One Good Minute

So today, then:

One good minute.

My goal as a teacher is not to be liked. To put it another way--I want respect, I want positive thought processes, I want enrichment. I'm not out to be anybody's friend, here. And I hate it when people talk about how much their students like/respect them.

That said.

Today, in my first hour Senior Composition class, a student asked a question. Something to the effect of "so what are we doing next semester, Mr. ______?" And I was confused for a moment, because this class is only a semester long. So I said, "K_____, you don't have me next semester. Senior classes are only a semester long."

And there was this genuine shock on his face that doesn't last past 10th grade for most suburban kids, a shock that's half fear and half bewilderment. And he said, "What am I going to do? You're the only teacher who doesn't get mad at me for walking in late."

Another kid piped up: "You're the only teacher who listens to my stupid stories."

K______ dropped his chin to his chest and sighed, a heavy, distressed exhalation. "Well this is just not good."

I'll let you decide if this is a good thing.

One good minute.

Allow me to recommend:
Bloc Party
Tommy Boy
The resurgent sixth season of The West Wing.

So today, then:

One good minute, in increments:

0:00-0:12: Waking up next to my wife, her rolling over to me. Listening to her heart beat through the palm of her hand.

0:13-0:20: Reading in an article about Ukraine, in The New Yorker, that the state-controlled news channel was broadcasting propaganda, and all the while the deaf interpreter in the corner of the screen kept signing, over and over, "The election is rigged. Do not believe their lies." The beauty of subversion, and of the human spirit.

0:21-045: Listening to an old man arguing with his friend about gay marriage.
Old Man, Rabid Conservative (OMRC): But it comes down to this--I'm just completely against two men being able to get married.
Old Man, Moderate Liberal (OMML): But don't you see? It's no big deal!
OMRC: But the next thing you know, they're letting brothers get married!

0:46-0:50: My realization that these men don't know the only true thing in the world--you can't stop progress. You, you will die a bitter, lonely old man, and no one will remember your world.

0:51-1:00: Listening, for about the fifty-millionth time, to "Bean and Sprout" by Joanna Newsom, and that part where she whispers, so strangely and profoundly, "R y'interested?"

One good minute.

Allow me to recommend:
The Power and the Glory--Graham Greene
The new M83 record
Driving with the wind on the interstate

So today, then:

Teaching, at least at the high school level, is 85% patience and 15% frustration. An example.

I'm talking to my Seniors about persuasion, about how it has become an industry not to be fucked with, called marketing. We watched a PBS special called The Persuaders, and we were discussing the implications of a free-press being taken over by advertising and marketing (a Boston tabloid sold its cover-page to JetBlue, effectively selling whatever soul they had left to sell). Not to toot my own horn, but this shit is interesting and vital to understanding why corporations are not our friends.

A girl in the front row opens a magazine. Not like slyly opens it, trying to avoid my attention and therefore being mildly tolerable. Actually puts it up in the air to crack the spine, makes a big show out of it.

I say, "C_______, what are you doing?"

And she gets all offended and says, "What? I'm just looking for my horoscope!"

One good minute.

Allow me to recommend:
Victory at Sea--Memories Fade
Marilynne Robinson--Gilead
Two cans of Mountain Dew at nine a.m.
High School Cafeteria Pizza