i've begun to realize, time is crashing by, and my porch is a little crowded. weeds are growing up around the edges of my psychic fences, fear like the rabbit goes back into the hedgerow when I turn around. saw my house from the sky on my way back from TESOL, and wrote a poem about it, but in general, i can hardly keep writing postcards to the boys, who are in camp. Much less connect you to these concepts...much less even keep up with my wife, who of course has her own idea...but hey, it's a process. i walk two miles up here at night, i turn on the fan, water the plants, it's time to go home, and work another day. gonna take the baby on the train to kankakee this weekend....that should be fun. get away. get out. live. do illinois...quick before it becomes a furnace...where am i going? and what am i doing in this handbasket?

h'lo (again)...i'm not so good at 'journalling,' as it turns out...it's very difficult to publish every day, or even regularly, and say anything that is even remotely interesting to complete strangers, let alone people who know me. such are the vagaries and challenges of blogs. i see this same problem in other people's blogs...is anyone actually reading this??? i feel like saying, well, i am, i guess, but i never do. never write them, never do anything, barely even have time to put a link to them in my template.

my own class is working on its blog...it's a low level class, fairly good in reading, terrible in writing, for whatever reason. we're making a blog that is basically a collection of what we've written. but they're shy. i've told them i would pressure them into making it public (linking to it on cesl pages) but i haven't...i just want to see what will happen by itself, as a class project. like a class journal of sorts. it's working well. the term is almost over. i will certainly ask them to publish it soon.

i'm inclined to make this more of a personal gateway page, with links, pictures, etc., and less about esl/efl. though i've got a lot to say about esl/efl, based on 20 yrs. teaching experience, and i had intended to put up those ideas (and, was very sorry to miss the debate on Sapir-Whorf that apparently happened over these same blogs earlier in the year)...i just don't have time to check other blogs much, let alone pursue writing about acquisition, language, etc. which is dear to my heart but buried at the moment. we here in the us are worried about survival, etc., as i may need a new profession soon....and, not to forget, some children to whom what happens is quite important...more later, tl