updates and miscellaneous

Hey there Henning, sorry to hear that your computer was down for so long. Technology, grrr. sometimes yay sometimes nay.

Thanks for helping out with getting this weeks moderators posted, and for yet again, being so on top of this job!

We're getting more new users, it seems. You all are doing a fantastic job welcoming the new joiners.

I'm excited to see where our discussions go this week.

So, as of last week: Emily Dickinson is more of a Transcendentalist than Anti-Transcendentalist.

Melville's Ahab becomes a representation of Melville's subjectivity and Melville's Anti-Transcendentalism once he starts to lose courage, hope and faith in his ability and begins to become overtaken with the desire for revenge. This is oversimplified.

The bottom line out of the Transcendentalist, Anti-Transcendentalist discussion was/is, what is "realistic" in your view, and doesn't transcendentalism all come down to one's beliefs and own perceptions, so that is there such a need for this "reality check" because in the end, this reality check ends up being a limitation.

Another note as a reminder of what we've discussed in class about your job as moderators: this is your Transcendentalist unit exam, due to the level of mastery of the basic concepts you all have and considering this level of enrichment your enthusiasm for these topics have gone to, this is how you will be tested for the unit. We've now moved on to the Civil war and post Civil War writers, with Walt Whitman being a bridge from the Transcendentalists to now this new genre, or group, of writers. Steph Huang - the "other" Steph has found a really functional environmental website geared towards activism, so that just by visiting the site and clicking on various links within the site, you participate with the reducing carbon emissions. That link, as well as others, are continuing to be added to the blog, so check the blog regularly for new links. Also, Rosa uploaded the pop quiz videos, and so if you're interested, go ahead and take a look. That's also on the blog. There are a few more videos that were shot that will be uploaded soon. The longer taping of my interpreting "Self-Reliance" and how it contains "The Secret" won't be; instead I'm trying to get it turned into a dvd. Talk about sharing memories with you all.

Oh! One more thing, 10A - tomorrow morning between 10:10 and 10:30 we're going to have some visitors who are responsible for judging our school's worth of receiving a prize for the MUN and UNICEF work, and due to the work we've done with this exact forum and the blog, it seems like the dean sees fit that they come experience a bit of class time with us. So get ready for a little bit of a shake up and a show. I think they're from the Ministry of Education, although I'm not sure. You could all wear your pretty clothes, and JT leave the Mr. Stalker t-shirt at home. Steph, man if you had any idea how much having that shirt would mean to me... Yeah. OK. So maybe it means as much to you too, that your boyfriend proudly sports a Mr. Stalker t-shirt.

Alright! I'm off to see what's up with the moderators' discussions.

Much love and light to you all,
Ms. Kay