle-earth is still in the (deceptively) peaceful balance of the Third Age. Bilbo goes on an adventure, and all we know about the ring so far is that it’s extremely handy. I love the lightness and fun of The Hobbit. We’re not yet into the dark Responsibility of LOTR.

And for that reason, The Hobbit evokes for us the stories we fell in love with as children. Remember those, whatever they were in your case? I remember sitting with my grandma on the couch as she would read to me, and inevitably she’d fall asleep, and just before she did, whatever we were reading, she would murmur, “And the little dog had more.” She’d say it in a happy, concluding sort of way. It must have been the last line of some story she’d known as a child, or perhaps one she’d read to her kids, my mom and the others. Anyway, it was a happy line echoing down the corridors of time.

For me, this movie version of The Hobbit resonates with much of that same innocence and joy. Here are green hills, peaceful trees, kingdoms under mountains, moon runes, Dwarves, Elves, and hole-dwelling Hobbits. Three cheers for Tolkien! And three more for Peter Jackson and crew!

This blog entry began in one place and ended in another. Which, I guess, is the way of stories, and journeys, and adventures. “Can you guarantee that I will come back?” Bilbo asks. “No,” answers Gandalf. “And if you do, you will not be the same.”

30 Responses to Back in the Saddle, Albeit Briefly

  2. Jedibabe says:

    What a wonderful week you’ve enjoyed! I am so happy to hear that you are excited to get your Master’s degree; you are far too gifted a fellow to not be teaching your craft.

    I just this moment came back from my second viewing of The Hobbit. I saw the film the first time in Imax 3D and this time in 2D because there is just so very much to take in in this film and the 2D seemed a better way to do that without being overwhelmed. This time I got more personal meaning out of it and was particularly moved by Gandalf’s statement: “Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of my own research and really appreciate how Tolkien is able to sum up so very much meaning in just a sentence or two. It is so important for each of us to find our place in this world, where we feel at home and able to make our impression. I love that you have been reminded of what you have to offer the world, just as Bilbo comes to see why he is helping the dwarves (in the film anyways!). May we all remember every day those small acts that keep the darkness at bay. Thank you for the great posts and I look forward to reading more of your journey.

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Wow! Thank you very much, Jedibabe! I really appreciate your comment. I love that part of the movie, too. “Why the halfling?” Galadriel asks — she who has been alive since the First Age, and knows so much. Why the halfling? And Mithrandir answers. Tolkien was wise in beginning and ending his tales, both this one and LOTR, with hobbits. Hobbits are us. Marquee Movies recently pointed out to me that The Hobbit is the tale of discovering oneself. We can so relate to longing for comfort and home, for our handkerchiefs, for a warm fire, for our books and beds and gardens. But to live is to be on a journey. Will we exercise mercy and compassion? Will we be courageous? Will we be the person we were born to be? That’s what I’m learning. To quote my own poem, “I am looking at lilacs, / And I see / All things wild, forever, free; / Seasons remembered, / And Eternity; / Where I have been, / And what I must be.”

      Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Thank you so much, Morwenna! It was just a one-week gig, though I get to do it once more (for one day) coming up at a different community college. And I am inspired to do what it takes to get back to the teaching life. Of the jobs I’m aware of, that’s the only one that seems right for me, in addition to writing itself. Thanks for your friendship and support!

      Reply
      • Morwenna says:

        I understood it wasn’t a permanent hire, but still, what a great opportunity! 🙂

        Blessings! Hope you had a wonderful birthday.

        Reply
  5. Joe says:

    Happy belated birthday Fred. Did you get the E-mail I sent you? Anyhow it’s good to be back here. Glad you could go back and teach.

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Thanks, Joe! Yes, I received your e-mail, and I just replied to it. Very sorry for the delay. I’m really happy to see you back here!

      Reply
  6. I am Mr. Brown Snowflake says:

    AT LAST! I have been waiting patiently (and praying for) your return to the classroom … it is clearly where you belong. Of course, the demands of fame, book promotion, etc. will soon take you away from it, but the classroom is where I have known you to be happiest, and I was thrilled to read the news.

    I have been trying to work in a second viewing of The Hobbit but cannot seem to find the slot in which it would fit. Like Jedibabe, I am sure I would discover more in a second viewing (especially if I went alone this time).

    Reply
  7. Hagiograph says:

    Meandering the streets of Paris the past two weeks. Loving the cold, some snow. Wandered through Pere Lachaise cemetary yesterday in the bitter freezing cold and saw the graves of such writers as Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein…oh yeah and real reason I went there: Joseph Fourier (mathematician).

    It fascinates me the fame of people long after they are gone. There were tombs of people who were obviously of great means during their lives and whose names mean almost nothing, whereas Wilde died here in Paris in near penury but now has a fine looking stone marker and a name almost universally and immediately recognized.

