Spent the late afternoon taking in Ph.’s soccer match at Barry Park. 
He’s knocking the ball around for his middle school team–a mix of seventh and
eighth grade soccer players who’ve played seven or eight matches this
fall.  I brought the camera, but it has been idle for some time, so the
batteries had just enough in them to auto focus a time or two before giving me
the blink-alert.  Backup set of AAs: same. No pics.

Before today, the team hadn’t won a match.  They held close in a couple
of one-goal matches, but no wins.  Today–bear with me, I’m gloating–Ph.
chipped in an early goal to put the team up 1-0 against the squad from Mexico,
N.Y.  In the second half, Mexico tied the match, 1-1, and late in the
second half, Ph. broke lose for a long, one v. one run on the right side, which
he capped with a chip shot around the defender and over the keeper’s
head–into the far side of the net.  After the match, I told Ph. that
camera’s batteries were sapped–no pics.  Well, he said, we’ve got pictures
in our minds.  Heh, memory–and a humble attitude on top
of it.  

Afterward.  To the school for Open House Night. Welcome: "Tonight,
you will be your child."  It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to
critique the school or the teachers. He’s surrounded by plenty of good folks doing their best
with a received curriculum.  But two observations.  1) In the
science room, a variety of posters were on the
walls, but the only recurrent poster–the only one that appeared multiple times,
once per wall–was a spread from the U.S. Army.  On it, "An Army of
One" in big letters along with pro-soldiering action shots, smaller
messages about homeland security, fighting the war on terror, vigilance,
watchfulness.  Today we’ll be using graduated cylinders to determine the
density of a metal nugget. Now march.

2) Music.  Where to begin.  Recurrent poster: Garfield.  It
wasn’t neatly recurrent with only the finicky orange cat.  Odie showed up in a couple of frames, and there were inspirational phrases about hard work and the road to success. 
Lots of instruments in the room, too, huge drums and whatnot.  The curriculum
made me feel like dashing home to give Ph. a hug and kiss on the forehead. 
I would (do) have done horribly in this class.  (Please tell me if I’m
blogging in poor taste now.) Test tomorrow! on the early musical
periods–Antiquity, Middle Ages and Baroque eras. Students will not be allowed
to head to their lockers for their notes.  Antiquity, Middle Ages and
Baroque eras.  Listen: They will know the instruments, important figures,
and so on.  Where to end.