Stacey’s water broke yesterday at around 12:30PM.  After a brief visit to the doctor to confirm what happened, we were off to the hospital, where Simon Elliot Jolly (yes, we changed the middle name) was born at 3:31PM–just one hour after settling in our room!  Everyone seems amazed at my wife’s ability to give birth quickly and efficiently.

Simon is 7 lbs., 12 ozs. and 19 inches long.  Pictures are forthcoming, but I’m kind of busy right now.

Please tell me you want to think about something other than Jamie Lynn Spears.  Here are a few ideas:

• This movie is getting enthusiastic praise.
• And here’s a different kind of animated film.
• Get better gas mileage.
• The great Oscar Peterson has passed away.
• Los Angeles is on track to have its lowest homicide rate in nearly forty years.
• I’m guessing this isn’t real, but here’s Russian President Vladamir Putin discussing Harry Potter.

The Mrs. had a contraction at around 3AM on Sunday, but only one.  When will Simon show up?

Merry Christmas.

Still no baby, but Mrs. Jolly has been getting some new pains here and there.  At this point, I think I’d rather have Simon come after Christmas, because you can’t really go anywhere with a one- or two-day old baby.

By the way, on the Norman Mailer post below, a student posted an interesting story about an Italian couple who were prohibited by court order from naming their child Friday.

Freshmen: Keep reading Great Expectations!

Seniors: Keep reading Henry V!

…goes to Anne Enright’s novel The Gathering.

Welcome to my online classroom!  I’ll be doing a few things here:

• Posting make-up assignments.  If you are absent for one or more days, check here for your make-up work.  The last thing you should do while you’re sick is watch more TV–that would just make you sicker.  Keep up with your vocabulary and reading instead!
• Assigning new work.  On occasion, I will post a question here, and I will expect all of the students in a given course to respond and dialogue with each other.  I may also post links to websites, have you check them out for yourself, and have you post your reactions here.  Isn’t Web 2.0 the best?
• Miscellaneous.  Sometimes I just find something interesting, and I want the whole world to know about it.  Usually this will concern books or some other aspect of our culture.  For example, the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize (Britain’s highest award for fiction) was announced recently, so I’m pretty excited about that.

So that’s the agenda for this site.  Enjoy yourselves, and here’s a disclaimer: any opinions expressed here are my own, and do not represent those of my employer.  Links to outside websites are for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of this website.  If you comment, please do so politely, and IF YOU ARE UNDER EIGHTEEN, DO NOT COMMENT WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF A PARENT OR GUARDIAN.