Jesus

I went to the Upper Room today. It was legit.

Really?

That is a lie, Michael.

Note

I did not post the previous, rather a devious Peter Louis Kane.

Craigslist Vigilante

From Nick Olson:

Before I realized that my life calling for this summer was watching paint dry, I posted an ad to Craigslist saying I was available to tutor. Among the emails I received was one from a Norwegian named James Rice and his even more Norwegian-named son, Hinto. His email read like it had been typed by a drunk in an email typing contest, where the contest was trying to decide who could write to most absurdly poorly written email. When, as any fan of Norland would do, I gave him my home address, shortly thereafter, I received a check in the mail for $2550. I proceeded to ask Norwegian Jim for his instructions:

“HAVE IT CASHED AT YOUR BANK DEDUCT YOUR TUTORING FEE AND TEXT BOOK AND REMIT THE REST OF THE FUNDS TO THE NANNY THAT WILL BRING MY SON TO YOU AND AS SOON AS YOU GET THAT DONE I WILL LET THE NANNY CONTACT YOU AND YOU CAN MAKE SCHEDULES OF THIER ARRIVAL AND WHEN TUTORING WILL GET STARTED AND HERE IS THE MONEYGRAM INFORMATION OF WHERE TO GET THE FUNDS WIRED TO AS SOON AS YOU GET IT SENT ACROSS TO THE NANNY.HERE IS THE PAYMENT YOU WILL BE RECIEVING TODAY VIA UPS

TRACKING NUMBER A379 477 243 2
HERE IS THE MONEYGRAM INFORMATION FOR THE NANNY.

JODY KING
2584 south horseshoe dr
TUCSON, ARIZONA , 85730

AS SOON AS YOU GET THE FUNDS WIRED VIA MONEYGRAM YOU ARE TO GET THE FOLLOWING DETAILS ACROSS TO ME
AMOUNT SENT AFTER MONEYGRAM CHARGES
NAME AND ADDRESS OF SENDERS
8 DIGIT REFRENCE NUMBER

I HOPE TO READ FROM YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
REGARDS"

Now, Craigslist has a myriad way of dealing with scammers, but none of them happened to list extended verbal abuse and mockery. So, as a masked vigilante, like Batman (but instead of a leather cowl and a giant penny, I had the internets)—I proceeded to engage in the following conversation of emails. I've posted them up for your pleasure. Enjoy.

FROM: "nolson" | Save Address
DATE: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:03:22 -0500
TO: James Rice
SUBJECT: Re: here is what to do

Okey dokey artichokey. But first, I would like to know what you would like me to tutor your son in. I figure since he is new the US of A, a cultural tutoring would be first in order, and I could accordingly teach him ebonics, American jingoism, and perhaps pet care so that he could earn some money taking care of pets while he is over here. Alternatively, he could pose as an art model but in my experience little boys are usually not comfortable posing naked in front of others. Anyway, I am very qualified to teach pet care or whatever to your son, please let me know at your convenience and then I can continue our transaction.

FROM: James Rice | Save Address
DATE: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:13:31 -0700 (PDT)
TO:
SUBJECT: Re: here is what to do

WHAT IS ALL THIS???

FROM: "nolson" | Save Address
DATE: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:30:10 -0500
TO: James Rice
SUBJECT: Re: Re: here is what to do

I'm sorry; I should have explained myself. I only mean to ask what you would like your son to be tutored in so that I can know what textbooks to order, so I can register the check and ask for the proper amount. I am currently tutoring others in aerobic exotic dancing and yodeling and advanced micturation technique, as well as other more academic areas, so I can offer them in recommendation. I studied all these subjects in college until they asked me to leave after I had freed all the animals from their zoo after a night of salacious partying.

Anyway, let me know what subjects or textbooks you would be interested in have your son tutored in, and I will cash the check right away.

FROM: James Rice | Save Address
DATE: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:36:04 -0700 (PDT)
TO:
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: here is what to do

ENGLISH(READING,WRITING AND COMPREHENSION)

FROM: "nolson" | Save Address
DATE: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:41:17 -0500
TO: James Rice
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: Re: here is what to do

You're son is seven years old, I am correctly? How much English does he know? Because I could purchase Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and start from there, or if he knows more good than this, I could learn him the greats of the language like Meyer.

I'm most happiest to tutor yor son in english..... I only wish I was your son so that I could of been learned advanced micturition technique from the most best english tutor in the land. When I was a younger boy living in the foliage all I had was Mrs. Frunkles and it was because of her that I got addicted to drugs, but, don't worry, I'm not addicted anymore, believe me, and look, even if I was addicted to drugs, I wouldn't be able to pay for them so it's not like I live in Holland where the government gives you free drugs so you can be high as the Flying Dutchman.

So let me know how well your son knows English, if any, and I will purchase the according textbooks and cash the check.

