NIEMI'S: SAVE
MIRACLE ON ICE!!!
Say cheese.
2 Moving on, if possible, Part One: Allo!!! That was how I started each class yesterday. The students walked in; I messed around a bit with cables and connections, dashed onto the floor and gave a great big ALLLO!!!
3 It sounded British, like, Al Low!!! Only it meant "Hello!"
4 I don't know why I began each class that way.
5 Sort of a shuck-and-jive thing.
6 As per ushe I worked beyond hard all day and night Sunday and felt exhausted yesterday.
7 I had to deliver the goods. I ramped it up, acting mildly antic but looking well-prepared, and if I may, the slightest bit spiffy.
8 I wasn't able to do that at first. In fact I recorded to you yesterday morning that I had lost twenty-five items written the night before, and that I worked frantically to get the DN done and published. I managed to do it, and to arrive at school tanned, rested, and ready. I stood in the parking lot like matador with a long, slanting shadow. "Bring on ze bool!" I thought to myself.
10 What? A basketball buzzer? But I had organized everything the night before, did a complete makeover, got off a grand DN, and bopped it to school.
11 I got there early and was amped and ramped.
12
14 All I needed was my room key.
16 You KNEW this was cruising along too easily.
17 Within seconds I stood in the parking lot watching all my dreams move off like clouds. I saw our guy Jessie cruising the lot in his golf cart and flagged him down.
18 "Dude. Jessie could you get me into my room? I forgot my key!"
19 He replied, "I got a call, but I'll let someone know on the walkie!"
20 "Thanks man."
21 A call to the office means this: every single person with a walkie knows I messed up and forgot my keys. I remembered and prepared everything else in the universe, but somehow left my keys in the basket, causing it to become the room-key-which-I-left-in a-basket-on-the counter-in-my kitchen-classroom key.
22 Every single person on a walkie knew this: fool forgot his key.
23 I also knew that forgetting a key before one's first class could take forever.
24 The bell rang; my students stood chatting in the hallway. Even though they are a quiet class, they still made hallway noise. A teacher from across the hall came over and shooshed them. She didn't see me at first, and then said, "Oh, I'm sorry; I thought you weren't here."
25 She moved back to her room, knowing full well that the class was in the hands of El Matador.
26 I love that teacher. She's Lynne Bramlett, and she is a class act. She allowed me to stand as El Matador for at least three more seconds. But I knew that was just a ruse.
27 f I morphed once more into this Old Brown Shoe. I sat on the dolly and called the kids over. Campfire. Story time. They gathered; I began a brand new Heidi story, starring the Tennessee Titans, Hugh Jackman, and Zeus.
28 It was then that Jessie came down the hall and opened up for me. I got in, got everything set, stepped from behind the curtain of madness and emerged with a huge smile, and a great big, ALLLOOOO!!!"
29 The rest was fun.
30 Got lots done.
31 Heidi story. End of the Twilight Zone episode with the mannequin's.
32 For the record, it was called The After Hours.
33 You may remember it as the one where the salespeople in a department store all seem strange, and a lady buys a gold thimble for her mother.
34 She takes the elevator to the ninth floor in order to make the purchase.
35 The only deal is, the elevator doesn't have a ninth floor. Yet she somehow is on the ninth. She purchases the thimble from a lady who addresses her as Martha.
36 Marsha soon realizes the thimble is scratched, and she tries to return it, but the saleslady refuses to give her a refund.
37 She eventually goes to a manager, gets no satisfaction there, and next finds herself in a room filled with mannequins, all of whom start haunting her with the refrain, "Marsha...Marsha...MARSHA..."
38 It goes on, and has some fun twists and turns.
39 I told my students that they must address it by its proper title for the rest of their lives.
40 I warned them that if they interview to get into Stanford, for example, they might be asked, "Are you aware of any famous Twilight Zone episodes?"
41 If they say "Yes, I remember the one called 'Marsha'!" They might get this: "We're sorry. Everything else screams that you belong in Stanford, but the correct name of that episode was 'The After Hours.' We're afraid you aren't eligible to attend our university."
42 It IS fun to throw a bit of fear into their lives every now and again.
43 Moving on, Part Three: The night flew last night. I got lost and busy doing all sorts of different things. Couldn't tell you what they were, but I kept working.
44 And electronic things continued to fail.
45 I even took my laptop to Best Buy because it got knocked off line. They fixed it, but when I got it home, it went offline again.
46 This time I pushed a few buttons and it was well again.
47 I may be limping a bit this week, but it's all good.
48 I'm a bit gun shy with doing the DN when all those items disappeared the other night.
49 I type this with one hand on the keyboards, and another on a flashlight.
50 I don't trust any noises or anything these nights.
51 Anywho, I think it is time to save this stuff.
52 Pray with me that it doesn't all disappear.
53 Gonna sign off now, for the night.
54 I have things I need to dream about. And then I needs to bring on ze bool. Forrealztho.
55 See you again. Have a GREAT Tuesday.
56 Peace.
~H~
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