Today I've just been in one of "those" moods. It's not hormonal. It's not situational. It's just what it is. Just about everything set me off: traffic, stupid questions, my re-arranged porch furniture. My mind has been racing since 10 this morning, desperately searching for something to fix my itch. I covered all the bases: a long run, kickboxing, devouring some ice cream, painting, writing, sitting in the sun, kicking the wall. Nothing really struck me as suitable. I even tried a reliable method: trying on shoes. Ah, no relief. I found a delightful cure: trying on silly hats. I spent about 20 minutes just trying on every single hat in the store. They were red and purple and black and white. Some had bows; others feathers. My favorite made me think of a New England beach...it's what I imagine I would wear on one. Another favorite made me feel like I stepped out of a 1927 photo of a flapper. It was so much fun, and meant to be. For once, my hair wasn't

Here's today's literary lesson. A found poem is a poem that is composed entirely of words and phrases "found" in another text. Looking through some old yearbooks, I was struck with the idea of creating some found poetry from my classmates' end of the year notes to me. This was a lot of fun...and more challenging than I thought it would be. So far, I've put together two poems, and one more is still being worked out in my head. Oh, and even the titles are from the yearbooks. K.I.T. It's been great. We had fun in History. in Science. in Drama. I miss our fun English class. Stay sweet! Don't change! Have a lot of luck! God bless in the future. Writing Upside Down on the Bus I used all my creativity on another yearbook. Unlike you. so cultured. so pretty. so smart. Don't change! Remember me when you're famous. You'll go far. I won't forget.

I'm thinking tonight of people and their lives. Even as a kid, I wasn't much of a fiction reader. Yes, I did read some silly stories and novels and every early Nancy Drew story written, but they were usually because my friends were reading them, and I didn't want to feel left out. Whenever I went to the library, I invariably checked out something non-fiction, usually either a biography or science-related book. I loved biographies...still do. For one thing, a good biography reveals a person's brightest and darkest sides of their personality. I always feel better knowning that I'm not the only screwed up person in the world who all too often wonders why my friends are willing to claim me, what my husband saw in me that convinced him to spend his life with me, and whether or not there is anything in me redeemable enough to make a difference in the world. Right now I am obsessed with a biography that I may never have entirely figured out in this lifetime. Sometime aroun

Sometimes I miss some of the more admirable moments of teaching. I will soon be wrapping up my fourth year of teaching, and by now, it's almost second nature to me. You know, I tend to ignore the fact that I can single handedly hush a room full of 32 thirteen and fourteen year olds. Today, I had one of those out of body experiences where I saw myself as an outsider. My students had a project due two weeks ago. It was innocuous enough: a folk tale--either discovered or created and illustrated. Many of my students don't have a lot of support at home, and getting homework completed or turned in is almost impossible at times. Every day for the last two weeks, I have to her, "Get that story done." She'd nod and life went on. I was holding open the door for my students when one girl came flying around the corner. "Guess what?" she said, smiling. "What?" "She did her story!" As I was closing the door, the girl in question rounded the corner.

Why is that, after an epiphany, you are inevitably challenged by that idea? Isn't it enough to just have that life-changing moment? Apparently not. I guess it's like algebra homework. It's certainly not fun, but the extra practice is what helps you grasp the concepts. So now that I've realized that pain is a necessary part of life--and one that I want to embrace as needed--I've been in the face to face with some very real pain these last few days. I'm pretty pissed off today. Someone very close to me has not spoken to me in almost a month now. I have called and emailed and left messages. I can hear the crickets chirping through the silence. I heard from someone else that this person is mad at me, but we can only guess as to why. {insert a loud, gutteral scream here} Don't walk around holding a grudge against me and let everyone around me know that I offended you if you don't have the guts to tell me why. How about telling me that you need some space or