It seems this summer that an unusually high number of drownings have been occuring here in the Houston Gulf coast area. In several of the cases multiple people have died - would-be rescuers find themselves unable to extricate themselves leading to an even worse tragedy. The father who died try… Read full post »

  I have found such joy in the smell of summer in my boys' hair. I burrow my nose in their tawny, mussed hair and breathe in. What does summer smell like? Slightly of cholorine, cut grass, pre-adolescent boy sweat (which is sweet - the stink doesn't come for a few… Read full post »

  The school at which I was teaching middle school English just finished their certification visit by a committee. Two teachers were recognized as being superior - I was one of them. My curriculum, which was my own original creation, was given special recognition. Standardized test scores are up… Read full post »

       Uprisings in the Middle East and the tragedies in Japan have finally pushed abortion into the number two position of discussions guaranteed to result in shouting, name-calling, and a general lack of rhetorical standards. Here at OS, we have plagarism, flouncing, castigating… Read full post »

Recently,  pop singer Katy Perry decided to weigh in on centuries of philosophical learning. Herewith, a quote from U.S. Weekly: 

I like philosophy because its like a dumb board game. You get to pretend and you can make up the rules as you go. All you have to do is… Read full post »

  My eldest son had his first Communion and Confirmation in June. His first communion teacher has long held that he might be a great priest. I am not, nor do I believe I would ever be, THAT Catholic. HOWEVER - he was interested in serving at the altar. "I want to… Read full post »

   My beautiful, talented daughter gypsyboots blogged about "Survivor" at my insistence. She also waded into blogging about her day to day existence at my prodding. She wrote amusing, fluffy little pieces about her life, writing which was funny and insightful at the same time.

   … Read full post »

   Houston is not an easy city to love. No zoning leads to some ugly sections of town, a lack of appreciation for its history has lead to the whole-scale demolishing of beautiful old buildings which were then replaced by,to my mind, ugly modern monstrosities, the summers are brutal and the… Read full post »

As some of you know, I write a column for a newspaper. This column appeared in 2008, and I have them reprint it every May now. My Open Call - what would you say to the 2010 graduates if given a chance? Here's my take for this year: 

Editor’s note:… Read full post »

1.   What is your favorite word? Obsequious - not for what it means as much as for how much fun it is to say.

2.   What is your least favorite word? Most of the cruder curse words - in fact, most curse words.

3.   What turns you on?  Wit.… Read full post »

ETA - You can teach an old dog new tricks. Thanks to all who helped - and enjoy. For a while this was Liam's favorite song - once at the Children's Museum karoke event all the normal children were singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Mary Had a… Read full post »

  I am trying not to turn into a cranky middle-aged woman who hates change, but things like this . . .

   Bring back the old feed!

Sorry I can't be more creative; I'm just mad. Not mad like I am about social injustice, poverty, child abuse,… Read full post »

   I was saddened to read Jeff Howe's latest post (http://open.salon.com/blog/jeff_howe) because I too have seen sad things about which I can do nothing. It's the ability to do nothing which has my soul hurting.

  You don't have to be a teacher to see it - it's just that… Read full post »

   It's nearing the end of the school year - hooray!  I am finished with car pool duty for the year, and have a clear idea of how I'm going to wrap up the year.

  Tomorrow is the Chaucerian Day of Ill-Omen (Check out "The Knight's Tale" for the… Read full post »

  My good news? I have a new niece! She's beautiful, she's healthy  - oh, she has that new baby smell; luckily, my hysterectomy means that I will not have to worry about the baby lust.  My sister seems to be doing well - although she now realizes I wasn't kidding… Read full post »

 NOTE - I wrote this before gypsyboots started her "Survivor" recaps and got her own little fan club - so I thought I'd repost this so you can not only admire her for her funny, smart recaps WHICH YOU SHOULD READ TOMORROW but for the wonderful young woman she is. Sometimes… Read full post »

  It's been an, um, INTERESTING week - I always think of the Chinese curse - May you live in interesting times - but all in all, it's good. So here's my mixed bag of good news:

1.) Gypsyboots was the only woman in the philsophy department to get a Liberal… Read full post »

   I am in the process of collecting poems for my 6th, 7th and 8th graders to study. Rebellious minx that I am, I don't use a literature text - I pick and chose, and run up my copier tally. SO - here we are in the last marking period, and… Read full post »

   For Christians, today is the commeration of the original Good News Sunday - Happy Easter to all the Christian OSers! He is risen!

  The rest of y'all - enjoy the bounty of chocolate and deviled eggs! (What else can you do with all those coloured eggs - maybe… Read full post »

  My good news is that the newspaper column I began some 5 years ago is still going - well, if not strong, it's still going.

   I got a big laugh once when someone said "A newspaper columnist? You must be rich!" Yes, that was funny. Who knew that… Read full post »

My schedule is nuts - I can barely put together two coherent sentences. BUT I CAN HAIKU! So, here 'tis - my life in haiku. 

"The Story of an Hour"

The 7th grade does not like;

Surprise ending, ack!

Oh please, Mrs. H.,… Read full post »

What a good idea!

Shakespeare for middle schoolers. 

What was I thinking? 

My actors are stars.

Stars don't have to learn their lines. 

 Hope springs eternal. 

  Read full post »

   I am surprised to see that I've been gone for 2 weeks - it seemed longer. I'm not in mid-flounce - I'm just up to my eyeballs with real life stuff.

   I'll be back to see my daughter's posts on Survivor (gypsyboots - check out her blog!) and… Read full post »