Happy. Five reasons why.
1. Being able to feel all my emotions, even when they don’t feel so good.
2. This drawing of me hanging in a New York museum. Okay maybe it’s not me, but grandson Daniel said it looked like me.
3. Plantains
4. Seeing both a perfect sunrise and a perfect sunset this week.
5. The Promise of Easter
It’s Friday again, and I’m in New York City with daughter Amy, son-in-law Orte, and grandsons Daniel and Gabriel. That in itself is reason enough to be HAPPY. But here are FIVE more reasons:
1.. Still filled with memories of last weekend’s beautifully fun St. Patrick’s Day.
2.. Finding this cool driftwood-and-found-objects ship sculpture at Habersham Antiques and Collectibles in Savannah.
3.. Realizing that so much about being joyful in life is a result of CHOICE.
4.. Flying to New York with a five- and three-year-old.
5.. It’s freezing here in Manhattan, but here I am last week down on Amelia Island
Have a great weekend and take care of business while I’m away.
Top of the Friday morning, to you. Here are Five Friday Bringers of Happiness:
1. This cool pic of blooming almond trees in California sent by my new buddy Don Simmons. Don is good friends with Rick and Linda, the couple who moved to Savannah from Wisconsin. One fabulous day they gave me the tour of the “Joy in their own back yard”. Here’s what Don said in his accompanying email: “Since you mentioned almonds in one of your post, as something that brings you joy–I wanted to send you one of the great views that I have here in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where most of the world’s almonds are grown–it’s time for our ‘blossom trail’ and the almonds are certainly giving us a beautiful show–as well as the Sierras!”
2. Finishing up a great Winter Quarter at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). My two classes:
3. Savannah azaleas (near Forsyth Park):
4. The promise of SPRINGTIME:
5. Fresh pineapple.
Have a Lucky St. Patrick’s Day Weekend!
It’s Friday All Day Long! Here’s what I am happy about:
1. My SCAD ENGL 193 (Composition for International Students) classes and I holding an informal drop-in Visual Essay Exhibition on Wednesday. A rousing success! I was/am SO proud of my students: artists showing off their work!
Here’s the blurb about the exhibition which I printed out on little programs:
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VISUAL ESSAYS:
A Classroom Exhibition Habersham Hall 3/6/13 SCAD
For this project, students in Neal Saye’s ENG 193, Composition for International Students, both think “essay” and forget “essay.” They can do that—they’re smart! How is the project like an essay? Well, they compose, they have a focus and thesis, they have structure, they have support. But it does not evolve in traditional essay format. It births as a sculpture, a collage, a scrapbook, a video, a painting, a mobile, a form, a food, fashion, theatrical presentation, etc.
In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho presents various themes about life and dream following. After reading the incredible text, students choose a theme, a symbol, a character, an idea, etc. and then create.
The visual essay project, then, is a visual representation of one topic narrowed into a clear thesis/point/perspective/idea. The students’ challenge: how to “show” their thesis.
This exhibition reveals their interpretations.
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And some photos from the exhibition:
And some pics of the visual essays themselves:
2. My iPhone (and sense enough to minimally operate it). Can anybody else remember when a phone was this device you used to call people … and … like, talk?
3. The expectant thought of fresh, fat, orange-red, Vine-Ripened Tomatoes this summer. I nearly cried at lunch yesterday at Panera when this pinkish thing pretending to be a tomato slice fell out of my tuna sandwich. I was so embarrassed I put a napkin over it.
4. Raw almonds
5. Our incredible sense of hearing. It’s so amazing. (Well, except when, for some reason, I came across the band Screeching Weasel’s song “Bark Like a Dog.”)
*
That does it. I’m going to start a band, Neal and the Bansheeing TurtlePins. I’m working on our first really big hit, “Knead Like Julia, Martha and Paula (Before the Weight Loss).”
Have a Beautiful Weekend. You HEAR me?
It’s Friday again! Here are a few Happy Bringers.
1. Samples of some of my SCAD international students’ work turned in this week. The assignment is called the Visual Essay and is based on a book we read, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. After reading the book, the students choose a theme, a character, a symbol, an idea, etc, and “make” their essay, using the composition concepts of thesis, structure, organization, support, and detail to get their point across. Here are some completed projects.
