Woman’s Head, by François Boucher (c. 1750)

François Boucher (29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770)

Rococo artist

 

Dear Readers,

For the last few days, I have not been well.  So it has been impossible for me to write posts.  There have been perturbing events in my life and these have triggered a rather severe episode of fatigue.  In 1976, I caught a flu from which I never fully recovered.  It was the onset of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Most of the time, I can manage this limitation sufficiently to write blogs and, if not assigned an unreasonable workload, it did not prevent me from being a productive university teacher.  However, I did not have much of a social life.  There wasn’t enough time.

My students often told me that I was the only professor who realized my course was not the only course they took.  Obviously, I was pacing myself, which turned out to be helpful to my students.  I also prepared my classes long before I taught them so I would always be ready.  Would that I could have made better use of the internet.  During the years I taught, the internet was not what it has become.

I always taught at least one language course and invited students to do the exercises contained in their textbook so I could tell whether or not they had understood.  I did not give them a grade for these exercises, because it was practice.  All were corrected and returned the next time I saw them.  It was useful feedback and a form of communication with each student.  Students who did not understand received private tutoring.

Yesterday, I started writing a blog on “Cupid and Psyche,” a “digression” in Apuleius‘ Golden Ass, but I could not finish it.  It will have to be more concise.

Love to all of you.

Micheline

Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809)

“String Quartet for Strings“

Micheline Walker

4 August 2013 

WordPress

 

 

 

Head of a Woman from Behind

François Boucher

(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)