And I've had guys pay for dates and it's just nice. There, I said it. I like when people buy me stuff.

oh, yes. I like this a lot. But, if I ask a guy out, he shouldn't be expected to pay, or thought of as a cheapskate because we split the bill.

and I am suddenly reminded of a bit in Bridge to Terabithia when Jess (?) goes to the museum with his teacher, and she buys him lunch and says "when I ask a man out, I pay"

Sappho and the Golden Ass

Now that sounds like a story!

The Lottery is one that definitely impacted me, and seems kind of appropriate these days.

But, if I ask a guy out, he shouldn't be expected to pay, or thought of as a cheapskate because we split the bill.

Oh, totally.

I think Bridge to Terabithia was the first book I read where someone dies and people have sex (I am thinking of the right book?), so I don't remember anything else about it...

The Yellow Wallpaper

I love that book. Can't remember what class I read it in, though.

It's a short story by Charlotte Gilman. Creepy as hell. I love it too.

OK, I just read the summary on Amazon, and they're only in 5th grade, so I guess that wasn't the book I read where people Did It, which I then felt compelled to hide from my mother. Also, I probably would have been more traumatized over the fact that the main characters have mine and my mother's names.

OK, being reminded of high school classes reminded me of this movie that we watched in civics class that I cannot recall the name of and now it is making me nuts. I *think* it was a trial where the defendant was beaten by someone (her husband?) and killed in self defense or something. And was a piece of work. There may have been an affair too and I vaguely recall a roadhouse or something. Any case, probably 50s , maybe early 60s, defendant was a sultry brunette . Any bells? I have NO IDEA why we watched this in civics class.

I think my brain stores these fragments just to make me nuts. Like the stupd fall of saigon movie that I've forgotten the title to AGAIN. At least that one is easy to look up.

Kristin, driving back from the grocery store, I had the same thought.

I think I will teach the following novels: Haunting of Hill House, The Great Gatsby, The House of Mirth, and The House of the Spirits.

Hmm. Seems I have an entirely unintentional "House" theme!

A friend of mine got to teach an elective early on, and she did Science Fiction -- using Frankenstein and all kinds of other stuff. I thought that sounded like fun, but then we'd had no English electives at all in high school ourselves. Kristin's idea of teaching something you really love is the key, I think. I also love the idea of Madness in Literature -- besides Lear and the Yellow Wallpaper, you could even fit in Jane Eyre and the first Mrs. Rochester!

Our CEO is convinced that LAy skipped the country, until they show the body.

If someone gay asks you out, what's wrong with "No, thank you"?

Because "No thank you" means "Please try again, but harder."

Whereas "I don't do your gender" means "No, really."

When I pretend to be gay to avoid a date it's not to spare anyone's feelings but my own. And that's to spare me the feeling of saying "no" seven million times. Not all guys who ask me out need or deserve that, but it does work better than "I'm involved."