Although this September seems to be coming in a very close second for most of us right now. T.S. Eliot was born on this day in 1888, and although I tend to agree with Adrian C. Louis' opinion of "The Waste Land," "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is one of my favourite poems of all time, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats was, of course, the inspiration behind the musical Cats, which was in turn a huge obsession of my childhood crush. Time for the friday5.org Friday Five.
1. When did someone last break something of yours?
I can't remember the last time, but the most vivid was when I was a teenager and my sister, while cleaning my room without my permission, cracked the screen of my Game Gear while throwing a bunch of things into a little plastic bucket I kept on one of my windowsills. She still hasn't gotten it repaired, although I don't exactly play my Game Gear much these days.
2. When did you last play hackysack, if ever?
I tried it in high school since a few other students were playing it, but I have no real dexterity with my feet, although I guess all these years of DDR might have changed that.
3. What was your most dramatic haircut like?
Dad always took me to BoRics for my haircuts, and it never failed that he'd get the cute hairstylist, something that always ticked me off. Well, the summer between seventh and eighth grades I finally got the cute one, and of course she wound up cutting off nearly all of my ponytail, tapering it to a fine point. I got one more haircut a few months after that, and haven't had one since; it'll be twenty years since my last haircut next year.
4. Hacking is basically breaking through the security that protects a computer or a website. What’s the closest you’ve come to doing something similar in real life?
Do they expect honest answers to this question? I don't feel like answering it for fairly obvious reasons.
5. In the world of stand-up comedy, a hack is a comic who steals jokes from other comics. Have you ever known a hack in your own field?
Teachers borrow techniques from other teachers all the time; we're all trying to figure out readings and activities that will help our students learn and that might actually interest them. I think the "hacks" in our field are the ones who use the Powerpoints and lecture notes and tests that come with the teacher's edition textbooks and don't even try to address the students personally aside from answering an odd question here and there.
Labels: fridayfive
For whatever reason, last night I actually watched the UT football game on ESPNU. This was my first time ever watching a game on ESPNU, meaning that I have now watched one more Rockets game on there than I have ever watched in person. For whatever reason I just never got around to watching any sports when I was a student at UT, even though I realized that I should at least go to one game of some kind just to say that I'd had that experience as a college student (and while I could get in for free). MCCC doesn't have any intercollegiate sports -- something I always hear from my students about -- so I don't have any opportunities to watch sports in person there either. I guess there was something surreal to watching something live on a national cable network that was happening less than ten miles from my house, even though one of the Professional Bowling Association's annual majors always takes place at a bowling alley less than two miles from here. I suppose that when I was younger I may have wanted to go to these events just to get my face on national television, but that was before I had my little bout with "Internet fame" that's turned me off of the concept of achieving fame for life, and, let's be honest, my face should be on few cameras as humanly possible.
While we're on the subject of sports, just to expand on what I wrote on Friday, at this point I've already pretty much given up on all sports but hockey. It's not like I have much time to follow sports these days what with the election and all, but with the resurgence of Tigertown officially over, the Bengals returning to their dismal form of past, and the Pistons unlikely to make any progress from last year, it's just easier for me to forget about all of them right now. On the other hand, the Red Wings re-signed Darren McCarty this past week, so all is once again right in my personal sports world. I doubt the Red Wings will repeat as Stanley Cup champions given the parity of the league, but they'll probably have more fights this year than in the last three years combined, and that will keep me watching as many games as I can. (That's one of the problems with my schedule this term, because I'll likely miss most of the Monday and Wednesday games that aren't on the West Coast.)
I'm also preparing to give up my Saturday nights to Hockey Night in Canada once again, and it's only now that I'm really able to appreciate just how much more I can get done on Saturdays in the offseason. Perhaps my love of hockey is affecting my schedule more than I should allow, but I take a strange comfort in having those hockey doubleheaders to look forward to at the end of the week. That results in my Sundays being kind of hectic as I rush to get things ready for Monday -- kind of like I am today, because I got booked up with all sorts of other things yesterday -- but in the end it seems worth it. I don't make pretensions of being some kind of hockey expert (though I don't let that stop me from making silly predictions like the one in the last paragraph), but I am a hockey fan, and maybe I need to be that hockey fan because it's one of the few opportunities I allow myself to stop overanalyzing every little thing and just enjoy something.
Labels: sports
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.)
Labels: fridayfive
Put on your copy of the Backdraft soundtrack and remember back when Iron Chef wasn't Americanized into banality. Time for the friday5.org Friday Five.
1. Who lets you have your way more than you should?
Mom has always been far too subservient to pretty much everyone in her life, but especially me. I've tried to be more conscious of this since Dad's death, but I still don't feel like I'm as good at this as I should be.
2. According to the cliché, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but what’s the way to yours?
My brain. I don't plan on ever being anything but single again in my life, but if I ever do decide to look for a partner again, I want someone who is at least my match intellectually, if not more so.
