All right, so my first week of full-time subbing is coming to a close. And even though Monday I was nearly weeping at my desk come 3:00, it wasn't so much because of the kids themselves---although they tried, God knows they tried, to put me six feet under that first day, I just wouldn't have it---no, instead, it was the amazing amount of paperwork and organization that teaching carries with it that upset me so. Those of you that know me well know I'm hardly the most organized tool in the shed (witness my poor use of metaphor), so this becomes the real challenge of my newly chosen career.

And what about those kids, you say? Well, suffice it to say that, while the first couple of day were incredibly trying (about 12 out of 30 of them are off-the-chart behavior problems), after three more days of haranguing, they are finally getting the message that I am their teacher and not just another sub. I'm feeling better day by day about my organizational duties, I'm getting more and more in tune with what has to happen by the end of the year and I can finally tell that ultimately this experience will prove to have been an invaluable one. When it's over, I can truly consider myself a teacher (about time, too, as this whole midlife-career-switching thing has been hugely anti-climactic, to say the least)...

 

And a very special shout-out to those of you who sent me best wishes for the start of my longterm subbing gig. Here are a few comments that remind me that I have friends out there who actually care about me (go figure!)...And PLEASE ignore the wonky spacing and varying fonts. I can't seen to fix 'em right now.

 

From Dawg (who else):

 

Karbunckle
 
The thought of Dawg as a middle school teacher still scares the
                                             bejeeziz out of me---but okay. 
Thankee, Dawg.
 
Here's from Dawg's sister Kathleen:
Congrats on the job. go dean! only
                                             3 months until summer vacation. but what i really want to know is what you got against jane austen? hm?
 
From Mister Mike Allen:
When the going gets tough, the weird get crazy...give 'em a little Nixonian "he's a madman
                                             who just might go too far" and watch 'em snap into line!!
 
Interestin'
                                             take, Mr. Mike, and sage advice, indeed. Thanks! 
 
From the Libstress:
Fifth grade devil spawn how delightful!! I can see the story
                                             now "Elderly Eagle Rock man submits to trial by fire and emerges triumphant"
All the best to you my dear, could be worse - muuuuch worse. :-)
 
From Cat:
Well, I'm rooting for you...expecting success your class of pre-cons. Do keep us informed. Always good
                                             to hear of your life. Take care you two. Cat  

 

Good luck - though I don't think you'll need it - show 'em tough love and did you ever read that book I told you about by Esme what's her name the diary of her first year of teaching? She had a class that had to be worse than Glendale. I sned you psychic hugs and Mark Twain had to be drunk when he said that. You can't really agree with him... right? Tell me I'm right. Right? Right?

Goodbye, Mr. Chips,

Love, Leighski

 

 

Hmm. As I write this, I'm hearing strange squealing animal noises right outside my office window. This can't be good. But hell no I'm not going out there to find out! Oh wait...that smell...holey moley, I think the Skunk Apocalypse is upon us miserable humans! Everybody run!

 

 

Hey, fellow movie geeks! Heard about Netflix yet? Debs and I finally broke down after listening to friends and family rave on & on about Netflix, the online/postal video rental service. This damn thing rules! Never thought I'd say this, but I feel reinvigorated toward the entire filmic medium as a result. I've been sick of Blockbuster for f'kk'n years now and always wished there were an alternative. It's here! Check it out, and if you decide to sign up, lemme know.

Awww well, I got the job. They offered me the long-term sub position today for a fifth-grade class in Glendale.  I will be their teacher for the remainder of their year, through the end of June, as their regular teacher has been unable to work due to asthma aggravated by current construction work being done in the school. I'm so on the fence about it, truly, because I have experienced this class and they are a very tough crowd. These poor kids have had almost a dozen different subs since January, and thus not a whiff of structure or discipline in that whole time. NOW, imagine if you will, in walks your humble narrator. I start this coming Monday. Am I happy? Well, I'm pretty sure that taking this job will almost guarantee me a gig come September somewhere in the vaunted Glendale school district; and for that I intend on looking to the bright side. After all, it's only three months, and they can't eat me---right? (right?) I can handle anything  for three months. And an extra added benefit: any other class I'm tasked with will seem like little angels  by comparison. SO----please, if you're reading this, send me a little plug of good luck. The response window is south of here, at the bottom of the page. Let me know you're out there!

I suppose the day after St. Paddy's Day is as good a time as any to get back into the swing of blogging my life away!

 

Let's see, some recents happenin's I should scrawl about...

 

Last week my brother Gy and I make a haj to beautiful downtown Milton, CA, in historic Calaveras County. Gy flew into Sacramento from his hometown of Billings, Montana, and I drove up, met him at the airport and we spent the night in Stockton. While there, we imbibed in a fine Mexican dinner and two pitchers of margaritas, as this shot attests:

Gy taking a picture of me taking a picture of him.

 

The next morning, we tripped on up to Milton. It was a gorgeous early-spring day, with strange patches of fog everywhere, but any day is strange in Milton. Once a bustling railhead town, Milton is situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, in the area known as the Gold Country. Here's what it looks like now.

 And yes, that's the entire town! The little clump of trees on the right is the town cemetery, where we buried my dad back in January 2004. This trip we went to set down the headstone that I'd received in December. We planned it to coincide with what would have been Dad's 71st birthday. I hope he appreciates it.

 

I've been subbing hardcore all around town, but mostly in Glendale and South Pasadena. I'm meeting with the principal of a Glendale school for a spot as a long-term sub for a rowdy fifth grade class, so we'll see how that goes.

 

I've been losing myself for hours at a time in the blogosphere, that vast gallery of wonks and geeks whose work make my piddling little attempt at commentary pale in forty different flavors of comparison. But what a wonderfulness! In case you're interested, you should download and install a little (and free!) program called SharpReader; then go to your fave blog sites (some of mine include The Daily Kos, AmericaBlog, Wonkette and Alternet ), look for an RSS link, copy and paste that address into your SharpReader's "subscribe" function, and voila! All the news that you can possibly read, distilled into digestible chunks and all linked to even more sites of interest. It's the new way to read and in some ways even make news (see the ongoing chatter about the Jeff Gannon/Guckert scandal--a genuine scandal--that the mainstream ---or "LIBERAL"---media has yet to touch fully). I'm way hooked!

Anyway, that's a pretty good way to get back into it. If anyone gives SharpReader a try, lemme know how it works for you! And no, they're not paying me for this ringing endorsement. Damn shame, too.

 

I finally read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Never read it before--never had to! In any case, as most of you will already know (since most people have already read it), it's a terrifically written short novel about hardscrabble guys working the fields of the San Jouquin Valley in the Depression. I could almost see my grandfather working alongside these guys. A great shot of California history, both hopeful and sad. 

 

One of the most interesting developments of recent weeks is in finally re-establishing contact with probably my oldest acquaintance outside of family, Terri L. She and I go waaaaay back---like around 1964 or so---when we used to run around the hills of Ventura climbing trees and pretending to be secret agents. She probably doesn't remember this, but...she was the first girl I ever kissed. Where the hell were our parents!? In any case, it's a great pleasure to be chatting once again after so many years.