FROM: James Rice | Save Address
DATE: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:22:37 -0700 (PDT)
TO:
SUBJECT: Goodmorning

Hello
How you doing today?well am sending this email to let you know i would be waiting to read an email from you with the transfer details as soon as you have sent the fund to the nanny via western union and moneygram
Thanks alot
Have a great day

FROM: "nolson" | Save Address
DATE: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:14:35 -0500
TO: James Rice
SUBJECT: Re: Goodmorning


Good to hear from you again, Mr. James,

I will be ready to send the fund as soon as I know the textbooks, and in order to determine which textbooks to use, I would need to know your son's level of English comprehension. Does he know any English—If so, how much? Could he understand hours and hours of Dan Quayle youtube videos? Can he read or write at all? If so, at what level? Could he write an analysis of my interpretive dancing in iambic pentameter? Let me know how much English he knows, and I will get the proper textbooks and complete the transfer.

One other question: Does he have any allergies? In particular, is he allergic to cats? You see, I have about 32 cats that currently live with me. Don't worry if your son does have allergies; I've been trying to get rid of my cats for awhile now because they normally just menstruate all over the furniture and the other day, one even ate some of my drugs, but I can't get rid of them because they keep making more baby kitties left and right and putting them to sleep is too expensive and they don't taste that good, besides mouse traps aren't big enough to get rid of them and I called and no one sells cat traps and even though I have enough cardboard and paperclips, my cat traps don't work.

So if you could just let me know how much English your son knows and if he has any allergies, especially cat allergies, I'll transfer the money ASAP.

Cheerio,
Mr. Nick

FROM: James Rice | Save Address
DATE: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:44:04 -0700 (PDT)
TO:
SUBJECT: WAITING

Been waiting to read an email from you with the moneygram transfer details for the nanny.what gooing on

FROM: "nolson" | Save Address
DATE: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:21:30 -0500
TO: James Rice
SUBJECT: Re: WAITING

Darling Jimmy boy,

I specifically told you: I need to know how much English your son knows before I can determine which textbooks to use.

Please let me know how much English your son knows on a scale of 1-7 as soon as you can and I will transfer the money.

Gards gards,
Sir Nicholas

FROM: James Rice | Save Address
DATE: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:41:29 -0700 (PDT)
TO:
SUBJECT: Re: Re: WAITING

who is jimmy?tod you he can write,read and speak good english what else you want?/

FROM: "nolson" | Save Address
DATE: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:59:22 -0500
TO: James Rice
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: WAITING

Who is Tod?

And is your son allergic to cats?

Le'chayim
George Dreyfus, Earl of Nicholashire

FROM:
James Rice | Save Address
DATE: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:41:01 -0700 (PDT)
TO:
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: Re: WAITING

No one is by the name Tod all i wanted to write was Told... And no his not allegic to cats and wonder why you taking so long on handling this transaction

FROM:
"nolson" | Save Address
DATE: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:52:30 -0500
TO: James Rice
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: WAITING

I'm really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really sorry, but one of my cats ate the check before I got the chance today to wire it over.

Could you please issue me another one? Pretty please?

-Mr. Chuckles (It's my nickname and you can use it because I feel like we're pretty much friends already)



He never responded. That should teach him to besmirch Norland.

ALERT: Josh Neu face not that original!!!

This picture was taken freshman year (January of 2006) in Phoenix before we'd truly discovered (definitely before Laura knew) the "Josh Neu face."
Laura's use of this specific facial expression is certainly a proud statement of how cool she is --this being our first experience with beer-for-breakfast.

(Location: Laura Junkers house)

I'd like to know if anyone else has proof to support my contention that the "Josh Neu Face" is not that original.

Hope I haven't dissappointed you, but I'm just sayin...

Groundhogs

1. Which groundhog looks more mischievious?





2. Which groundhog looks more like 2009 Groundhog Queen Chelsea Davis?





3. Which groundhog looks more like 2009 Groundhog King Shut-out Peter Bloch?





4. Which groundhog looks more intoxicated?

william! not again!

Israel

Hello friends,

I'm leaving for Israel on June 23 and will return on July 3. It's a ten-day trip with Father Mitch Pacwa--pretty legit. In fact, you can read Itinerarium corporis in Israel if you want to see where I'm going. So, if there's something that you want me to pray for, maybe at a specific place that I'm going, let me know. Other than that, I'm going to bring back a bunch of sacramentals from different places that I'll give out until I run out. If you are likely to see me sometime soon, and there is something particular that you'd like, let me know. It would have to be small, and I can't promise anything. So if you have something you want me to do, email me or just respond to this I guess. Oh yeah, I'll pray for you so you should pray for me. Thanks.

God bless, Mary keep,
Joshua Neu

Summer Hours

Based on what I see and read on this blog, I'm going to make a recommendation...

Go see a movie.

I recommend the following: Summer Hours (L'heure d'été).

