…. that I once toured Europe? In 1976, I auditioned for, and was accepted into, a nationwide choir/band/orchestra touring group called America’s Youth in Concert. I was in the choir, and our first gig was Carnegie Hall. Then we went to Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, Innsbruck, Geneva and London. The choir was directed by Dr. William Ramsey of Stanford University, whose music my own high school choir has sung. Neet. Sandin Wilson played bass in the orchestra that accompanied us. I was the alto soloist in the quartet featured in Mozart’s Coronation Mass in C Major. I took dozens and dozens of pictures, which, unfortunately, were lost during a move. I am still heartbroken over it. Anyway — seeing Matt Gross’s latest blog post reminded me of it. I want to go back sometime before I die. But there’s that flying issue…(shut up, Kay).

…. that I own all the Beatles’ albums? Sure you did.

…. that I just bought this shirt? How cool is that. The downside: had to pay the current GBP exchange rate. Nauseating. I have that font; why didn’t I just design the shirt myself? I am dumm.

…. that former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (age 79) just invented a video game?

…. that I have to sit through six interviews for a band director over the next 2 days? (Thanks, Mando & Adam. Sheesh. I know where I stand.)

…. that I am going to be late for said interviews if I don’t get a move on?

Have a great day, y’all. Have I mentioned I’m on summer vacation? Still waiting for it to start….

The weather outside is frightful, but I couldn’t care less. It’s my first official day of summer break. Sorta. I’m still going into school most days, and there’s always good old BU. Only difference is that I get to sleep in now, so the daily Finkness may not appear until later than 5-6 a.m. Eastern. I actually slept the morning away today; didn’t get up until 6:30. Lazy bum…

So yeah. Tatum O’Neal.

I totally remember seeing her on TV and in the movies. I read about her early addiction to alcohol (it actually started when she was about the age you see in this photo, taken in 1973), and finally watched Paper Moon years after it was made, because there was no way my parents would have ever let me see it in the theater (it featured a 10-year-old smoking a cigarette). It really is a good movie. Not great, but good. Good enough to have won her an Oscar.

Anyway.

She fought addiction throughout her teenage years and into her adult life. [With a weirdo like Ryan O’Neal for a father, and the freakish John McEnroe for a husband, it’s no wonder she ended up a crack w***e.]

The Entertainment Weekly site quotes her as saying she was “saved” by the police from making a horrible decision (to break her sobriety) by approaching drug dealers on the street and asking to buy coke. She originally told the officers, “Do you know who I am? I’m doing research for a part.” Nice try, luv. The truth works better, usually.

But good for her if she was rescued from the cliffside.

Ok, this is creepy. The recent tornadoes in the Midwest caused some horrific damage. Here’s some caught on film. You can see the tornado approach from the left, and just suck everything into it. Trees lying down flat is just too bizarre. And frightening. (If you don’t have a QuickTime player, you can download it here.)

[quicktime]http://finkweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/tornado.mov[/quicktime]

So you have a good day, ok? Especially those of you who had to work…heh.

Finkus outus.

And there you have it, friends. Another school year done. In some ways, it was fabulous. In others, I shall remember it as my annum horribilis.

Teaching public school in America is a bizarre profession in several ways.

• We are given the huge responsibility to prepare our future leaders, teachers and professionals — but custodians and garbage collectors make more money than many of us.
• It’s one of the few professions I know of (likely the only one) where you can have a masters degree and be working in your field, and still qualify for food stamps.
• We are expected to have high standards and hold our students to them, but when we do, many parents descend on us like harpies for picking on their child. (I don’t experience this because of the nature of my class, but “academic” teachers and coaches get it a lot.) Edit: that statement makes it look like I have no standards. That’s funny. Heh. I will rephrase to say that I don’t experience this much because I teach an elective and the kids know the expectations going in. Howzat.
• If I hear one more person talk about teachers “getting three months of paid vacation,” I am going to commit a felony. That is like saying that all mechanics are crooks, and all lawyers are ambulance chasers, and all accountants are embezzlers. Shut up already. My friggin’ kingdom for 3 months off. Ok, so teachers who teach on the agrarian calendar (summers off) do get more time, but when you consider the salary issue, you got nothin’.

On the other hand, there are also ways in which teachers are reaping a bitter harvest. Some other observations:

• As long as teachers are affiliated with organized labor, we’ll never be considered true professionals. I’ll go to the mat with anyone on that fact. And I’ll win.
• Over last 25 years or so, I’ve noticed a huge increase in teachers worrying about “The Minutes.” It’s all about doing the picayune math. We’ve become a profession of timeclock punchers; hourly workers. I was asked to stay after school for a meeting and it went 20 minutes past 3:15, so I am submitting a form to be paid for 20 minutes of comp time.
• At the school I taught at in Florida years ago, classroom teachers were paid to come to my concerts to hear their students sing. No lie.

I’ve often told the story of the days I worked at Ashland University in the early 1980s. My job as scheduling secretary had me centrally located in the student union, where there was a big lounge with sofas and comfy furniture. On many occasions, a group of Korean students would gather there and study. Once in awhile, the Korean professor on staff would walk through the lounge on his way to the snack bar. As soon as those students saw him, it was a mad rush: they put out their cigarettes, leapt to their feet, and bowed to him. It was an amazing sight.

One of the students later told me that in Korea, teachers are very highly respected and revered — and well paid. Heh. Imagine that.

Fink, just grateful to have a job