Sunday, March 30, 2014

Medusa's Head

As you can tell from my Medusa book (or if you've taken one of my Humanities courses), I'm a bit of a mythology junkie.
I thought I had looked upon almost every depiction of Medusa imaginable, but today, I just found another new one:

Now that one creeps me out. It's not just scary, but it's realistic, as if I'd be scared to get within a few feet of that dead head--and the snakes don't look dead at all! EEEk.
One look would indeed petrify me with fear.
Another creepy one that isn't as scary, but is more famous is by Caravaggio, the Baroque painter:



And then another fairly common image in relief sculptures:
http://www.loggia.com/myth/images/medusa01.gif.

There, your Medusa for the day.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Raising money for Aplastic Anemia

Once again, I'm riding the Jackson County Brevet century (100 miles near Atlanta, Georgia) to raise money for research and treatment of Aplastic Anemia and related blood disorders. These are pictures from when I did the ride two years ago with my son-in-law Tom McCaslin, who is a healthy survivor of AA. I feel as if this cause is one worthy of my work and  makes me not ashamed to ask for contributions. Tom and I are at it again.

My Jackson County Brevet Page

George Hincapie on the Brevet! : )


Saturday, March 15, 2014

Beware the Ides of March and unrelated--Marguerite Henry

Can't pass this day without thinking about Rome and Julius Caesar. Greek Mythology  and Roman lore are two of the staples of my Intro to Humanities Class at South Central College.

On a different note, Nikki and I took Alec to the Greenville Library yesterday. There is a terrific children's wing. We perused books, picked a bagful for Alec, and I came across this nostalgic section:
When I was in grade school, I read every book I could find that Marguerite Henry wrote.  My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Anderson, made us tell the class what we wanted to be when we grew up (Smile), and who would to teach us how to do it. I said I wanted to be a writer, and I wanted to learn from Marguerite Henry.

I got to hear Marguerite Henry read once at the University of Minnesota--she was the very first published writer I ever saw do a public reading--but I was too shy (believe it or not) to go  up and tell her she was my idol. I wish I could still tell her. Instead, I'll try to do her legacy justice.

Thank you, Marguerite Henry, for all your wonderful stories.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Dr. Seuss

It was Dr. Seuss' birthday this week, and I missed blogging about it. But trust the guru of children's literature, Anita Silvey, to keep us up to speed. Here's her blog about Dr. Seuss' near miss of being a dry-cleaners-owner instead of the author we all love.

To Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street

I have to go grade papers (just got off the trainer), so you can read Anita Silvey's words instead of mine.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee






















Clementine! If you've read Clementine an her sequels, you'll never forget her.

We read Clementine for Children's Lit tonight, had a good discussion, and we watched this delightful clip of the author and illustrator talking about creating this delightful series:

Sara Pennypacker and Marla Frazee talk about "Clementine"