Two. More. Days.

She is asking when Christmas Break begins. It begins in two days. Two more days, Athena. Then you can fetch a ball of yarn for me all day long if you'd like.

Ride or Die!

I got a text Sunday morning saying "have you seen this? this is you!"

Saturday Night Live had done a sketch about an argument between two Weezer fans. I must admit this sketch encapsulated perfectly what it means to be a Weezer fan. I have actually had this exact argument many times, sad to say. I'm on the Ride or Die side...

Strangers

 

I saw these words last September at the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris. George Whitman, the long time owner of the bookstore hand-painted the words on the wall himself. They are a paraphrase of a passage found in the Christian scriptures...

^"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."
 

- Hebrews 13:2

I made a small sign with these words and put them on the door to my classroom. 

Singalong

I bought and downloaded Sufjan Steven's Christmas album the other day. I really dig it. You can sample it HERE.

Persistence

Any reader of this blog (and there aren't many of them!) know that I've been a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners since before I can remember. So I do come from a particular set of biases regarding the events of the past weekend.

I am stunned that two Sooners won the Heisman trophy in back to back seasons. I was surprised enough by the ascension of Baker Mayfield last year but I never expected Kyler Murray to be so good. They proved everyone wrong.

I am very impressed with their persistence. I was skeptical when Mayfield transferred in, I was thinking he was going to be a distraction. I thought surely there was a reason why Tech never offered him a scholarship. After all, Kliff Kingsbury is supposed to be some kind of quarterback guru and if he let him walk, then there must be good reason. Mayfield played with a chip on his shoulder and blew everyone away. Bake is still proving the naysayers wrong with his play in the NFL.

I felt the same way about Kyler. I incorrectly assumed that a big program like Texas A&M led by another quarterback guru like Kevin Sumlin could not have been wrong in allowing Murray to transfer. Once again, I thought we were getting someone else's leftovers. And when it came to light that he was planning on only playing one year for OU so he could play major league baseball, I questioned his commitment to the Sooners.

How many times can I say I was wrong? A lot, apparently.

I expected a drop-off after last year's Heisman winner graduated. But wow, in many ways, Murray's Heisman season was even more impressive than Mayfield's.

I give my Aggie and Tech friends a hard time about squandering future Heisman trophy winners. That's gotta sting. But what persistence both these guys have. Everyone doubting them. Making the big decision to transfer to another school, then excelling beyond all expectations and winning what is arguably the most prestigious individual trophy in sports.

Amazing, impressive and historic.

Paris is Burning...Again

 

December 2018

Paris has a long history of barricades and protests. Still, I find it stunning to see these riots unfurling in places where I walked just nine weeks ago. In September, from the sheltered vantage point of a tourist, there was no inkling of simmering discontent. 

 September 2018

I sympathize with the plight of the "yellow vest" protestors. Sky high taxes are making it very difficult for millions of Frenchmen and Frenchwomen to stretch their paychecks to the end of the month. However, it is hard for me to understand the desperation of those who commit acts of violence or vandalize historic monuments (although seeing the Arc de Triomphe in person made me see the stark reality of Napoleon's narcissistic despotism). 

With the risk of sounding clueless and out of touch, I also empathize with those who saved their hard earned money and finally got to go on a trip of a lifetime only to have it marred by violence. It took us twenty years to finally make our anniversary trip to Paris last September. We saved our money and spent months in planning. We were lucky our trip was not ruined by riots. That may sound bourgeois but we are teachers and for us, these vacations are not done on a lark. I understand someone suffering economic deprivation could care less about the luxury of someone's vacation, and I don't fault them for that.

I hope fair and peaceful resolutions can be attained. I hope the tax burden can be alleviated for the poor. Beyond the glitzy center of Paris, suffering is real. I remember the images from the 2006 riots in the outer ring suburbs of Paris. I guess that didn't get quite the attention of the Yellow Vests since those riots pretty much stayed in the poor neighborhoods. 

Historically, the barricades have been quite effective in getting attention, for better or worse. My European History classes, at this very moment, are in the midst of their French Revolution studies. I don't wish to indulge in false equivalencies but there are some intriguing parallels. High taxes for one. Social class tension being another. Let's just hope it doesn't end with another Napoleon.

I'm also suspicious that some of these protests may have been hijacked by members of the far right. Right-wing white nationalism is on the rise in Europe. They wish to disrupt the modernization of the continent. Many in Europe truly have been left behind in the new economy. But the nationalists are simply resentful of their loss of place in the social hierarchy. I'm also troubled that white nationalism is on the rise in the United States. 

Lets hope beyond hope these movements are the last spasms of white anxiety as the world becomes more pluralistic. Let's hope these far right movements are the last bit of noise before they collapse into utter silence, forever. 

We can't only hope, we must take active measures to make sure white nationalists never feel comfortable to spew their hatred in a civilized society.