Monday, October 18, 2004
I went to the North Carolina State Fair this weekend and was horrified and amused by many things. When I first get to the fair, I am always so excited by the smells, the sights, and the people. Then, by the end, I am always so nauseated by the smells, the sights and the people. Watching the common folk consume giant turkey legs without using napkins is interesting at first, but quickly becomes disgusting.

The other thing I was appalled at was the number of Bush/Cheney stickers I saw on people. I have never seen such a solid Republican presence in my life. I kept trying to calm myself by remembering that the State Fair attracts a lot of people from more rural areas and that I shouldn't be surprised, but it was hard, anyway. I finally bought a visor and had them airbrush "I heart Kerry" on it. Walking around wearing it felt slightly dangerous, but powerful, too.

My students are oddly subdued today. This new system that I am using for disclipline (called 123 Magic-- it is a book) is really working. It is this system where you just give the kids a five minute time-out after they have been counted for three offenses. They have to draw or write the whole time in a book on the time-out desk, then they come back. They like it because it doesn't hold any heavy punishment and I like it because I just have to count to three and then set a timer for five minutes. I wouldn't have thought it would work, but it totally does. Thank goodness. ¶ 7:52 AM