My Cardboard Balcony

This week was a good one, guys. Bit of a rough start, and lots of obstacles to overcome, but I feel more confident than ever in my teaching and my craft. I feel like my yearbook staff, for the most part, is coming together. We have a vision, a structure, and a plan. In English, I really think I'm starting to connect more with my students. They just need to be a wee less chatty! All of the old, cheesy adages seem to fall in line here. Have the patience of a saint. Be prepared to make mistakes. Good things come to those who work. I may have tweaked those a bit for my own use, but hey, I like 'em. This weekend will be a lovely one. There's stuff for me to do, but also family to see. I love where I am and who I'm working with and what I'm doing. I love the support I have and the passion I'm seeing. I'm grateful for my wife's companionship, my family and friends' encouragement, and my students' determination and pose. Deadlines are coming up...

Fun In The Shadows by Belinda Roddie How many ninjas can you count? Watch out for shurikens!

I went to the dentist to get a tooth pulled, and I ended up falling in love. She had strong hands and a smile that radiated even through the face mask she had pulled across her jaw. When she was done with the X-rays, she let me see her teeth as she exposed them in a grin - so white and pearly and beautiful. I was about ready to kiss her, only I knew she was married and wouldn't consent, not to mention that I was still horrifically numb from all of the novocaine.

This Life I Lead by Belinda Roddie This life I lead, I know is temporary, though I'll admit, I wish it'd last for longer - each day a gift, each hour secondary, but still worth every minute. As the stronger of our short humanity wanes away, I keep my mental diary intact, so that my memory retains each day that I wish I was able to enact and repeat over and over again. I am afraid of Death - but Death is still biding its time, touching the window pane, but never moving to enforce its will. At least I know that, after this endeavor, I can pretend that I have lived forever.

Somehow, Ben didn't exactly feel safe, not even when he heard the bark of the guard dog right by his gate, the ridge on its back clearly raised as it stood watch. He knew this because he observed its movements from his bedroom window, using a pair of cheap black binoculars that he had a habit of wearing around his neck. His mansion was protected - but only for now.

One More Birthday by Belinda Roddie She holds her head up as high as she possibly can, kisses the neck of her girlfriend and laughs at bad jokes, all while remembering the blue necktie with the saxophone on it that she wanted to wear for the concert that night. But her father hid it away where she couldn't find it, and her mother scolded her for wearing a shirt that, in her parents' view, made her far too masculine for the mold they had crafted for her to fit in at all times. So for now, she waits for adulthood to officially stamp her forehead so that nothing can touch her. She is already patient in a room with gray walls, where her teacher smiles and talks warmly about their wife without the fear of consequences hanging over their head like the blunted blade of a guillotine.

The winter of our discontent was never quite made glorious summer. We made our camps and lit small fires to ward away the evil spirits. At night, we all sang songs that were meant to raise the morale of our soldiers, but in the morning, the armor remained rusty, and the swords blunt, and our confidence shredded like ice in a quick yet violent storm. I stayed behind when the first battle started. And I stayed behind when the second ended badly as well.