-^-for posterity-^-

“...the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say commonplace things but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘awwwwwww!!!’”
-jack kerouac

i’m teaching the students a number of things in english literature but my favorite, by far, is teaching them jack kerouac.

i teach them about going out, exploring, creating adventure with no strings attached. living life to the fullest and being the most authentic person possible. i’m trying to mold a few hundred vietnamese jon’s. (for better or worse)

standing in front of class gyrating my hands and wrinkling my forehead. i teach in a cloud of chalk dust and chaos. the students frantically scrawl everything down. i become emotional and passionate. i get excited. i read from the above quote in one breath with eyes wide and mind spinning.

oh, there is order to my class. the students know what i expect of them on the test and they all did surprisingly wonderfully on the last test. i have them email me if i have any question and yesterday i got an email from a girl who wrote, (among other things) “i really enjoy english literature. you have so many idiosyncrasies!”

rambling about jack kerouac is something i’d enjoy doing long into my life. i may never return. i want everyone to understand what he was saying. i want them all to decide if they will answer his call and never yawn or say commonplace things. i want them all to become roman candles. could you imagine a few hundred vietnamese roman candles popping all over the mekong sky creating such a wonderfully beautiful sight that everyone has to stop and turn and crane their heads up in order not to miss any of it? i will be the first to open my mouth and, in a low rumble, moan: “awwwwwwww!!!”