Not much...

... I felt like putting down here for awhile.  Another mass shooting - this one in an elementary school - and the fact that there are shootings seemingly all the time make for a Vasa who does not want to speak or write much.  Of course, I can perform at work, but that's because I love being in the classroom so much, all bad thoughts rush out the moment the bell rings.  That said, the day teachers are invited to carry guns in NJ is the day I leave the profession.  I have been involved in a few discussions with people who do not agree and I have been struck silent.  Strange, for such an opinionated person to be silenced.  But I feel that there are more and more people who want to let me know their opinions without a care about what mine are.

I will say this, the students who bring it up are unanimous in their opinions that they do not want guns in school.  They will not feel more protected, but more vulnerable.  But, heck, what do they know?

When things like this and the horrible legislating of schools get me down, I shop for real estate.  No, not like a billionaire.  I shop for something that fits with the income of a public school teacher married to a social worker.  I look for handyman specials in Hungary.  And gosh, I dream of being there, fixing up the place, having an actual scullery, tons of gardens, riding my bike into town with Millie in the basket.

But the closest I am getting to that dream is going back to Budapest in April.  I am trying, yet again, to gain some rudimentary grasp of the language.  This time, I vow to practice each day.  My pronunciation is ok - I did well ordering dessert last year!  I just need to plug up holes in my memory and remember what the words are and what they mean!  Ugh.... I also want to see if I can go to some of the offices there to try to find out the whereabouts or fate of some of my relatives.  That, I know, will be the biggest challenge.

I also need to get back to more art submissions.  I have been printing quite a bit lately.  I have brought a few boxes of my paper to work and putter around in the darkroom before anyone comes in.  Just me, my music and my negatives.