Listening to: Michael Feinstein sings Gershwin
Reading: Harry Potter
Weather: 55, sunny
Trivia:Was there ever such a thing as pirate insurance?
Not exactly, but pretty close. The earliest insurance contracts, favored around 3000 B.C. were called "bottomry" contracts. Often only oral, granted loans to merchants with the proviso that if a particular shipment of goods was lost at sea the loan did not have to be repaid. Interest on these loans varied with the risk as did the cost of the policy. Both factors reached an all-time high during any period of heavy piracy on the seas. However, the
availability of insurance played a large role in spurring international trade, tempting timid merchants to risk sending their wares over great distances in sailing craft that were
vulnerable to fickle weather conditions.
Cool word: ragtime [adj., n. RAG-tym]
In the early years of the 20th century, a new form of music emerged in the southern U.S. Ragtime was a happy combination of folk tunes with African and Creole elements. Typically, there was a complex main melody and a steady, accented accompaniment.
One of ragtime's most obvious features is the complex, syncopated rhythms of the main melodies. The name of the musical style was probably a reduction of "ragged time," a description of the unconventional rhythm. A further reduction led to the noun for one
song: a rag. Ragtime was a popular style before jazz music swept it into obscurity. In the 1970s, it enjoyed a popular revival, spurred in part by the use of Scott Joplin's piano rags in the movie "The Sting."
Piles of Paperwork
The paperwork is threatening to swallow me, so I don’t have much time to write anything here.
I also don’t have anything of interest to report or say.
School has been really stressful this week, and I’ve managed to get things backed up on me again. Part is not having a computer to use at school, so I just can’t get any of my reports even started at all. I often start them at school and finish them at home, but can’t seem to find the time to do that much.
I’m also trying to figure out how to juggle my schedule so I can start testing all the kids that are due for evaluation. I’m going to have to cancel some of my classes to do that, and I hate having to bug out on these teachers.
Nothing I can do about it, though. I have to get these reports written.
I got an apology from the chorus director tonight, telling me not to worry about moving my spot. I guess I’m happy, but I feel as if I need to sit and talk with her about how she treats people. I’m not going to keep going through this kind of thing over and over.
I should feel better, but I don’t really. Dee called me to tell me that the director had asked her if I was alright, and Dee said, no she’s not. The other chorus members who were standing around and heard why I was upset all turned to the director and said ‘ "You’d better call her." Good to know that some people were standing up for me and concerned.
I still blew off tonight’s performance.
I got three e-mails from Michael today. Two sounded tense and the third was ok. He’d gotten the Halloween package that I sent him, and was thanking me for it. It wasn’t much, but I like sending silly things to him.
The paperwork is calling to me, so I need to stop playing and start working. Any teachers out there have any good lessons to go along with The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman? I made a last minute decision to read that with my kiddos but I need some worksheets to go along with it, and don’t have the energy to write an entire unit!
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