Lord of the Fly-bys

I don't know what my deal is. I just haven't felt inspired to blog lately. I'm still mulling over the ideas people sent me when I asked for topics (but, sorry Shawn, I may have to forgo the poem on "flaccid".) In the meantime, here is my lame attempt at a post:

Back when I was an English teacher, my students read Lord of the Flies. I hated that book when I read it at age 16. I actually read it on my own the year I lived in Germany. I was overwhelmed by constantly trying to understand and speak German, and I became hungry for my own language. So I went to the local library and raided the English language section and began reading all the classics I could lay my hands on. Most of them I liked. But I found Lord of the Flies to be morbid and depressing (but not as depressing as Brave New World, which I also read that month. UGH!). Maybe I would have liked it more if I'd had some pedagogical guidance. Then again, maybe not. I didn't like it much better when I had to teach it to my own 7th graders. Anyway, one assignment I did that the kids enjoyed (and I used this to introduce the book) was ask the kids to do an essay on the following topic:

Imagine you crash land on a tropical island. There is enough food and water to keep you alive. You know you will be rescued in 3 months. What three objects would you want to have with you? Write your answer here:

(I think I just set a record for the most paragraphs in one blog post ending in a colon.)

(Also, please feel free to limit your replies to bullet points rather than an essay. However, if you insist on submitting an essay, please don't be surprised if I mark it with red pen and return it with a letter grade. Don't worry, I will allow extra credit if you get a bad grade).