Rolling South, Again

In about an hour, Monkey and I (and Ripken Ozark) will be loading up the Penguin and heading for CoMo. The annual True/False Film Festival is this weekend, and, fortuitously, my school is not holding classes today, due to the state girls' basketball turnament. So, I decided, reluctantly, as always, to take Friday off, and Monkey and I are making a long weekend of it.

We are slated to see about ten movies (maybe eleven--I don't quite recall), from Friday evening to late Sunday afternoon, then it's back home to Lincoln. I expect we will be mostly worn out on Monday, but, it will be worth it.

I expect I will be telling you all about it in March. Enjoy tomorrow's Leap Day!

Missed Opportunities

The snow and ice fell on Monday, followed by righteous prairie winds. Monkey and I had a report from a driver that the road to Omaha was relatively treacherous and the wind was fierce. We decided not to travel out for Drive By Truckers. Perhaps we missed a great show, but a two hour plus trip one way (estimated due to conditions) followed by the same to return was not a pleasant forecast. Nor was three hours of sleep. Call me lame, but, I think we made a wise choice. Granted, I don't get to tell a story like this, but, that will just have to be okay.

Saturday's housewarming party was nice. We had more than twenty people show up. This may not seem like much, but, for us, it was a mob! Unfortunately, the party was over by 10:30. Does that mean all of our new aquaintances a) are old, b) are lame, c) secretly don't like us, or d) all of the above? Or, is there another, more benign explanation?

Looking Forward and Forward and Forward

This weekend, Monkey and I are having a housewarming-type party (Finally! some might say).The guest list is around thirty, and Monkey and I are a bit nervous. We have never entertained so many people. Well, except at our wedding, but that was different. We've always lived in such small places before, that after you put a half dozen people inside, it was a full house. Not that we live in some palatial estate, now, but, it can fit a few more people. We are excited to have a party, of course.

We're also excited to be going back to Omaha on Monday night to see Drive By Truckers. They are playing at the same place that Daniel Johnston played a few weeks ago. Monday night shows are a bit of a hassle, especially when they are an hour away, but, I am looking forward to it.

But, what I am really looking forward to is the True/False Film Festival next weekend in CoMo. It will be somewhat strange being a visitor in a place I called home for many years, but I am looking forward to it with great eagerness. I look froward to seeing great films. I look forward to walking familiar streets that may not be quite as familiar anymore. I look forward to seeing some friends. It will be a good weekend. And, I am taking Friday off, so, it will be a long weekend. Hooray!

Tacks, Man

It's that time of year, folks. I was watching the news the other night, when the anchor woman went to commercial with a teaser about the tacks man. I remember that it's tacks time, the time of year when we teachers have to watch out.

This time of year, tacks are being filed. That makes them very sharp. And students, always in the mood for a poorly thought through practical joke, are well-aware of the time honored, guffaw-inducing prank of putting tacks on a teacher's chair. That's bad enough at any time of year, but, when the tacks are filed, it hurts even worse.

It has gotten so bad, apparently, that the government is stepping in to help beleagured teachers. The president and congress seem to favor cutting the tacks. This, of course, in an effort to lessen the effect of filing them, I imagine. It sounds like a good idea to me.

And, even better news, the presidential candidates are all contemplating making the cuts permanent. This would really help. If we permanently kept tacks cut, teachers would never suffer the ignominy of having a filed (or unfiled) tack jabbed into their posterior. And, we could always use push pins for our bulletin boards.

The Periodic Affirmation

Stopped a former student (from last semester) in the hall this afternoon to ask him where he got his awesome headphones. He said he had something for me, and reached in his bag to pull out a pair of burned CDs. Pinback. I said I'd heard of them, but never heard them. I thanked him for the music.

We had a conversation months ago about The Shins. The passing time soundtrack I had been laying down had roused him not at all. He'd not said a peep through Bessie Smith, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Will Johnson, Meat Puppets, Mazzy Star, Sarah Vaughn, Miles Davis. He perked up at The Decemberists one day, and became mega-animated the next at "One by One All Day." He was always a quiet kid. Sharp, sometimes had some good comments, but, he dozed off a lot. However, he had a good nature (almost all of them do), and, he was a drummer, so we connected over that, too. But, I never really felt like our connection went beyond music (which was a strong enough connection, at any rate).

But, today, he made a few comments that made it clear to me that I had made an academic connection with him, also. He said I had covered texts "in depth," and it sounded like he was saying it as a compliment. I thanked him for that as he shuffled off to class.

I feel like a success any time I can connect to a kiddo. Over anything. But, when it becomes clear that I may have TAUGHT someone something--that's like hitting a grand slam in the World Series.