New York - The Photos

At the airport.  One kid showed up at 6:00 AM (we were meeting at 7:30), he was so excited.

Van ride into the city

Dinner the first night.

Posing in the Disney Store with original costumes from the new Spider-Man movie.

Mmm... Schmackary's Cookies at midnight (ish)!

First subway ride

Central Park

Posing for the camera...

Not posing for the camera (mostly)

The view from the rooftop garden at the Met

Street food

Central Park again

My chaperones

Lincoln Center

Radio City Music Hall bathrooms

They're setting up for the Tonys!

Buying street art

Deli food

Meeting the cast (that's Iago from "Aladdin")

Late-night cheesecake in the hotel lobby

Subway from Battery Park to the Village

Next, a bunch of photos from Accomplice:

Jing Fong's:

At the airport to go home:

Chism, one of the student, bought me this Shakespeare doll at Lincoln Center.  I strapped him to my backpack for the ride home.

(Chism and Ryan also bought my dad a Mario shirt from the Nintendo store because the students decided Dad looks Mario.  Aw!  If I find a photo of Dad in the shirt, I'll post it later.)

(Update - thanks, Rachel!)

New York - The Summary

I have an unspoken rule for myself that I should not start a new trip until I blog about the precious trip.  Even though I am sitting at the gate at DIA as I type this, I figure that since I am not actually on the plane yet, this counts.

So!  I took ten students, five adults, and a baby to New York for four days!  And here's the beautiful thing:  it went really well.

When I took my fist student trip  to NY two years ago, we went through a student travel company.  Even though speech has made me a pro at doing overnght trips with students, this was multiple nights in a different city acorss the country.  I wanted someone else to be in charge, just in case.

Then, once we got there, I wanted to be in charge.  I know, I know, you're totally shocked that I would think I could do the job better and that I wanted to be the boss.

I loved being in charge this time.  The stress of being the grouup leader was much more comfortable than the stress of not being the leader (and, consequently, not always knowing exactly what every detail of the plan was at all times).  Oh, the details!  Do you know what joy creating multiple color-coded spreadsheets brings? 

It helped that I had chaperones I liked and trusted, namely my parents, their friends the Weenigs, and Rachel.  They were great about spreading out to keep an eye on everyone and in helping with the logistics of managing a group in New York, such as trying to buy 16 metro cards at once.

Really, everyone was great.  The biggest issue we had with the kids was that a couple of them (the two youngest girs) tended to show up a few minutes after the meeting time.  That's an issue I can deal with.  (I am dismissing the moment when, as Rachel and I lead the group to the restaurant  a few blocks away across Times Square, Rachel suddenly noticed that we were short one kid.  Three quick headcounst and, yup, one of them was missing.  Three hours into the trip.  But!  Rachel stayed with the group, I retraced our path, and even as I pulld out my phone to call the mising kid, he called me to report that he was lost.  I streered him back over to my location and all was well in less than five minutes.  I commended the kid on immediately doing rule #1 on my list of What To Do If You Get Lost ((#2 is get in a cab and go back to the hotel, also known as the Wallmaster Rulle)) and we rejoined the group.  See?  Barely counts as an incident!).

Really, we kept the kids going so much all of the time that they were too distracted and exhausted to even think about misbehaving.  I realized a few days in after dragging them behind me that I had forgotten two key things:

1) Other people drink coffee and

2) There's normal walking speed, then there's travel walking speed, then there's my walking speed.  I worked on slowing down while appreciating the upcoming chance to travel with Jason (who is actually level 4 on that walking speed scale).

We accomplished a lot in a few days, though.  I'l post some photos in a separate post when i have a better connection, but here's the rough itinerary:

Thursday - arrive, Times Square, dinner at an Italian restaurant, more Times Square-ness

Friday - Central Park, the Met, food trucks, Lincoln Center, dinner at a Turkish place, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Saturday - Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza, Union  Square (farmer's market), "Kinky Boots", dinner at Ben's Deli, "Aladdin"

Sunday - Grand Central Station, Battery Park, the Village, "Accmplice", dinner at Jing Fong's, "Blue Man Group", and "Maleficent" at a movie theater in Times Square

Monday - Last-minute shopping and back home to Denver

All in all, I had fun, I think everyone else did, and I'm looking forward to doing it again in the near future (which is, I believe, the best sign of all).

