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March 26, 2006

Wine Reviews.1

I've noticed more magazines are getting into the wine commentary business - Better Homes and Gardens, Sunset, which even started its own wine club that I can't participate in because I live in a prohibited state, Wegman's Menu, even though they can't [yet] sell wine in their home state, etc. So rather than accumulate an entire shoebox of little clippings, or start yet another binder, I thought I'd capture some of those comments here, along with my own reviews.

This first set comes from an article in BH&G in December about entertaining.

Stone Cellars by Beringer: Pinot Grigio
"Zippy, filled with citrus notes. Especially good for sipping at appetizer parties."

Frei Brothers Redwood Creek California Pinot Grigio
"Medium bodied, with bright, fruity flavors."

Cline Cellars: Red Truck California Table Wine
"Fruity and a little sweet, this one will go especially well with salty nibbles."

Coppola: Rosso
"Zinfandel, cabernet, and syrah grapes combine for a supple, earthy, food-loving wine."

CG says: This is a full, round, medium dry red wine that sips nicely on its own and pairs well with food. It has complex fruit notes with low tannins, and complements a variety of hearty flavors.

If you've tried any of the wines I mention here, please do post your opinions. I'd love to build a good collection.

Posted by cageyer at 12:08 PM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2006

Listening to What I Teach

I had two meetings with students this morning, despite it being Spring Break here. One is working through last semester's work with me, while the other is a senior who has asked me to be a reader on her Honors Thesis. I'm learning an awful lot from working with these two very different students.

With the first, I am learning how to teach writing. And by that, I mean that I am having to research basic writing texts, to rediscover how to explain a paragraph and its function, the relationship of the sentence to the paragraph, and the paragraph to the larger essay, to revisit the idea of a topic sentence outline and its value, to learn how to discuss and explain topic sentences, supporting sentences, and the differences between example, explanation, and expansion. Most college composition teachers probably have a whole bibliography of texts they consider useful, but right now my money in on A Writer's Workshop, 2nd ed., by Bob Brannan. After combing all my handbooks, my shelf staples (such as Patterns for College Writing and Literature for Composition) and a whole stack of other anthologies I've glanced through but never called on, this one book proved to be the most straightforward and comprehensive. I needed that, for this teaching situation, but I also find myself remembering cool stuff that would help my own writing, if only I would remember and use it.

Which brings me to student number two and her thesis. She's working very hard to keep it under a hundred pages. One hundred. I can't imagine writing something that long on a single subject, and yet as I look at my growing pile of "projects to do when (fill in the blank) event is over, I realize that there are a few book length projects there. Hmmmm.... so today, as I'm talking about the next level of revisions for this thesis, I hear ideas come out of my mouth I didn't know I owned; ideas that tell me how to write the length of paper I've never attempted. Things like:

Wow. It sounds so simple when I say it like that. Sounds so much like what I was taught in my first comp class - so much that hasn't managed to guide my writing for reasons unknown. Maybe it's really true that you truly learn something when you learn it to teach it to another.

Posted by cageyer at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

Who's the Blonde Stranger?

Can you believe this? Syracuse just beat Georgetown, a day after taking down UConn (the #1 team in the country) in overtime, making it the first time any team has come back from winning in overtime to winning their game the next day (in the Big East tournament, that is) and the first time a team has come back from a 15 point half-time deficit to win in Big East history. And that "overrated" player McNamara? It's all his doing. His scoring, his grit, his determination, his encouragement, occasionally his scowling at other players, but mostly his sheer full presence on that court. A-mazing. In-credible. Other superlatives that others will say better than I can here.

You know how the cameras always pan to Gerry's parents in the crowd? You know you there's always this one younger blonde woman next to Gerry's mom in the shot that no one ever talks about? Who is she? Who is that blonde stranger?

What an incredible night!

Posted by cageyer at 09:14 PM | Comments (1)

March 07, 2006

In praise of writing groups

Yesterday I met with one of two writing groups I'm trying to participate in this semester. This one happened to be the Victorian group. A few weeks ago, I missed that group's meeting, but met with the CCR group, so I'm about even in participation in both.

