Just A List O' Stuff

• Do you have any idea how glad I am to see you? You, dear reader, who didn't get to this blog on a search for Nipsy Russell? Hey, it hurts me too. He's gone and so are my hopes for a MatchGame '76 reunion show, but that ship sailed with the death of Charles Nelson Reilly. Let's all move to acceptance, eh?
• I can work more functions on the school copier than anyone else. I treat the copier well. I don't leave paper jams for my colleagues, I always refill with more paper than I use. Why, then, does it always jam on me in the midst of copying a large stack of student work? I am good to you, Xerox, why you gotta do me that way?
• A kid in class does elaborate gestures for every word of the morning annoucements. There's a swift, one-handed takedown for "wrestlers", a pointed, jabbing point down for "be there!" and an exaggerated belly rub for "snow cones". It's a charming sort of nerd hula.
• I think I won a child over today. When we started poetry yesterday, Rerun muttered, "Poetry is for fags." I chastized his word use and told the class that we weren't going to limit poetry to any one group. He rolled his eyes and let me go on (which was, believe me, its own victory). Today, with every poem we read, he was able to get at its meaning and summarize it quickly. I bit my tongue just short of reminding him of yesterday's statement.
• I have now decided to resend the same to referrals to my favorite Asst Principal every day at the same time until I hear what happened to them. So far, we're at 2 resends. If I had PayPal, I would open it up to a gambling pool.