My Bonnie Irish Lass

Masterworks! We miss it :(

Three long years ago in the month of November, I told a Hannah how I felt about her, and so began our journey.  

I didn't "ask her out" as so many of my students assume.  We kind of just slipped into a relationship.  It was only after tense deliberation that Hannah and I decided November would be an anniversary month for us, because we had no specific date.

One moment of happiness!

Year one was awful.  Truly horrible.  Especially now as I look back, it wasn't fun for either of us.  We fought like mortal enemies, about things that mortal enemies usually fight about. Stupid things.  Still, it caused a lot of pain for both of us.  (I cherish now the opportunity to fight about important things as we plan for our wedding and future together.) It was truly a miracle that we managed to get through those first months.  A lot of anger. A lot of distrust.  Any other couple our age dealing with such strife might've ended things.  We were too stupid (or smart as it turns out) to know how bad it was. I'm certain both of us thought about a way to get out at some point, and Hannah actually did break up with me for about three months that summer.

 I loved her though, so that wasn't going to fly.

Hannah's first trip to Erie!

Year two was prefaced by our reuniting in October.  I had been a persistent pain-the-butt all summer, sending a few texts each day, always unanswered, telling her that I loved her, and when Hannah returned to school that fall, she got wise and realized we ought to still be together.  I think she'd even tell you that!  I'm ever-thankful for her decision.  My busy senior year brought a new set of challenges as my life became more and more unable to intertwine with hers.  Still, we managed.  Movie night. Pizza-and-wine night.  BSO night.  Few and far between were the times when we could really enjoy the company of the other.  We survived the year.  Less fighting. More trust.  We mentioned the prospect of marriage I imagine, though probably not with any conviction.

Engaged!

Our third year pulled us further apart still.  I wasn't a student anymore.  I had to work my big person job.  Hannah wasn't a fan of this.  We had less time together, and I had very little emotional stability as I struggled to survive at work.  I wish I had offered Hannah much more comfort than I did. I was/am selfish.  I'm working on that. What made matters worse was that Hannah and I had talked very seriously about getting married.   Waiting for someone to pop the question has got to be pretty awful.  Suffice it to say that after a tough start to the year, I earned BIG points for my Irish proposal.

Hannah and I now start into our fourth year together.  In the next few months, she'll student teach, audition for graduate school, graduate, and change her last name.  I think I probably have it easy.

We have weathered many storms. We will weather many more.  It bothers me though,  when people joke about how much fighting we'll do in our first year.  We've seen what fighting accomplishes, and we weren't impressed.  Sure, we'll bicker.  But Hannah and I expect relief in our first year, not conflict.  We've been waiting a long time for this.  Call us crazy, but we'll call you jealous when you see how great our marriage looks like after six months.  I'm in it to win it!  I know Hannah is too.

Here is where I may get in trouble.

My favorite picture of Hannah and me is one which I think depicts an amazing determination.  It shows that we mean business.  One afternoon I thought we would look funny as post-brawl thugs, so I worked some photoshop magic on said picture:

WARNING! GRUESOME!

 

Thugs.

To me, Hannah looks enraged with a calm resolve, even more than me.  She doesn't look like she'll go crazy at any moment, she looks to me like she's making a plan for the next rumble. This isn't just true in the picture.  Hannah is the most determined person I have even known.  Her work ethic is inspirational.  Her constant devotion is what I love most about her. She isn't ever going to allow ill fortune anywhere near our marriage.  She will punch problems in the face. What a badass fiance.

She's mine forever.

Gumball Machine

Roughly 15 years ago, I found a vintage Carousel gumball machine in the trash across the street.  I absconded with it.  It was in great condition, but could be operated with any US (and probably foreign) coin; pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters all allowed the lever to be drawn to the left, releasing whatever goodies lied therein. Being the wannabe businessman that I am, this frustrated me.

Only now have I addressed this issue.  After about an hour of tinkering with and machining the moving part which interfaces with the coins, dimes and pennies would drop straight through the machine, and wouldn't allow the lever to engage.  Another thirty minutes of Dremel-ing, and nickels passed through as well.  Now only quarters can work the machine.  

Success.

This baby will yield high profits, not to mention rob cheapskates of their lesser coins.

Of course, the true purpose of this project is so I can exploit my students.

...

Well, not really.  I know I can't get away with selling gumballs in class (chewing gum is against school rules) but there must be some way to use this as an incentive that benefits teacher and student in my middle school classroom.  

Naturally, the profits would go toward something noble.  As a class we might decide to donate the money to a charity at the end of the year, or use it to buy something neat for the classroom.

But, what do I put in it?

 I considered there might be a way to fill it with vouchers of some sort, so if a student needs a pencil, he must first pay for a voucher at the machine and then bring it to me to receive his pencil.  That idea is certainly pointless (I could just ask for a quarter) but seems fun, especially if I make going to the gumball machine a publicly humiliating ritual. And, charging for pencils is something I can do.  

The vouchers could be used for other things too.  Students might need to earn the ability to pay for a voucher, then collect them and use them at opportune moments to receive prizes/privileges in class.

I'm sure I'll figure something out.  

And heck, my students are silly enough to put money into it when it's empty, just to see if it works.

Any badass suggestions?

Compositional Boost

I love music.  I love it so much that I've been trying to compose for many years. 

 I dabble only.

  

I'm not smart enough to really know what I'm putting down on the page, but if it sounds nice, I keep it.  It's generally a slow process, and somewhere along the way I usually realize that my compositions are worthless, because there is already plenty of awesome music in the world.  That's usually when I quit working on whatever I'm working on, and no one ever knows about it but me.

This past Christmastide, I wrote an SATB arrangement of a German lullaby for my baby niece. It was trashy in many ways, and totally Skinnerian, containing various excerpts from "the literature". It's badass, and thankfully, she won't judge me about its quality, or lack thereof.  

The other day on the way home from dropping my sweet love Hannah off at Gordon, I began humming one of my favorite hymn tunes- Rustington, and began to think that it would be sweet to write a tune of equal beauty.  Certainly, I don't think I've come close.  But I did write a tune nonetheless, which I think is somewhat delightful.  

I'm rather more proud that I came across a charming Easter text to go along with it.  

I sometimes pray that God would let me start and finish a piece that sounds good at least once in my life. I hope this isn't that one, but if it is, I think I can live with it.  

Maybe people will sing it back to God someday.

And so, for the second time in the history of all mankind, 

ye others may behold my compositional boost:

Musical Inception

I plant the idea in the minds of my students that singing music from the 16th century is awesome.

Then, they start to believe it.

Learning How to Teach

I'm new to teaching.  I haven't a clue what I'm doing, and to make matters worse, I have to teach a very difficult population.  I've been experimenting with each new class I teach, trying to figure out the kind of teacher I wish to be, and how best to convey the truth of my subject.  I've just realized that I know of a teacher who once faced similar odds, though he certainly knew what he was doing, and did such a good job of it that now he's in the process of taking over the world.  

Lord, allow me to teach as you taught.

For Unto Us a Blog is Born...

Behold!

This is the start of something amazing for all generations.

This is the testament the world has been waiting for.

The Skinner Way

Amen.

(Let it be written: I have blogged once, and I shall blog again.)