October 17: heard a lecture by Dr. Lourdes Alvarez on "The Ends of Tolerance: Medieval Spain & the Def of Pluralism" - this was the first of four lectures to support the Lehigh Choral arts concerts, "The Jewel at the Center of the World." Fascinating information about 15th century Andalusian culture. Stunning relevance to my wishes for a more current society that holds pluralism as a principle worth cherishing. Reminded how delighted I am when a learned scholar revelas a mystery hidden in ancient books; makes the mysterious peoples of the past more humane, and more heroic.
October 18th: Lehigh's Women's Center launched a fabulous campaign of positive messages on post it notes in ALL the women's bathrooms on campus. Brilliant.
October 19th: Lehigh's Founder's Day. Posted the student leader speech on the ArtsLehigh bog. That's what it's for, isn't it?
October 20th: Spent afternoon manning a booth at the West Fest; talking about Zoellner programs with my friend, Linda Ganus. rushed home to clean up, put on my party hat and get all "glammy" for the Zoellner Gala. Did I mention, the artist was spectacular?
October 21st: What could be more culturally significant than picking up pumpkins for creative carving on Halloween? We named ours: Harold, Ed, Tina and Wendy.
October 22nd: discovered reddit. Then lost the rest of my day. Wonder how that happened?
October 23rd: Baker's Creativity Institute - got the kids there for the last 30 minutes. We made buttons and a model of the Wilbur Power house.
October 24th: Cleaned pumpkins for carving. Arabic poetry lecture just before orchestra rehearsal.
October 25th: Incredible panel discussion about John Cage inspired exhibits and Black Mountain College, and South Mountain College. Carved pumpkins. Later, I heard the final dress rehearsal for the Choral Arts concert. Always, an extravaganza.
October 26th: Trick or Treat night. Yes, I can apply Darth Maul make up and false eye lashes (different kids, honest) in less than 30 minutes.
October 27th:
Yeah, that's me hanging out with Terri Gross! twitter.com/Silagh/status/…
— Silagh (@Silagh) October 27, 2012
Holy Cow, I got to meet Terry Gross! later, made it back to campus to lead the Zeek club discussion before the Choral Arts concert.
October 28th: The Lehigh Valley got it's most creative in preparing for the the Frankenstorm to hit. At home, I went on a mad cleaning spree. Organized a few creative projects I'd been wanting to get to for a while now. Hoping the power was going to stay on for my home. I's argue there is an art to organizing and preparing. I really had to work at NOT freaking out. The wind was wicked strong this night.
October 29th: Remember those classic movies I wanted to show the kids? We had plenty of time and didn't lose power the day after Hurricane Sandy. Schools were closed, as was campus. We got very creative at home watching classic films, thanks to Netflix. "Arsenic and Old Lace" with Cary Grant is almost an annual tradition now.
October 30th: I watched way too much TV. Sad to end this month so poorly. I resolved to embrace my inner Druid, make the most of Samhuin, and start fresh on November 1st as the New Year resolution begins.
October 31 - I got these posts done! (at least in draft form. Will do a review tomorrow; adding more links and more pictures if I can then.
Whew! Goal met. What did I learn by doing these two blog posts? The Arts and Humanities is my work, true. But they infuse my life with happiness, creativity and joy. Learning about history, celebrating traditions, and sharing new discoveries with my kids; it all goes back to art and the humanities. Life without either would be really, really pathetic.
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