Hello All

I hope everyone is ready for the new school year to start. I took summer classes and for those of you who were in the same boat will understand when I say that it feels like classes never ended. Especially when I don't think that there has not been a week this month that I was not on the Macon campus. Anyway, I am just here to announce that I have started my "Volunteering in Memphis" blog again and would love for all my fellow Honors members to start reading and contributing to my blog. Thank you and I hope to see you all around campus. Ciao!

http://mymemphisvolunteeringproject.blogspot.com/

Farewell Friends!

Not really! It won't be that easy to get rid of me! I feel like I have made real friends through this class that have helped enrich my Honors Inquiry experience and ultimately my life. Awww. Mushy moment!

This class took me from someone who really disliked Memphis to someone who can finally appreciate it for its rich history and bubbling potential. When I signed up for the class, I definitely wasn't expecting that. Nor was I expecting to enjoy the people in the class nearly as much as I did.

Aaron - Let me start with you since I saw you the most often! Two classes with you! What was I thinking?! Just kidding. You have been such a help and an inspiration. It was truly a pleasure to see someone who was as dedicted to your education and the overall life-learning experience as you. You inspired me to be better and more diligent when it came to my own work. In fact, you became a motivator for me. I wasn't content to just sit back and do my essays the same way I always did. I wanted to take chances, push my creativity to its limits, and do better because you thought I could. You are really a true friend, and I am so thankful that I got to meet you and Sarah. You have to keep in touch!!

Erin - My singing partner! Rocking out in Sun Studios with you was probably the highlight of the semester! The fact that Aaron got it on video dampers the enthusiasm a bit, though. Blackmail! I really enjoyed getting to know you this past semester. Again, an inspiration! I've never met someone who was involved in so much and doing so much with their college experience. You really made me want to get more involved. I think that your ideas about the Student Ambassadors for the Honors Academy is a phenominal idea. Hopefully when we both transfer to the University of Memphis, we'll be able to see each other!

Irene - I didn't get to see you as much as I did Erin and Aaron. That is truly a shame. You have been so supportive and enthusiastic throughout the semester. I really enjoyed talking with you. Your advice has been very helpful. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Doug - Last but not least! I have never met a professor who was an involved with and as caring towards his students as you are. It made class so much better to be taught by someone who cared enough to learn my name instead of me being just another body at a desk whose papers you had to grade. You made both classes so enjoyable. I've learned a lot about myself as a writer by reading your critiques of my work. I really wish that my schedule allowed for me to take you for my literature classes over the next couple of semesters. I truly believe I would get more out of them. With everything that you did with the Honors Inquiry class, I am surprised that there aren't more students interested in taking it. If it's okay with you, I would like to write an extra article about the Honors Inquiry class that you can use in the school newspaper or the Honors Academy paper, whichever would be best. More students really need to be made aware of the class and the Academy.

I'm not sure that anyone else reads this blog anymore, so I won't go into anything else. I'm already pretty sad that the semester is over. I almost wish that some classes were year long classes like they are in high school. I hope you all have a wonderful summer!!! Please please please keep in touch. I'm on Facebook, and my personal email address is peachroses82@yahoo.com

Giving the Class the Respect It Deserves...

I know that throughout the last part of the semester, I have been behind a great deal in the blog. I have had some personal conflicts going on at home that really took my mind off of school. I don't want to go into detail, but I just wanted to apologize that I didn't put more of an effort into writing on everyone's blogs and giving my own feedback. We ALL know that I am very opinionated, to say the least. I probably could have started some really great debates. It's the end of the semester, and I just wanted to post a final class discussion blog to catch up on everything that I have missed. This class was amazing to me, and I really wanted to show it some respect.

For some reason, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" came to mind when I said that, thus the movie Hustle and Flow. I might say that had it not been for this class, I would have never watched this movie on my own. I was actually surprised by the number of actors and actresses that I was familiar with who played in the movie. It wasn't anything like I expected. I was expecting it to be like that gawdy pimp movie where the guy is walking around on platform shoes with goldfish in the glass soles and ends up breaking them.

