Albert Camus famously (well, even "cliche-edly") wrote that there "is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide."
I take this problem much more seriously when grading student papers.
Likely, the best option would be to somehow lead the papers themselves to commit suicide, instead of myself.
( Facebookers, view "Lovers Who Wander" by Dion on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buP1_OhjP5o )
([{Download "AMX: Unsafe at Any Speed", my most recent mix. It, of course, includes the above song.}])
Ah, but a reason to live! Like a crocus, leaping forth from the earth in earliest spring! Like an olive branch of peace, borne across vast oceans! Like a jellybean, delicious if artificial, rolling about my mouth!
Like a drumbeat built for speeeeeeeeeeeed!
.....! with handclaps, even !.....
The above song is by Dion, not Dion and the Belmonts; small detail, except that with the Belmonts, Dion made much less rokkin' tunes. This one swings, really has some of that ol' pep that this mix, friends, has in spades.
Oh papers, your weight, carried it seems for millennia, nearly grinds me to dead dust. And yet the waters of life flow from the ever-renewed spring that is
"AMX: Unsafe at Any Speed":
Healing waters which consist of doo-wop, early rock 'n' roll, "guitar freakouts", and all manner of leather-clad rebels, plain white tees and jeans, and a 'little sis' who can do the Mashed Potato.
Yes, 'Teachers who Wander", wander from the flat affects of required classwork, toward the NeverNeverLand of the Internet. A Musical Mecca to which The Teacher is guided by a profound wanderlust. Oh verily, these papers
"broke my heart, I really showed it,
Look at me now [after downloading "UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED"], you'd never know it
Now my story can be told with a smiling face
I'm the luckiest guy in the human race".
Yes, I traded drudgery for funnery, poorly constructed sentences for expertly-wrought musical mixes. I now pass on the possibility of your own, similar transition. Listen, learn, love, licent, etc., all with the help of "Unsafe At Any Speed.zip", the lovely and lively zip file that contains the above song, as well as many others.
THE SNAPBACK, ISSUE 1
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I created Soul Sides 20 years ago because I wanted an outlet to write about
my favorite records. The blog era feels bygone — and I clearly stopped
regularl...