Six words memoirs about personally influential people (without names)

I teach high school level English classes at a private school in New Orleans. I often use "six-word memoirs" in the classroom. The idea is simple. Ask your students to describe themselves in six words. It has to be six! Articles count. You can extend it to include a six-word description of a person, an object, a place (really, anything) only using six words. Here are some model six-word "stories" I made about people I know. 
A prose roster of influential people using the seven-word memoir concept:

He is my occasional problem solver. *** A woman to a special man. *** A gentle giant whom I love. *** A sweet soul soon to blossom. *** We would have babies together but... *** Amazing: different paths but still friends.

She teaches me Library Science know-how. *** In desire, I play dead! Sucks! *** A spit of French and red. *** A caustic soul: will he bloom? *** His crushes are epic and sudden. *** Have never met: only in dreams.

Unfortunately, he is the secret keeper.                *** A child-man with a new soul. *** This guy is no longer haunted. *** Brother for true to each other. *** Taught the wonders of boolean operators. *** The best lunches ever: learned tons.

Here's another variation on this theme: 500 People in 100 seconds.

A librarian sent this to me. Check out the three-layered story structure. Very cool. Kudos for creativity and fun.

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Visiting the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans

The Insectarium is housed in the Old Customs House
on Canal Street in New Orleans

On the first floor of the Custom House on Canal Street in New Orleans, the Audubon Institute opened the city’s first insectarium. For twelve years the insectarium has been in the works behind the scenes and finally opened its doors to the public last week. I went with my cousin Ian on Tuesday to visit the array of ants, patent leather beetles, butterflies, and katydids. 

Ants go marching . . .

I was impressed by the ant farm. Along a wall in the museum’s main hallway has been constructed a sizable ant farm that spans about ten or more feet (I’m just guessing here). I was ready to spot the queen ant in her chambers but I could not find her but one of the museum volunteers told me that she is known to appear every once in a while but is usually surrounded by her ardent followers. Apparently, she is moved from chamber to chamber every once in a while and the lucky visitor who happens to be present can witness the event, but alas we were not fortunate enough to witness the royal entourage.

On the day we visited the insectarium, the black widow spider seemed to be missing. Ian and I looked for her but we could not find her, only an empty web. Hopefully, she did not escape! We informed the entomologist standing nearby and he said they were aware of the fact and were hoping she was hiding and not escaping.

Of course, the insectarium boasts the usual array of bugs: spiders, cockroaches, beetles galore, including the impressive diving beetle. One of the nice things about the insectarium is that it provides a place to view all of these bugs without fighting the urge to stomp on one of them. Probably, if I ever see a black widow spider coming my way, I am not going to point at it red belly and say, “look at that hour-glass shape, how fascinating!” I am going to either run away or defend myself. At the insectarium, however, the need for man to defend himself in his natural environment goes away, and I can safely admire the termites and cockroaches, without wondering if I should call Terminix (who happens to be a major sponsor for the insectarium).

Kids gawk at the Insectarium

I could have done without Joan Riversfly done up like a bug and yakking about insects on a big screen TV. And I did think some of the exhibits were lackluster, especially the underground gallery which was supposed to make you feel like you were bug-sized. Either I didn’t get it or my imagination has run dry. Also, the honey bee exhibit should be at the same size as the ant farm: huge. But, hey, it was still cool watching a few bees gather their nectar and return to a very small hive.

The most impressive gallery was the butterfly gallery. The first part is the metamorphosis gallery. Here, you can see all the stages in their natural glory. It was really fascinating to look at the butterflies lined up in their various stages of metamorphosis. It still boggles my mind that a caterpillar can change from a lumpy piece of fat into a diaphanous spectacle in a matter of days. Wow. 

A museum interpreter answers questions.

I think of metamorphosis as a different form of birth, I guess. The human baby comes out of the womb wet and hairless and over time grows up and after a while looks quite different from the infant he or she once was. But with a caterpillar, it is quite a different story. They basically turn from one species to another. But, I guess it would be like if a human baby was born looking like a fetus. When it was born it would pretty much act like a caterpillar: slow-moving and eating a lot. In the human’s case that would mean a plentitude of milk and baby food as it fattened up and then curled up into a leathery cocoon for a few weeks only to emerge a post-pubescent, adult-ready human. Mothman, anyone? I am kind of glad, though that puberty is not as bad as metamorphosis would probably be. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if you entered the pupa stage like in the middle of gym class? Gross …

Can you name the butterflies?

