Hum, What I Learned this Semester

First I probably learned too much about the food industry, and that if I want to eat well and feed my son healthy foods, I'm going to have to spend more time and money on food & shopping.



I learned that I can rewrite the two most important chapters in Double Deuce (when we find out who did it and Spenser and Hawk confront the killers) and change the point of view from first person to omniscient.



And as usual, and most importantly, I learned from my students. I discovered more about which reading skills are the most challenging and then tried to come up with ways to work on developing and mastering these skills. Implied main ideas are a real hurdle. Remembering what topics and main ideas are (not just being able to identify them in a reading, but knowing what they are) is another problem area that we worked on all semester. For the writing class, remembering what introductory elements are is just as challenging.



So each semester, Dr. Wahl and I find new ways to work with these skills and hopefully our students build the skills they need for the classes they will take in the future. (Next semester we will start annotating the readings from the very beginning -- that is one of several adjustments we have talked about making for next spring).

I learned things about each of my students -- too many to go into -- but one of the best parts of the job.

You could say that Dr. Wahl and I are building and developing our own skills. We are repeating the class you know.

King Corn

As we left class after watching "King Corn" last week, Dr Wahl said, I feel overwhelmed." I agreed. Where do we start?

I knew most of what "Chew on This" discussed, but watching the film on the heels or rereading it was a lot to take in at once.

I worry more about my son than me (I'm old!).

I learned that corn is everywhere and not always good for us. I learned more about the environmental impact of industrialized agriculture than I knew before but probably sort of knew some of it and never really thought too much about it. (I suspect that converting my car's diesel engine to ethanol (corn) is not an environmentally sound idea).


I'll have to spend more money than I do on food to buy responsibly grown foods -- if I can find them. Buy more organic, more locally grown (which I was starting to do), and buy from smaller farms. All of which is going to cost me!


I feel overwhelmed because I don't see how we can change it, and it impacts on our health and the health of our children.


I learned not to read or watch anything else about these topics; I might run out of things to eat--oh yeah, we're about to start watching "Supersize Me." Oh well.

Aaron's Choice with Punctuation Added & Now Corrected!

Beat It

They told him, "Don't you ever come around here; don't wanna see your face. You better disappear." The fire's in their eyes, and their words are really clear.

So beat it. Just beat it.

You better run. You better do what you can. Don't wanna see no blood. Don't be a macho man. You wanna be tough? Better do what you can. So beat it, but you wanna be bad.

Just beat it. Beat it. Beat it. Beat it.

No one wants to be defeated. Showin' how funky. Strong is your fight. It doesn't matter who's wrong or right.

Just beat it. Beat it. Just beat it. Beat it. Just beat it. Beat it. Just beat it. Beat it.

They're out to get you. Better leave while you can. Don't wanna be a boy. You wanna be a man. You wanna stay alive. Better do what you can. So beat it. Just beat it.

You have to show them that you're really not scared. You're playin' with your life. This ain't no truth or dare. They'll kick you; then, they beat you. Then, they'll tell you it's fair. So beat it, but you wanna be bad.

Just beat it. Beat it. Beat it. Beat it.

No one wants to be defeated. Showin' how funky. Strong is your fight. It doesn't matter who's wrong or right. Just beat it. Beat it. Beat it. Beat it. No one wants to be defeated. Showin' how funky. Strong is your fight. It doesn't matter who's wrong or right.

Just beat it. Beat it. Beat it. Beat it. Beat it. Just beat it. Beat it. Beat it. Beat it.

Eating

So far today has not been a great eating day -- three cups of coffee, didn't have time to eat the pear that I brought, no time after class to eat since I had to rush off for a meeting. Dr. Wahl handed me two small Reese's peanut butter cups as I dashed out of the meeting and off to meet my son's bus. Grabbed a pear as the bus was pulling up. I just ate handful of pretzels and humus as we are heading off to basketball. I don't think dinner will much better because we don't get back in time to make a "real" meal. Too many things to do gets in the way of actually eating. The only thing I will say about dinner is that at least there was asparagus and my neighbor brought Aaron some chili she had made.

