Robert Frost Obviously Went to College

Last night I went to bed at 5 a.m. Then I woke up at 8 a.m., went to school, had an exam, a major paper due, a handful of assignments, and an event. Now I sit here at the computer, having reached the "other side" and am looking longingly at my bed. And I will go to sleep. But before that I thought I'd do a quick blog post. Because who doesn't love a blog post?

The last entry for the LEP was upbeat, chipper, and sprinkled with rainbow dust and butterflies. While this one isn't depressing (well, maybe it is) it definitely reflects my exhaustion. Sorry guys!

Robert Frost is one of my all-time favorite poets, and as unoriginal as this may sound, I think his very best work  is "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening". I think the rhyming scheme is PERFECT and he paints the most wonderful picture in just a few lines. But the real reason this poem stood out to me today of all days, is because I am exhausted. And the last two lines of the poem ring true.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

    After reading that last line, I thought to myself, "He's SO right. I bet Robert Frost totally knew what it was like to be a college student." I assumed he'd gone to college (I didn't know very much about his personal life) and it turned out, I was right. Robert Frost attended Dartmouth for two months and then left to go work various jobs (why?!) and then he attended Harvard for two years before leaving (again, WHY?!). But more so than academic stress, he experienced emotional exhaustion. His father died when he was 11 (leaving his family with a grand total of eight dollars...and I know this was 1885 but STILL), his mother died of cancer, his younger sister was committed to a mental hospital (where she died) as was his daughter. One of his sons died of cholera while the other committed suicide, his other daughter died of some type of fever, and his wife died of breast cancer. Oh, and Robert Frost himself suffered from depression.

But WHO WOULDN'T?! 

So this entry is dedicated to Mr. Frost, for being so innately brilliant and charming the rest of the world with his works. How anyone deals with so much grief in their lives, I'll never know. (Maybe they write poetry?) 

RIP Robert Frost, you've kept your promises and earned your sleep. :) 

-Myra Khan

Princess of Rhymes

Blue-eyed Stranger

While every eye color is amazing, my personal favorite is blue. I don't know if it's because I myself have brown eyes, or because my entire family does, or because I'm so sick of "plain old brown" that I'm instantly drawn to something else, but blue has always stood out for me. Green is beautiful too, but I've found the vast majority of "green" to be a watered down, dilute green that nearly borders on gray. That's the case for blue a lot of the time too, BUT every so often...rarely...you stumble across someone who has such amazingly blue eyes that you can't look away. You're caught staring at them, feeling like an idiot but just unable to tear your gaze away from eyes that put sapphires to shame. In honor of the latest pair of blue eyes I've spotted, I've decided to post a poem here about them. :) This poem is written by Mandi Ducroq and is titled 'Blue-eyed Stranger'.

Blue-eyed Stranger Mandi Ducroq We don't know each other at all We may as well be on opposite sides of a wall But I've noticed you and I know you've seen me I see your sadness and I can't let it be A smile that could light up a stormy night If you let it show, a personality so bright Eyes as blue as a summer sky So insecure, you seem so shy Don't be scared, I just want to know What makes you so sad, that you don't want to show I don't think you even realise The pain I see reflected in beautiful blue eyes Just let it out, talk to me A soul in distress, I can't let it be I want to be a friend, perhaps a little more I'm giving you the key, be brave, open the door  The poem captures exactly what I'm thinking! ;) I love it!  -Myra  Princess of Rhymes

Detroit Writes!

Yesterday the LEP hosted our second workshop: Detroit Writes! We had a great number of people show up who discussed what they thought of when they hear "Detroit", how their family originally moved to the area, and what their views were on the city. It was  TON of fun and we got a lot of inspiration for our own writing! :) I plan to write longer poems about the city, but I thought I'd do a quick acrostic to just get my initial feelings across (is that a pun?):

Distinguished

Evolving

Transitions

Remember

Outlast

Incorporation

Treasure

And the last one is because the city truly is a treasure, and needs to be revamped and returned to its former glory. :) 

-Myra
Princess of Rhymes

Love is in the air ♥ :)

'do you ask what the birds say? the Sparrow, the Dove,
the Linnet and Thrush say, "I love and I love!"
~ samuel taylor coleridge

Yes, friends. Love is in the air, and you can probably smell it.

To celebrate all the love that's floating around in the atmosphere, Lyceum and the League have teamed up to bring you Love is in the Air! A Valentine's Day Poetry and Story Slam. It's a chance for you to let out all of your pent up thoughts and feelings about love - the good, the bad, and the ugly; the romantic, the brotherly, and the motherly. All kinds of love. If you want to be a poet slammer, email us to reserve a spot! If you'd like to be a story slammer, email Lyceum! Looking forward to seeing you all there! And while you're in the UC, be sure to stop by the UC stage and buy some flowers to support the UM Dearborn students going all over the country during their Alternative Spring Break!

