More From Texas

The discussion of genius the other day was appropriate because I’ve met one and watched another one in action today. I mentioned meeting Amaro Pena, Jr. I got to sit in on a session with him today where he talked about his career, sources of inspiration, creativity, and the importance of art (all arts) in everyone’s life. Early this morning, I got to watch another genius in action, country singer, Larry Gatlin. Larry was on hand at 8:15 (“I generally try to get up at the crack of noon.”) to be recognized for his contributions, not just to music, but to education. He was given the 2008 Amaro Pena, Jr. Journey of Excellence Award, presented by NISOD. In 2001, The Larry Gatlin School of Entertainment Technology at Guilford Technical Community College (High Point, NC) was opened to 75 students. Today, there are 400 students in a state-of-the-art $9.25 million facility. The story is an incredible one. The session was done as a panel discussion with Larry and Don Cameron, the president of GTCC. They talked about how this all came about. Larry also talked about everyone who had been an influence in his life—all the teachers who helped and believed in him. Larry was funny, is very knowledgeable of classical literature, and carried on despite the early hour and the fact that his blood sugar fell very low. He got some food from someone in the audience and managed to not drop off, as he thought he might. Then, he brought out a guitar and proceeded to show us how he wrote songs. He took us through the process. First, he started with a melody. Then, he tried to find lyrics that fit the mood. He joked about how hard it was for him to do it. He said he gave up and went up to bed and then got an idea from watching his wife sleeping. Words started coming out. Then he faltered again, played around more, and came up with some more. The song he took us through creating is “I’ve Done Enough Dying Today.” The lyrics and melody are beautiful and complement the incredible range of his voice. Though he made fun of himself, it was fascinating to watch how he arrived at such a great song. We really did get a glimpse into his genius. He said that only two of the songs he and his brothers have recorded were not written by him. It is no wonder that he has been so successful for 40 years and why so many great artists, including Elvis, have recorded his songs. Seeing Larry and getting to meet and know Amado made this trip worthwhile. These two men are really geniuses in their fields. The fact that they are humble, giving individuals makes them even more special.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

My friend Terri Justice and I have been in Austin, Texas since Sunday. We are attending the NISOD (National Institute for Staff & Organizational Development) 30th annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence. Terri has been here several times and has been trying to get me to go for a long time. It's been an incredible experience being around so many high-powered educational professionals. I received a medallion for teaching excellence on Sunday, and there will be a more formal ceremony on Wednesday. I've already been to several sessions, starting at 8:15 this morning. I've gotten some good ideas to improve what I do in the classroom and also to bring back and share with my colleagues.

The absolute highlight has been meeting Yaqui Tribal Artist, Amado Pena, Jr. Terri owns a couple of his art works (well, it was a couple until today) and gave me one of the ceramic tiles he did last year (American eagle). He is so talented and such a neat person. I first bought a book that had his paintings and his sister's poetry in it. Then Terri bought me a reproduction of one of his works (originally signed by him). Today, I bought one of his original paintings. It will be a great addition to my art collection at home. Terri took a picture of me with him and the piece which I will put online once we get back home. Terri also bought two original pieces for herself. Check out his website to see his work. He lives in Santa Fe, NM.

The only drawback is that I am eating too well. They had a Southwest buffet tonight. I did make a couple of trips (but the plates were small). There was also some great country music from a group called Texas Fever.

More good sessions tomorrow.

