Blog problems

I don't know what happened, but my blog has reverted to the basic beginner look. YUCK!!! Unfortunately, my html guru and blog designer, Valerie, is too busy going to bed tonight to fix the problem. ;-) She said she might be able to fix it tomorrow, but she does have to work, so it might be the weekend before she can fix it. I did whine for sympathy & immediate assistance, but Google Talk whining doesn't work very well. Anyway, she has the code saved on her computer, so it should be an easy fix, unless, of course, I decide that I want a new look--again.

Before I go quickly to bed (I should have already been asleep), I have to say a couple of things. First, I FINALLY finished Sophie's Choice. It is a wonderful, heartbreaking novel. I loved it! However, I wish I had purchased a different copy of the book. The Modern Library version has a tiny top margin, which makes the book seem longer than it actually is, and it is almost 600 pages long. I don't know if that margin is intentional, but if so, it should be changed.

Second, I'm going to a workshop on Friday, so tomorrow is my Friday at work. Woohoo! Not only is tomorrow my work Friday, but I didn't work Monday of this week either. The sad truth of the situation is that even going to work for three days in one week doesn't make me feel good about still being a classroom teacher. But it's too late to cry about that now.

I will write more about Sophie's Choice later. Good night.

I'm such a book geek.

I've been considering challenging myself to stop buying new books and read all the books that I own but haven't read yet. I've thought about doing this before but gave up before I even started. This time, I was only going to allow myself to buy Zadie Smith's On Beauty in hardback in advance of her reading here next month. I was thinking that I would fast from book buying for a limited time, say six months or this school year. In the meantime, I would nourish myself by reading as many of the books that already own but haven't read yet. Occasionally, I might treat myself to a book that I can borrow from a friend or check out from the library.

Then tonight, after a long, late day of work, I get home and find that I have received an email from the Man Booker Foundation. The long list for the prize was announced yesterday, so now I have a whole list of new books to taste. Of course, binging on Booker Prize books can be a bit difficult here in the states. My fasting would definitely be over before it started if I lived in the UK.

Here is the long list. I've only heard of a couple of them. I'm sure that as book bloggers start talking about the list and predicting which should make the short list that my desire to sample and savor some of these may become too powerful to resist. If I am faithful to my fast, I will attempt the library before I buy, or at least, that's what I'm telling myself tonight.

Carey, Peter Theft: A Love Story (Faber & Faber)
Desai, Kiran The Inheritance of Loss (Hamish Hamilton)
Edric, Robert Gathering the Water (Doubleday)
Gordimer, Nadine Get a Life (Bloomsbury) - I haven't heard of this book, but I love Gordimer's short story "The Bedtime Story."
Grenville, Kate The Secret River (Canongate)
Hyland, M.J. Carry Me Down (Canongate)
Jacobson, Howard Kalooki Nights (Jonathan Cape)
Lasdun, James Seven Lies (Jonathan Cape)
Lawson, Mary The Other Side of the Bridge (Chatto & Windus)
McGregor, Jon So Many Ways to Begin (Bloomsbury)
Matar, Hisham In the Country of Men (Viking)
Messud, Claire The EmperorÂ’s Children (Picador)
Mitchell, David Black Swan Green (Sceptre) - I loved Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, but I read some mixed book blogger reviews of this novel, so I haven't tried it yet. Maybe I will now.
Murr, Naeem The Perfect Man (William Heinemann)
OÂ’Hagan, Andrew Be Near Me (Faber & Faber)
Robertson, James The Testament of Gideon Mack (Hamish Hamilton)
St Aubyn, Edward MotherÂ’s Milk (Picador)
Unsworth, Barry The Ruby in her Navel (Hamish Hamilton) - Great title! :-)
Waters, Sarah The Night Watch (Virago) - I recall reading something about this book recently, but I can't remember where I read it. It seems like it was a positive review though.

Now, it's late, so I won't sit here and look up all these books on Amazon.com. Being back at work means that I need to be in bed by 10:30, but those damn Astros can't seem to win or lose tonight. It's 12:18a.m. and the score is tied in the bottom of the 17th inning. To be honest, I switched the channel to TNT at 11:00 to watch the replay of The Closer from last night and almost forgot about the game. I went to Astros.com to see what the final score was, but it's not final yet. Oh well, I will have to find out what happens in the morning because I have a date with Sophie's Choice. Good night all.

Random Book Quote

Valerie tagged me, and since I always have a book handy, I thought I would do this before I venture out into the Houston heat for a walk.

1. Grab the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
Sophie's Choice by William Styron

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence (grab next nearest book if fewer than seven sentences found).

4. Post the text of the next three sentences on your blog along with these instructions.

Defying habit, I had for several days risen just past dawn, propelled to my table by the electric urgency I have described, and had written steadily for two hours or more. I had completed one of those (for me) fantastic sprints--a thousand words or thereabouts--which was to characterize this stage of the book's creation, I felt a bit winded, and therefore Nathan's knock at my door as he passed on his way to work was a welcome distraction. He had popped in on me like this for several mornings and I enjoyed the by-play.

5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

6. Tag three people.
I only have about three regular readers, one of whom is Valerie, so anyone who reads this should considered themselves tagged.

Now I'm going to head out into the Houston heat. If I don't melt, I'll blog later this evening about this very funny movie that I saw last night.

The End of Summer

I have only two more weekdays of summer vacation from work. I have a bit of grad school class work to do, but I hope to spend a significant portion of my too quickly dwindling free time reading some things for pleasure. I want to finish Sophie's Choice, and I want to read a couple of YA books that I didn't get to earlier in the summer. I need to do some housecleaning and some shopping, and I have to go to my hometown for a baby shower. Sounds too busy for summer vacation, but busy is a good description for this summer vacation.

Well, it's late and I plan to be busy tomorrow enjoying one of my remaining days of summer, so I'm going to bed now. Maybe tomorrow, I will spend some time and write a real post, a post worth reading.

These Books

These books, these poor, sad, unread books, waiting patiently on my headboard. I had planned to read as many of these books as possible this summer. Instead, I have spent the summer reading picture books, children's books and YA books, most of which I found, at best, pleasant.

Every night when I go to bed with one or more of those children's or YA books, I see these looking forlorn and lonely despite not being alone in their neglect. I try to turn my head and ignore them, but it's hard to do. Many mornings, I wake, look up from my pillow, wistfully wishing for way to work them into my day. Alas, I haven't been able to do that yet.

On two different occasions, I have been compelled to pull a book from the bookshelf across the room, a book calling my name, desiring a reading. Not wanting to disappoint The Beautiful and the Damned or Light in August, I placed them on the headboard. The other books smiled knowingly at the excitement of the new additions--placement on the headboard is no guarantee of immediate reading. Some of those books have been waiting patiently for over a year for me to lavish them with my attention, to hold them, to fill my mind with their words, to become a part of me. So many books, so little time to read. :-(

I'm sure if I were better organized and a faster reader that I could have at least finished Sophie's Choice and started another book. I should have been able to rescue at least one book from loneliness. I hope they don't decide to band together and dive off the head board onto my one night. That could really hurt. ;-)

Enough procrastinating, I have classwork to do and more children's books to read. Maybe I'll sneak in some Sophie's Choice tonight before I go to bed. One can dream, right?

"...utterly, fatally glamorous"

I am going to pose this same question to my AP students on my teacher blog, but I'm trying to work through the idea first. Maybe one of my few regular readers can help.

In Sophie's Choice, the narrator describes one of his friends, one of the main characters in the novel, as being, "utterly, fatally glamorous." I love this description, which is so obviously fraught with ominous foreshadowing and yet so alluring at the same time. I don't believe that I have ever known anyone who might be described this way, but I did think of a few characters from novels that might fit this description. My first thought was Jay Gatsby and/or Daisy,the woman of his dreams. Who else? Hamlet? Daisy Miller? Catherine Earnshaw? Heathcliff?

What qualities must a person have to be "utterly, fatally glamorous"? It's late now. I will add some thoughts to this later. Now, I'm going to bed and read myself to sleep with A Wrinkle in Time, which I have found surprisingly interesting and entertaining despite being a children's novel. I know it's a classic, but I don't remember ever reading it.

The Lion King

Several months ago, I purchased tickets to The Lion King, which I saw Thursday night at the Hobby Center in Houston. I purchased tickets so long ago that it almost felt like they were free. I was so excited about my little niece coming--she's six, and her excitement over the opening number lived up to my expectations.

