Survivors

Sixth period today I was visiting some with our new mascot while another student drew her.

She's been in foster care until she was 18. She's 19 now and lives with a friend she calls an "aunt." She transfered to Boyer Valley from an urban school in Omaha this year as a Senior. Last week she and her aunt moved to my Charter Oak, where I live, but she's still attending BV. She'd rather play basketball but they aren't allowing her to since she's a 5th year Senior.

She was born 3 months early with her internal organs outside her body. She never knew her Dad and doesn't talk with her biological Mom. She's an aspiring rapper. The youtube video of one of her raps says that she's a guy trapped in a girl's body.

She's not exactly a stellar student, but I know she's got a good heart. Here's how I know.

Part way through 6th hour someone came into my room and announced that "one of your cheerleaders is crying in the bathroom." Right away a Junior girl who had cheered for football season asked if she could go check on her, so I let her go. Word came that a Freshman boy had commented on how the Freshman cheerleader looked fat in her uniform. The Senior Mascot know the boy, asked me if she could go comfort the Freshman girl in the bathroom too. I let her, but instead, she went and calmly but authoritatively summoned the boy from his study hall, admonished him and demanded that he apologize to the girl, which he did.

Entwurf von Scheiße: some loose ideas

Anne Lamott says that having lots of ideas brewing for a story is like having tons of boxes of ornaments but no tree to hang them on yet. Thats kinda how I feel about this whole new "Wolfmädchen" project.  I don't know if it's tonight's full moon or just that having finally gotten around to post those last to pieces got my juices going, but I'm having a hard time sleeping. So, here are some tree ornaments before before I forget:

• Sheep in Wolves' clothing
• Sheep dogs
• Coyotes
• No chickens were harmed in the production of this video
• whats up with a guy who carries around a King James Bible in his backpack but has nothing but Slipknot and Black Veil Brides on his iPod?
• Alpha dog
• Chew toy
• Canis dirus (dirus=abominable)
• Fox, dog, bitch, mama grizzly

Wolfmädchen; Waking up in Doctor Doolittle-Land

I was so dead to the world tired and achy. I just wanted to sleep forever. And I had the biggest headache of my life. But I couldn't fall  back to sleep  because I kept hearing these voices.

I rolled over on my side to try to make out who was talking and what they were saying. That's when it dawned on me that I was all alone and outdoors. I was so stiff and exhausted I didn't really care. Somehow I still had the costume on. I must've imagined it was my blanket on my bed at home.

It was still dark out, just before dawn, I heard someone talking again and instinctively flinched into a crouch and looked toward the sound- only to come face to face with a terrifying sight. At first all I could make out was fur, and a horrible stench. But I didn't hear any breathing but my own. Maybe it was dead, whatever it was. I gingerly reached out to touch the carcass to make certain it was just some kind of road kill. Instead I felt long, cold teeth, made out of polyurethane.

Whew! It was just my head.

I was relieved as when you go careening off the road into a snowbank in your car in winter but realize that thankfully you didn't hit another car. But I was still on my guard.

"What are you? What are you?" came one of the voices again. This time there was something furry and alive coming toward me. Again I was relieved when it was just a raccoon sniffing at me? Ordinarily you'd expect a 14 year old girl to be wigged out by even small wild vermin, but for some reason, I realized that I didn't have any reason to be afraid.

Unafraid as I was still didn't know who kept talking.

"What is it? What is it?"

"What are you? What are you? Are you a people or a dog? People or a dog?"

"Bugs, bugs," another voice said from a few feet away.

"Mmmm, good. Mmmm, fruit, mmmm, good" said another, I thought from up above.

"Are you a people-dog?" said the raccoon, looking up at me?

"What the hell?!" I said, "Are you- are you talking to me?"

"Who else? Dog-breath people-girl?" said the raccoon.

"Holy shit! This is too much. Somebody must have snuck some LSD into my Powerade at half time.

"Do you understand me, little guy?" I asked my new subsentence.

"Do you have any food?" it asked.

"Uh, no, sorry."

"No food? What good are you?" it snapped back, and started walking away.

"No wait! come back! How can you understand me?"

"Don't mind him. His kind all have one-track minds. Food food food. Not very smart at all." came a dry, superior voice, from above me. I looked up into the ash tree I apparently had fallen asleep under but only saw a crow.

"Excuse me," are you a crow?

"Corbin Corax is the name, and I happen to be a raven," he explained with some offense in his tone, "larger and much smarter than any crow."

"Great, I'm talking to a big black scavenger bird with a superiority complex. I still don't know if I'm cursed or just crazy, but I know I must be both."

"Perhaps, Dog-Girl, perhaps you are indeed a little of both."

"Oh Geez, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Maybe I'm just dreaming. Or maybe somebody really did drug me as a prank or something. I just want to get home and sleep it off and wake up and have life go back to normal."

Then as if on cue, quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Wolfmädchen; Fish Breath

"So, you're a 'werebear?!'"

"You make it sound so dorky," he complained. Obviously I hurt his feelings.

"Well, who ever heard of a werebear? You gotta admit, it lacks that certain goth vibe."

"At least I don't eat people." Ouch, way to hit a girl where it hurts. Time to lighten things up.
"Yeah, how's that diet of berries and walleye treating you?"

"Pffff, I wish there was some walleye around here." I couldn't believe it, instead of dishing back, he got all reflective on me. "Pretty much nothing but crappies and bass around here. What I wouldn't give for some salmon. I wish my parents would get jobs in the Pacific Northwest."

Why is he always so damn serious? "God, no wonder your breath smells like it does."

"Hey at least I don't chase cats."