Terrence Howard is actually one of my favorite actors. However, I'm used to seeing him play very clean-cut schoolboy roles. This was a very dramatic change in his acting style for me. That is why I would liek to touch on what A.O. Scott said about his character being incoherent. I don't really agree with this. Without the complexity of DJay's character, the movie would have been sub-par. He is the ultimate contradiction, a pimp with morals. He may turn woman out for tricks and cash. He may manipulate and abuse them. However, to him it isn't personal. It's a business deal, and once the "work day" is over, he treats the women much like family. He supports them and makes sure they are taken care of. He is presented throughout the movie as having a monogamous suedo relationship with one fo the woman, not a womanizer. DJay doesn't rob or steal. I don't even remember him lying throughout the movie. Yes, he violently assaulted a guy in a public bathroom, not one of his better days. But it was a human reaction to someone you revere stomping on a dream that means the world to you. We have all been there and felt on it, just none had the courage to act on it until DJay. He is what each of us wants to be, a decent man who may have gone down the wrong path in life but used it as motivation to reach his dreams.

This takes me to the stories that we were supposed to read from the packet Doug handed out. I was not able to attend the discussion at Doug's house, but I wanted to comment about my favorite of the two, A Friend and Protector. I know that this is probably incorrect, but it seemed to me that the relationship between Aunt Maragret and Jesse was very strange. To me it seemed like maybe they had either had a love affair, or they loved each other in secret. I'm not sure if this was brought up in the discussion. If so, I would love to hear what was said.

I did enjoy the walk in the Elmwood Cemetary, though! This was probably my favorite trip of the entire semester. It was too bad that I had to cut it short. I could have spent all afternoon there. Before everyone got there, I was able to walk around on the main road that goes through the center. There were a lot of babies' graves along that route. I got a picture of one particular gravestone that touched my heart. It was a little girl who was only 16 days old. Her name was Little Angel. Later on after we started the tour, the thing that intrigued me the most were the military graves. I was intrigued by the number of military burials there, especially the number of unknown soldiers.

I did some research about this and found out that the military area in Elmwood Cemetary is called Confederate Soldiers Rest. There are approximately 1,000 Confederate soldiers and veterans buried in that area, and many buried elsewhere in the cemetary. The first Confederate soldier to be buried there was William Thomas Gallagher on June 17, 1861 and the last was John Frank Gunter on April 1, 1940. Among the buried are James Patton Anderson who was a former US Congressman, Thomas Battle Turley who was a US Senator from Tennessee, and William Graham Swan who was a Confederate congressman and mayor of Knoxville. There were Union soldiers also buried at Elmwood in the 1860s, but they were all removed in 1868 and put in the Memphis National Cemetary. Two Union Generals still remain bured at Elmwood. I wonder if they are resting in peace among thousands of their "enemies."

I was pleased to find that that there are new efforts being made to find the identification of the 97 unknown soldiers buried in Confederate Soldiers Rest. That is why some of the plain markers were slowly being given the nicer military headstones. Those were evidently soldiers that they discovered they could not identify. They are still working on the rest.

An Invitation

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Poor Forrest

I have a Saturday class and the exam was today. I finished this exam fairly quickly and decided to wait for a classmate that I had "un-officially" tutored through the semester. I walked over to Office Depot to buy some candy, (needed a gummie-bear fix) and with some time on hand strolled around the building. Adjacent to Office Depot is a UT building or at least it looks like the buildings across the street. It has elaborate brick work and great stone facades around the doors and window. At the end of this alley, hanging from the south entrance is an elaborate street sign marked 822 Beale Street. (there's absolutely no street there today) I peeked in as many windows as possible, peeling plaster, debris and yard equipment is all I could see. BUT....when I looked north, Forrest was starring right at me. Mounted on his majestic horse, guarding the resting place of he and his bride, a symbol of southern history is now looking directly at an old alley surrounded by chain-linked fences hooded with barb-wire starring at the ass-end of a Motel 6. As a rule, I do not like change. Personally, I believe the UT/Southwest area needs a green space, even if no one uses it. I was against moving Forrest for this simple reason. Today, I changed my mind, even Forrest doesn't deserve this. Poor city planning has left an important part of Memphis/Southern history out of the loop with little respect. After our visit to Elmwood Cemetery this past semester, I have a greater appreciation for the people who died for "their-cause." Forrest should be with them, people who gain any or all of their knowledge about this time in American history should experience Forrest too. He's sorely overlooked on Union Avenue, and that's not fair!

