Silly Thoughts

Two things I didn't think I would have to tell middle-schoolers, and yet I did this week:
1) "Pole-dancing is not an appropriate thing to do at school."
2) "Here is another pencil. Do not eat this one."

An observation made by middle-schoolers this week that made me think:
Martin Luther King was a racist, Miss! He doesn't say nothing about Mexicans in his speech - it's all about black people and white people.

Something that made me depressed and a little angry this week:
Reading "Revolutionary Road".

Something that made me happy today:
This.

Something that made me want to be creative today:
This.

Something I'm proud of:
I have worked out for 20-60 minutes every day for a month. Except for two days when I was sick and one day when I worked all day and then flew to DC.

Something that perplexes me:
I haven't lost any weight.

Something I used to do and am starting up again and is making me realize that I am getting old because I'm not as good at it as I used to be:
Brenda, Jill, and I are taking yoga every Wednesday at 4:00.

Thing I realized while meditating at said yoga class, thanks to Meg and the other awesome friends from Camp Shakespeare who reached out when I needed it:
I need to be a drama teacher again.

Statement that has caused a lot of people who know me to say or think "Well, duh.":
See one above.

People who make going to work bearable right now:
Brenda and Jill.

Thing happening at work that makes me look forward to Tuesdays:
Linda is teaching a crash-course in Love and Logic over lunch. I really needed this refresher.

Thing that is making me remember winters at DPJH:
My classroom's heater broke, so I've been teaching in scarves and gloves and layers all week.

Thing I'm supposed to be grading instead of blogging right now:
A test on adverbs, commas, and punctuating quotations.

Thing I heard today that broke my heart:
ST High School needs to cut two positions next year, so they're eliminating band and art.

Cat-reference sent by Teresa this week that made me smile:
Mrow.

Thing that I'm calmer about that I would normally expect:
I've been called as Relief Society president in my ward. Oy.

Thing I wish I could do, but can't right now because of the one above:
Run away to GJ for the weekend to play with Emily and the folks.

Sister I'm really, really glad I get to live by and play with:
Rachel

Places Jason and I decided to go this summer for our "Yay 30!" trip:
Island-hopping around Greece, then into Cappadocia and along the western coast of Turkey.

Places we had to put off because it would be too expensive to fly around so many countries, but by golly, I will get to someday:
Morocco, Egypt, and Israel.

Thing I realized I haven't done when I typed the one above:
I haven't posted the other pictures from DC or written a trip round-up. Whoops!

People who still think Jason and I are/should be more than "friends":
Everyone except Jason and me. And Janelle and Kelley, too. They're pretty perceptive.

Proof that Broadway is not the epitome of good theatre:
Thriller? Really, Nederlanders?

Movie I hope will win Best Picture because I want a reminder that a cheesy happy ending is okay sometimes:
This.

Christmas present I wear a lot because lately I need reminders of happiness:
This necklace from my dad.


Time I used to naturally wake up at:
Around 10:00.

Time I now naturally wake up at:
Between 7:30-8:30.

Time I have to get up for work:
5:30

Place I'm going now because of above:
Mmm... bed....

A Secretary is Not a Toy

(I will be posting more about the DC trip, but first a quick post on this.)

To: President Barack Obama

Congratulations and thank you for all you do.

Your good friend Quincy Jones said: "...next conversation I have with President Obama is to beg for a Secretary of Arts." [November 14th 2008 WNYC interview by John Schaefer on "Soundcheck."]

We the undersigned support Quincy Jones' plea.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned


I first heard about this petition on NPR, and I was torn. On one hand, the arts need more support in this country. NEED it, do you hear me? As a teacher in a school that is not-so-slowly getting rid of anything that isn't covered on the state tests, the arts need to be recognized and supported for what they bring to this country - culturally, fiscally, and emotionally.

On the other hand, it seems twisted to have the arts get more entwined with federal regulators and jurisdictions.

In the end, I signed it. I get it if you decide not to, but please at least think about it. And then go do something creative.

