Three Beautiful Things 05/19/08: Sophie, Spurs, Susana

1. I participate in a very low key mentorship program through the University of Oregon. All it requires of me is to talk with a student for a half an hour who thinks she/he would like to someday teach in a community college. I met Sophie Grow today at Espresso Roma and we talked for two hours. I enjoyed listening to Sophie tell me about her life and her studies and I enjoyed responding to the questions she posed. I was happy she experienced me as enthusiastic and positive about my work.

2. The San Antonio Spurs impress me in the same way the Celtics of 1969 did. That Celtics team was aging, but battle tested. Like the Spurs, they always had someone come up with a big play, whether on defense, the boards, or scoring. No one thought the 1969 Celtics would defeat the Lakers in the championship series, but they did, with guile and persistence. They were a team that knew how to grind. I think the Spurs are similar. The Spurs knocked off the Hornets tonight and now they face the Lakers, a younger and athletic team. I'm eager to see if the Spurs can, like the '69 Celtics, pull of the unlikely and beat the Lakers.

3. I asked my students to write a challenging essay this week in ENG 1o9. They are writing essays about how the mad character, Susana, can be seen as the central character in Pedro Paramo. I read the first wave of essays that came into my email box tonight, and what a pleasure to see these students rise to the challenge and write insightfully and eloquently about Susana.