If you've seen Paris, je t'aime, you've seen this director's work. His name is Olivier Assayas. While his work on that short film is hardly worthy of attention (think Maggie Gyllenhaal on drugs), his latest effort is definitely worth $7.50 and two hours of your life.

The entire effort began through Paris' Musée d'Orsay in celebration of the museum's twentieth anniversary. While the initial project was abandoned, Assayas continued his efforts, turning what was initially conceived as a short film into a subtly poetic feature.

The end effort wreaks the boring stench of Chekhov, but somehow continues to fascinate me. The story is a modern reflection on the cycle of generations and the progress and decline of culture, all packaged in a mute drama of three distinct acts. ACT ONE: the family gathers to celebrate the mother's birthday. She takes her oldest son aside to verbally cram the contents of her will into his ears; these consist of paintings by famous French artists, furniture pieces, etc., and the summer house they are currently in. (The film's production design in this respect is dead-on, a dingy, artsy French cottage estate.) ACT TWO: mother dies a year-or-two later, and the three children (around 30 years of age) decide what to do about it.

As for the remaining half of the film, I hope my writing pushes you to see it. This is a modern family that participates in modern artistic culture. The director's perspective sheds light on the importance of memory within a culture, of the practicality of clinging on to the past, and the value of preserving it. At the end, although the life and art of the past generation has been scattered and sold, hope seeps forth from the least likely supporting characters.

While Summer Hours lacks dynamism, that doesn't make it bad; the film is appropriately undramatic. Audiences leave alerted to the importance of culture by telling a story involving the specific disassociation of artifacts from one generation of a family, a microcosm of a period of culture. Go watch how the story carries out and reflect on it. This is not my kind of film, but I really liked it.

Summer Work

I find myself sitting at the front desk of the Office of Human Resources at our beloved alma mater. I'm working for that minimum wage and am now pondering mutilating 19 of my neighbors' cats. There are five people who work in the office and three of them don't know I have a degree. I don't blame them; I suppose they don't know how much ambition I lack. And I do look like a twelve year-old. I'm trying rogaine on my face.

When it comes down to it I live to watch Firefly with Paul Gautier and perhaps inch closer to him on the couch as Inara and the captain bicker. Besides that I am empty and often forget to eat. I am pondering at this moment making a visit to the vending machine for some trail mix, Fruit and Nut Planter's. I am also thinking about the water fountain about fifty feet from HR. Its waters remind me of the finest springs in Ireland. As I drink from it I often perceive a touch of lemon.

I am man. Do not call me woman because I am clearly not woman, not even girl. I like the sound that the drain makes: slorp. And I have the swirl and ache from sprays of honeysuckle. Good day.

Peter's Summer "Job"

Dear Friends,

From the south of D.C. between the curves of the Potomac underneath the shade of a Hickory tree, Greetings! I would like to share with you all some points of interest. I am, for now, technically unemployed; that's right, I have remained strong, I'm not working at Ruby Tuesday!

I have been "hired" by my father as a Research Assistant for his upcoming book on Hilaire Belloc. So I basically get paid to research and read Belloc - I'm not complaining.

So far I've read The Way Out and I will be starting First And Last.

Mostly I attend to the visiting of friends and inns and taverns.

Arrivederci,

Peter

Poll?

A. I smoke fewer than a thirteen cigarettes per day: less than one hour per day.
B. I drink fewer than four Crushers per day: less than three hours per day.
C. I run fewer than forty minutes per day.
D. The Cappuccino Bar is open only from 9:30-1:30, and I am enjoying a delicious iced mocha for only about thirty of those minutes. (They never last more than fifteen mintues!)
E. I have not ran while smoking yet this summer.
F. I make, at most, one grease-fest per day (fewer than twenty minutes per day, thanks to the fabulous stove in our apartment).
G. I am passed out, on average, only five to seven hours per day--but, I doubt that other people are awake during the times I am passed out. Also, it would be wrong to say that I am 'still' when I am 'passed out'--I do breathe occaisonally, or snore, or cuddle closer to Mike Horan, etc., when I am 'passed out.'
H. I doubt that most people voting could 'find' me, in a manner of speaking, no matter what I was doing. It seems that H is a pointless option for people.

John's Summer Pedantriactivity

Peter asked me to do this, so forgive the length. Here is a pedantic activity with which I while away the wee weeks in woebegone Irving, Texas (besides getting drunk).

I am working on a small project examining various methods of biblical exegesis. I am focusing on the Psalms. The project basically compares various exegetical methods, and I have a hunch about what kind of conlusions I will find ... but, to ensure that I approach this with an open mind, I won't get into detail. All I can say is that around the time of the Renaissance (don't tell Dr. Sommerfeldt I used that word!), there seems to be a different kind of approach towards interpreting the Bible allegorically (and I think that appraoch abandons the fourfold method...).

