Conflicted

Talking to myself and feelin' old.
Sometimes I'd like to quit.
Nothing ever seems to fit.
Hanging around.
Nothing to do but frown.
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

I've just listened to Karen Carpenter sing that about 7 times. I just kept hitting replay. Why did I do that? I had a great day and now I have the blues. Sure, music and memory are powerful, but why did I indulge that side and marinate in it?

How can students half my age make a CD with unrelated music that turns out to be all of my all-time favorites? Yeah, Phill. This CD is a perfect blend of upbeat and melancholy, a gift from my students at our year-end party.

I guess that's the reason for my conflicted emotions... the end of another school year. I've given my last exam and just have to turn in grades. I already hosted a party for the Forensics team and now this week I'm having the Public Relations students over. The end of the year is at once liberating and melancholy-producing. Students feel that tension between competing and contrary emotions, but I'd bet most teachers do, too. At least this one does.

So while I've written this, Karen started singing "We've Only Just Begun." I'm not making that up for effect. That was seriously the next song. Seems appropriate. I've slid out of the marinade, but it is still rainy.

So last weekend I attended a play with a few colleagues and students. Great fun with them and a thought-provoking play. I can't possibly explain it as well as Andrew did, so check out his most recent blog.

So my friend Amy's blog has these really funny photos of life in Egypt. They are 100% real. Maybe they are so funny to me because I once visited there, but I think everyone should look at her blog to see them.

It's been 2 years... what does that mean?

This is hilarious. My last post was titled "I'm back," and then I didn't write again for 2 years!! What does this mean? There is only one reason I'm writing now... I just heard from my college pal Amy, who lives in Egypt. She has a blog that was so great, full of photos and info on her life. I just posted to hers and thought I should take a look at mine to update it.

If I haven't written in 2 years, what does that mean for my life? Well first, noone missed it. I didn't get a single email asking "where's your blog." Second, I obviously have felt as though there is nothing worth reporting. Third, the college students who lured me to blogspot have all graduated and gone... the new students are on MySpace. I can't possibly learn another system, so here I am.

Hmm. I'll try to write more frequently.

I'm Back!

In case anyone is still checking this site.... I'm back! There is no good reason I have not been blogging. Just chalk it up to prioritizing, and blogging was low on the list.

I was encouraged to blog again today by J. Stahl after I told him about a little opportunity I have for the summer. He said I had to blog about it. Then again, maybe it was just funny to us at the time, like one of those "had to be there" kinds of things.

The situation is this: I might have an opportunity to intern at a PR agency over the summer. Yes, I said "intern." Here I am helping students find internships, and I just may be vying for one, too. That is where we went off into silliness.

"Sure, student Suzie, let me mail your resume in for you. I'll save you the postage." Then Ann goes for 3 points in the round file as soon as Suzie leaves.

"I'd love to look over your resume, student Johnny. Let's see. No, you really don't want to mention your 4.0 GPA or they'll think you're too academic. Oh, and see here? Don't mention your previous experience because they'll want to train you themselves," Ann smiles smugly.

"Welcome to the firm, Ann. You look familiar. Weren't you my public speaking teacher 3 years ago?" Ann's new boss smiles smugly.

The reality is that I've reconnected with a former mentor who is now principal of a PR firm. I've done corporate and non-profit PR, but a summer stint in an agency would give me a different perspective to share with my students. Besides, I know if I tell them one more East Ohio Gas story that they'll all run out of the classroom with spinning heads.

So, I'm applying to be an "educator in residence." Basically, an intern with credentials. I probably shouldn't have blogged about this just in case I lose the spot to a student half my age named Suzie or Johnny. But then again, that story may make a much funnier blog than this one.

There go any illusions I had of returning to blogging with something really profound!

Clothes Make My Man

Tom and I went to a Halloween party last night dressed as, what else, tough Harley bikers. (BTW, thanks for the invitation MaryKate and Ashley! It was fun!)

When we were driving home Tom asked rhetorically, "What does it say about you when the clothes you wear every day are considered a Halloween costume?"

Trick-or-Treat

Tonight was Trick-or-Treat night in my neighborhood. (I had never heard the term "Beggar's Night" until I moved to Ohio.) I set out my once-a-year, terra cotta, jack-o-lantern luminaries in a semicircle around my chair and the scarecrow, and I set up the candy distribution center in my driveway.

Overall, this year's costumes weren't as impressive as last year's when one big-for-his-age kid came in a suit and tie, carrying a bouquet of helium balloons and a giant check proclaiming me the winner of the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

There were the too-cute-for-words babies... an alligator, a cowboy, a princess. As cute as they are, it burns me that the parents are really getting candy for themselves. Sure, dress up the 1 year old and take pictures, but do you really need to go door-to-door to get chocolate for the baby?

There were the pre-adolescent enthusiasts... Harry Potters, firemen and policemen, old ladies and 50s girls in poodle skirts. Their goal is to run to as many houses as they can in the 90 minutes. Which is why one particular pair had me in stitches. Two boys dressed up as "fat, bald, old men." They had wrapped themselves in foam padding and were wearing sweats. But they walked like the little brother in "A Christmas Story." There was no way they could get up if they fell. They couldn't bend knees or arms and could barely go house to house. And since speed is the purpose of pre-adolescent boys, I think they discovered quickly that a good idea had turned bad. After watching them painstakingly walk to two houses, I saw them later on skateboards. Problem solved!

And there were the teenagers without costumes. I was so tempted not to give them any candy since they were too old and obviously in it only for the loot, but I was aware that my home would be a target for egg bombs or T.P.-ing. Besides, Tom told me to be extra generous this year because we have a Bush/Cheney sign in our yard. "We want people to know that Republicans are generous with their candy."

A family of nicknames...

Chick, Chickie, Boodie, Cribbo, Slugger, Sluggo, Weezie, Butchie, Butchicat, Mimi, PC, Laurinski, Sissy, A, Big A, Rip, O, Lloyd, Chippy, Fing, Nana Luv, PupPup, Nana, Papa, Hobbes, Googs, Eggie, Dooders ... these are just a few of the nicknames in my immediate family. Yes, I'm still stuck on why we give them, what they mean, why some make it and others don't, why some people have multiples and others have none...