4.24

From an article in The Oregonian:


" There are 80 TFAs in Baltimore, and when [TFAer] Rennard's girlfriend comes to visit, she wants nothing to do with them.

'She says it's like hanging out with the survivors of a plane crash,' he says. 'They've all been through something so traumatic that it's impossible to approach them because you don't share the experience. I'm closer to them than I've ever been to anyone. It's like living through a war.'

'This is the hardest thing I will ever do,' he says. 'I don't think I'm doing a good job. Every day I'm failing them in some way. Every day I'm doing something for myself that I could do for the kids.'

Some days, he gets angry: 'Some days, I just go home and play Guitar Hero. 'On the other days, though, he brings food in for the kids who can't afford lunch. He drives them home so they don't have to sit with the Crips on the bus. He lets go of the clock batteries, and carefully hoards the pain and stress of all the learning moments.

'I'm excited for my second year,' Rennard says. 'Every horrible mistake I've made, I'm going to fix. And I've made a thousand mistakes.' "

4.17

"Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?"

by Ron Koertge

Give up sitting dutifully at your desk. Leave
your house or apartment. Go out into the world.

It's all right to carry a notebook but a cheap
one is best, with pages the color of weak tea
and on the front a kitten or a space ship.

Avoid any enclosed space where more than
three people are wearing turtlenecks. Beware
any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks
across the muffled tennis courts.

Not surprisingly, libraries are a good place to write.
And the perfect place in a library is near an aisle
where a child a year or two old is playing as his
mother browses the ranks of the dead.

Often he will pull books from the bottom shelf.
The title, the author's name, the brooding photo
on the flap mean nothing. Red book on black, gray
book on brown, he builds a tower. And the higher
it gets, the wider he grins.

You who asked for advice, listen: When the tower
falls, be like that child. Laugh so loud everybody
in the world frowns and says, "Shhhh."

Then start again.

4.8

Travel 4.3 - 4.6

1 very late plane
1 missed connection
5 pieces of chocolate, each
0 flights to Peoria from Dallas after 7.30
3 possible flights to Chicago
1 last-minute flight (delayed)
2.5 hours with no beverage service (storms)
1 arrival at 2am
0 out of 2 possible pieces of baggage
12 new items purchased in desperation
2 recovered bags, a day late
1 amazing Shakespeare play
1 trip back without any issues

= great weekend!

Oh, the memories.

4.2

April = school is over. Basically.