Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

Fetching

8/31/2017

I am beyond happy that Starbuck is a dog who likes to play fetch. Her sister, River, is pretty good about cuddling, but she has no interest in retrieving anything for us. Meanwhile, Starbuck brings the bouncy balls directly to us, sometimes even dropping it in our laps if we don't get the initial hint. On one occasion, she even took the time to carefully balance it on one of the slippers I was wearing while I was making my lunch for the next day.

Not only does she like fetching, Starbuck has become rather proficient at catching as well. If the ball is tossed up, she will usually catch it before it can land. In fact, if no one else is willing to play with her, she will drop the ball at the top of the stairs, chase it down and then catch it when she gets to the dining room.

It has been quite a while since I've had a dog willing to play as much as Starbuck does. Annie, our last dog, was a fantastic dog for our family, but she had no interest in fetching anything. Anytime I threw something for her, she would chase it down, look it at, and then look at me while wagging her tail. It was as though she was saying, "That was a good throw. Come here and do it again." It was not a game that I really enjoyed.

It certainly is a different situation with Starbuck. In fact, she just dropped the ball at my feet again. I think we'll go play some more now.

Audition

8/30/2017

One of my favorite memories from high school was when I auditioned for the Sound of Music my freshman year. It was my first time singing a solo in front of an audience, and I loved it. The enthusiastically positive reception that I received was icing on an already tasty cake.

Today, Trevor auditioned for his first musical. He has been in a play before, but never had to sing a solo in front of a group. He was beaming as he came to the car. Immediately he told me that a lot of the people said they liked his voice. His excitement was palpable and infectious.

Ironically, I did not get a singing role from my audition, but I loved the experience nonetheless. I hope that Trevor will also have fun with the role he gets.

A-Buzz

8/29/2017

This summer had my first encounter with the black fly or white sock. The malicious pest actually leaves a bite mark behind which includes a mean welt and, at least in my case, a good deal of swelling. So far they've only come after me while I've been mowing. Unfortunately, this Sunday I did not just get one bite, but four.

One is on the inside of my left calf. As it hides under my pants during most of the work day, I have left it alone and thus it is the least bothersome. I have one on my left tricep, right on the line where my short sleeve shirts can rub against it. It has a matching twin on my left tricep which gets the same treatment.

The truly annoying one is on my left elbow. It seemed like a smaller bite before; I even thought that it was just a mosquito bite the first day. Unfortunately, it showed its truly diabolical colors this morning. The swelling from the bite seems to be pressing on the nerve that runs across the elbow and up and down my arm. Ever since I woke up this morning, my arm has felt like I have continually hit my funny bone, almost (but not quite) like my arm had just been asleep. It's not a sharp pain, but a dull throb that has been buzzing my left arm like an old electric doorbell.

Hopefully, the Benadryl I took, as well as some rest, will quiet it down.

Fulfilling Fantasy

8/28/2017

I'm cutting this one straight to the point: read the Kingkiller Chronicles (or what there is of it) by Patrick Rothfuss. It is, quite simply, one of the best fantasy stories that I have read in a long time. It's in competition with Robert Jordan's early books, and better than the latter parts of the Wheel of Time series. It pulls me along with a stronger current than anything in George R. R. Martin's series. It is leagues above many stories that I love.

There's a good news/bad news catch. The good news is that it is only a trilogy (at this point). The bad news is that it's a currently unfinished trilogy (at this point), and Rothuss seems to take longer writing books than Martin (thankfully, he's a couple decades younger, being a few months older than me).

There are things I don't like about these first two books; however, they often do what only great books do for me: make me reevaluate my own life and choices. Over and over again, Kvothe (the main character) learns lessons that I would like to teach my own students. These lessons are not as heavy-handed as the Wizard's Rules from Goodkind, but instead sneak up on me, leaving me in a thoughtful stupor before I fully realize what has happened.

Moreso, the books are precisely constructed to the point that the number of words in a sentence spoken early in the book has meaning towards the end. The book's uses of imagery, symbols, and unique characters are at a degree that makes me want to improve my own craft. Perhaps this is why it takes so long for him to write each book.

