If you had asked me a few years ago if I would have ever taught a book by Ayn Rand, I probably would have laughed heartily at you. And then I would have given you several reasons about why I wouldn’t have even entertained the idea. Today, however, I began the pre-work and front-loading for the book Anthem. We will be entering our essays, which we will write after reading the story, into a contest sponsored by the The Ayn Rand Institute. We are beginning the whole Ayn Rand process with the students giving group speeches about six different topics: socialism, Soviet Russia, Prometheus, Gaia, dystopia, and Rand. The students seemed to be really excited about this project, and I framed it by saying I hadn’t read the book yet, but that her beliefs might challenge me a little. I think they liked the fact that I am having them read something that I potentially won’t agree with and will be frustrated with. Ah, middle schoolers!
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I swam this morning for the first time in ages. It was a sprint day. Whenever I do sprints (running or swimming), I recognize how out of shape I am. I felt like I was sucking air through a coffee stirrer while trying to wrestle a Leviathan. I hope the sprinting gets easier each week. Wow.
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Dave Pace, Merideth’s dad died on Thursday night. His funeral is Wednesday, and the viewing is tomorrow. Her family has asked me to perform the ceremony/service, and I agreed. I just hope I can keep it together and not make a blubbering fool of myself. He is one of the greatest men I have ever known, and I will truly miss him. I only hope I can honor his memory with my words.
Reason Breeds Insanity 
Hey,
I am sorry to hear about your friend’s passing and know that you will bring grace and peace to the celebration of his life. I miss seeing you around, I have bumped into Bec a couple of times, but haven’t seen you. Anyway, what is a good email address for you? I am going to leave a link here, but don’t have a way of getting in touch (unless that was the plan, in which case, carry on)
I heard this again yesterday and thought of you immediately. It is the sort of thing I wish I could write and after the jealousy subsided, my next thought was, I have to share this with Corby.
Anyway, I hope you are well
David
Damn that’s good. You have a knack for finding these things. I just quit Facebook and Twitter. They started to seem contrived and divisive to my psyche because I couldn’t keep up the madness. I have sort of an addictive personality, so I was spending WAY too much time on Facebook instead of doing other things I should’ve been doing. It was a bit silly. Anyway, you can reach me at corby jaye at comcast dot net. Thanks for this video. How tragically beautiful. I miss you.