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(CORNY JOKE, I don't know if that really makes Rodrick a "professional drummer," but that didn't stop me from using it to score points with the girls at school. MY BROTHER'S A PROFESSIONAL DRUMMER! When Mom told Rodrick he should start giving me drum lessons, he wasn't too hot on the idea. But then

Mom said she'd pay him ten dollars a lesson, and that I could get a bunch of my friends to sign up, too. So now I've gotta recruit some people for Rodrick's Drum Academy. And I can already tell, this isn't gonna be a lot of fun. Monday I couldn't get any of my friends to sign up for Rodrick's drum school except Rowley, and I kind of had to trick HIM into doing it. Rowley is always saying he wants to learn how to play the drums, but he wants to play the kind they use in marching bands. I told Rowley I knew for a FACT that Rodrick was going to cover all that stuff in week four, and that

got Rowley pretty excited. I was just glad I wasn't gonna have to take drum lessons all by myself. Rowley came over after school, and we went down to the basement to start our first lesson. Rodrick started us off with some pretty basic drum drills. There was only one practice pad and two drumsticks, so Rowley had to use a paper plate and some plastic utensils. But I guess that's what happens when you're the last person to sign up for a class. After about fifteen minutes, Rodrick got a call from Ward, and that put an end to our first lesson.

CLASS IS DISMISSED EARLY TODAY. Mom wasn't too happy to see me and Rowley upstairs so soon, and she sent us back down to the basement. She said not to come up until Rodrick had at least given us a practice assignment. So he did. YOUR HOMEWORK IS TO LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC WITH DRUMS IN IT. Tuesday Me and Rowley had drum lessons with Rodrick again today.

Well, Rodrick might be a good drummer, but he's not a good teacher. Me and Rowley tried our best to do the drills Rodrick taught us, but every time we messed up, Rodrick would get frustrated. WRONG, WRONG! WRONG! Eventually, he got so fed up that he took our drumsticks away. Rodrick sat down at his drum set and told us to "watch and learn." Then he started doing this really long drum solo that didn't have anything to do with the drills he was teaching us.

Rodrick didn't even look up from his drum set when me and Rowley left and went upstairs. I'm not complaining, though. Because the way I see it, this way everyone wins. Thursday We've got a History paper due the day before Thanksgiving, and I'd better start getting serious about it.