Garden Update

Hey all,

     Gardens, unlike bloggers, never take breaks from creating new content. Here's a few updates on the garden since Patrick or I last wrote. It's still there even though Dr. Bob officially retired. Dr. Bob, at the moment, is teaching at Coe's Wilderness Field Station.
     Penstemon Husker Red was in bloom in late June. Now, its flowers have turned into attractive, waxy red seed pods.

     Not sure the name of the plant, but it attracted this butterfly who didn't mind a photoshoot.

     This shot is from the bed immediately behind the house. 

     This bed is to your right, as you leave the house. Recently, Dr. Bob endorsed it as "one of the better-looking parts of the garden."

     Felicia and I planted two beds near the back gate. We planted Russian Sage, lilies, bee's balm, bachelor's buttons, balloon plants, and a few other things. This bed and its opposite, at the start of summer, were the most chaotic but now that we've tilled, replanted, and re-mulched parts of them, they look more ordered, for now.

     -Peter

Summer Deep Clean

     On Monday, June 23, the summer WC crew, 5 brave students, gathered to clean our space. We knew not what we would uncover, but uncover we did.
     Here's some of the finds.

We ended up with a lot of things from the cafe. 19 cups (plus a red one from the pub), two mugs, and a few tongs from catering. We took it all back, don't worry.

Another kitchen find: look at all these plates! We have so many plates. This is just one set of plates we have. Patrick and I (Peter) took everything out of the cupboards and cleaned them well.

While Felicia and Nicole were moving furniture and vacuuming the main room. We heard a lot of crunches and tings as the vacuum picked up who knows what.

We have a lot of chairs! Look at them! This isn't even all the chairs we have. One question we had while cleaning: Where did all these chairs come from? Another question: Where do they all go?

One thing is certain: the Writing Center smells cleaner now and looks a lot cleaner. Until next time, 

Peter

Advantages of Summers in Cedar Rapids

Namely, the ability to visit Iowa City once in a while. Well, not so much Iowa City as Prairie Lights and The Haunted Bookshop. Because books.
In particular, I made a point of picking up a copy of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I already have a copy, but it's an eBook. I thought I'd save money that way. I had forgotten to factor in the fact that trying to read Infinite Jest on an eBook is a horrible life choice because it's so ridiculously dense. I also happened upon a copy of Doctor Faustus. Which, as I am looking the book up on Goodreads to link, I have now realized was not the book I had wanted to buy. Silly me; I had actually been looking for Doctor Faustus. Can't imagine how I'd ever make that sort of mistake. So, instead of an early-17th century English playwright's rendition of the Faust myth I get a mid-20th century German's rendition of the myth which focuses heavily on contemporary (for when the book was published) German social issues... You know, I actually am kind of happy I made that mistake.
Also, while I'm on the subject of my stumbling in book buying, I managed to finally find a copy of Pscyho. And, while I was browsing the horror section for some comfort-reading material (like you do) I saw a copy of Hannibal. As I was already picking up a classic horror book successfully turned into a movie that's probably better remember, I figured I'd pick up the other one. Only to realize that there's also a book called The Silence of the Lambs which comes before Hannibal in the series. Fortunately, I managed to snag a copy of that as well. I did not, however, realize that those were the third and second books respectively, and the first book (Red Dragon) did not happen to magically appear in my possession before I left the store.
So... Reading. Yeah. Gonna have to do some of that.

-Patrick

Odd Jobs & Good Books

     There is always an element of surprise working in the WC. You never know who will walk in looking for a conference or what subject you might end up talking about. Maybe one of your coworkers makes a batch of flan or mashed potatoes at 10 pm.
     But in the summer, the surprise comes from a different source: Dr. Bob. The other day I helped him move some furniture from campus to home, around his house, into his garden house (a small writing hutch at the end of his property), and a few other things.
     There were a few benefits to me for helping. Dr. Bob gave me a small pot filled with potting soil for an indoor basil plant and a number of books to borrow. Including (but not limited to) Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac, Walden by Thoreau, and The Great American Novel by Philip Roth.
     -Peter

