yeah, the usual

[mamajoan]

Just the usual around here mostly. Work, kids, yadda yadda.

My sore throat did indeed blossom into a full-out cold. Sigh. In "be careful what you wish for" news, on Sunday night I made a supplication to the gods of the common cold, in which I basically said, look, I'll take the stuffiness and sinus pressure and drippy nose, I've been dealing with that stuff for months now so what the hell, just please let me wake up tomorrow morning and not have a sore throat. Well, the gods listened, so I've been unable to breathe properly for 2 days now. But what the hey. Life.

Isaac was super-hyper tonight due to (I guess) overtiredness. During dinner he asked how old I am and when I said I'm 33, he burst into laughter and couldn't stop. Yeah...I put him to bed way early. I wish I had been in a better mental place to appreciate his silliness rather than just being annoyed by it. :(

Ruthie has had two days now of being cared for by sandykidd at her house. It seems to be going quite well. She eats, sleeps, plays, beats up on Baz, etc., the usual. She's clingy in the mornings at dropoff, but that's normal. The whole commute/pickup thing needs some working out, which is a post for another day.

I don't have much to say about the Virginia Tech shootings. Of course it's tragic and horrible and all that, you don't need me to tell you that. I read the shooter's two plays that were posted online and honestly, my main reaction was that they, well, suck. I mean, it just is not good writing, even for a college student. And it makes me so glad I'm not a teacher, because I honestly don't know what I would have done if a student had submitted that stuff to me -- would I have brushed it off as barely-post-adolescent posturing (my first reaction) and now be blaming myself for three dozen deaths?

I also just read that one of the professors who died was a Holocaust survivor. Now that got me teary. It just seems so bitterly unfair. Not that I don't mourn the losses of all of them, especially the young kids, but...I mean. You know?

Comments

[ladyvyola.livejournal.com]

Re: the plays

There's stupid posturing and bad writing, and then there's this isn't right. I think that sort of thing has to be taken as a whole along with the writer's personality and the vibe you as a teacher get from him. What might be dismissed on the page takes on a different cast in context. From what I've seen and read in other, similar cases, most people do pick up on the differences and try to do something.

Given that, it seems that the teacher did pretty much all she could -- encouraged him to go to counselling, reported him to security, etc.

[iscalibtra.livejournal.com]

Hello, I've lurked in your blog for a little bit, and I noticed you said Virginia State. I, um, hate to be a picky bitch, but it is Virginia TECH. I went there, and nothing annoys a VT person more than having the school called the wrong name.

Just a quick correction, from a mildly sensitive person.

--Christa

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

OK, sorry about that and thanks for the correction.