    It does make one wonder about the nature of “immortality”, that during life one could go from great heights to lows and then in death attain a sort of “lasting” fame.

    Of course I drifted by Jim Morrison’s grave. I was never much into the Doors and I never really “got” Morrison’s poetic gift (I almost never “get” poetry of any form, but Morrison even less so), and see that 40+ years later on people are still obsessed with him. His last couple of years as I understood them were not necessarily the height of his fame, but when one goes at 27 the “possibilities” are of course endless of what they COULD have done.

    Then there was Stein’s grave. Alice B. Toklas is buried there too, but you don’t see her name on the front of the tombstone out by the walkway. It’s on the back. I’m sure that’s fine with her, she was apparently Gertrude’s helpmate and was no doubt overshadowed by Stein but clearly of great importance to her. And she herself achieved some fame in later years and in pop culture after.

    Many of the painters I saw in the Louvre earlier that week were also in Pere Lachaise. And their art lives on even if we don’t always know who painted “The Raft of the Medusa”. But we know the images. They are part of us and our brain chemistry.

    And finally I revisited one of my favorite Paris-area sites: Basilique St-Denis. The most striking thing about this is that during the French Revolution the mob basically dug up all the royalty (all but 3 French kings are buried there) and took the mortal remains of their collected history and dumped the bodies in a lime pit rendering it almost impossible to know whose body parts were whose after the process.

    I understand the emotions of the Revolution and I understand the desire to iconoclasm, but in a sense in destroying their history they came dangerously close to destroying a part of who they _were_. It was actually a great deal of work for the forces that preserved places like St-Denis and Notre Dame.

    There was a big move to “de-Christianize” France after the Revolution and while I am not one to complain about the loss of religion I feel it should never be destroyed (unless it is a harmful variant). The amazing cathedrals and faith of the previous generations is amazing and a significant part of who we as a people are. Who we were is part of who we are.

    I don’t believe in immortality (nor do I want it), but I do believe in preserving who we were so we can appreciate all we had and have. As such I like the immortality one sees when walking through cemetaries and ancient cathedrals.

    So how does this all relate to the current post? Well, it kinda doesn’t. But it kinda does. Writers are teachers by nature. The difference is that writers don’t always have to make the lesson clear at the outset. But they all have something to teach us about who are and if their writing is good they will teach us who we were.

    And teachers do just that. Helping us become better “us’s” and maybe planting the seeds for future “immortals” in their classrooms.

    So Fred you should do whatever you need to to get back in the classroom. There’s nothing like it. That’s why I always tried to keep my hand in the classroom…my true desire was to be in academe but I wound up in “industry” and it isn’t a “dream”. It just “is”.

    I’m joining the grey line of unknown cogs in industrial wheels.

    This is my way to encourage in whatever meek way I can your desire not only to be a great writer but to also be a great teacher.

    Make your own immortality and maybe along the way build a pantheon of others in your wake!

    Reply
  8. Hagiograph says:

    Totally unrelated to the Blog but thought I’d share it with all y’all since you are readers of Fred’s and would no doubt find these interesting from an aesthetic point!

    As I said I’m wandering around Paris this week (last week and next) and since it’s often cold and grey (my kinda weather, as Brown will also appreciate!) I was able to catch some cool photos which I then post-processed in Photoshop for some cool effects.

    Pere Lachaise Cemetary (look closely)
    https://picasaweb.google.com/101511554251686571193/Paris2013#5835574680740757922

    Notre Dame Cathedral
    https://picasaweb.google.com/101511554251686571193/Paris2013#5835513085144786850

    Reply
  9. I am Mr. Brown Snowflake says:

    Thanks for the pics, Hagio! Although my reputation as a Francophobe is well intact, I have often wanted to visit Paris just for the history.
    Odd, too, that my one of my favorite artists is Renoir, particularly “The Luncheon of the Boating Party” and “Bal au Moulin de la Galette.”
    One question I have been meaning to ask … and it is of great importance: How is the beer in Paris?

    Reply
    • jhagman says:

      I loved the bier in France, after all they do have Alsace! Fischer’s is very tasty. Have it in a Paris Cafe, and I think your stay will be complete. I think, if I may (having a French Grandmother) say that Monsieur Snowflake you will do very well in France. If your online persona is like the real you, the French will adore you. They love writers, they are culturally creative, but very conservative at the same time. You will find Les Invalides fascinating as well as the many sites of the Isle de la cite

      Reply
      • Hagiograph says:

        Isle de al Cite is way cool. It’s usually my first Metro stop when visiting Paris. I get off at St-Michel-Notre Dame stop and go wandering out by Notre Dame.

        The bulk of my touristy activities this past trip have been centered on the Louvre. I have now logged about 7 to 8 hours in the Louvre and still have much to see. But I’ve hit the biggies (La Jaconda, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Salle de Grand Formats, etc.)

