Like my good cyberfriend Mrs. G, I have an affinity for calendars. I enjoy being able to know the date whenever and wherever I look around the room; call it control freakish, if you must. Basically, if I'm happy, the class is happy. Or at least not living in fear of my next move. Anyway.
I found a wall calendar for my office with serene pictures of porches; it gives me a sense of peace in the midst of potential chaos. I envision someday walking in, closing my door, and gazing at a weathered rocking chair next to a wicker table set with fresh lemonade and tiny triangular sandwiches. Ahh. There is also a small tent calendar from Pier 1 on my desk that gives off a general air of worldliness like the store itself, with all the teak and silk, and Indian elephant motif. I can almost smell the incense when I sit down in front of it.
Near my computer out in the classroom, I have one of those useless but darling mini calendars with breathtaking (though miniature) photos of faraway places. (I'm sensing a theme). It is part of my "travel corner" - I've hung a couple of shelves (they're actually old speakers I found in a closet) to display souvenirs from Asia along with a tiny plastic globe and my cherished $4.99 Goodwill velvet-matted drawings of London landmarks. Next to my office door is the district-issued giant desk calendar that I've marked up with historical events and famous people's birthdays as well as students' birthdays and school holidays.
Because I had not yet filled every empty table and/or wall space with a date-telling device, I picked up a page-a-day art calendar for half price at Barnes and Noble. I like these because of the fresh daily offerings, plus they provide a piece of scratch paper at the end of each day. I set it next to the bin where my poetry students drop off & pick up their composition books everyday - it's ART, I felt very cool and cosmopolitan and modern exposing them to a different work each afternoon. Well. By the grace of God, I actually took a moment to really look at January 16th's offering before school started. It was this:
But LARGER. It's entitled "Ilona with Ass Up." I held the calendar in my hands, pondering the picture for many minutes. Was it really that bad? Were the kids even looking at the marvelous artwork? Hmmm. I do teach at an alternative school. And I loathe censorship, but in the end (no pun intended, truly) I decided to skip the 16th. Interestingly, one of my students was intently checking out the calendar two days later. I'm just grateful they didn't put in this Jeff Koons piece (BEWARE: GRAPHIC LINK). Wait. I'd better check the rest of the year...
