I ain't no fortunate son...

I believe I've mentioned my music project with my class before, and I wanted to update you all on something pretty cool that happened last week.

Last week my song was Fortunate Son, by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the kids were really enjoying it. (They've enjoyed the music a whole lot more now that we're (mostly) done with classical music, but that's ok...:) ) Anyway, in Social Studies we were finishing up the beginning unit on the Civil War. We were talking about all of the events leading up to the Civil War, the strengths and weaknesses of both sides during the war, and the attitudes and behaviors of both the south and the north during the Civil War. One of the issues we addressed was the fact that civilians in both the south and the north were able to evade the draft by either owning a certain number of slaves, or by buying your way out of the war. We discussed whether or not this was fair, what it meant to the poor and underprivileged, etc. Well, in a flash, like a...uh, (ahem) surge, it hit me...the song fit perfectly with this aspect of American History. I printed off the lyrics to the song, had my class read them as I played the song, and watched as they began to make the connection between the song and our discussions of the Civil War. Some kids asked if the song was written about the Civil War. I explained the connection to the Viet Nam war, and the correlation between the song, and both wars. Then, to culminate that particular part of the class, I sat back and reveled in what I was seeing...20 ten, eleven, and twelve year olds singing along with CCR and really getting it. It was truly something special.

Oh, and for those of you who don't know, I allow my students to get my attention when I'm unable to attend to them by saying "O Captain, My Captain". One of my students had checked out a book on Civil War poetry and songs. She found the Whitman poem (O, Captain! My Captain!) about Lincoln, and excitedly showed it to me, as if I didn't already know about it. I read the poem to the class, we discussed what it meant, and for the first time, my students smiled just a bit deeper when proclaiming, O Captain, My Captain!

It's been a good couple of days in class, to say the least.

Anyway, I've been working on my playlist of songs for "Music Time". I know I asked for suggestions before, but...any new ones?

And, as always, thanks for stopping by...

Tommy

April is the cruelest month...

Sad news from the literary world. David Halberstam, one of my all-time favorite authors was killed today in a car accident.

When I was a sophomore in college, I was given the opportunity to have dinner with this remarkable man, along with a number of other students. I was able to sit at his table and talk with him about his many books, his illustrious career, and his time as an embedded journalist during the Viet Nam War. I left that meeting with a profound appreciation for his work, and I have enjoyed absolutely every book I have read by him.

If you haven't read any of his work, I highly recommend you give it a try.

To David Halberstam: a man with class, a humanitarian, and a great author; you will be missed.

Thanks for stopping by....

Tommy

Strangers in the Night...

A funny thing happened tonight...

A VERY funny comedian, by the name of Zack Galifianakis was performing at Truman. I used to watch his show when I was in college all the time, and my old roommate Brad was a HUGE fan. However, both Bibi and I felt totally wiped out by the week/weekend, and we were unable to get tickets to see him. I was kinda bummed by it, but at the same time, knew that we both needed a quiet night in.

So, around 9 we were walking Leo on our usual route, when my shoulder started hurting; I asked Bibi if it would be ok if we cut out the last leg of the walk so that we could get home. She, of course, said yes, and we turned to head back home. As we were passing the Truman faculty parking lot, I glanced to my left, and saw a very bearded man, dragging wheeled luggage behind him. I paused, and without thinking said, "Are you Zack Galifianakis?"

It was!

I asked if he minded if I introduced myself. He said sure. We walked over and I introduced myself and we kind of chatted a bit. He asked what brought me to Kirksville, and I said that I was a teacher here. I admitted that, while being a huge fan, I hadn't been able to see the show, and then asked how was it. He said it was pretty good, but, you know, these college audiences, some of the material just goes over their heads. But, as long as you curse a lot, they love you. (c;

He then asked for directions to a good restaurant, and I told him how to get to Il Spazio. We then finished walking Leo and came home.

So, that's how I met Zack Galifianakis.

More later...!

Thanks for stopping by...

Tommy

Insert catchy title here.

Anybody know any songs about fathers? I like to title my posts with song titles, and I couldn't think of anything for this one.

