2017-02-17 - 9:36 p.m.
When it comes to teaching, lately I'm super chilled out. Call it forgetting to drink coffee, call it experience. But lately the kids are funny. I used to be annoyed by freshman, but lately even sophomores seem old and dull. Plus you can still mess with the freshman. "Have you ever seen those sun-rise things on your fingernails? You know what it means, right."
"What's it mean."
"For every one you have, it means you'll live ten years."
Random freshman A: "Yeah brah, I got ten, I'm gonna be smashin' till I'm a hundred."
Random freshman B: "I only have one, what does that mean?"
"It means you should have been dead five years ago brah."
Yesterday, the old teacher saying "hold your horses" came to me, and it dawned upon me what a useful expression that one is. Some students just need to be reminded to exercise some patience. A bit of a virtue. An under-appreciated one at that. One that surfing instills. One that waiting in lines instills as well. Probably, people unconsciously put themselves in situations where they are forced to wait in lines so they have some reflection time. Personally I've always looked forward to getting stuck in a line at a grocery store because that's the only time I can finally stop and do some reflecting. Everybody taps their legs, twirls their thumbs, but waiting in lines can be a mystical, transcendent experience, deeply meditative, a chance to go into hyper-observant mode and finally be aware and develop a spurious apercu or two about all the amusing weirdos all around. The surrounding amusing weirdos all frown and roll their eyes, but you know the reason they came for that last minute emergency rotisserie chicken was not out of some lack of planning, it was so they could have a borderline religious waiting experience, but they remain in denial, and so irritation is the forward emotional dominant note. "Can't they get another fucking checker?" Don't you agree with me and my irritation? "Yeah, this really sucks."
A student asked me the other day to clarify "What exactly constitutes an unsafe neighborhood?" And so I had to reply with the truth, as far as I know it, "anyplace with a dearth of Yoga studios and grocery stores that don't carry turmeric."
As a way to try and free up more time lately because my days often run from 6:30 in the am until 8 in the pip emma, I have decided on a few groups to which I owe zero allegiance.
a. beer enthusiasts
b. the coffee community (really people?)
c. political dude, commenting on the latest emotional thing with zero historical context or educational value
d. video gamer dude (utter waste of one's life)
e. shopper (you trade your time once to save up the money, and then you waste your time a second time searching for something that brings nothing. The absolute biggest waste of time
f. sports dude (other than coaching or playing sports, watching them is a bad use of time)
g. foodie- just give me the power bar and raisins
groups to which I do belong
a. teacher/educator
b. surfer
c. mountain biker
d. reader
e. writer
f. cinema/films - a bit of a waste of time, but...
g. the sleep community
Last night we had a basketball practice from 5:30 until 7:30 pm. I graded and planned for the next day from 3:00 until 4:00. At four, I realized I forgot to bring my running clothes with me, and so I went to goodwill and spent $5.35 on a pair of ill-fitting shorts and a crusty/fusty shirt. Then I went to the track and ran sixteen laps for a total of four miles. All the soccer players and track teams were out there, so it was noisy and I tried to stay out of the way. It was madness. I listened to Pandora (free version only of course) The Built to Spill and Dinosaur Jr. station, and I realized how amazing Dinosour Jr. is and how the J. Mascis songs are really better than the Lou Barlow songs. Then after practice I got home at 8:00. Ate an arugula Salad and a T-Bone steak. And then I worked on my stocks. I traded 100 shares of __________stock which finally pulled ahead and made a grand total of $10. I finally etch-a-sketched my conscience clean and got rid of all individual energy stocks on moral grounds with the sole exception of _____________ because they are a solid Midwestern (Madison, WI) company with a beneficent outlook. Just before going abed, I ate a wheatbomb of a sandwich. I bid my lady adieu, tried to give her squeezes and hugs, but she had snuffed out the tallow and was already asnore before my amorous advances could breach the ramparts.