P.S.  Best comment of the trip:  When passing by one of those guys handing out flyers in Times Square while sporting my awesome purple do and a purple shirt the fellow called out, "Day-um, girl!  You look like a grape soda!"

The kids thoughti it was hilarious.  Me, I'm just proud of gettng a two-syllable damn. :)

Oh, Hey, This Was a Blog Post

I realized recently that I put the photos together for this bog entry, but neglected to complete it.  Here's a smattering of images from the last week of school:

My Advanced Drama class wanted to do a get-together of sorts.  Since I had to stick around late one day anyway for Senior Awards Night, I offered to put on a movie afternoon in the auditorium.  Our film of choice:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog.

We watched it as a sing-a-long.  And now I'm blogging about it.  Inception!


That evening the seniors pulled their annual prank.  Every year the juniors vow they're going to do a better job, and every year the seniors just kind-of trash the place.

Colorful, but not very creative.  They did duct-tape one chair to the wall above the bricks (you can kind-of see it in the photo.  Look on the right side of center at the level of that blue poster).  Whoo.

Here's my Advanced Drama class on the last day they were all together.  They're attempting to see if we can get by with a single footrest.

They were a fun bunch.


Oh, okay, this was a really random grouping of photos.  Here's the refreshment set-up for the church activity where I hosted a trivia night:




I took this in part to demonstrate my lack of party-hosting cares.  While I would have satisfied with having food, a few of the ladies on the committee (one of whom is a professional party planner) always insist on going all out.  Table cloths for all occasions!  Food-specific containers!  Galvanized buckets!  Themed food labels!  If it's not a new font, it's worthless!

It's cute, I'll admit, but definitely more work than I'd put into an event we have to host every month.


Speaking of food, Fara, Lisa, and I went to an antiques street market downtown and then grabbed lunch at Atomic Cowboy.  They're an off-shoot of DenBisCo (Denver Biscuit Company).  We split their sweet potato fries, and I enjoyed a chicken 'n' biscuit sandwich.  Yum!

Last random photo:

That's the bag Lisa and I both got for our summer travels (huh.  It's also gone up $10 on Amazon since I bought it.  Score!). It's uber-theft-proof:  Non-slashable straps, RFID protection, locking zipper pulls, the whole nine yards.  I used it in New York, and it seems pretty doable.  It's not too hideous for a protected travel bag, and I like the waterbottle pockets on the sides.

Speaking of travel, I'm getting pretty darn close to my big trip this summer.  I think I'm about there.  I'll do some laundry and start packing tomorrow, but no rush.  Weirdly.

The weather's looking good (high 70's-low80's in both Seoul and Japan), and I just sent off my last reservation inquiry this afternoon.  If it works out, I'll be staying at a Buddhist temple and participating in some meditation rites while Jason's off climbing a mountain. It'll be interested to compare that experience to the one in Thailand, and I'm curious to see their giant graveyard.  Plus, I apparently have to take a funicular to get there.  What's more fun than a funicular?

Reason #2548 Why I Love My Parents

Seriously.

Once and American Idiot

To whet my appetite for the upcoming trip to New York (which I will write about soon, by golly), I went to a couple of touring shows at the Buell.

First up, Once.  

via

To my delight, Rachel joined me for the evening:

I saw the movie back when it was first released, and while I enjoyed the music the film itself didn't make me want to rush out to see the musical adaptation.

Once again (no pun intended), the music really was lovely with the two lead performers doing excellent jobs with the vocals.  I especially enjoyed the acapella version of "Gold" in Act Two - truly beautiful.  The book was funnier than I remember the movie being, and the staging was right up my minimalistic-directorial-alley.

Here's their Tony performance:

A week later (and to celebrate the last day of the school year!) I returned to the Buell to see another show I've put off on the last few rounds of its tour - American Idiot.

via

I arrived a little early and was delighted to discover an art festival in the plaza:

It was raining and most of the vendors were closing shop, but I had enough time to look through more than a couple of stalls.  After a friendly stranger (who complimented my hair) rescued me from a series of failed selfies:



I headed in.

