I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship (Case Western Reserve University)

My roommate's nice, but it's no Raleigh Charter. That's the first thing that strikes me about the new school. There's really no way to compare, and yet...there kind of is. No one I've talked to yet has finished the required reading. To be fair, it's not really required--just an academic icebreaker but...they all seem to be downplaying their academic side. I love reading. I've brought with me an entire bookshelf of books. And it seems strange that no one else has.

From where I'm standing, my classmates are smart, fun and capable people. They're pretty cool. I guess I've just gotten kind of used to crazy high-achievers. I miss conversations in the hallways about Heiddegger.
I know. I never thought it would happen either.

Most of them are science majors. Biochemistry, physics. One guy I met is going to be an aerospace engineer. How do you know that about yourself at 18? The science majors outnumber the purely social science majors three to one. Still, I'm not alone! I was sitting next to a sociology major. That....counts. ;)  I've met two undecided's already. Uncertainty for the win!

I have become the "English major" to at least three science students, and I do beleive I will start a little side business where I charge people for essay editing. This is the next best business prospect ya'll. It's happenin'.

It's weird. I don't feel nervous. This doesn't even feel that unfamiliar, or new. I'm not worried about sleeping here tonight. 

It's my dorm room. All my stuff is here. I have some company, I have my music, and I have my computer. What more could a girl ask for? (In other news, text Sam, her roommate has not yet arrived, and she is playing music to fill some of the quiet). I feel like I belong here. And it's school. I can do school. I love school. I love the learning and the knowing people and the crazy club shenanigans. I feel almost overwhelmingly prepared for this. 

Sure, it might change in a couple weeks. I've never been away from home for longer than a month. I've never been away from my family for longer than 5 days. But I think I'll be okay. I'll have the lobby, where there will hopefully be movies, and social eating, and catcalling of the Daily Show (which I will steal the TV for every week). And I'll have the dorm, and Sam's dorm and the other pair of twins across the hall. And I've already met someone from the South, who misses sweet tea, and is (as I am) completely unprepared for the lake effect everything. So yeah Case, I love you. But really, couldn't you change your mascot?

The Spartans? Really?

PS: In other news, I got locked out of my dorm. First day. Locked out of my dorm. Go on, laugh. But know that there is a prize waiting for whomever out there can tell me the best joke about that really-doesn't-need-an-explicit-joke situation.

Also, Ohio is a swing state. Go Ohio!

Re: The Bubble

I vote impresario. To that effect, I have compiled a tentative first semester schedule for Case Western which will undoubtedly offer me more potential bubbles to become part of than I know what to do with. Already I feel the pain of letting some of them drift away from my electronic course registration shopping cart, off into the air, to face the harsh winds of the upper atmosphere. Here it is:

ANTH 102 - Being Human: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology
BIOL 114 - Principles of Biology
MUAP 121 - Principle Performance Area
MUAP 131 - Secondary Performance Area
MUTH 107 - Theory for Music Majors 1
MUDE 101 - Eurhythmics 1
MUEN 384 - Spartan Marching Band
FSSO 151 - Border Crossings (Seminar)

And all of this is only 17 credit hours, thank goodness. I'm cutting it just under the wire. I already miss those Gallup family bubble sponsored vacations; though hopefully Case will be sponsoring some in their stead in the near future, all in the name of academia.

Another thought that has been weighing on my mind recently: tomorrow, I'm going to send off my flute to Charlotte for perhaps a month of R and R (refurbishment and repair). Will I survive? Will I actually practice other things besides the flute? Will I ever finish reading "Angelmaker"? (That last question just tends to pop up regardless the subject at hand.) Only time will tell. Hopefully the end of this summer will feel more like the Enterprise setting out than a faceful of cold soapy water.

What Will Happen When the Bubble Bursts?

Because the girls will soon be leaving; they have been forced to deal with our overly maudlin displays of affection and devotion, including an unholy number of movie nights... together; family meals... together; and other various and sundry displays of love and fidelity... together!

In our adventures together; we enjoyed a trip to Asheville, including whitewater rafting near Hot Springs, NC, and a brief, but challenging, hike off of the Blue Ridge Trail. In another excursion; we went to Charleston, NC, where we enjoyed some shows from the Picolo Spoleto festival; and we did a little kayaking, shopping, dining, and sight seeing around the city.

In a trip to New York City; we stayed at a hotel in Brooklyn, and we saw a college in the Bronx; so we saw a few of the outer boroughs. Nevertheless; we returned to the ultimate borough, Manhattan, to revisit Times Square and the theater district. We all saw Harvey, featuring Jim Parsons (from The Big Bang); but we split up for showings of the revival of Anything Goes (Jasmine and Samantha), and the comic book spectacle, Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark (Steve and Dianne). For some new experiences, we went to Harlem for dinner and culture; and we went to the Warehouse District for a walk on the High Line.


