Embrace your Jabberwocky!

Apparently, teaching Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwocky" is rubbing off on me as of late.  If you didn't already know this, "Jabberwocky" was a part of Carroll's book Through the Looking Glass, sequel to Alice in Wonderland.

I am pretty sure that Lewis Carroll dabbled in hallucogenic drugs or was on the outer edges of senility.  Whether his state of mind was one he sought out or one the settled upon him with no outside assistance, you have to admire the way he didn't fight it, but instead embraced it.  I can sort of hear him saying, "What the heck.  I'm losing my mind.  Let's make it fun for everyone!  Just consider my jabberwocky in uffish thought as you rest by this here TumTum tree."

His writings created a entirely new lexicon from which to draw when you can't think of just the right word to fill in the blank.  In fact, the term "jabberwocky" is now a proud member of  Webster's finest and literally means "nonsense language".  I'm not kidding.  Go google it!

Anyway - sorry for the language arts lesson there - I haven't taught my students in almost a week now, and I am beginning to have withdrawals, which may explain my sudden fascination with Lewis Carroll's verbosity.  As a result, it seems that I have started, quite unintentionally,  my own personalized word list.  I hope this doesn't mean I am headed off to restaurant where I am the only diner, but if so, I hope I enjoy the ambience once there.

Here are a few (sorry bloggers, if I have already used them on your blogs).

1. restivities - noun - What you do before and after attending Christmas and New Year's Eve parties.
2. lootery  -  noun  - The winnings you receive from any lottery, raffle, contest, etc.
3. slinding  -  verb  -  what happens to you when you are casually walking along and hit a patch of ice. (I'm not going to lie. Slinding is painful.) 
4. electricide  - noun  -  murder by electricity bill (what many will suffer due to this cold snap - may God rest our souls.)

Well, I am about to venture forth into the brillig morning and see what new words I will encounter this day.  I hope they are friendly, unlike bandersnatches and Jubjub birds, but if not ... I will keep my vorpal sword close at hand and, snicker-snack, off with their prefixes!

Questions that Shape the Universe

I heard a great poem on NPR the other day where the author personified snow as terrorist who held people hostage in their homes.  Pretty unique perspective with which many in the midwest can relate, I am sure.  I wish I had written it.  It was great!

Since that sort of creativity has not yet struck in the midst of this snowstorm, I am left to ponder the more mundane:  How many snowflakes had to fall to create the four inch blanket outside my window?  What is causing the backed up traffic on the freeway that I can see through my naked trees?  Will we have school tomorrow?  How much discussion will there be tonight by those brilliant sportscasters about the Vikings losing their top during the snowstorm?

One thing for sure...there are few students on facebook clamoring for classes to resume...or teachers, for that matter.  We are all such grasshoppers, preferring to dance and sing today - never mind about tomorrow. 

As I sit here wasting time, I suppose I am no exception, although I did do a couple of things earlier that required some effort:  shoveled the walk, took the garbage to the road, packed the snow by drivng over it, checked to be sure the heater is on in the garage (The trek to the garage takes a lot more effort when trudging through snow drifts), and cleaned the house (this has done much for my mood - I am now calmer and more at peace). 

I should write up the language arts team notes from last week before long and look at the requirements for my portfolio entry for the national boards, but as the traffic's hypnotic rhythm (yes, the obstruction has been cleared - cars once again resume their steady pace), I revisit the most important question I pondered earlier.  Will we really have school tomorrow?

I think I will go make a cup of coffee and think about that some more.

Winter Forecast - 2010

(I wrote this as winter was setting in...some of it still applies to me as summer arrives - although the outlook, like my kitchen, is brighter)

Winter Forecast - 2010


Assets freeze. Profits plummet. It’s gonna be a cold winter.

Anticipating Uncle Sam’s frigid mood,
Keenly sentient of impending pecuniary censure,
Creditors take deliberate measures to conserve their energy.
And store food for winter.
Bad acorns are tossed…shouldn’t have ever been stored in the first place.
Feverishly, financial lenders forage the harsh environment for a few good nuts still left in the shell
Ahhh…now these are wise investments.
To ensure they don’t spoil,
They are fortified with raised APR’s and gorged upon,
or
Quickly buried underground in the credit line deep freeze.
These spoils, creditors insist, are the fortunate…
“Hey brother, can you spare a dime?”
“ Sure…at 29.9.”
Momma’s mantra echoes too late as winter sets in.deafened by financial noise:
“Always pay with cash”