Well...

...I didn't really intend to take a week off from the blog, but that's what happened. Quite frankly, I can't think of a better week to be done with. It pretty much sucked, for reasons both obvious and not-quite-nameable.

We've had a week without our pup. I've stopped welling up at inappropriate moments. I guess maybe we do toughen up through repeated exposure. No decisions yet as to when we might adopt another. Perhaps summer. Thank you -- my true, deep, heartfelt thanks to all of you who have sent messages of support and comfort. I know it's just a dumb dog...but it's not...and you all have been awesome. This blog community thing is pretty amazing; you're all godsends, imho.

We finished our last week of block schedule for state testing. I've found I'm block schedule kind of gal, but most of our campus struggled with it, not having considered the changes in teaching and planning that would be required. Another good idea that will probably be nixed in the future because it inconvenienced teachers.

The AP exam is over. My students feel at least somewhat confident. They released the essay questions on Friday, so we'll go over them together in class in great detail. We're finishing up Ellison's Invisible Man (what an incredible book), finishing a film for critical review (can't go wrong with Michael Moore for rhetorical analysis), and I have to conference with them on their research papers as soon as humanly possible if I'm going to collect a final draft and actually expect to be able to grade it. I dealt with my six plagiarism issues, though I still have two more phone calls to make to parents for whom I had to leave messages. We did a thorough review of how not to plagiarize (thank God for Diana Hacker) last week, so if they ever do it again as long as they live, it will be entirely their own faults; my conscience is clear that I have done all I can to ensure that they know how prevent plagiarism. I think their eyes are opened.

Saw Prince Caspian on Friday night. Meh. It's a good film, OK; I know this. But I'm a book purist, naturally, and my first viewing is always consumed with fault-finding and unncessary-changes-pooh-poohing. I did the same for the first Narnia film. They really made drastic changes in Caspian. I'll see it again and try to like it more; there's a lot to like, but really -- did they have to make Peter so immature and ridiculous? It's wrong on so many levels. I think Jack Lewis would be doing some serious ear-chewing and smoke-blowing were he here today. My two cents.

Had progress reports due Friday. Graded again at school on Saturday. Went to church and a friend's graduation party today. And it's already time to go to school again. I'm ready for summer (our 90-degree weather isn't helping that, I'm afraid); I'm ready to begin my master's classes, though I don't know what classes I'll be taking as the program has not posted them yet (trying not to overanalyze what that might mean); I'm ready to do a lot of work this summer, on so many levels, on so many fronts. This will be a productive, creative, progressive summer for me. May this last month-o-hades fly swiftly and efficiently.

Madame X wields the red pen of doom; grading on Saturday

One of the blooming trees on campus

The jacaranda is reaching its point of ultimate glory.

The detritus of life

Summer sunset, through the window