October 8, 2005

wish list

Saturday mornings at our house almost always include watching Nick Jr. on CBS before we head out to the farmer's market. This morning I have noticed that 'tis the season to get little kids longing for the newest toys (available for Christmas). Parents across the country are, no doubt, saying: "Yes, honey, I know you want the My Little Pony Butterfly Island. We'll see." What does that mean: "We'll see"? For parents it is THE stalling tactic (i.e. If I wait long enough she will forget about it); for the child it is a dream deferred and an opportunity to hone one's memory skills (i.e. she thinks I'll forget about this, but I wont).

This got me to reminiscing about my own childhood. In my day (with no cable TV to teach me about what I HAD to have), there came a day each year when mom would bring home the bible of all catalogs...the SEARS catalog! I think she finally started bringing home two of them, but at first it was just one copy to share between my sister and I. We got to pour over the pages, (skipping the boy pages and grown-up stuff) and pepper them with circles, initials (indicating if this was a "G" wish for Genna, or an "A" wish for Andi), and our kid-versions of emphases: hearts, exclamation points, dog-eared pages, arrows, PLEEEEEEEEASEs, and a number of other creative indicators of our deepest desires.

This yearly ritual was almost as satisfying as actually getting all of those toys, which we never had the money for. We did get showered with gifts, but the exhilaration of shopping and dreaming was unforgettable! Matthew had a similar experience; he and Adam would shop to their hearts' content (but in the boy section). Matthew thought he would go nuts if he didn't get the 7-foot G.I. Joe battleship. Seriously, he still talks about it as if he would actually WANT this thing! If we have a son someday, we may need a very large garage.

So I am tempted to go to Sears and pick one of these things up. Shopping on Amazon just isn't the same. Seriously, it is like trying to read Shakespeare on a computer screen...some things you just have to hold in your hands to dream about.

October 4, 2005

O Captain! My Captain!

It is strange how every class you teach has its own personality (classinality?). I think this class will be a good one in spite of the 8 a.m. meeting time. Things went very well yesterday morning and the students actually got involved! It was a little Oprah like when they introduced themselves and why they are taking this class. In general, they all want to learn how to write more clearly and "do grammar." :)

They got fired up over a Washington Times article on prices after Katrina. They fell right in to my trap; it was great! The class had an overwhelmingly emotional reaction to the article, then slowly began to realize that the article didn't make emotional claims. It was a perfect example of reading closely and analyzing your own reaction to a text.

I did not make anyone yawp while standing on my desk, (a shout out here to all "Dead Poets Society" fans), and no, they didn't stand together on desks and call out "O Captain! My Captain!" It was just the first day. There is time.

October 3, 2005

fingers crossed...

I will teach my first University course in the morning. I've been a teaching assistant before, but this will be my very own class of students, my syllabus, my reading choices, my TRUCK-LOAD of grading and exam writing, etc. So, fingers are crossed and I'm praying that the alarm goes off and I wake up ON TIME. I'll let y'all know how it goes.