the worst thing about teaching

i had to fart ALL day.

undeserved

on the weekend before i start to teach, instead of preparing lessons with focus and determination, i went to a sleepover party (technically a leadership retreat) and hungout for awhile, slept not-quite-enough and ate lots.

hosanna leaders are awesome, by the way; they are very self-sufficient, organized and dedicated. boy howdy, they are good at taking care of each other. substituting for art this past month has been a privilege, and i enjoyed getting to know the fellowship members more. they are an entirely different generation with almost completely different set of foundational experiences (they were born AFTER Gameboy and learned to MSN before they learned to walk and talk).

in other news, i received a phone call last wednesday just before i headed out for lunch. it was TDSB, calling to schedule an interview with me. so now i have an interview with the largest school board in Canada on April 25, the last day of my week off before my internship in May. if i pass this interview, i will be placed on an eligible-to-hire list, where TDSB principals pick applicants to interview to fill job openings in their schools. other school boards generally require only one interview, but i haven't applied to them yet.

later that night, i received another call reminding me that there was a lunar eclipse, at a less foresaken hour than the last one i beheld. two phone calls in one day! unprecedented!

overdressed

when you're my height and still look and act like a kid, it can be pretty difficult to hold court in a classroom -- you just don't get the respect required. the easiest way to adjust the perception of your age (and thus, your experience level and social power) is to dress and speak accordingly; take full advantage of human psychology.

today i wore a tie. i had decided on a dark gray shirt and the usual black pants with belt ensemble. the shirt was just a solid colour without pattern, so i felt it needed to be kicked up a notch; enter solid black tie. i spent 7 minutes and took about 5 tries remembering how to tie a half-Windsor and getting it to the right length.

the effect was immediate. students would part in the hallways between classes for me a little bit more. rowdiness was hushed with a look. off-the-cuff cussing was immediately followed by apology and demurity. it was sweet.

why does the tie have such symbolic power?

sociologists and psychologists say that from birth, people are innundated with information to process and internalize; the tie is almost always associated with adults in business or other money-moving environments. it symbolizes work and serious stuff. when you see someone wearing a tie, you think, ah, there goes a white-collar working person. most working folk see the tie as a noose that represents the hold their company and the working life has over them. loosening the knot of the tie means you're off duty and ready to go home. casual Fridays usually entail forgoing the tie.

anthropologists say that the tie represents a penis and points everyone's attention towards the wearer's crotch. our primate brains are hardwired to automatically give deference and respect to the tall and well endowed. the necktie says, "i am large and in charge; you will submit and prostrate yourself before me." it is tantamount to wearing a sword, that other ancient phallic symbol of wealth and power.

i say, ties are great because they cover your buttons.

harder, better, faster, stronger

play Portal long enough and you begin to think beyond how cool it is to have a portal gun, and on to thinking, i could go for some heel springs right about now. you know, the implanted devices in Chell (the protagonist's) legs that prevent her from getting owned by the ground when her gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic.

i could totally use them for running faster, jumping higher, saving kittens in trees, racing kangaroos, etc. i should make something like that.

oh look, they've been invented for almost 5 years.

Casulo: Apartment in a Box

i want. see pictures and more by clicking title link, via Treehugger.