2. My obsession with Irish blessings, quotes, and anything Savannah-St. Patrick’s Day-ish:
“May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.”
3. My brand-spanking-new NealEnJoy blog card holder (and cards):
4. A picture that doesn’t make me look too fat:
(Can I wear skinny jeans at my age?)
5. Taking my ENG 193 (Composition for International Students) classes on a really fascinating docent-led tour of the exhibits at the SCAD Museum of Art during the recent DeFINE ART event (which was actually held at three of SCAD’s campuses in Savannah, Atlanta, and Hong Kong).
[More complete blog post on the museum tour to follow soon.]
Have an Artfully Beautiful Weekend!
I had a great time at Friday’s Student Success in Writing Conference here in Savannah. And I delivered the Keynote Address!
Here’s the blurb from the conference website:
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“Teaching Life: the Heart, the Art”
Dr. Neal Saye. Associate Professor Emeritus of Writing and Linguistics Georgia Southern University. Adjunct Professor, Savannah College of Art & Design
Chair or co-chair of the Student Success conference for much of its 14-year history, Neal was also a key member of its founding committee. He reported on these experiences in “Pearls and Perils of Starting a Conference” (co-presented with Mary Marwitz and Michael Mills) at a Popular Culture Association in the South in Jacksonville, Florida. He brought the same dedication to running this conference as he did to his teaching philosophy. A dedicated blogger, Neal posted to his Facebook and WordPress sites: “My passion in life is learning about/exploring/playing with the subjects of joy and happiness. For the past five years or so, I have used this subject to inform my pedagogy and my day-to-day classroom assignments and activities. What has happened is that teaching about happiness has made me (and I hope my students) happier. Thus my passion spilled over into my teaching, which came rushing back into my life.”
Now an associate professor emeritus after 24 years of teaching writing at Georgia Southern University, Neal has returned to academia as an adjunct professor for the Savannah College of Art & Design. In addition to his well deserved emeritus designation, Neal’s honors and awards include Georgia Southern University Professor of the Year, 2010 and 1993; Dorothy Smith Golden Award for Teaching Excellence, Writing and Linguistics Department, 2003; Georgia Southern University Award for Excellence in Contributions to Instruction, 2001; “Most Approachable Professor” Award, Success-In-U Program, 1994; and “Funniest Professor” Award, Success-In-U Program, 1993. Neal earned his Ed.D. in Curriculum Studies/Cultural Studies in 2002. After earning dual B.S. degrees in English and Biology from Berry College, Neal came to Georgia Southern to earn his M.A. in English Language and Literature.
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Here I am at the podium about two seconds after being introduced:
Kidding. I actually loved all 35 minutes of it! The audience was attentive, fun and laughed and ooohed at all the right places. I used loads of technology with videos, pics and graphics–which all flowed seamlessly. I’ll post the text of the talk a bit later (in case anyone’s interested) when I clean it up a bit for publishing. For now here are some photos.
The conference was held at the beautiful Coastal Georgia Center.
Here’s what I wore. Up to the last minute, I was trying to decide between hip or plain ole.
I know. Probably too much. But I wore a jacket over it. But that eyeball kept looking out at people.
(Armani, borrowed from son-in-law.)
I loved catching up with former Georgia Southern colleagues. Here I am with good buddy Mary Marwitz, who introduced me:
(Isn’t that a cool scarf?) And with Interim Writing and Linguistics Department Chair Phyllis Dallas:
Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Curtis Ricker (and fellow grandfather):
Chatting with J. Marie Lutz from Continuing Education and fellow GSU retiree Nancy Dessommes:
And trying to listen in, unseen, on private conversations:
Where are all the people? Nobody’s here!
Another fellow retiree Mary Hadley:
GSU Provost Jean Bartels:
Former co-worker and blog commenter Rachel VanHorn Leroy:
Coolest tie at conference:
What a crowd showed up!
Here’s a video I used about teachers dancing behind students:
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And here are a few quotes from the address:
“We find what we’re looking for.”
“Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.”
