2002-04-26
Profound student coment, grandparents' visit, social calendar, posted at 9:24 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com "She said what she needed to say. She made her point, that's all. She didn't have anything more she needed to tell us."That's what a student answered yesterday, when I posed the question, "Why didn't Harper Lee write anything else besides To Kill a Mockingbird?". And I just thought it was so freaking profound. Isn't it? "She just said what she needed to say." Wow. I'm still getting goosebumps. Her classmates had been giving comments like, "Oh, she was a one-hit wonder" or "She made enough money off the one book so she didn't have to write any more," and then I get that gem. It made my day.
Thank you, Jazzy Jasmine. Even though she doesn't like it when I call her that.
Yesterday was a great day. I was half bitching and moaning about the fact that it was Take Your Kid to Work Day, as it made my classes less than half-full. But the other half of me was excited about the small class sizes for the day, as we had the best discussions we've had all year. I took away the "Raise Your Hand" rule, and we had dynamic, thoughtful, and intriguing literary discussions to close out To Kill a Mockingbird. It made me glad the kids read the book, even though I didn't choose it. We talked about the merits of the books in the 1960s as opposed to now. We talked about the book as a white conscience cleanser. We problemitized the novel, we praised it, we examined the characters, we analyzed the symbols. It was just a great day.
Today also holds a promise of being good. I'm giving a test. I do have something of a sense of guilt over that. Even though they've known about it for a week, I missed Wednesday and most of them missed yesterday, so I feel like they aren't as prepared as I would like. But we've got to get this unit over with. Their Eyes Were Watching God commences on Monday.
I'm so excited about diving into that novel again. I've read it twice now - once over the summer, once teaching it - and it's one of my favorite books of all time. Zora Neale Hurston is a writer whose evocative use of language and beautiful metaphors send shivers down my spine and make me think about that scene in American Beauty where the stalker guy says, "Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world that I just can't stand it." I'm excited about sharing the book with my students. In doing a bit of research for a Powerpoint I'm giving on her life on Monday, I found out she went to high school here in Baltimore. That's what's so great about this teaching thing. I learn so much.
My grandparents are coming into town this afternoon, and I'm excited. I haven't seen them since August. I'm quite close with these grandparents, and look forward to seeing them. They're coming to my team's baseball game, which will be fun because they haven't seen me in a baseball uniform in probably eight years. Then we're going out to dinner, and tomorrow I'm spending the day with them as well. I plan on taking them to Fort McHenry, as well as some of the other touristy Inner Harbor stuff. For being in their late seventies, my grandparents are still quite spry. Until about a decade ago, they were still traveling the country on their motorcycle. Now married for 51 years, they are on their way from Florida to Michigan and are going by way of Baltimore just to see me. How cool is that?
Last night, I went out with the gang - Nick, Randy, Michelle, Kristen, and this new teacher Carol - and had a couple of beers and sang karaoke. I sang "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, in keeping with my string of decidedly unfun karaoke performances. I sang "Taxi" last time. I guess I just don't know how to have a fun time at karaoke, unless I'm with people like Hugasoul, Gale, and Eleanor. Ah well. Actually, I did have a very good time, although gettting in at 11:30pm is far too late for me on a school night. I overslept today until 5:23am, so only had time for cardio this morning at the gym. Truth be told, it probably was a good idea for me to skip weightlifting; I work out different parts of my body every day, but still should probably give myself a break from that every now and then.
In other news, I can't quite believe how blisteringly busy my social/evening calendar is right now. Here are my upcoming plans, both tentative and set in stone:
Friday, April 26: Grandparents arrive, dinner
Saturday, April 27: Day with the grandparents doing touristy stuff
Sunday, April 28: Brunch with grandparents, Wilco concert at Recher with Randy, Mike, Josh
Monday, April 29: Baseball game, Patty Griffin concert in Annapolis
Tuesday, April 30: Baseball doubleheader, want to check out Jump Little Children at Recher
Wednesday, May 1: Baseball game
Thursday, May 2: Bar night
Friday, May 3: Baseball game
Saturday, May 4: Drive to NYC, spend the night possibly
Sunday, May 5: Yankees game with Scott and whoever I can drag from here
Monday, May 6: Orioles game (ticket package game)
Friday, May 10: Kristin arrives to stay for a week while doing shows, seeing Edie Carey and Melissa Ferrick here in Baltimore
Saturday, May 11: Kristin's show at the Bottom Floor
Sunday, May 12: Dan Bern here in Baltimore
Week of May 13: Baseball playoffs
Saturday, May 17: My next house concert, this time Kristin is performing.
Can you believe all that? And, yeah, I got a full time job as well. Teaching no less. Woah.
Gotta return some e-mails. See ya.
Did I mention that it's Friday, it's beautiful out, and it's payday? Life is good.