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Faculty Off The Clock
A podcast series hosted by the College of Charleston’s Office of the Provost that highlights the personal and lighter sides of our campus’s professors. Co-hosted by Associate Provosts Mark P. Del Mastro and Chris Korey.
Faculty Off The Clock
Faculty Off The Clock - Featuring Bex Ferrell
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What happens when faculty step away from the classroom and the lab? In this episode of Faculty Off the Clock, we sit down with Professor Bex Ferrell to explore the passions, pursuits, and pastimes that shape their life beyond academia. From unexpected hobbies to meaningful side projects, discover a different side of the faculty you thought you knew.
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🎙️ Produced by Michael Overholt
đź“Ť Recorded in Podcast Studio #1, Addlestone Library
We welcome you to this episode of Faculty Off the Clock, a podcast series hosted by the College of Charleston's Office of the Provost that highlights the personal and lighter sides of our campus's professors. I'm Mark Del Mastro.
SPEAKER_06And I'm Chris Corey, Associate Provost, and your hosts for Faculty Off the Clock. For this episode, we welcome Bex Farrell, Assistant Professor of Arts Management, and a dance advocate, artist, educator, consultant, and researcher.
SPEAKER_02And suddenly, to my surprise, he did the monster match. The monster match. It was a graveyard smash. He did the match. He did the monster match.
SPEAKER_06So we always ask uh all of our guests before we get into the lighter side how you got to be a faculty member here.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, it's kind of an interesting story. So I was uh in Washington, D.C. I was working as the director of programs for Dance USA. It's the National Um Professional Service Organization for Dance. And at that time I was doing my doctoral studies with Dr. Heather McDonald that works here and arts management program. And she said, Hey, we really need someone just to kind of cover our cultural policy class for a semester. Would you be cool with it? I have a lot of background and advocacy work, arts and advocacy. I said, Cool. I think someone was on maternity leave or sabbatical or something like that. It was uh COVID time, so it was synchronous online. Um got to know the students pretty well, it was just a one-off thing, and then two years later, a tenure track job opened up. Got the call. So yeah, never count out those little adjunct one-off things that happen. I mean, I really fell in love with the students that semester, but then you know, I kept doing what I was doing in DC and then um got the call here and was like, I've never thought about academia full time, but really loved it and said, Yeah, let's go.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. I feel like there's a bunch of our guests. It's been like serendipity. Yeah. Just randomly connected to the college, and then all of a sudden something opened up. Yeah, not as intentional as others of us. Uh so we want to get into your off-campus diversion, interests and hobbies, um, and we want to get a little sense of your what your life looks like growing up. So where are you originally from?
SPEAKER_08Richmond, Virginia. Is that where you were born to? Yeah, the river city. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_05I never met a Richmond native, like was born and raised there, yeah.
SPEAKER_08Oh, love to have a Richmond tattoo. You know, it's like a rite of passage. You gotta have to look at that. Reinforcing the identity of us. You have to, you gotta know where you're from, you know.
SPEAKER_06Is that a common thing?
SPEAKER_08Oh, yes. And Richmond at one point was the most tattooed city in the United States. I think it's number three now. But yeah, it's like if you don't have a lot of people.
SPEAKER_05I like that. Did you know that? No, I didn't.
SPEAKER_08If you don't have one, you're actually it's like kind of weird.
SPEAKER_05Except from New Jersey, I don't think I've ever met anybody with a New Jersey tattoo. No, no, right? So it's not a thing.
SPEAKER_06Okay. So your family still live there?
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Yeah. Still there. It's great. Have so many good friends there. Um, yeah, it was wonderful. I went to undergrad at Virginia Commonwealth University too. So yeah. Awesome, awesome place.
SPEAKER_05So, as a Richmond kid, what were your interests and activities from youth?
SPEAKER_08I love being around people. There's so many things to do there. So cheerleading, gymnastics, dance, obviously.
SPEAKER_05Um, you were really involved with different club organizations. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_08I just love being surrounded by people. I wasn't one of those kids that like kind of sat in my room by myself. I like wanted to go out, wanted to party with everyone, hang out, be the center of attention, maybe. That kind of stuff. So really fun. Really, and there's so much stuff to do in Richmond. There's so many clubs you can be part of.
SPEAKER_05It's a great perpetual social energy.
SPEAKER_08Always. I was born an extrovert.
SPEAKER_05Boy, that's that's admirable. That is. Because mine except bushes.
SPEAKER_06My social battery is probably 10% of yours. Yeah, no.
SPEAKER_08Oh, I like wake up like this. I wake up at 4 a.m. and I'm like ready to go. Wow. Yeah, and I have a caffeine allergy. Can you believe this? This is uncaffeinating. I know. Oh my gosh. I know. Right. That's impressive. So I've been like this my entire life. My entire life. So my parents were like, put her in everything. Yes. Wow. Wow. Engage her. That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So uh, you know, other than Richmond, do you have a favorite vacation spot?