3. What’s something that should have been put away but hasn’t been?
My boxes full of paperwork and portfolios of my first year of teaching at MCCC. Those should really be taken down to the garage soon, because they're taking up space in the hall outside my room right now.
4. When did you last weigh yourself?
Years ago; even when I had that long string of dieting from the start of 2007 until Dad's death, I wanted to go more by how I felt than numbers on a scale, since those numbers can vary so much. The worst part is that I paid a lot of money for a good scale a year and a half ago, but I still haven't used it.
5. What do the cops in the donut shop say?
First of all, it's doughnut (donut is a Dunkin Donuts creation), and secondly, that's horribly stereotypical. (Yeah, I'm being anal about political correctness here, so what?)
Labels: fridayfive
I had a streak going for a few years there of visiting a new state every year. In 2005 I crossed into Kentucky for the first time (for about three minutes after I got lost in downtown Cincinnati), then in 2006 I had my big thirtieth birthday trip to North Carolina (where I also visited West Virginia for the first time). Last year I went to Indiana just to say I'd been to Indiana, and back then I realized that I'm now closer to Canada than any other state. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this streak is going to continue this year; I don't have any pressing need to go to another state, and to be honest I don't have a desire to go visit another state just for the sake of being able to say that I did so. It doesn't help that gas is so expensive right now, either. I'm sure that I'll have more opportunities for travel next summer, but for now I've got enough going on here at the house and at work to keep me busy.
If I were going to go anyplace right now, though, it would be to Yellow Springs to visit Antioch College. Ever since I stopped going there, when September comes around I have memories of the good times I had there, and a strong desire to go back down. I get depressed easily, and my memories of Antioch this time every year might just be masking Seasonal Affective Disorder, but that doesn't stop me from wondering just how going down there and looking at the old buildings would affect me. Of course, if I do go down there then I'd only be able to look at the buildings, because the college was closed this summer due to a myriad of reasons, something that continues to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Depending on how things go as Antioch's Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association go -- a debate that is, quite frankly, making my head spin -- the college should reopen in 2012 or possibly earlier. I have to say, if there is any opening for an English teacher when the college reopens, I'm going to swoop down on it as hard as I can. Even though my time at Antioch wasn't without its flaws -- it taught me how and why to get angry about things, but I didn't learn how to properly channel my anger for several more years -- that was the one place where I felt comfortable and at home. This country and this world is a sadder place without Antioch educating students, and so help me, if I get the chance to contribute to that education, I'm going to pounce on that opportunity with all that I have.
On this date in 1836, Sam Houston was elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas. Eleven years later on this day, Jesse James was born. If you thought of other people when I mentioned those names, well, I don't know why you're reading this. Time for the friday5.org Friday Five.
1. What’s your favorite orange-colored food?
Oranges. Yes, I know how boring I am.
2. What’s the best way to drink orange juice?
Out of a glass? Seriously, do they want me to say something about drinking it out of an orifice of an attractive person or something?
3. Which candy’s orange-colored pieces taste best?
These days I have to say Reese's Pieces, although this question reminded me of how much I miss Starburst. Stupid gelatin.
4. What are your feelings about orange soda?
It's good when you've got a sore throat because the acid soothes your throat, and I'll drink it if there's nothing else available, but I'm not too hot on it. Now I remember how much I miss McDonalds' orange soda. Gee, this week's five is depressing me.
5. When did you last wear an orange item of clothing?
The only orange piece of clothing I own is the free t-shirt I won at Sparkpeople.com, which I wore maybe three or four weeks ago. My memory's kind of fuzzy on that.
Labels: fridayfive
I'm glad that Hurricane Gustav did not wreak as much havoc on the Gulf Coast as so many of us feared it would, and I thought it was quite classy for the Republican Party to alter their convention plans this past Monday like they did. By Tuesday, however, things were back to normal for them, and trying to sit through their convention has been one of the most painful things I've done in a long, long time. Fred Thompson's speech reminded me of exactly why I love him so much as an actor -- his wonderful bass voice, his ability to switch between learned determination and folksy metaphors, his knowledge of just when and how to raise his voice at just the right moments -- and why I hate him as a politician. I also have to question the wisdom of putting on Fred Thompson -- by all acounts to throw the conventioners the "red meat" they had been so longing for -- right before Joe Lieberman, who has all the excitement of hardened Silly Putty. Why does Ralph Nader get all the blame for 2000 when the Democrats put up this guy and Al Gore back when Gore still had that redwood tree lodged firmly up his sphincter?