With what seems to be the inevitable dissolution of the 'great and terrible' Gallup family bubble; it seemed prudent, this year, that Dianne and I should also become reacquainted. We took a trip, without the girls, to New Orleans; where we enjoyed some great Jazz performances, on Frenchman's Street, by John Butte', and by Kermit Ruffins; and some slightly less polished, but also less crowded, street performances on Royal Street. This was an awesome chance for us to spend more time together; and to spend some time with Lisa and Andre.

Back at home, Dianne and I have been looking at the prospects of preventing 'empty nest syndrome' by biking ourselves into oblivion! This past year we started biking on a regular, and fairly serious, basis. I decided to throw my lot in with a group of riders that have been departing from the parking lot of my office (and My Way Tavern!) every Thursday. I found that I had more energy (and less agony) after a bike ride, then I did after 90 minutes of full court basketball.

On Sundays; we have joined, from time to time, a group called Team CBC. We've upgraded our bikes and our gear so we can ride 15 to 30 miles a week. Personally, I've made some more ambitious rides of 50 miles and 60 miles, from which I barely returned; but I've become a stronger (but not obsessive) rider.

So, hopefully, when the weather warms up again; Dianne and I can get out there, and do something together that we both enjoy; knowing that even if our kids are super smart academically, or super talented artistically; we can still kick their butts, athletically.

What happens next has yet to be seen. Will Samantha be a concert flautist, a pit orchestra woodwind impresario, or a deadbeat jazz musician playing for tips? Will Jasmine write the next Doctor Who alternative universe spinoff, become a movie critic for Newsweek online, or write the operating instructions for the new kitchen blender model? Can Steve and Dianne live together in peace and equanimity... with their pets; or will Snickers and Orion be ruthlessly exiled from the domicile? Stay tuned. God only knows what will happen when the bubble bursts.

Leaving the Bubble

The writing is on the wall.  It's only a matter of time before Jasmine and Samantha leave the Gallup family bubble to join another bubbly institution (hopefully, an institution of higher learning).  Both girls have received offers of admission to college; and they will soon hear from other schools of interest. 

It won't be long before those hypothetical plans, those virtual tours, and those academic application essays; turn into real bricks and mortar dorm rooms, real room mates, real textbooks, real college food... real exhiliration, and real insecurity. 

I remember the feeling.

Maybe you remember it too.

As for me; I left my own family bubble, my hometown, and my childhood friends back in 1980, in 11th grade, when I left Broughton high school in Raleigh, to attend the School of Science and Math in Durham.  This year, 30 years later, I attended the reunion of both of those schools. 

Before the Broughton reunion; I decided to contact some of the friends that I had from childhood; kids... now adults... that I knew from the Five Points neighborhood, from Sherwood Bates Elementary, and from Daniels Middle School.  Ultimately, I was able to reach a lot of them by e-mail, and see a few of them in person.  These were essentially friends from my 'youth'; friends that share my experience in the Southern suburban culture of Raleigh in the 70s.

Although I share the same heritage and experience as my peers from Broughton; I still have a more unbreakable... a more cohesive connection with my cohorts from the School of Science and Math; my first home away from home.  Whereas I could mingle, reminisce, and recollect things with my friends from Broughton; it was hard to step outside of that bubble of time and of place.  Perhaps, if I continue to keep in touch with my earlier friends, then that ease and candor will develop; but I fear that those childhood connections, at the moment, are still somewhat eclipsed by the connections that I made as a young (but aspiring) adult.

And so... I imagine, things might develop in a similar fashion for Jasmine and Samantha.  They are already making connections of their own, in high school; and they will go on to make even stronger bonds in college.

Jasmine has shared in the crucible of a drama production, with her friends at Raleigh Charter, for Antigone and for The Importance of Being Earnest.  In Antigone, she was a part of the (Greek) Chorus... a literal, and figurative, cog in the machinery of the supporting ensemble.  In Earnest, she played a more central role; for which we give much thanks and credit to the drama teacher, Ms. Rasnick, and to Jasmine's own persistence and talent.

Samantha's connections seem inevitably to be associated with music.  For example; her pre-audition flute recordings were made with the help of a friend from the Davidson Summer Experience who is an amateur sound engineer; all of her parties and gatherings are attended by friends from the school band and from the jazz band club; and (to her great credit) she was accepted to the Triangle Youth Philharmonic orchestra, for the first time, this year.

Samantha is also a member of the RCHS volleyball team which exceeded expectations this year, and set a high bar for all of the Phoenix teams to come.  In her senior year, the team advanced to the state finals; winning difficult games against arch-rival, NCSS&M, and against Riverside, at home; and winning a semi-final game against Princeton, on the road; before losing to a perennial contender, Hendersonville HS, at Reynold Coliseum (at NCSU).

Now the time is coming to count down those days at Raleigh Charter; take those senior photos; buy class rings; send out graduation invitations; and prepare to leave for a new school and new endeavors.  Soon we'll be making new friends, taking new classes, trying new things, and learning to do things we never did before.  Like the Enterprise; we're setting out "to explore strange new worlds... to boldly go..." beyond our childhood bubble.

