I'm reading this book again for about the sixth or seventh time. I don't know about you, but any book that bears the additional read for me does so for some profound reason.
This is certainly the case for The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.
This has got to be one of my top ten ever. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand is up there as well.
I teach Art History and that means that I'm a twisted anal-retentive individual who loves a minutia of detail. Because of the architectural information in this novel I offer up 5 points added to an average for a six weeks for reading it and talking to me about it. It's 983 pages and a student would have to want the extra credit BIG time to undertake it. I've had a couple of kids over the years who read it and told me that I didn't have to give them the extra credit. They loved the book so much.
I'm also one who was raised on H.G. Wells and Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs. I love a good story.
Pillars of the Earth gives me both. The characters are very detailed and strongly written. They are poor/rich, starving/gluttons, peasant/nobility, sac religious/religious and just about every permutation of human station that one can imagine in between. The poor have substinence issues. The religious and nobles draw together for their own issues of advancement.
All through the thread of machinations is the life of Tom Mason, a builder. The central character, his one goal is to build a cathedral, because it is "beautiful." His life is complicated by several events. Early in the novel, he abandons his newborn child on the grave of his beloved wife who has died in the birthing effort. Feeling remorse he goes back to find that the child has been found and taken to a priory and left to the care of monks. In this period of a day he unites with a strange forest woman who in effect becomes his wife. Tom is tormented by the desire to reclaim his infant and his passion for the strange woman Ellen. Tom seeks a position as a builder near the priory where his infant son resides.
This is just a minor portion of this story that includes politically active maneuverings that involve the highest members of the church, the squabbles among local barony and the quest for the throne of England itself. Included is the martyrdom of Thomas a Becket.
One does not build a cathedral in a day. Such undertakings were generally multigenerational. Ken Follett has chosen to set his story in the period of the architectural change from Romanesque to Gothic and with his narration describes the building formats of the churches and the engineering changes necessary for the transition of style. The author wraps up these solidly researched engineering and artistic issues with the lives and dilemmas of very compelling and human characters. We look at the lives of the characters over time and see how their life experiences alter their perspectives.
There is drama, there is love, there is lust for passion and for power. In this story, there is the love of God and description of how so many different kinds of people come to related to God. The plot has so many twists and turns it will leave you spinning and make you wonder how one author could see so many personal agendas and points of view.
This novel is well crafted. It's a great story that takes my breath away every time I read it. As I tell my students, one gets to the point where there are a hundred pages left and we think "OH NO, there's not much left. . . " We want the story to go on and on and on.
Once again, I finished this book and wanted even more. I hear now there is a sequel and I'm betting that one comes up before the year is out!
I'm already started on book fifteen. I've not counted the weeks so far, but I think I'm on schedule!
Saturday, April 05, 2008
TGIF
Today was a relief after yesterday. I did write one referral. I had a senior girl tell me that she didn't care about my class and that she didn't want to spend the money for supplies because she didn't need the class to graduate.
OMG, let's just press my "rhymes with rich" button.
I have an issue about kids not working in class. I want them to do something to get a grade. I don't pay them for nothing.
The girl today is a good girl. I doubt seriously that she has been sent to the discipline office very many times. I told her as I got there that when good kids acted up that it stands out more. She started arguing more that she wasn't the only one and I said that I was talking to her and she was trying to point at everyone but her.
I can perhaps see her point of view. She doesn't know the relationships I have with other students. One other girl, I went off on last period worked her little butt off this time. Another girl didn't bring her stuff today but she is second year with me and I know her and she knows that she has to perform, even if she wasn't there today. She did not dare say that she didn't plan to do work because she didn't have to have it graduate. She knows that I'll kick her ass nine different ways.
Can you imagine telling a teacher that you don't feel like doing the work in her class because it doesn't matter if she has it to graduate.?
What a moron. It will still be transcripted that she did not do adequate work.
OMG, let's just press my "rhymes with rich" button.
I have an issue about kids not working in class. I want them to do something to get a grade. I don't pay them for nothing.
The girl today is a good girl. I doubt seriously that she has been sent to the discipline office very many times. I told her as I got there that when good kids acted up that it stands out more. She started arguing more that she wasn't the only one and I said that I was talking to her and she was trying to point at everyone but her.
I can perhaps see her point of view. She doesn't know the relationships I have with other students. One other girl, I went off on last period worked her little butt off this time. Another girl didn't bring her stuff today but she is second year with me and I know her and she knows that she has to perform, even if she wasn't there today. She did not dare say that she didn't plan to do work because she didn't have to have it graduate. She knows that I'll kick her ass nine different ways.
Can you imagine telling a teacher that you don't feel like doing the work in her class because it doesn't matter if she has it to graduate.?
What a moron. It will still be transcripted that she did not do adequate work.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Throw a Bucket of Water on Me and see if I Melt
Today was rotten. No joke. April 1, 2008 ranks up there with election day in November of 1980.
There may have been worse ones, but not so laughably awful.
Perhaps I should compare them. . . .
Election Day, 1980.
I was living in Las Cruces, NM. I was newly married (to my ex-husband) and a student at New Mexico State University. I can remember that I was pretty disgusted with the presidential offerings. At a costume Halloween Party the weekend before I'd made everyone laugh when I called up the Lyndon Laroche infomercial and got a campaign supporter on the phone and started asking her really stupid questions and then asked her if his show was a game show or a pilot for a new comedy show. (Amazing how beer can make some things funnier) The very sincere young lady on the other end of the phone finally made a disgusted noise and hung up on me. That was funny too.
I get up on election day and I go and perform my patriotic citizen duty and I cast my ballot for 3rd party candidate John Anderson. What's funny now is that I have a hard time remembering who I was voting against (Reagan and who?) What an odd thing to remember, but I was wearing some substantial heels that day (like I need heels at five foot nine). I went to my marketing class with Dr. Lill. I really liked him and I really liked the class very much. I remember standing in line after class to ask him a question. The next thing I remember, I'm on the floor and the kindly professor was kind of shaking me and looking very concerned. I had apparently passed smooth clean out in the small auditorium. Mortified, I assured him that I was just fine and having forgot my question, got to my car and went by a friend's house. It was about 11 am and we were standing outside and she asked me if I had been drinking.
I told her that the last time I'd been drinking that she was with me and sweet Luisa said "You don't look like you are okay."
I decided that perhaps I'd better go home, so I did. I figured this was a good day to find a great book and chill. I had to eat though and took the easy way out and heated up a can of chef boyardee ravioli (still one of my favorite comfort foods) and went to my chair and set the plate down on the ottoman in front of me and then sat and leaned over and put my drink down on the end table. I heard a rumble of thundering paws and my tiny cat Kamikaze Louise launched herself at the ottoman and stuck her face right into my plate of ravioli. I was incensed. I reached to swat her and she swerved and I got up and chased her and ran smack into the wrought iron chandelier in the dining area (that didn't have a table yet). I woke up on the floor with Kamikaze licking my face (I guess she could have been eating my food)
It was at this point that I decided that I was having a bad day. Unconscious twice by noon in a single day is a bad omen. I decided that I was going to lay VERY low and get on the couch and not move for the rest of the day. One would normally think that is a non hazardous behavior but at some point a spider crawled out from under the couch and bit my ankle resulting in a nasty whelp.
John Anderson lost.
April 1, 2008
I missed last Thursday and Friday because of medical issues. Today I was back with my AP Art History kids and we were prepared to finally do our presentations on cathedrals. I set up my not very portable technology (it takes 20 minutes out of a class period to put up the projector and laptop and power it down and go store it down the hall). The announcements came on and there was some stern stuff being said. There was a big fight yesterday after school and I guess trouble has been brewing because there were offers of consequences for bad behavior. THEN, there is an announcement that there is going to be a meeting for seniors at the end of announcements which pulls out all but two of my students.
Criminee. So we can't do our presentations and we are pushed back another day, so I spend the period with the two kids left trying to explain the beginnings of the Renaissance. They didn't know who Marco Polo was or what city-states were.
