Adjunct Life of Inservitude & Incivility!

Incivility? Inservitude?  Why would an academic accept the low wages, no benefits and last classes on the assigned list?  How many terminal graduate degrees and years of experience teaching qualifies any adjunct lecturer to actually be invited to 'interview' for that golden apple, that brass ring - the full-time position?  When will adjuncts across the country - put their heads out the window and yell at the top of their voices - “I’m as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' - as Paddy Chayefsky so effectively wrote for his character in Network.

-to be continued - am writing my Union Rep & others to mobilize & move forward for an actual professional life in teaching in higher.ed - time to 'pause' and will continue later.

Namaste. jkcosmos

Master Class - Play - Terence McNally

Terence McNally - Brava!  Kudos on the dialogue, depth, being a wordsmith extraordinaire!  Moving emotional process for the actors, audience and experience!  Many kudos to McNally!

Master Class reflects a pathos, emotional experience and ability to share a multi-dimensional view of a woman's life journey - the woman - Maria Callas.  Callas' triumph overcoming weight issues and abusive people in her life soars to the height of accomplishment in Opera.  Her voice, technique and ability to move audiences with every role in Opera, reflects her depth - both of talent and technique.

Callas - the Prima Persona of Opera, Voice, Acting & Ability to Show - to Tell & to Transform herself and her audience.  Callas - being Greek, having Passion and being Dramatic.  McNally nails it.

'Master Class' production in Boston in '96 with Faye Dunaway was an intimate and transformational evening in the theater with the actor and sympatico!  By far one of the best theater experiences of my life!

'Master Class' production at the New Rep with Amelia Broome - Ouch!  Broome's performance and accent missed the mark to such a significant degree that it hurt - physcially hurt - my ears, my eyes and oh....my heart.  This is not Callas!  This is not Greek pathos & dramatic pitch!  Broome's accent most certainly sounded Asian and pointed without any emotional guts attached.  Guts in terms of 'having heart' as most creative people know...carries the day & Boome did not!  Guts in terms of 'having heart' and that something-something that all athletes know is the variable for the win, for the last second miracle play.

'Master Class' is masterfull; the play, the words, the emotionals connect.  The production at New Rep was anything but; flat, boring, too staccato and not deep..not connecting and quite honestly, I could have a masterful few hours reading the piece and I, not an professional actor, feel confident that I could mesmerize the audience with a reading, sitting at a table on the stage & have them weep, laugh and empathize with Callas.  Amelai Bloome did none of these things and was grating and a total disappointment; as was evidenced by the lack of applause and lack of response at pivotal points in the production.

This production was a travesty and oh how Callas would have hated it!

Downton Abbey - All the Rage!

The episode did seem more like introductions to characters for next season and culling others. The actual narrative..weak. There was little to no development and very 'light' on substance.  Very disappointing, as many series do become watered down after the lst season; I think Julian in this case should conclude the series and not drag it on & on...it is becoming too commercialized and the strength of the narrative has gone by the wayside.

Just as you knew Matthew would never make it home; too predictiable. Evidently, the actor only signed on for a series of three to free him up for other creative ventures. Good for him; he's a marvelous dramatic actor.

The weaving of the upstairs and downstairs stories and characters quite a wonderful technique and it very much worked during the first season; maybe the second, as well.

The jumping around of the timeframe and the less than developed introduction of this one and that..has made the series less than desirable in terms of cancelling everything to watch - in earnest.

Masterpiece theater has supported classics like Tennyson (Helen Mirren) and MI-5 with drama and action for years; this is not one of them due to the overtone of soap opera.

Should viewers continue to watch?  Probably, however, if there's a cookout or get-together, enjoy your friends and leave the watching to reruns.

Christmas & Holiday Rush -

Christmas & Holiday Rush -

2012 - Another Holiday Season and wondering about the people who rush around with lists, gifts and buying....presents for everyone!   Wondering also about those who have passed, the loved ones that are not with us and the loss and pain in some family members' hearts.

Christmas is coming!   New Year is coming!   The hope and the despair; the looking forward with wishful sighs and looking back with regret & with a poignancy and lament!

Baking and wrapping; Christmas caroles and prayers - part of the times and the season - crying, tears for loss, for missed chances and for regrets!

Peace in the World and in our Neighborhoods!  Peace for our families and our friends!

Dreams of a fourteen year old girl....

Living in Cambridge, Kate had always appreciated being in the city where academics meet the people. Where she fit in, was anyone’s guess? Kate was an Assistant DA in Cambridge prosecuting misdemeanors and felonies, although she was relatively new at it. She also was part of a family squarely centered on work for fair pay and Unions. Her family was well read and the great thing was they were all glib talkers and able to back up their opinions with solid references. The talk was never empty words. The talk was always significant. She loved talking and so, the lawyer part, suit her. Kate was an able advocate and had such a passion for the law that the rest of her life became an afterthought. She also loved to travel and so she did every chance possible. She preferred travelling solo to keep her options open and her pace, entirely her own. At thirty, Kate should have been more attuned to the skepticism of the times, this being post Vietnam, but she remained a romantic and believed love could happen and people are basically good. She lived close the Square, Harvard Square, and closer to Porter Square. Both places were accessible with an easy walk and a minute by car.

Dreams of a fourteen year old girl....

Thinking about dreams, I had when I was fourteen, I wished for the time I would go to Afrika & help the villagers, by bringing them books to learn to think about morethan their tiny community. To bring them ieas and the words to speak more apltly--more descriptively about their feelings, their experiences,

Horses/ Horse Farms / Horses & Nature

Some years ago, when I was young and oh, so confident, stuck in traffic next to two horses, I wrote a story - a love narrative. I wrote a lovely story about the horses on that farm, as I sat in traffic..wishing I were actually one of those horses. I wished that I were in the fields, running, and wished for a reprieve from the traffic, the noise, and the busy-ness that comes with yes, being a busy person.

Longing for peace and time to 'pause', I wrote that story and was satisfied.

And now, by chance, I am moving to live so very close, right next to..& just about in the field; yes, a horse farm. I am moving and gladly welcome the horses. Horses in view and in the fields and galloping, running, jumping..what a lovely coincidence. What a lovely 'pause' from all of that! What grace!