In the midst of the chaos that is working, going to class, observing high school punks several times a week and trying to keep anything else afloat, I thought it would be fun to share one of my assignments with you.
At the beginning of one of my courses I started this fall, we were asked to provide a personal story we had written. I chose this one from this very blog, focusing specifically on the triathlon part of the post. Apparently, I am too long-winded to submit the whole thing!
After sharing the stories in class, we were asked to radically revise it. Given my self-professed love of the limerick, I chose to re-write the thing with a major twist. Here goes:
There once was a demonic spirit,
You wanted sympathy he wouldn’t hear it,
When looking for fun,
He found a swim, bike and run
And thought he would go and be near it.
He found an unsuspecting man
and hatched an insidious plan,
Satan’s powers were strong,
He’d make the swim seem so long
the person would barely be able to stand.
The plan was a rousing success
and the devil was fully impressed,
The results were so funny
that folks would pay money
to see him put forth another test.
Next he spied the man’s bike
And thought he could do what he liked
But it didn’t go quite as well
As all his plans made in Hell
So Satan would plot one last strike.
At last the man began to run
In God’s name he thinks this is fun?
He’s punished himself enough
No need to make it more rough
The old Devil believes he is done.
Enough for now, I'll report back later this work with more.
Until next time.
Ace
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
I'm a glutton
Apparently, in my quest to absolutely destroy myself, I've decided I need another class this semester. So, here I go, signed up for a Shakespeare class. The smart thing is that I signed up about 3 weeks late so I'm already way behind! Yipppeeee! So, this course entails reading 8 plays and doing some papers and other assorted craziness. It should be good since I haven't done a ton of work with the ole bard. Unfortunately, I'll just be cramming my way through it. It looks like it's going to be that way for the next year until I get to my student teaching. My application for student teaching is due tomorrow even though I don't actually start until next fall - pretty crazy.
My other coursework is going ok. I have begun my work at a local high school, assisting a teacher who has 3 remedial reading classes and 2 English classes. It is quite a difficult challenge for this teacher, I don't know how she does it. So far the only thing they have done since I've been there is standardized testing so I'm hoping to actually see some classroom instruction in the next couple weeks. Then I'll be on to my middle school, which fortunately is very close to my home. The high school is about an hour away so it'll be nice to have something so close.
I'm definitely starting to get a taste for it and it's more than just the romantic visions one conjures up before attempting a new task. I do see it as a noble undertaking though and think that my early impressions, while a little scary, are galvanizing my resolve to take this direction.
Other assorted news and notes:
Congrats to K & R who have discovered they will be having a little girl in January. It will be their third, welcome to the madness.
Our own little guy is now officially walking, taking his first steps last week. Lock up the women and children!
Schooling is going well for our other 2 monkeys after some early trepidation.
Fantasy update - it looks like I wrapped up 3rd in both baseball leagues. That should turn out to be profitable! Back to reality in football as I went 1-2 this past week, although the taters are the highest scoring team in the league. Here are current records:
Boom Kings 1-1
Come On Sucker Lick My Battery 1-1
Nice Guy Dick-Taters 2-0
Off to see 3:10 to Yuma tonight, I'm very psyched to check this film out as a big fan of most of the modern westerns.
Until next time.
Ace
My other coursework is going ok. I have begun my work at a local high school, assisting a teacher who has 3 remedial reading classes and 2 English classes. It is quite a difficult challenge for this teacher, I don't know how she does it. So far the only thing they have done since I've been there is standardized testing so I'm hoping to actually see some classroom instruction in the next couple weeks. Then I'll be on to my middle school, which fortunately is very close to my home. The high school is about an hour away so it'll be nice to have something so close.
I'm definitely starting to get a taste for it and it's more than just the romantic visions one conjures up before attempting a new task. I do see it as a noble undertaking though and think that my early impressions, while a little scary, are galvanizing my resolve to take this direction.
Other assorted news and notes:
Congrats to K & R who have discovered they will be having a little girl in January. It will be their third, welcome to the madness.
Our own little guy is now officially walking, taking his first steps last week. Lock up the women and children!
Schooling is going well for our other 2 monkeys after some early trepidation.
Fantasy update - it looks like I wrapped up 3rd in both baseball leagues. That should turn out to be profitable! Back to reality in football as I went 1-2 this past week, although the taters are the highest scoring team in the league. Here are current records:
Boom Kings 1-1
Come On Sucker Lick My Battery 1-1
Nice Guy Dick-Taters 2-0
Off to see 3:10 to Yuma tonight, I'm very psyched to check this film out as a big fan of most of the modern westerns.
