I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.
— Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
I’ve come to despise deadlines. I’ve never been one to strictly adhere to a schedule, but I’m starting to develop a complete intolerance for deadlines. As I see it, suggested timelines are the way to go. (more…)
This is what I end up doing with my time when I waste too much of it:
I took a bubble bath two weeks ago. After a couple of months of waiting, I finally decided to take the plunge, as it were. The bottle of bubble bath lotion/solution/cream/stuff sat near the kitchen sink for nearly two months, before I realized that it wasn’t, in fact, dish soap. The bottle looks surprisingly similar to blue dish soap. Knowing this, you can imagine how much of the rest of my life is in a bit of a disarray.
Warning: This post does contain language that can be considered abrasive and sexual in nature, with references to nudity and personal intimate moments. If you think that you may be offended, or think that such material is distasteful, please do not read on. (more…)
It’s a tragedy, really, if my sister hadn’t posted a photo on Instagram, I wouldn’t have even known that it was Mothers’ Day. I love my mother, but I never send her a card or flowers on Mothers’ Day. I never send her anything more than a kind salutation over the phone. I should break this tradition.
In any case, years ago, my friends and I went to a Boyz II Men concert during the Calgary Stampede – yes, the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede hosted a ’90s-era R&B group. I had a great time, singing and dancing, while everybody else there just kind of looked at me, in awe of my ability to sing every bloody word to every song, while dancing like a complete idiot.
They played this song:
I’ve since forgotten most of the lyrics.
Years ago, I wrote a post about using my then-new iPad. I tried to find the post in the archive of the many online-catacombs that I’ve dug and filled, but I can’t find it. The post had something to do with the contention between the digital and analog worlds that we navigate. I must have written that post over five years ago, and the debate on ebooks vs. “real”-books was going strong.
Not too long ago, I put together a simple website about how Evernote can be used in the classroom for one of my classes. While working on the site, I came across a little bit of information that rekindled my interest in the interaction between our analog and digital worlds. Most notably, Evernote and Moleskine are cross-pollinating and I’m very interested in finding out if the offspring is fit for survival. (more…)
The last two months of my life have been absolutely nuts. I mean, it’s just been crazy. But, it has all rounded out fantastically.
I started my second teaching practicum placement six weeks ago. A few weeks before then, I met a girl down in Toronto. Two weeks into the placement, I had an interview with the Toronto District School Board. Sometime in there, I accepted a teaching position in the UK. This past Saturday was my thirty-first birthday. The girl decided it wasn’t worth the effort, and the waiting, a couple of weeks ago. (more…)
Sometimes, I sign into my WordPress account. While there, I check my stats, which are steady at zero views, and put together some notes about posts that I want to write. In three days – on May 1, 2014 – I’ll finally have the time to sit down and actually write something that I’ll be happy to publish. I can’t wait! (more…)
Holy busy, Batman!
Sweet mother of all things human, I’m busy. Even taking the ten minutes to write this post feels like I’m cheating on my commitment to learning how to teach students.
Did you know that I have every minute of every school day mapped out for the next three weeks?
Anyway, tomorrow at 9:30 am EST I will be conducting a visualisation exercise with the students to introduce the science unit on space. I wrote it up, so I thought I’d share it with you, after having left you so lonely for so very long.
Here it is:
Imagine that you are an ant. You wake up in the morning, and stretch out your six legs. First the three on the left, and then the three on the right. You fall over a little bit, because you’re still pretty tired. You’ve got a big day ahead of you.
You grab some breakfast, a nice fresh bit of leaf that you found yesterday while you were out. It’s a bit dry, from having been in the anthill overnight, but it’s still refreshing. You are starting to feel better about the day ahead of you.
You wish the Queen Ant good morning when she walks by, and she smiles at you. You finish up your breakfast, brush your mandibles, and put one shoe on each foot. Then, you begin the climb out of the anthill, following your buddies.
Once you reach the top of the anthill, the sun beats down on you, and it’s warmth feels nice on your back. You are ready for the march ahead.
You’ve reached your destination for today, after a 100-meter long march. It’s a large, green, leafy plant that you’ve only ever seen from a distance. You notice that one of your shoes has come untied, so you lace it up before climbing the stem.
You keep climbing, and climbing. You’re getting pretty tired, and you look down to see how high you’ve climbed. You’re almost 30 cm in high! You can’t remember the last time that you’ve been so high. Only five more centimeters to go.
You’re there! You’re on the strongest branch, with the most leaves on the entire plant! You march confidently out to a leaf that is glistening in the sun. You know that that is what you’re going to take home with you tonight.
You walk, carefully, out onto the leaf. It’s shaking a bit, and your feet are feeling unsteady beneath you. You start cutting the leaf free from the branch. It’s pretty hard work, but, then, the best leaves always are tough to cut away.
You’ve almost cut the leaf away, when suddenly, from out of nowhere, a gust of wind comes rushing by! Woosh! You close your eyes out of fear.
When you open your eyes, you look around and realize that you’re floating, high, really high, above the ground. You peak over the edge of the leaf, and see the world below from a bird-eye view.
Don’t you wish that I were your teacher?
“Hey Bernard, want a teaching job in London, England?”
“You know, let me think about it for a day or two. I also have a few questions for you about the position.
“It starts in September, right? And, it’s a guaranteed-pay position, yeah?
“So, I’ll be living and working in London, England? As a teacher?
“Even though I was a half-hour late for my interview, because I drove for over two hours on a Sunday morning to meet you for 10 am, and I didn’t know that there was a marathon running in town blocking my access to the hotel where the interview was being held? You sure?
“Yeah, let me get back to you. I just want to think about a few things, but I’ll be sure to let you know in a day or two, here.”
I just arrived in Toronto, because I needed a little vacation. Staycation? Actually, what I really needed was to be around a lot of people. I was going a little stir crazy, cooped up in my apartment. (more…)
Mavis Gallant died today, and the news carries a certain import for me. I’m not very well read, or particularly attached to her writing, but her story, and stories, seems to resonate with me. (more…)
