Playing God

I’m fond of the concept of “playing God” as presented in The Cider House Rules. It’s a novel with a good old-fashioned modernist directive: someone is going to play God, someone is going to wield terrifying power like a gun or a doctor’s kit, and maybe, since you’re a reasonable person, that person ought to be […]

The Balance of Power

Today I was asked to sub for a Shakespeare class. The kids were supposed to watch “10 Things I Hate About You,” which meant I could sit and do whatever the hell I wanted while they were entertained. That’s a good way to earn twenty bucks. I was happily checking my email and reading “Catcher […]

The Student Massage

I needed massages when I became a teacher. If you sit at a desk and type all day, you don’t need massages. You like them, your eyes roll up in your head, but you don’t need them. You need a massage if part of your job is telling people the same thing 6-100 times a […]