Disclaimer: Rambling post about a lot of different topics, and containing a lot of gushy emotional stuff. Be warned.

You ever had one of those days, when things aren't all that great...I mean, don't get me wrong, they're far from bad, but it's just not THAT grea? And, then...outta nowhere, you have a glimpse of how blessed you REALLY are? I was sitting in my classroom today while my students were working on their assignment, thinking about the massive weight of things that have been kind of slowly creeping on top of me, and I thought about coming home tonight, and it hit me like a ton of bricks, (way more quickly and powerfully than that "woe" nonsense), how unbelievably happy I was that I got to GET to come home to this wonderful woman, this partner of mine. I honestly almost started crying at my desk I couldn't wait to come home to see my Bibi. It's a good thing, no? It brought to mind the lyrics from one of my favorite singers, one who I've already posted here back in November.

"Now is the time of collection
Now is the season undone
Now is the winter of my discontent
Made glorious summer
By your sun "

Jeffrey Foucault--Sunrise in the Rearview

Anyway.

Onward to other topics.

So, I've been thinking about fatherhood a lot lately. (Imagine that.) I was thinking back to a couple of years ago when I was visiting Kansas City and I was hanging out with a friend of mine who had recently become a father. He was a friend of mine from my freshman and sophomore year, who was the epitome of that goofy and great friend that I imagine everyone has freshman year of college...he was just this funny, cool, mildly wild (is that possible?) guy who was liked by everyone, but was in no way remotely "adult", you know? And, I remember VERY clearly watching him with his son...watching him change his son's diaper, play with him, relate to him...it was one of the most amazing things I've seen in some time. I mean, it really stuck with me. I can't wait to be that guy...to change diapers....to play with my child, to be....a dad. I. Can't. Wait.

And, speaking of that....I've been thinking about family, and parenthood, and such....and, it's been a whirlwind of thoughts....

For those of you who know me, who've read the earlier posts on this blog, etc, you know that I've kind of been stuck in this rebelliousness about family for sometime. I think everyone goes through it to some extent or another at some point in their life, but I think maybe my phase was a bit on the long side. Anyway...in this mindset I was pretty critical of my parents, of my childhood, of how I was raised, about family in general. It was a very strange thing, and it led to me having some pretty strong opinions about how I wanted to raise my kids. I read a really good book a couple of weeks ago called, "Fathering Right from the Start" about being a dad, and it really struck me. This is what I learned/realized.

I want nothing more than to be the kind of parent my mom, dad, and step-dad were. They parented with nothing but the purest intentions and motivations, and with nothing but love as the core of their decisions. They loved me, and my sisters, with all of their hearts and all of their minds and souls, and they wanted nothing more than the absolute best for us. And, my faithful readers, that is the kind of dad I want to be.

All right...those are just some thoughts I've had...feel free to comment. (I love getting comments.)

Tommy

Our House, in the middle of the street

Yep. We gotta house. We signed a one year lease, we get the keys next time we're in KC, and we're really excited about it. Bibi loves the three bedrooms, I love the garage, and Leo is going to LOVE the HUGE fenced-in backyard.

And baby? Well, baby's gonna love having a home all to ourselves. Baby's also gonna love the quiet residential neighborhood, the well huge shade trees, and the fact that we're not gonna have to live out of a cardboard box. (c;

Oh, and our midwife's appointment on Saturday was awesome. Everything is going along swimmingly, and as of right now the baby is entirely viable. (Which, you know, is a good thing.) We've been feeling our little one kick a LOT lately, and last night we could feel the babies legs/arms gliding under Bibi's belly. (say that three times fast: Bibi's belly, Bibi's belly, Bibi's belly. It's even hard to type fast!!!) And, let me tell you, there are few things in life MORE surreal than feeling a baby move under the momma's skin. Sheesh.

I know, I know, it's been almost, what, a fortnight since my last post? Much has happened. And, well, I don't even know where to start. So, I'll leave it up to you...

got any questions ya'll are wondering about?


Thanks for stopping by!

Tommy