Breakthrough!

I've been dreading the end of this school year for a long time. I'll be losing one of my favorite students, and I will be gaining a bunch of punk sixth graders. Grrr. I figured I would probably adjust, but I'm just not a huge fan of adjustments. I mean, when I was a senior I didn't want to graduate, when I was in Bible School I wished it would last forever, and I thought that college was the pinnacle of life. And you know how I feel about teaching...

So ya, not a big fan of change.

Yesterday was parent-teacher conference day. I had no conferences with parents of my own students (they are all satisfied with their grades... surprise surprise), but there were two mothers of 6th graders who wanted to talk to me. Their sons are both first-borns, so this "junior high" is a biiig unknown. (I have a feeling that next year is going to hold a lot more in the "high maintenance mom" department. Sigh. Maybe even "wicked high maintenance mom.")

Anyway, we got talking and both moms (I LOVED the first one - she reminded me of Linda Holscher when she smiled - and she brought me CHOCOLATE!) said something about how their sons were really looking forward to having me. BOTH of the boys had said something to their mothers about how they wanted me for a teacher. OH MY WORD! I got an instant high on their words of affirmation, and now, suddenly, I'm really looking forward to having those 6th graders!

(I am ridiculously dependent on words of aff - it's quite pathetic sometimes. But hey, look how much it helped here!)

It's really funny, because these boys have no idea what I'm like as a teacher. Their first-hand experience of me is from one field-trip, passing in the halls, and the two times I led music in chapel. They don't know that I'm actually a little more demanding in the classroom!

It reminds me of the conversation I had with a second grader, who said some similarly positive thing. I asked her how she knew, since she'd never had me as a teacher. "I can hear you through the wall!" she said cheerfully. Ohhhhh noooooooooo! No wonder I have to have those periodic talks with the headmaster. Siiiiiigh.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I've had quite a turn-around in my spirit about next year, and I'm very thankful. And the second point is, dear readers, you never know when a word of encouragement here or there will really turn someone's day or attitude around! Especially when dealing with words of aff people...

The Golf Course Bridge

Okay. Here I am at LAST with lots of blogging ideas but little patience to write them all out right now. Sigh. But I DO want to post the pictures of the collapsed bridge. Enjoy the drama!

Randomopolis (my favorite city)

So. It happened like this.

I was listening to the Red Sox game on the radio a week or so ago, and Matsuzaka was pitching. The announcers were talking about how the games were broadcast live over in Japan, which is 13 hours ahead of us. Or behind us. I’m not sure which. Here is my thought process:

Wow. His first appearance was a 1 o’clock game, which means it was 2am over in Japan. I wonder if people stayed awake to watch it. Probably his family did, anyway. They’d want to watch it live.

It’s like kids in the Olympics or something. But wait, those broadcasts aren’t always live. Maybe an athlete would call home and tell his parents whether he won or not, and then the parent would watch it on tv later on.

What if he had lost, though? Would his parents still want to see it? What if they watched his whole performance knowing that in the end he was going to lose?

HEY! That’s EXACTLY like Dramatic Irony in Greek Tragedies [Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows something that the characters in the play/story do not know]! OH MY WORD! I’ve got to remember to tell my kids this tomorrow. [Pause to enter it into phone so I won’t forget.] It’s perfect! I can just see the parent watching this incredibly gutsy performance, seeing it come down to the wire, yet knowing that his child is inevitably going to lose. How painful is that?! They’d want to just yell for him to stop trying. Oooo. Like that movie. What movie is that where the girl yells “stop!” in such a despairing way? “Stop!” “Stop!” “Stop!” [That’s me replaying the scene over and over again trying to place it.] Oh ya! It’s in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” when the girl yells from the balcony for Jimmy Stewart to stop before he kills himself or something. What a poignant scene. Perfect! Anyway, the Olympic parent thing is JUST like the audience in Oedipus Rex! STOP trying to find out who DID IT! You’re pursuing your OWN RUIN! AAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Cool.