        I tried to get into Les Catacombs but they are mysteriously “closed” right now due to some “technical problems”. No one can fool me, though. Since the French have started their military action in Mali various islamist groups have promised attacks on France. So it only stands to reason that Al Qaeda has enlisted the services of a necromancer who is busy building a zombie army in the Catacombs to attack Paris. However it takes time since the bodies are dismembered so he has to put them all together…meanwhile the French gendarmes are fighting a war under the streets of Paris to stop him!

        (Fred: you’re welcome since I just gave you YET ANOTHER GREAT NOVEL IDEA. You can cut me in on the profits when you publish “Paris Attacked by Islamic Zombie Army”, a touching story of immense blood and gore pitted against the ghosts of dead Catholics FORCED to serve a new Islamic attack on Europe! OOoooOOOOOoooOOO!)

        Reply
    • Hagiograph says:

      I almost never drink (not a moral thing, just don’t like the taste of most alcohol drinks and don’t like th “buzz”), so I cannot speak to beer in Paris. However back in 2011 when I first came here I was invited into an after work meeting with the printers we were working with. I was given a beer and since I don’t drink a small amount had me feeling a bit off-kilter and that was precisely when the French managers of the print shop decided to take my company to task for the paper we were designing and working on. It was a most unpleasant experience as one manager, in only the BEST French accented English sneered at me: “I know about your job!” (I had tried to explain my job was merely as chemist on the paper coating, and this is how he responded).

      Overall I like Paris but it is amazingly like the US. The French, like Americans are amazingly proud of their society, language and military prowess. To that extent there’s evidence of this all around you. But like any major American city Paris is dirty. You are best only to look UP in Paris and now DOWN. The streets are awful and the Metro smells like the NYC Subway (urine and mystery stains).

      But Paris is really amazing historically and if you look around it really, really is beautiful.

      The French are just “people” but these past 2.5 weeks have been a stressor as I’ve been exposed to more of the French “disconnectedness” and world-weariness as various press managers have glared at me or pulled last minute switches on scheduling. It’s a pain to be customer facing.

      But I’ve gotten plenty of time away from that spent at the Louvre and wandering the streets of Paris.

      I will drag the wife back here on a proper vacation. There are still many things to see.

      Brown, you will LOVE Notre Dame and Basilique St-Denis. France for it’s “secular” nature is still pretty much Roman Catholic at heart.

      So DO COME TO PARIS! See it. Enjoy it. And since you will (hopefully) not have to work in any print shops while here you should have a pretty good time with the French. Just think of them as anti-matter Americans!

      Reply
      • I am Mr. Brown Snowflake says:

        Thanks for the encouragement, Hagio!
        As for French “military prowess” I am unaware of any since 1812 (1809 really, but that is another story).
        I am sure I would love Paris, but if I get back to Europe it is Rome I am hitting first, London second and then we will see …

        Reply
        • Hagiograph says:

          I never said French military prowess was particularly _current_ 😉

          As for your priority list that sounds really good. I would love to go to Rome. I’ve been to London but nearly enough!

          If you like cold Helsinki is fun as is Oslo or Trondheim, or my fave Reykjavik!

          Reply
      • jhagman says:

        Actually French military prowess during WWI is very interesting. The 7.5 CM gun that they developed was revolutionary, and the AEF used French artillery-infantry tactics because they were much more effective than the British methods. Foch and Petain were very good generals, and Foch foresaw what would happen in 1939; “this isn’t an armistice, this is a cease-fire for twenty years” 1919. As to what happened in 1940, I have literally two sides of my French Family who have not spoken since 1940- very strange to an American.

        Reply
        • Hagiograph says:

          I actually do think the French get a bad rep for WWII. The German war machine was pretty amped up and hungry. And certainly the French resistance was no small player in the world. I think it kind of stings to the French that America did step in and bring a great deal to the fight, but then that should go for all of Europe at the time. We were bigger and younger and booming out of a serious Depression with untouched mechanical production systems safe from harm. We were the ones to beat.

          I think the French are so much like Americans in their fierce “pride” that I think almost all of our “complaints” about the French are exactly the complaints we should have about ourselves.

          We really are like siblings who just don’t seem to really get along because we share so many commonalities.

          The French attitude of “France: take it on our terms” is very much like our American attitude of “come to us, we don’t come to you”.

          France is for the French and visitors are welcome but don’t pester the French too much. They’ve got stuff to do. French stuff. They’re busy.

          Right now they are celebrating 50 years of the Treaty of Elysee between France and Germany. The papers are all talking about how intertwined France and Germany are today that it would be “unthinkable” for them to go to war with each other again. But I fear when I hear that sort of rhetoric. No “war” is unthinkable to the sufficiently angry. Right now there’s a good relationship between the two countries but things and events change.