Anyway, here are some commentaries that I'll need to consider for this project. Tragically, most of the people below seemed to have no idea about the "MLA Bibliography Citation Guidelines," or even the "Turabian" guidelines, or even the "Chicago" style of citing a bibliopgraphy! I can't believe their lack of pedantic scholarship! So, I'm not sure how to approach my bibliography, seeing as how some of the books are lacking in dates of publication, city published, etc. Here is a rough copy of my summer pedantriactivity.

Bibliography
Agellius, Antonius. Commentarii in Psalmos (Paris, 1611). (AGEL)

Albertus Magnus. Commentarius in Psalmos. In Opera Omnia. Vol. VII (??, ??). (ALB)

Aquinatis, Thomae. In Psalmos Davidis Expositio. In Opera Omnia. Vol. VIII (Rome, 1570). (AQ)

Aurea in Quinquaginta Davideios Psalmos Doctorum Graecorum Catena. Interprete Daniele Barbaro. (Venice, 1569). (GRAEC)

Aygnani, Michael. Commentaria in Psalmos Davidicos Prisci Cuiusdam Auctoris Incogniti in Duos Divisa Tomos. Post Completensem Editionem Recognita (Lugduni, Expensis Petri Landry, 1581). (AYG)

Biblia cum Glossa Ordinaria per F. Fransicum Fev. Ardentium Ordinis Minorum, Joannem Dodraeum et Jacobum de Cuilly, Theologos Doctores Parisiensis. Vol. III (Lugduni, 1590). (GLOS)

Biblia Maxima Versionem. Nicol. de Lyra, Joan. Gegnaei Doctorum Paris., Guccio Estii Doctorum Lyopoenaeum, Ioanne Menochii et Iacobi Tirini, Doctorum S. I. Authore R. P. Ioanne de La Haye. Vol. VI (Paris, 1660). (MAX)

Botta, Bartholomaeus. Psalmi Davidicae, Latinis Versibus Redditi et ab Eodem Commentariis Locupletissimis Illustrati (Venice, 1581). (BOT)

Bredembach, Mathew. In LXIX Psalmos sen Hymnos Prophetae Davidis Priores Commentaria (Cologne, 1560). (BRED)

Cassiodori, Magni Aurelii. Psalterium Exposition. In Opera Omnia, ed. J. Garetius. Two Volumes (Rotomagi, 1679). (CASS)

Cajetan, Thomas de Vio. Psalmi Davidici ad Hebraicam Veritatem Castigati: et Iuxta Sensum Literalem Dicunt Enarrati (Venice, 1530). (CAJ)

Carthusianus, Ludolphus de Saxonio. In Psalterium Expositio (??, 1521). (LUD)

Clarius, Isodore, ed. Vulgata Aeditio Veteris ac Novi Testamenti, Quorum Alterum ad Hebraicam, Alterum ad Graecam Veritatem Emendatum est: Adiectis ex Eruditis Scriptoribus Scholiis (Venice, 1542). (CLAR)

Episcopi Antissiodorensis, Remigii. Enarrationum in Psalmos David (Coloniae, 1536). (REMI)

Flaminius, Marcus Antonius. In Librum Psalmorum Brevis Explanatio (Lugduni, 1561). (FLAM)

Genebrarolus, Gilbert. Psalmi Davidis Variis Calendariis et Commentariis Genuinum Sensum et Hebraismos Fuisssime Aperientibus (Lugduni, 1607). (GEN)

Guidacerii, Agathius. De Laudibus et Materia Psalmorum. Et in Primum Psalmum, Secundum Veritatem Hebraicam Expositio (??, ??). (AGATH)

Hopper, Joachimo. Paraphrasi in Psalmos Davidicos, Additis Frevibus Argumentis et Axplanatiionibus (Antwerp, 1590). (HOP)

Jansen, Cornelius, Bishop of Ghent. Paraphrasis in Psalmos Omnes Davidicos (Lugdunum, 1586). (CJAN)

Lombardi, Petri. In totum Psalterium Commentarii (Paris, 1541). (LOMB)

Lorini, Ionnis, Societatis Iesu. Commentarii in Librum Psalmorum In quibus Praeter Accuratium Sensiis Litteralis Explanationem; Mistici Omnia Generis Sensu, ex Patribus. Three Vol. (Cologne, ??). (LORIN)

Mariana, Ioannus, SJ. Scholia in Vetus et Novem Testamentum (??, 1619). (MARIANA)

Menochius, John Stephon. Comentarii Totius Sacrae Scripturae. Two Vol. (Venice, 1643). (MEN)

Montano, Benedict Arias. Davidi Regis ac Prophetae Aliorumque Aacrorum Valum Psalmi, ex Hebraica Veritate in Latinum Carmen cum Argumentis et Ducidationibus (Antwerp, 1573). (MONT)

Pampolitani, Richardus. Anglosaxonis Eremitae in Psalterium Davidicum Enarratio (Cologne, 1536). (PAMP)