SPEAKER_08Yeah. So growing up, well, it's kind of funny. My mom was uh a park ranger for the National Park Service. Oh, how cool. So she started that in the 70s, which was really unheard of for female park rangers. So all of our family vacations, like, let's go to Antietam. And we're like, what is this? Like, it's the bloodiest battle of the Silver War. So my sisters and I would cry and it would be really like horrifying. So we would go see like Gettysburg a million times, like go to these places, but then we would on the flip side of that go to Topsil Island in North Carolina.
SPEAKER_05Just some amazing experiences.
SPEAKER_08Really loved that. So love being at Topsil, like just a wonderful place. So love being at the beach with my fam, but then also going to see all the cool historic stuff.
SPEAKER_06So was your mom um at like assigned to a particular so she was at Fort Harrison for uh a while.
SPEAKER_08Um yeah, and then she was at Tretteger Ironworks um when she retired when she was one of the educational interpreters there. And she also came to me and my sister's schools and do cool talks. And we also lived in like an old Civil War like hospital growing up. It was wild, yeah. So we had so many Civil War artifacts and yeah, just a lot of really good.
SPEAKER_06So she specialized in the Civil War? Yeah. So you have one of the hats?
SPEAKER_08Oh, yeah, a big one, a big one. Yeah, we call it the Sea of Green anytime we would go. And like I would sit on Earthworks, which you're not supposed to. So there's all these like pictures of me and my sister on Earthworks and cannons and just really interesting childhood. So my parents tried to balance that with like Disney, and then let's go to the beach. So it's not all it's not all battlefields all the time, you know.
SPEAKER_05So in the in the midst of all this leisure engagement growing up, did you have a did you have a memorable summer job you can tell us about?
SPEAKER_08Okay, so because I did so many activities and did so many summer camps, my parents, the deal was if I still did good in school and was doing great in the activities, I didn't have to work.
SPEAKER_07Ooh, what a luxury.
SPEAKER_08Yes, and I think it's because they uh had harder childhoods growing up, right? You always want something better for your kids than you had. Um, so they had to work at a really young age. So that was kind of the deal with me. Um, I ended up doing things like assisting at a dance camp and then you get some free dance classes, but never had I tried to be a hostess, I think, once at a restaurant and then had to take off every weekend because I had a performance or something. And my parents were like, forget this. They tried, but they said no. It just wasn't feasible. Let's let's just do the this thing with us just saying, Hey, do good in school, do great in your activities. Don't get it.
SPEAKER_05This is the first among our guests being so engaged that there wasn't really a summer. We didn't have time.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06It wasn't like you were sitting around watching like I dream of genie, like I did during the summer.
SPEAKER_08No, and my parents were very You like Barbara Aiden?
SPEAKER_06Dream of Genie. Okay.
SPEAKER_08Oh, okay. The monsters is cool though.
SPEAKER_06It was like four hours of television in the morning and just watch all these things.
SPEAKER_08Oh no, my parents get out, do stuff. I'm from the generation where, you know, when the street lights come on, that's when you have to come home.
SPEAKER_06So that was kind of um so did you have a a pet? First pet?
SPEAKER_08I did have a first pet. Um, this really cute mutt named Thunder. Little young thunder, which I named Foo Foo. My parents have no idea how we got this nickname. So I've always known Thunderous Foo Foo.
SPEAKER_05Um where did Foo Foo come from?
SPEAKER_08I have no idea. I mean, was there since I was a kid? It's part of reality. Just all three things were so be there, you know? Like, oh hi, here you are. Yeah. But I do have a puppy now. Oh, what kind? Marceline is a Pembroke Walsh Corgi. She is when did you get her? Oh my gosh. We got her when we lived in the DC area, so we call her a city girl. She's very much a city girl.
SPEAKER_05How is she acclimated to Charleston?
SPEAKER_08She's liked it, you know. It's a slower pace here than we're used to. So she she's getting used to that. But um, yeah, she's six and a half. Um, she's so cute. She's actually a supermodel. She was featured in Low Country Dog magazine in October. No, like when I say she's a model, y'all.
SPEAKER_06Wow. All right. Well, I mean, this is on the interwebs. Can I look up local? Yes.
SPEAKER_08And it is in the October issue. They did an issue on like herding dogs. Yeah. Um, and they had one spot for a Corgi. They asked to do uh photo shoot with her.
SPEAKER_06How did she get selected?
