refresh.

I finally received my last rejection letter for the poetry I submitted all over the place in June. I am surprisingly quite a bit less disconcerted about it than I thought I would be. The note itself was returned in my SASE with a lovely card explaining away my fate with some excuse regarding their "aesthetic." It even had a personal signature bearing the condolence, "sorry Abby." Overall, one of the nicer rejection letters I have received. However, I am a little relieved and excited to begin this process anew. I have several new pieces and discovered a few new magazines that I think might fit my aesthetic better. New year, new poems, new rejection letters! Let's renew.

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Skin:

delicate paths like
origami paper worn
by a hand's caress.

silver lining.

Today was an awful day. I had a sub yesterday so my classes are behind and confused, tomorrow I have a sub again, teachers were unfortunately being trivial bitches again. By 7th period I was mentally exhausted from trying to explain Transcendentalism to uninterested students and dealing with overly presumptuous teachers. Then, a miracle happened. One of my students came in early to class, to be honest I don't often notice him because he is sleeping quietly with his hoodie on... but today he wanted to talk to me. I obliged him. He had in his hands a book from the library that contained the complete works of Thoreau; he wanted to show me quotes!! I had them read Into the Wild by John Krakauer for extra credit and he wanted to discuss how some of the quotes related to the main character in the novel. He asked if he could use them in his paper if he cited the novel! I was so ecstatically shocked than I rattled on about other books he might like and we talked about Transcendentalists until class started. Needless to say, I was very quickly reminded of why I do what I do. Next time I won't be so quick to forget.

Edit: My mom who is a teacher veteran almost cried when I told her this story. I touched one out of 180... only 179 to go. :) And I never tire of being someone's "favorite teacher"... it's really one of the best compliments I have ever received.

a monday.

Today was my first day back after Christmas break and it was most assuredly a Monday in every sense of the word. Total unpreparedness reigned supreme. Luckily I am a really talented improviser, one of the many tricks you must learn when teaching. "What am I doing today? Oh right, I don't know... uhmmmm... who wants to learn about semi-colons?"

I found out that one of my brighter students is pregnant. Her friend slipped up and told me. I know my face fell and I looked shocked, which wasn't the reaction she had wanted. I felt bad, but I can't cover up my undeniable disappointment. Her best friend also has a toddler so it's like "Omg now we can be mommies and omg it's so cute and omg they will be bffs just like us!" She is really excited, but I feel like this is a travesty. I don't know why I am letting it get me upset. I suppose it's because she has SO much uncovered potential that will most likely stay covered for the remainder of her life. It also makes me want to go buy some condoms.

On a lighter note, I bought a new DS game called Zenses: Ocean Edition there is apparently a Rainforest Edition as well. The reviews on amazon.com were low, so I wasn't expecting much... but I can't pass up a well pixelled puzzle game. I usually never listen to game music, but the music for this is so peaceful (even when you lose it plays a cute chime) that I really enjoy the game with all my applicable senses. It's made me appreciate my DS even more. I love games that you can pick up on a random afternoon, play for a while, then set aside until you feel inclined to play it again. The neat thing about Zenses is that you can change the intensity from 0-9, so you never run out of challenges. I see myself purchasing the Rainforest edition in the near future. And I can't believe I got my DS when I turned 21 and I am now hurdling toward 23. :(