Eat Fresh

I really enjoyed the people who built my Subway sandwich today.

As my chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, spinach, black olive, and a little-bit-of-sweet-onion-sauce on wheat bread sandwich was being made, this rockin' song came on the radio and all three of us (customer = me, kinda nerdy white teenage boy who worked the cash register = Curtis, and other girl working = Funny Latina Teen), started bopping our heads and kinda singing along.

FLT: Curtis, who is this?
Curtis: I don't know.
Me: Matchbox 20.
FLT: Ha! Curtis, you don't know anything!
Me: Do I win anything?

later on

FLT: Curtis, do you know the band 311?
Curtis: No.
FLT: You suck! They are only, like, the most awesome band out there!

later on

FLT: Curstis, can you beatbox?
Curtis: Be bop?
FLT: No, duh, like beatbox, you know?
Curtis: Oh, no. I can't beatbox.

enter other worker, Gladys

FLT: Gladys, you're like 4 minutes late!! Curtis said he wasn't gonna talk anymore until Gladys gets here.
Gladys: Oh, I'm here.
FLT: Curtis, are you leaving?
Curtis: Yes, (incoherent manager's name) told me I could leave at 4 instead of 5.
Gladys and FLT: You suck, Curtis!

Curtis exits, the new Alicia Keys song comes on, and Gladys and FLT sing their hearts out while refilling the tomato bin.

*******
And, I am mere hours away from my last class of the semester. Are you kidding?

Totally Awesome Workout Mix

Run, Run Away -- Slade

Whenever, Wherever -- Shakira

Me Love -- Sean Kingston

Sweet Pea -- Tommy Roe

Jump On It -- DJ Twitch

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! -- Vengaboys

Trouble -- Pink

You Can't Stop the Beat -- Hairspray Soundtrack

All Over You -- Live

Ooh Ah, Just a Little Bit -- Gina G

Touch My Body -- Mariah Carey

The Rubberband Man -- The Spinners

The Heart of Things

I heart my smarty-pants students who care about the stuff we read, who go and find stuff on cummings and Williams and Alexie and bring it into our class discussion.

I heart my course evals, even when I have to fill out confusing items about positive and negative impacts on learning.

I heart the brown skirt I borrowed from Bridgie today cuz it's super-cute.

I heart salary.

I heart the last real week of teaching, the last peer review, the last vocab quiz, the last roll call, the last reflective assignment.

I heart my fun office.

I heart the poem "i carry your heart"

I heart, I heart, I heart.

The Dress Barn?

Nothing to write home about.

The River

The long days keep me outside as long as possible.

I went down to the big river last evening. I was feeling poetic and wistful, probably. Also, I wanted to be near water.

What This Will Tell You, If You Let It

The sky:
blue,
then blank,
then yellow,
then purple.
Then,
river.

A Canada goose, alone
in the middle of this span of water,
will call out until hoarse,
until her mate returns.

Plaintive mourning doves
sound like morning and evening,
(the same)
even 600 miles away.

My name in the sand
is unfinished without yours.

We are all just daughters
of the boys who joined the branch
that took them to the water,
only to come back and raise
us on the growing, dying
prairie.

My fear of heights softens
with banks of duned sand,
the calm at the edges,
the fisherman down at the dock.

Six words

We received a boxful of awesome books from B's sister this week. What? A box full of books? Yes, please! Thanks, M-Dawg!

One of them was from SMITH's online mag, called Six-worded Memoirs. This idea came about from way back when--Hemingway was asked to write a story in 6 words, and here's what he gave them:

For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

Well, damn, there you go.

I've been trying to come up with my life in 6 words all day:

Big heart, big hair, many rules.

Heart on sleeve, sometimes gets disappointed.

I love our life, house, bed.

Ukrainian girl writes poems about farm.

Stay off my lawn, damn kids.

You have 6 words.

Go.

Check, check

On-campus interview where I demo'd my awesome (??) abilities to teach gender stereotypes and performativity, then sat with two committees for an hour each? Check.

210 reading/lesson plan done? Check.

101 ready to go for next week? Check.

Strongly suggested to innocent students that Timon and Pumbaa shared, if not a homosexual life, a homosocial one, which then led to all my male students second-guessing all their bromances? Check.

Totally cute shoes today with my totally cute green flowy skirt? Check.

The irresistible urge to raid Shopko every Tuesday night? Check.

Killer cramps? Check.

Tylenol PMs to knock me out tonight? Check.

60 freshmen research papers graded? So far from checked it's not even funny.