Awesome Stuff

So, I don't have much to write about at this point. I'm at my friend's place, catsitting, and you know how it is when you're not in your own place. You don't really feel totally comfortable to go off and do your own thing, and your own stuff isn't there, so you just kind of kill time doing stupid stuff like watching TV and reading.

How was that last sentence? Yes...I am an English teacher!!

Whatever.

Anyway, I thought I'd take to the laptop to write about some pretty cool freakin' things I've run into or encountered recently.

First of all, I'm sitting here having a nice glass of cold Chilean sauvignon blanc. I thought I had discovered my true wine love with sauv. blancs from Australia/New Zealand, but then I stumbled (probably literally)upon one from Chile. I was and am hooked. The Chilean sauvignon blancs are possessed of almost an exaggerated degree ofo the qualities that I like about the wine. First of all, sauv blancs are generally quite dry. The Chilean ones are extremely dry. In general, the sauv. blancs have a nice, crisp, acidic-citrus finish. The Chilean ones I've tried are almost a bit harsh in their crispness and citrus flavor. I LOVE it! If you're a savu. blank fan, try one from Chile. You won't be disappointed. If you're not a sauv. blanc fan, I'd suggest you try it anyway to broaden your horizones. Hey, you never know when an unexpected hooch will strike your fancy and make you forever a believer.

Another awesome thing I've welcomed into my life of late is the freakin' "Smartboard" I have in my classroom at school. Have you people seen these things??? My god, it is incredible. It bears an initial physical resemblence to a white board. But, my friends, the physical resemblence is where the similarity ends. The smartboard is a totally interactive educational tool. I can't even get into everything it does, but all I have to say is that it has revolutinized my teaching entirely. I can't imagine ever going to a white/chalkboard ever again.

I'm also chuffed to no end that there are weekly housecleaners that come to the place I'm staying in. Granted, I've been tidying up after myself, but last night, after dinner, when I didn't feel like putting away the dishes I had washed, I knew that I would come home today to find them all snugly nestled in their appropriate cabinets. Wonderful.

I am really happy to be teaching English instead of social studies because I actually have books and curriculum materials for the first time in years! I feel bad for the social studies teacher, but screw that crap. I love having stuff to actually give the kids to learn! This is like a luxury.

I am really pleased about a lot of the kids I have. Sure, I have the convicted armed robber, but still...there are a lot of great kids, including a 7th grader whose idea of pure pleasure of avidly reading anything that is tossed her way. She has already torn through half of my classroom library (because she already tore through her 7th grade homeroom teacher's library) even after only 7 full days of school.

I love having an 8th grade homeroom. Even though the kids are by in large the same ones that I had as a 7th grade homeroom teacher, they are so much more mature and homeroom time is less of an exercise in crowd control and more of a pleasant, clam experience.

I love that I was able to pick up some GREAT books for my abovementioned classroom library at the Curious George store in Harvard Square. Everybody thinks they have stuff just for the little guys, but they have a fantastic young adult reader section downstairs, and the staff are most helpful and knowledgeable about the material.

I had a great time cruising around Old Navy, taking advantage of some pretty serious sales this weekend. And, praise the lord, even though they did away with their mid-rise boot cut jeans, they unleashed the new style "sweetheart" which is essentially the same fit. And I am even more enamored of the fact that they were on sale this weekend for 20 dollars! Hells yeah!!

I'm psyched that I'm two credits away from a payraise in school and that I was asked to join the school council, which is a totally brainless activity, and will give me the last two credits! For Free!!

For now, that's all the good news I can think of.

If there are any more delightful moments, I'll letcha know.

Hey, while we're on the subject, what's good in your life?

Those Damn Yankees!

My paternal grandfather, who passed long before I was born, apparently coined the phrase (or at least was very fond of using the phrase), "Never underestimate those pinstripes."

Those "pinstripes" are, of course, the New York Yankees.