SPEAKER_08Well, where she goes to daycare at K9 Resorts, shout out to them in Mount Pleasant. Um, they bring in a pet photographer for like holiday pictures and stuff. And Marceline does such a good job that that photographer reached out to us. Very photogenic. Yeah. She's a star.
SPEAKER_05This makes me feel so socially disengaged in comparison. I mean, uh I'm never afforded any of these opportunities. My two cute dogs. I don't know and your dog.
SPEAKER_08I mean, no, I just I don't know. Your dogs don't have Instagrams?
SPEAKER_05No, but maybe. Oh, we gotta do it.
SPEAKER_08Does your dog have an Instagram? Of course she has an Instagram.
SPEAKER_05Dr. Cory.
SPEAKER_08Great following. We even posted she loves bocce bakery.
SPEAKER_05I'm gonna have to look her up and follow her now.
SPEAKER_08Marceline the Corgi Queen.
SPEAKER_06Wow, I love it. A lot of thought has been put into the wow.
SPEAKER_08So we don't play around.
SPEAKER_06Are the posts daily?
SPEAKER_08No.
SPEAKER_06Is she sponsored? Like free like dogs. We need some stuff.
SPEAKER_08I mean, we've been put we like started tagging people. Like, we're getting to that moment where we're like, okay, she's really becoming star stuff.
SPEAKER_05I'll add one follower today.
SPEAKER_08Even at our new, we just moved from Mount Pleasant to West Ashley. We have we've been in our new place for a month, and she's already the pet of the month at the apartment complex. She's really she's gorgeous.
SPEAKER_00Quite a dog.
SPEAKER_08I know.
SPEAKER_00There's a corgi on the corner, wagon tails and all. Short leg strutton, like it's a ballroom hall. With a jaunty little step and a cheeky little grin, whirling round the lamppost, peeling us in. Peeling us in.
SPEAKER_05In the morning of switching beers from this incredibly high-profile pet. Right. Um, we should have her on the podcast. I know. Oh, she's very yappy. She's last to say.
SPEAKER_08She's sassy.
SPEAKER_05Um, you like board games?
SPEAKER_08I love board games. Did you play any growing or any favorites growing up? Of course. And so my family, we love sweets. We're a dessert before dinner kind of family. So Candyland was my favorite. I loved it so much that Queen Frostine, who knows the Queen of Candyland, that was actually the name of one of my first laptops. You know, you name your electronics, so Queen Frostine. Like that's how deep that I loved it. But then Scategories is my favorite now. I love words. I love beating people's categories.
SPEAKER_05You ever heard of Scategories? I have.
SPEAKER_08I don't think I've got so fun. Okay, I mean familiar with it. I'll bring it in.
SPEAKER_05Not a game board person, so it's not a surprise that I don't recognize this. Love it. Scategories. Okay.
SPEAKER_08Let's cope like.
SPEAKER_06Is it is it harder than um Scrabble? Is it different?
SPEAKER_08Uh it's just different because it's timed. Because you have like a little hourglass and you gotta you have to be quick, and that's where I'm good. I can be fast with this.
SPEAKER_05That's stressful. I mean, I don't like board games to begin with, and then you add a time to address no, that's where I beat out people, is because they're thinking of like the really long words.
SPEAKER_08Not me. I'm quick. Yeah. So I'll get more answers, so I'll beat them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I'm not I'm not gonna play with you.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it. I'm pretty good. Pretty good.
SPEAKER_05So we're gonna switch gears a little bit and focus on your uh grammar school years. Oh, okay. Uh, is there a fun fact you can tell us about yourself from that time that you think would be amusing to our listeners?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, so in elementary school, um, I really wanted to be on the school newspaper. My mom sat me down and she said, Okay, now you're already the SCA president, you're already the head safety patrol, the captain of cheerleading. So I know that you're really excited to be in the school newspaper, but don't be the editor. Just be a reporter. Just sit back. Come on. Like, we got a lot going on. Also, I have two younger siblings that are that also do a lot. So they're trying to say, okay, how are we gonna get these kids to do all these things? So I go to the meeting, everything's going well. I come home, my mom says, Tell me about your reporter gig. And I was like, Oh, it's way better. I'm the editor. She was so mortified, and that three days later, I hear her yelling at someone on the phone. And my dad comes in and he's like, Oh my gosh, did you say something? Because we were raised Catholic, did you say something to Father Jim about joining the choir? And I was like, Oh, they said they needed altos. And you know, I have an alto of voice. I said, Well, if they need help. So my mom was on the phone yelling at poor Father Jim, telling him I could not do one more thing. So I've always poor Father Jim. I know. I always do so many things. Oh, yeah. So that was it. So I didn't get to be in the choir. I did get to be the editor of the school newspaper. And yeah, I've always been I loved it. I loved it.
