Joe Duemer is 
stunned into silence at the mendacity and "venal self-absorption" of the Bush administration putting politics ahead of patriotism. I had never thought of myself as a patriot, exactly. In large measure because I'm inherently suspicious of anything that smacks of nationalism, but particularly lately because I have largely disagreed with the policies my country has espoused with respect to other countries. But in the Generation Dean video, I heard Howard Dean talking about taking our country back and making the flag stand for the kinds of things that I believe in. For almost the first time in my life, I felt a stab of patriotism. Right. This is my country. How DARE George Bush use my country as a vehicle for fostering division and exploitation.
Phil asks whether my students know that I write about my class in my journal. I know that at least some are aware of it. I don't know how many read it. Some of what I write would probably be useful for the students to read, although so much of what I write in journal is irrelevant that I wouldn't feel right suggesting that students read it to get the useful bits that might show up here and there. I probably ought to start using a real blogging system that would allow me to categorize my postings so someone could just read about my class and not be subjected to my political rantings or ramblings about my personal life.
Pop and Katy are visiting this week. Pop came to my class for a while Thursday evening and today we all went to the Apple Harvest Festival, to the Harp for lunch, and now we're talking about taking the boys to the driving range and getting a bucket of balls. I actually called ahead to find out about prices and availability. It's actually cold enough that I'd rather just stay home and drink hot chocolate.