The last time I celebrated Valentine's Day was in . . . elementary school?

Those were the days when all of my classmates decorated "mailboxes" that would go out on the desks during the class Valentine's day party. On that day, the teacher would likely start off with a lot of fun Valentine's day activities. Then we'd probably have a party at the end of the day, when all the kids would go around stuffing the mailboxes with cards and treats. Usually, we'd get some little thing from the teacher, like pencils or an eraser or something that everyone would get really excited about, being a kid and all. Of course, your best friends got the biggest valentines, and the teacher most likely did, too. We'd have cookies and candy and cupcakes and drinks while maybe watching a movie or just spending the rest of the day just playing and eating and talking. Pure youthful bliss.

When I was in second grade, my dad took my sisters and I to see Anastasia in  theaters. It was my first movie theater movie, so I was pretty excited. I remember really liking the movie, but the two things that I remember most vividly are, first, that my dad bought us one lone bag of M&Ms as our movie snack food (some of which spilled onto the floor), snd second, that my dad bought my older sister and I each a box of Anastasia Valentine cards the next February. Best. Valentine cards. Ever.

(I actually don't remember the other kinds I'd ever gotten for my class, which must say something about them.)

If you're interested in buying them for someone (*coughmecough*), the only place I found them was on eBay.

Earlier last semester, I watched Anastasia for only the second time in my life. Why I never watched it since that first time will remain an unsolved mystery, but the second time around, I loved it even more. Soon I'll be watching it with my two youngest sisters, and if they don't like it, they'll probably be disowned.

- Amal

Filming: Day One!

So yesterday (Friday February 10th) was PPHS's annual Brunch With Dr. DeCamp.

The premise: bring together a whole bunch of pre-med, pharm, dent, etc. students in one room and fire question after question after freaking question at PPHS adviser and Pre-Medical advisor, Dr. DeCamp, and see how many he can answer within the time-frame before breaking out in tears. This time, Dr. DeCamp was aided by his trusty sidekick Umair Ahmed, 2011 graduate of UM-Dearborn and current first year medical student at WSU School of Medicine.

It was a lot of fun! The whole brunch and Q&A lasted two hours, and would have gone for longer if Dr. DeCamp didn't have a meeting at 1pm. Boring faculty meetings always ruin things. I'm sure it's a conspiracy. Aside from that, it was great - great turnout, great participation, great questions. My only complaint was the food (which I'm sure we can talk to Campus Dining about) but that didn't put a damper on the brunch. Hooray for success! Mo, if you're reading this, nice work!

After Brunch, I switched gears from PPHS to LEP aaaaaand it was time for filming! One of our ongoing projects in the League has been filming this video; back in September, Norton announced an international student poetry recitation contest for college and high school students - film yourself reading one of the eight poems on their list, and you could win $100 at B&N and have your name featured on the acknowledgments of a Norton Anthology. Really cool!

Unfortunately, that's when the LEP was still brand new, so the deadline came and went, and we didn't get very far with the video. Until now. Now, we have a script, thanks to Wafa! And actors. And capes. And swords. And a schedule. And a battle horn, courtesy of the fabulous Sara Millward!

Yesterday was the first real day of filming, and Sara and I were in this HUGE room in CASL for like 2 hours, improvising the stage setting, hearing our voices echo, and basically filming and recording a lot of material for the blooper reel. That'll probably end up being longer than the actual video. No complaints, though, because Sara is AWESOME and we had a lot of fun, especially when Miriam came by and ate her pb&j quite elegantly. I don't know if you guys have read "Peanut Butter Sandwich" by Shel Silverstein, but that's what that reminded me of!

I know the movie will be great. Filming will be continuing throughout the month of February, and Wafa's ambitious goal is to get it all done before spring break. If you want to be a part of the movie in any way, shape, or form, email us! We're eagerly refreshing our inbox!

- Amal

Detroit!

It looks like this month on campus is all about putting the spotlight on the city of Detroit!

The Political Science Association, along with the College Democrats, Pi Sigma Alpha, College Republicans, Black Student Union, and Women in Learning in Leadership, with the SOAC's support, are all putting on a really cool Destination Detroit speaker series.

They've put together a lineup of fantastic speakers, all community and state leaders, to talk about the future of the great city of Detroit and to renew the energy for the city's rejuvenation. Last week, Representative Harvey Santana spoke and took questions from the audience regarding the future of Detroit. Yesterday, UMD alumna, Susy Avery, also gave a talk about the future of the area from her perspective as Director of the Michigan Women's Commission.

We're midway through the month of February, and thus halfway through this speaker series. If you haven't been able to attend these talks, have no fear - there are still two more awesome lectures to attend! This applies to me, too, so I'm excited to attend these great talks and hear Lou Glazer and Shanelle Jackson motivate the members of our campus to revitalize the city!

- Amal