E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Literary Gothic: Every New Year’s Eve the Devil keeps a special treat for me. He knows just the right moment to jam his claw into my heart, keeping up a fine mockery while he licks the blood that wells out.
Month: December 2012
Emily Dickinson: A Mystic of Stillness Who Mocked Heaven
Emily Dickinson was a great poet whose life has remained a mystery. The time has come to dispel the myth of a quaint and helpless creature, disappointed in love, who gave up on life. Unafraid of her own passions and talent, she embraced the world around her, yet faced a debilitating illness and family intrigue.
Jan Freed: Mother Nature’s Climate Wrath Will Be Costly
The US has been through hell with unprecedented drought, fires and floods, the most costly in history. Chance variation? The pattern of disasters and extreme weather evens beat the odds of your neighbor winning the lottery twice in a row.
Affordable and Green: Net-Zero Home in Washington DC
EMPOWERHOUSE is a community-based approach to sustainable urban development showcasing the design of two affordable, energy-efficient solar powered homes and a neighborhood learning garden for inner-city Washington DC and beyond.
The Nutcracker Prince Battles the King of Mice at Christmas
Suddenly, mice fill the room and the Christmas tree grows to dizzying heights. The Nutcracker also grows to life-size. Marie finds herself in the midst of a battle between an army of Gingerbread man soldiers and the mice, led by the fierce Mouse King. The mice begin to eat the gingerbread soldiers.
Nikolai Gogol: Magical Ukrainian Fairy Tale on Christmas Eve
Devilry and mischief pervades a cold winter holiday night in Nikolai Gogol’s magical ode called The Night Before Christmas. A dark entity absconds with the moon hidden in his pocket. Thereafter, he roams around tormenting people as he pleases.
Maya Ruins at Tikal: A New Beginning at Winter Solstice
Twenty five hundred years ago, a group of peoples settled Tikal, surrounded by the lowland rainforests of the Petén Basin of northern Guatemala. Their descendants would create a remarkable civilization that populated cities and villages across much of southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. Today, it has returned to the forest but turned into a major archeological attraction.