Graph paper

Al Gore's charts must have clicked in on my long-submerged fondness for graph paper. It had been many, many months since I checked in on Blog$hares, the fantasy blog stock market. I've never spent enough time with the game to understand it, but it was mildly upsetting to find my blog had been the subject of a hostile takeover. That sounds like a bad thing. Feels a bit like the time someone swiped my bike out of the open garage.

To be honest, everything I know about stocks I learned in Mr. Troester's eighth grade American Studies class in the spring of 1969. Mike Troester was a wonderful, kind, funny, inspiring teacher, who did not need to be the object of cult-worship or a fan club. It wasn't about personality or ego for him. He just liked history and teaching junior high kids. I was pleased to find the Lincoln Public School System honors outstanding educators with a Mike Troester Spirit of Teaching Award these days.

Mr. Troester knew that junior high girls tended to graph their fantasy NYSE stocks* with turquoise ink or magenta felt pens, and accented the graphs with sea-green Hi-Liters. He knew we would doodle during the filmstrips, but he also knew we could learn about the experience of the French in Indochina. Can you say Dien Bien Phu? I wish that Dubya could, too.

* My fantasy stocks were ITT, Pepsi, and Western Union. Good grief! I think I "bought" Western Union stock because of the song by the Five Americans. The lyrics were catchy:

da-da-da-da-da da-da-da-da-da
da-da-da-da-da da-da-da-da-da
da-da-da-da-da da-da-da-da-da
da-da-da-da-da da-da-da-da-da

Sad, but that might be a better justification than for most purchases in my life. (Except for the Petula Clark 45s!).