Leisure Times

School is getting down to the end, and I am so glad, mostly because I am tired. Not that "I haven't slept well for a few days" tired, but more the kind of "putting up with others' constant bickering, swearing and what not" kind of tired that leads to weariness. And not only do I have to deal with students, I also have to take some after school classes and get ready for my school's huge change next year. So please forgive me for not going out and participating in highbrow heavy leisure time activities. Some people will call what I am doing fluff, and this lets them feel better about themselves because they do not stoop to this activity or they value a schedule that is too full of very important things and therefore are above these trivial pursuits. (Feeling a little defensive about this are we? Yes we are, thank you very much.) Others will call them soul refreshing, even the silly ones.


So here are a few fun things I am doing. The first is gardening. If you look at my Sunshine post, you will see that my gardening is a little freehanded, what I call letting nature be wild. My favorite thing to do is go to Loews home and garden store and check out their rejected "as is" pile of plants and rescue some of them. For 75 cents it is worth it to see if with a little cherishing the plants will come back. Then My Sweet gets fifty billion packets of vegetable seeds, which we plant and do our best to keep the slimy bugs away from what springs forth. I would like to say we grow enough vegetables to feed us all summer long. We don't, but what the heck; we will have some that have survived our "experimental" methods and the intense valley heat. So who couldn't enjoy a miracle, no matter how small?

Another thing I enjoy doing is watching local bands play in area parks. Last Wednesday My Sweet, neighbors and friends went to see the Bottom Dwellers. You have to enjoy a band that calls its genre "American Twang" Neighbor Jeff, who is strictly late 70's hard rock/metal, gave a great complement by exclaiming, "Hey, they do not suck." Trust me, coming from a guy who runs screaming like a little girl when country music is even mentioned, this is a real complement.

And while I love, love, love well written TV shows like Lost, Gilmore Girls and 24, I must confess to a guilty pleasure. I have become quasi addicted to Deal or No Deal. This is a game show that requires no skill at all. But man, the corny drama of it all. I mean first of all you have the mysterious Banker, who is this silhouetted in his "office" who calls Howie Mendel to complain about how well the contestant is doing and make an offer to get them off the show before the contestant wins quadzillions of dollars. Then there is MC Howie who is so wonderfully cheesy that I can predict the jokes as he says them. There are 26 supermodels whom Howie calls by name. Come on, he's just saying a random name. What's the model going to say? "Sorry, guy who is not so easily fired, I am Veronica not Ursula." And to be honest, a little part of me thinks the contestants are actors. Maybe I am wrong, but when a "contestant's" little daughter just happens to mentions that she wants a pony, and one is later brought on stage as part of the deal, it seems a little premeditated. But even if it is, I hope it never stops because I love the schmaltz of it all.

And finally my reading is not something from Jane Austin or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Instead I am reading Uppity Women of Shakespearian Times and Dictionary of Word Origins. I love these short vignettes about people that were a part of history but do not get remembered. Also it is good to be reminded that there have always been people going against the grain to do what they want or what they think is right. And as for entomology, I like puzzling out how our language works. I love to figure out how the words bishop and spy are rooted together, as are acrobat and oxygen. To me it makes the words have a more cemented meaning.

Well, since I am so weary, now is a good time for a nap.