A high school teacher’s long commute to first period of the day Our school begins the day at 7:30 a.m., when the first class bell sounds and students shuffle in with bed head and (sometimes) pajama pants. Many complaining. I love my students, but I am not as sympathetic as…

An intermittent reflection on another 182-day adventure, part one First official day of class, September 2, 2021 Things my students said today: I want to be part of the newspaper club. But I don’t want to write. I want to join for the conversation. Miss? Miss? Miss? Miss? Uh. I…

Despite our craving for human connections and intimate relationships, we really need our space Nick Grindell to Tom Barrett: This town ain’t big enough for the both of us. If I see you in Carabinas by this time tomorrow, it’s you or me! — The Western Code, 1932 Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos: That moon ain’t big enough for the both of us. If…

The promise of extreme longevity can make you wish you were dead Since 2016, I have been sharing a video with my broadcast students featuring a live television interview with a lovely woman named Flossie Dickey. Flossie died about nine months after the news report which aired on her 110th birthday. Her longevity earned her the distinction of Washington state’s oldest resident…

Why lose your cool over brassieres, slurping and Kim K? Life is passing you by. There is this bra commercial that depicts a series of beautiful women celebrating a “wireless” (read: comfortable) contraption designed to be the answer to all your brassiere complaints. It’s still a bra, an unremarkable “foundation”…

All the world’s a stage… of a horror film — I had no idea that I had been paralyzed by fear until that syringe needle hit my deltoid muscle and I felt myself exhale. The pharmacy staff asked me to hang around for 15 minutes, “Just to be sure.” I tried to sit, but no dice. My feet felt too…

What I learned about lying in Kindergarten Anthony held the distinction of being the person most likely to be banished to the time out zone which, in Miss Humphrey’s afternoon kindergarten class, was just a corner in the darkest part of her otherwise lively and colorful space. It seemed that he was perennially in this Kinder-Siberia, looking…

Go ahead, poke fun at my little lipstick compulsion — I was one of 51 seventh-graders getting ready for the Marieville School dance. It was December, and this was to be our first introduction to society, right there in the gymnasium. It was a big night. With her shiny black Singer, my mother had made me a gold satin, quilted…

Let it go, and other tips for couples working from home I’m scrambling an egg for the dog. The coffee is percolating, and my husband’s laptop is pinging. Do you want some juice, he asks as he pours his own. I say, No, thanks, but I am not surprised when he pulls out a second glass, pours a short orange juice…