Such an evocative word. So many different meanings. I think it is impossible for me to become sunburned anymore, my skin just eats photons and UV rays and says "thanks."
But no, I am burning (I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for you - funny how songs just jump in your head) with creative energy and all sorts of wild thought patterns. School here starts in a couple of weeks, but tomorrow through Wednesday the school is open for early-bird registration of 7th graders. Only 3 hours a day, so I am going to bike over there (feel the burn - 5 miles each way) and see about transferring all my stuff to my new classroom and whatnot. Creatively burning that new website for my classes. Vocabulary is up for all chapters, as well as a chapter-by-chapter custom link on each page to the online resources for the textbook. Drag and drop sure is easier than having to write all the code myself.
My neck and shoulder continue to burn. Nerve pain is hard to explain, but sometimes it feels like a huge intense ache, and other times like an electrical shock, and yet others, a burn beneath the skin. No throbbing, just a steady impulse to let you know it is there. Waiting for a referral for an MRI and a visit to a specialist. The prescribed drugs either knock me out or do nothing, so I am making my own private peace with the pain. If I didn't tell anyone I was in pain, they wouldn't know. Most movements don't aggravate (or relieve it), so I just trundle along with my own little secret.
I am ready for school to start. There is only so much you can do to prepare, then you have to be reactive to whatever gets thrown your direction. No idea whether we will get our usual $100 stipend to stock our classrooms, with the budget "crisis" here in Memphis. To recap those of you who won't believe this crap still goes on - The city council, working on an idea the mayor floated a couple years ago, decided to withhold city funding from the city schools, after having provided funding for 70 years. The city's attorney opined that the county was responsible for funding any and all schools within the county. Cue lawsuit #1. Then the state decreed that the city was in violation of their funding requirements, which does not allow a government to withdraw funding from schools. Because of this, the state will withhold over $600million from the city schools. Cue lawsuit #2. Everybody wants lawyers and judges to work this out. In the meantime, schools open in 3 weeks, but the budget doesn't kick in until October 1. As far as I can determine, nobody has begun developing a worst-case scenario plan, and nobody is looking to resolve this quickly. I expect to have a bunch of free time come October.
Anyhow, not knowing if I get my $100 in supplies, I am still shopping for 130 composition books, file folders (1 per student) etc. Also waiting for my rebate (from Memphis City Schools) for my Praxis test fees, but I am not holding my breath. It always falls on the teachers.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Works in Progress
An aftershock from Aerospace is the creation of two (!) sites hosted by weebly.com. The first will be my personal collection of miscellanea (wow, spellcheck didn't even have to chide me on that one) including a link to this blog, things that tickle my fancy, my genealogy scraps, etc. The second is a resource for my students that will hopefully serve as an enrichment resource to the daily/weekly lessons. The potential is there for podcasts as well, if I am in an extremely outgoing mood. Find the first at cmparry.weebly.com and the second at mrparry.weebly.com.
The neck is progressing. Doctor was nice, did some muscle resistance tests and then x-rays, explained that there were no obvious compressions, but only an MRI would show enough detail. However, my insurance won't cover it on a first visit unless there is trauma. So he loaded me up with some steroids, anti-inflammatory pain meds (when they say may cause drowsiness, and two pills at bedtime keep me from coming fully conscious until 9:30 the next day, well yeah). Two days in and I seem to have more neck mobility and a lot less nerve pain, so this could be the ticket.
2008 seems to be the summer of movies, many based on pretty decent comic book characters. So far have done Iron Man (highly recommended earlier), Hulk (quite a fun movie, Ed Norton is enough of a reason to watch it), Wanted (the comic was different, and I think better, but they turned this into a decent high-energy action flick), Indiana Jones (as good as expected, you make the call how high your expectations are), and today Wall-E, which was very cute Pixar stuff. Soon to come (and, mind you, these are the movies I plan to see...I have already seen more movies this summer than in any prior year post-college) Hellboy, Hancock, Dark Knight. There are few others with interesting trailers, but not interesting enough to make me salivate. Don't get me started with Watchmen for next summer.
