Beyond School

First, I tidied up the horrible formatting and added the links I neglected to add in the last post.

Second, I have to add that the night was wonderful anyway. It’s not often you begin a new stage in your career as an educator by addressing your school’s parents onstage, and asking them to raise their hands if they remember anything from high school - and then informing them that you, yourself, don’t.

The night got even better after the event. My two principals, the Apple presenter, and the Korean Apple distributors all went out for “a” beverage at a local Irish pub. Funny thing about Korean culture - they like their late-night socializing after work, and succeeded in persuading us occidentals to eat and drink more.

The conversation was fun, the paper-assessing didn’t get done, and life this morning was good, if rumpled

If you like this post, please spread it: (But don't tag it "education." That will bury it.)

Patrick Higgins tagged me. Here are the rules:

First, the Rules:
1) Post these rules before you give your facts
2) List 8 random facts about yourself
3) At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them
4) Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged

So here we go:

1. I graduated in the bottom third of my high school class, with a school record for absence and the third highest SAT score. I remember almost nothing from high school.

2. I discovered literature after high school, outside of college, by sharing a reading list with a friend.

3. At 20, I moved out of my apartment and lived in my VW Van for six months, parked along the beach in Malibu every night, so I could work less hours as a waiter in West Hollywood and spend that time reading the complete works of Plato.

4. I tried to be Jack Kerouac in my 20’s, hitchhiking coast-to-coast alone, in meandering patterns, for several summers in the 1980’s. I read Don Quixote at nights, sleeping along the side of the interstates and rural highways. It wasn’t quite “Beat” in the Reagan ’80s, but I’d do it again, starry eyes and all.

5. When I took enough graduate courses to realize the English professor’s life wasn’t for me - too much theory, not enough heat - I didn’t have a Plan B. I did have USD $40,000 debt in college loans, so I joined the US Army, which paid off my loans, taught me the Arabic language, and sent me, finally, abroad to live in Germany for 4 years. I’ve never lived in the States since.

6. I took a year off college to read the complete works of Nietzsche, because it felt right. He blew my fuses, but my brain slowly rewired itself over the next couple of years.

7. My girlfriend told me last night that as she was driving back into town from her parents’ summer home, she was laughing in her car as she thought about how in the world she could have ever gotten involved with somebody as strange as me. I don’t see what she means, but I think other people do.

8. I wish people (myself included) were more like dogs: quiet, friendly, playful, more than willing to be stroked behind the ears and lick a friendly hand.

Now I’m supposed to tag eight more people, so here goes:

1. Chris Watson
2. Kim Cofino
3. Anthony Armstrong
4. Sylvia Martinez
5. Diane McCordell
6. Patrick Aroune
7. Barbara Barreda
8. Carolyn Foote

Image credit: Copyright free from everystockphoto.com

If you like this post, please spread it: (But don't tag it "education." That will bury it.)