1. My Survey of World Literature students are studying the great Hindu epic, The Ramayana, and I enjoy seeing what happens if they present their understanding of this story through pictures instead of essays. So today, and it was a surprise to my students, I lugged my stash of crayons, charcoal pencils, markers, colored pencils, paints, markers, glue sticks, tape, sketch pads, and other supplies into the classroom and astonished my students that for the next couple of class periods they would be illustrating the Ramayana in small groups. Once the student grouped themselves and started talking and planning, my dream came true. The energy level skyrocketed. Laughter. Ideas insights flew through the room. I tried not to be too obvious in my beaming. But that's what I did: beamed.
2. It's not beautiful at Red Apple. Red Apple is a grocery store about six blocks from our house. Its bottle and can deposit machines outside the store are crowded with homeless and other impoverished men and women with grocery carts full of bottles and cans, each worth a lousy nickel. I haven't been to Red Apple for quite a while. I used to go there all the time and going to day reminded me how much more alive to my neighborhood I feel when get out see what's happening, rather than closing myself off.
3. Dan and I had another of our daily reviews of the current Democratic race for the presidential nomination. We are starting to imagine a Democratic convention where the nomination is up in the air and the party has to negotiate within itself to decide on a nominee. It's fun conversation. Of course we don't know what's going to happen, but for the ten minutes we have these talks we act like we know every bit as much as Tim Russert or George Will. Why not?
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