I was reviewing the Wikipedia entry for caesura in order to feel more confident about explaining it to my students. (I'm still not entirely clear about its purpose in Anglo-Saxon poetry.) And it included examples from the Iliad and the Aeneid. In those examples, they first quoted the line in the original language (including the double-pipe to mark the caesura) and then below it they gave the translation.
While I could read the Latin, because we still use the Latin alphabet, the Greek was - well - Greek to me! It looked like a bunch of squiggles and zigzags. But what I found was that when I looked at it more carefully, I could figure out the phonetic pronunciation based on my curiosity about New Testament Greek some years ago. And then based on my knowledge of roots and cognates, and with the help of the translation being right there, I was able to understand some of the words!
It was fascinating! It went from looking like Mnviv aeide oea nnvniadew Axivnoc to menin aeide thea Peleiadeo Achileos which is probably a miserable transcription but makes some modicum of sense to me.
Friday is my grading-day. But I generally do a pretty good job of keeping up with it. I'm wondering if maybe I couldn't dedicate some of my planning time on Fridays to reviving my study of Greek. It seems like a bit much, though… maybe I'll look into it once I've finished grading the research papers that were handed in today!
Anyway, I've just been thinking about how amazing it is that I can just look at words and KNOW what they mean. You know? Heck, when you really think about it, writing and reading is like… I mean… wizardry. Seriously, think it over: when you read classic literature, you are absorbing the thoughts of people who are dead.
WIZARDRY.
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Hey Bill, this is just for you! :)
I love it! Oh my God, I love it. I didn't know I could DO something like this! WHAT a rush. I am absolutely giddy.
... well, except the part where I stabbed myself in the finger with a pair of scissors.
The EduCarnival is NOT here this week - it's over at 
Some days are more frustrating than others. I get SO TIRED of asking / telling students to listen without interrupting, to put snacks and drinks away, and to follow the dress code. Seriously! And what's especially frustrating is that it's not like they're being defiant (up until it becomes an issue when I mention it - then I get attitude). For the most part they're not even really being rude - just inconsiderate and/or thoughtless. Like they go to save the practice yearbook page they've been working on for thirty minutes and realize they're not sure how and all of a sudden it's MRS KEYS MRS KEYS HOW DO I SAVE THIS? when I'm in the middle of helping someone else. They don't even realize how wrong they are when I stare at them as though they've got lobsters crawling out of their ears.
After spending all weekend slaving over those darn research papers (except for the time I spent on here grousing about attempting to write a donorschoose essay) I finally got done last night. I still have to check cards and outlines, but that's pretty much a completion grade - making sure there aren't any that are just duplicates and/or "This is a fact card for my research paper" cards.
So yesterday I went with the Hunk to see Up, the newest Pixar film. In 3D, no less! ooooo.
There's a significant internal conflict when Carl has to choose between continuing with the quest to get to Paradise Falls (fulfilling a promise made to Elly, his wife) and rescuing a bird that's been following them (fulfilling a promise made to Russell, the kid who's with him). The Hunk said that he kind of resented this; you're made to feel like Carl OUGHT to save the bird. 
And of course, that narrative tension also illustrates the thematic tension Carl's going through internally - his wife is gone, and if he can't let go of her, he'll continue to drive others away, further isolating himself.
Escalator steps tend to be higher than stair steps, but at six-one I can still take them two at a time without breaking a sweat.
So 
So, I have to give a shout-out to 
It's probably a good thing that 