Have you ever tried to explain who Marco Polo was? I'm grateful that I am enough of a student of history that I can do a passable job, but juniors and seniors in high school should freaking know who Marco Polo was (other than a game in a swimming pool).
I have to teach this class in the library which is inconvenient because other folks can randomly wander in and look for stuff. Also, if testing is going on in the library, I may get five minutes notice that I have to teach art history in the cafeteria that day. That doesn't work very well.
I have to go make a copy, so I wander across the library. . .while I am at the copy machine I see the library clerk with a stack of what looked like hardback comic books. They look like something you'd see in a rack at an elementary school and they are obviously new because she is adding shelving stickers to them.
"What the hell is that?" I ask as I point at the stack of at least 25 skinny colorful books. She tells me they are graphic novels. I've noticed a trend in that direction, so I pick one up and it's really juvenile. I shake my head and say "Why do we buy these, this is baby stuff" and she shrugs and says, "well, it's popular and it gets them to read." As an educated human, and a taxpayer in this district, I'm somewhat offended (I don't blame the clerk, she's just putting stickers on) but still I tell her what I think about such a thing. She tells me that a lot of things are coming out in graphic novels and that it's a way to get the kids to read stuff they should read. She says the graphic novel of Beowulf is pretty popular.
I'm still offended and I see a theater teacher and an English teacher that I adore. I ask them if they had to read real books when they were growing up and they both said that they did. I pointed at the stack of graphic novels and they shake their heads. I do too. They are funny and cute and nice and we talked a few minutes about what book nerds we are and I outnerded them by telling them that I'd read every play by Shakespeare when I was in high school.
Late in the period, all the seniors came back and I ask them if anyone has read The Complete Shakespeare. They look at me blankly (as they normally do). One guy says, "I read Hamlet." One girls says she read MacBeth. The Hamlet guy says "What do you mean, The Complete Shakespeare?" I look at him and say, "that means I read all of his plays."
"How many is that?" he asks. I don't know the exact number but I tell him "almost 40." The kids look at each other and they look back at me like I've grown a second head. Hamlet boy says "Miss, WHY would you do that?" I look at him and then at all of them and say "Why have you NOT?"
I often ask this group of kids if they think they have gotten a good education. They seem to think it is okay. I often tell them that I think I worked harder at it. I think that was obvious today although we all left feeling kind of strange.
I was pretty sad as I walked across our huge campus to another building to teach my next class. I have a few minutes (it's called lunch) and I pull up my email and there is a message that enrages me. Not a little, I'm so mad that I start crying and I can't stop. I'm trying to compose a reply that stops short of saying that I have small armed tactical missiles aimed at the business office of the school and the kids start coming in for the next class. Several of them stop on their way in and ask me to do things and I told the first kid "I'm really mad right now, it's not about you, I want to bite someone very much, would you rather wait to talk to me." He decides it's better to wait.
Pink Angel comes in and she has a question and I tell her pretty much the same thing. I ask her to give me five minutes and I will answer her question. I've totally lost my composure at this point.
Intermission: Why am I so mad? I've been trying to get supplies for 65 students in a particular class all year and I'm told that I can't buy from the ONLY vendor in the state that I know of because they are inactive. The vendor is inactive because they refuse to do business with my district because it took six months for them to get paid last time. They will sell to us but only with cash up front. I've scrambled for almost everything to supply 65 kids all year (all that has kept me going are the generous donations of wonderful friends), I've bankrupted every studio supply that I personally own and I'm just out of everything. I thought I had made arrangements to get my supplies through another angle but the business manager and I do not communicate well and for about the fifth time she tells me to find another vendor. I blast back at there that there is NOT another vendor that I cannot snap my fingers and make one appear. I've BEGGED for help from the people in my administration and I'm not getting it. My blood pressure is dangerously high (148 over 109)
So, I'm sitting in my class and I'm crying. I think it scared the kids. One boy said "Miss, is this an April Fool? Are you just messing with us?" A girl smacked him on the arm and said "Boy, you are stupid, she's really upset." I try to do my job and help them advance the current project (they are doing well and I appreciate them) but I'm barely holding myself together. I am sure to tell them that I am NOT mad at them that me being upset has nothing to do with them. One girl comes up and says "Miss, do you need a hug?" I accept it gratefully. I calm a little bit and I try to explain in very simple terms that I am frustrated by the way that our district does business because it keeps me from being able to provide the best I can for our kids. I want to bite someone.
They are all working and I go sit down. Pink Angel comes up to me and she says "Miss, it's okay. It's going to be okay. You're alive. Just pray to God and it will be okay. God loves you Miss, and I love you Miss. "
I almost melt down again. She tells me that if I want to get another job that she bets her daddy can get me another job. She says she knows I'm a good worker. She offers a donation of ten dollars. This is a ninth grade child who is fifteen. I tell her to keep her money but then she asks if I can at least go get her a Sprite out of the teacher machine (20 oz bottles instead of 12 oz cans). She said if I have change for a ten then I could have nine of it.
I go get her Sprite and I come back and she hugs me and holds me close and says "Miss, it's going to be okay."
During my conference period, I go to my friend the nurse and she takes my aforementioned blood pressure and fusses at me. She tells me I'm going to die if my blood pressure doesn't go down. She directs me to our friend the dean. I talk to him and he tells me who I need to talk to solve my problem. I start crying again and he's kind, but tells me that he cannot solve my problem, but directs me to a specific person.
I go to the main office, I'm obviously distraught. The office ladies want to know what I want and I tell them that I need to talk to someone in particular who happens not to be available. They take me out of the lobby and have me sit and give me kleenex. I can see that the principal is in his office meeting with someone and I'm sitting outside waiting for the other dean. The principal escorts out his guest and he sees me and he names my class that I'm having issue with and I melt down again and he has me come in. He makes several phone calls and promises that he will do what he can to get me what I need for my students. I tell him that I'm not being a big girl today and he's so nice and says I don't have to be.
I get to my next class which is filled with my incredibly smart kids that I love more than anything. They are kind and offer to beat up the world for me. I'm so grateful for them. They are strange and quirky and so so smart. They love to learn for learning's sake. They are every shape size and color and they are a family, and I'm grateful to be part of that family. This is the good part of the day.
Drumrollllll. I get to go get the results from my MRI. I've apparently got an almost complete tear in one of the tendons in my shoulder. Not all the way, just mostly all the way. My chiropractor looks at the report and says, well, this means surgery.
Chiropractors usually don't say the surgery word. DAMN.
This does not sound like fun.
There may have been worse ones, but not so laughably awful.
Perhaps I should compare them. . . .
Election Day, 1980.
I was living in Las Cruces, NM. I was newly married (to my ex-husband) and a student at New Mexico State University. I can remember that I was pretty disgusted with the presidential offerings. At a costume Halloween Party the weekend before I'd made everyone laugh when I called up the Lyndon Laroche infomercial and got a campaign supporter on the phone and started asking her really stupid questions and then asked her if his show was a game show or a pilot for a new comedy show. (Amazing how beer can make some things funnier) The very sincere young lady on the other end of the phone finally made a disgusted noise and hung up on me. That was funny too.
I get up on election day and I go and perform my patriotic citizen duty and I cast my ballot for 3rd party candidate John Anderson. What's funny now is that I have a hard time remembering who I was voting against (Reagan and who?) What an odd thing to remember, but I was wearing some substantial heels that day (like I need heels at five foot nine). I went to my marketing class with Dr. Lill. I really liked him and I really liked the class very much. I remember standing in line after class to ask him a question. The next thing I remember, I'm on the floor and the kindly professor was kind of shaking me and looking very concerned. I had apparently passed smooth clean out in the small auditorium. Mortified, I assured him that I was just fine and having forgot my question, got to my car and went by a friend's house. It was about 11 am and we were standing outside and she asked me if I had been drinking.
I told her that the last time I'd been drinking that she was with me and sweet Luisa said "You don't look like you are okay."
