There's an old lady who lives four houses down from me on my street and she always seems to be out on her front porch whenever I walk my dog. She's super nice and always has a beaming, ear-to-ear smile when Joey and I pass. I usually take the time to exchange pleasentries in an attempt to brighten her day, but I've noticed a startling trend in ( Read more... )

From the opening scream the last few notes of the concluding power ballad, this album is growing on me as the most appropriate album of the summer. Appropriate in the way it makes me feel like it really really is summer and it's perfectly fine to just fucking rock out, to just live without a sense of irony or expectation or selfconsciousness. I ( Read more... )

Josephina P. Baxter. That's my dog and we went disc golfing today. Disciplining a dog is a very frustrating process. It takes a lot of patience and a deliberate consistency. I'm realizing how small she is. After you yell at her for doing something bad, her ears droop low covering both sides of her face almost completely, it looks sort of like ( Read more... )

My friend and I were walking today and talking about the heat. I was saying that I've grown weirdly accustomed to hot weather, not only does my body not seem to mind it, but I really enjoy the sticky, unrelenting feeling. Summer hazy heat does not surrender, it's merciless in its dominance. My friend said something interesting. "The heat is ( Read more... )

This week has been so very stressful. I hate thinking about stress and how it can run my life,but I think I need to explore this issue. I've spoken of what I call the dread, which is an overwhelming feeling of anxiety for the near future, specifically school and facing my students and administration. This feeling puts undue tension into my life ( Read more... )

I think there's a limit to the amount of battles you can fight in your life. That's why it disheartens me slightly when you see people fighting for unwinable or inane causes, and I wish I could come up with an example here, but I can't really. Well, like getting more people to convert to your religion or something like that. I mean it's great to ( Read more... )

The ways and means of being happy do not always present themselves, often we have to make our own ( Read more... )

This has been an interesting year, hasn't it? I've always felt like I was an exception to the rule. That I was always slightly above the rules, that being charming and knowing the right people could get you past the usual bullshit red tape that rules other people's lives, especially grown ups. And I've gotten over this, I know now that that is ( Read more... )

Whether it's in the classroom or not, my two new favorite character traits are consistent and fair.

Well now it's on, it's decided. The time is now ( Read more... )