Lots of reading. LOTS. Cruised through The Last Lecture, and enjoyed it. It gave me a bit of perspective on the way I live my life, compared to how this man lives his. Interesting to juxtapose his diagnosis/situation with prior clinical depressions of my own, and how I would live differently (or similarly to him) if death were imminent. Brings a lot of questions to mind vis a vis people in high risk jobs (police, fire, military). The thoughts generated from the book (which I will probably buy when it hits paperback - this is the impact it made) dovetail nicely with the shift in my world view from endless repetition of the same thing to hopefulness that the future holds something worthwhile and that I am not locked into my life as it currently stands. Mostly it has to do with my job and the city, so nobody panic yet.
Also read Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind) as it was on somebody's list of books to read before you die and have to admit you didn't read them at the pearly gates or something. Didn't know it started a series, but should have guessed. So now the second book is in my pile, waiting for my attention.
About to fire up the grill. Funny, I never knew the little folded metal vanes that distribute the heat in my grill could corrode, but years (yes years) of meat drippings, flare ups, etc. have eroded some to instability. Next year might have to replace them, and the grill bars, too. Nice the Weber has all this stuff available, so I don't have to scrap the whole grill and upgrade. Weather here sucks. Walking outside is like walking into an indoor pool. The air is saturated, you can literally smell the moisture, and you get an instant sweat. Hoping the radiational cooling at sunset will generate a storm or two to cool things off.
The neck is progressing. Doctor was nice, did some muscle resistance tests and then x-rays, explained that there were no obvious compressions, but only an MRI would show enough detail. However, my insurance won't cover it on a first visit unless there is trauma. So he loaded me up with some steroids, anti-inflammatory pain meds (when they say may cause drowsiness, and two pills at bedtime keep me from coming fully conscious until 9:30 the next day, well yeah). Two days in and I seem to have more neck mobility and a lot less nerve pain, so this could be the ticket.
2008 seems to be the summer of movies, many based on pretty decent comic book characters. So far have done Iron Man (highly recommended earlier), Hulk (quite a fun movie, Ed Norton is enough of a reason to watch it), Wanted (the comic was different, and I think better, but they turned this into a decent high-energy action flick), Indiana Jones (as good as expected, you make the call how high your expectations are), and today Wall-E, which was very cute Pixar stuff. Soon to come (and, mind you, these are the movies I plan to see...I have already seen more movies this summer than in any prior year post-college) Hellboy, Hancock, Dark Knight. There are few others with interesting trailers, but not interesting enough to make me salivate. Don't get me started with Watchmen for next summer.
Lots of reading. LOTS. Cruised through The Last Lecture, and enjoyed it. It gave me a bit of perspective on the way I live my life, compared to how this man lives his. Interesting to juxtapose his diagnosis/situation with prior clinical depressions of my own, and how I would live differently (or similarly to him) if death were imminent. Brings a lot of questions to mind vis a vis people in high risk jobs (police, fire, military). The thoughts generated from the book (which I will probably buy when it hits paperback - this is the impact it made) dovetail nicely with the shift in my world view from endless repetition of the same thing to hopefulness that the future holds something worthwhile and that I am not locked into my life as it currently stands. Mostly it has to do with my job and the city, so nobody panic yet.
Also read Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind) as it was on somebody's list of books to read before you die and have to admit you didn't read them at the pearly gates or something. Didn't know it started a series, but should have guessed. So now the second book is in my pile, waiting for my attention.
About to fire up the grill. Funny, I never knew the little folded metal vanes that distribute the heat in my grill could corrode, but years (yes years) of meat drippings, flare ups, etc. have eroded some to instability. Next year might have to replace them, and the grill bars, too. Nice the Weber has all this stuff available, so I don't have to scrap the whole grill and upgrade. Weather here sucks. Walking outside is like walking into an indoor pool. The air is saturated, you can literally smell the moisture, and you get an instant sweat. Hoping the radiational cooling at sunset will generate a storm or two to cool things off.
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