Until next time.
Ace
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Quickie (as opposed to?)
Just a quick update:
Happy day after b-day to the better half. The mid-week occurrence of the bday sort of put a damper on things but I at least made dinnner and scored a french silk pie from baker's square. This past weekend we went to Chinatown in Chicago to celebrate. We ate until we could eat no more! The better half continues to amaze with the stamina for doing all of the things that somehow amazingly get done. It's fun to look back and see how our lives and relationship have changed over time. Ah, but that is fodder for another more thoughtful post.
School is heating up. I begin my first in-class experience this week, visiting a local high school and assisting the teacher and spending some time tutoring in the library. Hopefully I don't get too nervous and throw up on any kids.
I am working on an interesting project that will have to be done this weekend, writing a response to one of my own blog entries. I will post the results here but I think it is going to be fun, if not a little too self-centered. But hey, it's a school assignment so I didn't really have much of a choice.
I am expecting to spend most of my waking time working on my various school assignments, projects, readings, student teaching applications, state tests, yada yada yada. That said, expect more quick posts like this with an occasional longer and more serious post.
And very importantly, fantasy football update:
Boom Kings, 1-0
Come On Sucker Lick My Battery, 1-0
Nice Guy-Dick Taters, 1-0
Those are my 3 teams in my 3 different leagues. One of the most fun things is to come up with the team names. Off to a blazing start, I'm first or second highest scorer in all 3 leagues so it was definitely a great beginning to the year. Let's see if we can keep it up!
Until next time.
Ace.
Happy day after b-day to the better half. The mid-week occurrence of the bday sort of put a damper on things but I at least made dinnner and scored a french silk pie from baker's square. This past weekend we went to Chinatown in Chicago to celebrate. We ate until we could eat no more! The better half continues to amaze with the stamina for doing all of the things that somehow amazingly get done. It's fun to look back and see how our lives and relationship have changed over time. Ah, but that is fodder for another more thoughtful post.
School is heating up. I begin my first in-class experience this week, visiting a local high school and assisting the teacher and spending some time tutoring in the library. Hopefully I don't get too nervous and throw up on any kids.
I am working on an interesting project that will have to be done this weekend, writing a response to one of my own blog entries. I will post the results here but I think it is going to be fun, if not a little too self-centered. But hey, it's a school assignment so I didn't really have much of a choice.
I am expecting to spend most of my waking time working on my various school assignments, projects, readings, student teaching applications, state tests, yada yada yada. That said, expect more quick posts like this with an occasional longer and more serious post.
And very importantly, fantasy football update:
Boom Kings, 1-0
Come On Sucker Lick My Battery, 1-0
Nice Guy-Dick Taters, 1-0
Those are my 3 teams in my 3 different leagues. One of the most fun things is to come up with the team names. Off to a blazing start, I'm first or second highest scorer in all 3 leagues so it was definitely a great beginning to the year. Let's see if we can keep it up!
Until next time.
Ace.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Geek alert!!!!
"We interrupt this broadcast for an emergency broadcast message"
I promised a little lighter post for my next one. Well folks, here it is. I'm going to share something that many of my readers know. However, this bombshell could keep me from reaching office someday. OK, maybe not. But, here it is: My name is Ace, and I'm a fantasy sports geek. Most of you already knew I was about the nerdiest character around but this probably seals some sort of all-time dork award. It really is kind of embarrassing and something I certainly don't try to bring up when not around my fellow geeks. But I have to admit, it is one of the most fun activities I participate in and has really made me a more involved sports fan.
I've always been a big sports fan, which is really strange since no one else in my family ever really has been more than a VERY casual fan of anything unless they were dragged into it by me (I'm still quite proud of having gotten the better half both Jordan and A-Rod jerseys, that A-Rod Mariners teal number is sweet!). But I have very vivid memories of watching baseball on TV by myself as a 2nd grader. Strangely, it is one of my earliest memories. That morphed into collecting sports cards (another geeky although fairly typical hobby for youngsters) and I was hooked from there. At various times, I've been more into various sports (Jordan era Bulls being my favorite of all time) but the current and probably most lasting favorite is Major League Baseball. Part of this is due to my participation in fantasy leagues.
For those unaware, fantasy sports basically consist of a group of people getting together and "drafting" teams, by taking turns picking players until everyone has a set number of players. Then, the performance of the players you've drafted is compiled and compared to how other teams are doing. The team that does best wins. This is a very simple explanation and it certainly gets way more involved depending on the sport, number of teams and various league formats. Usually each team ponies up an entry fee to get into the league and the top few teams win the entry fees at the end of the season. Perhaps as important for some are the bragging rights you win. This industry has exploded over the last 10 years or so and you always see headlines in the news talking about the billions of dollars of worker productivity lost due to employees wasting time on fantasy sports (I can't wait to see the dollar figure on productivity lost due to blogging!).