I decided that perhaps I'd better go home, so I did. I figured this was a good day to find a great book and chill. I had to eat though and took the easy way out and heated up a can of chef boyardee ravioli (still one of my favorite comfort foods) and went to my chair and set the plate down on the ottoman in front of me and then sat and leaned over and put my drink down on the end table. I heard a rumble of thundering paws and my tiny cat Kamikaze Louise launched herself at the ottoman and stuck her face right into my plate of ravioli. I was incensed. I reached to swat her and she swerved and I got up and chased her and ran smack into the wrought iron chandelier in the dining area (that didn't have a table yet). I woke up on the floor with Kamikaze licking my face (I guess she could have been eating my food)
It was at this point that I decided that I was having a bad day. Unconscious twice by noon in a single day is a bad omen. I decided that I was going to lay VERY low and get on the couch and not move for the rest of the day. One would normally think that is a non hazardous behavior but at some point a spider crawled out from under the couch and bit my ankle resulting in a nasty whelp.
John Anderson lost.
April 1, 2008
I missed last Thursday and Friday because of medical issues. Today I was back with my AP Art History kids and we were prepared to finally do our presentations on cathedrals. I set up my not very portable technology (it takes 20 minutes out of a class period to put up the projector and laptop and power it down and go store it down the hall). The announcements came on and there was some stern stuff being said. There was a big fight yesterday after school and I guess trouble has been brewing because there were offers of consequences for bad behavior. THEN, there is an announcement that there is going to be a meeting for seniors at the end of announcements which pulls out all but two of my students.
Criminee. So we can't do our presentations and we are pushed back another day, so I spend the period with the two kids left trying to explain the beginnings of the Renaissance. They didn't know who Marco Polo was or what city-states were.
Have you ever tried to explain who Marco Polo was? I'm grateful that I am enough of a student of history that I can do a passable job, but juniors and seniors in high school should freaking know who Marco Polo was (other than a game in a swimming pool).
I have to teach this class in the library which is inconvenient because other folks can randomly wander in and look for stuff. Also, if testing is going on in the library, I may get five minutes notice that I have to teach art history in the cafeteria that day. That doesn't work very well.
I have to go make a copy, so I wander across the library. . .while I am at the copy machine I see the library clerk with a stack of what looked like hardback comic books. They look like something you'd see in a rack at an elementary school and they are obviously new because she is adding shelving stickers to them.
"What the hell is that?" I ask as I point at the stack of at least 25 skinny colorful books. She tells me they are graphic novels. I've noticed a trend in that direction, so I pick one up and it's really juvenile. I shake my head and say "Why do we buy these, this is baby stuff" and she shrugs and says, "well, it's popular and it gets them to read." As an educated human, and a taxpayer in this district, I'm somewhat offended (I don't blame the clerk, she's just putting stickers on) but still I tell her what I think about such a thing. She tells me that a lot of things are coming out in graphic novels and that it's a way to get the kids to read stuff they should read. She says the graphic novel of Beowulf is pretty popular.
I'm still offended and I see a theater teacher and an English teacher that I adore. I ask them if they had to read real books when they were growing up and they both said that they did. I pointed at the stack of graphic novels and they shake their heads. I do too. They are funny and cute and nice and we talked a few minutes about what book nerds we are and I outnerded them by telling them that I'd read every play by Shakespeare when I was in high school.
Late in the period, all the seniors came back and I ask them if anyone has read The Complete Shakespeare. They look at me blankly (as they normally do). One guy says, "I read Hamlet." One girls says she read MacBeth. The Hamlet guy says "What do you mean, The Complete Shakespeare?" I look at him and say, "that means I read all of his plays."
"How many is that?" he asks. I don't know the exact number but I tell him "almost 40." The kids look at each other and they look back at me like I've grown a second head. Hamlet boy says "Miss, WHY would you do that?" I look at him and then at all of them and say "Why have you NOT?"
I often ask this group of kids if they think they have gotten a good education. They seem to think it is okay. I often tell them that I think I worked harder at it. I think that was obvious today although we all left feeling kind of strange.
I was pretty sad as I walked across our huge campus to another building to teach my next class. I have a few minutes (it's called lunch) and I pull up my email and there is a message that enrages me. Not a little, I'm so mad that I start crying and I can't stop. I'm trying to compose a reply that stops short of saying that I have small armed tactical missiles aimed at the business office of the school and the kids start coming in for the next class. Several of them stop on their way in and ask me to do things and I told the first kid "I'm really mad right now, it's not about you, I want to bite someone very much, would you rather wait to talk to me." He decides it's better to wait.
Pink Angel comes in and she has a question and I tell her pretty much the same thing. I ask her to give me five minutes and I will answer her question. I've totally lost my composure at this point.
Intermission: Why am I so mad? I've been trying to get supplies for 65 students in a particular class all year and I'm told that I can't buy from the ONLY vendor in the state that I know of because they are inactive. The vendor is inactive because they refuse to do business with my district because it took six months for them to get paid last time. They will sell to us but only with cash up front. I've scrambled for almost everything to supply 65 kids all year (all that has kept me going are the generous donations of wonderful friends), I've bankrupted every studio supply that I personally own and I'm just out of everything. I thought I had made arrangements to get my supplies through another angle but the business manager and I do not communicate well and for about the fifth time she tells me to find another vendor. I blast back at there that there is NOT another vendor that I cannot snap my fingers and make one appear. I've BEGGED for help from the people in my administration and I'm not getting it. My blood pressure is dangerously high (148 over 109)
So, I'm sitting in my class and I'm crying. I think it scared the kids. One boy said "Miss, is this an April Fool? Are you just messing with us?" A girl smacked him on the arm and said "Boy, you are stupid, she's really upset." I try to do my job and help them advance the current project (they are doing well and I appreciate them) but I'm barely holding myself together. I am sure to tell them that I am NOT mad at them that me being upset has nothing to do with them. One girl comes up and says "Miss, do you need a hug?" I accept it gratefully. I calm a little bit and I try to explain in very simple terms that I am frustrated by the way that our district does business because it keeps me from being able to provide the best I can for our kids. I want to bite someone.
They are all working and I go sit down. Pink Angel comes up to me and she says "Miss, it's okay. It's going to be okay. You're alive. Just pray to God and it will be okay. God loves you Miss, and I love you Miss. "
I almost melt down again. She tells me that if I want to get another job that she bets her daddy can get me another job. She says she knows I'm a good worker. She offers a donation of ten dollars. This is a ninth grade child who is fifteen. I tell her to keep her money but then she asks if I can at least go get her a Sprite out of the teacher machine (20 oz bottles instead of 12 oz cans). She said if I have change for a ten then I could have nine of it.
I go get her Sprite and I come back and she hugs me and holds me close and says "Miss, it's going to be okay."
During my conference period, I go to my friend the nurse and she takes my aforementioned blood pressure and fusses at me. She tells me I'm going to die if my blood pressure doesn't go down. She directs me to our friend the dean. I talk to him and he tells me who I need to talk to solve my problem. I start crying again and he's kind, but tells me that he cannot solve my problem, but directs me to a specific person.
I go to the main office, I'm obviously distraught. The office ladies want to know what I want and I tell them that I need to talk to someone in particular who happens not to be available. They take me out of the lobby and have me sit and give me kleenex. I can see that the principal is in his office meeting with someone and I'm sitting outside waiting for the other dean. The principal escorts out his guest and he sees me and he names my class that I'm having issue with and I melt down again and he has me come in. He makes several phone calls and promises that he will do what he can to get me what I need for my students. I tell him that I'm not being a big girl today and he's so nice and says I don't have to be.
I get to my next class which is filled with my incredibly smart kids that I love more than anything. They are kind and offer to beat up the world for me. I'm so grateful for them. They are strange and quirky and so so smart. They love to learn for learning's sake. They are every shape size and color and they are a family, and I'm grateful to be part of that family. This is the good part of the day.
