10.24.2005

Am now in Boise, which is just moments away from the far side of the world. My cell-phone has snapped its antennae, which renders it about as useful as a cricket without its back legs.

Two shows in two different--very, very different--schools today. I try to catch them and write them down as quickly as I can, because they all start to melt together within moments; I remember
  • Penny, the music teacher in pinstripe pants who wouldn't stop smiling
  • The Custodian, a tall, wizened old man with the ZZ Top beard and the tired, stooping, loping gait, who appeared and disappeared very suddenly (aka "Gandalf")
  • Acres of children galloping with energy, tumbling over themselves. You need geiger counters and oven mitts to deal with these kids.

As opposed to the second school, where

  • the gym was bedecked with championship flags from some
  • National Competitive Rope Jumping tradition at this school, which after our performance brought out acres of teenage and middle-school girls and three boys (heh), who then proceeded to skip rope for two hours under the watchful, baleful guidance of a microphoned, be-whistled coach
  • we set up diagonally for electrical and basketball hoop voidance purposes. And It Was Cool.

I'm sipping orange pekoe tea and scheming about how to call home, and bone-tired from a long-ish day. I promise, o gentle reader, better ordered notes soon enough.

i can't get next to you baby,

paulmonster-in-idaho

4 comments:

sirbarrett said...

Is this spam above me? If so, they're getting trickier every time. I agree you have great ideas, but I also like the way you take mental snapshots of things and your description of children. I would have liked to go to the first school, but at the second, I would be ashamed unless, say, I was a dodgeball champion.

La Foi said...

That is the funniest spam I've ever seen. They went from baby shower--> think tank--> teaching creative thinking vs. being born with it--> our boys in Iraq. Someone explain THAT thought progression to me.

In other news, it's great to read about your TOJ experiences, and your descriptions of these two schools cracked me up. Competitive jump-rope? I'm glad you're letting people like me (and the baby shower gift-monger) read about your experiences. Keep up the good work!

paulmonster said...

what-up, Sir Barett and Le Foi. Good to hear from you guys. Yep, I'm pretty sure that's spammerific up there.

I would fortify my blog with more stringent anti spam defenses, but now they're just so entertaining. "Is it something you were born with?" "What a 4 you are!"

I think I'm going to start saying both of those phrases to people, randomly, just to get their reactions.

Thanks for keeping in touch, you guys.

Anonymous said...

Oh migawd i married him....