All right, so things at work have mellowed a bit--actually it's just how I react to them that's mellowed. I've had to realize that no mere human being can do all that's asked of the lowly third grade teacher---so we just do as much as we can in the time allotted. And that, my friends, will have to do. The kids are still great--even my quote-unquote "behavior" problems make me laugh at least once every other day or so. And I truly think that something will get learned this year, so I'm not afraid. Far cry from the first few weeks, that's fer damned sure.

 

So what else is new?  Bridgette and I appeared onstage singing together for the first time ever as part of the Blair HS fundraiser this past Saturday. We had a great time, and the Broadway pros that were part of the show were very impressed with Ms. B and her raw talents. They were instantly dishing out all kinds of career advice to her (Aida bigshot Randy Gianetti advised her to "do TV and movies--the stuff ya don't wanna do--so's ya can do the stuff you do wanna do!" Sage advice, indeed)...Anyway, we raised probably $7k for the Blair music program. Coolness. When I have pix, I shall post pix!

 

Out of one frying pan...Even as the Blair musical thing has been wrapping, I've gotten myself involved with a batch of strolling singers doing Elizabethan-era-type madrigals, and just in time for Christmas! We've already got three gigs lined up, with more possibly on the horizon. I just can't give up!

 

We're looking forward to having a nice, quiet holiday season this year. So far we haven't made any plans whatsoever to leave town to see anybody, and that suits us just fine. Last year we flew up to Portland, the previous year to Germany, the year before that to Seattle...just such the jetsetters, we are.

Sure wish someone would invite us out for New Year's, though. Hint? Hint?

 

And the news just keeps getting weirder and weirder.  Our fearful leader's numbers have been rapidly plunging with the slow awakening of the American people to their bullshit machinations. The latest? The White House's nasty, bitter, slanderous attacks on Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA), a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran and staunch supporter of all things military who, last week, conjured up the cojones to take on the Bush war and suggest that we need to reduce the number of soldiers in Iraq, "as soon as is practical," with an eye toward letting them take over their own country. Bush actually reworded Murtha's suggestion, saying that the Congressman insisted on "an immediate withdrawal of our troops." Can the man not tell the difference? On top of this, Rep lackies like freshman congressperson Jean Schmidt of Ohio referred obliquely but plainly to Murtha and anyone who agrees with him as "cowards." When she did this on the House floor a few days ago, the place went utterly berserk with honorable congresspeople of all stripes shouting her down. Sounded for a second there like the House of Commons! Love to see some punches thrown someday. And if  mental midgets like Schmidt are on the receiving end, so much the better.

Meantime, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is claiming that he "didn't advocate" going to war in Iraq after 9-11, a claim that flies in the face of fact in a truly bizarre chunk of revisionist history.  This administration seems to have been sipping from lead chalices and sucking on bad grapes. Their days of empire are waning, and it's a pathetic spectacle indeed.