SPEAKER_06Can we talk more about the safety patrol? Did you have like the bright orange thing?
SPEAKER_08It was awesome, and it had a yellow like stripe on it, the reflective stripe. It was so cool. Were you a safety patrol?
SPEAKER_06I was in fifth grade. I was a safety patrol too. Oh my god, look at us! The little clip. Oh, yeah. It was a metal clip. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yep.
SPEAKER_08Stop running in the hall. Making sure people are coming off the bus ramps the way they're supposed to. Yep.
SPEAKER_06Maybe we need to add that question. See? Have you ever been the safety patrol?
SPEAKER_08Maybe that's a pipeline to the academy, right? Like is that safety patrol?
SPEAKER_06Early on.
SPEAKER_08That's how they're they're like clocking it really early. Assistant professor. Exactly.
SPEAKER_05So, same fun fact question for your high school years.
SPEAKER_08Oh, high school. Okay. So I got to do this really cool thing. And uh in Richmond, they have a number of performances aren't.
SPEAKER_05Wait, for the record, you've done a lot of cool things.
SPEAKER_08Oh, thanks. I like to do cool stuff. Um, so I went to a performance arts high school. Richmond actually has three of them in there. And where I was in in Henrico County, they had these things called um like specialty centers. So you could go to one for communications or language, like immersion or something like that. And then I auditioned to go to the one, the Center for the Arts for Dance. So while I was there, they said, Oh, we get to change your academics a bit. So you don't have to take any advanced math classes anymore, which was the greatest news I've ever heard. So I was like, you know, AP government, AP English, but like science, not so much. And I remember the day they told me that I got to drop earth science and add kinesiology. And you would have thought that I won the lottery. It was the greatest day of my life. And I just have as someone especially that loves school so much, I was so, so excited to go to have the opportunity to go to a school where they really aligned your academics with what that career trajectory would be.
SPEAKER_05No, I'm getting the impression here, Bex, that there's nothing you don't get enthusiastic about.
SPEAKER_08Oh no, I'm a very excited person. I I'm excited, I'm curious.
SPEAKER_05That optimism is fantastic, by the way.
SPEAKER_08It's not glass half-full. That glass is full, honey.
SPEAKER_06You know, I really feel like start off with like, oh, is there even any water in the glass?
SPEAKER_08Oh no! If you got a flash, I would give you something.
SPEAKER_06If you got an extra full glass, pass it over. Right. Graduate school did that to me.
SPEAKER_08Oh no. Can't keep me down. I see things as opportunities. That's the way I really look at it. That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So we're gonna move on to your time at VCU? Yeah. And um you know, some sort of fun fact what it was like being there. What's the m- What's the mascot there, VCU?
SPEAKER_08A ram. A VCU ram! Yeah, that's very cool, by the way.
SPEAKER_05I pride myself on knowing these things. I'm gonna store that away.
SPEAKER_08The coolest thing about VCU is they don't have a football team. So my dad's favorite sweatshirt was VCU football, still undefeated. Ah, well. Very cool.
SPEAKER_05Very aligned with the College of Charleston, so you're in the right place.
SPEAKER_08Exactly. I just keep going from school. But then I did go to Arizona State for Sun Devils. So they're very different. Very exactly. But at VCU, so I was in their dance program. Um, and their dance program is a dual degree in dance and choreography. So really special um program. And freshman year, you're all you're in modern dance one together, and the your teacher is the chair of the department. So very cool to get to know the students and the chair that way. Um, but you're all together in class, and it was our very first class, and they kind of start with you know, how many of you were the best dancer in your studio, perform an arts high school? Y'all raise your hand, and then it's not to like cut your ego down, but just to kind of tell you we're all in the same place, we're like in this together, a lot of community building. And we we were dancing across the floor, and all of a sudden I hear Rebecca, and I'm terrified. The room goes silent. And my professor says, You dance like a roast beef sandwich. And the whole roast beef sandwich. Yeah, the whole entire class, like you could hear a pen drop. And I am like, Oh my god, what does that mean? Also, I'm a vegan, by the way, at this point, a hardcore vegan. And it's too long of a pause, and then she says, You dance so big and juicy, which is a brilliant compliment for a dancer. Wow, but the pause is saying the starting dance like a roast beef sandwich.
SPEAKER_05And you're like, wait, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_08We were all dying. And then she asked me to demonstrate.
SPEAKER_05And when you said that, I couldn't even begin to fathom what that might be.
SPEAKER_08And we were just, and I was like, this is my first day at this university. I'm so embarrassed. And then I demonstrated, and everybody claps after, and you know, and did they all think it was big and juicy?
SPEAKER_04They did think it was. Okay.
SPEAKER_08So I am known as a big and juicy dancer. So this has followed me my entire career is I dance like a roast beef sandwich. Wow. And I haven't even never even had a roast beef sandwich.
