Oh, that's a great plan.

I sometimes wonder what was actually going on with a high school boyfriend who went straight from football practice to boxing every day -- he was always perfectly sweet with me, but clearly there was some underlying aggression in there! He joined the Marines after high school.

Poor nugget mac. I hope he loves the karate and it helps him with his negative feelings.

Oh ita, ouch! You poor thing! I hope you start feeling better soon.

msbelle, I don't think I've said it lately, so I just want to reiterate that you are a kickass mom. I'm so sorry mac is having a rough time, but I'm so glad he has you. Lucky kid.

If my students don't participate I kill them.

With a bat.

...bad day?

I don't want to kill my students, but sometimes I want to shake them until their teeth rattle. In my senior (SENIOR!!) English seminar today, one of my students wrote that she thinks the concept of the American Dream is cliche and outdated because, and I quote, "Although currently Mexicans are jumping the border to get to America, no other countries are trying to flee to America in hopes of the 'American Dream.'" What. The. Fuck. You're kidding me, right? RIGHT?!?!?

I don't even know where to start.

Although currently Mexicans are jumping the border to get to America, no other countries are trying to flee to America in hopes of the 'American Dream.'"

Even in Los Angeles, this is patently untrue, but she has perhaps never visited other parts of the country and seen places where other ethnicities are still coming to the US in droves to find a better life?

Oh wait. Never mind. As I said just now, we have that here in LA, and she hasn't noticed.

er..no other COUNTRIES are trying to flee to America? um...yeah

"Although currently Mexicans are jumping the border to get to America, no other countries are trying to flee to America in hopes of the 'American Dream.'"

::facepalms::

Noventa millas

I should say that her view is not representative of most of the class, but even one student making an ignorant, racist comment like that makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry. One of the admin said, "Well...I guess that just means they have a lot to learn from you...?" I'll do my best, but I'm so overwhelmed. This is a new prep for me, and the class is really more of a cultural studies history/English blend that means I need to master even more material than usual. I inherited the course ("The Fractured American Dream") but not any guidance or material with which to teach it. I thought we'd do a few days on the mythos of "American Dream" and talk a bit about the ideal versus the reality through some essays about early US immigration before moving on to other facets of the dream, but now I clearly need to stop and address this misconception in a serious way. Statistics, some essays or articles on current US immigration, and a recent piece about how most Americans (immigrant or not) are NOT in a good place would all help, but I have to find all of that, vet it (preferably a bit more than Sarah Palin), and figure out exactly how to go about teaching it all before I even start the first actual book we'll be reading. Argh.

thanks kristin. and good luck this year - teaching, that I could never do.

I'm sitting in the green room killing time until the preview begins. Bored.

Kristin, that kind of in a roundabout way reminded me of this article: [link]