Perez, Jacobi. Expositiones in CL Psalmos Davidicos (Valentia, 1531). (PEREZ)

Sa, Emanuel. Notationes in Totam Scripturam Sacram (Lugduni, 1601). (SA)

Snoygondano, Raynerio. Psalterium Paraphrasibus (Lugduni, 1571). (SNOY)

Steuchus Eugubinus, Augustinius. Enarrationum in Psalmos (Lugduni, 1548). (STEUCH)

Tiraboscus, Lucretius. Exposition in Omnes Psalmos pro Tempore Doctrinae Spiritus Sancti, Mysteria Continens. Huic Accedit Amplissima Rationis Textus Hebraei, et Aeditionis Vulgatore Differentium Verborum Sylva (Venice, 1572). (TYR)

Tirin, Jacob. In Sacra Scripturam Commentarius (Venice, 1754). (TIRIN)

Titelmanuus, Franciscus. Elucidatio in Omnes Psalmos Iuxta Veritatem Vulgatae et Ecclesiae Usitate Aeditionis Latine (Antwerp, 1540). (TITEL)

Valdes, Juan de. El Salterio. Traducido del Hebreo en Romance Castellano. In Comentario a los Salmos, ed. Manuel Carrasco (Madrid, 1885). (VALD)

Varenius, Alanus. Homiliae in Canticum. In aliquot Psalmos Davidicos Oratiumculae sine Freves Homiliae. Ps. 15, 53, 83, 84 (Paris, ??). (VAR)

I Sleep A Lot

A Poem I found that I thought you all would enjoy:

I sleep a lot and read St. Thomas Aquinas
Or The Death of God (that's a Protestant book).
To the right the bay as if molten tin,
Beyond the bay, city, beyond the city, ocean,
Beyond the ocean, ocean, till Japan.
To the left dry hills with white grass,
Beyond the hills an irrigated valley where rice is grown,
Beyond the valley, mountains and Ponderosa pines,
Beyond the mountains, desert and sheep.

When I couldn't do without alcohol, I drove myself on alcohol,
When I couldn't do without cigarettes and coffee, I drove myself
On cigarettes and coffee.
I was courageous. Industrious. Nearly a model of virtue.
But that is good for nothing.

I feel a pain.
not here. Even I don't know.
many islands and continents,
words, bazaars, wooden flutes,
Or too much drinking to the mirror, without beauty,
Though one was to be a kind of archangel
Or a Saint George, over there, on St. George Street.
Please, Doctor,
Not here. No,
Maybe it's too
Unpronounced

Please, Medicine Man, I feel a pain.
I always believed in spells and incantations.
Sure, women have only one, Catholic, soul,
But we have two. When you start to dance
You visit remote pueblos in your sleep
And even lands you have never seen.
Put on, I beg you, charms made of feathers,
Now it's time to help one of your own.
I have read many books but I don't believe them.
When it hurts we return to the banks of certain rivers.

I remember those crosses with chiseled suns and moons
And wizards, how they worked during an outbreak of typhus.
Send your second soul beyond the mountains, beyond time.
Tell me what you saw, I will wait.

-Czeslaw Milosz

An Afternoon With Dr. Louise Cowan

Poetry, Culture, and the University of Dallas

“…that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

Any noble movement in culture is preceded by a return and re-grasping of foundational ideals, a return to simplicity. Optimism and simplicity graces a finished soul, a noble character, a saint.
After four years, is it true that the memories of wild nights, draughts of Shiner, and fiery couches will hide the majesty and power of the education we hold in our hands? In restoring our vision of what UD’s education has meant to us, this year’s graduation commencement address was less than effective. Besides any debate we might engage in as regards its argumentation, personally what was more disappointing was its failure to match the grandeur of our education and ideals with its subject. About to receive a confirmation of the privileged education which we have received, we heard about academic integrity through tolerance. I do not mean to belabor the address, but rather contrast it with the beautiful presentation of the King’s Award on Dr. Louise Cowan. Why was this presentation the most memorable of the morning, why did the faculty—and soon after the student body—instantaneously and unanimously rise to applaud the life’s work of Dr. Cowan? The afternoon spent with her by eleven recently graduated English majors satisfied where the graduation failed. I consider it the true confirmation of my four years, both a reflection on what was received and a challenge to unleash the power of what we have learned. A simple afternoon with wine and a saintly scholar contained more ceremony—more of an efficacious service—than the grand gestures and look of the graduation exercise. These reflections—at times mere sketches—attempt to recount and communicate the spirit of learning, wisdom, and hope which filled those few hours.