I have to say, this was one of the weirder audience experiences I've had.  The moment they dimmed the house lights, the audience started hooting "Whoo!" and fan-girl screaming.  They kept this up a la rock concert throughout the performance.  This particularly surprised me because the vast majority of the audience I could see were my age or older.

I didn't especially like the show - too much swearing and "Are you shocked yet?!?!" striving for my taste without any new messages or thoughts to balance them.  However, it was interesting to realize early on that it's joined the ranks of "Phantom" and "Cats" as a museum piece - a production with an outdated style that is highly characteristic of its time.  The overuse of mounted television screens, bright strobe lights aimed at the audience, a set made of scaffolding and lights, and a chorus who change character as the scene dictates - it's very much a show from the early 2000's (and isn't that strange that the early 2000's are a different era now) with tangible roots in Rent, Les Mis, and Hair.  It's not a show I'd recommend (except to everyone in the audience with me; including the teenage boy sitting next to me who was literally perched on the edge of his seat with excitement throughout the show, who surreptitiously wiped away tears at several points, and who mouthed many of the songs as they were sung), but it's nice to have it checked off my list.

Here's their Tony performance:

Follow the Fun

Tomorrow morning I'm leading 10 teenagers and 5 other chaperones to New York City.

It should be interesting.

I'll update here as I can, but you're also welcome to follow the fun on the official trip Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/pchsny2014/

Yes, I will be posting on Facebook.  That's how devoted a teacher I am.

Wish us luck!

Summer Cat

Warm kitty, fluffy kitty, giant ball of fur...

Shaved kitty, happy kitty, purr, purr, purr.

My First Day of Summer

If you call Saturday the first day of my summer vacation (which you should not because it was a Saturday), then I spent it at Jack's 4th birthday party (where he gleefully defeated a burglar!), planning the Asia trip with Jason, and staying up way too late writing a talk.

If you call Monday the first day of my summer vacation (which you should not because it was also Memorial Day), I spent it seeing X-Men: Days of Future Past with Lisa and her brother followed by lunch at Panera, making Miranda's awesome salad dressing (and salad) for a barbecue at Rachel's that evening, and more trip planning with Jason.

If you call today the first day of my summer vacation (which you should), I spent it taking Natasha to the vet for shots so she can get shaved tomorrow, joining Fara and Tammy at Fara's house for a delicious pot-luck lunch and a screening of The Bookthief, errand-running, dying my hair (yet again), and general trip preparation for New York City.

Any way you call it, it's been a good start to the summer.

Talks

Hurrah!  Not only am I done with school, but I'm done with my public speaking gigs for the time being!

My speeches all went well.  My graduation speech was heralded the best, largely because I know how to keep it short, dang it.  The longest introduction of the day ran about 4 minutes, most were in the 2-3 minute range.  Mine was 30 seconds.  This was especially appreciated by my fellow faculty members when we had to move the graduation ceremony indoors due to rain.  Because we don't have a space large enough for 300+ people, the decision was to hold two graduation ceremonies - one for A-K and one for the latter half of the alphabet.  With every speaker going twice, my skill (and foresight) for brevity was showered with praise between the double ceremonies.

I'm especially fond of several of the students in this senior class, so I was particularly glad for the New York trip.  It meant that I didn't have to say any final good-byes to some of these kiddos, which softened the blow of the day.

My Sunday talk & lesson also went well.  When my Bishop asked me to speak, he gave me the topic "Developing our Talent for Spirituality" (based on a 2001 talk by Carol B. Thomas).  He suggested that I may have particular insight to offer, since I spend so much of my time at work identifying and developing talent.

That could have been an interesting take on it.  So would have been my second idea - to look at the problems of comparing talents, using the Salieri/Mozart rivalry in Amadeus as my throughline example.  However, when I sat down Saturday evening to really put my research and thoughts together, I wound up going in a completely different direction.  I also wound up staying up until 3:45 AM writing the dang thing.

It doesn't fit the genre of my typical (and preferred) talk.  No real storytelling, infrequent humor.  The comments have been positive, though.  I think my animation as a speaker made up for the research-heavy text.

