Teaching Classes

"Teaching Classes": I was at odds with the conventional teaching system pretty much from day one in kindergarten. I graduated high school with a "D" average, the lowest passing grade. I was somewhat proud of that. It wasn't that I was incapable of doing well in the classes, it was that I was bbbooooorrrrrreeed. I remember finishing their end-of-the-year scholastic exam way ahead of everyone else. I'm sure most, or all, of my answers were correct. I was an excellent mathematician & people sat next to me during tests so I would give them the answers. On my own test I'd write punchlines & fail. I don't think the clueless teacher ever had an idea of what was going on & what my abilities were. The school wouldn't give me my diploma because they claimed I hadn't returned a book. A friend of mine had returned the book for me, I assume there was a bureaucratic mix-up as a result. I applied somewhat carelessly to 3 colleges: UMBC because it was local, Naropa because it had just started & seemed interesting, & Berkeley, CA's state university because I heard there was intense political activity going on there. I was rejected by all 3. I was rejected by UMBC because I refused to sign a statement saying I wouldn't do drugs on campus. It wasn't that I was so big on doing drugs, I just refused to lie - there might've been a time when I'd want to do drugs there. I eventually got into Catonsville Community College where they wanted to put me in a remedial reading class. I was reading at a much higher level than the teachers there were. I eventually stopped going because I was so bbbooooorrrrrrreeeeeddd. I used to joke that I'd have to be a heroin addict to slow myself down to the pace of the school. SINCE THEN, I've guest lectured & performed at both UMBC & Naropa. I reckon that could be called Poetic Justice. In fact, I've guest lectured & performed in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Boulder, Melbourne, & Canberra. I've guest lectured in Pittsburgh at Chatham, CMU, & Pitt. CMU even offered me a job as an adjunct professor but I got so tired of the rigamarole surrounding that that I ceased bothering to try to get the job. It should be obvious to anyone who checks out this short movie giving very brief snippets of footage from the classes I taught that my technique & content is, ahem, subversive. I'm even more proud of that than I was of graduating high school with a "D" average. - January 23, 2026E.V. notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE