Wednesday Night Stories: The Trox Blog

A secret. This is not my first blog. Well, technically, yes . . . but this is not my first consistent blog.

That honor belongs to a blog I created with my friend Mike in the fall of 2007.

That fall Mike and I (and 200 others) were taking Introduction to Biblical Literature taught by the incomparable Dr. Ronald Troxel (or Trox or "the Trox" or "T-Rox" as he likes to be called).

For those who don't know the man, he is a force to be reckoned with specifically in the art of Powerpoint. I kid you not, I know people who would attend his lectures even if they weren't enrolled in the class, not for the content but for the Powerpoint skillz.

An artist.

No, an artisté.

This isn't photos zooming in or sound effects or tacky clip art, this is copyrighted perfection. Text, with Greek, Hebrew, color highlighting, maps. Amazing. The man's resumé lists nine languages known and 7 of those are no longer spoken.

I know, it doesn't sound all that interesting, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

So Mike and I had joked about writing a live blog (an ongoing, constantly updated online account of a public event) of his class to keep the world updated on the state of the Trox's Powerpoint and then one day we both got to class 10 minutes early and in those 10 minutes "Ron Troxel: Scholar, Father, Hero" was born.

So, Mike and I developed a system. One day a week I took notes while Mike blogged. And one day a week Mike took notes while I provided minute-by-minute updates of our Professor's outfit, grammar, and pop culture references. Though, Mike's notetaking was always prone to be overtaken by distractions, like drawing Troxel riding a unicorn.

The blog was seemingly just for Mike and I's enjoyment. But, then our other friends in the class started reading it. Then the guys sitting behind us saw the page and started reading it. And about two weeks later, I discovered that upon Googling "Ronald Troxel" our blog was the number one result. And it still is! (This will probably happen to any website that mentions a person's name every 3rd word)

Soon after that I received this e-mail with the subject line "I'm stunned!!":

Marc,

I must admit, I've never see anything like your blog on Intro to Bib Lit.
It's one of the most creative and humorous productions I've come across in
quite a while! Needless to say, having read a few of the pages, I will be
much more self-conscious about what I'm wearing and what transitions I build
into my PowerPoints.

Incidentally, you weren't the only one disappointed by the lecture last
Monday evening. But no, I didn't fall asleep. [Marc's Note: I made this accusation.]

Have a good weekend!

Dr. Troxel

Brilliant! This was a shocking reaction to come from a man who it seems was being stalked. But the best was yet to come, in a couple days. We would have class with Dr. Troxel and he now knew about the blog.

So the following Tuesday, Mike was up to blog and we started with our usual description of the Trox's outfit, calling his shirt "cranberry", before class started and then, this happened. I'll let Mike's live blog do the talking:

2.29 He's talking about us! I think I'm going to have a seizure! There is no way to describe the joy I am feeling now. I will spend the next couple of minutes trying to sum up the pure ecstasy of the past minute. He began lecture by stating something to the effect of "I'm sure that many of you have participated in sports or plays and have felt that the positive encouragement of your peers pushes you to your best... I have recently had my eyes opened by something to this effect as I have learned that someone in this class has been live blogging my lectures. This has really pushed me to bring my 'A Game' to class. [he begins his POwerpoint show. Multiple clipart graphics begin dropping into the page as words begin falling, spinning, dancing the wonderful dance of the powerpoint. It's like a symphony is unfolding before our eyes. The class is laughing, applauding, wetting ourselves. But he's not done yet. As the title slide begins to unveil it's glory behind him, Troxel begins to describe his attire: "I would call this a cranberry shirt (note: I did not edit my 2.24 post, but I, in fact, accurately guessed the hue of his shirt the first time), khaki pants (he puts his left leg up onto the table), with some (he details his shoes here, but I was laughing to hard to make out the description). The class applauds him for his relaxed demeanor in the face of what appears to be someone clearly stalking him online. Bravo, good sir, bravo.

2.38 He has been lecturing about Isaiah chapters 56-66 for the past eight minutes or so, but I'm pretty sure everyone has reliving the first few...WHA???

2.39 "Let's see what the blog has to say about my lecture today..." ( I frantically post my bloggings thus far) It takes a few seconds an d a couple of "refreshes" for the new post to appear. Then he begins reading the post out loud. HE is directly referring to Marc. The man is on fire. As he reads "I think I'm going to have a seizure..." He picks up a large red phone from under the podium. Did he plant that there? DId he know this was going to happen? I've said it before, I've said it again. THe man is a wizard. I swear, he just pushed a button and our blog popped up. It's like he hot-keyed it. He reads on to confirm that yes, in fact, his son was in a production of Grease. I was right. He continues on "...whoever Marc is, he is an extremely creative person." Jonathan [Marc's Note: Jon was our TA and a frequent topic of discussion on the blog] speaks up from the back "I know who Marc is, Dr. Troxel." Trox: "Give him an A Jonathan."

This was the high point of the blog. I mean, where could we go from here? The professor found the blog and somehow liked it and promised me an A. From there, Troxel would occasionally make reference to the blog in lecture, he'd remind the class not to count on the blog for notes, and the campus newspaper published an article with a reference to "The Trox" (and we knew where the writer learned that phrase).

Oddly enough, Dr. Troxel was also my advisor for my Religious Studies degree so I had to go to his office several times to check on requirements for my program, but even though he looked up my file every time, I don't think he connected that I was the same Marc from the blog. Or if he knew, he was very talented at hiding it, which wouldn't surprise me, he is a Scholar, Father, and Hero.

And I got my A.