Petition for the Creation of a Position for the Secretary of the Arts

Jason

Jason
Originally uploaded by chitarita

And found a spot!

And found a spot!
Originally uploaded by chitarita

Made it in!

Made it in!
Originally uploaded by chitarita

The push to enter

The push to enter
Originally uploaded by chitarita

Will My Toes Stay Warm?

Will My Toes Stay Warm?
Originally uploaded by chitarita

Behold! Toe warmers!

DC #2

DC #2
Originally uploaded by chitarita

Since we decided definitively to go to the concert tomorrow, despite
the 50% chance of snow, we spent the morning today hunting for
warmth. Those are some of the last handwarmers available in the
greater DC area.

The concert, by the way, will be live-streamed on NPR and broadcast
for free on HBO for comcast providers tomorrow night. You should
check it out and find me in the crowds of millions. :). It's called
the "We Are One" concert. I'll definitely post pics, especially since
we'll be waiting there for a while. With toasty hands, though!

DC #1

DC #1
Originally uploaded by chitarita

Hey-o!

I'm playing with the notion of blogging from my iPhone while on my
current adventure. You may be seeing several posts from me this
weekend. Or you won't hear from me at all until I get home. We'll see.

At the moment I'm in Jason's lovely new apartment in Arlington, VA.
I'll take some pictures of the place for you to see tomorrow.

I got into DC around 10:30, and we were both hungry so we set out in
Jason's little car to find a place open after 11. I spied a glowing
neon 24 hours sign at a hole-in-the-wall kebob place, so we gave it a
shot. It was filled with swarthy, meditteranean men, and it was
good!

Almost, But Not Quite

Neil Patrick Harris hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend. My disgust at SNL outweighed my love of NPH enough that I didn't watch it, but I will read the Mamapop recap. Lo and behold, a clip about Broadway. So, naturally, I feel obligated to put it here:



Good Parts:
Neil Patrick Harris dressed as Mark
Neil Patrick Harris making fun of Mark
Neil Patrick Harris singing
The Chicago ladies was a little funny
The Blue Men were a bit funny, too (although, and I do have to be picky about this, the Blue Men Group is off-Broadway, as was Stomp)
"Yeah, you, the Color Purple guy."

Bad Parts:
Um, Cats closed 9 years ago. And Annie closed years before that. Did you not bother to do any research? Or do you decide not to make a really funny sketch for the thousands of people who do know about current musicals (c'mon! Spring Awakening writes its own jokes!) and instead filled it with passe references for people who might have heard of musicals in the 1980s but who really don't care?
Plus, everyone except Neil Patrick Harris.

I'm going to wash it down with some of this:

(skip ahead a minute or so to get to the clips)

and, of course, some of this for dessert:

(I love Megan Mullally's reactions. And you know she could have sung that right along with them, too.)

The Day Off

Andy came home for Christmas with a cold. Then Dad caught it, then Mom. Rachel came down with it last weekend, so I knew it was only a matter of time.

I'm home today with a cold that made sure I knew who was in charge by waking me up with not one, but two cold sores. The right side of my lips is swollen up like a botox injection gone wrong. Lovely, right?

I was uncertain about taking today off, being a Friday and all. Part of me felt I should just stick it out, stiff upper lip, what what. So I stayed late yesterday readying for a substitute; but I also set my alarm for 5:30 to give a valiant effort to attend the faculty meeting this morning at 7. When it went off, I sat up, dizzy and congested, and reminded myself that the world won't end if I stay home a day. Back to sleep I went.

So I'm curled up on my couch in flannels and sweats, eating an orange because I'm out of juice, and talking myself out of doing ironing.

Wheels of a Dream

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

I especially liked the banners at the convention.

Bonus points if you watched this on your iPhone!

Happy New Year

Well, hello there!

Oh, you good, faithful readers, who keep coming back to see if I'm a) alive and b) blogging. I had good intentions to blog over the break. And, since I don't start work again until tomorrow morning and it's... 7:30 pm, I'm technically still on break and therefore keeping my promise.

