Being silly. Being sleepy.

After I put the last touches on my term paper Friday, I decided to treat myself to a movie matinee and popcorn. I saw Twilight. Yes, it is silly-teen-angsty. Yes, I sat in the theater surrounded by gaggles of text-messaging young teen girls and two of their moms. Yes, it was all I could do not to ROFL when we learned that vampires avoid sunlight because it makes them Sparkle! Like diamonds!

But, the movie was enchanting and visually gorgeous, and it sucked me utterly into its world. It was magic, as movies should be.

After my last classes for the semester yesterday, G. and I celebrated with sushi. Then I came home, collapsed into bed at 9:30, and did not wake up until 8 AM. That's a whole lot of sleep. I had dreams I was practicing archery in a giant swimming pool.

Being skeptical.

A dear friend who is slightly (OK, quite a bit) farther along the New Age continuum than I has begun distributing raw chocolate blended with acai and blueberries. Apparently it's a superfood. She says it's the Best Chocolate she has ever tasted.

I tried a square. Tastes like stale dark chocolate to me. Did not cure the weird mole on my back.

Have you heard of Anne Lamott?

I just heard of her for the first time. Evangelical Christian writer with progressive politics, a foul mouth, and maybe a touch of crazy. It's interesting. I sometimes reflect that my relatively even temperament equates to less need for (a) god.

This quiz cracks me up.

And it's really difficult!

Pictures for Ann.

I ran across these online and thought of you, my nuanced friend who enjoys winter! All are by Sisse Brimberg. For some reason Blogger is cutting the photos in half horizontally--click on them and watch them unfurl!

Almost...there...

Thank heavens, I got a respite today: No substitute teaching calls. (Of course, I wonder: Did I do something wrong? Will they never call again?)

I've been slammin'-productive this morning, tidying up the straggling NCLB citations (new favorite typographical symbol: the section sign) and piecing together my ILP proposal. All that remains is to produce a proposal timeline and give everything a good proofread. Wahoo!

PS Also, just landed a proofreading gig for during my break between semesters, AND turned down a copyediting gig for that same timeframe! (I'm really glad the proofing gig got a hold of me first: it pays better, which is backwards. Copyediting should pay more.)

In which the days have themes.

Yesterday was "all the fifth graders have ADD!" day. Today was "eighth grade girls with serious 'tudes" day. What will tomorrow bring?

I can tell with one glance at a classroom whether my day will be difficult or relatively easy. If the desks are in neat, ordered rows, I'm in trouble. Rows say, the teacher Is The Boss in this top-down ("autocratic," in ed parlance) classroom. Might makes right. That means trouble for the sub, who is not the usual teacher and therefore has neither might nor right. If the desks are in groups, a horseshoe, or other non-row formation, I am all set. The teacher runs a so-called "democratic" classroom with lots of interaction, where the students share responsibility for classroom management, and therefore feel some sense of ownership. The day will never be perfect, but it will be much, much better.

Today's desks were in an E shape. The day went well.