Thursday -- two cups coffee, pear between classes, yogurt after class and my afternoon caffine -- Dr. Pepper. Home handful of almonds on the way to meet my son's bus. Again rushing off to take him to piano class. On the way home, picked up a slice from the Corner Slice (I prefer Vace's) since it was too late to make dinner. After reading stories and getting him to bed, grabbed a couple of pieces of Halloween candy from the bag on top of the fridge.

Friday morning -- coffee, not sure how many cups but two so far.

A pattern emerges: Life interferes with eating.

The good news is that we sit down to eat dinner together almost every night-- whatever dinner might be.

Double Deuce -- My Way

Spenser and Hawk are sitting drinking coffee at a a little table in front of the croissant shop at the International Place Cafe. Hawk is wearing his tough guy chic and Spenser is looking like the former boxer, ex-cop that he is. Both look tough. A steady stream of office workers wander through the cafe, stopping to order a coffee drink and a croissant or muffin.

Several women feel Spenser and Hawk's eyes on them as the two men check them out. Leah Linkletter, an auburn haired secretary from a law firm on the 32nd floor, notices their interest, likes the look of Hawk, so doubles her efforts to attract his attention. Hawk looks her over again.

Just about everyone takes note of the two men since they clearly do not work in any of the nearby offices. Even though they are deep in conversation, it is clear they don't miss a beat and see everything around them -- not just the women.

Spenser is trying to get the lowdown about Jackie. He knows Susan won't let it rest until he tells her something. And Hawk is a friend. Hawk is humoring Spenser -- throwing him a bone or two -- but not giving up too much about his relationship, or more accurately non-relationship, with Jackie. Neither of them is worried about what is about to happen and the plan they have already set in motion.

Two more men appear -- pretty tough and scary looking men. Billy is huge, bigger than big and as hard as a rock and not too bright a bulb. The other man, Tony Marcus, is in charge and is clearly used to being in charge. Somewhat middle-aged and soft. Billy and Tony stroll towards Hawk and Spenser. Marcus sits at the table with Spenser and Hawk while Billy obediently goes to the counter to get Marcus his coffee and croissants.

Marcus thinks he has everything covered and nothing can bring him down. Spenser and Hawk are hardly blips on his radar. Spenser and Hawk are ready to change all that. They just have to spring the trap. Billy doesn't have a clue what is going to happen next. His motto is to simply follow orders. That has always worked for him and kept him protected and well-fed. He has no plans to change anything at this point in his life. So what if he has to do some things he doesn't really like. (chapters 43-44)

Double Deuce

I like Double Deuce more for the characters of Spenser and Hawk than for the crime that they solve.

I have read this book several times now, so maybe the storyline is so familiar that I don't "see" it any more. To me, it is a pretty standard crime with pretty typical characters involved. Which might explain why Parker is so successful and proliferate. He's got the recipe down pretty well.

But I still enjoy the talk between Spenser and Hawk and their friendship/working relationship. I like the ease they have with each other. I like "listening" to them while they are in the car together. I enjoy Hawk explaining why Parker is with him to the people of Double Deuce. I don't really think there are people out there who talk like Spenser and Hawk do in this novel. I wish there were.

What I don't like are the female characters. Susan seems like a bossy know-it-all. Cool and distant. Other than being beautiful, I'm not sure what she brings to the relationship with Spenser. Is she meant to keep him in line? Tame him?

Jackie is more likable, but still feels too obvious in what she is after -- status career and a man.

The other woman are even more stereotypical -- give their lives to help others, etc. They are even less round than Jackie and Susan.

A couple of things could be happening with the women in the book. First it is written by a man, who maybe doesn't write strong, round female characters.

