relish: minimum day

The Cranberries, No Need to Argue

We got really Irish today, with Dolores O'Riordan's brogue all over some great songs like "Ode to My Family" & "Zombie."

SIDE NOTE: I'm certainly not the 1st to have thought of it, but about a year before this album was released, I had the idea of taking my couch out in nature & photographing my buddies & just sitting sitting, w/ bags of chips or soda or whatever, all over the place.

We lived on a golf course, so maybe couch on the 10th green.

We'd take it to the "beach" at Lake Erie, out in the woods, in the middle of a road, all kinds of stuff.

We never did it, the Cranberries did, & that is that. (Yes, the inside-artwork of this album has that couch up there, w/ them on it, in various places. Oh well.)

PROGRESS-REPORT NIGHT NOTE:
I had the chance to talk to about 35 parents last night, & it was a good experience.

As a younger man I used to dread these nights, but I now look forward to putting faces to names of e-mail correspondents & getting to chat w/ folks I may never otherwise meet.

The air, of course, did not work, so my table-buddy Mrs. Marshall & I decided to move ours across the gym to where the outlets are & plug in our fans.

So, I merely sweated "a lot" instead of "profusely."

I also got free Nature's Valley granola bars, so it was well worth it.

The parents & guardians who came had a lot to say about you & I had a lot to say about the class. I gave them all my contact info, & I gave some of you a (last) chance to make up one of these early assignments.

I communicate as well as I can through this blog, the teacherweb site, & even my whiteboard.

Your parents & guardians communicate through you & w/ you, & via e-mail to me.

& I have an idea.

TEACHABLE, MAYHAPS HUGGABLE MOMENT ALERT(or, "BE CARE-FUL"):
We who teach here have given up possibilities of much more money & other things because we care.

We take our pride, push it away, & come to the place where we  may not be considered "cool" by the residents . . . because we care.

You all must have noticed that Beeley, Rubel, Talbot, & many others on our staff are among the smartest & nicest people you will ever meet (well, Rubel ain't "nice," but you know what I mean).

You probably also know that your parents & guardians are smart people who care about you, too.

So, when a whole bunch of adults get together & be "smart" & truly care about kids, those kids get a real chance to better themselves.

You have that chance. As a father I care so much about my kids that no one can ever give me the words to express that feeling.

But I can see that "care" in the eyes of the folks who come on ProgressReportBacktoSchoolWhateverIt'sCalled Night.

We are here for you, & you just have to bet there for yourselves.

Now, wipe away those tears & think literature:

Juniors:

"A Modest Proposal."

One student said something like, "how can I annotate; I just keep writing 'ewwww'"

You are supposed to say "EWWW!!!"

Swift wanted his readers to be angry at the "landlords," the rest of the British, themselves.

Swift did NOT (repeat: he did NOT) want to see kids die; he wanted to prevent it.

This is perhaps the most bitter of all satires, maybe the most brilliant.


Sophomores:

Unit 2 completing sentences, in preparation for Thursday's quiz.

That is, THURSDAY'S VOCABULARY QUIZ.

(Yep, using that font-size button a lot today).

We looked back at the lawyer's "farewell" letter, & it was good. Does he really hate all that stuff? It may be up to you  to decide.

Think: "theme."

& be cool