“The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.” Voltaire Thursday A week down. The first week back from break looked remarkably similar to the last week before break. The past reflecting the future. Friday “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a…
Category: the grind
Departures – Dubai
“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” Jack Kerouac Thursday Straight from school to the airport. A cheap flight to Kraków. School is already a distant memory. Dubai in the past. For now. “stay togetherlearn the flowersgo light” Gary Snyder
Love What You Hate
“Hate is a lack of imagination.” Graham Greene Thursday When you are indifferent to something there is no pressure. The interview went well. It was more of a conversation than a grilling. Di and David have arrived. A stop over on their way to Europe. It is always good to see family. When you decide…
Mahogany Miasma
“Nobody complains about all the fog. I know why, now: as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe.” Ken Kesey Thursday Thick fog this morning. Not the milky fog, this is the sick brown fog. When I first arrived I thought the fog was filled with dust. It pollution….
Long Weeks
“If I were to reduce all my feelings and their painful conflicts to a single name, I can think of no other word but: dread.” Hermann Hesse Thursday No job is worth sacrificing your wellbeing. None. Commitment in the workplace is a one-sided affair. The job cares nothing for your loyalty, it cares not at…
Worn Out
“DyingIs an art, like everything else.I do it exceptionally well.I do it so it feels like hell.I do it so it feels real.I guess you could say I have a call.” Sylvia Plath Thursday Another week down. The visit by the Sheikh was unremarkable. The students enjoyed it, some of the girls cried claiming it…
Slow Going in Hectic Times
“Do not confuse movement with action” Ernest Hemingway Thursday The start of last year was exhausting. A new school brings challenges. This year should have been smooth sailing. Yet here we are in our second week and every teacher looks done for the year. Late nights and a Principal that runs on high-frequency energy drain…
Sharjah Lights
“Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn? Yet if you look east, at sunset, you can see night rising, not falling; darkness lifting into the sky, up from the horizon, like a black sun behind cloud cover. Like smoke from an unseen fire, a line…
Off the Wagon
“A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labor and there is invisible labor.” Victor Hugo Thursday Back to work. I fluctuate between enthusiasm and blasé. Tonight I made the most tasteless pasta in history and ate three serves. Justifying binge eating good food is one thing. Gorging on…