Dr. Cowan is a southern lady. As we filed in somewhat sheepishly into a well-lit conference room with a table delicately adorned with plates of cheese and pristine wine-glasses, Dr. Cowan, with her characteristic sunglasses and calm smile, promptly embraced each student. She embraced—sometimes with a kiss on the cheek—each student, even those whom she was first meeting. We were delighted into silence, and milled about until Dr. Cowan invited us to enjoy the Hors D'Oeuvres, wine, and, of course, her famous artichoke-dip. The conversation—and a true conversation it became—began with Dr. Cowan asking us all what our plans were for post-graduation. Her voice had a calm and steady tenor which underlay a maternal presence, graced by both affection and wisdom. One knew that her roles as mother and teacher had formed an indelible mark on her character.
Her wit was sharp and charming, her insights were impeccably articulated, and her spirit was awe-inspiring. No one person has left such an invaluable, unrepeatable first impression on me. A humble soul speaks only the truth, and Dr. Cowan never overstated nor understated a fact or opinion, especially in relation to herself. Even statements laudatory of herself were expressed with an elegance and a matter-of-factness which exhibited the depth of her humility. She cared not for her own value in scholarship, but for scholarship, for a love of literature. She told us that the UD education is not “superficial” because, “We do not simply know the great works, but they live inside us, become us.” This was no more the case than in Dr. Cowan.

A Sense of Urgency
In the context of discussing strained politics within the University of Dallas, Dr. Cowan commented that “protesting is not our business, it is not fitting with the mission of our school. Perhaps this is just a personal eccentricity, but my husband and I always rejected adopting a mob mentality when you want something done. If you want to do something, if you disagree, go out there yourself and do something about it. Write a letter, talk to the person. When I left UD for a decade”—in response to the board’s firing of the heads of the departments in order to ensure that the graduate school of psychology would be closed—“I didn’t tell anybody to do the same.” Her stress on the role of the individual in transforming UD’s culture matched her insistence that we are charged to transform the national culture.
The main reason that literature is currently stagnating or declining, and a cause of optimism and excitement, is that, as Donald Cowan would frequently discuss, we are in between two overarching myths. The old myth is the dregs of the Enlightenment, the centuries-old Rationalism which embraces an analytic, rationalist structuring of reality. This old myth is masculine, analytic, quantitative, and scientific. Rationalism has died, and a new myth must arise, and with it a new wave of literature will come. Dr. Cowan said that the new myth would be characteristically feminine, close to the earth, Egalitarian, and essentially poetic. This shift would be soon, in fact now. A sense of urgency compelled her to present to us, the recent graduates who carry the necessary tools, to steer and shape this shift.
At the same time, Dr. Cowan called herself at times a skeptic about culture. She pointed out the in the media truth and tradition are fruitless, insubstantial terms. It is the privilege of the well-educated UD student to recognize the deep flaws of academia and the culture at large, and his obligation to infuse within culture the truths and tradition it so tragically lacks. Quite to the contrary of the “bunker mentality,” to which she alluded, Dr. Cowan believes the UD student ought to diffuse his zeal for learning and tradition, leading the revitalization of culture.
It is an exciting time for poetry and culture. Dr. Cowan never separated the two. The former presents itself in a form which is complimentary to and distinctively flavored by the latter. So, what ought we to do?
“You should all get a Masters someday.” She repeated this phrase ten times in the course of the conversation. Her reasons for saying so were twofold. Simply put, first, the academic world needs UD students. Secondly, the professional world needs UD students. Concerning the latter, Dr. Cowan stressed that a graduate degree allows one to enter a more elite circle of competition. The UD student is well-equipped to effect an authentic transformation of culture on both an academic and, if I may be allowed, secular level not from practical knowledge but based on the love and understanding of literature which we have allowed to grow and flourish. It is our ideas, our souls. From a twenty-one year old, such phrases always seem dead, fanciful, unproven and awkward. From such a sage as Dr. Cowan, one could believe it. Her call to us was clear, understandable, and terrifyingly lofty.

