Daughter of Adam

Seeing Life of Pi today really rounded out our Oscar quest. After we go to the documentary shorts tomorrow, there will only be a handful of nominees we haven't seen... not that such an accomplish will make any difference in our annual pool.

As beautiful as it was, Ang Lee's film was a bit of a trial, though. We have been putting it off mainly because the animals are in a lot of peril, and so Heidi flat out refused to see it. (She's still a little bit mad that I made us go.)

I suppose you could include the character of Pi in that group of endangered creatures, I certainly did as I wept throughout the movie for his losses. But there is something undeniably different about the evil we inflict on each other and that we direct toward animals, although I don't know why that is. Just the other day, I finished the Newbury book for this year, The One and Only Ivan. I started it last summer, but could not continue-- the tale of the captive gorilla and his friends, two elephants and a stray dog, broke my heart on almost every page.

Why do we tell sad stories, anyway? When I told my students that I had to set aside Ivan because it was way too emotional for me to be reading at school, at least five kids asked to borrow it when I was through.

Their young hearts must be much more elastic than mine.

Unchained

After putting it off for awhile, we finally saw Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-nominated film Django Unchained today, and it was just as expected: violent, gory, loooong, and yet somehow entertaining. As always, Tarantino makes me re-think movie violence... how can I like a film with so much gore?

Well, Christophe Waltz certainly makes it easier. I can't think of an actor who is more able to humanize a killer. In any of the films of his I've seen, despite their egregious actions, his characters are much less despicable and even honorable, because they have a clear ethical code and they work within it.

Something to think about.

What's Your Type?

Who says introverts don't have social skills? I submit that perhaps? We just have a different set of them.

For example, I have one little trick that comes in handy all the time, and I bet I'm not alone. Because introverts are usually reticent in contributing to conversations, many times people assume we aren't even listening, and so I just pretend I'm not. This is handy for at least two reasons. First, it relieves the pressure to actually participate, and second, when people talk like you're not even there, you hear some interesting stuff.

I have adapted this skill to my classroom. Often when my students are working in groups and I am elsewhere in the room, even perhaps, otherwise "occupied" with the attendance or something, they assume I'm not listening...  and so, many's the time I've beheld the shocked face of a kid who has just heard me quote verbatim the inappropriate remark made when the teacher "wasn't paying attention".

My very busy brain might come in handy here, too. I am perfectly capable of tracking three conversations at a time. Another very useful skill in a middle school classroom.

Aside from assisting in classroom management, though, these abilities also provide a lot of entertainment. Just today, I overheard the following remark as my students were supposed to be making the final push on typing and editing their fiction pieces.

"What's the Space Bar?  I've never heard of that place! Do they have anything good there?"

Tradition!

And for our second vegan Valentine? We return to pizza:

Spelt crust, tomato sauce, mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted zucchini, olives, and fresh basil.

Love!

Ath Wednesday

One of our more precocious, but very impulsive, sixth graders, a self-professed atheist, reacted today to the few students wearing ashes on their foreheads by smearing blue marker on his. He called it atheist Wednesday, but I prefer my shortened version.

Fortunately, the marker was washable and the counselor was available.

So Bad, it's Good

I was in a meeting this morning where everything went to hell. Tempers flared, shoulders shrugged, and cheeks pinkened, and I would be surprised if anybody was satisfied with any of the outcomes.

Even so? It seemed like a step in the right direction.

Let's see.

Know Thyself

The surprise announcement of the pope's resignation was a big topic at lunch today. One of the other teachers clearly stated that she was certainly not Catholic because she liked change. "I sit in the exact same seat in the exact same pew at the exact same mass every Sunday!" she declared.

"That's one of the best parts of the church," I agreed. "You always know what's coming." I raised my eyebrows. "The switch to the new liturgy last year must have been tough for you."

"It wasn't too bad," she answered. "It's really not that different..."

I looked at her skeptically.

"Okay," she confessed, "I did go to an orientation session before they changed. That really helped."