Rules for Writers

William Safire's Rules for Writers: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/safire/bio_safire.html

Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Verbs have to agree with their subjects. Proof read carefully to see if you words out. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. A writer must not shift your point of view. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.) Don't overuse exclamation marks!! Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing. Always pick on the correct idiom. The adverb always follows the verb. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.

good vs. evil

all these fantasy movies/books are about good and evil in their own ways. harry potter, lord of the rings, twilight, narnia. the worst/best thing is when this battle becomes a reality.
i have been struggling with the evil i've been witnessing here. i saw a guy pushing another guy and screaming at him while i was sitting on a tram, open drunkenness everywhere, a teacher's son was attacked because he has dark skin, government corruption, and yesterday the house that i'm living in was entered by a stranger who climbed over the fence, entered the front door, and had the audacity to climb the stairs and steal a guitar, a purse, and who else knows what...while the family was at home. this is a scary world.
the ONLY thing that brings me hope in these situations is the good - the love - that [attempts] to overcome the bad. we wouldn't have known the house was broken into if a lady who found my host mom's transportation pass hadn't called and made the effort to let her know, even attempting to speak english in the process. i just want there to be more good than there is. i woke up this morning thinking about why we have to lock our doors. it's such a shame we can't trust each other.
in the end of all the stories i wrote about earlier, good triumphs over evil. in the end...after a fair amount of hardship and learning. i will no longer sleep with the window open because i can't trust people - people who are like me in the broadest sense.

the alphabet song

every night before i go to bed i've been doing something that keeps me awake for a little longer than i should allow: i've been watching a video of my niece singing the alphabet. my little only-just-two-year-old, curly-haired, sweetest-little-girl-ever is the pride of my heart. she sings the alphabet missing a couple unnecessary letters, like G, and L. when she finishes the alphabet and moves on, she sings "now i know my a b c d e f..." and so on until the fourth round when she tires of the song, claps her hands, and says "yay!". this is the new never ending song.
i think my niece is so smart. how many freshly turned two-year-olds have the alphabet memorized? and i won't deny that she's smart. the thing is that she has no idea what it means. eight years ago i pulled a "Grace." i was a new high-schooler and was excited to be on my first mission's trip away from my parents. i did not anticipate a change that would occur during that week.
i was the typical Christian kid, and i had john 3:16 memorized. "for God so loved the world He gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." whatever the heck that meant. but i was sitting there during a time of worship, and we were singing, hundreds of us together, "better is one day in your house, better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere." and the truth of this song struck me, and i couldn't wait to be in the presence of God. the moment got even better as this aforementioned verse came to mind, and for the first time i understood it; it meant something to me. God loves me so much that He allowed his Son to die at the hand of those He had created. He did it so that we could spend time in his grand, miraculous house and courts.
it must have been reminiscent of einstein's eureka! moment. i cried and cried, and i understood. and it has changed my life.
in a couple years grace will understand what the alphabet means and why it's important. and maybe she'll memorize john 3:16 and some day understand it, and allow it to change her life.

Strážni

here are some pictures i took today.

since the sixth grade teacher isn't here, i get to decorate the walls. unfortunately, i have no gift of nailing things straight into the wall. see that border around the bulletin board? i attempted to put that around the top of the classroom, but after bending a half a dozen thumb tacks, i stepped back to take a look and realized that they were crooked. end of that.
so there is no bookshelf yet, and so there are stacks of books on my desk and the kid's tables. woops.

i had a brainwave this morning to have the kids in my homeroom make profiles for themselves. so that's what they did. and then i made a poster. it was pretty fun, better than lesson planning!

and here is the building that my school is in. yes, i am cooler than you.

and finally, the God-awful tram. they hate me, and i have done nothing but love them. constantly i miss them by seconds. and when i give up my seat to old people i am eyed suspiciously. probably because my hair is so red and almost always wet in the mornings.

oh and by the way, Strážni is the name of the tram stop before mine. i think it may be my new favorite word. i have no idea what it means, but the recorded voice saying it sounds happy.

sixth grade?

i was in england in sixth grade, i don't know how to teach sixth grade. i have no recollection of year seven english. at least that means i can't hurt these kids too badly.
and tuck everlasting? why must teachers constantly choose novels that i haven't read? it's good thus far though.
today was a bit of a stressful day. at some point i'll take a picture of my school, when i'm either not rushing in late or stumbling out from a long day just ready to catch the tram. we had an open house, and i also found out today that i'll be teaching 6th grade english almost right away. so carpet was put into the classroom this morning, and we literally moved furniture into the room 15 minutes before open house. so now i get to decorate the classroom since the teacher probably won't be here for at least a month. oh boy. i have the creative capacities of a cow.
and i still have yet to actually go into prague. i'm so lame.