The Sprouts

 This was our week for state testing.

On Thursday a playful and  friendly colleague was supervising the Thirdlanders at lunch when lo and behold they decided to have a brussel sprout eating  competition that involved much screaming yelling cheering and rabble rousing.

By the time I returned and got everyone back to calmly lining up for recess, two Thirdlanders had to be sent to the health office for stomach issues.  They both were then sent home and come to find out, they didn't make it to school on Friday either.  We got a doctor's note via email on Friday that read, "Please do not let her eat brussel sprouts again." 

Most of the participants in the contest and even others in the class are decidedly against brussels now, which I think is unfortunate.  If they're nicely roasted the way they make them at C3, they're so delightful.  I may order some this very week. 

The Read Aloud

Yesterday I finished reading a great book to the Thirdlanders.  It was a book that started off sad and got even sadder and more tense as it moved along.  We were mesmerized.  It's a rare read aloud that causes a whole class to erupt into vehement choruses of shock, outrage, relief and curiosity throughout the story.  On Friday I had a half day off.  I taught in the morning and left at lunch for an afternoon appointment. I usually do the read aloud after recess, but I could not have a guest teacher reading the ending of this amazing book, that has been part of our lives for several weeks. We needed to bring it home together.  Masked up, I started reading right after morning meeting and when I came to the final line, I broke out in tears and the Thirdlanders broke out into applause.  There was also some jumping up and down.   Thanks to Barbara O'Connor.  How to Steal a Dog is some book and you are some writer.  
 

The Human

 Our friend JB is at it again.  He's designed a cool website called 

human.com and it's a place where people tell quick jokes and you can vote on the one you like the best.  

I love this site for these reasons.  First, I prefer short jokes to long drawn out story telling jokes and secondly it only takes about 30 seconds of my super precious time to check out the four daily jokes and lastly, it's fun to share a joke with my dad on our phone calls.  The 3rdLanders also think the jokes are amusing.  So it's just a triple win.  THANK YOU JB!!!

Here's a link.  Just click it and start chuckling. 

Here's one I liked last week.  What did the cannibal do when her husband came home late for dinner?  GAVE HIM THE COLD SHOULDER!

The Weirdnesses

No photo because for some reason I can't click on my photos today.  

Come to find out, every day I've had tech problems at work.  Case in point:

• All of a sudden the document camera only shows a black screen.  
• The birdcams we've watched for months now tell me I have restricted access.  
• The media player for watching DVDs about the economy refuses to play said DVDs.  

Every day I fill out a help ticket and our IT friend finds me and tries to fix stuff for me. Sometimes he can, sometimes he can't.  I wonder if I'm being targeted by some villainous worker in the technology department at both job and home.  Not sure what I've done to annoy someone, but clearly I've done something.

Switching topics, I wanted you to know about what I saw at recess this week.  You have heard that kids have no sports equipment this year.  I saw some sixth graders hiding behind our garden area playing a condensed kind of football with someone's lunchbox and on a grassy knoll behind me I saw a group of sixth grade girls playing catch with a large orange peel.  

Also, I'm not feeling confident about moving about in the world even though I've had 2 Moderna vaccines.  Will I ever?

My tech woes and the weirdness at recess and my pandemic anxiety bring to mind the classic song by Bob Dylan.  You should listen to this song today if you feel like it.

But something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

The Story

I'm not enjoying my book club book this month.  It's Ministry of Utmost Happiness.  I'm on page 150 and it's been a mixed bag.  Some interesting characters doing this and that followed by long stretches of amusing and ironic comments about modern India.  Back and forth wigwagging along without much connecting and an elusive story arc.  

I've been thinking about liking versus not liking.  Could I just as easily like this book as dislike it?  Is my disliking a lack of effort and a lack of curiosity on my part?  Is it possible for me to switch gears somehow and just react to the book in a new way?  I wish I could because I feel a responsibility to finish a book club book. Also, whenever I do soldier on and finish a book that's not my favorite, I usually find some good things to appreciate about it.  

On the other hand, I have KC's new book sitting on my coffee table and I could just be devouring that right now.  So I guess I'll throw in the towel.  I hope Arundhati Roy doesn't read this blog, because I know she worked hard on this one.  

