juliana, Emmett demands to know how you came to be sitting 10 feet away from Willie Mays, and whether you talked to him, and what he said. And anything you'd like to say about your close encounter with Barry Zito would be most welcome too.

ION, I was stuck in the East Bay this morning and consequently got to have brunch with Suzi! She inspected Matilda's teeth and had a rousing conversation, and I got to see K-Bug deep in school mode, all stressed over a softball game and AP classes and the cost of prom tickets and still a thoroughly adorable and fetching young woman.

After lunch we went to Peet's, where I breastfed Matilda and ran into one of the hazards of living in the Bay Area. Breastfeeding mothers elsewhere in the US get officious prudes huffing at them and demanding that they cover up; breastfeeding mothers here get super-friendly people so eager to show how fine they are with public breastfeeding and how fond they are of babies that they plop themselves down right next to you and start chatting to the baby in mid-suck. I appreciate the support, kindly old man, but please STEP AWAY FROM MY NIPPLE.

Matilda is in her new(ish) playpen out on the back porch, sucking on her toes.

Lastly, Happy birthday, libkitty!!!

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Emmett demands to know how you came to be sitting 10 feet away from Willie Mays, and whether you talked to him, and what he said.

Not Emmett, not demanding, but awfully curious too.

In baseball news, it turns out that when I'm in the Bay Area (end of April), my nephew, who pitches for OSU, will be playing Stanford. I think I have to go, which is luckily not a hardship. I know baseball fans are probably pretty booked with your own or pro games, and I'll mention this on the localistas list too, but should anyone be interested in joining me, please let me know. Also, any idea of whether I'll need to get tickets in advance?

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"I don't have to respect you. Respect has to be EARNED."

My position demands respect regardless of your personal feelings. Fortunately, the adminstration is eager for you to learn this, and allows me the latitude to convey the lesson in ways which will make me quite happy, and you quite un-.

I'm 40 years old. My mother would *still* be punishing me if I'd told a teacher I didn't have to respect her.

In positive-teacher news, yesterday Christopher's teacher called to check on him, because he'd been out sick for three days. Wasn't that sweet?

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how you came to be sitting 10 feet away from Willie Mays, and whether you talked to him, and what he said.

I did not talk to Mr. Mays - the line to talk to him before lunch was huge, and I didn't want to bother him while he was eating. The guys sitting at his table looked like the cat who got the cream, though.

Benitez was very positive and optimistic about the season and his role in it - he's looking so much healthier than he was, and he's really determined to stay healthy and show his talent and teamwork. (And yes, I know they have to put their face on, but it was still nice to hear.) He also demonstrated his grasps for his pitches and talked about the new ways of communication between the pitcher & the catcher that the Giants are trying out (they're not using hand signals any more).

Zito? Looked like he stole Beckham's wardrobe, but he smells good.

Omar Vizquel said a few words and was hilarious. Steve Kline was right behind me and very jockish. Rich Aurilia also spoke and is very happy to be back with the Giants.

All of it was in support of Junior Giants and the Giants Community Fund, so we had a lot of tributes to that. And to Willie Mays. It was cool.

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Kiss your mother for me, Cindy.

I'm tired of being looked down on by students and American society in general for being a teacher. The educational system may fail some students, by and large, most teachers don't. I chose this job; I didn't "fall back" on it, and I'm fucking smart; I could indeed being making more money as a lawyer or a doctor but I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. I spend more time with more kids than most parents.

I impart morals; I teach ethics; I encourage free thinking and reading and tolerance and joy and creativity, and I hold students to high standards. Kids have my phone number, I make sure they have food; I celebrate their lives with them, and and am like a big sister and an aunt and a strong female role model for boys and girls alike.

I do not deserve ANYONE'S scorn.

(Wow, this has REALLY pissed me off! Still.)

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Can you call her family, Erin? I don't blame you for being outraged. And I know how much of yourself you put into your students, just from the things I've seen you do here (the book drive, etc.). You are one of the gems for whom most parents would sacrifice their eye teeth, if they could get you to teach their children. I have to say that about all of our teachers, here. I'm always so impressed with all of you. I'm sorry the kid is so rude and hostile.

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I love you, Erin. You've nicely summed up my opinion of education.

For a funny teaching moment, I was going over something with a student today and said, "C.S. Lewis was Irish and J.R.R. Tolkien was English. You need to find quotes by Asian people."

She looked at me amazed and said, "How do you know that?"

I just looked at her. She looked a bit cowed and said, "Wow, you're smart."

I laughed and said, "I'm a teacher. All teachers are smart."

So, maybe that last statement was exactly true, but it got my point across.

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Post Toasties,

And I agree with Cindy. Would a call home do any good?

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So, maybe that last statement was exactly true, but it got my point across.

I love that this sentence doesn't have a 'not' in it.

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I love that this sentence doesn't have a 'not' in it.

Oops! So much for that "smart" cred!

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