First the joke, stolen directly from Peter's blog:

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed in an accident."

"OH DEAR GOD NO!!!" George W. Bush exclaims. "That's terrible!!" His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the president sits, head in hands. Finally, the President, devastated, looks up and asks.......... "How many is a Brazillion??!"

Heh, heh. I'm still laughing . . .

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Re: Teaching. I just got done doing lots and lots of grading of items for my business writing class. Oddly enough, I found it really pleasurable; I really like the students in that class. I really like most of my students, actually; at some point this semester, I somehow "let go" of the yahoos, and started concentrating on the people with whom I was connecting, and the people with whom I could connect, given a little effort. This has made a tremendous difference in my attitude and my enjoyment of the job. Before I started here, my friend Diane (who also teaches at a community college) told me I'd do best if I could just accept the students for who they are, with their various peccadilloes; and I think she's right. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic - I think I've turned a corner, here. More and more, I feel like this is the place where I belong. Yay!

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And the weather. What to say about the weather? After the weekend's dump of snow, temperatures soared to the mid-60s today, and we're now getting deluged with rain. It's supposed to get cold again by the end of the week. Apparently we're going to alternate cold fronts and warm fronts for the next little while . . . That's ok, as long as the warm fronts aren't always so warm: I went over to Buhr Park to get my season pass on Saturday, and got to skate both Saturday and Sunday. (I've had a "skating mix" ready to go on my iPod for two weeks already . . .) On Sunday I saw another Regular - some guy who's been skating there almost as long as I have; I think he has kids who are a little bit younger than ours. I don't know his name; I've never talked to him; but I always see him, also with headphones, zipping around the rink at about twice my speed. (I noticed he's grown a goatee over the summer . . .) I get a kick out of the continuity of this. There are a few people who always show up at the pool in the summer, too. It's one of the things I like about living here: Recreational facilities aren't just for kids . . .

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(N.B. - And I think think think the dates might just work out so that I can attend Inkshed in May . . . Wheeeee!!!!!)