Quotation Time

Today, a few choice quotes from Margaret Atwood, because I can:

From Negotiating With the Dead
-"Normal youths sneered at the artsies, at least at the male ones, and sometimes threw them into snow banks. Girls of an artistic bent were assumed to be more sexually available than the cashmere twin-set ones, but also mouthier, crazier, meaner, and subject to tantrums: getting involved with one was therefore more trouble than the sex might be worth."
-"By two, I mean the person who exists when no writing is going forward--the one who walks the dog, eats bran for regularity, takes the car in to be washed, and so forth--and that other, more shadowy and altogether more equivocal personage who shares the same body, and who, when no one is looking, takes it over and uses it to commit the actual writing."
-"The written word is so much like evidence--like something that can be used against you later."
-"An art of any kind is a discipline; not only a craft--that too--but a discipline in the religious sense, in which the vigil of waiting, the creation of a receptive spiritual emptiness, and the denial of self all play their part."
-"Should the god of the artist be Apollo the Classicist, with his beautiful formality, or Mercury, the mischief-maker, trickster, and thief?"
-"It isn't the writer who decides whether or not his work is relevant."
-"Its [the chapter's] hypothesis is that not just some, but all writing of the narrative kind, and perhaps all writing, is motivated, deep down, by a fear of and a fascination with mortality."
-"I had a boyfriend once who sent me--in a plastic bag, so it wouldn't drip--a real cow's heart with a real arrow stuck through it. As you may divine, he knew I was interested in poetry."
-"A book is another country. You enter it, but then you must leave: like the Underworld, you can't live there."


-Patrick

What up in the WC?

     Just want to give a feel for what the WC is like right now for all of you out of town and missing the space. Sam Orvis and I (Peter Madsen) are at opposite ends to the room, both at computers with our backs to one another. He's studying for the MCAT; I'm working on the summer newsletter.
     Dr. Bob is recently back from his May Term class. They drove all over to watch baseball games. He is packing stuff into boxes, but is not here at the moment. My guess is he's at the Alumni House Garden.
     John, the Gage Union custodian, is waxing the kitchen floor sometime soon, so the table is out of the kitchen, as are all the chairs. But, that didn't stop me from making french toast this morning. A group of tour guides being trained by Ryan Rey walked in and commented on the good smells.
     It's quiet around here, but there is at least one advantage: I get dibs on the space. I'm at my favorite computer (the touch-screen HP by Dr. Bob's office) sitting in my favorite chair (a rolly chair that leans way back) and I am using the white board on wheels to help me organize my thoughts for the newsletter.
     -Peter

Books and Things

So, this weekend I devoted to moving apartments for the duration of the summer, and trying to make sure I unpack as little as possible because I'm going to need to do this again in a few months. But, more importantly, I went book shopping at two different Half Price Books.

I managed to get three books by Margaret Atwood, whose book on writing (Negotiating With the Dead) I'm currently trying to work my way through in spite of my messed up sleep schedule. I also got The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, who visited Coe this past year and seemed to know what she was doing in writing the book. As well as having a fantastically quotable book, with some of said quotes signed and hung around the Writing Center. Somewhere. There were also books by Umberto Eco (wonderful historical fiction). And a book on writing by Jorge Borges, about whom I know little more than that a large amount of the philosophers in my Contemporary Continental Philosophy course liked quoting him. Which, I suppose, is as good a reason as any to pick up a book.

Most importantly though, I grabbed a copy of Tolkien's translation of Beowulf. Which, for whatever reason, was not published until this May. Though that does go a long way towards explaining why I couldn't find the thing no matter how hard I looked, even though every Medievalist who discussed Tolkien mentioned how wonderful his commentary and interpretation of Beowulf was for the study of fantasy literature.

Perhaps I'll get lucky next time I visit Half Price Books and they'll actually have a copy of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.