SPEAKER_05Oh, it's a good roast beef sandwich is hard to beat. I mean it's gotta be good roast beef. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08So now you have to think.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah. Like a jancy. Hello.
SPEAKER_08But that we all remember it's like the weirdest thing. But yeah, that was, yeah. I'll never forget it.
SPEAKER_06Did you get a big and juicy roast beef sandwich tattoo? Oh, no. No, no, no. Good question.
SPEAKER_08No, no. Maybe preferred one. Because that would have been cool to see, actually. She would have loved it. Martha would have loved it, that professor.
SPEAKER_06Super funny. Um, graduate school, can you top that? Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, maybe. So when I applied to get uh my PhD from University of Kentucky, and at the time, this is the the first PhD solely in arts administration in the United States. So I was applying to be part of this first cohort. And all my degrees are in dance performance. So I'm like, I don't know if I have the chops for this. I knew I had um what I would call the dance street cred I worked for, you know, a large organization. I've been a dancer and choreographer for a long time. Done some scholarship stuff, but maybe not what they were looking for for a doctoral program. Um got to the interview part great, got waitlisted for the program. I was like, okay. Then on my birthday, they held my accept letter for my birthday. So I got in, I got to be one of six, so someone must have rolled off and I slid in and took that um one spot. Four years passed by, we're all getting ready for our defenses. And we realized out of the six of us, I was gonna be the first one to defend. So for 48 hours, I was the first PhD in arts administration in the United States. So I went from waitlisted to number one. And I just say, never count out that personality higher, honey. You know, I'm coming for it. So it was it was very, very cool to have that trajectory. And I always say, you know, when you're waitlisted, I think it's the dancer in me. Like, okay, don't count me out. I'm gonna show you, I'm gonna prove to you I can do this.
SPEAKER_03So here I come. I'm not scared to be seen. I make no apologies. This is me.
SPEAKER_05How'd you like Lexington, Kentucky?
SPEAKER_08Well, I was here. It ha most of it was online. So yeah. So I mean, I went to Lexington multiple times. Very cool place.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_08Really cool, cool place. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06The only thing I know about Lexington is uh, yes, the wildcat. Um there's a uh mellow mushroom in Lexington. When we drive through through drive through from here to Chicago, we stopped in Lexington and we would go there.
SPEAKER_05There's a place called Blue Door Barbecue. Outstanding barbecue. Please sidestep the mellow mushroom next time you pass through and do yourself. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand. But anyway, keep in mind, I believe it's still open. It's been around a while. Okay. So we're gonna refocus on the present, Bex. Okay. Uh ask you about a current pastime hobby or activity that you enjoy regularly and how it first started.
SPEAKER_08Oh gosh. Is it too dorky to say reading?
SPEAKER_05No.
SPEAKER_08Okay. I just I'm like such an avid reader. I love books. Got a good genre? I just okay. Mostly horror. Oh. I love spooky stuff.
SPEAKER_04So you like horror movies too? Oh, we can. Oh, Stephen King fan? Oh yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_08Love it all. I love, love, love it all. But I like growing up, um, a scholastic book fair hate to see me coming, honey. My parents give me that cash, I'll buy that thing out. So, and I love love. Love it. I'm still like that. So and every Saturday, my parents took us to a bookstore. They were avid readers too. And they would buy me a new book, and I would get an R. L. Stein Fear Street. Not goosebumps, not that baby stuff. We're talking Fear Street. I wanna do that. I just don't know that one.
SPEAKER_06I just know the goosebumps.
SPEAKER_08Oh no, Fear Street was good. Scary. Yeah. Scary. And I would read it in a day. Wow like reading list, done. You know, book it, you know, the book it program where you got a free pizza from Pizza Hut.
SPEAKER_06No, but my kids were in those sort of things.
SPEAKER_05Love Book It Love on. So let me ask you a question. What in your opinion of the horror uh stories you've read, what has been the best made-for-the-big screen conversion in your experience?
SPEAKER_08Hmm. Maybe Stephen King's the outsider? Have you seen the HBO? I have not seen that. It was really good. The series. Also, I thought Mr. Mercedes was quite good too. That series. I thought those were very, very well done.
SPEAKER_06That series uh is good. I'm making my way through the Mr. Mercedes. Yeah. Do you have a favorite? Like, so yeah, is there a favorite Stephen King book?
SPEAKER_08No, probably not a favorite Stephen King book. I mean, my favorite horror author is um Chay McCloy Chapman. And he's from Richmond, Virginia. Um, and he has a book called Ghost Eaters that I was like, this book is the greatest book ever made. And he has a tagline in there that says Wanna Get Haunted, and that was the tattoo I just got.
