I had a dream

I had a dream 2 nights ago.  Most dreams disappear, but this one stayed with me.

I retired from band directing 20 years ago.  It was good that I retired - - or they might have fired me -- or -- I might have hurt someone.  Y'never know.

But the dream.  As with most dreams, it jumped around and was confusing - didn't make real sense all the time.  I was in a school system with a middle school and a high school.  Apparently, I had an associate who taught middle school primarily...though that person never appeared in the dream.

It started with me walking from the H.S. to the M.S. on the 1st day of school.  Walking.  You know this has to be a dream.  I went into the MS bandroom - it was large.  no chairs or music stands.  but large.  In the center right of the room was a pond.  Yes, it was an indoor pond - not a swimming pool as such.  As I fumbled around with some younger students walking in,  another teacher brought his entire class to the band room to go swimming.  I tried to explain that I had a class in there.  Didn't seem to matter.

I left the room & students to walk to the principal's office.  I need to pick up all the mail from the summer that had accumulated.  No thought was given to the left behind students or swimming hole.  Walking around the building, I finally found a front door that had a staircase to the 2nd floor.  As you know, all principal offices must be on the 2nd floor.

I walked into the office.  Nobody was there.  Big cluttered office empty of personnel.  No reason.  I walked around a corner to the mail boxes.  There was no mail.  I left.  Into the hall looking for stairs to return to band room.  There were no stairs.  A door slid open  to an elevator with an elevator operator.  The elevator was about 1 1/2 ft deep.  No room...kept looking for stairs.

Suddenly, I am back to the H.S. walking into that bandroom.  Yep, no chairs or stands.  Just a big room.  Then I noticed that half of the room had couches (divans) and soft chairs, a nice carpet, recliners - lamps - it was the teacher's lounge set up in half of the band room.  Empty.  I marveled at how wrong this was. 

Then, wham, I was awake.  Clock said 6:30 a.m.  got out of bed.  did business.  shook my head.  went back to bed and slept.  No More Dreams.

So the dream was really about facilities and administrators who were messing with my facilities.  I suppose there is a message here.  I'll never figure it out after 20 years of retirement.

m   

Anna Who?

 I have always liked to play with names.  That is ... I like to change a name around and call someone something other than the actual name given at birth.  Using someone's real name has always been difficult for me.  I've been known to call my wife Bertha, Bubba, Girl, Wilbur, y'know - anything that seems to come out of my mouth.  My wife has rarely seemed to be offended.

When I was teaching, I would give students a nickname sometimes.  One girl was called SideKick because she hung out with another girl alot.  Occasionally, I would hear other students use my different nicknames - don't think anyone was ever offended.  They knew names were used not as a bully might.  Form of Affection.  Had a girl who worked for Taco Bell -- We referred to her as our Taco Belle.  Play with it.

Had a boy student who like to be called Slick.  Why?   In my first teaching school, Sudan, a fellow teacher had a son he called Shotgun.  The parent said that everyone MUST call the boy Shotgun  (he was pre-school age).

We have a dog Sadie.  Sometimes she is called Sadie Mae   or  Sadie Lou.  You get the idea.

So my daughter's dog Anna. I called her Anna Conda today.  Don't know why.  It worked at the time.  Dog didn't care.  Gimme a cookie, I'll forgive anything.  This made me try to figure out a few more  for her.  List to follow:

Most use ANA instead of ANNA. There is Anna Belle of course (too easy).  Anna Purna,  [I might mention that spelling doesn't count here.]  Anatomy doesn't work because of you put the emphasis on the NAT   Uh-NATomy.  Anagram works.  Anaphyloxies - Anaesthetic - Salute to Calif Anaheim -,  Anagoric ??  Analyze is good.   Anastasia and Anamorphic.

My favorite has  been Anakin (Skywalker).

Nicknames are forever here.  Brother Jim and I were called:  Pickle Puss and Dumb Head.  You can guess which one was me.  Because my very young children could not say certain words - we used  Yah-Yah  and  Ninny (or ninnypoo)  and Wah-ger  and so forth.  Bro Jim was called DEE  when  little brother had trouble with the letter J.  The list continues.  I'm sure you have had a few.

see ya later,

m

Provocative Title

Provocative Title:  It has come to my attention that I have more readers when the title is a bit provocative...not political...but hints at naughty.  Now, why izzat?

My original title was going to be  "Thursday, Trash Day."  That is an attention getter, you must admit.  Every Thursday is "put out the trash" day.  Trash pickup day is Friday about 8:30-9:00 in the morning.  Now WHO!!!  in their right mind wants to get up in the morning and roll that Green plastic can to the curb.  Doing it on Thursday is better.  well,  except for the heat.  It's hot out there.

My inboard temperature gauge noted 105+ yesterday with no wind and lots of humidity.  I'm sure we are special.  Nobody else is having these hot temperatures - just us.  It is a punishment for the many wrongs I have done over the past many years.  KARMA.  I have got to figure this out.  

How much Karma is attached to each bad deed?  Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you spit off a bridge on top of some guy's bald head.  He, of course, thinks a bird splattered him (his Karma).  How long must I be punished for this deed - and - how severe should that punishment be?  Should I have a toe removed?  Or is 2 weeks without a Coke enough.  Perhaps a rock hitting my windshield or a plop of mud.  There has to be a gauge.  Maybe it is just enough for me to drop my sandwich on the floor.  I don't know.   I do know that if some kook thinks of this, he will write a PhD dissertation with research  from throughout the world.

An Aside:    I started a PhD once at UTDallas (UTD) several years back.  It was truly a wrong decision.  Humanities.  The courses offered for this degree were off the wall.  I learned some stuff for sure.  Didja know that there are 3 (or is it 4) editions of Lady Chatterley's Lover? In one class, I had to read all 3 editions and compare them - differences - etc.   This assignment came in the fall semester as I was teaching and writing a marching competition show.   We had one week to read all 3.   NoWay!!!

One of the Profs commented in a class while talking about our future dissertations - he said, "I would question any dissertation that did not have research in a foreign language."  I knew I was lost at that point.

Eventually, I quit the coursework and move several miles away to return to teaching.  I lacked 2 classes and the dissertation.  Doesn't matter.  You can still call me Doc if you'd like even though it is inaccurate.

Think I'll go take a shower.  I've put it off all day.  Mowed the back yard this morning and did a bit of sweating.  We have a thousand frogs in the back yard.  I worry about mowing the frogs.  Mowing can be stressful for that reason.

As I close, I ask:  was this provocative enough?

love ya,  Mtz