-Patrick

Tutoring

    During the spring semester, the Coe Writing Center and the Catherine McAuley Center began working together. The McAuley Center offers tutoring in English to people new to the US, in addition to other services, including transitional housing for women. The McAuley Center offers one-on-one tutoring to people from all over the world who are in Cedar Rapids and trying to learn English. Coe's Writing Center is full of tutors who speak English.
     I wasn't on campus in the spring to witness or be a part of the tutoring sessions between Coe students and McAuley students, but I am happy to be tutoring one student this summer. Tutoring is the core of the WC job, and I had missed the chance to work one-on-one with someone over a period of time and to observe their skills and strategies change and improve.
     I am working with an adult from the Democratic Republic of Congo who is very eager to learn English. We have fun together and make sure to laugh at ourselves. The other day, I said I was in an argument with someone and he though I said the person was pregnant.
     A few numbers from the Migration Policy Institute before I go: There are 40 million foreign born persons currently living in the US. Of that group, about half are Limited English Proficient, a self-reported status that indicates the person doesn't consider that he or she speaks English "very well."
     -Peter

While On the Topic of Gardens

The rain means no watering can
Earth black and rich as oil
I might send in an envelope
In lieu of a tuition payment

Weeds love the rain
As do tender shoots of plants
Weeds by virtue of location
Feeling guilty every time I hoe down a flower
For seeking sheltering shade of a rose bush
Wondering if I should have used sunscreen

Worried more about the gnats
Feel like I'm breaking out
Into hives of gnat-bites
Or forgetting an encounter
With a garlic-resistant vampire

Munching tortilla sandwich under a tree
Mulch digging into my pants

Alumni House Garden

     As of now, the aspect of my summer job I'm taking most seriously is the Alumni House Garden. It helps that there are so many wonderful things to look at. Here's a sample. I don't have all the names down, so bear with my ignorance, please. 

     The above photos represent some of the first blossoms in the garden; bleeding hearts and peonies among them. They started to appear about two weeks ago. The batch of photos below is from Wednesday, the 28th. The Siberian Irises are in bloom and the peonies have opened up. In addition to white roses, there are a number of pink roses. The purple flowers are a member of the mint family, and I'm not quite sure what the last photo is, but it's easy on the eyes. 

     After pulling thistle from one of the beds, I realized I'd left quite the trail and couldn't pass up the chance to take a photo. A gardener's self portrait, maybe. 

     -Peter

Thursday's Ramblings

I'm still not used to the Writing Center being quiet. Granted, it's summer and there's basically no one here to use it. But I'm accustomed to there always being at least 4 people inside it at any given moment (save those rare occasions where my sleep schedule was messed up and I went into the Writing Center at 6 or so in the morning to roast some coffee since I was awake anyway). Still, gives me an alternative to Hickok for places other than my apartment to sit around reading books (currently working through Perdido Street Station and The Savage Detectives). Eventually I might have to look through the Writing Center's collection of books to see if there's anything in there I feel like reading.

I'd try using it for writing, but I have this horrible habit of not starting to write until 11 or so at night when I really should be going to bed and getting some sleep. It makes it a little hard to do it anywhere other than my apartment, since I could end up falling asleep at any moment. Or feel like I'm going to fall asleep, try to go to bed, realize I'm actually not tired, and go back to writing.

Also, my second batch of banana bread turned out well. Unlike the quality of the picture, I'm afraid.

Like a BLT

The WC is infamous for its large kitchen the creativity of bakers and cooks brought upon by having 3/4 of the ingredients the recipe calls for. Some recipes are ways to use all the ingredients you have in the pantry or fridge.

Sometimes, though, inspiration comes in the last moments of the day, before your eyes close and you tumble off to sleep. My breakfast today fits into the second category. Wouldn't it be great, I thought, nearly asleep, to make a BLT, but instead of bacon, asparagus, and instead of lettuce, kale.

I chopped my asparagus, tossed it in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a touch of lime juice; cut the kale; toasted bread; fried two eggs because I love fried eggs; cut the tomato into slices; and put it all together. It was great.
-Peter

Greetings, Salutations, and Other Words of Similar Meanings Ad Nauseum

Hello everyone who visits the Writing Center blog! I have no idea who is included in that list and what you're interested in hearing about, so I'm going to feel a little bit like I'm writing to myself. And this might result in a great deal of me rambling on about things. Like I'm doing right now. Should probably stop doing that. Mostly because the banana bread I'm trying to cook is starting to smell oddly and is probably burning as I'm typing this...