Time for a new story.

 

The Pet

 

The pets at my dad's house are little rascals, but there's a cat here who really takes the cake. 

This cat hops on to my night stand at night and bats my belongings to the ground.  

He plays with the water in my water glass, sticking in a paw and splashing the water hither thither and yon.

He likes to hop on my bed while I'm sleeping and chew on my scalp.

I found my headphones in this cat's water dish yesterday afternoon. 

What if this cat could talk to me?  He might say, "Look, I don't know what you're doing here, but I'd prefer you be on your way."

Or maybe he would say, "You think I'm just a regular old cat, but I'm so much more."

I wonder if I should take this cat back with me to High Street of Hoosier Town. He could be a school cat for Thirdland.  This cat has energy---vim and vigor---and that's what we need for this final quarter of the Pandemic School Year. 

Dickens and the Dog

 

We finished up episode 8 of Little Dorrit today.  

My dad wasn't crazy about it, but I thought it was great.  

Little Dorrit was a selfless do gooder and kind friend.

Arthur Clennam was also a kind and helpful character. 

In the end, they acknowledge their great love for one another. 

My dad tells me, "You are an incurable romantic.  You would have done well on our corner back in Dorchester. We were all incurable romantics then." 

I think my dad is right.  I love love.  I like those tiny love stories in the NYT and I never miss a Modern Love column.

Let me tell you something I don't love.  Our good friend Rudy wants me to give him dog treats all day long.  I refuse to do this.  He runs back and forth from the treat cabinet to me, barking and grumbling.  Sometimes quite forcefully.  "This isn't how you treat a friend, Rudy," I've told him, but he doesn't get it.  He doesn't know that he lives in a debtor's prison, just like Little Dorrit.  Luckily for him, my brother Dan will be back from his trip soon and Rudy will be chowing down on treats 24/7.

The Debtors

Watching another episode of Little Dorrit.  Amy Dorrit lives in a debtor's prison with her father.  Her father is a gentleman, and commands the respect of many in the prison, but he's a bit of a blowhard and pushes his daughter to serve at his beck and call. 

What can we take away from this episode?  First, it's not super bad to live in a debtor's prison.  Just make the best of it. 

At one time, after all, our own Karst Farm Park was the County Poor Farm.  If you died there, your body was sent to the college to be used for cadaver research. 

 

The Dickens

 I'm hanging with my dad today.  We've watched 2 episodes of LITTLE DORRIT. Little Dorrit is one of my favorite Dickens novels.  

My dad's been sleeping through much of the show.  I'm happy that he's getting some good rest, but he's missing out on a classic.

In between the classic Dickens, we check in with Fox News.  So, that's awesome.

The Snazzing

 Today I'm heading south to visit my dad and my sibs. It's spring break here for me, but not for Husbandman.  He has to teach.  No spring break during this pandemic for the university folk.

It'll be my dad and me watching movies, sorting his genealogy documents and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

How am I going to snazz up the week, you ask?

Well let me tell you.  Dad and I will be collaging quite a bit.

And we're going to make a podcast about the olden days.

We're also going to paint yard signs with inspiring sayings to place in his neighbor's yards. 

Perhaps we'll also make scones.  The focus is going to be on creativity this week.  Dad and I are starting an artists' collective.

The Rude Crime

The Thirdlanders have to take a big test on Tuesday morning.  If they don't pass this test, they are required to go to summer school and then they have to take the test again. 

Question #1.  If you were told that you had to pass a test this coming Tuesday and if you did not pass this test you would be spending weeks of your summer in a building with instructors and other students you've never met while everyone else you know is kicking back doing summer vacation stuff, would you have a sense of calm confidence right now? Or would you feel anxious and maybe even a little ticked off?

Second Question. Do you think this Tuesday test is a good idea?  

Let me tell you something. I think this test is an act of rudeness in a normal year.  This year I think it's criminal.  I wish the people who thought this was a good idea would be put in jail for a few weeks this summer while everyone else they know is sent on fun vacations.  While they're in their jail cells, they can think about what they've done and also study for a test that requires a passing score before they can return to freedom.