>It's possible they're going to make the poor kid relive and relive and relive her 70. I say it's a good policy your school has there, Kristin.

This is my fear, too.

Okay, anyway, on that note, I'm going home. Where I shall plot more ways to torment my students. MUWAHAHAHAAHAHA. Mine is an evil laugh.

ETA:

1500 people living in an abandoned and derelict Intercontinental high rise hotel.

sarameg, thank you for giving me back some perspective. Taking a deep breath and trying not to fret anymore now as I head to my well-lit, safe, and warm home.

And then there's my mom whose big lament was underinvolved parents. Her version of overinvolved is threats to her person for calling a parent to pick a kid up. Poor teachers.

OK, I already made some mention of it in earlier posts, but I really do marvel at the media here in Baltimore. I mean, this is a fairly small, poor big city. And yet, we have kickass public radio, one station with a fairly extensive news department, local programming covering local things of interest. Another public station includes what is sort of an indie rock, blues, folk & acoustic station . And that's with us being in competition with DC radio. We have commercial media that has actually produced docs without commercial interruption on locally relevent topics. We have the Sun, which has graduated some really great writers. We have the Urbanite and...

I mean, my hometown is similar in having an active community base, but it is small and fairly cohesive. The sort of small where gossip is as effective as the local rag for getting news. I don't think B'more is nearly as cohesive in that sense. This is one crazyass quilt of a city. And yet...

OK, still have the crappy goofy local news at 11, but still.

Ah, I wasn't trying to draw any comparisons. It just sort of blew my mind and I wanted to share.

Cindy, I hated that movie because he was so much the more attractive guy (I say that recognising the potential for bias), whose character they tarnished with ONE FREAKING LINE. That's no way to have a character arc. Just dumb. Foreshadowing, people. It makes us feel clever.

Okay, I wasn't going to like a Lifetime movie, but I think the plotting in that was badly paced.

No time for brownies now, before kettlebell. Spoke with sister who's bought her ticket to visit for the test, as has my father. I suspect they'll be out shopping while I'm in training before, and perhaps while I'm in a coma afterwards.

Your dad and sister are coming out? That's really cool. I'm afraid I was a wuss at my dad's black belt test for tae kwon do. Pretty much only saw the palm of my hands or my knees. Watching a 15 year old kick my 50-something dad's ass was too much without making distracting gasping sounds.

ita, that's so sweet.

sara, I love the way you talk about B'more.

I finally watched that Bob Woodruff special, and... holy crap. It's kind of shocking how many of these brain injuries there are. That's just not what you think of when you think of "wounded in combat." I bet he's really able to do a lot of good, reporting on it, because he's so clear that he was just really really lucky, coming back the way he was able to.

ita, I never thought like it seemed Fran loved Calvin, so the whole thing did seem a little weird to me. I was just surprised to be surprised by a Lifetime movie. And I was surprised, from the moment Calvin showed up at the parents' house in Toronto, and how good he was while she was having her identity crisis (or post-partum, or whatever it was).

But I really thought Colin was going to get the girl. And when he made the comment about being glad their literary affair had come to an end and then whatever he said next, he sort of made my knees weak for a moment. Ahem.

I thought that one little line that turned off Fran, was a dumb reason for a turn-off, too. They should have made him more wrong for her. I don't know too many people who are going to be over eager to take on a single parent and someone else's baby, when they've only had one date months before the child was born.

I harangued them all. My father had no problem with the idea--he's just watching their health. My mother begged off because of work, and that might be for the best, because she is the immediate family member most likely to throw down and try and beat the shit out of people attacking me.

My sister cited principles and cowardliness, but the lure was too strong.

I hope they don't expect me to entertain them, or anything.

Cindy, I'm right there with you.

I do like this city. It's a fascinating mis of humanity. I don't know if it is Home home, but it is an interesting place.

And regarding Woodruff, exactly. The Walter Reed issues coming to light NOW sadly only underscore the need to actually cover the whole non-terminal casualties of war thing. As of a year or so ago, I recall reports on how the Pentagon "didn't track" that or made it pretty damned fuzzy, and that is just INSANE. The improvements in medicine and armor mean that hey, more survive. But there's a big cost to that. (Not that dying is necessarily preferable, depending on where you sit on that scale, but it is a major change from past wars.)

ita, I somehow love the idea of your mom going to town on kravvers. And I'm really glad for those who will be there. It's big. It's important. And you've got family that gets that.