Everything is so heavy: the fires in California, the terrible loss of life, the needless brutality from the local to the international, the news of audio from the Khashoggi murder, our crazy-ass idiot president, the insanity of people not wanting every vote to be counted in states where elections are very close, an entire town of young men throwing out the Nazi salute, and the general grossness of everything in the news… everything sucks.

We’re nearing the end of the trimester and that brings up all kinds of emotion in the lives of kids – fear, frustration, anxiety, anger, mostly negative emotion (but sometimes joy and relief). I hate that part of the job. Grades are an outdated mode of communication and they hold entirely too much power in the lives of young people. They gave so much baggage attached to them. I hate grades.

I’m just going to try to keep moving forward, try to eat healthy, try to find joy where I can find it, and try to take care of my work. It starts by going to bed tonight at a good hour. Tomorrow will be better.