Friday, May. 16, 2003
Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some, they come in with the tide. For others..., posted at 11:43 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Pretty good day, easily the best one of the week (which isn't saying much, in this shit week).My English classes started Their Eyes Were Watching God, which I think might have fallen behind To Kill a Mockingbird as my favorite book to teach but is still brilliant. I decided to give an on-the-spot extra credit assignment to memorize the first two paragraphs of the novel, which I think are incredible. I had them memorized, and didn't even know it. It is the type of book that I can read ten times and still get goosebumps from different lines. We're moving it to the 10th grade next year, so I won't be teaching it. It's a better place for it, probably, but I'll definitely miss it.
I read an article about Suzan Lori-Parks (writer of Topdog/Underdog, which I saw on Broadway last summer), and she is writing a screenplay to adapt Their Eyes for Oprah Winfrey's film company. Every year, I have my students cast the film. I wonder who would play Janie and Tea Cake. Halle Berry would be perfect, but she's a little too young; Angela Bassett is the right age, but is probably too dark for the role (the character is mixed-race, and it's a rather important aspect of her character). Hell, Oprah might even want to play the role herself, and she might even be okay - she's got the beauty, though she might be too old. Taye Diggs or Mekhi Phifer or Omar Epps would all work really well in the role of Tea Cake; all have that combination of charm, talent, and good looks to pull it off. Morgan Freeman has probably been in these types of movies too much (Beloved and The Color Purple), but he'd probably be a good Joe Starks, but he might be too old. I dunno. Anyhow, I hope they get a good, distinctive director like Lisa Cholendenko or Julie Taymor to direct. I hope it's good.
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The other reason it was a good day occurred during first period. My students were giving presentations, and my boss walked in. It was the perfect time to walk in. In that Freshmen Seminar class, I feel a little clueless, but today was a good day for her to come in on an impromptu observation.
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Spent the evening at Jesse's, playing Celebrity Taboo and hanging out with Renee. I'm still thinking about her, although I sort of feel like my emotions aren't as solid as they need to be to begin something new. I feel like my heart has tire tracks gutting through it right now. Best to wait on any pursuing, for sure.
In fact, it might be better to go and have a mutually empty hookup with someone, something I haven't done in 2003 yet.
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The weather this spring has been horrible. Rain, rain, please go away.