Honored to Know You

The inquiry experience has been wonderful. It has been a treat to get to spend time with all of you and to learn so much about the city we live in. Before this class, I had been to Beale St., Main St., and East Memphis. Now, I have been all over the city of Memphis. Seeing all the ins and outs of this town has given me a greater appreciation of Memphis as a whole. I enjoyed learning about the history and the people. I have a deeper understanding of her inner workings and how Memphis came to be the way she is today.

The presentations on Monday and Tuesday were wonderful. I am going to read the book Lindsey is saving! I wish Irene all the best on the pet cooperative and hope Aaron and his little have more great times to share. It was interesting seeing all the Honors II presentations also. I have to admit that I am glad that they are over and I can go another few months before presenting again.

As the school year draws to a close, I looked back over the adventures this year has brought. I started in August with my illness, and was not quite sure I was going to be able to maintain a full time schedule. I managed to struggle through and get all the way to May. I have had wonderful adventures, seen amazing theater, music and art performances, attended two Honors Conferences, and made new and lasting friends. Being in the Honors Academy and taking this class has given me new insight into myself, my interests, and my friendships. I have truly been honored to know all of you and hope that we all stay in close contact for a good, long time.

A Strange Change

As I was getting ready for Tuesday's presentation, I was ironing a dress and all I could see was the "IRON CROTCH" from Willie Cole's exhibit. (warrior-like man covered in iron stencil with one big iron forming the crotch) That day at the Brooks is a fond memory. I was remembering the great food, Doug's friends, and Naoimi, our guide for the Old Forrest Trail. Next time any of you venture to Overton Park, please stop at the Golf House. It is charming and must have been the "IT" in its day, maybe one day we can gather and shoot nine, or simply ride around on the golf carts.

What a wonderful semester. I was glad to read Aaron's entry about the Macon Road presentations. Erin did terrifically Tuesday. I, on the other hand, had a "melt-down!" My presentation was pitiful. I beat myself up for two days...I did the second part first, the first part second, and completely forgot the introduction, the thesis, the premise for the whole damn project! My husband and I practiced, he timed me, I knew the opening line.....I blew-it!!! What's sad about the whole mess is that I knew this stuff hands-down.

What keeps me in this place of personal panic? Some of it is each of you; you're all incredibly bright and well-rounded, kind and funny...the kind of company I like to keep! I am sitting at my desk with the working minutes from the city council meeting, a fund-raising invitation for Janis Fullilove, which incidently came the very next day after the council meeting, the Street Dog rescue stuff from our trek on Main St., Sandra's poetry book and the Elmwood "grave-explain" signs. I have much to say about all of these, but my thoughts simply sit as drafts! I am a poor writer in comparison to each of you and I've found it intimidating. I've had these same poor skills for thirty years. I was afraid of writing then and I'm still as flustered with the process today. BUT, I am going to get better. (hard to get worse) My mechanics are terrible, and I've spent a lifetime avoiding improving. Today, I finally want to improve. Strange isn't it that simply being around each of your talented souls has sparked this women to finally step-up and learn some structure and grammar. Thanks.

I want to be able to go to a conference and present something. I have some very strong interests that I'd like to explore and share; granted they are more on the scientific side but neat stuff none-the-less. This class has inspired me. I'll need your help as to not hide from the work, which I do so effortlessly!

I can't wait to read Lakota Women and view Lyndsey's video. I want to hear more about both Aaron's and Erin's volunteer efforts. There's a great opportunity at the Commercial Appeal for citizen editorial writers that I want to share with you. All of you would be great. You sit on the editorial board for four months, and get to help write about Memphis and her issues. I'm with Aaron, let's continue to post and share here. And with a little effort and help, my babbling just might turn into writing.

Keep in touch.