The Lower Frequencies

I’m not too big on resolutions (another chance for failure), but I’m making one now: this blog is going to see regular updates. I’m aiming for three times a week.

Stay tuned.

…and we’ve spent the past day looking around the house for it.  She seems to think that our 4 year old daughter got a hold of the ring while in the bathtub, and perhaps it’s now down the drain.  Still we’re turning the house upside down looking for it.

She had to leave to help out with the Wienerfest this morning, but when she left she said she’d be “extremely grateful” if I could find the ring.

This is how much of a loser I am: I keep thinking that if I find it, she’ll let me buy the Marvel Universe Galactus figure.

…on my way to work the other day.  The driver in the Suburban ahead of me had tapped her brakes before going through the light so I had already slowed down on approaching the intersection and, seeing that I’d be going through an early red if I gunned it, decided to stop.

That’s when driver in the truck behind me honked his horn.  I crane my head around to take a look and see Mr. Patience raising in his arms in frustration.   I was not the bigger man – I mouthed a few choice comments his way and then turned back to wait for the green light.

Of course, as I make the turn and drive onward, the driver of the truck decides he has to roar down the road in the left lane to pass me.  But there’s a red light not even a quarter mile later so he has to stop and wait…again…while I drive past him to take a right turn.

As I passed him I rolled down my window and proceeded to send some sarcastic comments his way – to my credit I did NOT flip him off.

There are times that I really hate people.  One of these days someone is going to catch me on a very bad day at exactly the wrong time and his bad day will begin.

…here are the songs that ran through my ipod while doing so:

“Fucking Hostile” – Pantera (not the best running song, particularly at the beginning of the run – might have to take that one out)

“Whatever” – Godsmack (you know, the edited radio version takes away something from this song…oh yeah, the f-bomb)

“Houses of the Holy” – LZ (really got me going when Plant started wailing “Said there ain’t no use in crying…”)

“Medicine Train” – The Cult (Sonic Temple’s one of the best rock albums out there – underrated song on the album known for “Sun King” and “Fire Woman”

“Falling to Pieces” – Faith No More (this one’s been on my iPod since I was training for my half-marathon; still like hearing it while running)

“Turning American” – The Wildhearts (the bridge to the chorus about killed me as I was near the end of my route and it’s damn heavy.  Here, listen for yourself:)

1) I’m now in the mood to play some golf – haven’t picked up my clubs in about a year or so, but now being out on the links looks appealing.  I need to find someone to play with who isn’t that good, though.

2) This past issue of Amazing Spider-Man, which began the “Grim Hunt” story-line (Kraven the Hunter is coming back from the dead – yeah, I know, what took them so long?) raised the religion/God issue in the Marvel Universe again.  Kraven’s children are leading a black-magic ceremony to raise Kraven from the grave and it requires the sacrifice of another “spider” character; in this case it’s one of the Spider-Womans (the 90s version, proving once again that all things 90s are expendable).  The interesting thing about this scene is that Electro, a long-time Spider-Man foe, is there and expresses some misgivings about being part of the ceremony before going through with it (“I believe in God, and this nonsense…”).  Also, the Spider-Woman in question, just before she is stabbed through the heart while on the altar, recites the Catholic Hail Mary.

It’s odd to me whenever writers attempt to address Christianity (or any other real religion for that matter) in the Marvel Universe – I mean, this is a universe where Greek and Norse gods roam the streets.  How does this fit into the religious practices of everyday Marvel universe people?  You go to church to pray to God and outside there goes Thor, god of Thunder, off to do battle with Annihilus or some other super villain.  That HAS to screw with your sense of who/what God is.  I’ve seen it explained that the populations don’t necessarily buy into the idea that Thor is THE Thor (merely someone who has that kind of power) or Hercules is THAT Hercules, but still…how does one pray to a relatively distant God when there are god-like beings on the news every night?

3) It’s Father’s Day, one of those made-up holidays that serve no real purpose but to increase Hallmark’s bottom line.  I don’t need the holiday to tell me I’m appreciated as a father…

Laura and I had to make the decision this past week to put down our oldest cat, Sierra, who had been with us since ’98.  She had cancer that treatments just weren’t affecting and we could tell she was just not the same cat she had been just a few months ago.  Anyone who’s been through this kind of decision knows how difficult a choice it is.

Sierra was  a bit stand-offish when it came to people – particularly at get-togethers we’d have Sierra would spend more time in our bedroom away from the strangers, only venturing out when she thought it was time to be fed.  She was a sweet cat, though, and would often jump in Laura’s lap at night while we were watching TV and force Laura to pay attention to her.  She was Laura’s cat, much as Sam had been mine.

Sierra had been on chemo and other medications to increase her appetite the past couple weeks, though it still didn’t keep her from growing skinny, almost frail.  She didn’t eat much of her food when I put it down for her, and then I would need to pick up her bowl to keep her food from being scarfed down by Finncat.  He probably thinks he’s being punished now that he no longer gets that extra food with Sierra being gone.  But I noticed when I got out the bag of Cheetos, Sierra was right in my lap, even aggressive as she begged for those crunchy orange puffs.  I was glad to oblige.

Sierra had always been a devil at the vet, so Laura left the office early Friday afternoon with one of her techs who had always been able to control Sierra when we had to draw blood on her.  We took Sierra out to our porch – there was a steady breeze running through the trees and the sun had finally come out after a week of steady rain.  The catheter was placed in with little trouble, and I held Sierra as Laura injected the anesthesia that put her to sleep.  The last injection was then made and we said goodbye to our sweet cat.

Finn and Fiona remain to make our house a home, as Twain would have said, but we miss you, Sierra.

…and I’m facing a huge feeling of disappointment in many of my students, which then leads to disappointment in myself.

I tell my students every time a paper comes due that a “C” is actually very easy to get in an Intro to Comp class.  Here’s how it’s done:

1) edit your papers – avoid fragments and run-ons and other careless errors.

2) have a clear, debatable thesis at the beginning of your essay.

3) get MLA format correct.  I even put the guidelines on the back of their prompts for them to refer to as they write.

If those three rules are accomplished, I can practically guarantee that the student’s paper will earn at least a C.

BUT (and you knew this was coming) I could count on one hand the number of papers I’ve graded that actually seem to accomplish all three of the above rules.  Some students obviously haven’t proofed their papers (which leads to problems with #2 and #3).  Others want to tell me that Claudius is a devious guy in Hamlet, or that Hamlet considers suicide until the end of the play (hint: if I think “no shit, Sherlock” at the end of your intro. paragraph, you’re in trouble). And then there are those who seem to think MLA guidelines are more suggestions than hard and fast rules.  They’re not.

This is not to say I’ve only given a hand full of Cs.  Most of the time the editing isn’t too bad, and so that goes a long way with me (not to the extent of an A, but…).  But not bothering with #3 really gets on my last nerve, particularly after I spell out for them the directions both in class, on previous papers, and on the DAMNED PROMPT.

Papers will be given back Wednesday.