"Wars end"

I'm watching a tv series (on DVD from the library, if any of you think I've joined the 21st century and have Netflix or something) called "The Wire".  It's a creation of David Simon who had a hand in the great series from long ago called "Homicide: Life on the Street" which I watched while I was pregnant with Anthony.  I wonder if it had any effect on Anthony's personality -- it was a very gritty and hard-hitting show with great characters and writing, but very bleak.  And Anthony does have a very serious side.

"The Wire" is also gritty, in the extreme, and is set in Baltimore, just like "Homicide" was.  The actors are terrific.  Jimmy McNulty, played by British actor Dominic West (flawlessly -- you would think he was born and raised in Baltimore), is the protagonist, I guess and he is one of these very troubled cops (how could you be a cop in a place like this and not be troubled) who wants to do the right thing and ends up alienating all the big shots in the police department.  But all the performances are outstanding.  The drug dealers especially -- Wallace (played by Michael B. Jordan) and D'Angelo Barksdale (Larry Gilliard Jr.) -- really stick with you.  It is written and performed so well, that you feel like the characters are real people.  This morning, I watched the second to the last episode from the first season and it was so gripping that I was shaking and clenching my fists.

It makes you realize that there are other worlds within our world.  I try to emphasize to my children that we are so rich (even though we worry about money all the time) compared with most people in the world.  Drive a half an hour away and you reach the Downtown Eastside, which is something like "the Pit" in "The Wire".  My sister points out that there are these great quirky novels by Anne Tyler, also set in Baltimore, but it is a completely different Baltimore than the one we see in "The Wire".

The quote I used as a title is from "The Wire".  There are two rough and ready cops (Herc and Carver) and they're talking about how the politicians have labelled the campaign against the sale of illegal drugs the "war on drugs".  Carver says, "you can't call this a war."  Herc asks him why.  Carver tells him, "wars end".  What a great analysis.  When you see the pain and suffering caused by addiction, not just in this show, but in the world, you wonder what the answer is.  One of the worst offenders in the drug world, of course, is alcohol.  What a scourge it is.  Most of us can have a glass of wine with dinner and that's it, but what about the poor folks who can never get enough?  It didn't help to legalize alcohol, but then it didn't seem to help when it was prohibited either.  Is the problem poverty?  Despair?   

OOOPS

There appears to be a glitch in the new computer system where some of the classes' final marks are just a repeat of the second term marks.  This would only be for grade 9's, 10's and 11's.  If this is the case with your mark, please let me know and I'll change it for you.  The office will reprint your report cards if you ask, but if you don't need a new report card, then it will just be changed on your record.  Sorry if this happened to you.   On my printout, it's all hunky dory, but I've had a few of these things brought to my attention, so I want to fix it asap if it happened to anyone else.

A Day of Reckoning

Come and get your report cards at noon on Thursday, and then you're free for the summer.  If you did well, congratulations!  If you did your best, congratulations!  If you didn't, think about what you can do differently next year.  After all, we're here to learn and not just facts, but ways of dealing with the world.

Thanks to those of you who came in today with the idea of cleaning up.  Sorry there wasn't much to do!  The painters are in and the floor is so glossy (at least the part they've painted).  I know, it won't last long, but right now, it looks great. 

Ms. James and Ms. Roach cleaned up the prop room (and threw stuff out! I tried to look the other way because I'm such a pack rat) and it also looks great.  I was going to clean my office today, but the painters were there and so I didn't.  Procrastination hits again!

People have asked me what I'm going to do for the summer.  Some of you know how fond I am of making lists:
1)  Read "Tartuffe".  Mr. Price suggested it as a play we might do next year and I can't remember much about it, so I'm going to read it.  I'm actually leaning towards something serious and modern, though, so I'll be looking further afield than this.
2) Finish the romance novel I started during the strike!  Not reading one, but writing one. I like the characters but I've got them to a point and don't know how to get them further along.
3) Clean the house from top to toe.  (I got started during report card time, but now it's for real!)
4)  Write in my blog more. Maybe remember how to put pictures in it.
5) Try to take some time to smell the roses!

You should try the list making thing.  I usually try to put something on that I want to do, something I really don't want to do, something easy and something that's just drudgery.  That way I feel some sense of achievement.  If it's all really hard stuff, then it's too hard to check the things off, which is part of the fun of a list.