Second, the book was written at a time when women were just beginning to gain success outside the home and in professions other than nursing and teaching and other typical "female" jobs. Susan is a highly educated psychologist and Jackie is in the world of journalism. So maybe Parker was working off of new stereotypes of women professionals. I think I met some of those women when I was working in a law firm -- they really felt they had to prove themselves in a man's world.

Whatever the case, I don't think I would like either of them.

And I still like the novel.

Reading -- Yum

I love to read -- I know, no shock to my students.

I definitely think of books when I think of reading. Favorite authors depend on the moment -- John Irving, George Pelicanos, Isabel Allende, Toni Morrison. Oh far too many to list.

But I read everything -- Washington Post (addicted to the crossword puzzle and Carolyn Hax), BBC news; Huffington Post, the newest addition to my online reading. At the gym, all the junkie gossip magazines Us, People. I love novels and can spend a day reading a book (if I only had a day I could do that). I am somewhat picky about books; I find it hard to read things that aren't well written. Most books on bestseller lists are not well written. I wander around online, reading random stuff, clicking on links. Links my friends post on facebook or send me.

I recently started a book club with three friends. This month it was my turn to pick the book. I chose In Praise of Slowness about slowing down, not multitasking and not hurrying. I usually avoid anything labeled as self-help, which is what this book is, but I hear this is a fast read (hahaha). I started the club but am the one who never finishes the books in time and last month I accidentally read the wrong book -- long story -- but at least I finished the book before we met.

I read to my son every night -- we still read picture books and have added in Sonic and chapter books. The Magic Treehouse series is big at the moment.

There's nothing better than picking up a book, entering a new world, and reemerging hours later feeling as though I have been somewhere else.

I love to read.

Music Update

My son received a gen. 2 iPod shuffle for his birthday the other day. He now has more songs on his new shuffle than I have on my iPod nano. And who do you think loaded the songs on his iPod?

Folk Traditions

My family has a bunch of traditions that we follow and have followed for ages. But after reading everyone else's posts, I started to think about the traditions I have picked up and started following because of the places I've traveled/lived and the people I've met.

One of the earliest was starting to eat black-eyed peas for New Year's, which is an American tradition but not from where I grew up. I started doing that when I lived in Poland because one of my American friends from Ohio did it as part of her New Year's tradition.

While living in Spain, for New Year's I learned to eat 12 grapes as the clock strikes midnight. To have good luck, you have to finish eating all 12 before the clock chimes the 12th time -- the trick is to find the smallest grapes. My Spanish roommates clued me into that trick. (This little tradition was very challenging when I was traveling in Southeast Asia where there aren't a lot of grapes around. I do remember finding some grapes in Thailand on New Year's but not being anywhere near a clock that chimed -- we approximated).

From my brother-in-law, who is Dutch, and sister, I've learned to make Oliebollen (which translates to "oily balls" and in my mind that is absolutely the truth -- like oily ball-shaped donuts that have apple and raisins). For Sinta Klaas, which is Christmas in Holland, we also put chocolate letters in our shoes on Dec. 6th, which is another Dutch tradition. Of course, we only do this when my sister remembers to send the chocolate in time.

There are so many other traditions that I have picked up during my travels that have become part of my life. I don't even realize hat they are things I learned elsewhere; we just do them as part of our family tradition.

Reality

My favorite reality tv shows are the dancing shows, in particular "So You Think You Can Dance" and "America's Best Dance Crew." I'm not so keen on "Dancing with the Stars" because I don't think the dancing is all that great. Face it, Tom Delay can't dance -- nor can many of the other "stars" on that show. Plus is seems unfair, of course an Olympic figure skater and skier are going to do better than Cloris Leachman.

I've seen SYTYCD more than ABDC, so I am more familiar with that show. I don't watch regularly but I do love to watch the choreography and different dance styles. It seems to me that each season the dancing gets better and stronger. The choreographers can be pretty amazing too. They come up with very creative and at time cutting edge dances to go with usually interesting music. Last season they added disco, which was very entertaining.

I've only seen a little of ABDC. I watched more this season because there was a go-go dance crew from DC. They were ok. Lasted for a while but weren't as good as some of the other crews. They tended to be a bit sloppy and not always together.