Drumrollllll. I get to go get the results from my MRI. I've apparently got an almost complete tear in one of the tendons in my shoulder. Not all the way, just mostly all the way. My chiropractor looks at the report and says, well, this means surgery.
Chiropractors usually don't say the surgery word. DAMN.
This does not sound like fun.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Book 13, I'm catching up on the year for now. . .
I got back from Spring Break and my friend the school nurse told me about something she'd read over the break... Towing Jehovah by James Morris.
What she described was pretty strange, so when I got home I ordered the book. It came in a few days and I put it on the stack to read next.
I had an arthrogram on Thursday which kind of laid me low and put me off work for a couple of days. I started Towing Jehovah that afternoon and found myself diving into a concept that I had never dreamed of.
The basic premise of the novel is that God has died and his corporeal body has fallen into the Atlantic at 0 degrees longitude and latitude.
Enter the interfering archangels. . . Gabriel goes to the Vatican and Raphael goes to New York. At this point things get very complex. The angels are suffering and know that they are dying of empathy with their creator. They have prepared a tomb in the arctic for the body of God and have to rely on humankind to get him there. There are logistic issues. God is two miles long for one thing. He is decomposing for another.
Anthony Van Horne, defunct oil supertanker captain is famed for spilling oil all over Matagorda Bay off the coast of Texas. Reminiscent of the story of the Exxon Valdez, the former captain of Carpco Valparaiso is tormented by images of oil covered water fowl and blinded manatees. He seeks salvation that doesn't come. His father, a renowned captain, belittles him and Anthony cannot forgive himself, no matter how many times he bathes.
This novel satirizes almost every level of faith. It looks at personal, corporate, and hard-line religious viewpoints. This book makes fun of fast food in ways that defy imagination. Dilettantes who are so rich and bored that they have to reenact World War II battles are swept up in sea and air battle to prevent Jehovah from finding his final rest.
What a fun book!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Yesterday, I saw a robin in the yard. I've always heard that was a harbinger of spring which officially kicked off last week. Today I saw two robins and they danced such a funny dance all over the yard. They were digging in the dirt for worms and hopping about in an eccentric orbit around some random spot in my front yard. One was redder and fatter
than the other. I hope that they will nest someplace nearby. I can hear the doves a lot. There are more of them around than last year. They are quite vocal.
I love spring, because I love seeing the birds. I may start a checklist. I've seen doves, grackles, robins, mockingbirds and some green parrots so far this year. The green parrots were in someone's yard on Fisher Road. There were four of them and they were in a yard munching down with about a half dozen other birds. It was pretty cool.
What she described was pretty strange, so when I got home I ordered the book. It came in a few days and I put it on the stack to read next.
I had an arthrogram on Thursday which kind of laid me low and put me off work for a couple of days. I started Towing Jehovah that afternoon and found myself diving into a concept that I had never dreamed of.
The basic premise of the novel is that God has died and his corporeal body has fallen into the Atlantic at 0 degrees longitude and latitude.
Enter the interfering archangels. . . Gabriel goes to the Vatican and Raphael goes to New York. At this point things get very complex. The angels are suffering and know that they are dying of empathy with their creator. They have prepared a tomb in the arctic for the body of God and have to rely on humankind to get him there. There are logistic issues. God is two miles long for one thing. He is decomposing for another.
Anthony Van Horne, defunct oil supertanker captain is famed for spilling oil all over Matagorda Bay off the coast of Texas. Reminiscent of the story of the Exxon Valdez, the former captain of Carpco Valparaiso is tormented by images of oil covered water fowl and blinded manatees. He seeks salvation that doesn't come. His father, a renowned captain, belittles him and Anthony cannot forgive himself, no matter how many times he bathes.
This novel satirizes almost every level of faith. It looks at personal, corporate, and hard-line religious viewpoints. This book makes fun of fast food in ways that defy imagination. Dilettantes who are so rich and bored that they have to reenact World War II battles are swept up in sea and air battle to prevent Jehovah from finding his final rest.
What a fun book!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Yesterday, I saw a robin in the yard. I've always heard that was a harbinger of spring which officially kicked off last week. Today I saw two robins and they danced such a funny dance all over the yard. They were digging in the dirt for worms and hopping about in an eccentric orbit around some random spot in my front yard. One was redder and fatter
than the other. I hope that they will nest someplace nearby. I can hear the doves a lot. There are more of them around than last year. They are quite vocal.I love spring, because I love seeing the birds. I may start a checklist. I've seen doves, grackles, robins, mockingbirds and some green parrots so far this year. The green parrots were in someone's yard on Fisher Road. There were four of them and they were in a yard munching down with about a half dozen other birds. It was pretty cool.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Book 12, Infinity and Beyond
I picked up another from the "marginal" pile. I saw that it was written by Ben Bova and knew that I had read one of his Mars books as well as the fact that he had edited Omni Magazine. Faint Echoes, Distant Stars gives a lot of information in a very objective manner.
Much of what Dr. Bova touches on is controversial at the very least. He talks about the origins of humankind's perceptions of our world and the lights in the sky.
The author explains the currently accepted version of the creation of the solar system. His description of the "accretion disk" and the way that planets coalesced by a combination of collisions with other bodies and attracting "dust" from the elliptic is vivid and exciting. One would think that this kind of book could be mind numbing.
I learned about exobiology and astrobiology and that there are life forms on this planet that are as alien to us as anything that we can likely imagine. Have you ever heard of an extremophile? I sure hadn't.
Wait, that boy I saw in the discipline office yesterday was pretty alien with his waist band at mid thigh and his grungy thermal underwear on. Ewww.
As a write of speculative fiction, I wondered how object Dr. Bova would be. I knew I liked his writing. I really tend to avoid non-fiction but I find myself coming around to it more and more. (Thank you very much Jane!) After studying art history and reading some of the "oh my God I want to shoot myself" texts I had really wanted to stay as far away from research as I could. I really liked this book. I liked how the author tried to look at each item he discussed from divergent points of view. I also liked his fond homage to Carl Sagan, long one of my heroes.
At times, this text is funny as it discusses how the political structure in the US impacts the funding for space exploration and scientific discovery. To see US politicians quoting about the "giggle factor" and "little green men" is really laughable. I bet some of them see plenty of little green men after a four martini lunch.
Mark is fond of saying that humankind has such a hard time understanding the infinitely large and the infinitely small. Reminds me of the Niven/Pournelle book Mote in God's Eye."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I'm puny today. I had to have dye injected into my shoulder today and then have an MRI. I am so scared of needles. I must say that the doctor was really cute and nice and I only cussed once.
MRI's don't usually bother me very much. I tend to fall asleep inside the "jackhammer" tube. I've had probably a dozen of them over the years. I've learned that amenities are worthwhile. The last two I've had were "open" MRI's and weren't terrible. The last one actually had a straight shot at CNN. Some of them have piped in music and earphones. The one today was a dog. The air flow wasn't very good and I got a little panicked. That is new. I had to have him pull me out. Having this contrast in my shoulder already and not wanting to be stuck again, I was resolved to get the test over. I did actually come close to dropping off a couple of times which makes the time pass so much faster and THEN I got a ginormous cramp in my right butt cheek about the same time that I had a massive hot flash. That was rough. I did my Lamaze breathing and counted. The tech was a cute little guy with braces. He was ever so pleasant and I felt bad because I thought I had acted up. He told me that I was really pretty good.
Hopefully, I'll get my results back on Tuesday. Several doctors think it is a torn rotator cuff or a labral tear. I don't think either one is a fun day at Six Flags. I just hope that the district will not continue to withhold treatment. I hate having to involve legal types (except F.G. and that's just because I think he's cute!) to get what I should get. If I have to have any kind of surgical intervention, I hope that the district will facilitate me getting taken care of over the summer so that I don't lose any instructional time over BS.
Much of what Dr. Bova touches on is controversial at the very least. He talks about the origins of humankind's perceptions of our world and the lights in the sky.
The author explains the currently accepted version of the creation of the solar system. His description of the "accretion disk" and the way that planets coalesced by a combination of collisions with other bodies and attracting "dust" from the elliptic is vivid and exciting. One would think that this kind of book could be mind numbing.
