I fought the law and...

Well, I didn't exactly fight the law, unless you consider forgetting to renew that sticker that goes on your license plate an act of aggression. Passive aggressive, maybe...

Last week was a bad week. I had an encounter with the Law that left me a trifle shaken - but thank god/dess, no poorer. The cop said he was in a good mood. A few days later, still wracking my brains because I could have sworn I did go in and get that sticker thingy, in fact, I had a distinct memory of going in to the office in Carleton Place in July (before my birthday, please note) to do so, I suddenly remembered the rest of the distinct memory, which was that because I had outstanding parking tickets in the City of Ottawa, which I could not pay from the Town of Carleton Place office, I did not end up renewing the registration that day.

So the moral of the story is - renew your registration, get your sticker, and if you don't have the right sticker on your license plate, don't drive around in front of cop cars, especially not if you are wearing a black skull cap. With a skull on it. And especially not if you have a large man in the passenger seat beside you who looks like a gangsta' in certain lights. (He's not a gangsta', he's the sweetest possible guy.) What can I say? I like to accessorize.

Gearing up for the gig

I hope you are all planning on going to our gig - less than three weeks now - THURSDAY DECEMBER 11 at the increasingly revered and renowned ELMDALE HOUSE TAVERN.

Okay - got that out of the way.

Fall is a busy time for people who work in academic type workplaces. And people like Sarah who don't, but have to take trips to - oh - Luxembourg, for instance, for important conferences. And people like Carmel, who have been mixing with artistic types at important art shows. So we haven't been playing out much. However, we have been adhering to a rigid, cage-like practice schedule, and we've added some exciting new songs - oldies and newies - to our repertoire. We've got our harmonies all tuned up and our eccentric rhythms down pat.

You know, Thursday December 11 strikes me as a perfect day to plan an outing with your chums. You could go to any number of fun and yummy restaurants in the Hintonburg area, then catch our show at 9pm at Elmdale House. Only 5 dollars. Whether you like to shake it on the dance floor, or watch others do so, should be fun. Christmas is a-comin'. Friday December 12 would be a good day to wake up late, call in sick, buy a few stocking stuffers. I'm just sayin'.

Avocado and Kimchi

...in a sandwich. Yummmmm.

Hmmm... reflections on teaching

I've just started volunteering in my son's classroom, did my first stint yesterday, and let me tell you, it has given rise to a lot of reflection about teaching. I thought I would see many differences between teaching junior kindergarten and my own work at the university, but I observed that, for the teacher, keeping 20 four-year-olds involved and engaged is not that different from teaching a seminar of first year university students.

Of course there was the planning that had to occur before the day even started. And the weeks of establishing a classroom routine. I recognized the careful pacing of activities - some with the whole group sitting and supposedly listening, some with smaller groups doing different activities - and the orchestration involved in making all that happen. There is the engagement with individual students while they play/work, giving little boosts to the thought process, doling out genuine and non-fatuous praise. And then there is just enjoying the kids - their energy, their intelligence and talents, their interactions with each other.

It was the day the French teacher comes in to teach the group of kids. We were all sitting on the large mat when she arrived. She pulled out the flip-chart from the wall as she greeted the children, and selected the child whose turn it was to use the pointer while the group chanted the poem they are learning. "Je suis rouge, rouge. Je suis un coquelicot. Je suis rouge, rouge." etc... (something like that).

During this time period, one of my son's friends, who has trouble sitting still, was up and down 20 times (no exaggeration), looking for books on the shelves, starting conversations with other kids, and so on. One of the girls said to him - "If you don't stay in your seat, I won't give you the present that I brought for you." This gave rise to all kinds of speculation among the kids in the vicinity (the back of the mat, of course, farthest from the teacher) about what the present may be and whether she brought presents for anybody else. She jumped up from her seat and fetched a little bag full of hair scrunchies and business cards with scribbles and drawing on them, and started handing them out (selectively) to the kids, creating a subdued roar.

At the same time, my son, who had insisted that I sit beside him, scooched closer and closer to me, grabbed my hand, tried to lean against me, and finally put his head down and appeared to be trying to sleep. I resisted all of this, which made him upset. While the teacher continued to deal with the gift-giving disruptiveness, I tried to sneak off to the back of the classroom, feeling that my presence was not helping. At that, my son started to cry. Long story short, the gift bag was confiscated, the tears were soothed, the French lesson was concluded.

Much to my surprise, later that day my son told me, a propos of nothing, "coquelicot is the French word for poppy". Wow. Something actually sank in? Encouraging.