A Mother of a School
“When we started this University we thought UD students would change the world…I guess I still believe that.” She has dedicated the larger part of her life to UD, from its beginnings and through its innumerable and continuing trials. Her stories about UD’s beginnings and her thoughts on UD’s culture and aim were always marked with an irrepressible optimism and clear-sightedness in regards to its mission. The school has been through many purgative trials, and has always faced challenges from within, either from administration, the board, or the faculty. “We are poor, aren’t we? We’ve always been poor.” Dr. Cowan optimistically reminded us that UD has perpetually faced financial crises, at times worse than the present one.
Dr. Cowan lamented that she cannot teach anymore, reminding me what was said at graduation that Dr. Cowan prefers the title “teacher” over scholar, as in her own words “something happens in teaching that does not occur in ordinary life.” Such love for teaching has become so ordinary to us while at UD that we may forget its uniqueness.
Dr. Cowan advised that “being too proper will restrict the freedom of imagination” which characterized the spontaneous, adventurous beginnings. “When I was at TCU, during faculty meetings people walked around drinking sweet tea. At the University of Dallas, at faculty meetings I observed nuns walking around with glasses of bourbon.”
The Sisters of St. Joseph were marvelous, and need to be honored for conceiving of this school, providing the University with the idealistic, enthusiastic, optimistic spirit born of the character of nuns. Dr. Cowan referenced Nicolai Gogol, saying “nuns are girls who never become women,” but rather maintain their enthusiasm and youthful spirit. Cowan further quoted him by saying, “the problem with girls is that they become women.” Granted, the school required the academic direction offered by the Cowans, who saw that the school was transforming into a vocational school. However, the nuns gave the school a youthful, adventurous quality.
“Hungarians are mean,” said Dr. Cowan with a smile, “but they provided a seriousness and sophistication in all our dealings.” The Cistercians brought with them something America did not have, a European sense of class which added another dimension of culture to the faculty. They also embraced a spirit of moderation which guided the University atmosphere.
UD was always a family, in many ways caused by the southern character of the school. The University of Dallas was founded with hospitality and congeniality, provided by the southerners who first led the school. In many ways this must be restored by a return to simplicity, spontaneity, and a sense of adventure. The school must realize the adventure entailed in seeking to diffuse its ideals, combating the trend of Universities towards a mediocre, pragmatic, non-poetic education and to uphold the value of the Western tradition. She saw the current UD culture as being more proper, where things are more controlled and moderated by propriety. She warned that “being too proper will restrict the freedom of imagination” which characterized the spontaneous, adventurous beginnings. What we imagine is not simply another small, mediocre, Catholic University. “When we began the school, we wanted to make a real University.”
When asked what may be improved in UD’s current culture, Dr. Cowan spoke about the early enthusiasm for debate, for lively discussion about large questions concerning literature and philosophy. The main improvement that Dr. Cowan wishes to see is a greater inter-departmental dialogue and debate. She advocated programs that would provide a forum for debate with lots of involvement. She remembered a time when faculty and students were excited about big academic debates that were happening amongst the faculty. Our love is literature, great ideas, and this should be our passion. That there is a lack in inter-department conversation can be traced to two factors: specialization and treatment of faculty. A specialization in scholarship which ignores the whole of tradition can preclude a collaborated discussion concerning the whole (a mindset not dissimilar to the common trend to leave out translated works). Secondly, Dr. Cowan reminded us that the faculty is scandalously underpaid, and has even received deductions in salary, leading to either a disenchantment or stress which discourages the extra enthusiasm required for lively dialogue. Dr. Cowan challenged us to “Get the faculty to argue.”
Many other institutions consider UD as naïve to study translated works. Dr. Cowan’s Vanderbilt education was comprised of only English Literature. However, at UD, that not simply a few masters of Italian read The Divine Comedy, but every student does, changes the atmosphere fundamentally. Learning comprises a whole, where every work forms a part and adds to the whole organism. Without translated works, our vision of reality would come only through the lens of Beowulf and Canterbury Tales, and Dr. Cowan joked about what an odd reality that would be. She told us that the UD education is not “superficial” because, “we do not simply know the great works, but they live inside us, become us.” She said that when she met the Fugitive Critics, called also the New Critics and the Southern Critics, she noticed that they quoted Homer frequently. These works were ingrained in them, a part of their soul, not merely an object of their knowledge. UD aspires to offer their students this type of vision.
In discussing the ideal UD President, Dr. Cowan remained immensely refined considering the recent tension which has surrounded the office. Dr. Cowan stressed that the President must be a charming, public figure. His job is fundamentally to attain large monetary donations. The way in which one attains large donations is through going out into the city, into Dallas, and contributing to the city, getting involved in the city. As president, Donald Cowan would join city boards and attend city meetings. Dr. Cowan upheld the character of Dr. Lazarus as of the utmost kindness, never returning criticism with a harsh word and always remaining a gentleman. However, Dr. Cowan pointed out that he is “not a public man,” but a reserved man, and thus perhaps does not sufficiently go out and convince people of this school’s importance. One must literally go into the city, find the big potential donors, and convince them that the University of Dallas is accomplishing something extraordinary. The school does not need an academic leader—the faculty are doing a fine job, and do not need change. The school needs money. UD needs a president with the charm and enthusiasm to sell the school to the city.
Briefly mentioning the core, Dr. Cowan reminded us that it was never meant to remain static, but evolve. However, evolve in the right direction (an important qualification), i.e. towards a fuller vision of the Western tradition.
Dr. Cowan distinguished UD’s education from Great Books Programs. The latter is exemplified in an institution like TAC or St. John’s. She noted that the students there are essentially debaters, as the seminar/debate style of the classrooms there encourages students to see problems, to doubt every proposition. The books can thus lose their integrity in relation to their entirety, and may never enter the students’ mind as a holistic vision.