I suppose I should begin with an introduction: I'm Patrick. I'm a creative writing and philosophy double major with a potential minor in unemployment. I think professionals call it "freelance writing" and it sounds like it would be fun and conform well to my desire to not get out of bed before noon. It also sounds slightly terrifying with all the college debt I'm lugging around. And the fact I have yet to publish anything outside a single poem in my college literary magazine, the Coe Review. Long-term goal, I guess.

Aside from my writing center and gardening duties, I'm currently gainfully employed at the local Hy-Vee, and am trying to finish a book and do research for a research paper on John Stuart Mill's On Liberty that I shall be writing next semester. And making assorted (potentially vain) attempts to not be a hermit. And, eventually, making expeditions to bookstores because I like books, and libraries because I like books and don't have much in the way of disposable income. More on that if and when those trips happen. Possibly with pictures, if I manage to commandeer a camera.

As for my insights for this piece... well, a glance outside my window tells me it's a beautiful day, I've found a new Ed Sheeran song to listen to, my eyes currently hurt from taking too many notes on a library book I'll need to return soon, and I'll need to get working on my book shortly because I've been lazy about working on it and need to fix that. I have banana bread that I hope is edible cooling on the counter, a chicken in the slow cooker I might have put too much steak sauce on, and a poem I wrote last night that has the potential to not be shit after I rewrite it a few times. Seems like it'll be a good day. And I may need to locate some nonfiction to determine how people write about things in an interesting manner without lying profusely. 

-Patrick

At the Bix Beiderbecke B&B

     Summer is upon the Writing Center: consultants and writers have left, the lights are off, the kitchen doesn't magically get cleaner or dirtier overnight. A few of us are employed over the summer to take care of some tasks. Our first task: attend a faculty retreat at the Bix Beiderbecke Bed and Breakfast in Davenport. Free housing and meals? You got it.
     At the two-day event, Patrick and I, the student representatives, listened and took part in conversations about all things writing at Coe. One of my favorite conversations of the day took place over lunch at Greatest Grains. It was about the medium we write on and how that impacts style. Does writing on a computer or on a notepad or in a composition book make a difference? I think it does and so did a few others. From there, we talked about mood at the time of writing and keeping journals.
     I especially enjoyed the chance to meet Jenna, the new director of the WC, and Allison, a new Rhetoric professor. I'm looking forward to working with Jenna this summer and next year.
     I've also been doing some gardening at the Alumni House and making a few meals in the WC kitchen... more on that later.
     -Peter

A Very Special Thursday

Not only is today May 1st, aka May Day, aka the best day in the spring, but this is probably also my last blog post of both the semester and as my time as a Writing Center consultant.

While my blogging skills (and regularity) have not been stellar the past couple of weeks, the blog has always been on my mind. I remember coming in as a first-year and being gung-ho about starting it up and keeping it going. I took a break from the blog my sophomore and junior year and renewed my interest my senior year. I still think the blogging concurrent session at the Tampa conference was a huge turning point in how I think about the blog and blogging in general. I hope you as readers have enjoyed our weekly posts t his semester and I hope that they continue this fall.

Before I sign off as a WC blogger, I wanted to direct you to a couple of links. These are two current juniors, soon-to-be seniors who studied abroad this past semester. Dr. Bob recommended to link this particular post of Julia's, who spent the semester in both Florence AND London. And then on Tuesday, we had a small WC homecoming for two of our consultants who had been on Asia Term. I'm including this link to Peter's blog, who did such a nice job of letting us know about this travels.

So it's time for me to buckle down with finals. It's been a fun ride blogging and more generally, being a part of this writing center community. It helped to make my Coe experience one of a kind and this space (with all the great furniture) will be hard to replace.

