Having Two Legs: 04.03

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

Things are pretty busy these days. I'm currently in the middle of training for a bread baker position at a new bakery opening in Moscow. I'm having a blast.

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Tuesday is park day at Atlas. We do a little bit of school inside and then we break out into the world. We march through the streets of Moscow with sweater vests and baseball bats. We fear no biker cop. We wear Mariner hats because we'll wear no other. We grip our gloves and scuff the baseballs readying for the field. And as we cross the railroad tracks the boys take off in a full tilt run. They know the liturgy. They love our service of baseball. First we warm up. A sprint to the centerfield fence: remind yourself how far away the fence is. Back on the infield we gasp for air and blindly pick up gloves, pointing to one another, hoping to find a throwing partner. We throw at each other. We aim our shots at our opponent's head and chest. Sometimes we miss. Then the guys take the field, and I hit the ball at them. I rotate them. I hit the ball again. They're not very good at grounders. One of them fears the ball like it was a bee. He only swats and swerves. Others know what baseball looks like. They've seen the pros. They look like pros in their sunglasses and hats, as they bobble grounders and overthrow first base. But they work hard. Their hearts are in the game. I'll hit it to them again and again. And they'll want another and then another. We might divide into teams and scrimmage or I might select a few to run the bases and add a little fun to the infield drilling. Sometimes they turn amazing double plays. 6-4-3 in their sleep, and a grounder goes right between their legs. I love it.

As it turns out, the Anglican church is a grand experiment in lay leadership. I had never really connected all the dots, but the head of the Anglican church is the join rule of king and parliament. How about that.

By the way, for any of you Spokane types out there. "Earnest" will be in Spokane on Thursday at 7pm. I have more details if you need them.

"The Importance of Earnest" is ready to ORDER!

There are two versions:

1) March 2003: Saturday afternoon showing at the Kenworthy
2) April 2003: Friday night showing at the Kenworthy

Prices: VHS - $15 (2 for $25, 3 for $35, etc.)
DVD - $25 (2 for $45, 3 for $65, etc.)

To Order:
Call Rachel McManus at 892-9608 (after 4:30 pm) OR
Email: knightbball@msn.com

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Not much to say today. The sky is blue. The air is cool. Everything is going ahead as planned (with the sun rising and all). I have an interview for a part time job today. I hope this will be the end of my searching.

I am excessively amused by the prophet Micaiah these days. What a mighty blend of courage, piety, and sarcasm. May my sons aspire to such godliness (1 Kgs. 22).

Monday, April 14, 2003

Heard last night at an Indigo Girls' Honor the Earth concert:
"The guy who reminds me the most of Dr. Evil is Dick Chaney." (Winona LaDuke, former vice-president hopeful with Ralph Nader)

Wednesday, April 09, 2003

Atlas School is currently looking to hire a part-time math and science teacher for next fall. Classes would meet for up to 3 hours, two mornings a week. Please inquire for a more detailed job description and see our web site for more information about the school.

All interested parties should contact me.

Some of you will be happy to hear that ever since I posted that story about young Schuler's early scientific exploits, I have had ceaseless banners across the top of my page saying things like "House train your puppy" and "Dog training". I'm a little disturbed.

Tuesday, April 08, 2003

Oh wait. I forgot. Aunt Lucy has a blog now! Go see it here. She'll also be joining the coveted ranks of the sidebar links. Welcome to blogdom, AL.

I'll be on the roof if you need me.

I have a confession to make, and in good male fashion, I intend to shift the blame. The warmer it gets the faster I drive. Serious. I'm not that wild of a driver. I am legitimately embarrassed when I get pulled over... uh... not that it's been very often.. er. But the fact is I love wind in my face. I love its force, its drive, and its smell. It's a thousand memos pouring into my senses. I love playing roller coaster with my hand out the window. I love listening to loud music and barely being able to hear it over the noise of open windows. I love the sun in my face going over the passes as I drive into town in the morning. It's like putting your hands over your eyes for just a moment and wondering what might happen. I love the hills and the turns. I love passing people too. Not because I'm on some kind of impatient power trip. I just like driving fast. I wasn't like this a month ago, honest. It's the sun and day light savings and all the green in my lawn. Spring made me do it.

Saturday, April 05, 2003

Well, the second performance of the play went off without a hitch. We had another very full crowd and fun show.

Grammar is Aesthetics

I realized this week that grammar is aesthetics. As languages develop, somewhere along the line, there is consensus enough concerning the sound (music) and look (art) of word combinations to make up rules to teach to our children. How funny we are.

Thursday, April 03, 2003

Potty Lessons

So yesterday I went over to get a movie (for my wife who's sick) from Lucy Jones. She lives on the other side of the Jones from us. She was just getting home and was letting her puppy (Magnus, a Mastif) out to take care of his 'business'. As it turns out, young Louis Schuler was also hanging around hoping to get a little 'Magnus time' in as well. As I stepped up on to the patio, I was greeted by an overly excited Magnus, whose excitement could hardly be contained. And in fact, was not contained. Magnus began taking care of business all around my leg. Thankfully, he had poor aim and missed me, but Lucy did give some instructions to Magnus about where the proper 'potty place' was. Anyway, as I was escaping into the house on my video expedition, I overheard young Schuler investigating the whole ordeal. He asked with the earnestness of any six year old boy, "Well, what kind of pee was it?" Lucy not knowing what he meant (I assume) neglected to answer. But young Schuler, intent on knowing the truth, persisted, "What kind of pee was it?" On the third refrain, Lucy finally looked down at young Schuler with not a little exasperation in her voice, "The URINE kind, Louis." I'm not sure how satisfied young Schuler was with the response, but I was completely content to leave it there and I continued into the house.

Wednesday, April 02, 2003

The Immortal Dogs

The immortal dogs live across the street. I'm not sure if there is only one or three or six. But they are there. I've seen them. Some days they are cautious and bark from their bunkers behind the house, and other days they run daring missions around my legs. I realized yesterday that the immortal dogs actually 'bark'. I don't mean make annoying barking noises, as in the general dog noise 'bark'. I mean the noise they make is actualy 'bark'. At least one of them is really close. Some dogs say something closer to 'yip', and still others 'ruff'. But the immortal dogs say 'bark'. That's one plus. Although it occured to me on a second pass, that they might actually be saying 'barf' which is quite another thing altogether.

Tuesday, April 01, 2003

Grading

I struggle with understanding how Christian educators can offer honest, helpful evalution of student work without capitulating to the mindless numbers and letters of modern academia. We are so in love with the number grades that for as meaningless as they are, they are motivators. It's like our stats, our batting average, and slugging percentage. I grant that number grades can reflect accurately in certain areas, but they run the risk of degrading the work of my students. The value of an essay on 'what it means to be a man' cannot be reduced to a number. And because most work cannot be reduced to a number, when it is, are we being as honest as we can be? At the same time, by refusing to number a student's work, I often find that my evaluations are less effective because writing "this is very poor work" for some reason doesn't get as much of a response as '55%'. How does a teacher remain helpful (ie. truly motivating) and honest in evalutation? And how can a teacher be a servant to students and families (ie. useful transcripts for college) and at the same time encourage growth and development that does not pay homage to the gods of the number? In many ways I prefer greater honesty and hope motivation will grow over time.