After the metamorphosis gallery, we were gladly marshaled into the butterfly gallery where you can watch the insects flutter about in an oriental style garden complete with music and coy fish swimming in an ornate pond. It was a nice way to end the visit to the museum.

I highly recommend this museum. It is fun and freaky. I think any age group would find it interesting and enjoyable. The price is about 15 dollars for adults and I forget how much it is for children under the age of twelve, but hey, I was not looking. You can get an insectarium + zoo + aquarium package but I would not rush your insect trip. Take your time and enjoy the bugs!

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Quasi-Movie Review: On Pondering the Movie Wall-E While Doing Chores

   I woke up this morning and weirdly began to ponder that movie Wall-E that I saw last Winter. I woke up oddly early this morning, which is uncommon for me when I do not have to work (and the fact that I had a piercing pain in my lower dorsal area). I made my cup of coffee and went and sat on my deck (not my desk) and began adding to a Wiki I am working on for my MLIS program. I was feeling uncharacteristically productive -- which led me to the Wall-E premise and the added fact that I have been following David Pogue's advice to add typing expansion software to a computer (I decided on TypeItForMe after reviewing Typinator and TextExpander).
  So, with all of this productivity racing in my mind Wall-E seems to be an apt patron saint. On screen he seems so pleasant in his daily diurnal chores, that for a minute, I was co-joined with him in a kind of ecstatic state (not like Saint Teresa in Ecstasy, but close to it), as I went about my apartment, which is usually quite a mess, but has been recently quite clean and organized (although I still cannot find anything). If you are wondering: the motivation to clean my house is threefold: 1.) I thought I was going to have my better friend on Saturday and 2.) on Monday I have a house guest for a week so I thought it kind to spruce the place up a bit. The third motivation is summertime and I have nothing else to do but add to the décor of this apartment in which I will probably be staying for at least another year. I added a runner rug to the hallway leading to the bathroom; I found a wooden red upholstered bench behind a dumpster; I hung some picture frames in my bathroom; I cleaned a pile of dishes (ahem) that had been uncleaned and hanging out on my deck for three months (I am not even joking); I vacuumed my house with a Dyson that Lorie lent me; and, I have a cleaning appointment with Stanley Steemer later this month. Fucking Christ, I am becoming a veritable Ms. Molly homemaker. Can someone please come over and confirm my identity? I think I have been taken over by a poltergeist who goes by Martha Stewart in the daytime and Julia Child by night. Jesus. But, really, this has been good for me. This past year I have lived in basic squalor, so it is nice to know what a real apartment should look like. And the fact that Wall-E was able to keep his junk closet neatly organized has given me grace.

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Reference Book Review: First Fun Encyclopedia (Available as a Searchable Database on EBSCOhost)

First Fun Encyclopedia

     Targeted to primary school children and hosted on the electronic databases MAS Ultra - School Edition and Master File Premier, First Fun Encyclopedia was published by Mason Crest in 2003 and edited and written by Jane Walker. The book is part of the series First Fun Reference Set which includes "First Fun Atlas," by Andrew Langley; "First Fun Dictionary," by Cindy Leaney; and "First Fun Science Encyclopedia," by Brian Ward. 

Available on EBSCO

     EBSCO only has the encyclopedia available digitally for now. The entire encyclopedia is available as HTML full text with graphics. The EBSCO version has 118 entries arranged alphabetically. Each entry has a persistent link feature available so users can email or post links back to the entry. The encyclopedia is searchable and references are cross-linked. 

Encylopedia Articles are Written for Young Readers

     Categorized under the subject heading "Youth & Children's Interests" the text is written at a LEXILE rating of no more than 730. To give an idea of how the book is arranged the "Ocean and Seas" entry also directs users to the "Animal Kingdom" entry. For vocabulary skills, entries include a word box related to the subject with short, simple definitions. Some entries include a word game or puzzle for fun. Each entry has high-resolution graphics to accompany the text that are instructional rather than decorative. The "Fish" entry, for example, has an illustration of a fish with labels identifying the essential anatomical parts. The entry on "Trains" includes graphics of different types of trains — subways, bullet trains, steam trains, and so forth. The entry on "Homes" describes tall homes, tent homes, and houses in rows. 

      No entry is more than 400 words.

