I'm usually stressed about finishing lesson plans. Tonight I am concerned about New Orleans.
I am in Chattanooga and I am safe. Despite wacko insane evacuee drivers.
It took me four hours to get out of New Orleans. Four hours to drive twenty miles. I am worn out.
This happens all the time. I'm tons more energized tonight (and might actually do some work) than all freakin' weekend. I don't get it. I haven't had any coffee since this morning, I swears. Wish I could teach at night.
Other matters. My students can't spell, can't use pronouns in a way that you can determine the antecedent, and insist on writing passive sentences. But this year ain't over. I am gonna whip them until they can write. I mean, uh, whip them into shape.
image from flickrstorm
"Maybe if Ponyboy and Johnny got some good counseling they would understand."
Just so you know, we're reading The Outsiders.
"On the road to recovery, the agency has installed faulty drainage pumps, used outdated measurements, issued incorrect data, unearthed critical flaws, made conflicting statements about flood risk and flunked reviews by the National Research Council.
At the same time, the corps has run into funding problems, lawsuits, a tangle of local interests and engineering difficulties -- all of which has led to delays in getting the promised work done."
Click here to read the full article.
I thought that maybe the title of this post should be "This is not reassuring news about my new home." My internal protest has two offensive fronts. The first: Is it really new since I've been here a year? And also, is it really home? I am tied to CHA by property ownership and a robust social network (even if I didn't see enough of some of ya'll this summer). I haven't really and truly myself to NOLA. I keep hearing myself say, "New Orleans is a city that you love or that you can't live in, and I haven't decided yet." Jury still out. I'm glad I moved, seriously glad. Maybe work was so incredibly hard last year that, uh, I didn't even have time to think about whether I loved this crazy place. Maybe I was so overwhelmed that the place-loving part of my brain shut down. We'll see what happens this year.
BTW, I love being back in an academic schedule. I know that other sorts of work have rhythms and ebbs and flows but there's true energy in "back to school." I should also mention that my department chairperson bought me a great and expensive pencil sharpener...LOL.
Woke up at 5:30 this morning, way too early on a freakin' SATURDAY. Guess that means I'm back on schooltime hours.
image from FlickrStorm