Despite some opening night lighting problems, I loved the production. The story isn't told very smoothly onstage (it's been too long since I've seen the movie so I don't know if that is a problem in the movie also), but the sets, songs, and choreography are excellent. The opening number was worth the price of my ticket. :-)

My sister called me the next day, and she was still excited about what she had seen. I was kind of surprised because she's not one to go to the theater or watch musicals. She said she had told everyone how much she liked the show and recommended that they should see it if they ever get a chance. It made me feel good to know that she had fun and enjoyed the show that much.

What's up with fireworks?

I went to the Astros game last night and stayed after the game to watch a wonderful fireworks show. Tonight, I heard something that sounded like a gun, but I quickly realized it must be fireworks. I jumped up and opened my door and stood in my doorway, watching the fireworks show from the park near my house. I had a good view over the trees. Before the show was over, I retreated to my living room chair and watched the rest from my window.

Why are we so drawn to fireworks shows? Why do we find them so exciting? So beautiful? I think they are beautiful, but I can't articulate why or how. I know that they make me feel very childlike. I ooh and ahh like I've never seen anything so impressive. So maybe my appreciation for them is nostalgia. Maybe it's the danger--the fire, "bombs bursting in air," but safe, or relatively so.

Two more things before I go. First, the Astros won their fourth straight game today. Woohoo! They are back to .500 and only 3.5 games back (at least that's what Valerie said when we chatted earlier). Hopefully, they are building momentum and will stay on one to the play-offs now.

Second, I read a whole book today. Yea for me!!!! I'm not going to harp on the fact that the book was a YA novel only 186 pages in fairly large print. I'm just going to celebrate my accomplishment. And, I will recommend Stargirl to everyone. It was sweet and sad and poignant, and surprisingly satisfying for a reader who reads mostly literary fiction. The premise: a new 10th grade girl enters a high school in Arizona, and she is not only new to the school but a new personality, completely different from the "normal" students who populate this school. The narrator is Leo, who fell for Stargirl, but learned how hard it is to be "different" and to be connected to people who won't/can't conform to the norm. At one point Leo observes, "We wanted to define her, to wrap her up as we did each other, but we could not seem to get past 'weird' and 'strange' and 'goofy.' Her ways knocked us off balance." The idea that people need to define other people, put them a box, is so right on, especially for teenagers, I think.

Okay, I need to read some picture books before I go to bed. Later.

Holiday Happenings

I plan to spend the day reading, but before I get started, I have been surfing some of my favorite book blogs. There has been lots of talk lately about the year being half over and how many books have been read so far. I commented on A Work in Progress that I never get in counting contests because I will never win. I am such a slow reader, and I feel like such a slacker when other people talk about how fast they read.

Valerie is a superfast reader, and I am jealous of her speed. She's says that I remember more of what I read and shouldn't be jealous of her. It doesn't help; I still feel slow. We went to the bookstore today, and she kept pointing out books that I want to read like Kite Runner, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and The Time Traveler's Wife. I kept agreeing with her and saying how I had planned to read that book and that book and that book this summer, but my library science classes were getting in the way. Finally, I said that I had the weight of all the books I wanted and needed to read on my shoulders. Literally slumping from their figurative weight, I declared that I would have to quit my job and drop out of grad school and become a bum who lived at the library and read all the time. Wouldn't that be a fine life! ;-)

So, I have this large stack of picture books and YA novels in my floor that I need to read for one of my classes. Of course, I would rather read Sophie's Choice, and I will read some of it today. I did buy one YA book at the bookstore today, Stargirl, which Valerie says is one of her favorites. She read it for an education course that she took a couple of years ago. She said, with a smile, that I could probably read it all in one day--ha! ha! I might include it in a booktalk that I have to do very soon for one of my classes.

I guess I better get off this computer, and as soon as Meet Me in St. Louis is over, I will turn the TV off and get comfortable reading.

I hope you all have a wonderful July 4th, holiday or not. Later.

New Look

I have to thank Valerie for my blog's cool new look. Last week, I mentioned that I was bored with the look of my blog and planned to change my template. She said that she had been thinking about changing hers too and would help me do mine. Didn't she do a great job!

Now, I need to find time to write something worthy of this cool new look. ;-) Maybe my visit to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and the MFA will inspire me to write something worth reading. The kiln-glass exhibit at the craft center was very cool. I would never have dreamed that someone could do some of those things with glass. The MFA currently has several interesting exhibits: The Gee's Bend quilts, contemporary Argentine photography, works by Houston artist Bert Long, some works from the Peter Blum Edition archives.

I always return from the museum wishing I was an artist, wishing I could speak to people through art of some kind, wishing I had the time to create, wishing that my creations would be deemed important. Over a year ago, I purchased a set of watercolors, brushes, and paper, but I have yet to paint anything. Last night, I wrote a poem, or started a poem, about a person that I saw in a pub recently. His image haunts me, and I tried to write about it. I have thought often since I saw him that I should paint that scene, but I have yet to even try. As usual, I am not satisfied with what I wrote last night, so it will probably never be seen by anyone.

Enough whining. It's summer vacation! I think I will spend the afternoon doing some pleasure reading before I get back to work on my library science classes. Later.

No eBook Reader for Me

After I saw A Work in Progress post that mentioned the first ever summer reading issue of Oprah's magazine, I had to run out and purchase it. I haven't had a chance yet to read the articles, but I did scan a few of the reading features.

The first page of "the O list," showed a photo of a Librie, a Sony ebook reader, which can hold up to 80 plus ebooks. It costs $300-$400. The caption reads, "This portable reader lends new meaning to the phrase 'book smart.' Download up to 80 of your favorites (hundreds more with a memory card), and say goodbye to heavy lifting forever." I am usually very smitten by new technology, but I have to admit that I have no desire for an ebook reader. I was reminded of a conversation that I had with Valerie a while back. I think the conversation concerned the possibility of selling some books to Half-Priced Books, which I have done a few times.

I remember that I made some remark about how I like to own books rather than borrow them. I really feel like once I have lived a book that it becomes a part of me. If I sell it or return it to library/friend, I lose part of myself. I know it's silly because I still have the memory of the experience, but I feel a bit mournful when I have to give up a book. I feel like I am returning a lost pet to it's rightful owner. I have taken care of that animal and shared experiences with it for a short time. I know returning it is the right thing to do, but I still want to make the pet mine. I really don't like this metaphor, but it's the best I could do while I was waiting on my online class to re-load so I could finish something before I went to bed.

Oh well. It's rather late, and I have textbook chapters to read before I sleep. Too bad I won't be reading chapters for pleasure tonight. :-(

Perfect Weather

This post has to be quick. I have soooooo much work to do today. I am going to spend my day reading, and it is the perfect weather for me to do that. It's a dark and rainy day. Too bad I have to spend it reading for my courses. I would much rather spend it reading for pleasure. I am listening to classical music via my digital cable provider, and classical music would be the perfect background music for reading Sophie's Choice. However, I have to get caught up and ahead on my class work since I have to do real work on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.

I wish I had been able to find a new job, so I could have neglected the curriculum writing on Tuesday and the workshop teaching on Thursday, but apparently no one in HISD believes that I am the right teacher for their high school. I'm not going to even mention the 16 jobs that I applied for or the fact that I got only 2 interviews, because I will just depress myself further and not get the work done that I need to do.

It just started raining harder, so I'm going to start reading now. Maybe I'll post something interesting soon.

Summer is under way

How's this for luck? Yesterday Valerie (that's her in her rally cap during the 9th inning) and I went to the Astros game and got to sit on the FIRST ROW just past the dugout. We usually sit in the cheap seats, not the cheapest, but cheap, read high. It was very exciting to sit so close to the action Unfortunately, the lineup didn't include all the best players, and the Astros lost. :-( Of course, today they won, 14-4. Losing our Saturday games and winning on Sunday has been the routine for us this season. I think we have only been to one winning game. As much as I love the Astros, they SUCK on Saturdays!

After the game, I came home and worked on assigments for one of my library science courses until midnight. These two classes are going to keep me so busy this summer. I am so glad that I couldn't afford to take a third class.

In addition to taking classes, I am hoping to find a new teaching job, one that doesn't require an hour commute. I have one interview, which I thought went very well, but they didn't call me and offer me the job, so I guess it didn't go as well as I thought. Then I went to the HISD job fair on Friday, and it was a big disorganized mess and waste of time. I have applied for about fifteen jobs on the HISD website, so maybe I will get a job somewhere closer to home. I really don't want to have to drive by myself.

