Frequently Asked Questions (and, more important, their answers)
Are you crazy? People die on that mountain.
Crazy, yes, but I don’t see what the mountain has to do with anything.
What will become of your middle school students if you don’t survive?
I intend to set them free. My will stipulates that all of my current students are to be released into the wild within ten days of my passing. No doubt some of the slower ones will be taken by predators, but that’s nature’s way of culling the herd.
You’ve been teaching a long time. Any regrets?
As you’d expect, teaching in large public school system had made me rich beyond my wildest dreams, not to mention popular with the ladies. Still, I never achieved the fame that so often goes with this profession, and that saddens me. If I had it to do all over again, I think I’d be a guidance counselor. That gig’s got it all.
You’re getting pretty close to retirement, aren’t you, old-timer? When are you going to call it quits?
When the last glimmer of light fades from the last dying star,
When the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest,
When the last answer space on the last Scantron form is bubbled in with the last number 2 pencil,
Only then shall I surrender my chalk,
And from where the sun now stands
I will teach no more…forever.
Or maybe I’ll retire next year. Who knows?
Isn't it enough just to climb the mountain? Why blog about it, too?
Originally, I was writing this blog for my students. About three posts in, though, I realized that no one their age is willing to read more than 140 characters at a time, if that. So now I'm just writing for posterity.
Why not tweet about your trip, then?
Twitter is one of the signs of the Apocalypse. I can't be a part of that.
You use a lot of sentence fragments. You also start a lot of sentences with the word "and." Aren't you setting a bad example for students?
For dramatic effect. I sometimes write. The way. William Shatner. Delivers his lines. And my kids aren't reading this anyway. (See previous two questions.)
Why did you start writing the blog so many months in advance of the trip?
Great question. It deserves a bullet list.
Why doesn't Monica write any entries?
She has a life. Duh!
How did you keep posting to the blog while in Tanzania?
I didn't. Every entry from June 26 onward was written after-the-fact and then back-dated on the blog. We were kept so busy on this trip that there was barely enough time to take notes and photos. Writing anything lengthier than bullet points was out of the question.
Crazy, yes, but I don’t see what the mountain has to do with anything.
What will become of your middle school students if you don’t survive?
I intend to set them free. My will stipulates that all of my current students are to be released into the wild within ten days of my passing. No doubt some of the slower ones will be taken by predators, but that’s nature’s way of culling the herd.
You’ve been teaching a long time. Any regrets?
As you’d expect, teaching in large public school system had made me rich beyond my wildest dreams, not to mention popular with the ladies. Still, I never achieved the fame that so often goes with this profession, and that saddens me. If I had it to do all over again, I think I’d be a guidance counselor. That gig’s got it all.
You’re getting pretty close to retirement, aren’t you, old-timer? When are you going to call it quits?
When the last glimmer of light fades from the last dying star,
When the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest,
When the last answer space on the last Scantron form is bubbled in with the last number 2 pencil,
Only then shall I surrender my chalk,
And from where the sun now stands
I will teach no more…forever.
Or maybe I’ll retire next year. Who knows?
Isn't it enough just to climb the mountain? Why blog about it, too?
Originally, I was writing this blog for my students. About three posts in, though, I realized that no one their age is willing to read more than 140 characters at a time, if that. So now I'm just writing for posterity.
Why not tweet about your trip, then?
Twitter is one of the signs of the Apocalypse. I can't be a part of that.
You use a lot of sentence fragments. You also start a lot of sentences with the word "and." Aren't you setting a bad example for students?
For dramatic effect. I sometimes write. The way. William Shatner. Delivers his lines. And my kids aren't reading this anyway. (See previous two questions.)
Why did you start writing the blog so many months in advance of the trip?
Great question. It deserves a bullet list.
- I crave attention.
- There's a lot to say about East Africa in general and Kilimanjaro in particular.
- I won't be posting entries from Africa. Instead I'll be taking notes during the trip and posting when we get home.
- Readers will need a lot of background information to fully appreciate what Mo' and I will be experiencing in Africa. By frontloading that information pre-trip, I can post shorter, more readable entries about our actual experiences later.
- I crave attention.
Why doesn't Monica write any entries?
She has a life. Duh!
How did you keep posting to the blog while in Tanzania?
I didn't. Every entry from June 26 onward was written after-the-fact and then back-dated on the blog. We were kept so busy on this trip that there was barely enough time to take notes and photos. Writing anything lengthier than bullet points was out of the question.
Submit your questions through the Contact page. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the first person to get a straight answer.