Spotlight: Linda Longmire

How do you begin to describe a woman who has changed the lives of hundreds? Linda Longmire is a professor in the Global Studies department at Hofstra University. She is largely involved in peace research, active in such organizations as Long Island Alliance for Peace Alternatives and International Peace Research Association at the UN. And, of course, she is the pioneer of the European Odyssey program, a 10 week road trip around Europe that happens every spring semester.

But Linda Longmire is much more than what she does. Linda is an independent free-spirit; she is one of the strongest, most courageous people I know. These are qualities she inspires in others.

I had the privilege to participate in the European Odyssey both in 2010 and 2011. The first year I went as a freshman. I had spent a semester at Hofstra and hated it—so of course I jumped at the chance to spend a semester on the road in Europe. It took two weeks on the road with Linda, her husband Tim Smith, and the other eleven students for me to decide to stay at Hofstra.

The second year I went as the peer teacher. My experience on that Odyssey was very different from the year before. I was put in a position of responsibility in addition to completing five independent studies, so Linda and I worked quite closely together that semester. The conversations had were among the most enlightening and learned of my life thus far.

Linda’s teaching skills extend far beyond the classroom. The strength and positivity she displays daily transfers to whomever she is around, and it sticks. On the Odyssey, people transform before your very eyes; a large part of that is thanks to Linda.

My time spent with the Odyssey is something I will never forget, a sentiment shared by well over 200 other past Odyssey-participants. While each trip is different, the one thing everyone shares in common is Linda and how she changed each person’s life.

The Case of the Missing Film

It was a quiet afternoon. The air was crisp and my car cold; a faint gleam of excitement was visible upon my face as I made my way to retrieve the treasure. Bracing the wind, I entered the bright oasis merrily, knowing what would soon be in my possession: my first roll of developed film shot on an SLR camera. Having always been interested in photography, this was clearly an exciting moment.
I waited until I got home. That was my mistake. Why, oh why did I wait?
The film given back to me wasn't mine.
So instead of photos summing up a day in my life, here are some photos of a few of my favorite things in my room.

1. Statue of Aphrodite

Aphrodite has been my favorite Greek Goddess since I encountered Boticelli's Birth of Venus. I came across this statue in Olympia, Greece, the very place to find such a Greek treasure.

2. Christian Lacroix Journal

The design aspect of fashion has always enthralled me. Christian Lacroix always creates pieces that are daring and extraordinary. I happened across this beautiful journal at Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France.

3. Candle Holder

This candle holder is especially significant to me. After peer teaching on the European Odyssey last Spring, the directors of the program gave each student a ceramic candle holder. The design atop mine was different than the rest, symbolizing my different perspective of that trip from the last trip and the others. 

4. The Fashion File

Mad Men is a fantastically compelling series complete with the best costumes I have ever seen on television. This book takes the reader behind-the-scenes and details the major components of different characters' looks. A great find on ModCloth.

5. My Mother's Ring

I borrowed this ring from my mom "for a day" in 2007 and have worn it every day since.

Hopefully I will rescue my film from Walgreens' darkroom lair tomorrow and find some gems. Until then, I hope the camera phone has sufficed!

Living Nostalgia

It is rare for a new movie to immediately become a favorite, but Midnight in Paris did not leave me much choice. The script was well written, the acting sublime, and the soundtrack left me in a Parisian daze. However, what was most compelling was the notion of a “golden era.”

Throughout the film, multiple characters muse about going back to a time they each deem “the golden era.” For the main character, Gil Pender, it is Paris in the 1920s—being part of the Lost Generation. For Adriana, a member of the Lost Generation, however, it is the Belle Époque in the 1890s. Those who lived during the Belle Époque said the Italian Renaissance.

The notion of nostalgia is a very interesting topic to base a movie on, but Midnight in Paris approached it in just the right way—honestly. Other eras are always romanticized, which can be both good and bad, as Gil Pender experienced. It’s exciting and insightful to be somewhere you shouldn’t, but it’s an unsustainable feeling. Nostalgia is alluring but (figuratively) living in the past does not compare with living in the present. As Gil so wisely puts it, “that’s what the present is…it’s a little unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying.”

Midnight in Paris is unique also in that it is a film about the concept of nostalgia, not simply showing people feeling wistful. The plot allows Gil to long for the “golden era” presently, then actually experience what it was like in that time period. He chose to stay present. Adriana, however, chose a different route, opting to stay in the Belle Époque. She felt her life would dramatically improve in a previous era.

Who is to say it would not? The one thing that remains constant no matter when you reside in time is mystery. Literally living in the past must paint a very different picture than the retelling of that age. Then, eventually, your once past becomes your very present. It is rare to find a film with such subtle paradoxes.

While it is not his truest-to-form film, Midnight in Paris is certainly one of Woody Allen’s best. No matter how many times you watch it, the entire film stays fresh. The entire cast delivers authentically. And, if nothing else, I will never get sick of Adrian Brody repeating, “Dali!” in reference to himself, over and over and over.