Major Backlog

I've not really had the chance to write recently, so here's a quick catchup.

I went to the new Yankee Stadium last week. It was very impressive. The ballpark part of it was pleasantly reminiscent of the original, which older folks like myself was substantially altered from the original original in the 70s (they made it a bit smaller and got rid of the columns that made watching from the back rows an exercising in moving your head from side to side to try to follow the ball). Then back behind the seats there's a nice, wide concourse where you can see the field, like at most new stadia.

To sum up the difference between old and new versions, at one point I was coming back from the bathroom and someone had dropped a full beer on the floor and there was a guy saying "watch your step!" If they didn't let you walk where there was beer on the floor at the old stadium, nobody could ever walk anywhere.

We took the train to New York because it was Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. Cars are much more subject to traffic than trains because anyone who feels like it can drive a car into the most heavily trafficked places in the world whenever they feel like it. But to use the train tracks one must possess a train.

That being said, trains have an extreme lack of maneuverability (it always kind of shocked me that trains and trolleys have no steering mechanism) that makes them both the safest and generally most reliable mode of transportation, and also makes them prone to spectacular delays when something is impeding their path. I was only once on a train that had to take a detour- it was a cross country trip that ran into a flood in North Dakota (nothing but water as far as you could see in all directions). We sat still for 2 hours, then backed up slowly for about 3 hours, then moved onto an alternate track that took us through South Dakota and stayed 100 miles south of the original itinerary for the rest of the journey. At every stop they had busses to pick up the passengers and take them to the actual station up north. We got into our destination (Chicago in this case) 12 hours late- 6 in the morning instead of 6 the previous evening. This was before cell phones and my poor friend who was supposed to pick me up was beside herself.

More to come.

I Can't Believe I'm Writing About Shorts Again

Not that I have any intention of changing my dressing habits, but world would be a nicer looking place if men my age didn't wear shorts.

Skool Nooz

One thing I've noticed this year is that, because of all the new stuff going on, people are still asking me, "How are things at school this year?" Usually, by now, we're up to "So what are yu doing this summer.?" But that question assumes a certain routineness to the goings on that simply is not the case in a school with a new head of school in a new building with a principal who's leaving the job after many years.

Not having been in a situation like this before, I have no idea how to evaluate how things are going. Is this normal for a place going through this many big changes? Or is it better or worse?

Given the general level of craziness, I find myself falling back on my tried and true four point program for thriving in complicated, quickly changing situations.

1. Never write anything down
2. Never print out anything you're sent
3. Never believe anyone who tells you that "this is how it's going to be."

and most importantly

4. Approach everything and everybody with an open mind and an open heart.

I swear to you that this works, and it works because, when it comes right down to it, nobody ever really knows what's going to happen next. So the first 3 are just an expansion on "Be Prepared," and the last is for the happiness (or sanity) of you and everyone around you. Once I wrote this down, I realized that this is pretty much how I handle life on a daily basis, kind of like the way a shortstop or a tennis player assumes a ready position, knees bent, on their toes, alert. I don't know if that works for everyone, but it's good for me.

What are my knees doing there?

A couple of years ago I bought some new pants and shorts from some direct mail place. It's fine, I guess, except if, like today, I wear a pair of pants and then change into the shorts that are the same color. When I do that, I keep looking down and thinking that something's happened to my pants.

Fugitive From Justice

I am in violation of the law. Yesterday I called the courthouse to see if I had to show up for jury duty today and the clerk said, "No, you're supposed to be here today." So I said "Oh no, I'm in contempt of court!" because that's what the letter said would happen if I didn't respond. At times like this I tend to revert to my childhood self, so I said , "Am I in trouble?" but the clerk couldn't have been nicer. She said to fax them a letter saying that I'd forgotten and they would defer me to a later date and I thanked them kindly.

So I faxed them a sheepish letter (embarrassed, not wooly) and attached an itinerary for when I'm going to be out of the country later this year. As soon as I did that, I wondered if I should have also told them the other time I was going to be away later in the year, and I found out later that the answer to that question was 'yes,' because I got a new date for when we were going to be on vacation. So I called the office and they were not happy with me, but I said I didn't really want to send them all my summer vacation plans, so they let me pick a date when I can actually make it.

The funny thing is that I have absolutely no desire to avoid jury duty. I've never done it before so it should be interesting, and during the summer is a pretty convenient time. So I may be a lawbreaker, but I'm a lucky one.

If want to understand the concept of infinity, try this

When you clean the kitchen, there's always one more crumb that you missed.

Winding Up, Winding Down

We have about a month left in the school year, which is at once the best and worst time of the year.

Everyone sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but then they look everywhere around and they see nothing but tunnel. On one hand, the students have developed study skills, understand their teachers, and have gained proficiency. On the other hand, they're tired, stressed, and terrified of final exams. And at the same time they can't wait until summer.

When I was at college I studiously (and this is the only sense in which you could use the word 'studious' in relation to me in college) avoided classes with final papers instead of exams. Final exams are much better because they get done when or not you want them to. Papers, and I've made a lifelong study of this, never get done until you sit down and write them.

My only advice here is to take it a day at a time and understand that Finals will eventually be over, regardless of what you do. Once you've prepared as best you can, let up on yourself, take the exam, and be done.

Who Thought of this?

My daughter told me she had a teriyaki burrito for lunch today and I started laughing. Who would ever think of such a thing? She told me it was one of those Amy's organic frozen things. OK, so it's one of those American organic Japanese Mexican kinds of food.

No ifs, ands or buts

One of my kids has pinkeye, or as we call it around here, conjunctionitis. Break out the hand sanitizer, makeup remover, paper towels and for goodness sake, avoid all unnecessary clauses!