I learned about exobiology and astrobiology and that there are life forms on this planet that are as alien to us as anything that we can likely imagine. Have you ever heard of an extremophile? I sure hadn't.
Wait, that boy I saw in the discipline office yesterday was pretty alien with his waist band at mid thigh and his grungy thermal underwear on. Ewww.
As a write of speculative fiction, I wondered how object Dr. Bova would be. I knew I liked his writing. I really tend to avoid non-fiction but I find myself coming around to it more and more. (Thank you very much Jane!) After studying art history and reading some of the "oh my God I want to shoot myself" texts I had really wanted to stay as far away from research as I could. I really liked this book. I liked how the author tried to look at each item he discussed from divergent points of view. I also liked his fond homage to Carl Sagan, long one of my heroes.
At times, this text is funny as it discusses how the political structure in the US impacts the funding for space exploration and scientific discovery. To see US politicians quoting about the "giggle factor" and "little green men" is really laughable. I bet some of them see plenty of little green men after a four martini lunch.
Mark is fond of saying that humankind has such a hard time understanding the infinitely large and the infinitely small. Reminds me of the Niven/Pournelle book Mote in God's Eye."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I'm puny today. I had to have dye injected into my shoulder today and then have an MRI. I am so scared of needles. I must say that the doctor was really cute and nice and I only cussed once.
MRI's don't usually bother me very much. I tend to fall asleep inside the "jackhammer" tube. I've had probably a dozen of them over the years. I've learned that amenities are worthwhile. The last two I've had were "open" MRI's and weren't terrible. The last one actually had a straight shot at CNN. Some of them have piped in music and earphones. The one today was a dog. The air flow wasn't very good and I got a little panicked. That is new. I had to have him pull me out. Having this contrast in my shoulder already and not wanting to be stuck again, I was resolved to get the test over. I did actually come close to dropping off a couple of times which makes the time pass so much faster and THEN I got a ginormous cramp in my right butt cheek about the same time that I had a massive hot flash. That was rough. I did my Lamaze breathing and counted. The tech was a cute little guy with braces. He was ever so pleasant and I felt bad because I thought I had acted up. He told me that I was really pretty good.
Hopefully, I'll get my results back on Tuesday. Several doctors think it is a torn rotator cuff or a labral tear. I don't think either one is a fun day at Six Flags. I just hope that the district will not continue to withhold treatment. I hate having to involve legal types (except F.G. and that's just because I think he's cute!) to get what I should get. If I have to have any kind of surgical intervention, I hope that the district will facilitate me getting taken care of over the summer so that I don't lose any instructional time over BS.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
A Stroll Down Memory Lane Book #11
Okay, I picked this book up off the trash pile. I was 2 seconds away from chunking it, but I opened it up and looked. I saw three greek words that applied to me, so I set it aside for POSSIBLE later perusal.
I've got a book coming in the mail, but I finished the archeology book and had some time to kill. I picked it up off the about to be trash pile and looked at it. I read this book in three days.
Pledged by Alexandra Robbins.
Ms. Robbins is a journalist who "shadowed" several young ladies through a year's experience in their sorority. I believe she was in Texas for this.
When I went away to college, I was offended that anyone would want to "pay" for friends. My freshman year, my roommate went through rush and I was just disgusted. There was a sorority girl in my philosophy class and she was just evil I thought.
I ended up talking to "Melinda" who was a friend of my roommate. She was kind and told me that maybe I just wasn't sorority material. I just couldn't comprehend their kind of world.
My sophomore year . . . for some reason I signed up for rush. I really don't remember why. I started out really skeptical but by the time we got to the "pref" party, I had pinned my hopes on two stars, a lion and azure blue and white. I "suicided" as the term goes by leaving myself one possible choice.
I found myself in the same sorority with "Melinda" and with the girl I thought so evil from my philosophy class. I learned to love them both so very well. Not because I had to but because they were beautiful, brilliant and strong young women who I admired. The one I thought evil, was just so incredibly smart that school moved too slow for her and irritated her. What I thought was evil bitchiness was just frustration that she couldn't learn at a pace that suited her. She died before we graduated and I know that all of us still mourn the loss.
When I picked up this book, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if it would be sensationalistic "girls gone wild" crap or what. I respect Ms. Robbins for trying to be as objective as possible as she explored a world that she didn't participate in. What I found in the pages of Pledged was a really clear picture of much of what I had participated in 30 years earlier.
I learned one reason why my hubby was so anti sorority. His university was mentioned several times with very specific things that make me understand why he had such strong feelings against the Greek system. I learned why my own very accomplished daughter had an even less than lukewarm response to rush at her university.
I can see why Ms. Robbins has heard from so many women that insisted that she had visited THEIR school and their sorority. I saw so many things in common with my own experience that it blows my mind. After reading this book, I'm almost convinced that she changed the house colors to protect the guilty and that she was visiting my own college and my own chapter house.
This book should be read by any parent that hopes that their child might choose to enter a sorority. What is painfully clear is that some parents will NOT read it because of their own Greek experience. There is a lot of denial going on. I think there has been for decades.
Would I still want my child to pledge a sorority? If she wanted to I would support her. Would I make the same choice for myself? I would. It was an experience that gave me confidence in myself. I wouldn't have done it any other way.
This book made me look at the Greek system. It made me look at myself. Ms. Robbins did an amazingly objective job of looking at the experience of the girls that she shadowed. She passed no judgments on them; she merely recorded their experiences and their responses to those experiences.
It's a good read!
I've got a book coming in the mail, but I finished the archeology book and had some time to kill. I picked it up off the about to be trash pile and looked at it. I read this book in three days.
Pledged by Alexandra Robbins.
Ms. Robbins is a journalist who "shadowed" several young ladies through a year's experience in their sorority. I believe she was in Texas for this.
When I went away to college, I was offended that anyone would want to "pay" for friends. My freshman year, my roommate went through rush and I was just disgusted. There was a sorority girl in my philosophy class and she was just evil I thought.
I ended up talking to "Melinda" who was a friend of my roommate. She was kind and told me that maybe I just wasn't sorority material. I just couldn't comprehend their kind of world.
My sophomore year . . . for some reason I signed up for rush. I really don't remember why. I started out really skeptical but by the time we got to the "pref" party, I had pinned my hopes on two stars, a lion and azure blue and white. I "suicided" as the term goes by leaving myself one possible choice.
I found myself in the same sorority with "Melinda" and with the girl I thought so evil from my philosophy class. I learned to love them both so very well. Not because I had to but because they were beautiful, brilliant and strong young women who I admired. The one I thought evil, was just so incredibly smart that school moved too slow for her and irritated her. What I thought was evil bitchiness was just frustration that she couldn't learn at a pace that suited her. She died before we graduated and I know that all of us still mourn the loss.
When I picked up this book, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if it would be sensationalistic "girls gone wild" crap or what. I respect Ms. Robbins for trying to be as objective as possible as she explored a world that she didn't participate in. What I found in the pages of Pledged was a really clear picture of much of what I had participated in 30 years earlier.
I learned one reason why my hubby was so anti sorority. His university was mentioned several times with very specific things that make me understand why he had such strong feelings against the Greek system. I learned why my own very accomplished daughter had an even less than lukewarm response to rush at her university.
I can see why Ms. Robbins has heard from so many women that insisted that she had visited THEIR school and their sorority. I saw so many things in common with my own experience that it blows my mind. After reading this book, I'm almost convinced that she changed the house colors to protect the guilty and that she was visiting my own college and my own chapter house.
This book should be read by any parent that hopes that their child might choose to enter a sorority. What is painfully clear is that some parents will NOT read it because of their own Greek experience. There is a lot of denial going on. I think there has been for decades.
Would I still want my child to pledge a sorority? If she wanted to I would support her. Would I make the same choice for myself? I would. It was an experience that gave me confidence in myself. I wouldn't have done it any other way.
