Another Amuzing Bit

"Drive up to prostitute. Let her get in. Drive off the road. Wiggle joystick. Kill prostitute. Get your money back."

A student wrote this down when player Grand Theft Auto so he would know of one way to regain his health. he didn't write anything else down to give the note context. He left the note in his pants pocket.

His mom found it.

Amusing Conversation I Heard at School

"You've never taken a girl out before?"

"No."

"What a bitch."

Between two of my tenth-graders.

And Another Break Slides By

It's Thursday already, and I'm kinda disappointed.

This is my Spring Break week, so I know I have to be thankful, regardless (as my wife reminds me often, at least I have a break). It's been a low-profile week, starting with the rapturous tenure class I had to take. I hadn't had that much fun since I poked my own eye with a fork. So the real disappointment is that my actual days off were sliced from a full week to three days. It's plenty of time to relax and get ready for my next quarter, but just knowing that my schedule has been tampered with grates on my nerves. I know it's whiny.

So tomorrow morning will be more grading and planning, but hopefully a more productive day than today (staying up late to finish beating a video games should not be an option tonight).

Bathroom Humor

So the other day I was on my way to the teacher's lounge area to use the bathroom. It's a tiny place with one urinal and one stall, but I prefer it to where the hundreds upon hundreds of student do their business. I sung the door open to find the stall occupied. "Drat. That was the whole reason I came here."

When somebody is in the bathroom, I'd just as soon never know who it is. But before I could leave, a fellow teacher flushed and emerged. He didn't say anything at first, but something wanted out. There was a tension, like something was about to burst.

"Had a kid coughin' in class, and I thought, 'Great, I'm gonna catch something.' Diarrhea. And right before break, too."

Thanks, I wanted to know.

He washed his hands and grumbled his way out the door. The stall was open now, but I decided that I could wait and not use the facility that had just but butt-burped in.

Writing for Fun

It's a weird thing, writing for fun. For over two years, I've worked here and there on little writing projects that have ranged from my Substitute Chronicles and short stories to my attempting a full-out novel. I've loved it. It's a great time. However, as I work closely with my stupendous writer friend, I realize a massive difference: I don't know what I'm doing. I don't mean that I don't know how to write, though I could make the case as my writing are dwarfs to his Balrog. I mean, I don't know what I'll do with anything if I ever get it finished. I have no goal or vision for my pieces.

I guess this is an issue with a lot of my hobbies. Whether it's writing, photography, music, or otherwise. Because they are fun, I lack serious motivation for any of them. I've never sincerely thought of making money off of any of my hobbies, and therefore, I stagnate or switch from one thing to the next without much thought to what will happen to my creations. They stay with me, I know that. My first sci-fi novel attempt floats in my brain a couple times a week, but I've not the foggiest on how to work with what I have.

I suppose that the pure pleasure of doing things is enough to continue in them. But it would be nice to feel a bit more driven.

Paradise Lost

Along with the belief of Creationism, I also believe that when it was all set up, it was as God saw it--good. God had an intention for this planet, and we are far, far from it.

I believe in an enemy. From before Eden, he has looked for every opportunity to see suffering carried out and point a crooked finger at God and say, "You are not what you say you are." Every bad and deformed thing comes from him.

The Bible describes the world before sin, when Satan was confined to a tree. It was a place that lines up with the words of Solomon, a place where one would work and be content with that. No drama, otherwise. But through deception, Satan broke free and galloped about the world twisting people's brains to see God as a fake. The results have been disastrous. Some forgot all about God, or chose to ignore Him. Even worse, though, Satan works with those who did remember God, persuading them to carry out Scriptures in a way contrary to the Scriptures.

Through his work, religion has become a place of bones and zombies. And the rest of the world fears it, steers clear, or attacks it. Through Christ's work, we are redeemed. Our religion is not that of condemnation, but of coming together and drawing others closer to Him. So where Satan has drug us off the path as a lion would drag his prey, Christ heals us through a straight forward message of love and forgiveness.

Guess Who Was Bored at Work?

That's right. I was staring at some other blogs and thought I'd tweak mine a bit, give it a smidge more of the monster and less of the meditation.


Sigh.

Weekend...almost...here...

Daylight Savings=Daylight Cravings

I hate this moment of the year. I start getting used to seeing the sun in the morning on my way to work, get the buzz of solar power in my system, then it's ripped away from me. I really don't like arriving at work when it's still dark out. It's depressing. I wish we were one of the states that just said, "Wait a minute...we don't actually get longer days. It's all the some amount of daylight. We must be pretty daft to even bother with this."

When I get some more sleep, I'll probably be less grouchy. But for now, blast you Ben Franklin for your stupid idea.

Needs to Come to His Senses

I was reading a paper I assigned in class about what students would change their names to if they had the chance. I had one student say that if he had a different name, it would be "Desperado."

Parent Teacher Conferences

I spent 12 hours at my school yesterday, and I'm doing it again today. Parent/Teacher conferences are not my favorite time of the semester. And though things went well yesterday, I am beat. I think of people who work massive shifts at hospitals or oil platforms who work for days straight and then take so many days off. Even with naps or whatever in between, I think my puny body would just not take it.

Overall, though, the conferences do allow me the opportunity to test the parental waters for support. It's all sorts of unfortunate when you don't have any support from home, and it's very reassuring to find some folk that will whip their kids into shape so I don't have to. And aside from the occasional mother staring at me like a dairy cow on the verge of being hit by a train, I found a lot of good support. Hopefully tonight will be equally supportive.