In each case, I am impressed by how helpful such a group is. Sharing our written work outside the formal structures of a classroom, offering questions, comments, ideas and resources is incredibly valuable and way underemphasized. We assign our students peer reviews of their work, but how often do we mobilize to share and review our own scholarly works? In my four years of graduate school, this is the first semester these groups have materialized, and I hope we will be able to sustain them.

Thanks to Derek and Kelly, and Sarah, who organized these two groups. Thanks to the participants who have helped me with great feedback and comments. Thanks to those who were willing to hear and consider my comments on their work. Let's continue to support, promote, and participate in these valuable exchanges.

Posted by cageyer at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2006

Hail to the Caregivers

Today is all about getting reacquainted with my computer after a near week at my mother's house and a day or catching up. Mom lives in Sun City, Arizona and has been providing at home care for her husband, who is significantly older and in failing health, for several months now. There's a lot to that story, but it's probably boring for most who aren't actually part of it, so I'll skip to the larger social issues.

Of all places in the country, one would think that the greater Phoenix area would be awash in services for the elderly. And while there are some, there aren't nearly as many as I expected. So arranging to have help at home, even just to try and hire a maid service, has been difficult. There is a growing number of assisted living type facilities, but still very few custodial centers. Those facilities that are available are run by large corporations, and I know from prior work that those corporations are now and will be in the future very profitable. Still, they are corporations - businesses - and they run along business models. It costs money to be there, the staff aren't sharing equally in the financial success of the facility, many of the residents don't have someone watching out for them to be sure they are treated well, etc. These facilities are designed for people who can still largely take care of themselves and perform most of the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) on their own. But as folks get older, as various and sundry ailments take over and diminish the capacity to function or perform the ADLs, then what? Very few places are set up to care for this segment of the population, leaving the two choices of paid in-home care, and the much more prevalent informal in-home care provided unpaid by stressed out family members trying to balance that care with a job or raising a family or both. This is a big problem in society that is still mostly hidden but really needs to come out and be the subject of a wider discussion.

Most seniors don't have the kind of assets to buy in-home care. It costs $10 per hour during the daytime, $17 an hour for nights - or at least it does in Sun City. Do some quick math and you find this service weighs in at around $3,000 per WEEK. Medicare does NOT cover this kind of care. Only Long Term Care Insurance will, and then only part of it. Even if one has money, it doesn't take long to completely deplete a lifetime of savings at that rate of expense.

The implications across our society and economy are huge and disturbing. Last week, there was a report speculating that by 2015 (that's less than 10 years from now) health care costs will account for as much at 20% of our total Gross Domestic Product. $1 in every $5 will be spent on health care services. 1 in 5. How long can we do that?

The baby boomers - the group that begins with those born in 1945, begin to be eligible for Medicare in 2010. Groups like AARP have been trying to years to educate the pre-retirement set about the kinds of care Medicare does not provide. And still not enough people have Long Term Care insurance, which like most other insurance, is one you can't buy once you need it. You have to buy it early and carry it a long time. It provides at least some financial assistance for either institutional or at-home care.

But the fact is that as long as we as a society are loathe to allow the life cycle to come to its natural end without medical intervention, we will have a ever-large percentage of our population consuming large dollar amounts worth of medical care and related care services with no real restorative effect. It's long past time we came to grips with this contradiction and started providing for it, planning for it, and having mechanisms in place to care for the elderly who can no longer care for themselves. It's time we educate mid-lifers to anticipate spending their final years somewhere other than in their own homes. Time we started to really develop well-trained and well-paid caregivers so that we can feel good about entrusting our parents to them (this argument parallels nearly exactly the need to better pay our teachers so we can entrust our children to them... another post).

Fortunately for my mom, she now has a rotating group of in-home caregivers, both to just be with her husband so she can move about the house and do things, or leave the house to do things, or just get some sleep, and to help with light housekeeping chores. It's those people I want to salute in this message. So here's to Dan, and Don, and Luce, and most of all, Magda, for choosing this line of work, for your patience, your cheerfulness, and your help. Thank you. And to all the caregivers out there who toil without notice, without pay, without appreciation or recognition, a shout-out to you. Make your work known, and know that some of us out here do understand how hard it is, how much you give up to do it, and how important you are.

Posted by cageyer at 09:40 AM | Comments (1)