Hm. That was a really bizarre thought process…

Spring Break Update

I am having SUCH a great Spring Break! Yippee! I came into it without a ton of school stuff I needed to accomplish... but just enough to do that I wouldn't risk stagnation. Perfect.

A lot of the things on my list involved non-school obligations - the kind of thing I'd never really get done while lesson plans were priority #1. So I went to get my car registered and inspected (yes, yes, I know my birthmonth is December. Let's not talk about my horrific memory and absence of all organization skills. And let's not go into detail about how another thing on my list of things to do was "pay that ticket..."), I got tons of pictures developed (249, to be exact...), I made a return to a store (I'm so bad at multi-tasking while teaching, and those kind of things loom o'er me - hurrah for vacation!), I got some lining material to go with my dress that I bought for Matt's wedding (in case he actually sends out the invitations - hee hee hee), and today I went for an eye exam and ordered new glasses.

The eye exam was funny. I forgot how they shine incredibly bright lights in your eyes, and ask you not to blink while they do so. I forgot about the tears streaming down my face. I forgot that they say "okay, open your eyes nice and wide" and then POKE THEM with strange blue sticks of light. I felt strangely (Katie, brace yourself) like I was in the Matrix or something. I mean really! I'm all stuck into this weird contraption where my head is locked in, and then (Claire, brace yourself) slowly, slowly, this blue wand of light comes closer and closer until PONK it makes ever-so-slight contact with your eye. I wonder if he's ever had anyone jump up screaming "What are you DOING?!?!" That would be awesome. Sometime when I'm older and all my inhibitions are gone (another advantage to getting older, Rachel!), perhaps I'll try it. Then again, while inhibitions may depart, Victorian ideas of propriety, I think, will always be with me.

And I'm having great opportunities for enjoying my dear family (oo! Like when Shawn and Gretchen and the boys came zipping into the driveway, poured into the house, and filled the home with little boys' incredibly excited shouting of the news that the bridge at the golf course had collapsed!!! Dad and I - the only ones home - jumped into the car with them and whizzed down to see this great sight. Impressive!), and enjoying friends (I played some of the best vball in AGES last night - it was SO much fun - complete with two games of doubles with Craig against Shawn and Kayla - totally fun!) relaxing, and reading, and even doing Sudoku with Mom! What a great invention Spring Break is. May it ever be so!

Death is Only an Horizon

This quote was on the front cover of the program for Dr. Delasanta’s funeral. I love it, and want to share it here.

“We give them back to You, O God, who gave them to us. Yet, as you did not lose them in giving, so we do not lose them by their return. What You give, O Lover of souls, You do not take away, for what is Yours is ours also if we are Yours. Life is eternal, love is immortal, death is only an horizon, and an horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. Lift us up, O Lord, that we may see further; cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly; draw us closer to Yourself that we may be nearer to our loved ones who are with You. And while You prepare a place for us, prepare us also for that happy place, that where You are we may also be for evermore. Amen.”

Beautiful, is it not? I was blessed by the emphasis placed on eternal life and reunion throughout the funeral service. I wasn’t sure how those things are handled in Catholic services, but evidently they are central. I’m so thankful that it is the truth!

My Tribute

This past week Dr. Delasanta, whom I often referred to as "Dr. Delasanta-my-favorite-professor," passed away. He had been in poor health for quite awhile, so it wasn't a huge surprise or anything, but it is quite a profound loss to all who knew him.

He was a brilliant man. Talk about someone who knew literature! He scorned the post-modern way of interpreting literature (as in, what does it say to YOU? Forget what the author meant...) and went with the old technique of figuring out what it actually means.

I had him for two classes: Western Civilization and Literature of Spiritual Crisis. Both classes impacted me, the former intellectually and the latter in deeper ways. But the main force there was his teaching - I trusted him, and I was inspired by his own obvious love for the material.

