I've been rather overwhelmed this week. Somehow, everything is happening all at once, and I'm not dealing with it very well. First, there was Michael's birthday. I barely remember what we did -- except that it involved me getting the boys OUT OF THE HOUSE so that Michael could lie around on the couch in peace. I've noticed that our respective birthday aspirations have grown much less ambitious over the years. It used to be that we would plan ADVENTURES and PARTIES and give BIG GIFTS. Now we say, "Honey, can you take the kids away so that I can have a nap? That's all I need today."
Second, there was the end of the teaching quarter and its accompanying stack of student papers. Unfortunately, while forcing myself to read at a steady pace without drifting off into a numb and bored sleep, I had a violent encounter with a box of thin mint girl scout cookies (Guess who won?).
Third, T-ball season started. You'll be glad to know that Blue and Green are now proud members of a team called the "Peckers." No, I'm kidding. Their team really is called the "Penguins," though. Green's winning suggestion for a team name beat out the "Fire Breathing Dragons" and the "Snakes."
Fourth, there's Easter, which is strangely situated in mid-March this year. It was challenging to squeeze the egg-dying in, because we're still busy getting over the leprechauns and the pots of gold from St. Patrick's Day. The boys each made three "leprechaun traps" at school last week, and we're waiting patiently for some evidence of the mischievous little green guys. I didn't tell the kids, but I think a trap dismembered one of the Easter Bunny's back feet. There was a bloody pile of toes and fur by the front door this morning.
It's been exhausting. Good thing we're going on a trip! Yes, this week Michael, the boys, and I (along with the stuffed peckers) are taking off for California, where we plan to swim in frigid water and pretend like we're real penguins in Antarctica. I will try to update from the road.
Today I will leave you with the winner of the Winter Quarter 2008 Absurd Sentence Written by an Undergraduate Award:
"One plus one may always be two, but there is more than one way to come up with that answer."
Huh.
I don't even know what to say about that one.
Who's writing this?
- jennifer
- I read a ton. I like to talk about and write about books. I love literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and the occasional police procedural. I also like pigs and ice cream and smart conversation.
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6 comments:
"One plus one may always be two, but there is more than one way to come up with that answer."
Sure, 5-3.
I didn't even know it was Easter until last Wednesday when our friend invited us over for brunch and egg hunting. In my tunnel vision mind it was just the Sunday before mid-term grades are due.
5-3 would be appropriate if the student were writing a paper about kindergarten math. But I think she was trying to be philosophical.
Man, you should be glad your student is pulling into a deep bag of arithmetic skills for her philosophical phrosting. Snot-rocketing scoffy nerd hilarity, rapidly overtaken by migranish brain pulsing, is induced by reference to quantum mechanics, or any part of modern physics, in a student essay. For instance, the phrase "quantum leap" only describes a cancelled TV show. People seem to pull out quantum weirdness at the slightest provocation. My personal theory is that duality is titillating but most people are too wimpy to strap on the Tao. Quantum ain't magic, and at some level, it's not even interesting. Come to a lecture with me sometime, I bet I stay awake longer.
I'd hate to go back and see what I thought was "deep thinking" when I was an undergrad.
Well, Simon Le Bon thought he was writing poetry. Now that's embarrassing!
My current flavor of deep thinking is deadly boring, but only assailable by a small number of other dorks. It's a trade-off. If only it were as catchy as "Rio"...
I am happy to report that I finagled a nap this afternoon, instead of generating yet another trepanning sentence for nerd posterity. There are not enough w's in awesome to describe an unexpected nap.
Her name is Rio and she's dancing on the sand/
Just like the river twisting through a dusty land
Come on. That's deep. In 1983, I had a giant poster of Simon LeBon's head hanging over my bed.
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