spanish teachers

in fifth grade there was a man named senor fricky who came into our classroom once a week to teach us spanish. i think he had puppets and other such ridiculous props (because ridiculous props are of course necessary for holding the attention of a large group of fifth graders who have no real interest in learning spanish). i'm not sure if i actually retained much of the language that year, but i certainly looked forward to the weekly visits of cheesy senor fricky, and he had enough of an impact that i continued to take spanish classes in sixth grade.

i actually really enjoyed learning spanish -- i took it every year until my senior year of high school. one of the best teachers i ever had (besides senor fricky, of course) was my AP spanish teacher, senora patterson. i was terrified of her at first! but i learned so much from her. and i could probably kick your ass at spanish scrabble.

happy birthday to senor wences (april 17, 1896 - april 20, 1999), a spanish ventriloquist who was well known in many countries, and gained popularity partly due to his many appearances on the ed sullivan show.

happy birthday, michael!

and welcome to the world, brady!