“Caring for Students 101 should be a required course in all teacher education programs.”
“The student is more important than the subject being taught.”
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A great time!
Here are five of my happiness providers this week:
1. This little fellow resting in the curve of my Elephant Ear stems. I love how he embraces snugness.
2. Getting to know my new SCAD students from Taiwan, Colombia, India, China, South Korea, Panama, Vietnam, Denmark, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico.
3. Every now and then, quieting down, closing my eyes and enjoying the nourishment of stillness.
4. This scene from Breakfast at Tiffany’s when Audrey Hepburn sings “Moon River.”
“Moon River” is a Savannah standard, since local boy-who-went-famous Johnny Mercer penned the Academy Award-winning song. And btw I cross Savannah’s Moon River whenever I head out to Skidaway Island to visit my older daughter and family.
5. Next steps in life.
So those are a few of my bringers of happiness. What about you? What makes you joyful on this beautiful September Friday?
It’s lucky FRIDAY the 13th!* And here are Five Happy, Happy Bringers.
* From now on, Friday the 13th is going to be considered a very lucky day filled with all good fortune. Okay? Good. It is now so.
1. Enjoying a fire in July (!)
2. Elephant Ears and other Joys of Nature
3. The Cross
4. Hanging these pics correctly the first attempt.
5. Always having the right tools.
Joyful Weekend!
Friday! Here are five wonderful adders to my happiness (Is “adder” a word?) (Well, in the way I’m using it, I mean?) (Because “adder” is a type of poisonous snake.) (Yuk!) (Or something non-understandable having to do with computer circuits and addition.)
1. Being okay with not knowing whether some words I use are actually words. Because since I have reached a certain age, I don’t care about such correctness so much. I’m trying to embrace my “is-ness,” you know?
2. Seeing the sun rise over the ocean on Amelia Island Thursday morning.
(Okay maybe I went straight back to bed afterwards. But I did leave the doors open so I could hear the surf.)
3. Earlier in the week, I visited my parents in the small North Georgia town of Ball Ground (where I grew up). Tuesday morning, as is our tradition when I’m home, we made our way to Hardees for coffee and breakfast biscuits (sausage and egg for me, in case you’re wondering).
Well, as luck would have it, when we were handed our coffee cups (by a talkative caramel-colored lady who made the biscuits earlier and who was leaving for Puerto Rico the next morning–I’m a good listener/eavesdropper) and went to the urn (cool word) to pour our brew, the huge container was empty. [That sentence is “weigh” too long, but I don’t feel like revising it right now. There’s a severe heat warning in the Eastern U.S. and I really need to take a cool nap ASAP.]
Back to the coffee urn–since it was still nearly dawn (7:30 ish!) and I was only half conscious, I kept pushing that little handle/lever thingy up and down (in maniacal poking-the-elevator-button-to-make-it-come-faster style) hoping to force some joe into my two-dropsful cup.
My mom, 85, who broke her leg a couple of months ago and struggles with walking, relying on a walker, which we fold up and put in the trunk of the car, had already found a table near a group of extremely LOUD senior citizens and waited semi-patiently for her coffee. Seeing me struggling foolishly with the urn spout, she yelled at a shocking volume over the partying old folks, “Neal it’s empty! Can’t you see that? Tell your daddy to get that pretty black girl to get us some from behind the counter. We know her. Are you sure you don’t want the breakfast platter?”
But my father, 89 in November and an extremely efficient doer-of-things, had other plans. While I was staring, openmouthed, at a hauntingly beautiful, ancient and tiny, bird-like, blue-haired lady wearing an oversized Lady Gaga t-shirt cinched at the waist with one of those orange plastic rings, my dad picked up the large, empty urn from the beverage area and carried it slowly, shakily and singlehandedly to the counter. “There you go,” he said to Caramel, who laughed a good-natured “Oh my!” and said we would have coffee in no time. And we did.
4. Sea oats.
5. The incredible fragrance of jasmine growing on trellisses. Find some and smell it deeply.
These fragrantly beautiful vines were growing in abundance in my parents’ side yard.
Have a spectacular last weekend in June!
NealEnJoy 