Three Beautiful Things 02/21/08: Alex, Goldberg, Cold Pop/Warm Pizza

1. Alex alway has some time to burn after WR 122 before she has to catch the bus and she likes to hang around the classroom and get extra help with her writing or tell me about her current trials and triumphs in her life and I've come to look forward to sitting and listening to what she has to tell me.

2. Today was the second day of students reading essays growing out of the memories, thoughts, associations, or other experiences triggered by listening to Glenn Gould's 1982 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. I enjoy how concretely descriptive so many of the essays were and found myself near tears when A wrote about the death of her music teacher or when J wrote about the Glenn Gould playing in the background at her apartment as she and her (now ex-)boyfriend argued for the last time or when T recalled her honeymoon in Mexico with her second husband and the return to the the five kids of their new blended family when the honeymoon was over.

3. I hadn't had any pizza for quite a while and I bought a slice of Canadian bacon and pineapple and a slice of pepperoni. I like to then buy a bottle of Diet Pepsi from the cooler and buy a large cup packed with ice. When the soda is as cold as possible it tastes perfect with the pizza. I'm glad I don't do this often. I'd hate for this lunch treat to lose its edge through eating it too often.

Three Beautiful Things 02/20/07: Gums, Goldberg, Taryn Enjoyed Neko

1. My teeth/gums should be a Superfund site, just like Kellogg. It would be the country's smallest Superfund site. I get my teeth cleaned every three months. I enjoy it. Yes. I like how good my mouth feels and I enjoy the sensation of the electric sonar/sonic/laser/whatever it is tool the hygenist uses to clean my teeth.

2. My WR 122 students write a paper exploring the impact of Glenn Gould playing Bach's Goldberg Variations. They read the essay aloud in class. Jack didn't like the impact. He hates Bach. He wrote a series of wonderful similes describing the pain listening to this music put him through. (I think the other students wondered if I was going to come unglued or something. They've never seen me come unglued. I laughed and enjoyed Jack's essay. My enjoyment relaxed the students.)

3. Mommie Dearest/BrodH20 commented that she saw Neko Case live and thought she was beautiful. It's wonderful to find others in the world who enjoy Neko Case. Is there a more lucid, clear voice singing better songs anywhere in the world of recorded music?

Three Beautiful Things 02/12/07: Nap, Copia, Bach in Kellogg

1. Exhausted from late nights and mental effort in playing *Othello*, I had the afternoon free and took a restorative nap.

2. My students wrote wonderfully insightful components to a single sentence about *Into Thin Air* that covered the whole blackboard!

3. Burning copies of the Goldberg Variations for my students made me think of the time I took a long walk in Kellogg while my dad was terminally ill and Glenn Gould brought me relief from my worry and sadness.