Kinda.

A variety of thoughts:

Christmas
Was delightful, as it always is with my family. I am extraordinarily lucky, I realize, and sometimes feel like the wonder that is my family and our Christmases together is fragile, a thinly blown glass ball. I love it, but I worry that at any moment something will happen that will shatter that joy. I think I got my worrying gene from you, Mom.

We spent a lot of time hanging out as a family. We laughed, on occasion, at the picture we made - all six of us together, yet totally engrossed by the little iPhone screens. We also watched a lot of 30 Rock. I got some fantastic presents, I had fun shopping for others, and it was relaxing and without stress and just what I needed.

Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is pictured, as is the sign from the door of the restaurant.

Salt Lake
Before Christmas, Rachel, Mom, Dad, and I ran up to SLC for a quick trip. We visited with the relatives there and I took the Frontrunner downtown. Exciting!

Actually, I was really impressed with the lightrail. It was behind schedule by about 20 minutes, but it was also snowing at the time. For a stress-free way to go through the valley, not bad. Warm, free wi-fi, comfortable, and I didn't have to deal with traffic.

I met Teresa at the station and we breakfasted and book-browsed at Barnes and Noble, then I met with Heidi for lunch and some much-needed catching up. She also gave me a lovely print of one of her new pieces, a gate of transformation. I love her work. Then on to Kelley's place (or, rather, former place). Ben was out of town (Boo!) but the rest of "Orange Tuesday" met for one more round of Rock Band before Kelley moved to Chicago. Strange how of our group, only Ben is still teaching at DPJH. I spent the evening with Janelle before my family came to fetch me for dinner at the bistro in Sugarhouse. It was a day full of talking and friendship and I loved it. By the way, Orange Tuesday people, I got Rock Band 2 for the Wii from Santa, so if we're ever all in Denver, I'm ready for us!

New Year's
Was spent driving back from GJ. Yeah, it's not the most exciting way to spend the holiday, but the drive was uneventful and that was worth it. Wait, I haven't told you about the Thanksgiving drive yet, have I?

Thanksgiving
The holiday itself was a delight. We made a lot of food and a lot of candy (salted caramels are my new favorite treat). It even included seeing Twilight with Emily (followed by a very late night of reliving our Europe adventure). On Sunday, Rachel and I got into her car and headed homeward at about 10:00 pm. Things were not bad at all until we hit Silverthorn. And the snow. And the skiers. We were stuck in traffic for a very, very long time. At one point, it took us 5 hours to go 7 miles. We crawled towards the tunnel, Rachel did a formidable job driving in horrendous conditions, we put on snow chains all by ourselves, and we peed at the side of the road in the darkness and the cold. We were very rustic. We got home around 8:00 pm, after 10 long, long hours on the road. And that is why I left on New Year's Eve, when the forecasters started predicting snow in Vail starting Thursday.

New Year's, Again
And it's been nice to get some things done before school starts up again. I got a haircut, got my car fixed, bought groceries, made a few meals for the week, and started the laundry pile. And dreaded going back to work. But that's tomorrow.

Resolutions have been abounding on the blogs this week, so I feel compelled to address that.

Instead of resolving new things, though, I want to affirm some things I plan to continue to do. So, this year I will continue to

1) Look for a way to be happy at work
2) Read. A lot.
3) Travel. A lot.
4) Be open to new friendships
5) Keep my old ones
6) Eat consciously
7) Work out
8) Learn new things
9) Try new things
10) Make new resolutions when I feel a need for a change in my life.

And it's past 9:00 now (I do take a while to type these posts, but I also made lemon squares and did some laundry so I'm not THAT slow), so I need to head to bed. Maybe once I start teaching again the work nightmares will stop.

Happy New Year's to you all!

P.S. I got a new phone number with my new phone, so if you don't get an email from me with that new number in the next bit, let me know!