But I got to know Dr. Delasanta best through working for him. I was his "office assistant" for three years, doing photocopying, filing, and greeting. Most of the time I just did homework while I sat in the outer office. It was the perfect college job:)

But it was greatly enhanced by the fact that I could chat with him, and overhear his conversations with others. I was amazed over and over at the thoughtful discussions going on in that inner office. And it was through hearing him on the phone one day that I learned the joke: "Descartes walked into a McDonald's and ordered a hamburger. 'You want fries with that?' the cashier asked. 'I think not,' said Descartes. And he disappeared." I sat there for about five minutes until I finally got it, and then I thought it was HILARIOUS!

But perhaps what impresses me most about his life is the way he was able to be so brilliant, and yet not make those around him feel dumb. He made me feel smart! That's a gift. He was not high-handed in his scholasticism. I was sitting in the outer office while he was grading Western Civ exams - the final exam after two years. Oy vay - talk about pressure! But he suddenly shouted out to me, "Andrea!" I zipped in. "You GET it! Not everyone gets it, but you GET IT!" I floated around for the rest of the day.

His philosophy about teaching was (and I quote): "Without first having experienced the joy of learning, the teacher cannot reduplicate that state of academic grace for his or her own students. The trick is to generate gladness and then sustain it." He absolutely did that in his classroom, and even out of it.

Dr. Delasanta was a good man. He was a devout Catholic, and lived his life accordingly. I was talking with Mom about going to the funeral, and wondering how hopeful a Catholic funeral would be, if they believe the soul is now suffering in Purgatory... And then I suddenly said, "What a pleasant surprise for Dr. Delasanta!" Imagine thinking you're going to Purgatory, and suddenly finding yourself in Heaven! That made me happy:)

So today I want to honor a great man who had such an impact on my life. It's hard to encapsulate it here, really, but I loved him and respected him, and I'm so much looking forward to seeing him again so I can tell him so in words that will be less faltering than these are.

That Ann Coulter

I love Ann Coulter. I know she's incredibly abrasive and hasn't a tactful bone in her body (well, chooses not to use those bones anyway...). But I just love her! She's smart and clever and so very right wing:)

Near the beginning of the Iraq war she got into a lot of trouble for saying that the best way to win the war on terror is to convert all the muslims to Christianity. OH, the uproar! But hey, she's so right! It's just WAY to unpolitically correct to say that.

A lot of publications dropped her after that, but fortunately I ran across a site where you can sign up to have her articles e-mailed to you. Sign up I did!

So here is a little gem from her article from last week, "If at First You Don't Appease - Cry, Cry Again."

"In uplifting thought No. 57 about the war, liberals keep telling us that Iraqis are genetically indisposed to freedom, which I would characterize as the hard bigotry of low expectations. On this week, let us remember the message of Passover is that freedom doesn't come easy.

Moses had to grab Jews by the scruff of their necks and drag them to the desert for 40 years to get a generation capable of living in freedom -- and even then the Jews were complaining about it being too drafty. The first "stiff-necked" generation didn't even want to leave Egyptian captivity.

Even in the desert, the Jews would not stop with the golden calves. God nearly let the whole lot of them perish in the desert, he was so angry about their idolatrous ways. Only when he had a new generation, born in freedom, that didn't complain about the food, did he lead them to the promised land. For you liberals still reading, this is all extensively covered in a book known as the "Bible."

(Also this week, we celebrate a fast-track to freedom that doesn't require 40 years in the desert, but as I recall, the suggestion that we convert Muslims to Christianity was shot down early on in this war.)"

Isn't that GREAT!? It made me laugh out loud. Keep up the good work, Ann!

A Thought-Provoking Moment

Yesterday I watched the Masters (golf tournament) with Grandpa and Jeannette. It was so much fun! I actually worked on lesson plans and slept during most of it - but I was there in the room, and I really enjoyed it. Golf can actually be interesting, believe it or not! Especially with such good company.

