34

As of yesterday, Suzanne safely passed the 34 week mark. This means that, even if she were to go into labor even as I write this, a Lifeflight to Peoria will not be in order. Yay for her, yay for us, yay for childbirth!

So now we're whittling away on week 35, hoping to make it to week 36 at least. Maryn came at 36, Avery came at 36.5. Neither of them required any extra hospital time or special care and we're hoping for the same for Baby X.

Yesterday was also important because it was the last day of the summer term. I collected 45 new papers plus about that many revised essays. Allowing revisions was pure foolishness on my part. I didn't realize how quick the turnaround had to be - final grades in by 10 a.m. tomorrow. So roughly eighty papers in about forty eight hours. As I repeatedly pointed out to my students, that's ridonkulous.

Nevertheless, ridonkulous or not, I'm done. I did about twenty yesterday and then went in this morning and stayed until a little after four. I graded, tabulated, and submitted my finals at 4:15. It was a long day of staring at papers, wincing at some, cheering for others. One girl just didn't show up to hand in her final paper at all. Another girl handed in a big portfolio of her work and the four pages that were supposed to be her final paper were blank. One guy included a note with his final asking me to not judge him too harshly for what he wrote. Ah, semester's end - everyday is an adventure.

Movie Catch-Up:

42nd Street - Snooze. A "backstage" musical - one that features song and dance strictly as actual performances rather than the "integrated" musicals that came later that featured song and dance as expressions of the actors feelings. Young Dick Powell creeps me out.



On the Beach - surprisingly sophisticated. For those who haven't seen it, it's about sailors on an American submarine who dock in Australia after nuclear war and the subsequent radiation have wiped out the United States. The ever-stalwart Gregory Peck is the sub captain who lost his wife and two daughters in the war while he was at sea. Ava Gardner plays a woman drinking herself to death as everyone in Australia waits for the radiation to drift their way. Fred Astaire gives a surprisingly effective performance as a dissolute scientist weighed down with guilt over helping to develop the bomb. The best sequence is when the sailors travel to California to investigate a Morse code transmission coming from San Diego. The images of a hazmat-suited sailor walking alone through a completely empty city are spooky and compelling. I really enjoyed this one.



Top Hat - I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am not a musical kind of guy. Nevertheless, I can appreciate certain things about certain ones. I've gotta say, I can see what the big deal is about Fred Astaire when it comes to dancing. He really is that good. As they say, Ginger Rogers had to do everything he did only backwards and in high heels, so she's no slouch either. It's a silly movie but joyful and fun to watch. Helen Broderick as the very dry, long-suffering Madge made me laugh more than once.

Pinky - As I write this, I'm about a third of the way through Elia Kazan's film about a black woman who spent several years "passing" as white in the North who then returns home to her poor, Southern home. I admire Kazan's devotion to films addressing social problems and he obviously took on some touchy ones - but I'm sorry, I really can't get past the casting of Jeanne Crain as an African American. I get that she's supposed to be so white she can "pass" but come on.


This woman as a Sister? I don't think so.