I am starting a new project with the eleventh grade classes today. It involves the play, The Crucible. Arthur Miller is the author and he is one of my favorites, not simply because he has the same name as me, but because he was a great writer, he was married to Marilyn Monroe, and he was 6'4". One of my professors at Millersville had done his doctoral dissertation on Arthur Miller. I would think that doing a doctoral dissertation on a living person would be fascinating because they would actually be able to get feedback from that person.

I have continued to read The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. I am fascinated by the way he frames his stories. The way he weaves his story is truly remarkable and at times difficult to understand, but I am 'getting the point' of what he is saying and I'm moved to think deeply about the subject. He is an author I wish I had met. His death went virtually unnoticed because it occurred the same day as the Kennedy assasination.

Tomorrow we begin the new year for graduation projects. I find these interesting. In many cases, we meet with students for four years, and then at the end of the senior year, they scurry around to complete the assignment which they have four years to do. Usually it's done just to get it over with. I also wonder how community service, which by definition is voluntary, can be required. Wouldn't that be an oxymoron? Required volunteerism? Just some thoughts. The concept of a concept

essay....education....school....freedom....socialism....capitalism...cleanliness.....wants and needs.....

I'm getting low on gum.

This is a picture from Costa Rica which shows some of our kids playing soccer with Guillermo who was our guide and the coolest human being in the entire of Costa Rica and Freddy was the second coolest person in the country but certainly the coolest bus driver in the entire world. Just thinking about Costa Rica makes me hungry for beans and rice and fresh fruit.

Monday morning. Extended homeroom. A so so weekend for local teams. NL football won big. Penn State won. The Phillies lost Saturday but finished off the series yesterday with some hot hitting. The Eagles.....well. They're an enigma right now. Next Monday, we'll be sleeping in as it is. But that's next Monday. We've got a week to get there.

The Phils won yesterday so they are up 2-0 in the series. Victorino had his first career grand slam home run, but only after Bret Myers had a huge at bat which resulted in a walk. He increased the pitch count of the starter.
Kids are working on their rough copies. I am collecting whatever they have today. Hopefully this will move this project on more that we have been.
I don't have much else to say. My daughter's car is acting up but it's 1000 miles from here, so that makes me feel helpless for her.

Period 11

Period 11 class hard at work!!!!!!!!!! Look closely.

The Phils won yesterday afternoon. Go Phils. Hamel was amazing and Lidge hung on, but he made it interesting.
I began reading The Great Divorce last evening by CS Lewis. I read something this summer that referred to it and I had been wanting to read it, but recently some students and I were discussing it. I was told, and I haven't confirmed this, that it has been removed from numerous libraries, and I'm curious why. I have read the first two chapters. I'm pretty familiar with Lewis, so right away I'm thinking it's probably an extended metaphor, which seems to be the case. I can't believe it's October already. Wow. Where did the time go?

I wasn't here yesterday. Feeling better. Ms. Header was here for me.
Phils play tonight. They need to win this series. Then they can move on to the NLCS. We have a senior class meeting this morning. We are going to take the class to Six Flags again. It is usually a good time.
I wonder how long your fingernails grow in a year's time.
I wonder who ate the first clam.
I wonder why people eat gross stuff.
I don't like food that comes in a shell, clams, scallops.
I do like shrimp, though they are pretty ugly.
Lobster used to be slave food.
Rip Van Winkle was a fictional character.
So was Ichabod Crane.
Both are the creations of Washington Irving.