Re-launch--now w/ BONUS!!

Animals as Leaders, Animals as Leaders

Tosin Abasi is a beast.

(Is that a pun, given the band name? Maybe.)

Dude plays 8 strings on his guitar.

That's "8," not the usual "6" or the less-usual "7."

8.

Lots of strings, & he plays them all.

Music is instrumental, progressive, fantastic.

"WHERE I BEEN" ALERT
I have been being "Daddy," (well, usually "Dad," now) my favorite of all my roles.

As Aodhan hit double-digits last year, I have tried to focus as much as I can on that, remembering how often folks I know older than I regret or pine for those lost years of their children's childhoods.

So, I'm taking A to baseball practice, playing Legos w/ Finn, teaching Ced to tie his shoes, enjoying every moment.

(Well, most of 'em--let's be honest here.)

Super-fun redundancy alert: But as my beautiful, gorgeous, fantastic-looking, smart, intelligent, witty, humorous, funny, & just Cool" wife works until 6 or later, much of the time I get to be Mr. Mom.

& though I whine now & then, I love it.

But some things have suffered, & this blog is 1 of those things.

For those few of you who have been true "followers," I apologize, & I point out that look out, you may just get what you ask for.

That is, daily updates.

"WHERE ELSE I BEEN" ALERT
On the other hand, I have been far from neglecting y duties as "educational-enhancement facilitator," as those of you who have done the big-ol' research project know.

Those things take a lot of time.

["A lot," that is, unclear, imprecise language & all.]

& also, as many of you know, this is the last hurrah for McB's Junior Honors English.

But, McB has a new animal, namely "AP Language & Composition." I am as pumped for this class as I have been in a while.

Not that I do not love the literature I teach & the assignments we do, but in examining the course, I see that I can get back to a bunch of stuff I used to teach back at good ol' Youngstown State University.

Things like argument, rhetoric, style, "how" as much as "what."

Non-fiction in terms of biographers, diarists, critics, columnists, thinkers, philosophers, sportswriters & other journalists.

I am truly excited about the class, the new challenges to come.

"1 OTHER PLACE I BEEN" ALERT
Reading.

Reading, like everywhere & everything.

Literary fiction (Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, DFW)

Graphic novels (Buffy Omnibus, Scott Pilgrim),

young adult books (Artemis Fowl series),

kids books w/ my sons (The Kid Who Ran for President),

philosophers (Wittgenstein, Taylor, Calvin, Hobbes, Wallace),

journalists (Halberstam, Gladwell, Wallace),

critics (Smith, Wallace, Bakhtin, Spivak),

just reading & more reading.


Juniors:
You are done, except for the re-write.

At this point, you all know if you put in the effort or not.

You will probably be rewarded accordingly, mayhaps a little "unfairly" in your favor, as I try to add in "effort points" for completion as well as the final product itself. & yes, once again, I said to anybody who asked, you may fix any final errors tonight.

& you are done . . . except for the re-write, which will be coming end of April/beginning of May.

Sophomores:
It's sad that you are given more than an entire week--remember, the reading schedule was on the board ahead of time, & you could have been done w/ chapter 5 before you left for break--& so many of you simply did not bother.

That said, several of you did the reading, & the quiz I offered up today gave you plenty of opportunity to provide"educated guesses" or commentary-type answers rather than simple identification questions.

Now, you must choose: are you going to continue to read, or are you going to sabotage your grade.

This novel will take up a big chunk of the final quarter in terms of points, & now is the time to get on it.

I have assigned no reading tonight, so catch up if necessary. Check out CliifsNotes or SparkNotes to remind yourself of what's been read. get to work, do the reading, earn the grades.

LAST POSSIBLE BONUS ALERT!!!
Yes, the assignment was "previewed" in terms of being added to the grade book, which shows up on the SchoolLoop calendar, & yes, many of you went a little nuts--let's hope not to the detriment of the real work.

As now posted over on the Loop, you must go to my TeacherWeb site & download an AP Fact sheet to do this assignment (you'll find it under the category of "Handouts, Notes, Fun Stuff in Text Form").

This will be the AP Fact sheet of your life--you will fill in a title for your life thus far:

your parent(s) is/are the author(s);

your friends, family, & other acquaintances are your characters;

the sports-related numbers you wear, the cross around your neck, your haircut or whatever are the symbols for which you will explain the "meanings";

your ancestors provide your historical context;

that which you believe or the words by which you live will provide your themes;

you will provide 5 notes about your "style';

& on the back, you will begin to write--at least 500 words--your autobiography.

More details tomorrow.

Come w/ questions, I'll give you answers.

Bonus available to all students, sophomores as well as juniors.

be cool