On the Bubble

Bubbles are fascinating phenomena.  Frequently they are formed when soap molecules surround dirt and oils, separating them from our clothes or skin, to be washed away by water.  Physically, bubbles represent a small volume of gas within a liquid or a solid, like the air within the translucent liquid membrane of a bath bubble.

In medical school, I learned that cells, in the human body, are somewhat like bubbles.  Cell membranes are composed of a phospholipid bilayer, which separate the liquid inside the cell from the substance and elements outside.  Proteins within the cell membrane allow molecules or ions to move from one side to the other.  Our bodies are composed of millions of self-replicating 'bubbles', with amazing properties that depend, in part, upon their ability to create a unique inner cellular milieau. 

In 2012,  we were less concerned with physical bubbles (or cells) then with the 'bubbles' of higher institutions.  In the deluge of college propaganda, we read about the "Haverford bubble", encompassing students at that institution, and allowing them unlimited creativity.  And, on a visit to Davidson, we heard about the "Davidson bubble" separating the students at Davidson College from the ideologically different residents of the outside community.  In fact, it seems that every college  community has a sort of effervescent semi-permeable membrane separating them from the world at large.

Metaphorically, bubbles represent things without permanence or substance.  Merriam Webster defines a bubble as, among other things, "something that lacks firmness, solidity, or reality".  So... it seems that, for the last couple of years, Dianne and I, and Jasmine and Samantha, have been looking around for a place that will provide an unsteady, fluid, and unreal experience that will ultimately make them more qualified to live and work in the 'real' world!


In our search for the perfect 'bubble', we took a trip to see some colleges of interest in North Carolina; ultimately visiting Duke, UNC - Asheville, Western Carolina University, Davidson, Wake Forest, and Elon.  We learned that Duke has the best stand up comedy routine by an admissions counselor; Elon has an audiovisual docudrama presentation that will make you cry; UNC Asheville is only a wise choice if you are physically fit; but the downtown area is chock full of restaurants of every kind.  Are these the factors that we should use to find a school?

In truth... we've learned a lot about the schools in our home state, and about schools from other states that we visited; like Fordham in the Bronx, and Sarah Lawrence in Bronxville. and the College of Charleston in it's namesake city.  But it doesn't really matter what we (as in, the royal 'we' of parents,) think about the school.  What really matters is what they (as in, Jasmine and Samantha,) think; since they will be the ones who have to live and breath the academic air, of their own academic 'bubble', for the next four years.

What I (speaking only for myself) have really learned; is that I was pretty naive when I made my own college applications; and even more naive and... yes... arbitrary when I made my college decisions.  I'm not as smart as I think I am (and according to Jasmine, I'm not as funny as I think I am).  In short, I've been living in a bubble of delusion for 30 years.  Well... I say we should embrace the bubble...embrace the crazy... and enjoy our time in the bubble of self deception as long as possible!

Chiaroscuro

“It needs more light on the front to make it shiny. I keep adding white and yellow, but that only washes everything out.
'You need to add a bit of shadow back here.' Miss Moore dips a brush in sepia and paints a curve along the outside edge of my apple. Immediately, the shine on the apple is apparent, and it looks much better.
'The Italians call this chiaroscuro. It means the play of light and dark within a picture.'
'Why couldn’t Gemma simply add the white to make the apple shine?' Pippa asks.
'Because you don’t notice the light without a bit of shadow. Everything has both dark and light. You have to play with it till you get it exactly right.'

 –Art class conversation between Miss Moore and the First Class, page 266, A Great and Terrible Beauty

Perks of Being a Wallflower

Really, there's no word for this film other than "infinite." Which is apt, because that's how the protagonist of the story feels throughout his adolescene.

The goal of this story, as I see it, was to produce a film that didn't feel like just-another-teenage-movie. "Perks" succeeds in this goal overwhelmingly--the create something that doesn't cheapen the teenage experience.

As we grow older, as we move forward in our lives, we forget how we felt at 16. More than that--we want to forget how we felt at 16. We want to make our actions during adolescene unimportant, because back then, we were still under construction. We want to think that who we were in high school wasn't real. That what we did didn't matter, because we were still figuring out who we were.

While it's true that the time for experimenting with identity is during adolescence, that fact does not make any of our experiences less important. We would all like to to disregard our mistakes and crystallize our successes. "Perks" argues that no matter what, everything we expereince is important. We should remember the good along with the bad.

"Perks" challenges how we, as adults, perceive our years in high school. It says that our pain, our uncertainty, our emotional struggles--all of that was real. And we should strive to remember that with clarity, because we can't remember our recovery from pain realistically unless we do. Our discoveries, our reaching out for understanding, our being reached out for--how do we know this if not emotionally? How do we find happiness if not in the midst of pain?

What use is there in remembering the golden days without remembering how our friends saved us-- and what they saved us from?

I find myself wondering if watching "Perks" as a teenager is different from watching it as an adult. If we all, no matter what age, want to elevate our past experiences. Make them into something better than they were.