Serendipity at the I-Hop

I was eating dinner at my usual I-Hop. As has been the custom lately, I was the only customer and talked to the server as we usually do before she took my order. I came in with a copy of Good Blonde & Others, a book of uncollected writing by Jack Kerouac, which I found a couple of weeks ago. I had never seen the book before though it was copyrighted 1993. It was edited by Donald Allen with a forward by none other than Robert Creeley. I've kept the book on my nightstand and have read bits and pieces of it. I decided to take it with me to dinner as I just finished another book and didn't have anything else to start right now. I started reading an essay titled "Are Writers Made or Born?" It's a question that often comes up in my lit classes. Kerouac had me with the first sentence: "Writers are made, for anybody who isn't illiterate can write; but geniuses of the writing art like Melville, Whitman or Thoreau are born." He goes on to define genius and differentiates it from talent. A celebrated virtuoso (Jack's word) who plays Brahms might be called a genius, but Brahms is really the genius while the violinist "is simply a talented interpreter." That struck a familiar cord in me. I thought back to Stephen Crane's short story, "The Open Boat." After the men in the boat finally made their break to shore and all but the oiler has been saved (so much for divine justice), the narrator reflects one more time on the whole event. "When it came night, the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea's voice to the men on shore, and they felt that they could then be interpreters." Of the sea's voice? Of the sea's meaning? Of the meaning of life? Did their brush with death (life?) prepare them to perhaps attempt to interpret what this all meant? Is that what life's experiences allow us to do? Is the sea's voice the voice of God? Do we ever know what he is saying to us if, in fact, he actually talks to us at all (or even exists)? Kerouac feels that there are those among us (Shakespeare, Yeats, Joyce, Melville, Emerson, Dickinson, Stein, Hemingway, as some he names) who do possess that genius. Kerouac's definition of genius "is simply a person who originates something never known before." Near the end, he says, "Genius gives birth, talent delivers. What Rembrandt or van Gogh saw in the night can never be seen again." Starry Night always hangs in my lit classroom. I make frequent reference to it and van Gogh throughout the semester. I tell them of my walking out of and dropping a grad art history course after the professor said of van Gogh after he showed us that painting, "Obviously, he was insane." So, what is the point of all of this, and where is that serendipity? One of the assistant managers (herself a young woman, like my server) was showing a new server around the restaurant. She told her how each station should be set up. What goes where depends on what time of day it is. There is an effect that they are trying to achieve and maintain. At one point, she said, "You are trying to achieve an exuberant control" over the station and the impression it makes. I liked the saying so much that I asked her where it came from. She said it came from her boss who had a knack for saying things like that. I know the man she is talking about. I see him there some Sunday mornings. He watches over everything, maintaining an "exuberant control" over their busiest time of the week. The ebb and flow of the enterprise is inspiring. His staff does its best to interpret and carry out his vision. They are a very talented group. The man is a genius.

Red, White, and Bluegrass

The City of Hollywood held its sixth annual Bluegrass Music Festival this weekend at the beach. Besides the bandshell, they also had a large stage set up on the beach. It actually ran for the whole weekend. The headliner was Ricky Scaggs, 13-time Grammy award winner and member of the Grand Ole Opry. Ricky performed on the stage on the beach. Several thousand people were spread out from the broadwalk to the ocean. The setting and the weather were perfect. Of course, I didn't think to bring my camera, but here's a picture of Ricky anyway.



Ricky played a bunch of his hits. He also did some tribute songs to the originals of Bluegrass music like Flatt and Scruggs, and Bill Monroe. Bluegrass music is very popular in South Florida. The South Florida Bluegrass Association is very active with monthly concerts. Though not to everyone's taste, Bluegrass is an original American art form.

There were local groups playing in the bandshell all day long. There were also many vendors along the broadwalk, including one that sold Philly Cheesesteaks that tasted like the ones I used to get in South Philly. They even got the cheese right, which no one seems to do.

It was a great night. There are many neat things to do in the City of Hollywood.

It Takes a Village . . . to Make a Movie

The excitement on our campus for the past few days is that our theater was chosen to film a scene from a new Jerry Bruckheimer film, Confessions of a Shopaholic. For those who know (I wasn't one of them), there are a series of books about the main character. This is the first though I guess there is some controversy as the first book takes place in London, and the film is in New York. Ah well. Our theater is supposed to be a board room in New York. They did set ups on Thursday and filming on Friday. It was rather interesting. We thought we might get to be extras, but that wasn't the case. I guess we couldn't fool anyone into thinking we were successful stockholders. About 6:00 a.m. on Friday, the extras started showing up. I guess no one told them they didn't have to come in until 10:00. I don't think they actually started shooting until late afternoon. They were all dressed in black suits. There was a huge tent set up on the grounds for them. I heard there were about 150 extras. Though there were some gorgeous women, most of them were just people in suits. The catering was impressive. Too bad they couldn't stay on and run our cafeteria. I never did see any of the stars. I'd never heard of the actress playing the main character (Isla Fisher) though some of the secondary characters are well-known: John Goodman, Joan Cusack, and Lynn Redgrave. Anyway, I took some pictures from the roof outside my office (it used to be easier to step up onto the windowsill) to show how many trucks and how much equipment were needed to film one scene.