Valentine's Day

I've never been a fan of the holiday; why, I'm not sure. This past week, though, I have been showing Dead Poets Society to my ninth graders, and this quotation from my favorite character ever, John Keating, is just so apt:

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute; we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering: these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love: these are what we stay alive for.


If you haven't seen this movie, then you shouldn't be wasting your time reading this instead.