SPEAKER_07Oh, how cool.
SPEAKER_08And I wanted Wanna Get Haunted. Wanna Get Haunted, and I wanted a little ghost to go with it. And when Grady Hendricks was recently here, you know, South Carolinian boy, another horror writer. Um, he came and he signed uh his latest book for me and he drew this ghost on it. So I got to mix my two words.
SPEAKER_05So, what does that mean for you? Wanna get haunted?
SPEAKER_08Well, the kind of premise of it is it's kind of a book about grief. So when you lose a loved one, there is this drug that lets you reconnect with them. So that was the thing. So the wanna get haunted is like a different tagline of like how you would deal with grief. So really interesting kind of thing.
SPEAKER_06You know, I mostly read Stephen King in that genre. Yeah, um, like how do you divide up like horror? Like, is there like psychological horror?
SPEAKER_08Like, yeah, I I mean I really like it all, but Southern horror is my thing. That's why I like Grady Hendrick so much, Clay, that they they're really talking about things that I know. Like one of Grady's books, they're talking about being on Route 17, like, oh my gosh, I know this. Or when Clay's talking about um Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, like I like that I can envision those things. So Southern horror is really like my favorite genre. So yeah. Nice. I just love to I love to read um a nerd.
SPEAKER_05That's fantastic. Well, is there is there an off the clock activity that uh you still would like to pursue but haven't managed to yet? And if so, what is that?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, I mean, something I really wanted to do is to learn sign language. Oh like I really have wanted to do that for a really long time. I w I like to try to be as inclusive as I can in my classrooms and when I I do a lot of panels, um, dance panels, and I was like, gosh, it'd be really, really cool to learn that. So that's on my list. Okay. So and I know we have classes here in them. So I want to be able I I felt that there I feel like there's a class.
SPEAKER_06Are we gonna come there?
SPEAKER_08There's gotta be something.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, there's been talk about it, but I don't think we've yet been.
SPEAKER_08Okay, so we need it because I want to be able to take it. That's something I'm really interested in, is ASL. Wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Fantastic. Uh so if you weren't a faculty member, what would you be doing? Yeah.
SPEAKER_08I would be a script supervisor for films. They're called scripties. I love continuity and finding like it's not good, but finding continuity errors and things like that when I'm watching films. I'm I'm total cinophile. I love love films. So I'm able to say, Oh, that hairbrush was in the wrong hand. They messed up something on the edit. That's genetics. So this is a job? Like people that's like, they're called scripties, yeah. So that's what I would do.
SPEAKER_05Clearly, some are better than others if you're catching errors in a film you're watching.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, everyone's like, uh oh, what did Beck see on the thing? So yeah. So it's sometimes hard for me to watch stuff without being like having a critical eye.
SPEAKER_05I actually think that's kind of cool. I mean, that'd be that'd be neat for someone to point out to me during a film. Oh, did you notice that? What yeah. That's cool.
SPEAKER_08And this all comes from, I mean, uh again, just my upbringing in Richmond. The Virginia Film Office is so incredible. So many amazing things have been shot in Richmond. So I've gotten to be on a lot of film sets. I know a lot of filmmakers and editors, so I've been around kind of that uh environment for a long time. So I always said if I wasn't in dance and the arts and the academy, it would definitely be in the film industry. But yeah, want to be a scriptie. Just like cool. You actually're the closest person to the director. Interesting. Because you gotta watch and be like, no, that person.
SPEAKER_06Were you familiar with the scripty role before this project? No, I had no idea. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Okay, you learned something. I've learned a lot.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I the other question I so you do arts management, but you have this background in dance. Do you still dance?
SPEAKER_08I do still dance. Yeah, make really kind of weird work. My next project is to make dance films. So I used to run a dance film festival when I was at um in Illinois at U of I. Yeah, so I love that part of it too. I love when choreography and cinematography match.
SPEAKER_05So if you would identify, I don't know, a I don't know, uh a dance genre of movie. Is there a favorite movie of all time that integrates dance?
SPEAKER_08Oh, my favorite movie is Francis Ha. It's like an indie film. You should check it out. Very cool. Black and white, Greta Gerwig, early Greta Gerwig. Very, very cool film. That's my favorite one. So and then center stage, you gotta do some of the cheesy, you know, fun stuff. So but yeah, Francis Ha. Okay. I got a bunch of things I might write down. All right.
SPEAKER_05Well, Bex, to conclude our faculty off the clock installments, we ask each guest some important standard questions, again, about your life off the clock. We also want to clarify, as we always do, that we know the difference between thunder and lightning. But since this is an audio podcast, we had to settle on the thunder sound effect to cue this portion of the interview. What's your favorite meal?