So, despite being at the beginning of summer vacation, I don't think I will have that much time for vacation fun this summer. I will, however, go to some more Astros games (maybe they will win at least one of the ones that I attend), go to some movies (I saw MI3 last week and will blog about it later), and read books (children's lit for my class and adult lit for my pleasure, blogging will follow). If you have nothing better to do, stay tuned and maybe I will say something worth reading.

Saturday Cleaning

Something must be wrong with me. I spent this morning cleaning, first my bedroom, then my bathroom. I really don't like to clean and always procrastinate, especially on cleaning the bathroom. I stayed up until about 2:00a.m. reading a book that I couldn't wait to continue reading this morning. I even woke up early, 7:15, and started reading it again.

Yet, by 8:30, I had finished my first cup of coffee and decided I needed to clean. My messy bedroom was getting on my nerves, and (I think) the book I was reading, The History of Love, was making me sad. So I spent the morning finishing the cleaning that I had been putting off all week. Earlier in the week, I had cleaned the kitchen and living room and straightened up the dining room, which can never be completely free of mail/printer/work stuff--I don't have a study or work space other than my dining room table. But I kept saying I would do the bedroom and bathroom tomorrow, but I never specified which tomorrow. I guess today was the day though.

As I was cleaning, which included dusting, something I rarely do, I became tearful every time I looked at a photo of my mom and/or my dad. I have a family photo from several Christmases ago that my sister-in-law or my niece copied and framed for each of us. I haven't paid much attention to that photo in a while, but today after I dusted it, I sat on the bed and studied it. My dad was completely dressed and standing with no help, smiling his smile. I don't even remember the last time he looked like that.

I had to resume cleaning to keep from lying on the bed and bawling my eyes out. Then I came across some photos of my mom and I in England many years ago. More tears ensued (and they are falling as I write this too). I actually had already decided to procrastinate on the bathroom, but the feelings of sadness seemed to dissipate only when my brain was occupied with cleaning, so I cleaned the bathroom, even the shower walls and tub, something I rarely do. (Sidenote: Recently, I bought some Easy-Off Bam, and it works really well in the bathroom. If you have a hard to clean tub/shower or haven't cleaned in a while, like me, you should try it.)

I never intended to read The History of Love next. I finished both Case Histories and Runaway at the end of last week. As usual when I finish one book, I have a huge stack of to-read books and even more on a list. It usually takes me a day or two to settle on a new book. I thought I was using from Kite Runner, The Curious Incident of the Dog, and The Penelopiad. I even entertained the idea of reading The Penelopiad while I read one of the two novels.

Then I read a comment on a Bookworld post, and I clicked the name of the commenter and was taken to her blog, A Work in Progress. The most recent blog was about her beginning to read Sophie's Choice. I bought Sophie's Choice a while ago, intending to re-read as soon as possible, but I kept reading new reads instead--my copy of SC is 562 pages and as I have said before I am a slow reader, so you can understand why I hesitated.

After reading this blog post, I decided that SC should be my next read. I read the first chapter, 25 pages, and thought I had made the right choice. Then I spied The History of Love, in the stack on my headboard. I picked it up and began to read. I immediately began to feel an affinity for the first narrator, a lonely old man who "[makes] a point of being seen" because "all [he wants] in not to die on a day when [he] went unseen." How poignant! For some reason I am reminded of a quote from 1984, a quote that I describe as beautifully depressing: "He was a lonely ghost uttering a truth that nobody would ever hear." Being invisible must be the saddest thing a person can experience.

So I stayed up late last night reading, thinking that I would stop at the end of the next section and go back to Sophie's Choice, but I haven't yet. Now, I have a clean apartment and can get back to reading The History of Love. Hopefully, my sadness has been cleansed from my psyche for today, and only pleasure will accompany further reading.

It's summer!!! But....

I'm headed to work this morning. :-( I have to finish checking out. I was out for four days the week before last then our textbook person got sick last Thursday, so I never got to check in my textbooks.

Valerie has to work on the yearbook supplement today, so I'm hitching a ride with her--maybe our last time to ride to work together. She is changing jobs and won't be commuting anymore. I have applied for several English teaching jobs in Houston, but if I don't get one of those, I will be commuting alone, which I haven't done for over 2 years. I hope I get a closer job because I'm not sure my car can take that much commuting anymore.

Anyway, Valerie just called and is on her way. Gotta go. Later.

A Beautiful Surprise

I returned to work on Friday. It was the fist day of semester exams for seniors, so I felt like I had to be there to give them their exam. During second period, a young man who works in the office walked in with this gorgeous arrangement of flowers. I asked him who the flowers were for, and he said me. I told him that he must be wrong because I never get flowers at school. He assured me they were mine and handed them to me. I checked the card, and it had my name on it. I coudn't imagine who had sent me flowers. I opened the card and was completely surprised to see the names of all the students (4 boys) in one of my classes.

I have had this really small class all year, and this semester it has consisted most days of four boys. There are only eight on the roll, more boys, but three have never attended and one stopped coming halfway through the semester.

I think they were afraid that they were going to be in trouble for playing on my computer, which they knew was a no-no, but they substitute allowed them to do. If they sent me the flowers to get out of trouble, IT WORKED! :-) Sometimes, I love being a teacher.

Waiting

It's rather a weird coincidence to lose my father on Mother's Day, but it is not ironic, though some who don't really understand the meaning of irony would say it is. Think 90s pop hit "Isn't it Ironic?" and the answer is NO! :-)

Since my sister called me with the sad news early Sunday morning, I have spent much time waiting. Because of work needs, laundry needs, and procrastination (always), I waited until Monday morning to drive to my hometown in East Texas. Once I arrived, we waited for another sister to arrive at the funeral home so we could make the arrangements. Last night, I waited until I couldn't wait any longer to leave my brother's to go to my sister's to sleep. This morning, I waited until 9:00 to get off the computer that I had been on since before 7:00 and get ready to go make decisions on a casket spray this morning. Now, I am waiting for my sister to decide to drive to a nearby town to do some shopping. Oddly enough, I'm also waiting to feel mournful about my dad's passing. An old friend called me yesterday to offer his condolences, and I told him that I was okay because Dad had not been well for a while, and I really am okay. Still I should feel sadder. Shouldn't I?

Anyway, we finished making the arrangements this morning, and now we have to wait for another twenty-four hours to pass before the visitation, then another night spent waiting for the funeral on Thursday morning. Right now, I'm feeling just a bit impatient. If work wasn't four hours away, I might have gone to work today. I am doing a bit of work now. Between blogging thoughts, I'm grading some papers that I have procrastinated (again, always) on too long.

Mostly, though, I am waiting on the eulogy muse to strike me. I volunteered to write my dad's eulogy. I wrote my mom's when she died a few years ago, but I didn't read it at the service. This time, I volunteered to read what I write, and I want to write something good. So, I'm waiting and hoping the muse strikes soon and with force.

I guess I should try to grade some more papers now. Since most of tomorrow will be spent waiting, I'm sure that I will blog some more later.

Finished!

Tonight, I submitted my last assignment for my introductory library science course. Woohoo!!

While the class was very basic, it did whet my appetite for the "real" classes to follow. After submitting my assignment, I filled out the FAFSA. I realized last week that if I want to take 3 courses this summer then I will have to get some financial aid. I thought I might be able to get by without borrowing, but there is no summer payment plan. Damn being a under-paid, single teacher!

Another disappointment, the Astros' closer Brad Lidge blew a save--giving up a grand slam in the top of the ninth. Damn!

Since then, I have been adding music to my iPod. I bought it Easter weekend and had only put 3 albums on it. Before I go to bed, though, I will have it loaded with tunes. Now, I have to use it often to make it worth the money I spent on it. I know I will use it walking, which I must get in the habit of doing again. Also, I need to purchase some home speakers for it, then I will feel like I spent money wisely, a feeling that I seldom have.

It's 11:30 now, so I better get to bed. I stayed up late the past two nights and swore I wouldn't do the same tonight. I think my brain and body are ready for summer vacation. I just want to stay up late every night and watch tv and read. Alas, I have another month of work, so it's off to bed I go.

The 3rd & Final Post for the Night

I have been a member of a Unitarian Universalist church for a couple of months. I started attending this church about two years ago. I really like going to a church where fear is not the motivating factor for membership. I have long thought that the more I learned and read, the less I bought the whole evangelical Christian faith.

