i promised a pic of ugly town dogs, here's one. he's got his tail down, but usually it curls up like a husky tail. too funny.
the honeymoon with my students is over. i'm happy i got a whole week from them. partly it's done because i'm tightening the reins a bit. some teachers will tell you you have to be strict from the get-go; I don't think that works so well up here. school is such a foreign setting, it takes time to readjust. we go slow. first week, we get to know each other. we see what works on its own, and what needs to be addressed for the good of the class. then, we start addressing things.
today we addressed talking while the teacher is talking, garbage from snacks being left behind, and the volume of personal music. maybe next week we'll address the wandering in and out of class. besides, if they're learning (all of them) then I don't really care if our classroom looks like a southern one. we aren't in the south, so why pretend? some of the things we work so hard to instill in southern students are innately present in kids in the north: independence, a questioning nature, cooperation.
anyway, i sort of wish the honeymoon weren't over... it's a long stretch until christmas, and even longer until june. perhaps my little trippette out of town yesterday reminded me of the world outside town.
by the way, it occurred to me yesterday that northerners must think we southerners are insane for our love of mountains. as far as living, they give us nothing - no animals for food, no plants for berries, no shelter, and they bring wicked wind and weather. that stretch of shore we rode past yesterday is some of the most inhospitable land in Canada... loose rocks leads to frigid water with not much in it. deadly. reminds me of a too-thin model. We crazy people and our Cult of Deathly Beauty.
which, in turn, makes me think of how Spain has just banned too-skinny models from their runways. Amazing, eh?
4 comments:
Wow! How do they define "too skinny"?
I really don't know. The news said the ban is against "waifs". Kate Moss-ish? I mean... there are slender women, skinny women, even women who you think "wow, they are SKINNY!" but then there are women who really do look ill, and I don't think that happens often by nature.
the picture of the dog cracked me up so much!!! it brigtended my spirits!! thanks. i feel slightly better :)
The skinniness ban is based on Body Mass Index; no models with BMI less than something like 18. (I forget the actual number.) I think it's a great, great idea.
I love your town dog!
Like something out of a Greek myth, half big dog, half little dog. My friend Susie, who maybe you met at our party?? has a dog from Nicaragua that has a body shaped like that -- awesome dog, too. Even bigger ears, less shaggy coat; better adapted for the desert than the arctic.
I'm sorry about the honeymoon being over. :(
I'm still glad that you have your own class to be sick of, though. How are your adult friends?
It's raining here. Wet, wet socks. Apparently Queen's homecoming street party was a bigger crowd but much better behaved this year.
We are going to see Sloan at AJ's tonight. Because we are old.
-a
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