Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

1. While on a walk the other day with my two dogs I stopped at a house to inquire about what type of dog the lady had. We got to chatting and her two-year-old came up to see Chomsky, my big-ass lab. The little girl had no fear and the mom asked if she could pet him, so I bent down to make sure he didn't try to jump on her. I got back to chatting with the mom, and all the sudden I looked down and realize that the little girl was playing with my panting dog's tongue. And he loved it! And her! It was gross, but also a little adorable. 

[next time I might eat you, little girl]

2. I just bought new copies of Hamlet and Macbeth to read. I need to teach one of them and decided a rereading was necessary. Thoughts? I think there's something to be said about a graduating high school senior being able to say that they've read, and understood, Hamlet, but perhaps I'm just putting it on a pedestal. There's this constant conflict that I feel as a teacher: do I make things easy and accessible so that most of the kids will understand (not that Macbeth is super easy) or do I up the ante and try to kill them just a little bit? Generally I try to land somewhere in the middle, but I want to work them hard next year so they're read for college. Hamlet vs. Macbeth Smackdown: who will win?

3. Tomorrow night is prom at the high school where I teach. The kids keep asking me about my experiences, which has been sort of fun (when it's not annoying the shit out of me that they won't talk about anything else). Junior year I went with a dear friend and had a great time. Senior year I went with my boyfriend and fought most of the night (it was how we rolled for the three years that followed, too). 

[so bad they're good. back before prom went hoochie]

4. I have made a bit of a dent in my TBR pile- we're down to 56 books, thanks to the fact that I've read like eight this month. Just over a month and I can start buying them again...

5. I used to follow a lot of daily health and fitness blogs until they all started popping out kids and yammering on and on about them. It's made me think, though, lately, what the impact of social media will be on this current young generation. Parents are plastering their kids' pictures all over blogs, Facebook and Instagram- is that healthy? And is there a difference between "my baby is super cute" and "should I circumcise my baby/what do you think about his spit up/do you want to see a picture of him nekkid?" I think there is- I think kids deserve a certain level of privacy. Cute pictures for the win, but what happens when little Billy grows up and realizes that his mom described his poo on the Internet? As as a teacher I'm sensitive about this issue- unless a student is eighteen and consents, I won't put a picture giving away his/her identity on any form of social media without blurring the faces because they have right to anonymity. People get sued for that shit! Unfortunately, little Billy probably won't be able to file a suit against his Mom for talking about eating the placenta he was attached to...

6. This has been the longest week ever. 



7. Gary Shteyngart is coming out with a memoir. I'm not sure exactly when it will hit, but I've read all of his book and have seen him read through ALOUD once. I'm sure it will be great.

8. My students just reread Athol Fugard's "Master Harold"... and the boys and I assigned them the task of writing a five-minute scene about a current controversial issue that endangers a friendship. I'm really, really excited to see what they come up with- there have been talks of costumes, projected settings, and Ke$ha soundtracks.

9. I am absolutely obsessed with a Milly + Banana Republic dress that I saw in In Style (that I of course can't find a picture of anywhere). I begrudgingly signed up for their emails just so I can make sure I know when the line is released. Have we talked about how I get fixated on things and won't give up until I get what I want? 

10. Speaking of my rampant materialism, I really, really want an old-school ice cream maker. We had one growing up and it's the only homemade ice cream that I can remember actually turning out, texture wise. I bought a Cuisinart one a few years ago and is sucked balls- if I wanted soup I'd get ice cream and stir it up with my spoon (did anyone else do that as a kid?). Bring on the rock salt. Oh, and there's this person, I'm not sure if he reads, but anyway, this person owes me one as a house-warming present. Just an FYI...

[Note to self: wait until after the cruise...]

5 comments:

  1. That is exactly how I feel about healthy loving blogs right now!

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  2. Yay for Chompsky not eating the little girl's fingers! Haha I hope Sonic will eventually have a love for kids, not that he would eat fingers or anything.

    One piece of advice I gave Sergio's sister about going to school dances was to go with friends, not a date. I went to prom with my boyfriend and fought that night too. Lame.

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  3. On 2. Hamlet for the win!

    My brother just read Macbeth in his high school class and cited it as proof that Shakespeare writes one-note protagonists-and with Macbeth, I kind of had to agree. No way you could make that argument about Hamlet. The much better (and more interesting) play for sure.

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  4. You know, I've also wondered a lot about children's privacy online. I think I may be overly sensitive to online privacy. I actually don't put a lot of images of my family and friends on my blog because I don't want to encroach on their privacy (even as adults).

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  5. You raise a good point about children's privacy online...are these parents then going to tell their pre-teens they can't have their own social media platform because of privacy issues, etc?

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