SPEAKER_08Uh the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Um, like I'm Sicilian. Um, I'm like super Sicilian. So Christmas Eve is more important than Christmas Day kind of in our family.
SPEAKER_05Now, do you do you host this yourself?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work. And then one year my husband and I just did it solo and never again.
SPEAKER_05Never again. Like solo just for each other?
SPEAKER_08Oh, yeah, just for us. It was so much food, and like leftover seafood is not like great to host it. Yeah, so the people. Love, love that. My favorite meal. It's great. Okay.
SPEAKER_06Uh do you have a favorite dessert?
SPEAKER_08I love Hotfoot Sundays. And off-track has one called The King. I don't know if you No. Okay. So great. It's like classic.
SPEAKER_05It's off track.
SPEAKER_08Off-track ice cream, it's the best ice cream shop in Charleston.
SPEAKER_05Now, familiar with the You can report here from campus.
SPEAKER_06We don't get out much. You gotta go. We're not allowed to leave the Opposite Purpose except to come to this podcast.
SPEAKER_08You should have a meeting there. We've had meetings there. Isn't that cool? It's on right off the table. Do they make their own ice cream? Yes. And they have a whole bulletin board that tells you all the ingredients are local. Yeah. You can get ice cream flights, y'all. Come on. You're you're messing with it. Ice cream? You can literally have a meeting there. I'm telling you.
SPEAKER_05That's what this podcast is teaching me.
SPEAKER_08They have the king. It's the best Sunday. All right.
SPEAKER_05Wow. Pancakes or waffles?
SPEAKER_08Uh pancakes, but with a caveat. So I have celiacs, so I have to be gluten-free. So I can't like go to a diner anymore. I can't like enjoy that. We have to make them at home, and I've tested all the brands. So the King Arthur mix, the gluten-free mix. So that's you can find it the cheapest at Publix.
SPEAKER_06Alright. Are you a coffee or tea person?
SPEAKER_08So I can't have coffee because of the caffeine algae. But can't you have a decaffeinated tea? I can have a yeah, but maybe once a week. Alright.
SPEAKER_06So herbal tea?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, herbal teas are my thing. So I really like that. I have a decaffeinated green tea I drink every day and stuff like that. And then a chai tea, but I gotta drink like a very small one. So yeah.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Favorite snack food?
SPEAKER_08Woo! Trader Joe's right now has these sweet and savory rice crackers. They're so good. But you can tell when I'm eating my office because they like burn your mouth and I'm like screaming. But it's so spicy. Yo, they're spicy and sweet. It's so, so good.
SPEAKER_06Uh do you have a preferred topping or condiment on a sub sandwich if you have one?
SPEAKER_08Oh, some it needs sort of spicy mustard. Like I like things that are spicy. Yeah, like ice. Yeah. Love something like that.
SPEAKER_06No, the mayo people are catching on because you can now like get sriracha mayo. Oh, you can get all sorts of stuff. I don't like those variations of the crazy. You gotta go classic.
SPEAKER_08It has to be dukes. Yeah. It has to be dupes.
SPEAKER_06I'm sure it's a duke's sriracha mayo. I don't think no.
SPEAKER_08They can't mess with perfection like that.
SPEAKER_06Favorite soft drink?
SPEAKER_08Uh so yeah, again, no caffeine. Right. Um, so I'll do a ginger ale. I'm really basic. I like a ginger ale. I love a crispy ginger ale. I like a ginger. Seagram's ginger ale for being exact. Okay. The best brand.
SPEAKER_06That's good. That's good. Um, do you have an off-the-clock activity you like to do by yourself? I mean, reading is by yourself, but another one.
SPEAKER_08Oh, I love to go to museums by myself. I like to like intake the art by myself. And then because I'm so curious, I like to uh like ask curators or the people working, like, who hung this or how long did this take? And how did you pick this makes sense?
SPEAKER_05It doesn't make much sense as a solo activity because when you go with people or one person, everybody has their own different base. It's a very kind of solitary activity in my mind.
SPEAKER_08No, even when I we go with groups where I go with my husband, it's much more like, okay, I'm starting here, I'll meet you back. Or text me. This yeah, this thing. And I really like I like to wander by myself and engage with it my own.
SPEAKER_05That makes total sense. Yeah. Do you have a favorite music group currently?
SPEAKER_08My music taste is too eclectic to pick just one.
SPEAKER_05But it depends on your mood, what you feel.
SPEAKER_08Uh and then I will say that um at home we have a very extensive vinyl collection. So we've got to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_05So, how about you and your husband are sitting down to do Feast of Seven Fishes all by yourself? What do you put on? What do you put on there?