An Angel Looking on Literature (“You can disagree with me.”)
“We should look upon literature as the angels look upon the works of man.”
Both startling and profound, this statement underlay every interpretation of literature Dr. Cowan gave that afternoon. When we approach to literature we ought to match the wonder which the angels have in considering man’s works in context of the divine plan. This notion encompasses the reason why we love literature, the mystery that keeps us in pious awe and compels us to seek the UD education and latch onto its mission.
“Fiction is in decline.” Later she would say poetry is, too. A great writer, as opposed to a good writer, captures a layered meaning reflected in the Medievals’ four-fold method, where the highest level, the spiritual level, is the anagogical. Jane Austen is a good writer, rendering things beautifully, but remains at the moral level, as do many Victorians, and thus is not great. She apologized profusely for her blunt opinions. Jane Austen was never in the core at first for this reason. Madame Bovary also remains at a moral level, but is rendered spectacularly. As she was considering converting, Dr. Cowan discovered that Madame Bovary was on the Index, and hesitated in her decision to be Catholic. Madame Bovary is completely orthodox. She commented to the side that the Index had noble intentions, but simply did not know how to read literature. Great works get at something mysterious, unknown, beyond the veil. Moby Dick showed what the novel could be, revealed the scope to which the genre could aspire. “The greatest novel in the world is Brothers Karamazov,” for it simply has everything.
Dr. Cowan thinks it inappropriate to approach an artwork and judge the characters good or bad; she detests professors who hate Odysseus because he is unjust. We are not meant to judge characters, but we are “to look upon literature as the angels look upon the work of man,” with wonder in relation to its place in the overall divine plan. Wonder at the intricacies, depths, and mysteries of human life is the mark of a good reader of great works.
She enumerated a list of books we should all read (novels) which included most of the Lit Trad. sequence, but notably also contained Brothers K, Anna Karenina, Absalom Absalom, Light in August, Dubliners, Ulysses, Portrait, Lord Jim
Peter asked about the difference between the reader judging Odysseus and Dante’s condemning him to hell and Cowan recognized that Dante is obviously doing something different. She also emphasized that the journey of the Divine Comedy is reflected in most great works.
“Literature is an organic thing,” just as Eliot spoke of culture in Tradition and the Individual Talent, where “organic” has a very important place, underlining the character of great books to change the meaning of the whole, to add to the ever-growing, unified tradition. Not just the meaning in our minds changes, but literally the meaning of the work changes. Joyce’s Ulysses transforms Odysseus in the Odyssey.
Interestingly, Dr. Cowan was not familiar with poetry until she met her husband, a physicist with a deep love for poetry. On being asked who were the greatest poets, Dr. Cowan opined that Keats has been the greatest poet of all time, one who reached depths which no other poet has uncovered. She also named Donne, Marvell, Hopkins, Eliot, Frost, and a few others as great poets. Shakespeare’s sonnets lack the same mysteriousness of Keats’ poetry, as Shakespeare’s sonnets, undoubtedly both beautiful and genius, are intellectual exercises. She said all this—apologizing several times—while maintaining that, of course, they must be read as Shakespeare is the most important writer in the English language. Dr. Cowan remarked that her husband could remember the sonnets and would recite them even after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
She also mentioned some current poets. She recognized Jorie Graham as an example of someone who is good but missing something, perhaps because in the midst of a shift in myths there is nothing to undergird contemporary poetry. A minor poet is one who never strikes a false note, a note of sentimentality, writes beautifully and flawlessly. A successful minor poet is John Crowe Ransom. A major poet does all this, but accesses themes and mysteries which journey beyond the veil, embracing Keats’ negative capability in drawing forth the unknown. In this light, Allen Tate was a failed major poet. She briefly commented that perhaps if something did not happen to Tate which led him abruptly to stop writing, he might have attained the status of major poet.

Her comments about literature were as lofty and inspiring as her insights into culture and our role in society. In her mind, and as the University of Dallas has always believed, the two are united in the same love for the truth. In awe of the organic, interwoven whole of tradition, our calling is to take up the love for that tradition which we have inherited and carry society into a new myth transformed and guided by our actions, thought, and zeal. I think every person in the conference room might have stayed all day. Dr. Cowan seemed to want to as well: more than a few times, in the youthful spirit of UD she let us know, “if we’re running out of wine there is more in my apartment. I can go get it.” Dr. Cowan is a mother and a teacher. As any person there can attest to, separating the two is neigh impossible.


The gathering was on May 19th, 2009. Compiled by Peter Kane from the memories of Peter Bloch, Michael Horan, Mary Pat Jones, Laura Junker, Peter Kane, Anne Lorimer, Elizabeth Lowery, Alex Misko, Laura Papania, John Sercer, and Mary Watson.

Coffee House at the Quincy House

Playing music at the Quincy House's Open Mic in Downtown DC with JT Kennelly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCCA37aojF4&feature=channel

Saturday June 06, 2009 (D-Day Anniversary)

Enjoy!

-Peter Bloch