Create Non-Fiction Text Sets

Teachers can use the entries from the First Fun Encyclopedia to create text sets for their classrooms. For example, if an English Language Arts teacher plans to teach a unit on Carl Hiassen's novel Flush, a book that takes place in Florida, then the teacher can pre-select non-fiction articles to supplement the reading. Have kids read about the sealife of Florida, or about ecology, and environmental protection efforts to create sustainable habitats for animals.

Source: Walker, Jane. First Fun Encyclopedia. Philadelphia: Mason Crest, 2003. Internet resource.

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Journal & Rants: Mishmash

My Writer's Blog Stones of Erasmus Has Become a Mishmash

This blog has become a mishmash. It originally began as a place to place all of my musings, whether they originate from a journal, from Myspace (when I had that service) or Facebook.

Here is how I think I look when I am writing blog posts.

It has also, on occasion, served as a travel blog. And when I wrote a lot of poetry, it was a place to put my poems (but not too much of that here).

Hmmmm.
Now, I have been mainly sending my "text novel" to here and to Facebook.

Did I tell you, though, that I have signed up for a 3-hour Graduate level course in Reference and Information services?

Get this:
Who wants to be equipped to answer any ready reference question?

I think I am going to buy a kindle and make it into my very own ready reference shelf:

• Merriam Webster Dictionary
• Thesaurus
• Encyclopedia Britannica
• World Almanac
• CIA World Fact Book
• World Atlas

HMMMM what else

oh yeah:

• Famous First Facts

Hah Hah

that would be awesome

OK ... got to log in to chat for LIS 501 (the Library Science class I am taking at the University of Southern Mississippi.

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Text Book: How to Text to Your Blog

I am Texting This Post to My Blog, Y'all!

"London Calling"

I just started this texting your blog thing. I thought it would be fun to text my thoughts on Blogger and Facebook. I read that in Japan "text books" are a big deal. A woman started texting from her cell phone these so-called text novels. Whenever she was waiting or taking the subway she would text the next plot point. Started out free but now the trend has caught on and people are texting like crazy. 

Where Am I When I Texted this Post: I am at Heavenly Ham with my mom!

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First Summer Post: 2009

Summer is here.

Summer is here. Put on the suntan lotion!

I had so many ambitions for this summer:
1. Audition for a play
2. Get a job
3. Take a library science course
4. Write a novel or collection of short stories
5. Find an LTR (!)

Now, so far, I have only begun to accomplish number 3.
     The other bullet points are just that — lofty points!
     Now, I did attempt to do number One. I was going to audition for Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf but the theater was too far away and I did not want to spend my hot, summer days commuting.

About getting a job: 

     I did house sit for a week with mercurial Zack. I made some bucks and got to hang out with him. He is into his peers more than he is into me -- add football, and getting his body ripped and I end up a mere fixture in the house, a little bit lower than the dogs. I caught him a couple of times being bored. Maybe it is true that boredom is part of being an adolescent. I would think the trick in "growing up" is figuring out what to do with unstructured time. It is funny, I was bored watching him be bored. But, to make a potentially tragic story happy, the both of us went to Café Du Monde one morning after his workout and conditioning. And he did help diagnose my car problems (I had a defective tire valve) and directed me to an inexpensive tire repair service. Thank you Zack! All in all it was satisfactory. I do love him and hope he reads this blog!
    Maybe I will try my other plan and get a job as a barista. Anyone need a barista?

About the fiction writing: 

     I need to stop time for a considerable length and go through all my stuff:

Here is my incomplete TOC of stories with a one-sentence tag line:

Staten Island Ferry: A Collection of Short Stories by Greig Roselli

1. Green Apples: A clerk who secretly lives in the basement of a busy urban public library
2. Bully: Two kids become friends after a fight on a trampoline
3. The Hammer: Morgan feels guilty about accidentally killing his father
4. Pre-Stress: Adam comes-of-age once he finds an abandoned lot filled with pre-stress concrete
5. Staten Island Ferry: A man writes poetry on a ferry and befriends a stranger
6. Kierkegaard's Son: A professor finds a half-dead woman and brings her home
7. Highway 90: A middle-aged mom defends her convenience store from being bulldozed
8. Socialite: A girl posts fake pictures of herself on the internet with unexpected consequences
9. Song of Roland: Two men meet after fifty years of separation

     I am thinking I may need a total of twelve stories but these are stories I have already developed. This may end up being a more ambitious project than I originally imagined.
     More later!

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