SPEAKER_08Goodness. Rosemary Clooney that. Oh, good choice. And you gotta have something like that. Frank Sinatra, baby. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_06Okay, good. Um Do you have uh a favorite type of barbecue? Uh Texas Southern?
SPEAKER_08So I don't eat any sort of meat. No meat? Like fish, good. Fish, fish is good, and sometimes chicken if I'm feeling really spicy. Oh. But I don't think I've never eaten anything off of a bone. Wow. Ever. When some people talk about chicken wings, I'm like, I don't I don't know what that's like. I'm out. Yeah, I have no a rib, forget it.
SPEAKER_05So it's so delicious.
SPEAKER_08Makes prep sense.
SPEAKER_05We appreciate you respecting those that like the chew on the bone. Yeah, go for it.
SPEAKER_08Not for Nate.
SPEAKER_05Uh here's a question. Most memorable restaurant of your entire life.
SPEAKER_08Is there restaurant in a restaurant? Restaurant. Rich restaurant restaurant in Richmond called Carinis. Is it still there? Yeah, it's Italian. It's where we had our my rehearsal dinner when my husband and I got married. Yeah. It's like very it's where everyone goes after like a you win a soccer championship or a swim meet. It's like bags. Longstanding longstanding. So family is on the wall. Oh yeah, family. Everything is perfect. Carinis, hands down. Wow, I have to keep that in mind.
SPEAKER_05I love a good Italian restaurant. If it's good, yeah, it's hard to find a good one anymore. This one's so good.
SPEAKER_06No. Okay. Uh if you had a choice, walk walk, bike, or drive.
unknownDrive.
SPEAKER_08I would drive because I want to listen to like my tunes blast. I'm that person where I have to turn the volume back down when I'm about to get out of my car.
SPEAKER_05So you like the ambiance that you can do. Oh, yeah. I like to do it. I like it. Yeah. Do you have a preferred dispensing method for toothpaste? How do you approach from the bottom? Well, can you explain a little more detail from the bottom? How do you how do you think it's a little bit more? I mean, I'm a squeezer.
SPEAKER_08Okay. As opposed to a roller. Oh, I don't roll. You don't roll the two. I squeeze because I'm like that OCD kicks out of the bottom. Does that maximize the the and it has to be like the perfect? Okay. If it like is hanging off, I'll start over.
SPEAKER_05And will you will you ex ensure that you exhaust the contents at the end of the process when you know you're at almost at the end?
SPEAKER_08Pretty much.
SPEAKER_05Pretty much. Pretty much.
SPEAKER_08I mean, if there's like a little bit left, it's tossing it. I'm big on backstock. Like I got three more in the back. You know, we love a Costco run. I'm good on my toothpaste.
SPEAKER_05So Doug Corey knows that, you know, depending upon my mental state, I will I have a small scissors actually. Oh. And I will slice open the top, and you can get about four to six brushes out of what's remaining in that top cap portion that's impossible to squeeze out. Wow. Yeah. Be amazing. I didn't say that to impress you, just to kind of give you a little insight into my psychosis. You are flexing so I am definitely the obvious.
SPEAKER_08I'm like, oh, there's a little bit toss.
SPEAKER_05Oh man. Well, put them in a jar and uh mix them in.
SPEAKER_08I'll give them to you. Yeah, there you go. Uh popcorn? Do you like popcorn? I love popcorn because I love the movies. I think you can go, you can't watch a movie without snacks. So popcorn is a must. Put the butter on it, shake it, you have to get it. You like all the things on it. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08All right.
SPEAKER_05So I I have a feeling you got something in mind. I mean, you know, especially given the the the performative dimension of your life. Uh it's a celebrity event featuring you. What's your entrance song?
SPEAKER_08Okay. Look, I gotta preface this by saying I'm known as the Halloween queen. So I would say the Monster Mash. Ooh! We are in spooky season. It is my season. Wow. Halloween officially starts when pumpkin spice is like in the store. So we're we're pretty close. When does pumpkin spice come back? August 26th. I'm so sorry that I really know this. Yeah, it does come. Did you get a decap? Like or you just know. I will get a decap. I will get a decaf on the day that it, you know, that everything. Yes. And then you gotta do it for the Instagram, you know, and then all that. And then yeah, it's officially, it's officially spooky season. So Monster Mash 100%. Wow.
SPEAKER_06All right. Okay. Nice. Well, Bex, thanks so much for sharing today about your time off the clock and for giving listeners an alternate glimpse into your life outside the classroom. We really appreciate it. And a personalized marketing tool that we will ask you to display in your office. To bring attention to this podcast, we'll be presenting you with your own bobblehead to represent your lighter side as revealed to us today. So thank you.
SPEAKER_08Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_06This has been so fun. Thanks. Stay tuned for next month's installment when we learn more about the life off the clock of another College of Trust and professor.