My cover is blown

I've only been in town a few months and the truth is finally out.
Found this on the floor of one of my classrooms:

I don't know how they found out, but it doesn't matter.
Time to disappear.

Pre-Thanksgiving Peril!

When we last left our humble hero, he was facing his worst fear and greatest foe... Middle Schoolers! Let's join him again as he approaches either destruction or redemption in Adventure Awaits!

"If you are ready, I'll bring your class in."
What choice do I have? Make it quick.
Twenty-Nine preadolescents stroll into the second story classroom where I quietly plot my fate.
“Good morning!” one student says brightly as she walks in.
Another introduces himself, “I’m Eric. What’s your name?”
Luckily, I came prepared for their mind games and don’t bat an eye as I bid them, “enter” and, “sit down.”
As the class settles (surprisingly quickly, but I’m not fooled) I introduce myself and explain my expectations of the day.
We settle quickly into a productive groove and coast through the lessons of the day without much trouble.
What gives? This reminds me of the time I caught Mono and only felt sick for half a day. Where are the paper airplanes and switchblades? The sarcasm? The disestablishmentarianism?
Frankly, I am not just confused, but a little disappointed too.
Nevertheless, I know that it’s only a matter of time before these fiends show their true colors and give me a good run for my money.

I’ll be waiting.

Stay Tuned!

I'm cornered. One false move and they'll tear me to peices. If I let let down my guard for just one minute, show them how scared I really am, it'll all be over. Just when I think that I can't take any more, that this may be the end of old Ned, the bell rings and they pack up their bags and saunter out into the hall. That's right. I am now oficially a sub in the Chicago Public Schools.
I lay awake on the night before my first assignment picturing the worst case scenario: a group of hulking 8th graders, no lesson plans, no time to prep. I tell myself, "c'mon, what are the chances. Odds are you'll be a teacher's assistant in a rich school's kindergarten and they'll have you shelving books all day." I finally drift off thinking about a new worse case scenario... should "the Magic Treehouse" go in "easy reader," or "young adult." I get my phone call to report to Audobon School which isn't too far away. At first I think she says "Autobahn" and I think, "sweet, maybe this is the Kraftwerk School of Music I've heard so much about."

I arrive just as the first bell rings to start class.
Oh well, there goes my prep time
"Mr. Harkness, thanks for coming on such short notice. A teacher called in sick this morning."
Oh dear. No lesson plans for me.
"I'll take you upstairs to the... MIDDLE SCHOOL."
This isn't happening.
"This is room 209. You've got eighth graders to start with and later a class of sixth and seventh."
WHY DID I EVER GET INTO THIS LOUSY BUSINESS IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHAT KIND OF A MASOCHIST DOES THIS FOR A LIVING!!!!???
"If you are ready, I'll bring your class in."
What choice do I have? Make it quick.

Will Ned face his fears and come out victorious in this epic battle of wills, or will he be chewed up and spat out like so much notebook paper?
Join us next week to find out.

Blogging Tools for bozos like me.

Since I started this "blogging" business a few weeks ago, my web adventures have led me to several useful, a few annoying and some distracting tools for making ones "web log" more "action packed."
(some are pretty obvious, but I include them anyway for posterity)

Blogger - You guessed it, the seed that grew this mighty oak
Flickr - I post my pictures here, then link to them on Adventure Awaits
GabCast - This service lets you call a 1-800 number, record up to one hour of nonsense and have it automatically posted on your blog as an audio file
YouTube - SO easy to publish videos here and then publish them right to your blog
Stuff-a-Blog - As you can see by the posting below, not the most interesting tool in the bunch.
Platial - Create a custom, interactive map for your blog

Please let me know if you like using any of these tools and if you have any fovorites of your own that you would like to share.

Stuff-A-Blog

The content for this entry was generated using StuffABlog as a content generator. I don't know how i feel about it, but it was worth a try.

For anyone who has never been to Chicago, you are in for a treat. I never realised the sheer volume of theater that exists and the accessability of said performances. I beleive my brother will attest to the excitement of a week-long whirlwind tour of the Chicago theater scene and I will "second that emotion."


Relevant pics from Flickr



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Mapercalamapulisticmapialamaptious

Every good adventure story needs and exotic location. Ours takes place in the wilds of the Midwestrn Lands outside the bustling burg of Chicagotown, as we see posted in the interactive map now published above.
Now this is the part where you, the Viewer, get to participate in the telling of our story. Enter a location on the map and provide a short explantation of the adventure you had, or wish you had there.

Stay swarthy!