on skunks and travels
I'm back from Middle Tennessee State University, where the dynamic duo of Allison Smith and Trixie Smith are running a great writing program and writing center and working with a stellar group of graduate students. Before my trip, I was unaware that middle Tennessee is a distinct region in Tennessee. Now I know better! I also know that MTSU is the largest public undergraduate university in the state of Tennessee. There's a lot of exciting research and teaching in the English department at MTSU.
Now that I'm back I'm dealing again with the consequences of the skunk/dog interaction happened 9 days ago. The skunk odor in the house is diminished, thanks to professional carpet spraying and cleaning--but it's not entirely gone. I guess this will just take time. And despite multiple baths and sprays with smell-be-gone, our beloved Bachelor (a 96 pound black lab) still emanates a faint but potent skunk odor.
I finally did some research on the web and discovered that most people feel that tomato juice doesn't really work to kill skunk odor. It basically masks it somewhat. Several sites recommended the following mixture:
1 bottle hydrogen peroxide
1/2 bottle water
1/4 cup bakins soda (not baking powder)
1 tsp. dog shampoo
A number of testimonials said this works, so we're going to give it a try.
This has been quite an education! If Bachelor ever gets sprayed by a skunk again in the future--let's hope he doesn't--I'll definitely know what to do (and not do).
posted by Lisa Ede @ 10:35 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Hi Dr. Ede.
I was also at the lecturer/talk/conference. What do we call it? I met you just a minute before you began to start.
It was a lot of fun and very informative. I especially liked the film on ESL in the classroom. I didn’t ask, but am wondering—many of the ESL students mentioned that they thought American writing was to direct. Maybe they are right?
Thanks for coming to MTSU and sharing with us.
Michael
PS I took your advise and started a blog. http://theredstarblog.blogspot.com/
So if the govt. comes to take me away, it was your idea! :- )
Whoa--look at all these visitors! I shall and get back to you.
Hope
Wow! Thanks to Allison and wonderful MTSU grad students and instructors for visiting my blog! I'm so glad that I mentioned the URL in my talk.
I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs.
Hillary, thanks for the recipe for dog/skunk odor. The combination we used yesterday helped--but I can still smell skunk on Bachelor.
Michael, you ask if the international students in the film are saying that US writing is too direct. I'm not sure that's exactly what they're saying. I think they're not so much making judgments about US writing as they are commenting on differences between their culture's rhetorical preferences and our culture's preferences.
Make sense?
Allison, I've read Colter and loved it!
Alan, I remember our conversation and enjoyed it. Be sure to take a look at The Elephants Teach by D. G. Meyers. It's a really interesting history of the development of creative writing/MFA programs in the US.
Here's an interesting factoid to ponder: until very recently, the United States has been the only country in the world to offer (and generally require) first-year writing programs. It has also been the only country to offer MFA programs.
Interesting, huh?
Sara, we seem to be past the worst in terms of dog/skunk problems. I hope I never have cause to write about this in my blog again!
Again, thanks to the MTSU folks who took the time to visit my blog. I've got quite a bit of catching up to do, but I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs.
This is a PS to my earlier post. Alan, you asked how you can find blogs for specific topics.
In my talk I mentioned ORBlogs, a directory of blogging sites in Oregon that was developed and is maintained by Paul Bausch. But this is of course limited to Oregon.
I remember Paul Bausch telling me that there are search engines developed specifically to search blogs, but I'm afraid that I can't remember any of their names. I hope that's a start, at least.
Thanks for asking about my travel back to Oregon, egf2b. I'm happy to report that it was blissfully uneventful.
Dear Kim,
Thanks for the suggestion! At this point we're pretty much willing to try anything since even with multiple dog baths with multiple products and professional carpet cleaning the skunk smell still is present. It's not overwhelming, as it once was, but it's there.
We use baking soda in our refrigerator to counter smells, so I can see the logic of this.
Some day I'll probably entertain people at a party with our skunk/dog story, but I'm not there yet!
Hey, Barbara, thanks so much for stopping by my blog. And, yes, the dog/skunk event did elicit lots of comments, all helpful. One thing I've learned (I think) is that nothing will completely erase skunk odor, which is still faintly discernible in spots on Bachelor, and here and there in our house. Only time will take care of that.
Bachelor was sprayed by a skunk on February 17th, and we're still dealing with it on March 4th--though it's much, much better.
And now to your other comment: a blog seems like an unusual place to make a date, but Barbara I'll really look forward to getting together next quarter.
Post a Comment
<< Home