The other reality show I watch is Celebrity Rehab, my secret addiction (like the diet coke I have almost every afternoon to help me get through the rest of the day). I love that show. It is a good one for thinking about how "real" reality tv is. In this case, the show is oddly compelling, so at times, it feels very real. I love Dr. Drew who seems earnest in his desire to help these people. Sober Living was pretty good, but that one felt less "real" than the other.

Dr. Wahl is probably going to ask me to support my opinions (inform them in reading speak). I have offered lots of opinions but haven't really provided much evidence to support them. I hope you can do better...

Music

Right now I am listening to the mooing, meowing, "ehh ya", "whoo," and grand piano sounds of my son's brandnew, and I mean just dropped-off-by-his-grandmother-today brandnew, keyboard.

I have all sorts of music, but most of it, I'm sick of. I have tons of CDs that I bought before my son, and I have tons of music I have bought for my son. I have an iPod with exactly 282 songs on it -- pathetic. And I recently bought a cord that allows me to plug the iPod into my highend receiver (something I bought before my son when I actually listened to music), so I don't have to listen to the same 6 CDs over and over again simply because I can't decide what to listen to and those are the CDs in the changer --instead I can listen to the same 282 songs over and over again. I wish someone else would load my iPod up with music I would like--also pathetic.

My son is the one who is totally into music these days. He likes to "rap" and dance (both of which he learned at school). He listens to some of the same stations that Dr. Wahl listens to on the radio -- PGC and KYS. Sometimes what the djs say is inappropriate for my son. I hope that stuff goes over his head.

I feel pretty backwards about music right now, and my son seems to be taking the lead. Maybe one day....

Jay Leno Makes Kanye West Cry

It all started Sunday at the MVAs. Taylor Swift was accepting her award when Kanye took the mic from her and said that Beyonce should have won – not Taylor Swift. So he was booed, lots of upset (though Taylor Swift seemed to handle it pretty well; well I’m not sure she really knew what had happened but she never did finish her acceptance).

Apparently Kanye was asked to leave the venue and may have even been escorted out.

Flash forward to tonight -- Monday. Flipping channels, catch Jay Leno and his “new” show (which seems to the same as his old one – same bits, same Kevin the music guy, same Leno – just on earlier).

So sounds like Kanye was already scheduled to appear with Jay-Z and Rihanna. Kanye decides after getting a lot of flack all day that this is a good time to talk about what happened at the MVAs (before performing with the others). He seems genuinely upset and contrite. Had just had a really bad day. Takes responsibility for his actions (yes!) and is really upset that he hurt someone. Realized he had made a big mistake when he handed Taylor Swift the mic, but she didn’t finish her speech.

That’s when Jay hits him with a really hard one, “I met your mother a few years ago. How do you think she would react to what happened?” Wow. Kanye can’t speak, covers his face, are those tears? Long pause, at least for on tv. Finally answers, something about touring and performing and working all the time, not time to heal and reflect. So he is going to take some time off to sort himself out and try to be a better role model.

Then he grabs his shades and jacket and performs with Jay Z and Rihanna.

Or was the whole thing a performance?

Sadly

Today, I ended up blocking a bunch of my followers. New semester, new group of students. Greg and I decided that it would be too complicated for our new Pop Culture students to follow us and add each other if there were all these other followers from last semester. Sorry Pop Culture Spring 09! If you write and still want to follow this blog, I'll for certain unblock you.

Back to School

Classes started. Looking forward to blogging with a new group of students. Welcome Pop Culture Fall 09.

Breathing Sideways -- Redux

Is this guy breathing? Breathing sideways seemed so simple. Not any more, phew. What does she mean, lock and load, suck in your stomach when you exhale, don’t breath into your stomach, bring your side ribs closer together, and my favorite – breath into your heart? Yoga is all about breathing, but this breathing is complicated and elusive. How can breathing be so hard?