This book made me look at the Greek system. It made me look at myself. Ms. Robbins did an amazingly objective job of looking at the experience of the girls that she shadowed. She passed no judgments on them; she merely recorded their experiences and their responses to those experiences.
It's a good read!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Ancient Civilizations Book #10
Well, I didn't mean to read this, but I picked up Frontiers in Archeology by Robert Silverberg. I've read a lot of Silverberg over the years, mostly fantasy and sci-fi stuff.
Since I teach art history, I already have an interest in Ancient Civilizations, but sadly most texts are like death to get through. I had read one of Silverberg's other history books in my college American History class a million years ago. I recall that I enjoyed it, and after reading Frontiers in Archeology I remember why.
This book definitely gives a lot of information and cites reputable academic sources. I always caution my students to be leery of information garnered from the world wide web. I tell them I am certain that I can find Billy Joe Bob Fred's website that says absolutely that the moon is made of green cheese. Perhaps Silverberg is such a wonderful fantasy writer because he is such a palatable writer of history.
This small book (182 pages) does not explore any of the topics in excessive depth, but seems to give the reader enough information to encourage them to want to know more. It does not attempt to touch on every significant item about each civilization, but gives tantalizing "bits" of information. Much like an appetizer!
The book looks at notable ancient civilizations: Jericho, Ugarit, Shang, Zimbabwe, Mexico and Easter Island. Throughout the book there is discussion of influences of the other civilizations. It asks a lot of questions that no one knows the answers to, but provides information that has been ascertained by the study of archaeologists.
I never thought I would be devouring information about the digs of various seasons at Jericho, but after reading this, I want to read something in more depth. I felt the same way about each of the civilizations presented in this book.
I think this will make me a better teacher!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This week has been interesting. Lots of drama. The final word came down on moving our magnet programs to a different school. Three of the magnets will move. This is disappointing but not unexpected. What is sad is that one of the clusters has no applications for the new school. It's kind of hard to grow a program if no one applies.
I saw this picture in Al Dia today. Holy Cow! For those of you familiar with the neighborhood this was on Northwest Highway near Lawther near Flag Pole Hill!
The weather has been lovely after the monsoon on Tuesday. The children are coming out in droves. I have started book #11. I didn't expect to read this one either, but it sucked me in quickly. Since the last book was SO academic (even though it was really fun) this book is certainly NOT intellectual. It's trashy and fun. I've ordered another book recommended by my friend the nurse. I asked another friend who reads everything and she said it was interesting (of course she had read it already).
I think I may just go back on the porch and observe the neighborhood. Life is interesting as it wanders by. This morning there were grackles in the tree overhead doing quite a lot of posturing. It's so funny to see the males get all puffed up and noisy. Seems a little like the boys at school. I get a little nervous in the spring. The gang activity seems to become more prevalent. I feel so sorry for the kids that really believe that this is the way for them to survive. I feel more sorry for the girls who hitch their stars to the gang bangers. I'm learning more about gangs than I ever wanted to know. I'm just tired of hearing children brag about their gang affiliations. We shouldn't have to hear about it at school. I'm also tired of hearing profanity all the time. What is sad is that the kids don't think anything of it. I cannot imagine walking by a teacher at South Garland High School and saying "these motherfucking teachers get on my nerves, I mean these motherfucking teachers are tripping." I looked at the young lady and said "Miss, please watch your language." She looked right at me and said "these motherfucking teachers DO get on my nerves." I guess she did not perceive the correction intended in my comment.
Oy. Maybe I should carry my hammers with me.
Since I teach art history, I already have an interest in Ancient Civilizations, but sadly most texts are like death to get through. I had read one of Silverberg's other history books in my college American History class a million years ago. I recall that I enjoyed it, and after reading Frontiers in Archeology I remember why.
This book definitely gives a lot of information and cites reputable academic sources. I always caution my students to be leery of information garnered from the world wide web. I tell them I am certain that I can find Billy Joe Bob Fred's website that says absolutely that the moon is made of green cheese. Perhaps Silverberg is such a wonderful fantasy writer because he is such a palatable writer of history.
This small book (182 pages) does not explore any of the topics in excessive depth, but seems to give the reader enough information to encourage them to want to know more. It does not attempt to touch on every significant item about each civilization, but gives tantalizing "bits" of information. Much like an appetizer!
The book looks at notable ancient civilizations: Jericho, Ugarit, Shang, Zimbabwe, Mexico and Easter Island. Throughout the book there is discussion of influences of the other civilizations. It asks a lot of questions that no one knows the answers to, but provides information that has been ascertained by the study of archaeologists.
I never thought I would be devouring information about the digs of various seasons at Jericho, but after reading this, I want to read something in more depth. I felt the same way about each of the civilizations presented in this book.
I think this will make me a better teacher!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This week has been interesting. Lots of drama. The final word came down on moving our magnet programs to a different school. Three of the magnets will move. This is disappointing but not unexpected. What is sad is that one of the clusters has no applications for the new school. It's kind of hard to grow a program if no one applies.
I saw this picture in Al Dia today. Holy Cow! For those of you familiar with the neighborhood this was on Northwest Highway near Lawther near Flag Pole Hill!
The weather has been lovely after the monsoon on Tuesday. The children are coming out in droves. I have started book #11. I didn't expect to read this one either, but it sucked me in quickly. Since the last book was SO academic (even though it was really fun) this book is certainly NOT intellectual. It's trashy and fun. I've ordered another book recommended by my friend the nurse. I asked another friend who reads everything and she said it was interesting (of course she had read it already).
I think I may just go back on the porch and observe the neighborhood. Life is interesting as it wanders by. This morning there were grackles in the tree overhead doing quite a lot of posturing. It's so funny to see the males get all puffed up and noisy. Seems a little like the boys at school. I get a little nervous in the spring. The gang activity seems to become more prevalent. I feel so sorry for the kids that really believe that this is the way for them to survive. I feel more sorry for the girls who hitch their stars to the gang bangers. I'm learning more about gangs than I ever wanted to know. I'm just tired of hearing children brag about their gang affiliations. We shouldn't have to hear about it at school. I'm also tired of hearing profanity all the time. What is sad is that the kids don't think anything of it. I cannot imagine walking by a teacher at South Garland High School and saying "these motherfucking teachers get on my nerves, I mean these motherfucking teachers are tripping." I looked at the young lady and said "Miss, please watch your language." She looked right at me and said "these motherfucking teachers DO get on my nerves." I guess she did not perceive the correction intended in my comment.
Oy. Maybe I should carry my hammers with me.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Monsoon Goes On
Today I am frustrated.
I wonder why we really need men. I'm thinking I could be so happy with my daughters.
We have been in car hell for a while. A monsoon came today and Mark crashed our only working car. Granted someone else was stupid and he evaded hitting the other car and hit the concrete wall instead. He's fine. I'd be less mad if he was hurt. I've been saving to get the transmission put back in the cruiser and I've almost got enough.
I'm not hard on cars. I'm terribly easy on cars. I don't run into people and my father taught me that everyone else on the road was out to kill me so I drive very defensively. I don't drive aggressively and I go easy.
I'm just mad. He's depressed and I want to go tell him to suck a stick.
Becca is in Portland visiting Paul (I thought they broke up). ((He was here over winter break)).
Rachael has some upper respiratory crud that is going around. I told her to get her ass to the clinic in the morning and get some antibiotics. She calls and says "Mom, I'm feeling croupy and coughy." Mom, being a school teacher already knows there is a new leaping respiratory crud making the rounds.
Last week for spring break, I had four doctor appointments. I fell in October, whacking my old arthritic knee against a concrete riser and other assortments. The work comp people are jacking me around trying to say that I didn't really hurt myself when I tripped on the piece of rebar sticking out from the concrete step in front of school. They say I'm just old and if I hurt it is because of a "condition of life" Yeah, well, if one whacks an arthritic knee against a concrete riser it becomes an unhappy arthritic knee. The two herniated discs in my neck are new. The district denied my shoulder injury because they said (based on some guy they hired to review my case) that I didn't injure my shoulder. The four doctor appointments said that my shoulder was messed up and they didn't understand how the district (not being doctors) could say that I didn't hurt it when I fell. They are thinking a torn rotator cuff, or other torn ligament. All I know is that it hurts and that it is hampering me raising my right hand with a hammer in it.
