The Black & Gold (plus Beer Guy)

Last night, my select vocal ensemble sang the national anthem for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game (wish the Cavs had won, but…). I told my band colleague before the gig that I always do the same thing: On the drive up to Cleveland, I say to myself, “This is probably the last time I do this for awhile; such a hassle and I hate the traffic and it’s so expensive and it’s a long drive for the parents and…”

Then after we get there, sing it, and walk off, I say, “Man, I’m glad the kids were able to do this. Can’t wait for next year.”

Yeah, I’m a donkey.

What fun it was to watch them get pumped and chat with them in the holding area on the event level, and just hang out. (Teachers: you’re never too busy for that.) They sang like angels and I hope everyone had a good time. I think they did.

Now I wish the school day would be a whole lot of this:

Fifth graders have all the fun.

FO

According to the Fink:

1. Write with economy.
2. Strive for clarity.
3. Fuh cripesake, stay away from colloquialisms and idioms in formal writing, because people who do that are a dime a dozen. Write your research paper as if you’re composing a textbook for a class; as if it’s fact.
4. Keep restatement to a minimum. Be careful to not say the same thing twice in as many sentences.
5. Read your final work out loud to make sure you you haven’t made any careless errors.
6. Keep in mind that your professor is on the lookout for research papers whose prose is deliberately bloated so as to satisfy the minimum word requirement, or to make it seem as if 60 words are necessary to state what could normally, on any other day, be said in three.  (See Rule #1.)
7. Don’t use contractions in formal writing; you’ll be penalized for it.
8. To many people depend on spell checkers that do not detect grammatical errors. If you are unsure about “to” and “too,” ask someone who knows.

Can you tell I’m starting to proofread student work? There are lots of talented and smart students at my school who get a great English and writing education, but who also forget some of the more intricate rules. (The simple ones, too, sometimes.) I also need to follow my own advice, because, as you know, I tend to lean towards the verbose at times, as well as the occasional, comma-infested run-on sentence that, by the time the reader finishes, has lost all continuity, meaning, importance and syntax. And I chop off sentences.

Happy Tunesday

…I have feelings of minor trepidation. Can trepidation be minor? For today, yes.

I have enjoyed January this year, immensely. Pourquoi? Because almost every single school day, I’ve left at 3:15 to go home. It’s the only month of the year I will be able to do so, and as you surely know, January is coming to an end. I’m certain some of my colleagues have seen my skateboard exiting the parking lot post-haste and thought, “Where’s she going in such a hurry?” It’s just me, hittin’ the door runnin’ at quittin’ time, fiends. That’s all. Home to dinner, cooking, baking, blogging, reading, family, and bedtime at a decent hour.

But come the first of February and lasting right up until graduation, all that will be a distant memory, and it’s back to the Old Routine of living at school until 8:00 every night. It’s OK though. I enjoy it (most of the time), because the kids are fun to work with, and I’m not old enough yet to constantly think about getting home to relax and do my other life. I just think about it most of the time. 

There were some years in the not-so-distant past when all I thought about was doing what I needed to do in order to put in 100% at school. I sacrificed much in other areas, to my lasting regret. But recently (I’d say around this moment), all that changed. I’m a different person now. I care a bit less — not much, but some — about what others think of me. I’m having some success in that area. I’m saying “no” more. I’ve found more joy in small things. Does this mean I’ve finally grown up?

I hope not. 

Hey, it’s Tunesday, and I’m trying a new recipe (BoomR’s mom’s “Stay in Bed Stew”). Look for an update on TCF in the near future.

Hey, Wednesday is tomorrow. After tomorrow night, I am concert-free for awhile. Well, until next week’s nursing home gig, but that will be fun and relaxing. Then there’s the Cavs game in March, followed by May: the Month from Hades. But let’s not think about that today. There is much Christmasing to be done.

Last night’s concert went quite well, despite having a 6-foot 6-inch young man pass out on the top row (thank heavens for safety rails on the back of my riser sections). He’d just flown in from basketball practice, and was exhausted and probably dehydrated. The kids around him handled it well, as did the audience. And a great audience it was — polite, quiet and respectful of the kids. Thumbs way up.

Middle school concert tomorrow, then it’s smoooooth sailin’, cap’n. Bring on the Christmas music.

Ack, what am I saying?

Do. You. Have. Your. Shopping. Done. Fiends?

That’s how I feel this morning: like a patch of bumpy sidewalk. Off center; unbalanced.

I know why. I always know why, right after Thanksgiving. Today marks the insane push to 23 December — the first day of Christmas break. I just need to keep calm and carry on. (I have to get that poster for my classroom.) I think I’m in good company with other secondary music teachers, as the month of December is historically stressful. While I only have three performances, the actual music (which is always a concern) takes a back seat to getting the concert space ready, hiring and writing music for rhythm section players, writing & copying the programs, dealing with other logistical problems, and finally, putting in some practice time myself on accompaniments. It’s a lot of self-imposed pressure, I admit. But there nonetheless. I get ooky in my stomach just thinking about it.

However, this too shall pass. It has passed for the last 18 years of my public school career; no reason why it shouldn’t this time. I just hate that uneven feeling, you know? Like the pieces aren’t falling into place. But fall they will, and I’ll survive yet another Christmas concert season. Eight more…

Now to get to the school house in my fancy rental car (a black Chevy HHR, which PK said looks like a hearse) without crashing into the thundering herds of deer fleeing from the camo people on the second day of gun season. Oi.