-^-for posterity-^-

the other day we had a guest teacher come to talk about english literature and poetry and what not. he is a fulbright scholar and i was quite intimidated. i taught the students he was speaking to and there’s no way i could compete with a fulbright scholar who has a phd in english lit.

he came wearing an incredibly hilarious shirt. it was teal and plaid and he had a dark brown tie. the shirt fit him like a large, plaid trash-bag. he also had a chain that connected his wallet to his pants. all in all it was a humorous outfit.

he began by asking the students some general questions about english and american literature. i sat in the back of the room with my arms folded and my neck craned. i fished through the crowd and found some of the more intelligent students. i watched them. they answered the questions quickly and well and i settled back into my seat. i had passed the test.

he spent the rest of the time lecturing about walt witman and his poetry. he spent a good two hours talking about one poem and the students didn’t much understand it. the poem compared the soul to a spider’s web. he talked about how the soul spins invisible webs with our experiences and surroundings through our five senses. he talked about how the soul doesn’t exist physically but it relates to the world somewhat in a physical way. he drew things on the board and i have never seen anyone as absent minded. his notes on the board followed no pattern at all. sometimes he would right in the top right, next time the bottom left, next time between somewhere and finally in any space left unoccupied. he drew webs and noses and hands and lines that didn’t seem to have any meaning. i couldn’t follow it but found it all very interesting. i appreciated what he said about the soul but the students didn’t get it.

i think they were looking at his shirt and tie.