This is the end, my friend!

Make sure you finish all your journals!  If you look here on the blog, you will find the topics from over the term.  I hope you will remember which ones you wrote and then you will know which ones you didn't write.  If you kept a notebook (remember, I suggested that at the beginning) you will see what you have done and haven't.  I have until Friday to change marks.  The office is printing report cards on Tuesday, so there will be no changes after the weekend!

If you want to redo a presentation, let me know.  I have office hours from 10:30 to 12:30 and will be in the theatre at that time.  You should practice before you present.  Otherwise, you're wasting your time.

This has been a very difficult year, but I have found my students to be a great comfort -- your energy and enthusiasm is infectious (in a good way) and I appreciate all the efforts you've made, your willingness to take chances and your kindness to me in the last little while. 

I hope you all have an excellent summer!  Remember our conversation today about what you have learned.  Don't be afraid!  Fear can crush an intrepid heart.  Don't let other people discourage you.  If they don't like you or sneer at you, it's their loss!  Be careful.  Think about what you're doing.  Is it foolhardy?  Will it hurt you?  Will it hurt someone else?  (That includes your parents.) 

Don't live a virtual life.  Get outside.  Take a walk along the water.  Watch a bird.  Help someone out.  Be a good friend.  Read a book that someone recommended.  Listen to different kinds of music.  Have a conversation with someone in your family that you don't usually talk to.  Embrace the time you have to live your life.  It is such a gift.

Walk for a while in another person's shoes!

Grade 9/10; Theatre Production 11

On Monday, arrive at class in character.  If you think clothes would help you (they often do in cases like this), think about what your character would wear.  Remember to try to internalize your character -- most people don't tell everyone everything that's going on.  It is absolutely vital that you listen to Mr. Ballon (in Block C) and Mr. Gasteroji (in Block A).  If you defy them, we can't do the activity.

The goal in the extended role play activity is to walk a while in another person's shoes.  Experience the world as someone else and see what their experience might be.  It will help you empathize more with other people -- that's an essential element of an actor's bag of tricks.

Grade 8's

Learn your lines for the Aesop plays!  Remember to come in something that makes you look like a group.

I am working on your journals and report cards this weekend.  I am far behind, and I don't enjoy doing report cards anyway, so it is very easy to procrastinate!  Lots of you know what that's like!

Journals for Friday, June 5

Grade 8's:  What lesson do you need to learn?  Write a little story that shows why you need to learn that lesson.  Example:  I need to learn to believe in myself.  Story:  I was afraid to try out for the play.  I had always wanted to be in a play, but I thought I might forget my lines or look stupid, so I never did.  I went to the auditions with my friend, Alice.  She convinced me to try.  I auditioned and the director said I could play the part of the maid, who had only one line.  I came to every rehearsal and the director said I could understudy the lead, so I did.  The lead got sick on opening night and I had to perform.  It was great!  I loved performing (even though I was scared) and the audience was really enthusiastic and lots of people told me that they laughed and cried all through the play and that they loved it.  Now I am in all the plays and I really enjoy it.  (This is a fictional story.)

Grade 9/10's:  Which Shakespeare scene was the best?  Name the actors and describe what they did to make the scene memorable and realistic.

Theatre Production:  Choose one of the Shakespeare scenes and create a lighting and sound plot for it.  Explain why you choose the lighting and sound that you do.

Like gold to airy thinness beat

As many of you know, my husband died on Sunday.  He had been very sick for a long time, but nothing can prepare you for a loss like this.  I keep wishing we could have just one more day.  Remember how many of you ask this as your question of the day?  "If you knew you had just one more day, what would you do?"  Lots of you say you would fly to some far flung place, or take revenge on your enemies.  I always say the same thing.  I'd like just a regular day -- a walk in the park with Mike, the kids and Daisy, a nice "greasy" (that's my husband's characterization for a good breakfast!) breakfast, some time to listen to music and read and think about how beautiful the world is, some time to laugh and tell stories, watch a good movie, like "All About Eve" or "On the Waterfront" or "Annie Hall", hold hands, listen to the birds, realize how lucky we are, and watch the sunset.

Thank you to many of you who sent a message of sympathy or condolence.  I appreciate them all.  I'll see you soon.