Scarlet Letters

*music swells* MAN: *sniffle* ME: ... seriously? MAN: Oh shush. ME: Hon. MAN: *wipes eyes* ME: You are such a marshmallow. MAN: I am not. I'm *sniffle* mean. ME: Love, you are not going to make it through It's a Wonderful Life  if you cry at the end of Grinch. ***** And A Charlie Brown Christmas. ***** And during Scrooge (1935). ***** FLICK: Stuck! Stuuuuck stuuuck stuuuuuuuuuck! MAN: I've done that. ME: *look* MAN: They said I was a scaredycat. I said, "I'm not a scaredycat!" ME: Thus the problems of the world are caused by male dick-measuring contests. MAN: ... it hurt. ***** And while walking down St. Charles Main Street with me. ***** And at "Everything I've Always Wanted" in  Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July. * Along with "I See Rainbows When I Look at You." ME: I see why you like this one. MAN: I didn't remember these. ME: Uh huh. ***** And on seeing the Christmas Eve ...

It's hard to admit it, but I cry like a child every time. Admit it: so do you. Of course, I'm talking about the end of It's a Wonderful Life.  We've all seen it so many times that it's a movie-length cliche. It's the hokey ending that solves all the problems in one beautiful bow, the sort of thing that never happens in real life. From his barstool on Cheers,  Norm even grouses that during the many times in his life that he's been in trouble, no one ever came to his door with a sackful of cash to bail him out. It's a Wonderful Life  is certainly dated, if that is a crime. It has its flaws of logic and characterization - for all of Mary's strength and self-assuredness in the original timeline, where is it in the alternate timeline? Are we to assume that her strength came only from her relationship with her husband, when she certainly showed it long before she became Mrs. George Bailey? Is it entirely logical that all the good people of Bedford Fa...

MAN: Ooh, the tree light timer. I need to set it - what time is it? BOY: Hold on. MAN: You got your phone? BOY: Yes, just a second.... *fiddles with phone* MAN: *waits* BOY: It's... hmm. ME: Boys. There is a clock on the wall. BOY: But... we've got our phones. ME: Taking orders for cookies. BOY: What are our options? ME: Chocolate chip, death by chocolate cookies, gingersnaps, sugar cookies or snickerdoodles. I don't think I have the stuff for turtle cookies. MAN: Chocolate chip or death by chocolate. BOY: Sugar cookies or gingersnaps. ME: ... ME: I don't suppose I can get you two to agree on a cookie, can I? Jim is cramming for a final on ancient Greek philosophy. Because hurriedly zooming through material the morning of the exam is the best way to insure retention, as we all know. ME: *nibbles on neck* MAN: Hey! Stop that, now! Aristotle! ME: Ooooh, I love it when you say Aristotle. It makes me sooo hot. Say it again! MAN: Aristotle. ME: Oooh!...

He called me his daughter. It was half-affection, half-running joke, because we couldn't have looked more different. But there was no doubt that Rudy Wilson was everyone's dad, complete with dad jokes, and his death this week is a blow to the entire community. He was a quiet groundbreaker, a man dedicated to education throughout his life. He was one of the first black faculty members at SIUE when it was a fledgling campus in 1970. He had already broken ground as the first black teacher at a California college, and when he came here, he taught in the school of education and became the assistant provost for cultural and social diversity. Part of his job was to mentor student teachers, including visiting them as they worked in area high schools. This became a problem at a local high school and its all-white faculty, according to multiple sources. It was indicated that he was not wanted, and therefore, the university informed them that they would get no more student teache...