Last night, though, I think may have been the Republicans' undoing. I twitted last night that it would be the night that cost the Republicans the presidency, but I don't think I should have gone quite that far. For one thing, I seem to be the only person on the face of the planet who was not impressed in the slightest with Sarah Palin's speech. Eugene Robinson pointed out how the speech seemed to be a mish-mash of two different speeches, but he should have gone further and said that neither speech was good at all. On the one hand, you had the carefully-crafted applause lines, likely written by John McCain's camp, that Palin delivered in a pedestrian manner at best. On the other hand, you had the part of the speech that was likely written by Palin's camp, and it was so full of incomplete and jagged sentences, and irrelevant thoughts, that Palin wound up sounding like a small-town politician. She didn't even sound gubernatorial, much less vice-presidential or presidential. I know she's only had a week or so to prepare for national-level politics, but unless McCain steps up her training here in a hurry, Joe Biden is going to systematically dismantle her at the vice-presidential debate, and I don't think anyone in McCain's camp is expecting him to best Barack Obama either tonight in his acceptance speech or at the debates. (Oh, and the fact that Palin wants to ban books makes me even angrier at the Republicans than I already was.)
In addition to Palin underwhelming me, I think Rudy Giuliani may have sowed the seeds of demise for the whole party this November, and not just by him and Palin pooh-poohing Obama's work as a community organizer. (The difference isn't that Palin had responsibilities as a mayor; it's that Obama actually worked with disadvantaged people. Don't even get me started on the covert racism at work here.) I know that the recent hikes in gas prices have caused more people to be in favour of expanding American oil drilling, but this is still a nation with some environmental values; most of the people who are changing sides on this issue right now are doing so with heavy hearts, believing that expanding drilling is a "necessary evil" in the face of the current world oil situation. When Giuliani not only pointed out, but encouraged, a chant of "Drill Baby Drill!" during his speech last night, he cast the Republicans not only as enemies of the environment, but as people who take sheer delight in raping the earth. Just like Pat Buchanan's virulent homophobia in his convention speech sixteen years ago caused even people who weren't all that comfortable with homosexuals to go, "Wow, those Republicans really have too much hate in their hearts," I think that "Drill Baby Drill!" moment is going to come back to haunt the Republicans, from McCain and Palin all the way down the ticket, come November.
I'm not in the business of telling the Democrats how to run their elections -- I'm still not voting for Obama no matter how anyone tries to convince me otherwise -- but between the "Drill Baby Drill!" chants, the party platform that says even rape survivors shouldn't be allowed access to legal abortion, and all those photos of Bush and McCain hugging each other, there's enough material there for several rounds of hard-hitting commercials that should net Obama the lion's share of the political centre. Given how bad the Republicans are screwing up, if the Democrats somehow can't get Obama elected this year, it will be through no one's fault but their own. Just like it was in 2000.
Labels: politics
Tomorrow I begin teaching at MCCC again; I've got three sections of composition this term, all on Mondays and Wednesdays, and all at the satellite campus. I won't be driving that much, and I'll have lots of days off, but I've never taught more than one class in a day before and now I have three to deal with. This should be an interesting challenge for me, especially since I'll be teaching MCCC's Composition I as a fifteen-week course for the first time ever. Even though all of my classes fall in a five-hour window, I am concerned that I may begin to run out of energy near the end. Still, if I want to teach full-time then I need to be able to handle three classes in a day, so this will be yet another trial for me as I work towards full-time employment. I've been spending today putting the final touches on my handouts and getting the course Websites designed, and as usual I'm feeling a bit of nervousness about how tomorrow will go. It would be a bad sign if I wasn't nervous, though; if I'm nervous then I'm on my toes, and more able to adapt the classes to my students' needs.
If there was a theme to this month or so of time off from work, it was catching up on things. Over the past couple of years I had bought a lot of books and DVDs that I had never gotten around to watching, which I kept in separate piles to go through at some point. The time for doing that never seemed to come, though, so I forced myself to work through those piles as much as I could. I finished the pile of DVDs this past Saturday, and although I couldn't get the book pile finished (there was just too much stuff there), I've got it down to five books, two of which I'm in the middle of right now. (The Scarlet Letter and Gandhi's autobiography if you care.) I'm glad to have those admittedly small weights off of my shoulders, and I'm hoping that this will allow me to focus on other things here, but I must admit that now I'm kind of eager to get some more DVDs to watch and books to read. (I won't be able to do that soon, though, since I won't be getting paid again until the middle of the month.)
In addition to those things, I also got back on track with a couple of things that I'd neglected after Dad's death, namely playing piano and playing DDR. I'll save the DDR details for my diet and dance game log as always, but it's felt good to get back to music after so long of an absence. I'm building my repertoire of other people's songs back up right now, and I'm hoping to get back to composing in a couple of weeks. One of the reasons I wanted to get a new computer was so I could run new composing software; I spent about $500 on composing software in my late teens, but the company that made the software went out of business long ago and my old software wouldn't even run on Windows XP, let alone Vista. I'm not sure where I'll find time for songwriting once I'm back in the groove of teaching, but I've done a pretty good of managing my time this break. I only hope that I can continue to do such a good job as I go back to teaching in the coming weeks.
Labels: personal, teaching, work