Eating

Sunday, yesterday, I ate the following coffee (lots and lots of hot black coffee to get me going), a handful of almonds, and a pear. Then I went out to lunch at Lebanese Taverna where I ordered the vegetarian mezza. That consisted of hummus, falafel, grape leaf, yogurt cheese, and fresh from the oven whole-wheat pita. I drank ice tea. I probably had a snack at some point during the afternoon; since there wasn’t much to eat in the fridge (even though I’d gone grocery shopping that morning), it was most likely a piece of cheese and some about-to-go-bad celery that I wanted to finish up before it had to be tossed. For dinner, we had leftover curry roasted butternut squash with potatoes and onions, brown rice and salad. Since it was Easter, I had a few yellow rabbit Peeps and homemade chocolate chip cookies that my son and I had made. This was not exactly a typical day of eating – I went out to eat for lunch and had cooked on Saturday, so had some leftovers for dinner. Also we don’t usually have in the house homemade cookies or an Easter basket full of chocolate, jelly beans and Peeps. Later I had a Blue Moon (beer) Pretty healthy and the complete opposite of Morgan Spurlock’s all McDonalds diet. I don’t go to McDonalds; it is a trap with my son, who always wants to go there – for the toys. And there is nothing there for me to eat. Having seen “Supersize Me” as many times as I have (once each semester)confirms my sense that McDonalds is something to avoid (this semester's students don't seem to be getting that message though).

What I ate yesterday is not at all a product of a “toxic environment.” -- it is the opposite. I even walked to the restaurant, so I didn’t drive (that last bit is for my carless colleague). But avoiding the “toxic environment” that Spurlock’s film describes takes a lot of energy – not just the walking to the restaurant type of energy either. I've always been a pretty healthy eater and try to teach my son to make the good choices. That doesn’t mean that he never gets junk food or trips to McDonalds; he just has to find someone else to take him.

Son & Mother

I have a son. I grew up with girls; I have sisters and nieces. I do not understand boys and do not pretend to understand them (they are almost as alien as Texans are, and everyone knows that Texas is another planet) My son is boy through and through. He is all about being a boy. He is yucky, but I'm not allowed to say that because I really don't want my son to think that his mother thinks that he is yucky. So, instead, I will say that he does yucky things. The other day, he climbed into my lap, put his face close to mine, and burped loudly right in my face. Then said with his eyebrows waggling, "Now, we're talking." He also likes to fart, but first he makes sure to catch my eye (to be sure that I am watching) and then he lets go a loud, stinky fart. I'm not going to go into what it takes to get him to use soap when he washes his hands, let's just leave it that he is "allergic" to soap. I'm not sure raising a boy is helping me to understand them any better than I ever did.

Hawk vs. Shaft: A Comparison

Hawk is not a believable character. While Parker tries to make Hawk round, he does not succeed. Hawk falls into the stereotype of John Shaft from the movies Shaft (one of my students asked whether Hawk was fashioned after John Shaft). Hawk and Shaft have similar personalities. First, both of them are tough guys from tough backgrounds. Another way that their personalities are similar is that they both work under their own moral code. Physically they resemble each other. They are strong of the same age. In fact, they are both bald. (OK, outline this paragraph. Does it meet the requirements of a well-developed paragraph? Use your rubric to answer this question)

