I’m on Spring Break now, 11 days with very little schoolwork to do, so I hope to get a lot of my own work finished. That would be nice. We started the break last night by eating at Red Lobster, after which I bought a book at Barnes & Noble.

This past week the teachers in my district and the Board of Education finally approved a three-year contract. That includes this past year, since we have been working without a contract since last June. While that did not affect our jobs per se, since we did not do anything obnoxious like some teachers do when they have no contract, nobody got a raise at all previously this year, including some lower-paid teachers who could really have used the money. Even with the contract, the raises were minimal, but in a recession we certainly compromised a lot in what we agreed to.

Currently listening: In the past year I have listened to a lot of jazz-fusion, and have found it a fascinating blend of jazz and rock. John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra is the finest jazz-fusion band I’ve heard so far, and its Birds of Fire is highly-recommended to any fans of progressive rock.

Currently reading: Eric Brown’s Kethani is the new book I bought. I’ve already read a short portion of it entitled “A Farewell Party,” which I enjoyed a lot, so I have high hopes for this book.