Life Before

Part of the fun of our media literacy unit is watching a whole bunch of commercials with the kids in class. In fact, we even plan it for this time of year to coincide with all the Super Bowl commercials, and one tweak I've made to the daily plan is to watch a "commercial of the day" where the quote of the day discussion ordinarily takes place.

Today we watched the latest Amazon Alexa ad, an early Super Bowl release. It features Ellen Degeneres and Portia DiRossi and whimsically imagines what people did before there was Alexa. After viewing, we have a quick discussion where students identify the persuasive techniques they noticed.

Of course, testimonial was number one for this particular commercial. "That's right," I confirmed to all of my classes. "Both Ellen Degeneres and her wife, Portia DiRossi are celebrities who use the product."

And every time I said it, my breath caught just a tiny bit, for it was not long ago at all (but definitely before Alexa) that I never could have imagined even mentioning in school two women who were married, much less say it just as casually as I did today in the lesson.

My students accept same sex marriage as a given; they cannot even imagine life before that was so. Now that? Appeals to my emotion.

Stay at Home

I can't say that I ever considered what it might be like to have a wife of the homemaker variety, and yet, while Heidi is away from school on medical leave for six weeks, that's kind of the current situation. Unfortunately, there is a lot of emotional baggage that goes with this arrangement: being in recovery from surgery, facing physical limitations, and the boredom and restlessness of such a different routine have all made the staying at home the last couple of weeks a little rocky. But today, after the two-week check-in with her doctor, Heidi has accepted the reality of it all. AND? The opportunity! In addition to teaching our cats to ring bells for treats, who knows what she can accomplish in the next four weeks?

Engage

"When we write essays," I told my students, "we read essays."

They nodded.

"When we write fiction?" I continued.

"We read fiction?" a student volunteered.

"Yes!" I said. "Those are models! It always helps to see how the pros do it!"

More nods.

"And in this media literacy unit? We are making commercials, so--"

"--we have to watch commercials?!"

"Right!" I agreed. "Let's see how the pros do it!"

The students plugged in their earbuds and clicked on the links. And the rest of the class passed in near silence.

All is Found

After my doctor's appointment this morning we decided to see a movie. It was early enough that the only shows playing were out at a mall about 10 miles from our house, but that was fine because it was late enough to miss traffic, and so off we went.

Heidi's choice was Frozen II, and I went with it because I totally enjoyed the girl power sing along of the first one. Buying our tickets, I noted that the theater was not very full, and I expected it to remain that way on Monday of a school week. Boy was I wrong! We saw the movie with at least 50 toddlers and their caretakers.

As you can imagine, there was a lot of back and forth to the restroom, some talking, and even a few tears completely unrelated to the action on the screen. I didn't mind a bit though, especially because a big theme of the movie was about how everything must change. The preview of the new Scooby Doo movie had left me a bit nostalgic for those days when my nephews were much younger and we enjoyed a lot of kid films together.

Soon enough, these kids would be in school, and then out, and then taking their own little ones to a movie, so I just leaned back in my seat and enjoyed the show and the company.

No Bloodwork Necessary

I'm reclining in our new chair reading by our new lamp with a cozy new blanket over my lap. My feet are up, there is a fire in the fireplace, and I'm off tomorrow for my annual physical. If the current situation is any indication, I'm sure I am quite well!

Out with the Not-so-old

"They closed the grocery store down by the target," Heidi told me yesterday. "Did you know that was happening?"

I did not, and so curious, I did a little quick research. There was no news about what was going to replace it, but there was an article about the property behind it. The 20 theater cinema was going to be torn down to make way for some Virginia Tech buildings, retail and office space, as well as the new Metro stop, all in response to the impending presence of Amazon's HQ2 campus a mile or so away.

I can't say I was sad that the movies were going; it wasn't a theater we enjoyed very often. But it did strike me that I remembered when they first built it on land that had once been an old railroad yard. The whole shopping center was shiny and brand new just a little over 20 years ago, and although it's definitely aged, it sure made me feel kind of old that part of it was already being replaced by something even newer.

Infectious Enthusiasm

"Good morning!" I hailed a colleague before school started. "How are you?"

"Great!" she said.

"Great!?" I raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Wow. Good for you!"

She laughed, too, and shrugged. "Well, you know. It's Friday."

"Yeah it is," I agreed. "I should totally be great, too!"