People may think of the Celts as being mystical,
but they also kicked butt. Perhaps it is that
you prefer roving chiefdoms over a rigid
empire, or maybe you just enjoy the fancy knot
designs.

What is your ancient civilization?
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I feel ancient this morning. And I’ve discovered that Diablo II doesn’t run on my laptop. I’m very disappointed; I can’t kill monsters with a big sword any more. 🙁

Last night I yelled like crazy at P.B. and R.C. I just blew off steam at them. They weren’t really much out of line at 10:15, but there’s this pattern with them that drives me crazy — “yeah, I know it’s bedtime, but just one more…” “yeah, but I really have to…” “yeah, but this is really important…” They sit around from 8:30 to 10pm doing nothing, goofing around (last night they were pointing laser pointers into the headmaster’s house with S.M., and T.S. was there too. The head was mad at them, and probably mad at me [my phone wasn’t working properly. The head called P.R. and had her come deal with it, presumably because he couldn’t reach me.] Then, at 10:00pm, suddenly there’s all sorts of urgent conversations that have to take place, and it’s all a ploy to be allowed to stay up later. Last night I was in the hall until 11:15, and reading on the couch with all the lights on until midnight, so I could keep an ear open for them.

I was furious with them. They’re bored cooped up all the time on dorm, so they abuse other kids on dorm. R.C. is a putz when he’s alone, but combined with P.B. he’s toxic in a way that most kids aren’t, usually. There’s this delight in cruelty to others that the two of them revel in, and they have to be mocking someone. I don’t feel they respect me for reasons I can’t begin to fathom — and the result is that trying to get them to do much of anything has to involve yelling (which I hate). Furthermore, when I yell they say, “but that reduces our respect for you,” which further (allegedly) reduces their respect for me. Yet if I don’t yell and make my real displeasure with their behavior known, I can’t get them to do anything at all. It’s a vicious cycle, and I don’t know how to break free from it.

Ben, stop letting anyone admit ninth graders to school mid-year. I’ve had 80% of them on my dorm in the last six or eight years, and they are always bad for dormitory life. Always. I’ve had one of them work out properly in eight years, and they usually wind up causing as much trouble as they benefit the school. I know we need the cash flow, but they literally suck time and energy out of their dorm masters because they don’t know the routine and they’re not prepared to buy into it, at all.

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