Commandments

I make my students recite the Ten Commandments. In public school. You see, there’s this part in The Crucible where the main characters are interrogated about their Christian credentials, and naming the commandments is one of the tests. Some classes get eight commandments. One only got six. We’ve never gotten all ten. So I tell […]

On Offense

There are two kinds of teachers: conservative ones who valiantly sacrifice themselves to maintain our nation’s greatness, and teachers who won’t shut up and do as they’re told. As you may know, I’m the second kind. Both kinds of teachers can have self-esteem issues. In a capitalist consumerist country, no matter how many times people […]

Irrational

Qadaffi and Charlie Sheen; Man Ray and Kierkegaard. I have mixed feelings about irrationality. Clearly, Qadaffi and Charlie Sheen are entertaining characters. Even Qadaffi’s fashion evolution discussed is fascinating. I tried to watch the Charlie Sheen interview, just because I couldn’t believe someone would say those things. If I didn’t know Qadaffi had people with […]

The Pile

In one pile, all these stories: a dead father. Fear of heart attacks. Giving a drunk man your bus pass so he can get home. Loving the smell of Febreze. The dream of paying off a mother’s debts. Just one pile. I fidget as I read them, tear up, rub my forehead. These stories, all […]