A few words before taking a blogging break

It's time to take a vacation from the Lit Lounge (not that I've been terribly active of late). If I'd been keeping up with recent events, I'm sure you would have seen posts about Iran, the AP Lit exam reading, or the sudden (but not surprising) death of Michael Jackson.

Instead, I'm going to let you know how lucky I am to have the love of Kim, and how thrilled I am that we'll be married tomorrow. I am thankful for the love and support of our families, and excited to share the rest of my life with Kim. By this time tomorrow, we'll be on our honeymoon. As a result, the Lit Lounge will be closed until July 8.

In the meantime, I hope you'll check out a new blog by a friend of ours named Gnorman. I think you'll enjoy it.

The Return of the Pink Arrow Project

Last year's Pink Arrow Project raised nearly $100,000 for cancer-related projects in Lowell. This year's game, against Union High School, will take place on September 11, and will raise funds for a new Gilda's Club in Lowell. Great work by Coach Dean and everyone involved!

Infinite Summer Reading

For those Lit Loungers who think my summer reading assignment is too much, try this: David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest - all 1000+ pages of it, including endnotes - is my quixotic reading quest for the next three months. I won't be alone. Loads of literary gluttons for punishment (and hopeful reward) will use the Infinite Summer site as our motivation throughout the endeavor.

Free at last!

The AP Lit reading is finished for 2009! 1350 essays crossed my desk this year - I'm ready to come home!

Live from L-Ville: We're not horsin' around!

One more day! I've already read more essays this week than I did during last year's entire reading. I've met some wonderful people this year, and I've discovered so many new ideas for the classroom. Can't wait to try them in the fall!

But first, one more day of reading. Wish me luck.

We're one of Newsweek's Top High Schools!

For the fourth year in a row, LHS is on the list of the top 1500 high schools in America, according to Newsweek. 

Day One - The Reading Begins

A gorgeous day in Louisville - too bad I had to spend it inside reading essays. The upside is that I'm reading Question 3, commonly known as the Open Essay, where students can use the novel or play of their choosing. There are eight readers and one table leader at each table, and we're working longer hours this year: 8 AM to 5 PM (that's an extra 90 minutes/day). One MILLION essays will be scored this week, and I've knocked out 102 of them so far. Decent essays so far, including one that was way off topic, but extremely creative. Can't say I've read many essays that featured an imaginary novel and were written in English, Spanish, and binary code. Good times.

More tomorrow.

Off to L-Ville!

The Lit Lounge is packed and ready to hit the road, bound for the AP Literature Exam reading in Louisville, KY. SEVEN thrill-packed days of essay reading (and a few evenings of baseball with the Louisville Bats)!

Before I go, here's a link to our latest podcast, a brief PowerPoint from the Class of 2009. I'll add more next week!

Circle September 9!

The Beatles Rock Band makes its debut 9/9/09. (Number 9? Number 9?) Here's a peak:

A little ESPN love for the GR Griffins!

Anyone in West Michigan knows why the Red Wings continue to bring up one hot prospect after another, now the rest of the NHL knows. It's the Grand Rapids Griffins connection, where guys who might start for other NHL teams work under the watchful eyes of the Red Wings/Griffins staff until they are ready for Hockeytown. From ESPN's Pierre LeBrun:

Curt Fraser is the head coach in Grand Rapids and deserves his due for helping prepare players such as Helm, Ericsson and Abdelkader for this kind of
challenge.

"They're well coached in the American League," Wings assistant coach Paul MacLean said. "When they get here, they're easy to handle."

Game three is tonight at 8. On Versus. Don't bother calling me. Go Red Wings!

Yummmmm. . . banana bread. Now with whole grains!

Nothing better than a loaf of Mom's banana bread - the key ingredient is buttermilk. Here's a new version of her recipe in the GR Press, with healthy whole grains added. They suggest substituting low-fat yogurt for the buttermilk - tsk, tsk! (photo by Hoyt Carrier II of the GR Press)