A life in progress

Dear America, I am writing to you today with a heavy heart and a conflicted mind.  As you know, last weekend, we were rocked by an unimaginable tragedy that has affected all of our two million citizens.  Most people don't realize there are two million of us. Here's a map for context: (Source: NASA image, circa 2010) To orient you, the red areas are parks and golf courses; the grey areas are buildings; the brown is undeveloped desert.  In total, the metro area covers about 600 square miles.  It is massive.  However, most people don't think of much beyond the casinos and the Las Vegas Strip - which, for reference is that darker grey swath that cuts kind of diagonally through the lower center, with the airport slightly to its east.  For the past week, all of us have been trying to grapple with the idea of someone - for whatever reason - opening fire on a crowd of innocent people, as if it was the opening scene of the latest Hollywood action fi...

Yesterday, I used this sad llama to show how I felt about leaving my students Today... I don't know... I have to try to find a sadder llama.  I don't know if there's a better embodiment of my heartbreak than Kuzco sitting in the rain as a sad llama. Maybe a sad elephant. Yeah - just imagine the saddest thing ever.  If you aren't crying - here's a  BuzzFeed article  to help start the tears.  Read that and then come back to me. Ok?  Are you crying now?  Because I am.  I didn't even have to reread that article.  Just finding the link made me a little misty.  Don't judge.  It's been a rough day. Today started like any other normal day.  Actually, it started earlier than most normal days because I had to get all my grades finalized so I went in early. Before school even started, my neighbor came in to give me goodbye treats.  They were amazing and I ate way to many of them.  Again - this is a no judging ...