Anyhow, I first got a taste of fantasy sports in high school but really got hooked in college. I currently participate in 2 fantasy baseball leagues with the same groups of people each year. These are grueling as you have to follow baseball pretty closely to be successful - and the baseball season is very LONG. This year, I am in 3 fantasy football leagues and 3 other football "pools" or contests. With the football season starting tonight, I'm very excited to get started and have the typical pre-season optimism that accompanies each season. I generally have been pretty successful in the baseball and football leagues I've been in, moreso in baseball. All in all, it's a lot of fun and gives a good excuse for more closely following the various sports. In one league I got the top pick and feel like I've put together quite a good squad.
So, I'll probably keep a running tally of how I do each week in my blog entries, just to jinx myself and display my ineptitude in front of the masses.
And finally, a shout out to the Appalachian State fans out there, I was very happy to see Michigan get bounced last weekend! I actually know several alums from Appy State and was thinking of them when the big win occurred.
"Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast"
Until next time.
Ace
I promised a little lighter post for my next one. Well folks, here it is. I'm going to share something that many of my readers know. However, this bombshell could keep me from reaching office someday. OK, maybe not. But, here it is: My name is Ace, and I'm a fantasy sports geek. Most of you already knew I was about the nerdiest character around but this probably seals some sort of all-time dork award. It really is kind of embarrassing and something I certainly don't try to bring up when not around my fellow geeks. But I have to admit, it is one of the most fun activities I participate in and has really made me a more involved sports fan.
I've always been a big sports fan, which is really strange since no one else in my family ever really has been more than a VERY casual fan of anything unless they were dragged into it by me (I'm still quite proud of having gotten the better half both Jordan and A-Rod jerseys, that A-Rod Mariners teal number is sweet!). But I have very vivid memories of watching baseball on TV by myself as a 2nd grader. Strangely, it is one of my earliest memories. That morphed into collecting sports cards (another geeky although fairly typical hobby for youngsters) and I was hooked from there. At various times, I've been more into various sports (Jordan era Bulls being my favorite of all time) but the current and probably most lasting favorite is Major League Baseball. Part of this is due to my participation in fantasy leagues.
For those unaware, fantasy sports basically consist of a group of people getting together and "drafting" teams, by taking turns picking players until everyone has a set number of players. Then, the performance of the players you've drafted is compiled and compared to how other teams are doing. The team that does best wins. This is a very simple explanation and it certainly gets way more involved depending on the sport, number of teams and various league formats. Usually each team ponies up an entry fee to get into the league and the top few teams win the entry fees at the end of the season. Perhaps as important for some are the bragging rights you win. This industry has exploded over the last 10 years or so and you always see headlines in the news talking about the billions of dollars of worker productivity lost due to employees wasting time on fantasy sports (I can't wait to see the dollar figure on productivity lost due to blogging!).
Anyhow, I first got a taste of fantasy sports in high school but really got hooked in college. I currently participate in 2 fantasy baseball leagues with the same groups of people each year. These are grueling as you have to follow baseball pretty closely to be successful - and the baseball season is very LONG. This year, I am in 3 fantasy football leagues and 3 other football "pools" or contests. With the football season starting tonight, I'm very excited to get started and have the typical pre-season optimism that accompanies each season. I generally have been pretty successful in the baseball and football leagues I've been in, moreso in baseball. All in all, it's a lot of fun and gives a good excuse for more closely following the various sports. In one league I got the top pick and feel like I've put together quite a good squad.
So, I'll probably keep a running tally of how I do each week in my blog entries, just to jinx myself and display my ineptitude in front of the masses.
And finally, a shout out to the Appalachian State fans out there, I was very happy to see Michigan get bounced last weekend! I actually know several alums from Appy State and was thinking of them when the big win occurred.
"Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast"
Until next time.
Ace
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Time Marches On
It's been an interesting week with a confluence of life and school putting me in a rather reflective mood.
School - I started my semester and have experienced orientation to the middle school where I will serve my clinical hours this semester (my high school orientation is not until next week). Logistically, the place is only about 15 minutes from home, which should be great. The pep talk from the coordinating teachers at the school was interesting, leading me to think a lot about whether I would prefer teaching at the middle school level instead of high school. I still have plenty of time to make the decision but a part of me thinks that I would like middle or perhaps even elementary school quite a bit. I've always been able to relate well to kids in that age group, perhaps because my mentality is generally that of about a 4th grader. I've been stuck in Beavis mode for the last 20 years.
