Not An Original Idea

Yes we're pushing ahead in the curriculum -- even during testing! -- because I want to give them as much of an opportunity to begin next year in the core, grade level curriculum as possible. Thus we come to another badly put together, badly excerpted selection, based on the events that occurred onboard the slave ship La Amistad.

So after getting our swagger back on the basketball court -- there have been some unfortunate beatings for Team Furp lately -- I head down to the local corporate video store, looking to rent the movie. I have no intention of showing the whole thing, but some snippets, especially of onboard conditions, will provide much needed context. At the store, all four copies are checked out. I find my car, give up the good parking space, and drive to the next store.

All gone.

I have them call two other stores, where the movie is also gone. I head to an independent store -- gone. There's one more up the street a little and I start walking. I should point out that I am still wearing my basketball clothes and I do not smell good. This wouldn't have been a problem if the original store had the movie for rent, because there I was at least the fourth-best smelling person, but this is a different part of the city and I'm definitely on the bottom of the good-smell hierarchy. I am literally soaking, which in the cold San Francisco night air doesn't feel good. I just wanted to rent Amistad so my kids could learn stuff. Instead, I'm touring the city and challenging a whole variety of social mores.

In the end, I buy the damn thing. The clerk at the last store notices my frustration and says: "This happens every year around this time. Must be school projects."

He asks if I am somehow involved in a school project.

I tell him I have a man-crush on Morgan Freeman, and walk out.