Because my district is being awful and is trying to deny me medical, I had to go to a "designated doctor" on Monday. He said my knee is arthritic. I had to agree. He said that it probably was not going to get any better (I fell five months ago) and I can't argue with that. It's not terrible, it's just arthritic. He said my neck would take up to two years to heal and that since I'd had rehab on it that it was probably doing as well as could be expected. He said my shoulder was messed up and he didn't see HOW the district doctor could say that I didn't hurt it when I fell.
I want to bite someone. I wouldn't mind hitting someone with hammers. That could be very therapeutic.
OOOO crazy white woman loose with a hammer.. . .
I've had better days.
The monsoon continues.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Book 9 2008
I finished up Bless Me, Ultima today. It was really a quick read. It was magical in so many ways. I'll have to read it again later this year as it is the Academic Decathlon book for next year. At least I CAN read it again. There are very quotable lines in this novel. I couldn't get past chapter one of the book for the current year. It seems to go that way for me, every other year there is a book I cannot stomach.
Bless Me, Ultima is ultimately about a loss of innocence and the desire to know God. There is good and evil, and kind and bad, and a view of the world that transcends Christianity. I loved it.
What have I seen? Today we stopped at the corner and Mark gets his dollar for the guy with a sign. I don't know why Mark gives them money, but they all know him at this point and they talk to him. His favorite guy is Cowboy. There are quite a few of them. I want to get them food and a bath somewhere that I don't have to know about. The guy today obviously knows Mark and tells him about the lady that threw her kids off the bridge there yesterday. He was sleeping up under the bridge when it happened. He said the kids were doing okay, but the lady got hit (after she jumped). What a great thing to happen up the street from where one lives.
I have so many books around my bed. I usually have a plan for what is next, but I picked up on very randomly. If I manage to actually read it, I'll let you know about Book #10 for 2008. I think I'm falling behind!
Bless Me, Ultima is ultimately about a loss of innocence and the desire to know God. There is good and evil, and kind and bad, and a view of the world that transcends Christianity. I loved it.
What have I seen? Today we stopped at the corner and Mark gets his dollar for the guy with a sign. I don't know why Mark gives them money, but they all know him at this point and they talk to him. His favorite guy is Cowboy. There are quite a few of them. I want to get them food and a bath somewhere that I don't have to know about. The guy today obviously knows Mark and tells him about the lady that threw her kids off the bridge there yesterday. He was sleeping up under the bridge when it happened. He said the kids were doing okay, but the lady got hit (after she jumped). What a great thing to happen up the street from where one lives.
I have so many books around my bed. I usually have a plan for what is next, but I picked up on very randomly. If I manage to actually read it, I'll let you know about Book #10 for 2008. I think I'm falling behind!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Brain Death
This is what Brain Death looks like.
Today was TAKS testing in Texas. I sat in a room with 28 sophomores and a really nice Chinese man.
We have to maintain test security, so we are not allowed to get on the computer or read. The result is like watching paint dry or grass grow.
Having ADD and ADHD, this is almost a fate worse than death. I observed children for the better part of nine hours. I mean stared at them, and watched them take a standardized test.
I walked around for a good part of it, but the rest of the time I was trying to see how much ink I could use out of my uniball pen. The really bizarre thing is that just about every letter in my name is represented in some way. That wasn't the intent. Well, the Q is really obvious. The McDonald's arches are a direct response to the really great coffee my local Mickey D's makes. I think much of this was my subconscious trying to fill time by trying to fill space on a half a piece of copy paper.
I'm wondering if there is a tattoo in there somewhere.. . .
The scary part is that I want to work on this some more. . .
I've been bad
I've let down my reading effort. I've been playing golf on my phone instead of reading when I go outside to smoke.
I did enjoy the book by Ms. Clinton. It touched me in so many ways. I had no idea that she was second generation American. I always thought she was from big money back east. I'm so impressed by her commitment to the education of our children in America. I'm impressed that she wrote this book in 1995. This book has given me inspiration to not only vote, but get more involved with the political process.
I went to the "Texas Two Step" caucus at my local polling location last night. I had never heard of the precinct convention before last week. I feel less than for not knowing.
We early voted last week and stood in line quite a while. I'm well pleased with the tremendous voter turnout for this primary. It's good that more people care.
We debated about when to leave for the caucus. We live a whole 90 seconds car drive away from the polling place (Owenwood Methodist Church). We knew that the caucus wouldn't start until the poll was closed for fifteen minutes so we are thinking 7:15. We left the house at 6:59. I knew that there might be an issue when I saw a lot of traffic on John West and there were seven cars ahead of us to turn into the church parking lot. There were a group of ladies holding up "Hillary" signs. I rolled down the window and gave a "thumbs up" sign and they hollered and cheered. That was cool. We had issues finding a parking spot and got in line behind the back door where voters go in.
There were a lot of nice people in line and we had friendly chats. It was cold. There were folks with tiny children, there were people with children our age. I saw several people that I knew which surprised me because I didn't realize they lived near enough to vote in the same precinct.
The line grew. And grew. And Grew! I couldn't believe it. I've never had to wait more than five minutes to vote there and there were hundreds of voters from my precinct lining up to caucus.
I think there were more than five hundred people that came. They were all excited. I've been voting for more than 30 years now and I've never seen such a crowd.
We filled the sanctuary of the church. I'd be real surprised if they get that kind of crowd on Sunday. There were folks wearing "Hillary" and "Obama" buttons and they were so happy and positive and motivated. Most of the time, it doesn't matter what we do in Texas, it's usually decided before Texas has anything to do with the election.
I don't claim a party affiliation. I am an American. I have voted for just about every party there is at some point. I lean toward independent candidates. I am green at heart (to my mother's dismay).
It was exciting to see so many people in MY neighborhood who care. My next door neighbor was there, she was happy to see us there too (big surprise).
I've picked up a new book. I guess that is #9 for 2008. I don't think I will stall out over this one. It's getting my attention quickly and might pull me away from scoring a birdie on my phone.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is getting my attention. I'm not very long into it and the language is gorgeous. I'm doubly excited because it is our Academic Decathlon novel for next year. Some of my kiddos have already read it and are excited because they liked it.
Life is good.
I did enjoy the book by Ms. Clinton. It touched me in so many ways. I had no idea that she was second generation American. I always thought she was from big money back east. I'm so impressed by her commitment to the education of our children in America. I'm impressed that she wrote this book in 1995. This book has given me inspiration to not only vote, but get more involved with the political process.
I went to the "Texas Two Step" caucus at my local polling location last night. I had never heard of the precinct convention before last week. I feel less than for not knowing.
We early voted last week and stood in line quite a while. I'm well pleased with the tremendous voter turnout for this primary. It's good that more people care.
We debated about when to leave for the caucus. We live a whole 90 seconds car drive away from the polling place (Owenwood Methodist Church). We knew that the caucus wouldn't start until the poll was closed for fifteen minutes so we are thinking 7:15. We left the house at 6:59. I knew that there might be an issue when I saw a lot of traffic on John West and there were seven cars ahead of us to turn into the church parking lot. There were a group of ladies holding up "Hillary" signs. I rolled down the window and gave a "thumbs up" sign and they hollered and cheered. That was cool. We had issues finding a parking spot and got in line behind the back door where voters go in.
There were a lot of nice people in line and we had friendly chats. It was cold. There were folks with tiny children, there were people with children our age. I saw several people that I knew which surprised me because I didn't realize they lived near enough to vote in the same precinct.
The line grew. And grew. And Grew! I couldn't believe it. I've never had to wait more than five minutes to vote there and there were hundreds of voters from my precinct lining up to caucus.
