Well, yesterday when I dropped Em off at school for the first time, I noticed that there were many, many parking spaces right near Zingerman's . . . Since Zingerman's serves the best cappuccino on the face of the planet, I took it as a Sign from God that I was spozed to stop this morning and get some. Had it not been a matter of Providential Intervention, I might have resisted the temptation . . . but no. So this morning I got myself a nice small cap, and a cheddar-herb scone to go with my lunch. (I cannot quite bring myself to say "scone" as Americans say it - which sounds like "scoan" - but instead go with the vestigial Australian pronunciation I learned back before there were such things as cheddar-herb scones: I say something more akin to "skawn" [for those of you with midwestern American accents]. I have no idea what the Brits say . . . At any rate, it causes confusion when I order.)

I took a few pictures, too, but I will have to wait until I get home to upload them because I don't have any software that will deal with images on this machine. That's okay; when I walk back to the car this afternoon I can take pictures of some of the totally cool houses around here. Mostly the surrounding neighborhoods are relatively poor: student-ghetto combined with actual poverty, but every now and again there's a jewel of a house.

And I have to say, I really like my students so far! I'm sure they'll drive me crazy from time to time, but at the moment, I find that there's a distinct lack of ennui in the classroom. Boredom, maybe - but ennui, that's different. Ennui is what rich kids from Bloomfield Hills who are just waiting for the trust fund to kick in, or the white collar job to land in their laps, evince. Boredom is transitory and very much tied to the moment; it means "I'd rather be skateboarding" or something similar. Ennui is a life stance. I can have an effect on boredom. I'm helpless against ennui.

But they mostly haven't been bored. In fact, there's a distinct crackle of energy in the room. Maybe there always is, in face to face classes, and I've just forgotten. But whatever the reason, I really like it!