speed

Tuesday I left after 6:50 for work. I usually leave between 6:37-6:43. So, as irony had it, I was pulled over by a cop. I pulled out my license and sat patiently as he ran my license plate. He came up and asked if I knew I was speeding. I told him that I was just following the truck in front of me. He replied, "That can get you into trouble." To which I responded, "Apparently." As he studied my license, he told me I was racing at 45 through a 20 and 35 zone. I was quiet because I was in the wrong and in a hurry. I did manage to throw in "I teach" into an answer. I'm glad to report he let me off with a warning, and I have been really good at not speeding for the past five days. This following the law is going to take a change in habit. I'm giving up speeding for Lent. I try to think about the other people involved in my route (for instance the people who live in the houses along the road.)

School news: The real problem kid got removed from my team. But, after school on Friday when he came back from the suspension, he threw something and hit me in the head. When I marched him up to the principal's office, he was muttering expletives and threats to me. I hope this is enough to get him into counseling. He's a smart kid, but he's got some anger and emotional issues. And, another kid "shot" me in class. I can't imagine having done that when I was in 7th grade, but that's neither here nor there. My teachers didn't have jeans day either. But, my afternoon block went well. We discussed Gandhi, wrote scary stories, and explicated a poem.

Phone news: I caught up with a good Regent friend on Wednesday night. My brother came home Thursday night. And, I chatted with my cousin on Friday night. I miss having interaction with males; they have a different (which makes it useful) perspective. My time with these dear guys encouraged me.

Books: My book club failed to meet this week, which was discouraging. But, I finally read A Theology of Reading all the way through. It's a rigorous, worth-while read. I'm going to be mulling over several of his points for the rest of my life I imagine. The book was talking about applying the Law of Love to reading, creating a hermeneutic of love or charitable reading. All his examples from literature and his discussing of the history and philosophy of interpretation was fascinating. I came away with "loving attentiveness" and engaging in conversation, and willingness to be changed. He also got me thinking about the Christian concept of will, what love is, and how language of rights have usurped the language of love in our culture (and the implications).

Today I finished "Fat Kid Rules the World". It's a hilarious, beautiful book. It's a small-scale Confederacy of Dunces. It's episodic, character sketches. The first person narrator was excellent. It was painfully awkward and achingly beautiful. It was quick and compact. Troy, "Big T", is a 300 pound high school senior. He's miserable, and he meets a punk rocker as he contemplates jumping in front of a subway train. It's an unlikely friendship. The characters are cartoonish in nature, but somehow she breathes life and believability into them. Fat kid learns to play the drums. The book deals with addiction, abuse, obesity and other very raw and very real issues. I recommend it highly, esp for kids who are social misfits and/or are into music. There's obscenity but it fits the characters. One of my favorite lines is: "I'd spent years waiting for those exact words and it never once occured to me to give them away." There were parts of the book that resonated with me a little too much.

I started Lewis' Great Divorce tonight. What a beautiful and thought-provoking book. It's our next selection in book club.

I had a lazy day today. I've felt jet-lagged all week due to daylight saving time. My sleep schedule has been off. So, I think my laziness is a result of that.

Lent sacrifice: I'm not succeeding with my vow to forgo internet, but I am reading more of my Bible daily. And, it's pinpointed that internet is a definite point of time suckage for me.