The church I belong to has two ministers, one female and one male. Usually, I enjoy the female minister’s sermons more than the male's. He is more emotional and generally lacks focus. He always has a good premise but gets off track and seems to have difficulty getting back to his point. Two Sundays past, he was surprisingly focussed. He gave the best sermon that I have ever heard him give. I even shook his hand and said, “Great sermon.” on the way out the door; usually I either bypass the line or shake hands without uttering much of anything comprehensible. That sermon was the kind of sermon that I started attending that church for.

The title of the sermon was “I’m not a Christian, But…” (You can listen to it online, but the sound is not very good, at least not on my computer.) The sermon was inspired by an article by Robert Jensen, an atheist who has become a member of a Presbyterian church in Austin. The minister talked about his desire to name himself in the same way that Jensen had in a recent article on the Presbyterian church's website. . Jensen calls himself secular Christian or a Christian atheist. For a long time, I have been trying to come to terms with my current belief system, which is very different from the reality of growing up in Southern Baptist Church and joining a different Southern Baptist Church as an adult.

Now that I am a member of a Unitarian Universalist church, I feel a stronger need to define myself and my beliefs. In addition to secular Christian or a Christian atheist, the minister identified these choices: religious humanist, Trinitarian Universalist, ethical Christians, liturgical Christians--none of these seem to be a perfect fit. The minister said his core belief is something like this: humans are good, humans were created in good, and we love each other as sisters and brothers--I could definitely get behind thtat belief. He also spoke about the mystic oneness of humans and the world, which reminded me of the Transcendentalists’ Oversoul. A concept that I have always had an affinity for.

So I left church feeling really good about being a UU, but I’m still not sure how to label myself. Maybe I don’t need a label. Maybe I just need to try to love others like sisters and brothers. Maybe I will listen to the sermon online--bad sound and all--and take better notes this time, and maybe I should read Jensen's article. After that and some thought, I'm sure I will post again on this topic. I know you will be waiting breathlessly for that post. Yeah, right.

Now, it's time to stop all this blogging and go to bed.

Student Protesters - A Teachable Moment

Last month, when students from high schools in California and Houston started skipping school to protest immigration reform, I asked some of my co-workers at lunch, “Where are our students?” Over 50% of our students are Hispanic, but they were not protesting, and many didn’t even seem to know that protests were occurring. Too many of them don’t seem to know what’s going on in the world outside their community. Much to my delight, on Thursday of that week, a group of them did walk out. I’m not sure how many, but it was somewhere between 50 and 60 , mostly sophomores and freshmen. I was glad to see them get involved, even if many of them didn’t really know what they were protesting. I figured that if enough people asked them why they were protesting then they would be motivated to find out to keep themselves from continuing to seem ignorant.

Apparently, the principal and the local police chief had prepared for the possibility of a walkout, so the reaction was reasonable and calm. The principal at first said students would be punished for skipping school, and their punishment would depend on their current status in the discipline plan. Later in the day, it was revealed that the principal and the superintendent had decided to educate rather than punish our protesters. After the protest, the superintendent had met with the students and promised to spend a day with them in ISS (in school suspension). On Wednesday, of the following week, the students were assigned to spend the day in the Large Group Instruction room. They began the day with the government teacher explaining to them how laws are enacted as well as helping to understand why some people desire immigration reform. A LULAC representative followed. From what I understand, he spoke to them about positive ways to get their voices heard such as joining organizations like LULAC. He also told them his story, the moral of which was apparently that education and voting are a must if they truly want a better life.

After all the talk, I instructed the students on how to write a letter to their senators. I hate to miss my classes, ever, but I felt like I couldn’t say no when the department chair asked me to do help. I really didn’t have much time to prepare, and the only letters that I write to my representative are action alerts from TFT or the ACLU. I felt kind of fraudulent. Anyway, I gave them a quickly created handout, which consisted some general writing tips, and a model letter, copied from the ACLU action alert on the same topic (I'm sure some of the conservative members of our faculty & staff, which means most of them, would disaprove of my choice, but it's too late now.) and talked just a few minutes about the proper tone of such a letter. Then the students got to work. I was pleasantly surprised at the diligence of some of these students. Some of them were really trying hard to write a good letter; some of them had a real immigrant, legal and illegal, story to tell. They had to write a rough draft, get assistance with editing/revising, then write a final draft. The school district promised to mail all of the letters.

At the end of the day, the superintendent spoke to the students. He applauded their good behavior for the day, appreciated their concerns on this issue, patted himself on the back for keeping his promise to them (not surprising, of course), and encouraged them to stay in school. He told them that if they walked out of school again that the punishment would be the usual punishment for skipping school. He assured them that they would not be prevented from participating in protests, but they must do so with the knowledge that consequences would follow.

I must admit that I didn’t follow up to see that the letters were mailed, but I do feel good for helping the students. That day, I actually felt proud to teach in this district, something that I haven’t felt for a long time. I was so glad to see our campus and district administrators turn this experience into an educational one instead of a punitive one. The cynic in me knows that the choice was made for political reasons--positive public relations are always desired especially when your district is no longer the shining star of state testing. Still, I felt good about the decision to handle the situation in this way and about being a part of the educational process for these students.

Back to Blogging

I haven't been posting or reading blogs much lately. Work and grad school are keeping me too busy. Now the Astros are back in season too, and they are very greedy with my attention. ;-) Anyway, while I was hanging out at my sister's house this weekend, I typed up a couple of posts, things that I have been meaning to blog about. Actually, both are a bit anticlimactic thanks to my procrastination, which is something else that I have been meaning to blog about, but that can wait, of course. Ha! Ha!

I'll do a bit of editing and revising and post them in a few minutes.

Where is my America?

Let me begin by saying that I am a cynic, especially where politics and politicians are concerned. Still, for a while now, I have been feeling like the America I have always believed in has been hijacked and not by the terrorists who attacked this country on 9/11.

Tuesday morning, listening to NPR, as I got dressed for work, I heard a report about the Supreme Court taking up the issue of the constitutionality of the military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. From the beginning, I have not been comfortable with the whole situation of holding people there indefinitely. So I wasn't surprised that I don't agree with the president's argument in this case, and those who know me in real life won't be surprised either. However, as I sat listening to the reporter talk about how the Justice Dept. was defending the president's position as judge, jury, executioner, and oversight manager (I can't think of a better term here), I just started saying to myself--and probably out loud--Where is my America? The America that sets the example for other countries.

Apparently the president believes that because these people are considered terrorists, they have no rights, and in dealing with them, we don't have to obey the rules of the Geneva convention . My America would say that even though others don't play by the rules, we will because we have integrity. How can we be a country that prides itself on the ideal of a fair trial for everyone? Hearsay evidence, secret evidence, accuser who don't have to face the accused--none of this sounds American. An even bigger concern of mine is that few Americans even see the hypocrisy in the situation. Few Americans even care that our president has a domestic wiretapping program. I'm not naive. I'm very worried about the future of this country as a republic/democracy.

When I have these feelings, it's nice to know that I'm not alone. Others see the things I do and feel as concerned. If you are one of the few like me, you should read Anne Lamott's "Let's have a revolution! Does July 14 work for you?" at Salon.com. It says exactly what I have tried to say but in a much more interesting and entertaining way. If you decide to join her revolution, let me know. Maybe we can carpool. :-)

Now it's late and I have to get some sleep.

Updike and Reading Memories

A few weeks ago, Valerie and I saw John Updike read two of his early short stories. I had fully intended to write a detailed account of his reading, but I didn’t do it that night, didn’t take any notes, and have slept too much since then (read procrastinated as usual).

Here are a few memories of the reading. Updike is an old man, tall, angular, and rather stiff. However, his voice is not angular or stiff. I felt like I could listen to him read to me every night. After he read his two short stories, he was interviewed onstage by an English professor from Rice University. During the interview, Updike seldom made eye contact with the professor. He only made eye contact with the audience or something just above our heads. The professor’s interview was a waste of time for the most part.

The questions that he asked were the kind of questions that a literature scholar might ask, not the kind of questions that reading fans might ask. Even when he did ask good questions, the professor tried to put answers in Updike's mouth. I can remember only one of them right now (maybe Valerie will read this and remind of one or two more). He asked what authors Updike read. Before Updike could name even one, the professor offered John Barth and at least two other authors, but I can't recall the others. I do remember thinking that Updike tried to be cooperative, but the authors' names didn't seem to be the ones that Updike might have listed. I do remember another question now.