I think there were more than five hundred people that came. They were all excited. I've been voting for more than 30 years now and I've never seen such a crowd.
We filled the sanctuary of the church. I'd be real surprised if they get that kind of crowd on Sunday. There were folks wearing "Hillary" and "Obama" buttons and they were so happy and positive and motivated. Most of the time, it doesn't matter what we do in Texas, it's usually decided before Texas has anything to do with the election.
I don't claim a party affiliation. I am an American. I have voted for just about every party there is at some point. I lean toward independent candidates. I am green at heart (to my mother's dismay).
It was exciting to see so many people in MY neighborhood who care. My next door neighbor was there, she was happy to see us there too (big surprise).
I've picked up a new book. I guess that is #9 for 2008. I don't think I will stall out over this one. It's getting my attention quickly and might pull me away from scoring a birdie on my phone.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is getting my attention. I'm not very long into it and the language is gorgeous. I'm doubly excited because it is our Academic Decathlon novel for next year. Some of my kiddos have already read it and are excited because they liked it.
Life is good.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Sometimes My Heart Breaks
C*** came to class today. She's a beautiful girl.. I had her last year in jewelry. She's a returning kid but has been less than motivated this year. I still love her, she's very sweet.
She mentioned a month ago that she was getting married. I was astonished. I straight up asked her if she was pregnant and she blushed and said "Oh no!" I asked her when she was getting married and she said she didn't know but sometime soon. The groom had already bought the kitchen table.
Over the last month, I've questioned her about this and I've learned that her intended has a good job. He manages two Jack in the Boxes. She says he's very nice and her parents like him a lot and he bought some other furniture.
Every day that she comes to class her classmates ask if she's married yet. She says that he's really nice and that her parents like him.
Today (Monday) she comes in and everyone asks if she's married yet and she very shyly says yes. I ask her where she got married and she said that she got hitched at the government center up the street by whatever judge was on duty.
She doesn't seem very happy. She seems terribly distracted. She leaves her cell phone on the desk and I confiscate it and she never knows. She's talking to me later and the damn thing goes off in my pocket and I pull it out and she says "wow that's just like my phone." I tell her it IS her phone and that she shouldn't have it out at school and explain all the reasons why cell phones are verboten. (Like the cell phone video of our teacher getting beaten which will allow her to sue the school and every kid who was in the room that didn't render aid)
I don't take the cell phone up, because that requires that a parent come pick it up on Monday which would be two weeks from now (after spring break) and as she's married, I'm betting her parent wouldn't serve the purpose.
What she had to show off today. . . she had the receipt from Walmart where she and her new husband went grocery shopping. They spent $170 on food for two people to get stocked in their new apartment. I bet she never gets to spend that much again.
At the end of the period she asks me if she can call her boyfriend. I was flip and asked her if she had a boyfriend and a husband too. Shyte. I don't mean to be mean. I think she was trying to arrange transportation home. Sometimes I'm slow on the uptake. This child stayed in her family home on Thursday night. Friday night she stayed with her husband.
As I fled the school this afternoon in the increasingly cold winds I saw her walking into the wind with no coat on. I'm wondering if she no longer has a ride home from school since she is a married woman. She told me where she is living and it's not a horrendous walk in good weather but it would have been miserable today.
I've come home and "processed" Oh holy crap, I wish I would have stuffed that girl in my car and given her a ride home.
I won't see her Wednesday as it is a "testing" day. You can be sure that on Friday if that child needs a ride to the home of her husband that I will with all humbleness beg her to let me help.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Easily Distracted by Shiny Objects
It's snowing at my house.
You can tell that I'm southern because such a thing is even worthy of a mention. Snow is such a novelty for southern folk that we go outside and stare at it to capture every random flake in its fleeting beauty.
My tiny magnolia tree is gathering a fluffy covering.
I stood on my porch, just behind the glare of the streetlight and I could see illuminated streams of snow that showed like tracers from filigree fireworks.
We are so easily amused, those of us who are distracted by shiny objects. Southerners in the presence of a few snowflakes.
You can tell that I'm southern because such a thing is even worthy of a mention. Snow is such a novelty for southern folk that we go outside and stare at it to capture every random flake in its fleeting beauty.
My tiny magnolia tree is gathering a fluffy covering.
I stood on my porch, just behind the glare of the streetlight and I could see illuminated streams of snow that showed like tracers from filigree fireworks.
We are so easily amused, those of us who are distracted by shiny objects. Southerners in the presence of a few snowflakes.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Three Black Panthers
Today was a long day. We started off with a faculty meeting that assigns our testing partners for TAXS. I don't know my person, but I will get to know him better real soon.
The teaching day was long and filled with students who had not taken care of business. It's at the end of the six weeks.
One issue today was the board of trustee meeting. There were some interesting discussions and some crazy people who got up and this made it more interesting.
There were a lot of Skyline supporters. Yayy.
My best mental picture occurred when a few of us drifted across the street to smoke. A group of new young black panthers came by and we asked them what they wanted to do at the school board.
The black panthers were there to see to getting a crossing guard at the new middle school. They were concerned that there were no school zones posted there. The black panthers looked pretty scary but they were very polite and kind and shook our hands and told us that they wanted to make things safe for the students. They had to move on to go see a school program. These three gentlemen were so polite and kind and spoke to us with love and concern about their issue.
They made me very happy. Anything from the community that sits on our kids and teaches them how to act in pubic is a good thing
Fight the good fight! We are doing it..
The teaching day was long and filled with students who had not taken care of business. It's at the end of the six weeks.
One issue today was the board of trustee meeting. There were some interesting discussions and some crazy people who got up and this made it more interesting.
There were a lot of Skyline supporters. Yayy.
My best mental picture occurred when a few of us drifted across the street to smoke. A group of new young black panthers came by and we asked them what they wanted to do at the school board.
The black panthers were there to see to getting a crossing guard at the new middle school. They were concerned that there were no school zones posted there. The black panthers looked pretty scary but they were very polite and kind and shook our hands and told us that they wanted to make things safe for the students. They had to move on to go see a school program. These three gentlemen were so polite and kind and spoke to us with love and concern about their issue.
They made me very happy. Anything from the community that sits on our kids and teaches them how to act in pubic is a good thing
Fight the good fight! We are doing it..
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A Nodding Head
Today I saw a head nodding. It even nodded with some enthusiasm.
This brought joy to my heart. This student is one who easily slips through the cracks. He has personal issues that I don't know about but he's wounded and is suspicious of the world. He's a bright guy and I think that he isn't used to folks thinking that or telling him that.
I've had him in my class for more than a year now and I've seen him stop hiding behind his hair. I ask him what he has learned and he tells me astute things. He's in with a group in my class that doesn't make fun of someone for being smart because they are all smart kids. It's just not his usual crowd.
Today, he wasn't embarrassed. He didn't say much but he GOT IT. We talked about a community service project and when I talked about identifying a need in our community I could see enthusiasm on his countenance. I don't know if he's ever thought about giving back before. I think he realized that he could.
He's still on the edge. He could easily slip through the cracks, but I'm happy that one group of his "associates" are happily including him in their pursuit of success in productive ways.
Come on, dude! You can do it!
This brought joy to my heart. This student is one who easily slips through the cracks. He has personal issues that I don't know about but he's wounded and is suspicious of the world. He's a bright guy and I think that he isn't used to folks thinking that or telling him that.
I've had him in my class for more than a year now and I've seen him stop hiding behind his hair. I ask him what he has learned and he tells me astute things. He's in with a group in my class that doesn't make fun of someone for being smart because they are all smart kids. It's just not his usual crowd.
Today, he wasn't embarrassed. He didn't say much but he GOT IT. We talked about a community service project and when I talked about identifying a need in our community I could see enthusiasm on his countenance. I don't know if he's ever thought about giving back before. I think he realized that he could.
He's still on the edge. He could easily slip through the cracks, but I'm happy that one group of his "associates" are happily including him in their pursuit of success in productive ways.
Come on, dude! You can do it!
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