All I know is that, considering the many things I have going on in my life at the moment, this series has me in its thrall, begging for more.

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

8/27/2017

Jesus renames Simon, calling him Peter--the Rock. He then says that Peter (the Rock) will be the foundation of His Church. In today's homily, as in others that I have heard, it was suggested that Simon's new name was due to his stubbornness. Jesus, thus, was saying that His Church would be built on stubbornness.

This held true through Peter's life. It was his stubborn refusal to give up his belief in Jesus and his stubborn determination to spread the Gospel that led him through his known world and became the basis of the Christian faith. The Church did not just appear, but was built by stubborn men and women who wanted a better future for themselves and their families.

In our modern world, Christian stubbornness is often ridiculed. Sometimes that ridicule is justified, as some Christians have replaced Jesus' commandments for their own personal beliefs. However, in a world that continually tries to chip away at the resolve of the devout, stubbornness can be worthy trait. Our belief in Christ and His saving power is a good stubbornness to have. After all, Jesus blessed those who are hated, excluded, mocked, and cursed for His sake.

Practice

8/26/2017

The calluses are largely gone from my fingers. For a time at the start of the summer, I was asked to play guitar a few of our Sunday masses. A couple of weeks ago, I realized that it had been over a month since I had played, and I took the guitar with me on an outing and played songs that I hadn't played in a couple years. Aside from that, I have not touched my guitar.

Next week, my guitar playing has been again requested at mass. I still need to pick out the songs, let alone practice them. I have time, but often I use that as an excuse to continue to procrastinate. I want my playing to be better than "good enough," and that requires practice.

The same is true for my teaching. The courses that I am teaching this term are all courses that I have taught before, but it has been years, from two years to nearly a decade, since I have actually been in the practice of teaching them. Like my guitar playing, I need to review these lessons, pulling from both "songs" I know while still trying ones that are new.

The truth is that I feel a bit rusty, and I am concerned about letting people down. Actually, that's not quite right. Rather, I want to perform well to live up the reputation I have gained so that people don't think less of me. It's a more selfish reason, but one that gets me to practice.

Truth

8/25/2017

I like to consider myself a seeker of Truth. I want to know the why and how behind the events that spin with the world. I value honesty in relationships and hate keeping secrets. That said, truth does not always come easily for me.

Although I have made great effort to avoid doing so, I often have an initial reaction to hide behind a lie as a way of avoiding responsibility or to protect myself. I also have to fight the urge to lie in the effort of making a story more interesting. I would like to say that the truth wins out in these matters, but I can remember instances where it hasn't. Moreso, I worry about the lies I might have told with such conviction that I actually made myself believe in them. I hope they are few, but I doubt they are none.

I regularly find myself in the position of telling minor lies as a way to not crush someone with the truth. Too much truth can often be discouraging, especially to young people who are learning how to do something. Often lies (at the time) of encouragement are what they need to make those lies a later reality.

I also like to lie extravagantly in order to make people laugh. While the words themselves are false, the tone and delivery hold the truth of their falsehood. I tell myself that these do not count as lies since they are so obviously false that the truth behind them is clear.

For my first few years of teaching, I tried to be honest about my tendency towards falsehood. I warned them that I was a compulsive liar: a person who continually feels the urge to lie. This did not go over well with several parents.

However, I am personally more likely to trust a person who is truthful about dishonesty than one who claims to always be truthful. Too often have I see "truthful" people who are blinded by their own deceptions. Entirely too often, I have witnessed people who have used "truth" as a bludgeon against those weaker than them or as a means to achieve a greater dishonesty. It saddens me when I see people use truths to hide or obscure Truth.

For I do believe that there is Truth, and I believe that Truth is glorious.

Personal Mission

8/24/2017

As long as I mentioned one of my class's opening activities, I figured I should mention another one that I brought back for this year. In this case, I started both of my English classes with personal mission statements. These statements are supposed to incorporate who you are, who you want to be, and what you need to do to get there. Much of this was taken from Stephen Covey and his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

We start by talking about the roles that we have in our lives. In my case, I am a father, husband, son, brother, nephew, uncle, and other types of family member. I have the role of teacher, which can be subdivided by the ages and subjects that I have taught. The same can be true for my hobbies and other interests, even my faith.

