Share time

Guess I'm feeling nostalgic this week, which may be an odd way to start the year. But I couldn't help feeling awwwww during 5th period, surrounded as I was by a new crop of chair buddies and earbud buddies. Hm, should find a new meme for this year.


James, Conrad, and Ryosuke are fascinated by Seventeen.


Chris and Simeon bond.

The hats just keep on coming

Somehow Ms. Suslick's crown found its way in this year, supplanting the rather undistinguished white baseball cap that now sits on the shelf. Ben looks quite rakish, don't you think?

Follow the progression of the hats here, here, and here.

The trouble with e-books

... is that they don't have the unique book smell that lets you know you are reading high-class literature. Well, in answer to our gadget-loving prayers, the folks at DuroSport Electronics have developed a product called Smell of Books (TM).



The spray comes in five designer colors: New Book Smell, Classic Musty Smell, Scent of Sensibility, Eau You Have Cats, and Crunchy Bacon Smell. Crunchy Bacon is suggested as "a low calorie, low cholesterol alternative for your breakfast reading enjoyment." We are warned that Scent of Sensibility is designed for use with women’s fiction and romance ebooks, and should not be used with non-fiction, James Bond novels, or the works of Hunter S. Thompson.

Smell of Books (TM) is compatible with a wide variety of e-book formats and devices (specifically excepting the Zune). Unfortunately, the product was recalled last April due to a mixup on labels with cans of new car smell. Not only that, an organization called the "Author's Guild" is claiming that the product threatens aroma rights and "substantially changes the underlying work to a degree that infringes upon the author's copyright, not to mention artistic vision." Better get 'em while you can!

It's about time

Since I started this blog on August 31, 2004, I've been very regular about posting, even managing a few entries during the summer. This summer was the exception, and I apologize for the hiatus. I promise to get back to regular updates.

This first week back began with the usual teacher meetings, followed by yesterday's first day of school. Other than the expected changes (like all the students who are so annoyingly taller than me now), a couple changes are absolutely rocking my world view. First, Uni has an intercom system, a development most of us never thought possible. We've been promised it will only be used in emergencies. So far, so good, though there were some interesting staff "tests" during the meeting days (no, no farting noises, thank you very much). The second big change is that, for the first time, I have a student who is the child of a former student of mine. Shoot me now.

One incredibly welcome and surprising development is pictured below. Aaron Kelter, aka Manga Lord - class of 2008, Manga Club founder, former library employee, and all-around great guy - donated his ENTIRE personal manga collection to the the Uni High Library. That's 241, two-hundred forty-one books. Of which, only about 7 titles are duplicates. Let me tell you, eyes are popping around here. THANK YOU, AARON!