Last night, the Boston Red Sox lost their 5th straight game to the New York Yankees. This wouldn't be so bad in and of itself, but the fact of the matter is that the Sox had, at one point in the game, a 5 run lead over the Yankees. The Yankees' bats were essentially dead for the first 7 innings, but in the 8th, they hussled a big-time rally and bounced back to claim an 8-7 victory over the Sox.

I'm not being a Sox hater. I love the Red Sox. I love everything they stand for. (Although, I do think they should speak to Manny about the "Little Orphan Manny" red braids and droopy drawers). It just breaks my heart to see them blow such a comfortable lead to those damn Yankees.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, the supposed pitching prodigy, has been a disaster in his 5 most recent starts. He begain last night by loading the bases in the first inning, havingn WALKED A-Rod after lobbing a fastball right into the guy's thigh. Jesus. I could not believe the fact that he managed to pitch his way out of that trainwreck without even giving up a single run. From there, things started looking up for the Sox. Their bats were hot, and the Yankees were fumbling around in the field.

I didn't watch the entire game. The place where I'm catsitting does not have cable TV. I watched some of it in a bar, but it got too crowded. So, I came home and did it the old fashioned way...I listened on the radio. This was apparently another of my paternal grandfather's favorite things to do. His passion for the Sox predated the advent of television, you see.

I digress....

I fell asleep at some point with the Red Sox enjoying a comfortable cushion runs up. I awoke this morning to the newscaster reading, "The Red Sox squandered a five run lead to lose to the Yankees 8-7 last night at Fenway."

I think I might have groaned in disappointment out loud.

Last night could have been the night the Red Sox won and increased their Eastern Division lead to a more comfortable margin of 5 games. Instead, through their loss, they are now down to a 4 game lead.

Yes, it is likely that they will take the division, but guess who they'll have to play in the elimination championships? Yep....those Damn Yankees.

But here's my thing....

Red Nation holds its collective breath when sluggers like A-Rod and Jeter comem to the plate. They pray that whomever is pitching will be able to put those guys to bed. I agree with my fellow Red Sox Nation dwellers, but my real apprehension kicks in when Hideki Matsui comes to the plate. Jesus, that guy's dangerous. He might not be leading the league in homeruns or anything, but that bastard can hit the ball. I don't think I've ever seen him get up to bat and NOT get a hit. Singles, doubles, triples, the guy does it all. He drives in runs like nobody's business. Every time I see that guy up there, I get all nervous, and rightfully so.

This is nail-biting time in Red Sox Nation.

I am so psyched for the Red Sox that they've had such a stellar season. I hope that their final series agains the Yankees does not result in a total Yankee Sweep, the way their last series did. I hope we can at least pull off a couple of wins here. God knows that just for morale, the Red Sox need it. They cannot enter into playoffs with the painful recent memory of devastating losses to those pinstripes.

Fingers crossed. Really, in the grand scheme of things, the Red Sox deserve victory over the Yankees. The Red Sox are a kinder, gentler, more beloved team. Sure, you can say that New Yorkers love their Yankees, too, but there is almost somewhat of a bully factor there. You see, it is easy to love a winner. And the Yankees are so frequently winners. Where's the challenge in loving the team that seems to so easily go out there and rough other teams up? Look at the almost poetic relationship that the Red Sox have with their fans. For season after season....hell, decade after decade, the Sox would come up dead in the water. But, through thick and thing, through crappy season after crappy season, the Red Sox have sold out every home game and, (and I have this on authority), they sell more logo merchandise than any other team in Major League Baseball. We love our Red Sox in good times and bad. The Red Sox are more deserving of victory any day, any sesason, any year.

All they have to do is get by those Damn Yankees!!

Riddle Me This

Why are all the major television networks and other media paying such rapt attention to the first birthday of Anna Nicole Smith's kid?

Aren't there other things going on in the world?

Didn't Brit just completely embarrass herself on the MTV video music awards?

I want to hear more about that.