My other class this semester has me doing a lot of reading about challenges faced in the classroom. Between my clinical orientation and this reading, my idyllic and romantic vision of the inspired teacher-student relationship is being revised. I am realizing that there are going to be some terribly difficult challenges ahead. This is extremely scary but I also believe that my talents will allow me to make an impact. Time will tell, I suppose, but in the meantime, I need to continue working hard to start to build a comfort level in this brand new arena.
I will very quickly have an opportunity to put some of this theory into practice. At the moment, I'm swimming in choppy waters with no life jacket. I'm certain I'll persevere. But I can't help but notice the nagging feeling in my head that I'm acknowledging myself as a failure for throwing in the towel on the corporate career. I'm probably a little too proud of myself in most things, my career being no exception, so this feeling of admission is making me uncomfortable. But I'll keep these feelings of failure reserved to their little corner in my mind, allowing them to come out on occasion when I feel the need to revel in my melancholy.
Life - Emotional times in the household. The oldest took her first trip to school on the school bus last Friday in the first day of kindergarten. I will not lie, the eyes were a bit misty on Mom & Dad. But I will say, the process was made easier by her excitement. When the bus rounded the corner, she jumped up and down excitedly and ran to me to give a big hug. The kid has no idea how much love there is for her in this house, no matter how many times we say it.
At the same time, the middle rascal started pre-school today. At times I wonder if she gets short shrift since we've already experienced these things with her older sister. But she seems to be handling day 1 like a champ. I think it helps that she has visited this school dozens of times in trips to drop off & pick up her older sister. It will be very good for her to start to develop her own set of school experiences instead of only having her sister's experiences to share. Of course, we're amazed at how far along she is in her learning, benefiting positively from having an older sister where she can sort of "tag along" in the learning experience. I suppose it is that way for many younger siblings.
I'm going to stop here before I get into full-blown whiner mode. And I promise to have some more fun content for the next post.
Until next time.
Ace
School - I started my semester and have experienced orientation to the middle school where I will serve my clinical hours this semester (my high school orientation is not until next week). Logistically, the place is only about 15 minutes from home, which should be great. The pep talk from the coordinating teachers at the school was interesting, leading me to think a lot about whether I would prefer teaching at the middle school level instead of high school. I still have plenty of time to make the decision but a part of me thinks that I would like middle or perhaps even elementary school quite a bit. I've always been able to relate well to kids in that age group, perhaps because my mentality is generally that of about a 4th grader. I've been stuck in Beavis mode for the last 20 years.
My other class this semester has me doing a lot of reading about challenges faced in the classroom. Between my clinical orientation and this reading, my idyllic and romantic vision of the inspired teacher-student relationship is being revised. I am realizing that there are going to be some terribly difficult challenges ahead. This is extremely scary but I also believe that my talents will allow me to make an impact. Time will tell, I suppose, but in the meantime, I need to continue working hard to start to build a comfort level in this brand new arena.
I will very quickly have an opportunity to put some of this theory into practice. At the moment, I'm swimming in choppy waters with no life jacket. I'm certain I'll persevere. But I can't help but notice the nagging feeling in my head that I'm acknowledging myself as a failure for throwing in the towel on the corporate career. I'm probably a little too proud of myself in most things, my career being no exception, so this feeling of admission is making me uncomfortable. But I'll keep these feelings of failure reserved to their little corner in my mind, allowing them to come out on occasion when I feel the need to revel in my melancholy.
Life - Emotional times in the household. The oldest took her first trip to school on the school bus last Friday in the first day of kindergarten. I will not lie, the eyes were a bit misty on Mom & Dad. But I will say, the process was made easier by her excitement. When the bus rounded the corner, she jumped up and down excitedly and ran to me to give a big hug. The kid has no idea how much love there is for her in this house, no matter how many times we say it.
At the same time, the middle rascal started pre-school today. At times I wonder if she gets short shrift since we've already experienced these things with her older sister. But she seems to be handling day 1 like a champ. I think it helps that she has visited this school dozens of times in trips to drop off & pick up her older sister. It will be very good for her to start to develop her own set of school experiences instead of only having her sister's experiences to share. Of course, we're amazed at how far along she is in her learning, benefiting positively from having an older sister where she can sort of "tag along" in the learning experience. I suppose it is that way for many younger siblings.
I'm going to stop here before I get into full-blown whiner mode. And I promise to have some more fun content for the next post.
Until next time.
Ace
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