The adorable thing about technology is that it allows you to keep in touch with those that might have been hard to maintain contact with in a pre-internet world. For example, while I have lots o’ people I want to keep in touch with, I haaaate talking on the phone. I dont like when it rings, I dont like answering it. And I dont like ignoring your phonecalls, but I like answering them even less.

I wish you would all just text me. Because I reeeeally hate voicemail. Baaaah entering in passwords and listening to that weirdly calm lady, who I like to call “Dolores” or some other ho-hum lady name. Always asking me to “press 7 to delete, 9 to save, 4 to…” thats where I usually hang up.

This is one of the reasons why I love the internet and the Facebook so much. I can daydream about the past, think fondly of someone, look then up, check out some recent pics, maybe send them a message with something clever or reference an inside joke or something, maybe stranger-stalk whoever they”re now “in a relationship with,” and then be done. Love that. Love the technology.

But. The obnoxious thing about technology is that there is no hiding from anyone. Not exboyfriends you ended things badly with, not future employees, not exroommates you might still owe cable bill money to. Not your family, since most of mine is now here on Facebook. (heh heh loooooves you)

And not even 7th graders who should really be asleep at 10pm on a Sunday night because they have your Latin class tomorrow morning and ooooh its gonna be a doozey.

?!@.!>?@#

Yeah. My students are trying to add me on the book of the face.

We had to have a big talk about it. It was a bullet point on the daily agenda I try to write on the board. I had to tell all my classes that Miss Weight had decided that she can’t be anyone’s “friend” until they are no longer under my power to fail in a class. I told them all that as a present to them upon graduating from the 8th grade, I would accept all their friendships.

It was really hard with a few of the super cute ones….like the little blond boy, covered in freckles, constantly translating Chuck Norris jokes in Latin for me, practically hyperventilating and standing up in his chair to answer a question in class….or the girl in Spanish who on her “Getting to Know Me” card wrote “I’m not very funny, but I think I like your class so far,” and today brought me a plate of brownies this morning and said “I don’t like it when youre sad, Miss Weight. here are your favorites!”

i had to tell this handful of cuteness “Miss Weight would LOVE to be your friend on facebook…but it will be more fun if we wait until youre in high school!! but until then….i think you are AWESOME!” and then give high fives. so precious.

but i love teaching..there is so much that is new and challenging and hilarious about each day. i still have to tell you about back to school night, and referrals, and crazy parents, and dress codes, and telling jokes in class and laughing too hard to get them out. and the teachers’ lounge. and packing a lunch. and kids’ hugs in the hallways. and the girls who cried with me. and being handed sweaty fistfuls of flowers. and giving my first test. and thinking each day I’ll never make it.

this life is crazy man! im just going to hold on to it. and love it.