Sunday Blatherings

This week I'm feeling a bit dazed and out of sorts, like someone needs to poke me to really wake me up.  It's that February funk where you feel overwhelmed a bit, but also like you're running through waist-deep sludge that prevents you from running at full speed.  In professional terms, I call it my "Season of Self-Doubt" as it is the time of year I always start to feel like I'm not doing enough.  I've learned that every teacher feels this at some point, so I try to just deal with it and keep moving!

One thing that my students are doing, along with several other teachers in my department, is a 20 Book Challenge to end the school year.  For this final Semester (two terms), we've asked the students to participate in a challenge to read 10 books each term.  They do have a variety of categories/genres to choose from, but they pretty much get to choose what they would like to read.  In short, we just want them to READ.  The fun part for me is that I'm doing it with them so we can all share what we're reading.  That has really helped me get moving on my own 100 Book Challenge for the year!

Since I knocked out non-fiction this past week with The Candy Bomber, I'm tackling poetry this week in Lisa Schroeder's I Heart You, You Haunt Me, and what I'm guessing is fantasy in Brodi Ashton's Everneath.  I'm excited to read both of these books, but especially Brodi Ashton's since I've met her a time or two at our book blogger get-togethers.  She has a wicked sense of humor and has been talking about her writing for quite awhile, so I'm eager to check it out!

 

To switch gears a bit, I needed to end my Sunday Blatherings with a bit of reflection.  I think I'd be pretty reticent to not mention the passing of Whitney Houston.  Between Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, and Whitney Houston, these artists shaped my school years.  I, like everyone else, was mesmerized and blown away by Houston's I Want to Dance With Somebody, How Will I Know, and One Moment in Time.  Later, we all got sucked into the vortex of hits that this amazing artist performed, I Will Always Love You and I'm Every Woman, to name a few.  For me, the quintessential moment in her career was her performance at the Superbowl in 1991.  I was in high school at the time, and I still remember how completely chilling her performance was, especially considering we were in the Persian Gulf War at the time.  Honestly, it is the performance I compare all others against to this day.  It was flawless and seemingly effortless all at the same time.  For a time when we all felt such a heightened sense of patriotism, Whitney's performance was stunning.  I'm sad that she is gone, and am thankful that in the time she lived, that she left us with such amazing music.  Thanks Whitney, for giving me songs that I could belt out in the car, to capture every mood.  Your voice was untouchable.