I ask the students to choose four roles that are the most important to them. They are to imagine how those roles might change over time and what they would like to be remembered for in each of those roles. To help with this, I ask them to pick a person for each role who would be the best at judging their abilities and actions in that role. They are then to imagine what that person might say about them now as well as what they would want that person to say about them at some point in the future.

I also ask them to research what it might take to achieve their goals. If its a certain type of career, they should find out what is required to enter and succeed in that career. If they want people to treat them a certain way, they should find people who are treated that way and discover what they did to get to that position. The goal is not to simply blindly follow in those steps, but to have a stronger idea of how to become the person they want to be.

My plan is to have my seniors use this as the opening page of their senior portfolio.

Five Items

8/23/2017

For my world history class, I talked about how we know what we know about a lot of history and all of prehistory: the things that were left behind. The areas that these items are most often found are burial sites and garbage dumps: the items we most treasure and the leavings from our daily activities. As I have done for most of my years of teaching, since it's a good getting-to-know-you activity, I have tasked my students (in this case, my sophomore world history students) with thinking about what items would best represent them should future archeologists come across them.

The rules are straightforward: they are to choose five items. These items must all fit in a regular size grocery bag (paper or plastic). No more than one item can be a picture. No item can be used as two items (e.g. a phone with a picture on it). Only one item per type (e.g. they can't bring two video games even if they are of different genres). The items must not be too expensive or breakable. The items must not violate any school rules regarding what cannot be brought to school.

Over the years, various items have ended up in my bag. This year, my five items were:
A rosary - given to me by my mother, this represents both my faith and my family.
A PS2 controller - this represents my love of video games and my favorite game system--the Playstation 2 (which only slightly edges out the SNES).
A D20 - the twenty-sided dice represents not just my love for Dungeons and Dragons, but for any game that cultivates the imagination.
A guitar pick - although I don't use a pick when I play, this still represents my love for music.
And finally, my book in paperback form - this represents my love of writing as well as my fascination with dragons and dinosaurs.

Which items would you pick to put in your bag?

First Day of School 2017

8/22/2017

Each day, I am feeling more confident about my new teaching position. Although there is still quite a lot of work to be done, just meeting with the students made me feel more at ease ... even as it also showed some challenges that I will face. I'm still running on day-to-day survival mode, but I hope that I will be able to get my feet under me and start planning farther out pretty soon.

One of the high points was certainly seeing many of the students who have been in my classes before. I received several hugs, a few fist-bumps, some high fives, and an enthusiastic ovation when I was introduced on stage in front of the student body. Even Trevor commented later in the day about how much the students seemed to like having me at the school. It certainly makes this difficult transition more enjoyable.

With introductions over and syllabi (it could be syllabuses, as the rules are a little fuzzy in this area) handed out, tomorrow I start putting the students to work. The tasks are intended to be light, but still challenging. One of the goals is to get the students used to the style and method of grading that I will be using this year. Another is to get us all to know each other better. We will see how it goes.

Solar Eclipse

8/21/2017

Our skies have been completely overcast for the past couple of days. I don't know if the slight darkening of the sky around 9 AM was actually due to the eclipse (as it was only supposed to have about 44% coverage), a thicker patch of cloud cover, or just my imagination. In a way, I might be fortunate that we couldn't see it from where I am from, because I'm nearly certain that I would have pulled a Trump and just looked up into it directly.

Events such as this remind me that the universe is full of wonderful and strange events, some which come infrequently during our lifetimes (if ever). We feel privileged to witness such amazing phenomena when we recognize it. Sometimes, it puts us in awe of the raw power that exists in our universe.

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

8/20/2017

Today's readings and sermon were about tolerance and the importance of loving even our enemies, even those who have been enemies of our families for generations. It seemed like a timely message. It's certainly one that I need at the moment.