I was concerned about the balance of the meeting overall.  I didn't know which speaker I would be, nor did I know who else would be talking.  I guessed correctly that I was the second (of three) and that I was the only woman.  I fretted for a moment at giving a more "masculine" talk (i.e. cerebral v. emotional), but it turned out that the third speaker was a gentleman who tends towards the "feminine" style - i.e. lots of crying, stories about "sweet spirits," and the moral delivered by a 4-year-old protagonist of his primary story.

So it all worked out in the end.

If you're interested, you can access a pdf version of my talk here.

It's Like I Do This for a Living or Something

For anyone involved with the educational system, May rivals December for the craziest month.  There are so many ceremonies, celebrations, tests, and traditions to wrap up each school year that it feels as busy as the midst of the holiday festivities.

For me this year, May also seems to be the Month of Public Speaking.

Last week I...

- Played Quizmaster (emcee) for a trivia night for Enrichment*,
- Gave a small speech to honor of one of my drama students at the Senior Awards night**, and
- Gave a presentation to the parents of the students coming with me to New York***.

This week I will...

- Introduce the valedictorian at graduation,
- Speak in Sacrament Meeting, and
- Teach in Relief Society.

Tonight a member of the ward called me to see if I'd give a prayer in Church on Sunday.  When I explained that I was one of the speakers, he said he'd 'let me off the hook this time.'

Thank goodness for that.



* To great success, I will note.  I was hesitant about how pub trivia would be received by a crowd that isn't tempered by alcohol.  The ladies loved it (with the exception of one person who was offended by a Brigham Young joke), and they insisted on doing all of the bonus rounds I had prepared.

** Where I was introduced as "the impeccably dressed and purple-haired Ms. Waterhouse."

*** By far the toughest (and scariest) crowd is a group of parents I'm asking money from to take their children to a Scary Big City.  They were annoying silent throughout the presentation, giving only small chuckles at the jokes I threw in with growing desperation.  I was reassured afterwards that they aren't all absolutely terrified/resentful when several of them came up to thank me for giving their kid this opportunity.  Still, parents = stress.

Yearbook

The yearbook came out recently, and I had the chance to flip through a copy before handing them out to my students.  Rather than the brick-like tomes of my high school days, MTHS's version is a slim 40-some-odd pages put together by our librarian and a couple of her TAs.

She does her best, and there were some fun parts to see this year.  She even made a point to come to the musical opening night to get some pictures for a page about the show, something that rarely happens since the show is so often up against the publisher deadlines.

I discovered that there was apparently a "Best Teacher" contest, since the winners were announced amid the senior pages:

No one i talked to was aware of the competition, so I assume it was some sort of senior vote.  Being an occasionally competitive being, I was a little disappointed that I didn't win.  I reasoned with myself that a) Dean and Danielle are both great teachers and b) the "best teacher" label often goes to the teachers students currently have - hence the teachers who have mostly upperclassmen frequently winning.  Then I turned a few more pages to the teams and clubs section and discovered:

An entire page dedicated to "Waterhouse FUN."

Okay, that seems a bit odd.  I think this is another case of teaching photographable subjects, but it feels a bit inadequate to have drama field trips, speech meets, and set painting all summarized under my name, especially since there is no further explanation for the content of the photos.

Ah well.  It almost makes up for them leaving out any mention of speech team.  ("What the crap?!" the speechers demanded as they stormed into my room in a rage upon discovering this.  I tried to reason with them. "I'm sure it was an accident."  "We're State Champions!" they exclaimed.  "We're the only team in the school who won State!  Why would they leave us out?!")

I can empathize with the yearbook staff - I know what it's like to work for months on a project that people only see mistakes in upon reveal.  It's a tough job, but I can also empathize with the satisfaction that comes from working on a project that will shape the memories of a part of their lives for so many years to come.

Then again, it may not shape memories so much as create mysteries.  I, for example, have absolutely no idea when this picture of me was taken:

You would think I'd remember the occasion that led me to curl my hair and wear an outfit made of scarves, but no.  I have no memory whatsoever of that day.  Spirit week, perhaps?  Maybe Halloween?

Or maybe I've just been teaching too long.

Testimony

Lisa raised her right hand.  "I would like to solemnly declare that I have a testimony of packing cubes."