The first question was something like who Updike thought of as contemporaries. Before he could even name one author, the professor offered Saul Bellow and another as being in an earlier generation, then the professor asked about Phillip Roth. Updike said that Roth would be his contemporary but didn't seem to be about to elaborate on their relationship, professional or personal. The professor spent the next few minutes trying to get Updike to talk about Roth's work--completely irrelevant and a bit rude if you ask me. Then he tried to get Updike to talk about Joyce Carol Oates. It was obvious from Updike's replies that he isn't a huge fan of Oates' work. He said something like she was persistent. The interview was only interesting and so much livelier when the professor picked up the stack of audience questions. Although the questions were typical, they gave Updike the opportunity to offer some genuine answers. After the reading, Updike signed books, and he was friendly in doing so.

Before seeing Updike, combing my bookshelf to find the two books (the limit) that I would have him sign, I found my copy of The Witches of Eastwick. It is just an old, pulp fiction copy, so I chose not to take it. I did, however, spend some time considering the purchase of a new copy to get him to sign. I think it's the first novel of his that I ever read. I remember that my mother read it first and told me how good it was. (I'm sure the movie was coming out around that time.) I read it before I saw the movie, and I liked it as much as my mother did. Since then, I have been a fan of Updike's work.

When my mother passed away four years ago, I lost a book club. Since the Updike reading, I have been thinking about her and our shared reading experiences. When I took graduate literature classes, she would be as interested as I was in the novels for my courses. Often, she would read them before I did. If she didn't read them first, she read them when I finished the book or the course. When I visited her or she visited me, she always wanted to know what I was reading. Many times, I have purchased a book and loaned it to her to read before I found the time to read it. After I had finished the book, we would discuss it at length the next time we were together. I miss sharing books with my mother. I miss our book sharing almost as much as I miss her presence.

I will stop now before I become maudlin. I think I will go to bed and read for a while. Good night all.

Time for Bed

So, I worked my ass off all day, until almost 7:00p.m., and only did about three things on my very lengthy to do list. Argh!!! Where does the time go?

I was going to do two things when I got home tonight--after 9:00--but I didn't complete either of those things. One site that I wanted to access is going to be down until 10:30 PST, and I'm not staying for two more hours (I think that's the time difference). Now, it's too late to finish the other thing. I guess I will go to bed and read.

Before I go, I have to say something about the most recent book that I have read, The Final Solution by Michael Chabon. I read this book in only two days! Yes, I can't believe I read a book that fast either. Okay, the book was very short, about 130 pages including illustrations. Still, I read that book fast, for me. After being called in to assist the police, an elderly beekeeper, Sherlock Holmes (unnamed) solves the mystery. For the most part, the book was an entertaining, little mystery novel. However, the next to last chapter, which is narrated from perspective of the stolen parrot Bruno is just stupid. All the preceding chapters and the last one are written in third-person (limited) omniscient point of view -- it's late and I'm sleepy, but I think I'm correct here; I'll check later. Anyway, the parrot's pov just seemed absurd to me and not necessary. It's like Chabon was trying to make sure his novel fit into some postmodern category or something. I usually like the postmodern, but it didn't work for me this time. Sometimes writers try to be too clever, and this is one of those times.

Okay, I'm off to bed now. I hope everyone has a good Wednesday and the rest of the week. If you find any extra time any where, send some my way.

Good night.

Some Friday Fun

I got this from Brooklyn Kid (formerly South Austin). I think it's a pretty accurate description of me--especially the part about thinking I'm the best. I would probably replace best with smartest though. ;-)

You Are Boston
Both modern and old school, you never forget your roots.
Well educated and a little snobby, you demand the best.
And quite frankly, you think you are the best.
Famous people from the Boston area: Conan O'Brien, Ben Affleck, New Kids on the Block

What American City Are You?

Two Great Books

I LOVE Spring Break! I spent all day finishing Oryx and Crake, no guilt even though I do have grading to do and my own class work to do. I got up this morning, turned the TV on for a while--reading during commercials, of course. When I realized that I had less than 100 pages to go, I turned the TV off and settled in for a day of reading. I finished about an hour ago. What a great day!

If you haven't read Oryx and Crake, I highly recommend it, especially if you like futuristic/apocalyptic stories. In this novel, Atwood has much to say about Western civilization. She takes on our desire for perpetual youth, our need for cure-alls, especially those that come in the form of drugs, our greed, our consumerism, the Internet, and a myriad of other things, good and bad. I am a big fan of all of Atwood's work. I am always amazed by her use of language, and in this novel, she doesn't disappoint. Her choices for the names of companies and products are perfect. I wish I could articulate how I feel about this book, but I think I have to let my ideas percolate for a while.

Last week, I finished reading Frankenstein for the first time, the reading of which put off my reading of O&C. Yes, my students couldn't believe that I had never read it or taught it. I think my reading of Frankenstein, which I really enjoyed, added to my enjoyment of Oryx and Crake. Both novels concern the creation of life as well as the creator's responsibility for the life created. They both also speak to the time in which they were written, and they both speak to a contemporary audience. I'm really glad that I decided to teach Frankenstein this year. Maybe I will pull my copy out of my work bag later and write about some specific passages, but for now, I'm off to enjoy a Spring Break evening and not thinking about work--the best part. :-)

Still Grading but not Wallowing

This post must be brief. I'm still trying to get all my papers graded. I have until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow to do grade changes before report cards are printed, but I'm going to try to stay awake as long as possible tonight to get a bunch done. I have to take a online test tomorrow for work, and I must get my assignments completed for my library science class. Anyway, while I am still grading tonight, I'm not wallowing in bad feelings like last night. Tonight, I feel determined rather than depressed. I have to get caught up so I can make time to blog about some more interesting things. Things like reading Frankenstein, the Basquiat exhibit, The World's Fastest Indian, and procrastination.

Okay, I have to get back to work now. Later.

Wallowing

Once I again, I am sitting in my chair the night before grades are due with a mile-high stack of papers waiting to be graded. Why do I do this to myself? I can't figure it out. Do I just not care enough anymore? I feel bad for my students, who have to wait forever for me to give them papers back. Just last week, I was frustrated by the prof for my library science class--she didn't get our quiz grades posted as fast as I thought she should. How can I complain about someone else when I am the worst? It really depresses me to have to grade so much crap, and my students give me crap more often than not. I'm such a glutton for guilt that I persist in giving them assignments. And I do feel guilty, which contributes a great deal to my guilty feelings. Thank goodness, the other parts of my life are going so well. Otherwise, I might not make it until the morning. I guess I better get back to work now. Good night all!

Finished!

I just finished re-reading Wuthering Heights, finally! I really like Wuthering Heights too, despite its depressing mood. (Notice that I changed the epigraph for this blog to a quote from this great novel.) Although, I had forgotten how spooky the ending is--Heathcliff is haunted to death by his beloved Catherine. I don't think I could turn out the lights just yet, so I thought I would blog a bit. Two posts in one day. I'm not sure I've ever done that before. Speaking of my earlier post, I did enjoy a couple of hours of this beautiful day sitting outdoors reading. I needed to be working, but I just couldn't make myself work. Actually, I was working--re-reading the book my AP students were supposed to have finished by last Thursday--but I needed to be grading and planning. However, reading is the only kind of work that I can make myself do at home anymore. I just can't sit and grade on a beautiful Sunday, or a rainy Saturday for that matter. ;-)

It's late now, and I think I'm over the spooky feelings from WH, so I guess can go to bed now. You know, this post really says nothing interesting at all. I apologize to those who took the time to read it. I should delete it, but I can't/won't. ???? Sometimes living alone is not such a good thing. I feel like staying up late and talking to someone, but there's no one here except me so I wrote this boring, meaningless post. Enough of this drivel. Good night all.

A Gloriously Beautiful Day

I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but in Houston, it is absolutely beautiful today. I generally don't like spring/summer days in the winter, especially when we have too little winter, but I can't get over how beautiful it is today. I just want to be outside forever on a day like today. I do have work to do--papers to grade, an apartment to clean--but I may have to walk down to the neighborhood park and read for a while.

A quickie

Is that how you spell that? No, I'm not writing about sex, just a quick post. I have been so lax in reading and writing lately. Last week, I started my first course for my degree in library science. It's just an introductory course, but it's online and a bit daunting at first--so much basic stuff to do and do in a certain order. My grade for the first module (set of assignments) should be posted today or tomorrow. So, the course has kept me distracted from blogs and blogging lately, but other things are to blame too.

