6-9-98 Tu 11:30 AM  Ugh.  These kids are retarded.  I should get Special Ed. pay.  Martin Luther King's daughter is coming to address our school today.  I asked the kids to write questions.  Some examples:  "Do you know Kung Fu?"  "How were you born?"  and "What's your favorite animal?"  The best one we came up with was, "What's your favorite book?"  I wonder if she feels her father's dream of racial equality has been realized.  I wonder what she thinks of the abolition of Affirmative Action.  I wonder if she thinks English-only initiatives affect racial equality.  I wonder if being the progeny of a well-known historical figure, even one as saintly as MLK, makes your opinions more valid.  I wonder how haunting it must be to lose your father to an evil assassin.  I wonder if she believes J. Edgar Hoover conspired to murder him.  I wonder how much he was in her life.  I scratch at scabs. 
We have a staff meeting after school today.  I guess I better get some lunch now so my tummy doesn't growl through the whole thing.  I typed for fifteen minutes this morning.  I'll do my third-person page between jobs tonight.  I gotta go to the LACAS office to get tests and dictionaries.  I'll work on the comp book and check my e-mail and spend an hour with Jim. 
6-10-98 W 4:24 PM
The grind of an edger along the sidewalk, metal scrapes concrete.  Mel's trimming his lawn.  Violins going crazy.  It's beautiful.  My kids aren't retarded when I'm a good teacher.  Yolanda King was inspirational.  Do it with determination rather than resignation.  ~~~This whole domination thing and the battle cave paintings formed in the ceiling~~~I'm proof that determination alone is not enough.  He was waiting for the planets to align.  All was disjointed.