356 – The Morphous Heap

Once you see it out of the shadows, it becomes clear that what we’re dealing with here is some sort of loose configuration of semi-melted dolls heads, similar to the Scuttling Misery of the Piddlin’ Lizzie Assembly Plant (Magdeburg, former East Germany, 1965) or the No. 45 Little Buddies Smelting Core Exit Blocker (Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 1983).

Unrelated, Beverly Cleary just turned 100 and she’s a fucking badass. Or maybe that is semi-related?

The Mouse and the Motorcycle was my favorite book as a kid. One of my favorite moments in my current job, which involves working with third graders, was this one time when I asked a classroom of kids who their greatest heroes were and one girl said Beverly Cleary. And I was all OH MY GAWD, THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE IS AWESOME and she was all THAT’S MY FAVORITE BOOK!!!! I was surprised when I realized that The Mouse and the Motorcycle was written in 1965 because it felt so current when I first read it way back in the ancient days of 1988 and apparently kids in 2016 still feel the same way. Unlike many of my co-workers, I was never trained to work with kids and I have no history of working with kids before this current job, so I’m not always very good at dealing with them. I mean, I like kids just fine as long as I get to send them back with their teacher at the end of the lesson and I don’t need to deal with them forever, but I’m not a natural at kid whispering or whatever you want to call it. I notice that people who are trained to work with kids have a special way of talking to them that seems to get through to them. I find that tone very fake and stilted when I do it, so I always just end up talking to them like they’re little adults. That doesn’t always work out well, but it’s always a thrill when you make a little connection like that.

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