Notice I'm not even trying to get all high and might and saying that I want to hear more about the Presidential campaign or the war in Iraq.

All that's new

So, the school year is officially underway.

I cannot believe how insanely beautiful my new school is. It was very telling when, on the first day of school, the kids all looked in awe and wonder at the windows. "Wow..look! Windows!" said they. Isn't it a state statement about the state of the schools in my district that kids in the 8th grade, who have presumably gone through the requisite nine years of school leading up to 8th grade are blown away by the fact that there are actually windows that open in the place.

I have an 8th grade homeroom this year. For the past few years, although I've taught both the 7th and 8th grades, I've always had a 7th grade homeroom. Funny how a summer makes a vast difference in the maturity level of the kids. Last year i felt like I was babysitting a roomful of wackos in my 7th grade homeroom. This year, even though most of the kids are the same, I feel like I'm sitting there in the company of a roomful of adults. Well...that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I am just trying to illustrate my point that the kids are so much more mature now.

Because our new facility is massive, and in order to justify its construction, we had to augment our student population. To that end, we've absorbed the population of a neighboring school that was in equally appaling condition to our own. The new kids add a bit of change, of course. Some of the changes are positive, and some will take some getting used to.

I can't believe the stuff that the kids are getting into these days. One of my students spent the summer on house arrest for armed robbery. Another came to me on the first day to report that he had been jumped by some other kids from another school and was taken from the scene in an ambulance with a broken eye socket and nose.

Still other kids were rearing to act completely wild on the first day of school, yelling and screaming and swearing on the way into the class.

It is shocking because you think that they might at least try to make a good impression (or pretend to) on the very first day of school.

I point these things out not to be critical of the kids. On the contrary...I point them out because these things make me genuinely worried about the kids. Kids are so busy getting caught up on way-over-their-heads crap today. I wish they could just spend a little more time being kids.

Although maybe the very definition of the word "kids" has changed since we were kids. Maybe in our day, being "kids" meant hanging out with friends at the mall and goofing off in school, whereas today maybe the accepted definition of "kids" means stealing shit at the mall and cutting school to go smoke and have sex.

Am I getting too philosophical/contemplative here? I guess my mind is just wandering through these questions as I see some of my kids and become aware of the things they've seen and done.

Christ, I think many of them have been around the block way more times than yours truly.

Anyway....onto other subjects.

What else is there?

Oh, yeah, I'm cat and dog sitting for the next three weeks. I just arrived at my guest house yesterday. It has more space than I know what to do with. I can take or leave the cats, but I love the god. Sadly, he will only be here for a few days until he is shuttled off to his auntie's house. The cats will be with me for the duration. Don't get me wrong, they are nice enough cats, but I just don't find cats to be very fun or affectionate. They just kind of sit there. The dog, on the other hand, is playful and affectionate. He has not left my side at all since I've arrived. I really like this dog. If I didn't live in a city apartment, I think I'd be a big time dog owner.

Also, just something silly to point out...

It seems that lately, no matter where I am, or no matter where I need to go, I get stuck behind the absolute slowest people and am left feeling entirely frustrated.

I get stuck behind the slowest person in the supermarket who decides to block the entire aisle with their massively overflowing cart.

I get stuck behind some asshole who decides to board the bus and pay their fare in pennies.

I get stuck trying to cross the street as some idiot drives toward me too fast for me to cross in front of him, but slow enough so that the traffic is building up behind him as to prevent my ever getting across the street.

I have to run to the bathroom before my class at the gym, or sometimes even during the middle of the class, and, not wanting to miss any of the activity, I try to hussle over there, only to find some old bat doing quadriceps stretches in the frame of the bathroom doorway.

Jesus!

Oh, and speaking of activity, I'm somewhat limited in what I can do these days because of this annoying-ass plantar faciitis.

That's it for now!

Just thought I'd keep folks posted.

Nants

God help me

One of my homeroom students just finished his summer-long stint on house arrest. The charge was armed robbery. This is going to be a crazy year.