I still can't seem to get ahead at work, yet I'm still working from the time I get to work until I leave. Last week, I stayed late almost every night (Valerie & I carpal, you know, and she needed to let her yearbook students work late to meet their fast approaching deadlines), but I still didn't get caught up enough to relax about my work. Argh!!! I have to try to get a library job next year. I would rather drive myself crazy learning a new job than planning & grading.

To prove that I've been completely distracted, I finished Ireland last week and have read only 2 or 3 pages of Oryx and Crake, but I have re-read almost all of Wuthering Heights for my AP class. I feel lost not having time to read. I'm going to have to figure out a schedule for working on my course so that I still have some time to read each night. Lack of my own personal reading time is another reason why I have to be brave and try to get into a library position for next school year.

Well, I have to go now. I'm driving this week, and it's time to go pick up Valerie. I will write more later. Have a great day!

A New Year

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything since Christmas morning. I feel like my Christmas break just flew by in a whirl of activity. I think that I had the best holiday break that I have had in a very long time--little stress, lots of fun, plenty of time spent just enjoying my life.

Now, I am back at work and about to begin work on a library science degree. I got accepted to the University of North Texas online library science program. I am very excited and can't wait to get started. I really believe that I will becoming a librarian is a good choice for me. I am such a book nerd. I have even started cataloging my own books on LibraryThing. When I heard about this site, in a comment on a post from Book World, I was intrigued. Once I had added a couple of books to my catalog, I was hooked. I can't wait for the first rainy Saturday or Sunday to spend the day completing my catalog.

Well, I guess that enough blogging for tonight. I have to get up early tomorrow. I hope everyone has a good week this week. Later.

Merry Christmas!

This week has been busy with some really good things, a quick trip to San Antonio and my birthday celebration, and some really discouraging things, my car troubles; all of which I will blog about later I'm sure. Now, I have to stop piddling around and get ready for my 3 hour drive to see my family. I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas has a wonderful day. I also wish a wonderful day to all those to whom this is just another Sunday. :-)

Happy Birthday to Me!

For many years now, I have wanted to hide under the covers and let this day pass with no ceremony. This year, though, I decided that I needed to celebrate with people. Truly, I needed an excuse to get dressed up, go out for a really nice dinner, and afterward go to a club for live music and more drinks. So Valerie organized a group of friends to go out tonight for a girls' night out on the town. We are going to have such a great time. I'm very excited, surprisingly so.

I'm so excited about tonight that I will not even let these fact about my life get me down today:

1. My car is in the shop having $300+ repairs done.
   
2. My bathtub is a complete mess thanks to the maintenance man's "major problem" while unstopping the drain. The plumber was supposed to be here 30 minutes ago. :-( I'm sure I will need to do some surface cleaning when the plumber/maintenance man finally get the problem fixed. What if the problem can't be fixed today? Yikes. I don't even want to think about that.
   
3. I have a doctor's appointment at 4:15--yearly check of my thyroid, so not a stressful appointment, but still I have to figure out how to get there and back and get ready in time for people to show up at my apartment.
   
4. I still have to figure out my whole outfit for tonight. I bought a pretty sweater yesterday, but I have to figure out which pants to wear--not a fun activity when you're overweight.
   
5. I still have to finish my Christmas shopping. I guess I will do that tomorrow though.
   

Whew! Just making that list wears me out and makes me anxious. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. Besides some of this is beyond my control, and I really don't want to worry about anything much today. Today, I will just be happy that it's my birthday and that I have friends who are willing to go out and celebrate with me.

TGIF!

Ahhhh! Today is the last day of the semester. One thing I love about being a teacher is the work calendar. Of course, I will still have that calendar when I become a school librarian.

There's the phone--Valerie is on her way so I have to go now. I hope everyone has a great Friday. Later.

My Answers

I guess I have waited long enough to share my answers. Valerie pretty much got them all, but the rest of you were close too.

* submissive, but I can be dominant in certain situations
* logical
* loner - I wish I were more social.
* vanilla actions - kinky thoughts ;-)
* sophisticated
* puppy
* warm flannel sheets or sleek satin - a hard one for me, neither really, but if I have to choose, I will pick flannel. Satin is too slippery; I might slide out of bed.
* leader but I wish I could learn to keep my mouth shut like Valerie. :-)
* talkative, but if I'm around people I don't know, then I am very quiet.
* planned
* football -- Go Cowboys!!!
* golfing -- another hard one. I grew up on the golf course and love to watch it on tv, but I've been hiking in Big Bend twice and love that too.
* tequila or vodka - WINE - Tequila has been my nemesis, so I don't partake anymore. I will drink margaritas though. I really never drink vodka, never have.
* bottom
* shoes
* jeans
* rough
* aware
* nerd and proud to be one! What Penny said is true, I do love books more than computers.

My Turn

I stole this from Valerie stole who stole it from someone else. Maybe enough readers will participate to make it interesting. I'm not sure that I have enough regular readers.

Pick ONE from each pair that you think describes me the best & leave it in the comments. Then copy this and post it in your own journal to see how your friends view you.

* dominant or submissive
* logical or intuitive
* social or loner
* kinky or vanilla
* cute or sophisticated
* kitten or puppy
* warm flannel sheets or sleek satin
* leader or follower
* quiet or talkative
* spontaneous or planned
* football or chess
* hiking or golfing
* tequila or vodka
* top or bottom
* barefoot or shoes
* jeans or Dockers
* tender or rough
* aware or dreamy
* nerd or geek

Desert Places

Desert Places
by: Robert Frost

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast
In a field I looked into going past,
And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,
But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it--it is theirs.
All animals are smothered in their lairs.
I am too absent-spirited to count;
The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is that loneliness
Will be more lonely ere it will be less--
A blanker whiteness of benighted snow
With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars--on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.

From A Further Range, 1936

Thanks to Bookworld for sending me to read this poem. I think it speaks to how I feel today. Frost, of course, said it so much better than I could ever say it.

After having had a very nice Thanksgiving day with family and night with my sister Susy at the casino, I spent last night in a hotel, alone of course, and woke up this morning with the realization that this is where I will wake up on Christmas morning. Now, I’m no longer looking forward to Christmas.

Yesterday, I enjoyed the theater of the filling out of wish lists and the drawing of names for gifts in my large family. I was excited about buying some things for my niece Barbara, whose name I drew. Then I woke up this morning and felt completely alone. The thought of waking in this desert place on Christmas morning with no sign of Christmas just makes me want to cry.

I feel like I have been unhappy for the last two or three years. Feelings of happiness visit on occasion, but they never move in and stay for long at all. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I am tired of being unhappy and that I must figure out a way not to be. So here are my options for Christmas morning: 1) go on a vacation trip that I really can’t afford but will take my mind off being lonely, maybe; 2) wake up at home alone at Christmas where I will at least see the accoutrements of the holiday then drive to J'ville for the exchanging of gifts and the eating of way too much food; 3) get very drunk on eggnog on Christmas Eve and sleep through Christmas day. I’m sure someone can add to my options. Any or all suggestions will be considered.

Home-y Feelings

For a while now, I have been feeling like I need to create a home. I am single and childless, and usually okay with that situation, but lately I have been wishing that I was not single or childless. I wish I had someone to make a home for. I have been thinking a lot about cooking and homemaking kinds of things. I don't know what's going on with me. I have been wanting to read home/decorating magazines. I have thought several times about having some kind of party, like an open house with egg nog and Christmas treats. I have really felt like cooking. I have cooked complete meals on several occasions recently. Luckily, I did have Valerie to share some of those meals with, otherwise I would have wasted too much food because I can never cook just enough for me.

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I wish I had room to be the hostess for my family or had my own family to cook for. Since I have neither, I will travel 3 hours to Jacksonville. My older brother and his wife are the family hosts this year. Except for the drive, I'm really looking forward to the visit, but I do wish I had room for everyone here. Anyway, I am cooking 2 things for tomorrow--Corn-Rice Casserole and Pound Cake. Yummy!!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I was thinking about posting a cheesy what-am-I-thankful-for list, but I couldn't think of more than a couple of things to put on that list, so I gave up. I might still try that later. Now, I guess I better get started cooking. I have to pack later too.

