My Cardboard Balcony

Okay. I know that lately, I've been either negative or neutral in my introspections, whether they're brief or overextended. I've talked about how much work I've done. I've opened up about stress and anxiety. I've sometimes really abbreviated what's happened in the week. Tonight's different - though I can't guarantee this won't be concise. This week was, above all, a week of achievements. To begin, I passed my PACT. For those of you who need a refresher, PACT stands for Performance Assessment for California Teachers. I turned in seventy pages of writing and lesson planning, as well as two video clips of teaching at my student teaching site. The verdict: Well, like I said, I passed. PACT was the main hurdle I had to jump to become a teacher. And I jumped it. I renewed my CPR training. That's a necessity to get my teaching credential, though I have to heckle the fire district to actually mail me my updated certification. Nothing's arri...

One Reluctant Pilot by Belinda Roddie I don't care if you're dizzy - fly that damn plane!

It was like a Teenage Wonderland at the theme park - under the plastic-looking bridges and beside the stone walls that led to castles and roller coasters, adolescents snuck alcohol in water bottles and managed to smoke weed and cigarettes without the security cameras noticing. I managed to find a spot by the Screamer roller coaster and roll a joint with my girlfriend, Mac, before making out with her and enjoying the taste.