August 29: Back to School, Back to Work, Back to Skunks

I will be back in the classroom this afternoon.  I'm experiencing my usual first-day-of-class jitters, even though I've been doing this gig twice as long as my daughter's been alive.  (That's over 20 years, for those of you who are mathematically challenged.)  I always get nervous when I meet a new group of students for the first time.  I think it goes back to my low self-esteem, my need to be liked/loved, and my Catholic angst about not being good enough/smart enough/ holy enough/ whatever enough to do anything.

And I am also back to work, obviously.  I spent last night finishing Mockingjay, finally.  It was a great series of books and definitely teachable.  As a college English professor, I always think about whether I can use a book in class.  My next Good Books course is probably going to center around post-apocalyptic, dystopian books.  (Yes, I'm already planning my next class.)  I found the whole Hunger Games series really satisfying.  The ending had a melancholy that appealed to my darker tastes.  Can't recommend these books enough.

This morning, as I was heading up the street in my car, I saw a skunk cross in front of me.  It waddled into a neighbor's garage.  I know it wasn't a cat.  Too squat.  Too compact.  Tail was too bushy.  Now, I might have said something to this neighbor tonight if I liked him and his family.  I don't.  So, I hope they have a close encounter with their black-and-white visitor today.  Better him than me.  I know that's not a very saintly thing to say, but I'm just being honest.

Saint Marty, keepin' it real.

I don't get no respect!

August 25: No New Poem, Almost Done, "Mockingjay"

First, I have to apologize.  I promised a new poem for today.  I didn't get it done.  I sort of got wrapped-up in my reading of Mockingjay.  No, I didn't get the book finished, either, probably won't before tonight's Book Club meeting.  However, I'm far enough into it to speak about it intelligently.  As my daughter says when she's trying to get out of doing something, I promise to have a poem for you tomorrow.

I'm very happy with the fact that I'm almost done with the entire Hunger Games trilogy.  As many of you may know, I've had a hard time reading and finishing anything for quite a few months.  Even if it is a young adult series, I've actually read it, which is more than I can say for quite a few books I've started recently.

I am looking forward to the meeting tonight.  Book Club night is one of my favorite nights of the month, even when I don't have the book finished.  I enjoy the people.  I enjoy the food.  I enjoy the conversation.  I know that most of the people coming tonight have actually read the entire novel, which is amazing.  And I know that almost every member of the club is going to be there tonight.  When I look back, I can't believe that this little Book Club I started over six or seven years ago is still going strong.  Yes, we've lost members.  Yes, some months we've only had two or three people in attendance (including myself and my wife).  But we're still going strong.

I just got a phone call from my sister who usually babysits my son on Book Club night.  She completely forgot about it.  She asked me what I was planning to do with my son.  I said, "I guess I'll just put him to bed."  My sister has a really uncanny ability to make me feel guilty without saying a word.  If she actually shows up tonight to watch my son, I'm going to feel like I owe her a kidney.  It's the same every month.

Just one of Saint Marty's crosses to bear, along with salad and Nicholas Sparks.

Hmmm, what do you think of the social satire of this novel?

August 25: "Mockingjay," "Hunger Games," Ice Cream

I didn't read Mockingjay at all last night.  Too busy.  Too tired.  I'm going to try to get most of it read today.  It promises to be a little slower at work.  When I got home last night, all I could think about was going to bed.  I don't know why I'm so tired this week.  I'm not doing anything different than I do any other week of my life.

The good news is that my Book Club meets tonight at my house, and I have actually finished the book.  I enjoyed Hunger Games very much, and I think that almost everybody else has finished it, as well.  Now I have to see if there are discussion questions out there somewhere on the Internet for the book.  I'm thinking there won't be, since it's considered a young adult novel.  Obviously, publishers think young adults don't want to discuss literature (which may be true).

I did make an ice cream dessert for tonight's Book Club.  It's sort of a vanilla ice cream, Rice Krispie, peanut butter, caramel thing.  I'm a little worried about it.  I'm not sure if the caramel is going to harden enough.  However, I have to serve it.  It's all I got.  It was good when one of my coworkers brought it to a potluck, but I made it without the actual recipe. 

Didn't look at my tire this morning.  I'm going to have to take a saunter out to my car now to check it out.

Saint Marty doesn't have much get-up-and-go this morning.  It got up and went.

Yup

August 24: No Flat, Department Meeting, Suzanne Collins

First, I did NOT have a flat tire this morning.  It was simply low.  I kept checking the tire every few hours to see if it was going to go completely flat.  It didn't change.  So I decided to just fill up the tire and wait to see what happened.  After almost six hours, my tire has retained its shape and air.  Therefore, I am going to say my tire is fine.  Thank God.

I went to an English Department meeting this afternoon, the first of the academic year.  It lasted about an hour and a half.  I thought it was going to be an exercise in tedium.  It wasn't.  I can't say it was a barrel of monkeys, but it was entertaining.  I saw some people I hadn't seen in a while, and I learned a few things about the department I didn't know.  Politics is, of course, par for the course, as it is in any university setting.  However, it wasn't a complete waste of time.

The thing that's been really bugging me about the last few days is that I haven't had a chance to read Mockingjay at all.  I'm around 100 pages into it, and Suzanne Collins just keeps getting better and better.  My goal is to have all three books complete by the book club meeting tomorrow night.  I'm not sure if that's going to happen.  However, I'm going to give it my best shot tonight and tomorrow.

Tonight, I've got a band practice and choir practice at church, so I'm not sure how much reading I'm going to get done.  Tomorrow is a light day at work.  I may be able to focus on it.  I still think I can finish it.

Saint Marty just needs to get his arse in gear.

P.S.  New poem tomorrow.


I don't care who you are, this is funny!