One More Day

Tomorrow is the last day of work before Thanksgiving break. I can't wait to start breaking. Woohoo!!!! ;-)

Something for Sunday

I just finished my Statement of Purpose and Goals for my application to University of North Texas library science program--it's an online program that is ALA certified. I have been completely preoccupied with the application process this week and just a bit stressed. After I send off the statement and some other final application items, I will have to just wait for acceptance or rejection. I'm not sure how I will react if I'm rejected. I have already been accepted at UH Clear Lake, so either way, I will be taking classes in the Spring. I've been almost giddy all week when I've completed each step of the application process. I think I'm more excited than my students are, and they've never been to college. Go figure.

The next big step is figuring out how to pay for college. I hate the thought of borrowing, but I know that I will likely have to do so. Of course, I have really bad credit, so I don't even know if I'll be able to get loans. I might have to starve some. Thank god, I don't have a car payment. My poor Altima with almost 250,000 miles is going to have to last me for quite a while yet. I have always taken decent care of it, but I will have to baby it from now on. Maybe I will ask for money for family Christmas gifts.

Of course, I have procrastinated a bit here and there during the week. I read Daisy Miller by Henry James. (I have decided that novella will be my AP students' holiday homework between semesters this year.) The funny thing about the copy that I checked out from the school library: the introduction is almost as long as the novel. Sadly, it tells the whole story. The copies that I get for my students will not do that, I hope. I really enjoyed the story anyway. I like the character of Daisy Miller. She is very much the head-strong American woman who wants to have her own way but also wants to do the proper things. I'm anxious to see how today's teenagers react to her. Also, I think she makes a great lead-in to a unit that includes Wuthering Heights, The Awakening, and Their Eyes Were Watching God. All great novels with great female characters. I love teaching AP literature, but more importantly, I love reading these novels.

I spent part of this afternoon reading some of The Secret Garden, which I bought for my niece but haven't mailed yet. I did go to the post office on Friday intending to mail it, but it was Veteran's Day so no mailing. I must mail it tomorrow. I had missed her birthday--she's a first grader--and had mentioned to her mother that I would put something in the mail. I completely forgot about saying that and when I went to my niece's son's birthday party last week. My little niece asked me about her present. I wish someone had told me earlier that she had been checking the mail every day. I felt so bad. I hope she likes the book; it's one of my favorites from my childhood. I think I will stop by Half-Priced books and get a copy for myself. I really want to re-read it.

Now, I have to tell something extremely funny about myself. Friday evening on the way home from work, Valerie and I stopped at Target so I could buy a gift for my niece's baby shower, which I was going to on yesterday. Yesterday, I got up and started to get ready to go to the shower. I was very upset by the fact that I had no hot water. After calling the answering service for my apartment complex's management office, I learned that mgmt. knew there was no hot water on Friday, had a plumber out, but the problem wasn't repaired. I was extremely angry about not being warned about the lack of hot water for the weekend. However, I didn't have time to waste. I had to dress and drive three hours to get to the baby shower. I called Valerie and borrowed her shower, came home, got dressed, and headed out of town. When I'm heading to J'ville, my sister Susy will usually call me to see what my timetable is. I knew she had to work Saturday morning, so I wasn't worried about her not calling. As I backed out of my parking spot, I dialed her number. I told her that I was just leaving, but I had to stop by Walgreens for a gift bag. She said, "Where are you going?" I told her that I was coming to the shower. She told me the shower is November 19--next Saturday. I laughed so hard that I literally cried. I have had dreams before about showing up for work or other events on the wrong day, and I have woken on a weekend day, panicked that I had overslept for work. I have never gotten dressed for something and headed to it on the wrong day. I'm such an IDIOT! I never even looked at the date on the invitation. Duh!!

I guess that's all I have for this Sunday post. I hope everyone has a great week. I will spend mine counting down the days to next week's Thanksgiving break, a needed week off for me. Later.

A Very Long-Winded Catching Up

Yes, CM, I read your comment and decided that I had to catch up tonight. I actually started a post yesterday morning on my pda, but I never uploaded it to my computer at work. I hate it when work gets in the way of play--being responsible is such a drag sometimes. ;-)

I will reproduce what I wrote and finish the post now. Hey, maybe before I'm finish, I will even upload a photo or two from the World Series. Too exciting!!!

From yesterday:
Last week was very stressful. I had procrastinated to the point where I could not possibly get all grading finished without at least one all-nighter, which I am no longer able to do--getting old sucks. However, I did the best I could and actually got close to finishing. I have decided that my procrastination is out of control. I think that I might need to seek professional help for this problem. Anyone know where I can find a good 12 step program for procrastinators?

Because of my work problems, I didn't have time to blog, read, or watch TV much last week, so this post is for catching up, and it will probably be too long for even my most faithful readers, all 3 of you.

Before I begin catching up, I have to say one thing about Houston weather of late--it's too HOT for November. I've been thinking a lot about moving some place that really has four seasons. That idea was reinforced on Saturday when I drove to my hometown in East Texas. I seldom say anything good about J'ville, but I will today. It is absolutely beautiful there this time of year. The trees are a cornucopia of colors. I was actually in awe of the beauty. I wished so much that I had a camera phone so I could take a picture. The beauty actually made me nostalgic for life there. (This is where I left off on Monday morning.)

The rest of this post will be a mix of things that I haven't had time to talk about yet. Things from the past two weeks or so.

Recent readings
The week that August Wilson died I decided to read Fences in his honor. Five of my six classes have 15 minutes of silent reading everyday, so I read Fences during that time for a few days. I have only seen one of his plays, Jitney, performed, and I had never read any of them. Fences is the story of Troy Maxson, a proud man who performs his familial duties purely out of a sense of responsibility rather than love. Unfortunately, for him and his family, a little more love and understanding might have made for a happier life together. I really found this drama interesting in light of the number of absentee fathers these days. Troy was physically present, but emotionally absent. This play shows that the mere presence of a father isn't enough. I figure some publisher will publish a book of Wilson's cycle of ten plays, each set in a different decade, depicting the comedy and tragedy of the African-American experience in the 20th century. I will have to put that on my to-buy list when it comes out. Hopefully, one of the theater companies here will do a series of his plays too. I would love to see them all.

Mutual Life & Casualty by Elizabeth Poliner was one of the nominees for the fall Read This! at The LitBlog Co-op. I was intrigued by The Happy Booker's recommendation of this novel in stories that I ordered it from Amazon. The stories come together to tell of the Kahn sisters and their mother as they make their way through the late 70s. I enjoyed the book in part because I could relate to the sisters since I grew up in the late 70s. The book is very much about the changing ideals and lives of women during that time. Of course, when you read a novel in stories, some characters are not fully developed, only appearing in one or two stories, and stories told from varying points of view, as these are, sometimes seem to miss their connections. Despite those flaws, I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked the story told from the point of view of the great elementary teacher who had no children of her own. It depicted perfectly the attitudes toward childless women then.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi is one of the most disappointing books that I have ever read. (The most disappointing book? Don Delillo's Underworld) I was reading this book during my classes' silent reading time, and I thought I would never finish it. As a rule, I don't read memoirs. I just don't like them. I am a literary fiction snob for the most part. I do like a good mystery, British ones especially, now and then, but I love literary fiction. However, I decided to try Reading Lolita because I had heard some good things about it. Valerie warned me that her friend and her mother didn't like it (both of whom I trust as readers), but I thought I would like it because it was about the secretive study of literature. Well, very little was really about the secretive study, and I never felt that the author or her students were in real danger by reading the books she selected or by meeting at her home to discuss them. Nafisi did not make me sympathize with her plight or her students'. She did, however, make me worry about the Christian rights determination to shape the morals of our society. Each time she spoke of the morality squads, I pictured men like Rush Limbaugh and Jerry Falwell racing around accusing Americans of being immoral and arresting them. I do believe we live in dangerous times for us liberals. She also made me want to articulate some philosophy of why I read, why literature is so important to me. Maybe I will do that some time, but not now. The worst parts of the book were Prof. Nafisi's complaints about teaching. They were so similar to the complaints that I have and hear everyday that I just wanted to tell her to shut up. I'm tired of thinking my complaints, and I don't want to read some other teacher's complaints--that's not pleasurable reading. I do have to give her some credit for the part of the book that concerns The Great Gatsby--one of my favorites--and I have to admit that I have put Nabokov on my to-read-soon list.

