Blogging on the Powwow

We're getting close to the time of year when Trevor called to tell us about Mark. It was November 12, actually. I was meeting with students in my office in the evening. Neil was teaching in Gorham. I called him with the bad news. Silence. The truth is, I never knew Mark very well. I knew Mark through other people - Neil, Trevor, and Neil's colleagues. Mark visited Neil and me at our home in Saco on occasion. Between these visits and the stories I heard, Mark made a tremendous impression on me. Mark was larger than life. He was a fantastically talented oboist. Mark was driven in a way that caused most people to take pause. He was incredibly demanding of his students and even more demanding of himself. He poured himself into his work in a way that would crush most of us - solo, chamber music, teaching, administrative duties in Iowa, recordings, auditions ("just to stay fresh"), festivals, music camps, and the like. His productivity knew no limits. I'm a highly p...

June arrives tomorrow - and with it the anniversaries of two events that shaped my adulthood more than anything else: career and marriage. This year, however, seems especially important because of the number of years that have passed between the actual events and now. As they say, "In the blink of an eye..." Blink. Ten years ago on June 2, I finished my PhD (in public policy). It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since I defended my dissertation and was hooded in front of thousands of people, but it's true. Ten years. It was a weekend of celebrations. By the end, I just stumbled from one celebration to another. My wonderful sister, Jen, arranged for a small family celebration at the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain, the night before graduation. I think that there was also a departmental celebration and a hooding celebration that same day. On the day of graduation itself, Tim Russert gave the commencement speech, one that was dotted with conservative message...

It all started in March 2011 as I crossed the finish line to complete my 7th marathon - this time, the Lower Potomac Marathon  in southern Maryland. Here I am at the finish line. (I also just have to add in this cute picture of Kathy and Dorothy - wearing their "Team Emi-Lou Staff" t-shirts that Dorothy and Neil had made for this and all race occasions.)  I am a slow runner, but the clock showed that I had shaved 1 minute off my last PR (Personal Record for you non-runners)...completely by accident. For the last 4-5 marathons I had shaved 1 minute off each time I crossed the finish line - and it was unplanned every time. I have always been a casual marathoner. I'd love to hit most sought-after goal for any marathoner - well, the first goal is to just finish. The second goal is to finish in under 4 hours. This is called running a "sub-4 marathon." But, in truth, it just hasn't been in me. I've been happy to run marathons, never paying much atte...

It's happened to all of us. We visit the house or neighborhood where we grew up. The trees are different. The street has been repaved. There are more houses on the street and strangers living "next door." We drive past what was, in our youth, a farm. Now? A bustling strip mall. People dragging toddlers in and out of Staples, Target, and the like. No one seems to care that it was once a farm and that part of your childhood is gone. In fact, it seems almost taken without your permission. Stolen. It's true. You can never go home. I started playing the oboe in 4th grade. I wanted to play the bassoon, but it was a bit large for me. So, my mother, a band teacher, suggested that I take up the oboe and later switch to bassoon. I never made the switch. I was especially happy playing oboe. Here's a picture of me at my 7th grade Christmas concert. I was 12. My two closest friends from junior high and high school are beside and behind me: Traci Lamarre Lenzi on flute and Ka...

As many of my readers may know, Kathy Leavitt and I have been acquaintances since elementary school and close friends since high school. After a brief hiatus in early adulthood, Kathy and I re-initiated our friendship in our mid-20s and we have been in near daily contact, primarily via email, for the past 14-15 years. Kathy has been a constant source of support for me. She has heard about all of my woes, successes, and concerns. She is almost more knowledgeable about my career and life than me. In addition to sharing dog stories and tips, gluten-free eating, and our childhood, Kathy has listened to endless stories about my profession and been a constant, positive, source of support. I suffered many failures in my four-year-long search for a tenure-track job before I landed at Bridgewater. Every time I was turned down, Kathy exclaimed, Those idiots! How could they not hire you? You don't want to work for someone who wouldn't hire you anyway, right? It's their loss, no...