Life in Dayton: worthwhile?

Yesterday I had my first tutoring session with the STEP English students. It should have been only half the group, eight or nine students, but it was actually all of them, 17. The reason is, they didn't come to the tutorial Monday because of a mistaken e-mail from the professor. So they all came yesterday. Catchai?

And it went pretty well. Beforehand I was paranoid that I wouldn't have enough material to fill 75 minutes, but I wound up doing that easily. In fact, I didn't get to everything I thought I would. Oh well.

We went over MLA style, thrilling as it is, and I gave them one of my papers as an example.

Then I had this idea that I would play them a song and they would correct the grammar in the lyrics. I thought it was a pretty typical Steve Weishampel assignment. So I brought in "Cattle and the Creeping Things" by The Hold Steady. Allow me to present the lyrics to you.


The Hold Steady – “Cattle and the Creeping Things”

They got to the part with the cattle and the creeping things.
They said, “I'm pretty sure we've heard this one before.
Don't it all end up in some revelation with four guys on horses, and violent red visions; famine and death and pestilence and war?
I'm pretty sure I heard this one before.”
You in the corner with a good-looking drifter.
Two cups of coffee and ten packs of sugar.
I heard Gideon saw you in Denver.
He said you're contagious.
Silly rabbit. Tripping is for teenagers. Murder is for murderers. And hard drugs are for bartenders. I think I might have mentioned that before.

He's got the pages in his pockets that he ripped out of the Bible from his bedstand in the motel.
He likes the part where the traders get chased out from the temple.

I guess I heard about original sin.
I heard the dudes blamed the chick.
I heard the chick blamed the snake.
And I heard they were naked when they got busted.
And I heard things ain't been the same since.
You on the streets with a tendency to preach to the choir.
Wired for sound and down with whatever.
I heard Gideon did you in Denver.


She's got a cross around her neck that she ripped off from a schoolgirl in the subway on a visit to the city.
She likes how it looks on her chest with three open buttons.
She likes the part where one brother kills the other.
She has to wonder if the world ever will recover. Because Cain and Abel seem to still be causing trouble.

She said, “I was seeing double for three straight days after I got born again.
It felt strange but it was nice and peaceful and it really pleased me to be around so many people.
Of course, half of them were visions but half of them were friends from going through the program with me.
Later on we did some sexy things. Took a couple photographs and carved them into wood reliefs.
But that's enough about me. Come on, tell me how you got down here into Ybor City.”

He said, “I got to the part about the Exodus. And up to then I only knew it was a movement of the people.
But if small-town cops are like swarms of flies and blackened foil is like boils and hail, I'm pretty sure I’ve been through this before.”

It seemed like a simple place to score.
Then some old lady came to the door and said, “McKenzie Phillips doesn't live here anymore.”


Of course, we listened to the song first. I think they didn't exactly love it. I plan on bringing a more pop rock song next time, I guess. But then one kid asked if he could borrow the CD after the class, so that's nice.

As a side note, I fucking absolutely love when he sings "If small-town cops are like swarms of flies and blackened foil is like boils and hail." It just sounds really awesome, with the keyboard part. I'm sure you don't know what I mean.

Next time I think I'm going to ask them to write a reaction to the song, though. It's easier to find a song to ask people to react to rather than a song to correct grammar. Lots of songs are beyond help.

Anyway it went well. The rest of the week I have one-on-one tutoring, which I'm better at. Then theater people are coming to visit Dayton for a while. Exciting shit.

Which is a nice change. Generally this past week in Dayton can be characterized by lots of sitting around in near-uncomfortable warmth, wondering what to do.

Today I don't have to go to class, so I'm meeting Val for lunch. Then sitting around. Then the one-on-one tutoring. Then maybe meeting Beard for dinner if I can reach him. Then cleaning and going shopping.

WHAT A LIFE.

Love,

Steve