Yesterday, I walked Karal in the morning and when I came back there was a UPS delivery and a US Postal deliver. When I came home from teaching there was more. Boxes of soon-to-be-published books. I honestly don't have space for them all, but appreciate that they are all sent to me for review. I am in the hobby of gifting them to schools, neighbors, colleagues, and friends. I can't keep up with them all. My garage is full, my bookshelves are full, my offices are full, and they keep coming.
Yes, I am part of the problem, because I keep all the ones I want to read, but the truth is I can't get to them all. I simply need to put them in the right hands...
...and libraries...and classrooms...and homes.
Last night was one of those dilemmas of being many places at once, so I recorded the first hour of one class and then met the students online for the 2nd hour. It allowed me to attend a meeting, drive home, eat, and still hit all objectives for the evening. It worked out really well, too, because the 2nd hour was productive and fruitful. I have a crew this year, however, that love to linger way beyond class to talk about everything. Even on ZOOM I had to be like, "Alright...it's time to go. Class is over."
I am now stacking books on any and all flat surfaces of my house, as documented in the photo above. This is a stack I haven't touched yet, except for the one about Muhammad Ali's daughter. I read that immediately as I met her at the opening of the Center back in the day while still teaching in Louisville, when Jonica and Jamal were student ambassadors and I was named a teacher for the opening night events. One of my cooler experiences in life, especially when I learned the word 'jetsetter' and found out that for some adolescent kids around the world, they fly in from family jets to hang with their friends at cool events like the Muhammad Ali museum. Who would have ever known?
Now, several decades later, I receive a book. My memories are triggered and I'll be keeping that one.
Okay...yesterday was National Coffee Day, but every day is National Coffee Day in my life. So, I'm getting another cup of coffee and chiseling away the to-do list before these hairs are getting cut...hopefully no Burt this time.
