various high and low points

If it were possible to pay money in exchange for sight of the sun, I would do it. I haven't been keeping track, but I believe I have not seen the sun for a week. I mentioned this to my neighbor, who said "What do you want to see the sun for, anyway? Didn't you get enough of it during the summer? This is my favorite kind of weather." I also enjoy crisp winter air, but I was so taken aback that I couldn't even come up with a proper response (i.e. one that would mention Vitamin D). Oh well.

I had a really good moment on Monday. I was working with one of my 8th grade classes, who are probably the strongest students I have. I decided to present them with William Carlos Williams' This Is Just To Say. We started by trying to decide if it were a poem or not (conclusion: no; maybe a dialogue? no, a monologue). What was it about? They looked blank. 'Is it about love?' (Eighth grade girls are goopy enough to think that everything is about love) 'Yes, it is about love.' 'Really?' 'Love for plums!' Finally, one girl explained in Russian that the plums represent love, since they are sweet and kept safe for the future. Well, that was better than nothing. Finally, who is speaking, a man or a woman? 'A man!' 'No, a woman!' 'How do you know?' 'Because boys never confess!' Ha. Personally, I believe that the poem is simply WCW's attempt to capture in words that sometimes delicious, sometimes sickening sensation that you have when you have taken what isn't yours.

A while ago, volunteers were trying to determine that song that best typified their experience serving. For the boys, I suggested the Police's Don't Stand So Close To Me, but I was at a loss for my own. It has come to me, at last- Hendrix's Manic Depression. Not because I suffer from anything of the kind, but it perfectly sums up my periodic feelings of confusion and frustration. And because it's a damn good song.