domesticated despair

"At its best our age is an age of searchers and discoverers, and at its worst, an age that has domesticated despair and learned to live with it happily." - Flannery O'Connor

much has happened in the last few days. most notably, i finally visited the zoo down the street from our house...also known by some as the local high school. i was actually enchanted by its zoo-ness. restless teenagers roaming, communicating with eachother with rumbling noises, meerkat calls, and bee dances. (communication rituals that proceed feeding time at the cafeteria, it seems). at lunch, they nibble doritos from eachothers' hair and drink Cherry Coke by the gallon.

the school i visited is HUGE-- something like 4,000 students. the campus is a tangle of hallways and for awhile i thought i would never escape the theater department. all in all, the kids were charming, loud, and quirky as all kids are. the teachers on the other hand:

DEPRESSED!

wide-eyed, hair-on-ends, shirts untucked, their Keds worn down to the soles.

these are all first impressions, of course. the experience at least reconfirmed my desire to teach, to get away from the stare-at-my-computer-for-8-hours-a-day lifestyle. such despair! or as Flannery O'Connor put it, a despair that has been domesticated and made happy. well, for me the daily grind really isnt so bad. but to be in a classroom seems so much more.... interesting (even if i find myself wearing Keds).

in other news, i had class last night. we had a discussion about bibles and military recruiters in schools. everyone agreed that neither should be allowed. we also discussed the new "mandatory moment of silence" required after saying the pledge in a texas classroom. strange law to be coming from our very LOUD, and very tightly-wound texas legislature.

not sure how ill survive this semester. by december i have to...

for school:
-complete a final project
-finish 25 hours of observation
-prepare for student teaching
-pass competency exams for my subject(s)

for work:
-co-write a book chapter with my boss
-organize events to be held in different texas cities
-pull off another fundraiser

plus i still must find time to rest and watch my netflix, of course! SuperDork and i watched the gospel of judas last night-- extremely interesting. judas, the "villain", has been redeemed! i love when that happens.