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Monday, October 23, 2006

HOW many posts?

I had my AP students go on line to find how much info is out there related to Shakespeare's Hamlet - over 26 million!!!

Green Eggs and Hamlet?

Seriously, this is fun. Some of the adaptations are kind of tasteless, but so much of it is very, very clever.

And, okay, there's this guy named Ed Friedlander, who is (in no particular order) a skydiver, a pathologist, a lay leader in the Episcopal church, and an expert on literature. He has some crazy stuff on Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Paradise Lost and several other pieces of classic literature. Check out his site: www.pathguy.com. You can see autopsy photos, pictures of him skydiving, and some of the guys from his fraternity. Mostly, it's cool Shakespeare stuff.

Kind of mind-boggling to see all the different ways Hamlet has been adapted, folded, tweaked, multiplied. I know it's fashionable to claim that the Internet is the death of creativity, but it's opened up the world to people who wouldn't know anything about Shakespeare without it.

Anything that teaches me kids something is okay by me.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

I love fall!

I enjoy summer, but give me a crisp fall afternoon - blue skys, puffy white clouds, just cool enough for a sweater or jacket - and I'm happy. I don't know if I associate it with field hockey, Halloween, or what, but October is just a wonderful month. It is far enough away from Christmas for me to not yet worry about shopping and decorating, but it's far enough into the school year that I know all my kids by sight (even when they aren't sitting in their seats) and even something about their individual talents and quirks.

Plus, did I mention I'll be a grandmother in about four weeks?

Whoo-hoo! Hurray for fall!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Apologies to Gilda Radner

In the words of the immortal Miss Emily Littella...

"Never mind."

Oh, it was fun, in a completely excrutiating way. Years from now, we'll remember the year that Ryan Howard started to become the most feared hitter in the league and Chase Utley finally let us stop whining about trading away Ryne Sandburg.

I had fun. They entertained me. And they were in it up until the last 24 hours of the season. Loads of fans can't say that, can they?

And yet...

Same old unsatisfied feeling. But this year, I can look ahead to February with excitement and anticipation.

Thanks, guys!