          The EU is strained right now. Germany (rightfully) feels like it is the headmaster, the UK is doing OK but they’ve always kept EU at arms length and now they are talking seriously about leaving it. The problem with the EU is that each country is independent but dependant upon the union. No central control can be exercised without it seeming like German attempts to take over and dictate (again).

          I hope the economy turns around soon before the strain gets too large on the EU. It seems like people in Europe are seriously thinking more and more about dissolution in bits and pieces. Which means poorer countries like Spain and Greece will get hurt badly. Even talk within Spain of the _country_ itself fragmenting.

          So yes, there’s still a granularity of peoples here. And those memories don’t seem to fade.

          Reply
          • I am Mr. Brown Snowflake says:

            Dont get my conservative juices flowing over the failed EU! And the French are not busy…they work 30-32 hours and week and take six weeks off. They are lazy and have not mattered as a big player on the world stage since 1870

          • jhagman says:

            What??! More antiquated, incorrect Anglo-American History? Case-In-Point, the aerospace autocad software used to design our aircraft comes from a company called “Dassault”, doesn’t sound very American, does it? As to they’re being lazy, they are not duped like many of us are into giving our complete lives to a stupid corporation. The French I know (Engineers, Doctors, wine salespeople etc) actually have time for their families- they work to live, not live to work, they master languages, arts, and actually understand the places they visit. I wish I could say the same about the Americans I’ve seen overseas, Fred is definitely an exception, as many on this blog are, but because how we live in the U.S.; but not the rule. Hagio, the bridges over the Seine are special. Pont Neuf, Pont Alexander III, Pont Mirabeau- the French adore them. I know Le Brun Snowflake would as well!

          • Hagiograph says:

            Not sure the EU is “failed”. But the concept has issues. Frankly I see nothing wrong with an economic community because we have a continent here with a huge fragmentation. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t try to be an economic unit on a par with the US.

            On a personal note: as much as I love the UK, it is a ROYAL pain in the behind to change out Euros for Pounds. I miss the old currencies but I like the idea that I don’t have to work so hard if I do the kind of trips I usually do ( a few days in Belgium, a few days in Nederlands, a few days in Paris, a few days in Finland, etc etc.) Otherwise I’d spend half my time at the currency exchange.

            As for French “laziness” I must point out what I’ve noted:

            1. The French people are, on average, as good a workers as Americans (both bad and good in that)

            2. The managers at the facility I was working at recently seem to be around all the time (sun up to sun down and late into the evening, and most are doing everything from the grunt work to the high level meetings), and believe me, when you do a 22 hour shift at a print shop as I just completed, you get to see when everyone comes in and when everyone leaves.

            My one criticism of the French is that they seem to carry an air of “smug disinterest”, when in fact most are neither smug nor disinterested. Some of my most unpleasant interactions with the customers has been in France, but no doubt they have the exact same attitudes as American managers. Only a different “accent”.

            The American adage: “It’s not personal, it’s business” wears just as clear over here.

            France IS more “laid back” than America…more “mediteranean” style than Northern European style. That is something I don’t like much. But it is what it is. And of course as JHagman has pointed out: they tend to live more for life rather than for work.

            I just did 22 straight hours in the print shop to make sure my program works as well as possible. Did I gain anything at the end of it? Probably not as much as I would have from sitting around eating a croissant and reading a good book.

  10. Trine says:

    Hey, Fred,
    I was reading through your blog today and what a treat it is to catch up on your adventures. I am envious of your NY Author Visits. I dream of being invited to do that one day. So happy for you. And thank you so much for your reviews of The Hobbit. I think we story lovers and Tolkien fans have a special deep connection. Thanks for stirring that up.
    Creative Blessings to you in 2013!

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Thank you, Trine! I’m honored that you were visiting here! Please come back as often as you like! Creative blessings to you, too, in 2013!

      Reply
  11. I am Mr. Brown Snowflake says:

    Joke overheard during the 2012 Tour de France: The last time a bunch of foreigners passed through the French countryside this fast it was the German army. (couldnt help myself, sorry).

    Dr. Who fans: Apparently the recent rumours of a renunion are incorrect. Sorry

    Reply
  12. jhagman says:

    Monsieur Brun, you must admit the “Debacle” (as the French call it) of 1940 is not merely “the French ran away”. The RAF kept back the squadrons of Spitfires-the only plane that was a match for the ME109’s, leaving French and British mechanized columns easy pickings for screaming Stukas, and the French remember that. As it was the Germans still lost 25% of their fighter strength over France. But to give you an idea of how confusing things are about WWII, there are French aces who shot down both German and British planes. Even more confusing for the French was the 1940 political climate, many French did not know which was worse: their own government (communists and socialists) or the Nazis. They soon found out!

    Reply

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