My Spring Break: An Organized Paragraph

My spring break has not been at all what I had planned. First, I thought I would grade all my midterm exams and papers. Spring break always comes immediately after midterms, so I always plan to get my grading done during the break. Usually, we have to submit our grades immediately after break ends, so I feel pressure to get them done. I also thought that I would prepare my taxes. During classes, it is hard for me to find the time to work on them, so Spring break is the logical time to tackle this unpleasant task. For the last week, I have been trying to get myself to work on these two big projects. I have met with limited success; as a matter of fact, I have not even looked at my taxes, and stacks of papers are still waiting to be graded. I haven’t been completely lazy and unbusy though. One thing I did not expect during this break was reconnecting with an old friend. We were friends in high school, but we lost track of each other while we were in college, ran into each other once about seven years ago, but since then, we had not been in touch at all. During break, we have had time to catch up and renew our friendship. Another thing about my break that I wasn’t expecting is that I have been able to go yoga everyday. Not only have I gone to yoga, I have begun to do inversions, which means going upside down. This is big – I have always been afraid to do these, so even if I was physically able, I held myself back because of fear. Today, with ease, I was able to kick up into a headstand and hold it for thirty seconds. Just to be sure, I did it a second time. What a feeling, to tackle something I was scared to do. Even though I did not accomplish anything I had expected, it has been an excellent Spring break. (This is a planned paragraph, not a freewrite, with some revising and editing. I bet my students would be able to outline it and figure out its pattern of organization.)

Breathing Sideways

When I am not busy being a professor or a mama, I squeeze in a little yoga. Just like I never thought I would be writing a blog, I never thought I would do yoga, especially not “ommming.” But last summer, when I wasn’t teaching and my son was at camp, I started going and quickly became addicted. I had tried yoga before – it had never worked for me because while I was standing doing a pose, my brain was thinking of all the other things I could/should be doing -- exactly the opposite of what one should do while practicing yoga. But this time, for some reason, it works.

Yoga, for me, is not as meditative as I imagine it should be; I have to work hard and think; in fact, I think a lot – are my feet where they should be, what about my hips, where is my weight, and so on. But most importantly, breathe. Yoga instructors talk all the time about breathing, how long, what it should sound like, what the throat should be doing, and so on. Again, a lot of work that can seem complicated and require thought and energy. This is not at all what we usually think about breathing. "Breathing sideways", which is what one wants to do when practicing yoga, is even harder.

After spending the last 7 months learning to breathe and thinking about it breathing sideways has become a reminder to stop, take a breath, and think. To center myself whatever it is I am doing – teaching, mothering, driving in traffic, or waiting in line at the grocery store. My constant is trying to breathe sideways. And as they say in yoga, breathing leads to inspiration. For me that is calm, careful thought. I try to do this all the time.

Multitasking Gone Awry

Changing sheets, laundry in the dryer, popcorn popping in the microwave. Son getting the 30 minutes of screen time he earned this morning by making his bed and putting his toys away. Phone rings, good friend in NY who had her second baby 7 weeks ago is calling. The first time in 7 weeks we actually manage to connect. Starting to catch up. Bed almost made. Smoke! Son so absorbed in Curious George, he doesn’t even notice. Ut oh, the popcorn! Still trying to carry on a conversation. So burnt it is dust. Jeez, the smell. Tears over burnt popcorn. Continuing conversation, new bag of popcorn in the oven. Curious George carries on, son telling me to stay low to the ground – because of the smoke – and putting soaking wet toilet paper around each of the doors – again because of the smoke. So glad he learned what to do in case of a fire at school. House full of smoke. Smoke detectors must not work. Still talking and making appropriate noises to show that I am listening. Turn the exhaust fan on in the kitchen. Bed is made. Asking friend abut child care. Popcorn out of the oven. Son happy. Finish the conversation. Crisis over. Go get the dry clothes out of the dryer.

Baby Borrowers -- Reality TV

While watching the first episode of “Baby Borrowers” – a reality tv show about teenagers trying on parenthood -- I had all sorts of things that I wanted to write about, most of them pretty negative: always blaming other people, not taking responsibility for one’s actions, and not being able to see beyond oneself that there are other people in the world. Ugh. But instead, I’ll attempt to take the positive route. Sean – he has this evil master plan to make his girlfriend realize that she is not ready to become a mom because he isn’t ready to be a dad. But instead, the baby falls for him and he for her. They turn out to be really quite sweet and natural together. His girlfriend, on the other hand, is jealous and angry that their baby only stops crying when she is with Sean, who is the inexperienced one. She has all the baby experience. Jordon and Sasha are the most successful so far. They are good with their baby and good with each other. Jordon relishes his role as father and “husband.” Telling Sasha to relax while he does the heavy lifting; Sasha happily relinquishing. They seem the most honest; they are scared before the baby comes; they are concerned that their baby is comfortable and ok, and they are concerned with each other. They take responsibility for the baby. Most importantly, they are able to put her needs first ahead of themselves and their needs. That’s what parenthood is all about.

