UNEXPECTED BLOGGING MATERIAL

Right now I could write about any of the following facts:

1. I am at the conclusion of my school semester (no failing grades).
2. I've had a great week of vacation in California (glorious wedding, very big trees, possible place of employment).
3. I've seen numbered public urinals in Dallas, Texas and wondered "Why?".
4. I've been aboard the "Odd Essay" and have found it to be most satisfactory.
5. I'm currently in the midst of preparing myself for what promises to be an eventful and tiny-dog-filled summer.

...All great stuff to blog about. Some might find these topics a thought-provoking distraction from their daily tasks...
"What does thee negative guy have to write about now?... Numbered urinals you say? Intriguing!"
Some might be curious about the tiny dogs...
"Tiny you say? Do you mean tiny like a can of soda?... Really?"
Some might even be curious about the California thing...
"Missed an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale by 8 hours you say? Good show!"
NOT TODAY, BABY! Today I'm going to write about how I spent my Thursday afternoon in lockdown at the elementary school I work at. Armed would-be robbers fled to the city block next to the Beebe School and the police wouldn't allow the children to leave the school building until they were fairly certain that they would be safe during their walk home. The kids were understandably nervous and frightened by all of this and they made it fairly difficult to concentrate on doing the things that I was supposed to do. You might ask what it is that I need to do. It's a valid question. The answer is that I have no idea. I just felt like I needed to do something. Gotta keep the kids calm.
I was able to distract some of the kids into starting to film a short movie about the experience but then the principal showed up and told us that we needed to keep the lights off and the curtains drawn. That certainly did not make the nervous kids feel any better. "They must be close. They can tell if we have the lights on or off!"
Crap.
Maybe we'll watch some cable TV. Too much gyrating on MTV for a school and most of the kids laughed at the fact that I thought they would be interested in cartoons. So that didn't work. Just whiled away the hours telling kids that no, they couldn't go to their locker to get a pen. The thing ended uneventfully for me and for the kids.
Before we left the building they "advised" everyone, kids and adults, to avoid Pearl St and Oakland in Malden because of the continuing standoff. One kid said, "but that's right where I live and I walk home. Where should I go?" I leant him my phone and he sorted out a safe place to chill until his neighborhood returned to normal. Incredible.