I got tired of spouting off " quel jour est-il?" " quelle heure est-il?" " oui, c'est...non, ce n'est pas..." so I made it "culture week" this week. That rocked, because that's really what the kids are interested in, and it's more fun for me too.

Today's lesson was translating "Chanson d'automne" by Paul Verlaine as a class. It's the first poem I had to memorize when I took sexy Dr. Sirvent's class, and even though it's not that great, it went along with my lecture on fall holidays. My good class asked why the poem was so depressing, and I remembered that every Verlaine poem I'd read was pretty damn sad. I got on the internet and started reading Verlaine's biography aloud from a literary website. I can't find the link anymore, or I'd put it up here.

I wasn't really thinking of taboos in teaching as I read, " Verlaine's marriage ended when he started seeing poet Arthur Ribaud....Verlaine was hospitalized because of absinthe abuse" ( I got to explain absinthe, that was cool ). I had to stop reading aloud because the biography started detailing what had happened to some of his posterior anatomy because of his um, extra-poetic activities. When I stopped reading and said " Oh. Mon Dieu", the kids went crazy and rushed to the computer screen to read the salacious tale while I desperately tried to scroll over the "inappropriate" parts. They loved the part about one of his boyfriends being an umbrella thief. I'm glad they got excited about SOMETHING in my class.

So, it was a good day. :) And once again it's the weekend. Those precious 2 days that refresh my soul and allow for the black circles under my eyes fade. Matt and I are putting together our Donna and Fez costumes tonight, and I coulnd't be more excited.

I'm introducing him to my momma this weekend. That's big. Not that I'm worried, she'll be all over him most likely...speakin' Spanish like a mug.

PS - everything this week has been "...like a mug". Don't know what it means, but the kids got me saying it. Annnd, they've taught me about 3/4ths the lyrics to "gold digga". I am slowly and surely being eboni-fied. :)