Anyway, I was basically going for Tiger Woods because he was the only one I really knew much about, and Grandpa and Jeannette were rooting him on. He was doing well, made some great shots and stuff, but he was behind this other guy named Zach Johnson. Soon it became clear that Johnson was the guy to beat. He was young, and ranked 57th in the world (or country - I'm not sure which!). He finished the 18th hole, and was interviewed by the little interviewer guy. He gave a great interview, complete with talking about Easter and Jesus! That was pretty awesome. And then it showed his wife and little three month old baby. So sweet.

Then the shot switched back to Tiger Woods, who hadn't finished yet. The announcer was talking about what he'd need to do to win. And now comes the moment of which I'm writing, so pay attention. Jeannette said she hoped Tiger would do well, but that he wouldn't beat Johnson.

I was intrigued. We'd all been going for Tiger a minute before, but that interview had changed all of our minds! Now we wanted Johnson to take it. And what had made the difference? That moment where he was more than just some guy on tv - he was a person. It was the personal touch that made us all switch allegiance to him! I thought that was so interesting.

It makes me think about my American Literature class, and how Dr. Barbour brought out the two schools of thought through Am Lit history. On one hand you have Franklin and Emerson with their ideas of self-reliance and the autonomous man. On the other hand you have Cooper and Melville with the firm belief that "We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow man." Melville's very idea of salvation included fellowship between men. Fascinating!

I lean toward the Cooper/Melville school and not the Franklin/Emerson school, in case you were wondering:) We do need each other! We need others for fellowship, but also to keep us on the right track spiritually, mentally, emotionally... And we are blessed, in this fellowship, with a network of people who love us and whom we love. I'm so thankful!

And all that from a simple comment during a golf game...

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old

The CD player in my room, after serving me valiantly for many and many a year, has pretty much given up the ghost. I can coax music out of it if I reallly want to, but usually it's not worth it. And now that I have a laptop I hardly miss it. My room is filled with the strains of iTunes or Pandora and all is well. The result, though, is that I haven't really listened to classical music in ages. My iTunes purchases are more along the celtic/folk lines, and my favorite Pandora station is "Lisa Kelly" (from the group Celtic Woman).

This morning, however, I really felt like some music with depth. So I switched my clock radio from 96.9 (Boston talk - what a way to wake up in the morning!) to WGBH Boston where I was greeted with the familiar strains of Mozart. I smiled. Good ol' Mozart. And NOW I'm listening to Grieg's piano concerto! It's like getting together with my oldest and best friends. "Ah, Grieg dear, how AHH you? Mozart, it's been forEVah!" I enjoy my celtic/folk stuff, but this music is engraved on my soul, and has been since childhood. I know this music. It's part of me. It's like that going home feeling, where you breath more deeply and everything seems to fit.

Ahhhhh Grieg.

Aging...

Do you realize that my friends and I are nearing 30?! Some of us are nearer than others, but almost all of us are closer to 30 than 20. OY VAY!

And I would like to declare here and now that I AM NOT AFRAID! :) Some young people have a phobia about getting older, but not me. Nosireee. I have heard from multiple sources that it just gets better and I believe it!

From personal experience, I thought when I was 17 that 17 was the perfect age. HA! 27 is even better!

So bring on them 30's...

(If anyone isn't convinced, I can write lots more!)

Opening Day!

HAPPY OPENING DAY!!!

Hurrah! I'm watching the RED SOX in a REAL GAME at LAST! Ahhhhhh - does the soul good. There's nothing like baseball... especially with Schilling pitching.

I saw such a great "get you all psyched for opening day" clip on ESPN last night - inspiring music with a shot of a stadium's roof opening up to the sun, and with the announcer talking about waking up to spring after a long winter's nap. So lovely. I even read my sports book "The Games do Count" last night, so caught up was I in the fervor of the moment (actually, I read it because I left my other book in the car... but hey, it sounded good).

So the point of all of this is to say: Hurrah for baseball! GO RED SOX!