My apologies for blog silence the past week; events from this past weekend have put me into an uncomfortable place emotionally. In the past I probably would have posted my raw emotions here, but those posts were never well-received and I don’t think that they’d serve me well given that I’m now using the .org as an arm of my professional life. I can’t make any guarantees as to when I’ll be able to resume a regular posting schedule, but that will probably come as soon as I can deal with some of my problems here. Anyway, today would have been the 87th birthday of Paulo Freire, an educator whose influence on my own teaching methodologies cannot be overstated; I encourage you all to read up on him and his work. Now for the friday5.org Friday Five.

1. What’s the cutest of the small, furry animals?
Kittens, and we finally brought in one of the ones that had been hanging outside of our house. (The others had already left, and this one clearly had had some troubles as we saw the other kittens picking on her.) Her name is Spookytooth, and surprise, she’s all-black.

2. What predator impresses you the most?
No one in Nashville particularly impresses me right now; they underachieved all season long last season, and the uncertainty about the franchise’s future in Nashville will probably take its toll this season Wait, that wasn’t what you meant?

3. After which animal will you name your professional sports team?
When I was a kid and I wanted a professional sports team in Toledo, I always wanted them to be named the Tornadors. I guess I was in love with alliteration even back then. As far as an animal, I suppose it would be some kind of jungle cat, but so many of those are taken up already by bad teams in all sports. (I gave up on the Tigers months ago, and on the Bengals before their season had even started.)

4. What’s an unusual animal that you know a little something about?
Nothing comes to mind with this one. I’m sure I know some kind of trivia about rare animals, but I can’t think of any now.

5. Your high school probably had some kind of mascot or symbol, but based on your memories of it, what animal should REALLY have been the emblem?
An iron fist crashing down on the hopes and dreams of young, innocent children. (See, this is why I haven’t been posting this past week.)