First day of school.

Have to follow tradition. Here they are:

The last, of course, expresses my ecstasy at being back in school. Woot.

Early morning.

There are few things that will get me out of bed in the middle of the night. Children vomiting. Babies screaming. Urination (sometimes). But this past Wednesday night, we were right in the middle of quite a storm--as in right in the middle, as in simultaneous lightning/thunderclaps. It was incredible to be in. And, as per usual, I missed a lot of strikes when I was checking the camera, pointing the wrong way, or just being stupid. The lightning came upon us before the rain; we had a few good minutes of dry lightning before the storm really started coming through and dumping rain on us. Since we don't get rain very often, this was quite an impressive downpour. It's funny: people in Vegas often complain when we get rained on, as if the novelty of a (maybe) 10-times-a-year storm is really that off-putting.

Here are the ones that really seemed to work. There were dozens that didn't.

My view was pretty limited--I wish I could be out there with a wider viewpoint with fewer obstructions (mom and dad's place comes to mind). I'll have to see where I can get next time in my pajamas.

A Palindrome, wherein my brother and the Captain are asked about where they should sail.

"Bahamas? Sam? Ahab?"

Back to School Post.

Since I'm heading to school tomorrow to work on some stuff, and I officially report back to school on Wednesday, I thought it would be appropriate to post some things that remind me why I am so happy to be a high school English teacher. Here's a sample essay:

"The best Novel that I've read this year which allowed me the have a 'deep vicarious experience,' with would have to be 'Night.'

This book gave me images in my mind that no other book has before. It was like looking at a group of words letters that formed a giant picture, filled with cold, starving, crazy Jewish men. It was like I was being beatin when I read the scene where Elie's father got told by that Nazi's fist. The same thing goes for the part when Elie's father passes on!

The other part when the guy grabbing some of the soup get shot and he bleeds out on the snow gave me a very vivid picture in my mind. I almost lost my breakfast! Reading this book reminded me about how crazy WWII was, and How crazy WWIII is going to be.

'Night' is a very eye opening book and I'm glad we got to read it."

Now, times that by roughly 200, and don't get overly jealous. Wish me luck.

P.S.--Yes, this was really a student's final essay.

It's a shark!

Today's palindrome is half in Spanish:

"Tiburon! No rub it!"

For those of you going to the beach, consider yourselves warned.

End of the school year palindrome: for the NBA finals.

Oy, Hoop Star! Rats pooh, yo!

(For the unenlightened, that is how the kids are talking these days. Especially those who speak Yiddish.)

Concerning May 21, 2011.

I've always had kind of a soft spot (no, not that one--my fontanelle closed quite nicely weeks ago) for Weird Al Yankovic. I mean, he's not REALLY funny, but he's got something about him that I just have to appreciate. It's a certain I know not what that makes me chuckle. This, of course, is not surprising to anyone who has had a taste of what I'm going to call my "sense of humor." (If I put that in quotes, you get to choose whether or not to agree with my meaning. Seriously. My brother is a lawyer now, and he may or may not have told me that was true.) Anyhoo, I'm continually surprised at the staying power Weird Al has--again, not necessarily for me, but for the constant stream of up-and-coming immature adults-to-be. My son, for instance, has had "Eat It" in constant rotation for the past month (and this is without an actual recording of the song--I'm either extremely happy or unhappy that he only seems to know one verse).

But, this is not the point of my post. This is: I've been reading articles about the impending Rapture (and knew I had to get this posted quickly--of course, most people who read my blog [all four of you] will probably not getting raptured [can you use that as a verb?], but I wanted it to be available to all), and it's really kind of fascinating. Then, Weird Al kicked in. So, here it is: (this is the second time I've threatened to tell you--I must be getting serious):

Forthcoming album: The RAPture

To drop: May 21, 2011

Featuring: Biggie Smalls, Eazy-E, John the Revelator, Tupac, Jay-C

Tracks: 1. Bless tha Police

             2. Straight outta Patmos

             3. Me so Holy

             4. Christians' Paradise

             5. Countdown to Armageddon (for reals)

             6. 30 Feet High (and Rising)
             7. 5-21 is a Joke
             8. Hot down Herre
             9. Jesus Came Back
           10. It's All About Revelations

Okay, this really isn't funny, but what IS funny is that I got a number of these songs from a list called "The Top 10 Rap Songs White People Love" (and I found out that most of my "rap" knowledge is approximately 20 years old). I do wish it were funnier.

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