I have six thoughts for you.
1. Today I had to do my “push in, pull out” tutoring work in Mr. Butler’s class. Bobby and I call him The Model, because he thinks he’s dead sexy with his long, flowing locks and chiseled jaw. I think his hair is actually kind of limp and he always looks surprised. He has eyes like Joan Rivers. Anyhow, Mr. Butler has a weird habit of enunciating unusual words in his speech. He also misspells words like “suicide.” (Why was he writing the word “suicide” on the board? It’s on the mind of most of the faculty of I.S. 666, but besides that, it’s the topic of a book he’s reading to the class). And…Mr. Butler made a poster in his classroom about common mistakes students make. One point on his poster was to not use double negatives. It’s good to model concepts for students, so he used the example no-no sentence “He don’t know nothing.” That Model instructor then showed two ways to write that sentence correctly - “He knows nothing,” and “He don’t know anything.”
“He don’t know anything”?! Yikes! The Model don’t know anything apparently. (Plus, the older he gets, the more he thinks love is about friendship. That’s for Bobby).
2. I’ve recently read some excerpts of Everything Bad Is Good For You by Steven Johnson. It explores the benefits of increasingly advanced and stimulating elements of pop culture. It doesn’t exactly justify buying US Weekly, but it does explore the evolving plots of TV sitcoms and compares Starsky and Hutch with modern shows like ER and The Sopranos. Very interesting. It also has some Seinfeld studies, so Sam might want to check it out.
3. Today I was actually productive and inquired about my insurance plan. It took a snot moustache-producing illness to do this, but nonetheless, I have done it. As I watched the minutes tick by in one class I worked in today, I realized that except for the classes I teach Wednesdays and Fridays, I’m pretty much getting paid to do what I did during my UTeach internships. I don’t even have to really grade or plan much at all. I have to appreciate this break and not get bored. This new job is going to allow me to pursue more writing.
4. Speaking of writing, well writing of writing, I’m planning on participating in NaNoWriMo and writing a novel next month. Yes! Fifty thousand words (about 175 pages) in November! The project is more about stamina and quantity rather than quality, but I’d still like to do a decent job. I’m currently reading my inspiration novel that will help me get in the mood to write my own novel. I’d write what it is, but I feel kind of self-conscious and presumptuous admitting that I want to write something as important and great as my inspiration novel. Ask me if you care.
5. I spent some time after school packing up my classroom. The torrential rains of last week prevented me from moving out with my cart, because I don’t care to ruin all the materials and supplies I bought at Staples. I ended up having to ask Mr. Jones if I could store some of my things in his classroom until tomorrow when I bring my cart again, because my cart was completely filled and I don’t think Mr. Patton likes me in Room 108. He seems very reluctant to talk to me about anything. Anyhow, I noticed that the women of the reading resource room had thrown out a bunch of items in the hallway and you already know I’m a scavenger. I saw a cool world flag display that I thought Mr. Jones might want, so I asked someone if it was going to be thrown out and if Mr. Jones could have it. He liked it and gladly took it. I then looked for other potential treasures in the trashbag.
I found a bottle of wine. Really. It looked like a more expensive wine available at a grocery store, albeit still a cheap wine. I joked with Mr. Jones that I was going to take it, especially since it hadn’t been opened. A confiscated student item? The administrators’ little helper? I don’t know. The parent coordinator later approached me in the hall and asked if I’d taken the wine. I said, “No, it was just a joke. I’ll dig it out of the trash if you want it, though.” She said she couldn’t handle alcohol, but she wanted to assure me the wine was a left over retirement gift that some previous teacher had left in the reading resource room. Hmmm… She seemed like she was really trying to cover something up. Hmmm..
6. I don’t have it yet, but my girl Fiona Apple has released her latest moody and poetic album, Extraordinary Machine. She’s going to be touring a bit, too, so I’m hoping to see her at the Nokia Theatre here in December. I can’t find any place to get information on tickets yet, though. This may be my last chance to see her before she goes completely insane or disappears forever. “I lie in an early bed, thinking late thoughts…”
