(Re)visiting

Now, here at the end of October (only one more post after this one in my favorite month), it's time to regroup and reflect, generally going over our memories and getting our lives in order for the coming of the theoretical end of the world. Get ready for the most shameless self-hyperlinking ever.

I laughed. I cried. I re-read the first 147 pages of Going Bovine on the airplane.  

"'These are not the grades you wish to assign me, teacherling. You will reach for a higher letter or taste the righteous mojo of my Ultimate Peace Weapon.'" 

That was one of the parts where I laughed. I cried on page 105 of the paperback, and I won't quote that part because, in the words of one of my bosses, "I don't want you to cry. I want you to kick a$$."

Now for some updates on recent blog posts:

1. In the chars post, I mentioned the 2012 presidential election. When the students saw my sticker proudly displayed, they told me about a series of youtube rap battles between Obama and Romney. Then they were shocked when I told them I actually watched some of them. I forced Jodi to watch one, but will not link it here. There are several different versions. Some are stupid and some are hilarious. Enjoy. 

2. In off the top of my head, I blather about interactive notebooks. However, last weekend I strongly encouraged students to turn in their notebooks to get an important assignment graded. Most students did, and I was overwhelmed with the amount of reading that I had to do. It took me three four-hour sessions over a span of three days to grade them, and at certain points during the process, I actually fell asleep (beware inappropriate language). 

Speaking of falling asleep...

Recently, an easterner I know traveled to SoCal and posted photos on facebook. Being the overly-sensitive type, I got REALLY upset that they didn't call, didn't write, didn't even send a postcard. This was not the traveler's sole and unique fault. It is part of a pattern that has been established for a while. And now, here I am in Indiana, enjoying a moist, cold day in which the multicolored leaves are just beginning to fall from the trees...doing the exact same thing to them. 

Despite my obvious hypocrisy and resolution to concentrate on that which I have instead of always focusing on what's missing, it's important to me to be able to say to these people that I now understand and reiterate that my not inviting you does not mean that I don't love you. It doesn't mean that I don't miss you. I doesn't mean that you have fallen off of my Christmas card list. 

I located another Sinead O'Connor song called "The Healing Room" from her Faith and Courage album. It's just bizarre enough to still be super-soothing, and to help calm the anxieties of the approaching apocalypse. Look it up if you want. 

Well, time to go. Jodi and I are off to find some geocaches, an old hobby of mine that I'd like to revisit just once or twice more before the end.