"Good one Pooh Boy."

"Pooh? Like Winnie the Pooh? I'm 6' 4", 320 pounds and like you, I transform into a hairy beast with massive claws and teeth and you STILL think I'm just 'Mr. Nice Guy,' all sweet and gentle."

I didn't think it would be a good idea to point out that his name was Ben at that moment.

"You'll have to forgive me, if I don't find you intimidating. After all,  I am the bearer of a thousand year old gypsy curse, tormented by demons, libel to get chased down by a mob of villagers with torches and pitch forks any day now."

Wolfmädchen; the concept

As I noted when I started this new blog, writing guru Anne Lamott says that it's important to allow yourself some "shitty first-drafts."

For a long time now I've had these ideas rolling around in my head for a book about a teenage girl werewolf. At first my concept was a cheerleader. But of course the market is glutted with paranormal teen romance gobligook. I was afraid it would be too Buffy-esque.

So then a friend of mine (who happens to be a former mascot) suggested she be a mascot. Could you imagine how funny it would be that no one would ever see her turn into a wolf, because she'd be in a dog suit anyway?

I had started thinking she was like a couple of different cheerleaders I had out in LA. But while they were both funny and pretty, neither had really developed senses of irony. In fact, while they weren't totally innocent, I think they were pretty much guileless.

So then who popped in my mind was a girl who actually came out for mascot this year, but then only did it for one game. She has this kind of conspiratorial, perpetual soliloquy thing about her. A little like in the movie Juno- but not nearly as bitter. Someone with enough sarcasm to be a great narrator, but who is still someone you could identify with, and care about.

So, anytime you see an entry tagged "Wolfmädchen" (Wolf-Girl) it will be one of many scattered, fragmented, unordered little "Entwurf von Scheiße" (shitty first draft).

I want it to be about all that difficult adolescent stuff, change, alienation, angst. But hopefully it will be funny. Just like Lon Chaney Jr's 1941 Wolf Man, I don't want her to be a sociopath (not that there aren't a lot of teenage girl sociopaths out there).

I know it's pretty pretentious to think I'm gonna write the great American novel. These days everybody and their brother wants to write a book. It may be that nothing ever comes of this, I'm pretty scatter-brained (not to mention busy) and I haven't got a lot of self-discipline. But these ideas keep popping into my head, so I thought it was high time that I start writing them down somewhere.

Grateful for great girls this season

Over the years plenty of people have told me that I'm either some kind of saint, or certifiably crazy. There is certainly no shortage of egos, drama, tension, silliness, and annoyances. But most of the time it can be very rewarding. I believe God has taught me a lot through it (certainly patience) and I hope and sometimes think that He has used me to help teach and mentor the girls on my squads.

It can be stressful and I have a handful of friends, colleagues and former cheerleaders (including my wife) whom I can vent to when it gets hard- but I usually feel guilty about it because I'm constantly trying to impress on my cheerleaders the importance of being positive and because I don't want the people I'm venting to to conclude that it's a terrible hardship or that I dislike it and would rather get out of it.

So I would be remiss if I didn't take the time to thank God for the kids I have on this year's basketball cheer squads. Three of the four junior high girls are new as are three of the seven high school girls. A lot of coaches of ANY sport might tell you that it's hard to lose a lot of veterans because you have to go back and reteach the fundamentals. They'll often call it a rebuilding year or a growing year.

The thing about rookie cheerleaders is that they tend to be more coachable, more open to teaching and instruction. Girls who have been cheer for a few years start to get fiercely independent. It's good to be able to trust them to know what they're doing, but they can be less open to correction and and more likely to challenge your coaching. Which is okay, that's natural and all part of the process. But it's nice to be doing more actual coaching, and not merely advising or being just a sponsor again. Sure, it can be more work, but that just means more direct and deliberate interaction with kids. This is when teaching happens and when the relationships are established which will offer opportunities for mentoring later on.

So, I want to thank God for Lexis, Jarlin, Cathrine, and Jamie on my MS Squad and for Brittney, Shannon, and Jasmine on my HS Squad. 

Although, I still want to thank Him for those hard working veterans who know what they're doing too. I have no rhythm and can't remember most of our cheers. I'm not a dancer. I coach best when I'm coaching the fundamentals. Cheers and chants are passed down through oral tradition. This year, so far, I've been very blessed with girls that seem to work well together and get along- much less drama than some past years. So, I should also thank God for Renea and Tiffany, Brenda and Kayla- and for Cammey who comes inn to help me teach even though she's not cheering this season.

Good Grief

Second week in November. We've been practicing in preparation of  basketball for a week now already.
This Senior girl comes to me and wants to be on squad. She's already 6 months pregnant.
Why wait until the last season of you Senior year?
I dunno?
Why do you want to cheer?
It'll look better on my college applications.
Uhuh.
And my probation officer wants me to do it.
???!!!

19 yr old Senior's eligibility ran out

I wrote this to a Senior who cheered for football this year, who hasn't been in school for a week or more.

Hey kid- get well and get back to school.

You were making so much progress in Drawing, I'd hate for you to regress in skills.

I'm really looking forward to having you mascot for me too. You're awesome at encouraging the crowd, I think you'll be a great mascot.

Take some Vitamin C or echinacea or something.

Nasty rumor going around today that you're so despondent about not being able to play basketball that you're thinking about dropping out. I sure hope that's just a rumor. You're way too smart for that. Plus you can't play basketball in college if you don't go to college and you can't go to college if you don't graduate from hs.

You know you can always talk to me about anything. I'm here to listen. I know Ball meant a lot to you. Hang in there.

Lots of love, 

Coach Mal

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