I'm currently fuming from a review given to us for our cabin by a disgruntled guest. Even before knowing what their review said, I wanted to write a rather nasty review of them as guests, even though there was little wrong with them except for the attitude. After seeing their review, I immediately wrote a scathing public response, which I then deleted (well, most of it) and went with a factual point-by-point response.

I am still quite angry. The consolation is that we will likely never see them again. However, it is particularly difficult to swallow publicly made claims that attack our reputation.

You see? It's easy for me to tell other people to put aside their differences and love one another, but here I am struggling with guests whom I only had to deal with for a short period of time. Loving one's enemy is a difficult task for Jesus to put on us.

I suppose that if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Another Full Day

8/19/2017

Considering that we were up rather late watching the Defenders last night, I had a slow start to the morning. I was supposed to get Trevor to the church by 10 AM so he could help with an Eagle Scout project of setting up an outdoor Stations of the Cross trail through the woods. We ended up getting there closer to 11. I then went to my classroom and worked on getting better prepared for my students this coming Tuesday. I succeeded in getting a good deal of my core syllabus written as I try to incorporate my new "menu" or "playlist' assignment method into it. I still have some work to do, but I did have some nice phone conversations with my parents and my brother.

I also forgot to bring my lunch with me, so Janelle and the younger boys stopped by my room and we went out lunch. We tried the Caribou Family Restaurant, and all of us enjoyed our meals. This summer, we had several of our cabin guests ask us for recommendations for local places to eat. We realized that our experience in that area is pretty limited, so we decided we should change that by checking out some of the places ourselves.

I then returned to my classroom. One task that I am particularly proud of is the timeline (which is made up of dates on notecards grouped into time periods by color and set at regular intervals) that I set up around the top border of the classroom. I like standing in the middle of the class and allowing myself to follow the timeline, recalling what I have learned about major turning points in history. It's kind of like being a time traveler.

After finishing the timeline in my classroom and picking up Trevor (he was given hot dogs for lunch), I returned home, and Janelle and I prepared the cabin for our guests who are arriving tomorrow. Woodpeckers were playing percussion on the walls. While vacuuming, I reflected on how our vacuum was still performing well (aside from a burned out bulb) despite being as old as Trevor. Before I finished vacuuming, an important component fell off the machine.

With the help of a YouTube video, and a couple of hours of experimentation, I had the vacuum reassembled and in working order. I am a little concerned about a couple of small pieces that were left behind on the floor when I was done, but they don't seem essential ... I hope.

We ate a wonderful dinner, and then Janelle gave all of us hair cuts. After putting the boys to bed, we watched the fifth episode of the Defenders and decided to call it a night. I also received notice that I officially completed both of my summer classes with 4.0s. This post was the final task that I planned on completing. Now that it's done, I'm going to bed.

Late Night Shows

8/18/2017

Now that Janelle's work schedule is switching so that she does not have to go to sleep before the boys, we are able to start watching shows that either are not appropriate for our boys or that they have no interest in watching. It is a time for us to also share some time together.

In the case of tonight, the show is the Defenders--the newly released Marvel show produced by Netflix. We've watched and enjoyed four of the other five seasons that are related to this series: Daredevil (seasons 1 and 2), Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage (we have avoided Iron Fist at the recommendation of friends and nearly everyone on the Internet). Only an episode in, it looks like this one will be worth the time.

Sometimes the shows we watch during this time become shows we watch with the boys later. This was the case with Madame Secretary, which we started watching as a late night show, but realized that it was tame enough and interesting enough for them to watch with us. The same thing was true for Downton Abbey.

Some of the shows we make certain that the boys do not come in the room at all. Even though I love the writing behind shows such as Rome and Game of Thrones, due to their violent and sexual, and sometimes sexually violent, natures we won't even let Trevor watch them. For that matter, I don't know how comfortable he would be watching them anyway.

In general, we have always tried not to censor our kids too much. I would prefer that we get a chance to talk things over with them rather than have them experience them without guidance. Yet there are some things where a certain maturity needs to be reached. Sometimes I don't know if I've even reached it yet.