"Mama You're Hot"

One afternoon, out of the blue while hanging out together, my 6 year old son said, "Mama, you're hot!" Sound of my jaw hitting the floor but trying not to let him see how shocked I am. "Does he really know what that means?" I ask myself. As nonchalantly as I can, I ask, "Where did you learn that?" "Hotel for Dogs" he says. "So what does that mean?" "Really, really, really, really beautiful." Oh, I see. "But actually, Grandmum is most hotter than you."

Quilt Assignment

In keeping with my anti-blog blog(which essentially means that I have a blog), I find myself with an assignment topic that I have never really been interested in -- quilts. Specifically the Obama quilts on display in the Cafritz gallery.On a certain level, I understand why quilts are so cool – colors, designs, cultural significance, details, family heritage and all sorts of great stuff all wrapped up in one creative package (that we talked about in class). I understand how intricate and time consuming they are. But quilts have never been my thing – perhaps because they are so intricate and time consuming that I would never have the patience to actually create one myself. But looking at the Obama exhibit, I like most of these. In fact, I can’t really pick a favorite. The ones I like best are colorful and intricate – a little bit crazy in some cases and some with complex thinking and symbolism. I’m drawn to the three quilts by Susan Shie – whoa, so much work, color and detail, but most of all the thinking behind the images and the words written on the quilts bring me into the rather primitive artwork. There are others I like – again with color design and tons of work to simply create the stitch work. My students select other quilts to write their blogs about. They seem go for the symbolic quilts that represent the importance of Obama being elected and his role in history, his significance and the hope he represents. (This post has been revised, but not because I was told to)

Tooth Fairy

A lost a tooth yesterday, but forgot it in his locker at school. So we wrote her a note telling her what had happened and asking her to please leave the money. A promised that he would leave the tooth for her the next night and drew a lovely picture, with lots of details and colors, of him in bed asleep and the Tooth Fairy by his bed. He carefully put the letter and picture under his pillow.

At about 11:00, I noticed that the light was on in his room. At first, I ignored it thinking he had turned on the light and gone back to sleep, but then I decided I had better check on him. The pillows were off his bed and the covers had been pulled to the floor. He was sitting cross-legged on his bedroom floor looking dejected and rubbing his eyes. I asked him what he was doing and what was the matter. He sadly replied, "She didn't come." Confused, I asked "who." He said, "the Tooth Fairy." I had completely forgotten she was supposed to come that night. I quickly explained that since I hadn't gone to bed yet, she couldn't come. That satisfied him so off he went back to bed. And the Tooth Fairy did come last night.

First Blog

I never thought I would blog – dismissing blogging as only for people with way too much time on their hands. And worse, full of uninformed opinions, rants and raves. I teach writing and reading; I want informed opinions, not rants and raves. I spend my days helping students do more than simply state an opinion, judge, rant and rave. To think critically and express logical well-informed opinions -- in my biased mind, that is the opposite of what most bloggers do. Blogging was also for people with not enough to do. I have no time for blogging. Full time professor who teaches writing (oh, the papers I grade) and full time single mom to a charming and somewhat wild 6 year old. Where’s the time to spend writing about stuff. And what makes me think anyone would be interested in reading what I might have to say? (Don’t people who blog have big egos because by blogging they assume people care what they say?) So the logical question – why is she blogging? I have to. For a class I’m teaching. My students are required to blog, so it seems only reasonable for me to join them. Who knows, maybe my negative ideas about blogging will change simply by giving it a chance and seeing where it takes me. (feedback from my colleague suggested I make this one paragraph – so this is a revised blog)