Close Shave Indeed...

So within the last three or four days, my friend, Jeff Pierce, was rear-ended by a younger woman who was "not paying attention" as she ran into Jeff and his 2002 Saab.

A tip of the hat to the engineers at Saab for designing a car that takes a thirty-plus mile an hour hit from the rear and my friend can walk away from the accident.

Jeff and Jodi are mourning the loss of the family car, which has served them well for the last nine years.  I empathize with their sadness.  It is especially hard to lose something like a care when you have worked hard to take care of the beast in the first place.

While I am sad to see the demise of the car that took me to Vancouver, and all over Seattle - I am quite pleased that my friend is well.  I didn't realize how close the whole ordeal was until I saw the pictures and then realized - there but for the grace of God I could have been receiving a phone call that my friend was no longer here.  We always assume that we have another twenty or thirty years on the clock - but you just never know.

Thank you Saab.

bar

Good-bye to the Big Man....

So way back when Bruce Springsteen burst into our consciousness I was always struck by a rock & roll band that had both White and Black musicians.  Last week Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke and the died at the age of 69.

Mr. Clemons was known as "The Big Man" by Springsteen, and I was equally impressed with their friendship and affection for one another.  Mr. Clemons passing leaves a new gap in my life.  Other musicians have come and gone (Jerry Garcia - 1942 - 1995) but you always had an idea that they weren't long for this world.  Mr. Clemons passing is a little closer to the bone.

Somewhere in heaven "Tenth-Avenue Freeze Out" is blaring.  As well it should.

Thank you Big Man....

Trouble In Paradise

So I wake up to read that Twins relief pitcher Jose Mijares publicly complained about uberstar Joe Mauer's calling for six straight fastballs.

Hmmmm. This isn't normal Twins behavior. We don't discuss problems in the paper. And then to have a reliever call out our All-Star catcher - that is just not how we roll here. But the news doesn't stop there. I read on to find out that our manager, Ron

Gardenhire is also quoted as wondering about the pitch select. Now I am thinking that I must be in some alternate universe.

Then they go on to mention that Mauer's took grounders at third and was told to get a first basemen's mitt. Perhaps this explains why we still have three catchers on our roster.

I know this is not the first time we haves heard of pitchers not liking the way Mauer's calls a game. But this IS the loudest criticism of our .186 hitting catcher that I have ever read.

All is not well in the heartland. My loving wife, Karyl, pondered if the team isn't trying to move Mauer's around, and this is the first step.

Go Figure...

This week I have had the pleasure of a visit from my friend, Jeff P. We had a great time walking wound the South Minneapolis area, visiting Tin Fish, Al's, and Peppitos (and the Pumphouse Creamery). I love to be. Reminded how the best times are not always big events, but the day-to-day stuff. ther talks while you are walking the dog...

I also noticed that I have to work on being more patient. I don't know whether it is because I begin a new job on Monday, or whether it is just where I am now. Jeff was always much more relaxed than I was...Hmmm.

Son of a Bunkhouse...."Maze Runner" Follows the Herd and Misses the Mark

This is an engaging story of a young man in a dystopia trying to make sense of his new surroundings.  It is similar to Knife of Never Letting Go in that a young man and and a young woman come together and try and survive in a land of unknowns...

Also like Knife the first fifteen/sixteenths of the book is interesting and held my attention.  This book has a unique vocabulary - things like "Good that" and a variety of insults that young men hurl at one another with great affection and regularity.

My big complaint with these two books is that the end by setting up the next story.  It is such a disappoint.  Why would you ruin a good book this way.  I have to fault publishing companies for this nonsense.  So, given the ending, I am pretty ambivalent about this book.  It is too bad, because this book was on the edge of being very good.

13 June 2011

28/32 in the Books....

Well, I think my 28th year at Breck is in the books.  thirty-two years of teaching and twenty eight of them out here on the frozen tundra.  Go figure.

Looking back to the twenty-eighth year...I would have to say that this was a harder year than the last couple. I noticed that only one boy earned an "A" level grade in my class, which makes me think that I need to go back and read Newkirk and see what sort of changes to make to help boys do better in my class.  I also want to do more planning this summer so that my classes has some regular writing - and a variety of writing (I am excited about the possibility of having students be able to blog next year.)

******

I am quite pleased to begin my summer with Jeff here for the week.  We don't really have any plans other than to read, relax, and enjoy time off.

I am looking forward to spending more time this summer writing in this space.  Fingers crossed.