fabulous realities
When I taught a class, an English elective for juniors and seniors in 1973, it was called Basic Composition. Not a very exciting title for those times which also saw me teaching Literature of the Supernatural.
That used to draw some less than studious until I introduced them to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," and a few Poe stories.
But in the text we used, the author whose name escapes me, wanted to point out to students that there were topics everywhere, if they sharpened their observation skills. He came up with an exercise called Fabulous Realities.
One finding I recall was the gum tree. Not the gum tree that produces those nasty balls that remind me of huge kidney stones. A tree on the MTVHS campus that was the recipient of used chewing gum. The last time I looked, there were 75 pieces stuck there. I even had one student who would use it as a rental and stop by and pick it up later in the day to chew in a class where the teacher would allow it.
My fabulous reality occurred earlier this week when I noticed a young woman with a pierced glittering stud in her left nostril. Not far from her nasal opening which revealed a booger.
"No wonder she has a booger," I thought. "With that piercing, she can't blow her nose."
Somewhere there's a story there. Or at least a topic for a scene for Basic Comp. Maybe that class, which fell by the wayside for a class entitled English III, could be on the comeback trail.
Another topic could be "pants on the ground" that those wanting to be a bit of a gangsta started adopting. It seems it came from the real gangsters in prison. And why wouldn't just about everyone look up to them?
It seems that a sign that the prisoner was gay and available was to let his pants, sans belt--not sansabelt--which are not issued, droop down. Incorporated by quite a few these days, I imagine the homosexual link was omitted by the neo-wearers. What folks won't do for style. And yet, one more fabulous reality.
When I taught a class, an English elective for juniors and seniors in 1973, it was called Basic Composition. Not a very exciting title for those times which also saw me teaching Literature of the Supernatural.
That used to draw some less than studious until I introduced them to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," and a few Poe stories.
But in the text we used, the author whose name escapes me, wanted to point out to students that there were topics everywhere, if they sharpened their observation skills. He came up with an exercise called Fabulous Realities.
One finding I recall was the gum tree. Not the gum tree that produces those nasty balls that remind me of huge kidney stones. A tree on the MTVHS campus that was the recipient of used chewing gum. The last time I looked, there were 75 pieces stuck there. I even had one student who would use it as a rental and stop by and pick it up later in the day to chew in a class where the teacher would allow it.
My fabulous reality occurred earlier this week when I noticed a young woman with a pierced glittering stud in her left nostril. Not far from her nasal opening which revealed a booger.
"No wonder she has a booger," I thought. "With that piercing, she can't blow her nose."
Somewhere there's a story there. Or at least a topic for a scene for Basic Comp. Maybe that class, which fell by the wayside for a class entitled English III, could be on the comeback trail.
Another topic could be "pants on the ground" that those wanting to be a bit of a gangsta started adopting. It seems it came from the real gangsters in prison. And why wouldn't just about everyone look up to them?
It seems that a sign that the prisoner was gay and available was to let his pants, sans belt--not sansabelt--which are not issued, droop down. Incorporated by quite a few these days, I imagine the homosexual link was omitted by the neo-wearers. What folks won't do for style. And yet, one more fabulous reality.
posted by TQ @ 6:08 AM
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