Thursday Blather

Am I the only one who gets plunged into a "deep dark midnight of the soul" kind of mood at the end of summer? It's not that I don't want to go back to school, although having to NOT wear tennis shoes is always kind of a downer, but I'm dreading a variety of stuff. Will I have a study hall? Will the library be used for something NOT library related a huge portion of the day? Will the teachers schedule classes without me beating them about the heads? Will I have a study hall?

Spent about four hours in the library cleaning... summer school had trashed the place. I put out a call for volunteers to help dust and shelve, because I still need to do a bulletin board and, you know, the entire library schedule. But not until August 6, because it's not ready. School starts the 14th, and I just haven't been in all summer, mainly because I'm still mad about... the study hall. (Which closed the library to classes for 1/3 of the day.) So now I'm behind! So behind!

I also worry about dressing myself, memorizing all the new students' names, and getting everything done that needs to be done, which seems less and less possible every year. But then, I worry that no one will come to the library, so the principals will decide I should have... a study hall. Seeing a theme here?

It all works out. This will be year 16 for me. I love the first week of school, with all of the students so eager to get into the library and check out books. It will be a great year, once it starts.

To soothe myself, I turned to some "comfort reads". Since no one needs to read these, I'll skip the synopsis and discuss how they hold up.


Emery, Anne. Dinny Gordon: Freshman (1959)

Dinny would be almost 80 by now! Her absolutely favorite thing is Latin and reading about ancient history, so I adored her when that was my purpose in life. Dinny is a little scared of her Latin teacher, Miss Grimm, who graduated in 1912! Wow! I could only stay in the field for four years, so I hate Miss Grimm just a little. While Dinny's great love is academic, she feels herself being distracted by her friends, who are all tremendously interested in BOYS. It's sad, though, because they are all so ugly. (According to themselves.) Sue is slim, but has pizza-face acne. Melinda is cute, but it's just too bad that she's so freaking fat. Blythe is also thin, but who will date such a giant, since she's 5'8"? Dinny is the cutest all around, but she's socially inept and just doesn't want to date. So, of course, a SENIOR, Clyde, wants to date her. Her friends are thrilled; she's just annoyed because she'd rather be working on her science fair project.

Cannot tell you how many times I wanted to slap these girls. And Clyde, because he's supercilious to the point where you kind of wonder if he's on the spectrum. All that really matters is going to the dance, even if you're not wild about the boy who asked you. While I'm glad that Dinny had other interests, she was obnoxious about them as well.

Oddly, I feel compelled to read the rest of the books to find out what happens. What I really want is Dinny Gordon, Unemployed Latin Teacher (1985).

Du Jardin, Rosamond. A Man for Marcy (1954)
Also reviewed at Charlotte's Library

As Marcy heads into her senior year, life is SOOOO HARD! Her steady, Steve, is off to college with her older brother Ken, so Marcy and her friends have to date boys who are the same age as they are. Shocking, I tell you! Marcy would rather pine after Steve than go for Cokes with loud mouthed Bix, so she's glad when her friends get a group together to meet on Friday nights-- they call themselves The Widows. Even worse-- Marcy's mother goes back to work as a nurse, and Marcy has to help around the house. You could just curdle! Steve comes back for Thanksgiving, but he talks about another girl at the U. It's nice to have him to snuggle up with, but ANOTHER GIRL? The gall. Eventually, since her parents are worried about her, Marcy chats up other boys, who immediately ask her out. They're okay, but they're not STEVE. This was a little more comforting than Dinny. While Marcy doesn't seem to have any interest other than dating, she doesn't seem so desperate and down on herself. I may just find myself continuing this series (yes, I own them all!) if things get stressful.

And since my kitchen sink was taken out on Tuesday and won't be put in again until Monday, and since I have both the cross country garage sale AND the neighborhood picnic at my house this weekend, it may be a tiny bit... challenging. The bathroom is right off the kitchen, though, so it could be worse.

Here's hoping everyone else is handling their stress well!