Currently, I'm reading Ireland by Frank Delaney (at home), and The Color Purple by Alice Walker (at work). My students voted on my current silent reading book, and The Color Purple was the winner. My students were surprised that I had never read it and a bit concerned by the "inappropriate" content. I assured them that I was a mature reader and could handle the content. So far, I'm enjoying both of these books, but I need more time to read at home. Alas, I always do. :-(

Other news
Enough about books, let's talk about freedom of religion. I believe very strongly in the separation of church and state. As a result of my belief, I have started a controversy at my campus. We have a faculty breakfast at the end of each month. Each department is assigned a breakfast for which to provide food. Last year, we had a moment of silence at each breakfast. Except for the math department's, when a teacher who never attended any other breakfast decided that he needed to say a prayer. This year, I assumed we would continue the moment of silence. However, at the first breakfast, the principal made a speech about bad things that had happened to some of our faculty/staff and about Hurricane Katrina and Rita then he said we would have a prayer. I emailed him, voiced my opinion that a prayer was inappropriate and possibly illegal, and questioned whether this would be the norm for future breakfasts. After waiting 15 days to reply, he said that he had decided to continue with a prayer. I again emailed, asking him why a moment of silence wasn't good enough and informed him that I had been researching the legalities of the prayer. In the meantime, Valerie also emailed him her concerns about being forced to pray. Oh, at some point, he suggested that if the prayer made me feel uncomfortable that I should wait until it was over to come to breakfast. This option didn't set very well with me. Eventually, he consulted the school district's attorney who told him to stick with a moment of silence. So at the most recent breakfast, he started to do the moment of silence but was interrupted by a teacher who called all those who wanted to pray out into the main hall to pray--which because it's in the presence is still illegal, I think--I was rather shaken by the number of people who turned to look at me to see my reaction. I had only told a couple of people, and I knew that Valerie had not told anyone. Of course, very few of us didn't go out to pray. We still had our moment of silence, and later the principal told the faculty present that the lawyers had said we could not pray. The teacher who led the prayer voiced opposition, but the principal stood his ground. A new staff member spoke up for not having prayer, but no one else said anything. Wait, another English teacher did email the principal voicing her disapproval of the teacher leading the prayer. Another teacher sent me an email accusing me of excluding people who want to pray and demanding that I exclude myself if I don't want to pray--a bit ironic, huh. So, next week, we have another breakfast. I am anxious to see how things go. If the same thing happens, I will consider pursuing some kind of legal resolution if I have to with the help of organizations like Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Now for the most exciting thing that I have ever attended--the World Series!!!! I'm still a bit speechless, can't do it justice for some reason. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, despite the freezing the whole 14 innings of the game and despite the Astros coming out on the losing end. I have never been to a professional championship, and I LOVE sports. I couldn't believe the tension in the stadium from the very first pitch. It was just so damn exciting! I was really going to upload some photos, but it's late now. I want to get this post published and go to bed. I will post photos tomorrow--they aren't anything special anyway. I'm no photographer.

I have bored you long enough; now I must sleep--sleep, perchance to dream. :-) Good night.

ps: If you see typos, please ignore them. I'm too tired to fix them now.

Work Woes

I really need to stay home from work today to get caught up with work today. Do people in other professions feel this need? Seriously, I need to spend a whole day working on work without the distraction of students or co-workers. Grades are due at 8:00 this morning, and I am far from finished. I also have things that I need to get done for myself personally, but I can't seem to find the time for those things either. Since it's my week to drive the carpool, I have decided that I will not take off today, but I'm going to give my students a To Do list and tell them to pretend that I'm not there. I hope this works and that I can finish my grading by the end of the day. I really can't stand the thought of working all day then having to come home and work all night too. I feel like I need to get something under control now, or I will have a meltdown very soon. Next week, I have to be out for a training one day, and I'm taking the next day off for me. I just hope I can stave off the meltdown until then.

I really need to find time to finish a blog about the World Series and some recent readings. Maybe my students will be the mature, independent workers that I need them to be today, and I will be able to get everything done at work today. Then I can blog tonight, if I'm not too tired.

I really hate being a fucking teacher.

World Series Bound

Tonight, I will be AT the World Series. Valerie's name was drawn in a last chance lottery for tickets, so yesterday at the beginning of my second period class, I ran--well, walked very fast--to her room and stood beside her while she searched for tickets. Once the tickets had been purchased--at regular price!--I spent the rest of the day with a cheesy grin on my face. :-) (It's still there this morning, too.)

Last night, we had to pick up our tickets at the ballpark. We both felt that it wouldn't be real until we had the tickets in our hands. After she got the tickets and we got back into her car, we both had to hold one, examine it, and make sure it was real.

So, we get to see the first World Series game to ever be played in Houston, the first to ever be played in the state of Texas. Pretty cool!

Go Astros!!!

We are going to the World Series! Houston is already going crazy over this. People driving up and down Westheimer, honking their horns. As soon as the game was over, the local news stations were showing footage of Main St. downtown--people were packing the place - the train could barely get through the crowd. After the game Valerie saw some TV footage of an Academy store selling pennant t-shirts. So we thought that we would just go there and pick up shirts to wear to work tomorrow. Imagine our surprise when we saw a line snaking from the front of the store to the back and down the street. We'll have to get our shirts tomorrow.

Now, I have to go to bed, so I can go to work tomorrow and talk about the Astros. Yeah, I might teach a little, but I'm sure I will talk about the Atros a lot. ;-) Good night.

A Real Downer

Damn! The Astros were one strike away from the World Series last night and didn't get the out. After a walk to the previous batter, the best player in MLB comes to bat--Albert Pujols. The Astros manager should have made the pitcher intentionally walk him, but the Astros have been keeping him off base for most of the series. Not this time though, he hit a monster 3-run home run that sends the series back to St. Louis. :-( I still believe in the Astros, especially with Oswalt and Clemens on the mound, but my faith is flagging this morning. Plus, I woke up in a very black, I-hate-my-job mood. Not good. Oh well, I guess my day can't get worse.

Damn! I didn't realize it was so late. Later.

Update: I meant to post this yesterday, but I didn't have time before I left for work & didn't remember once I arrived at work--probably shouldn't blog at work anyway, but I wanted to get this posted. Tonight, I'm working late, but I wish I were going to be somewhere watching the game with a big group of fans. Instead, I will be grading papers in my classroom. Go Astros!!!

The Long Weekend

What a good long weekend!

• I got a bunch of papers graded, not as many as I had hoped, but a good number.
  
• I made $100 for sitting in a room listening to 2 people talk about literacy then discussing problems in my classroom with the others at my table. Not a bad way to earn $100 even though I won't receive it for a month or two. It will be a nice treat when it arrives.
  
• I finished reading another good book, Mutual Life and Casualty; I will post a blog tomorrow or Tuesday about my recent reads including this one.
• The Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants in overtime today.
  
• But the most important and most exciting thing of all -- the Astros are one game away from their first World Series. -- Woohoo!!!!!! I can't say enough about how exciting it was that Valerie and I were at today's game. The last couple of innings were almost too tense to watch. One man sitting below us kept putting his head down, trying not to watch, but he had to watch--we all had to watch. It was great!!!! I love this game!!!!
  

Tomorrow night, I will be watching the game in a bar down the street. Valerie, another friend of hers, and I went there for Thursday's game, and it was such a good place to watch the game so we decided to try it again. At this point, the games are too exciting to watch at home. A big crowd is essential. It's so much more fun to yell and clap with a big group than by yourself at home. Besides, I wouldn't want my neighbors to think I was crazy or something. ;-) Speaking of crazy, I think Houston will go crazy if (when) the Astros go to the World Series.

Well, enough about the Astros. I really should get ready for bed--if Sportscenter would just hurry up and show the Cowboys highlights then I could go to bed. Unfortunately, I do have to go pretend to be a good teacher in the morning. Really, I am being a good teacher this year, which means that I'm working so hard and feeling like I'm still drowning in work. I hate that feeling, but I don't want to talk about that now. Besides, my few regular readers have heard it all before. So, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow. :-)

The Longest Game in MLB Postseason History

Anyone who is a baseball fan needed to see today's NLDS game between the Astros and Braves. The Astros won in the bottom of the 18th inning with a walk-off homer by Chris Burke. The game lasted about 6 hours. Around 3:00, thinking the game would be over soon, Valerie and I were talking about what we would do after the game. Three hours later, we were still watching the game. The Astros had no players left to play, and Clemens was pitching in relief. It was so crazy! Now, it's on to the NCLS against the Cardinals. Go Astros!!!!

An added bonus for my Sunday: the Dallas Cowboys beat the Eagles today. Woohoo!

I will post again later today, but now, I have to grade papers for a while. Later.