Topics Tuesday: TOTAL TACO FIESTA

Hello all!

Welcome to the last Topics Tuesday of the 2013-14 academic year (say whaaaat?). It's been a whirlwind of a semester and it's been so great to share all things Topics in Composition with our awesome readers!

Since I missed last week's post, I figured I would give you some top secret evidence...

That's right, the ever-coveted taco I have obsessed about since I started this weekly feature. Today, it's a delicious hard-shelled taco with the perfect amount of juicy beef, ripe tomatoes, crisp lettuce, yummy cheese, and (probably too much) sour cream.

Other than providing you with evidence that these tacos are, indeed, served by the Coe College cafeteria every single Tuesday, I have a little analogy for you relating to Topics in Composition.

IT'S A TOPICS TUESDAY TACO TUESDAY INCEPTION.

Every student and every conference is different, but in general, I see a paper a lot like a taco. During a conference, we start by browning the beef (or other filling of the taco -- vegetarians welcome), which in this strange analogy is the student's main ideas for the paper. Sometimes, cooking all those ideas can take a while, but eventually, the ideas are ready to be used. Browning the beef might be similar to a brainstorming conference, where we just talk through ideas and make sure they are ready to go. 160 degrees, folks. Then, we try to put the main ideas into a shell -- a format that allows others to partake of the ideas. This is the student's structure for the paper. Hard shell, soft shell, or spinach wrap... any structure is welcome as long as it holds the beef. As consultants, we try to help the writer select the perfect shell for her paper so she creates just the dish she wants. Then, we are ready to add the toppings. These are all the stylistic flairs that make a boring old taco into a premiere taco of wonder. Again, the student writer must be the one to select the toppings she wants. It's her taco-paper thing.

Sometimes this process is harder than it looks. The toppings might fall out or the shell might crack. But never fear! The revision process allows students to fix the taco or even to make a new one. At the Coe Writing Center, we are certified for all your taco-fixing needs.

Now, you know you're hungry -- so go make yourself a taco in both the literal and the figurative sense.

With just the right amount of seasoning,
Angela

Photo Friday

Happy Friday!

Don't forget that you still have to make it through today...

Grab some CWC coffee to help you get by until the weekend!

Deidre's Doodle #12

Hope to see some of these soon, we've almost made it!

A Long Overdue Thursday Post

Hello!

First, my apologies for my lack of Thursday posts. I've been traveling across the country, looking at graduate schools. The problems (or benefits) of being a senior!

Anywho, the Writing Center is hopping! As the semester starts to wind down (or wind up depending on who you are talking to), we are finding ourselves a busy and productive space to get work done or to destress after a long day.

There seems to be a correlation with the end of the semester and eating lots of food (regardless of how good it is for you). When we are stressed, there's nothing better than walking into the Writing Center and seeing food on the front desk. It brings a smile to our faces and also something we can put into our stomachs before diving into homework.

Today is no exception to that rule. We've got some cookies and crackers and (even better) some Easter candy! Compliments of Alison's mother, our Writing Center now has a hearty supply of Three Musketeers, Peeps, Starbusts, and jelly beans. Not a bad spread, right? See here for photographic evidence:

Not necessarily the furniture story, but I think we can stretch this post to getting at the usefulness and object symbolizing hope in the Writing Center. As we turn the corner, moving from the art gallery to our space, our heart flutters with food on the desk. 

Until next week!

Topics Tuesday: Conversation with Chris Fink

Hello one and all!

With finals quickly approaching and a pretty full plate (of tacos, of course, because it's Tuesday), I'm going to make this Topics Tuesday blog post short and... well, spicy.

One thing I appreciate about the Writing Center is that we're always having conversations with the coolest people. Yesterday, Chris Fink, author of the work of fiction The Farmer's Almanac came into our staff meeting. Chris is a professor of journalism, creative fiction, and English at Beloit College, and his book was #4 on Amazon for short stories for a while!

 Check out The Farmer's Almanac and you'll learn what "hefting" is -- is that enough of an incentive for you?

Here is the link to the Google book.

-Angela