She's going to Europe in a few weeks, so most of our conversations lately are about travel tips.  I've joined her for a couple luggage store runs as she searches for the perfect bag, and she made her declaration while we were looking at carry-ons out at Park Meadows.  ("Do you want to come luggage shopping with me at Park Meadows and then get cheesecake?" she asked.  "The cheesecake is to make the trip to Park Meadows worthwhile."

"You had me at 'luggage shopping,'" I said.)  (Although the cheesecake was delicious.)

I have not tried packing cubes.  I roll my clothes already, and I couldn't imagine that a few fabric cubes would make enough of a packing difference to justify the extra space they must take up.

Still, Lisa's testimony made me curious, and I found a set of Sharper Image cubes on clearance for $16.  "What the hey?" I figured.

And then I tried them.

That's my smaller carry-on bag, the one I often think is too thin to really do what I'd like it to do.  And inside the right half of that bag (HALF!) is six shirts, two sweaters, two pairs of pants, six sets of garments, and two dresses.

I just kept pulling stuff from my closet and rolling clothes up to fill the space.  I actually could have fit a few pairs of socks in there too, and had plenty of room in the other side of the suitcase for toiletries and shoes.

Guys, I have a testimony of packing cubes.  Tell your friends.

Prom Safety

The local emergency response teams put on an annual assembly at our school for the juniors and seniors the week before Prom.  It's the message you would expect on such an occasion - "Don't drink and drive."  It's the message we got the week before Prom when I was in high school too.  Of course, being Colorado, we now have the addendum of "Don't get high and drive."  Go us.

Every two or three years they throw in a bonus - they stage an accident scene.  And so a state trooper came into my classroom a few days before the assembly and asked me if I could round up a couple of actors to help them out.  And maybe we could do a little gorey makeup, just to make it look realistic?

I rounded up eight seniors who were also major drama kids with assistant periods.  They were excited, to say the least.  After we assigned parts (the driver, the dead, the critically injured, the minorly-injured-in-shock), we discussed wardrobe (prom-wear that can be trashed) and I told them I'd mix up a fresh batch of blood for Monday.

The troopers dropped off a wrecked car that morning, so while the rest of the juniors and seniors were inside the auditorium getting Part 1, I led my people to the parking lot to set up for Part 2.  They picked out their spots, we arranged the bodies (already primed with blood from the makeup room), and then I dashed about adding injury details, fixing skirts for modesty, shooing the boys away from trying to crawl inside the car, and pouring out artistic puddles of blood on the pavement next to them.

When we heard the crowd coming, the actors kicked into gear and I started taking photos.
(Rachel - enjoy this flashback to our high school days!)

Zack, Katie, and Chris (the driver).
The corsage is a nice touch.

Christina (dead) and Rochelle

Rebecca (dead) and Jacob

Kaily on a stretcher.
She wanted a gash in her stomach.
Originally it was to simulate her crawling through the broken car window.
They decided after I added it that it was instead the result of the illegal abortion
they were performing in the back seat of the car at the time of the crash.
I'm pretty sure the trooper's presentation didn't cover "Don't perform illegal abortions and drive."

Closeup of Katie and Zack.
Zack's injuries went from "minor scrapes" to "bullet wound in the chest"
around the time that I handed my tub of blood off to the boys
so I could put some bruising powder on Rebecca.

Katie on a stretcher

The bodies covered up while they use the Jaws of Life on the car door.

The "minorly" injured wait anxiously for news of their friends.

The driver gets tested.

...and arrested.
(Chris asked them before the performance if they would use a taser on him if he tried to run.
"No," the trooper said.
"Please?" asked Chris.)

Some of the cops did not take their acting as seriously as my students did.
Obviously they have not had the Fear of Waterhouse put into them.

In the end, the crowd loved it, the kids had a blast, and many of the first responders commented on the "realistic if a bit over-zealous" gore.  They especially liked the embedded-bits-of-gravel-and-glass-in-the-wounds touch (aka Rice Krispies + food coloring).  We had time after the rest of the crowd dispersed for a group shot and a couple of close-ups:

Then we discovered the real scene of the crime:

Thoughts on Having Purple Hair

Yup, I'm still purple.

It's been a little over five weeks now.  I've redyed it twice, both times on my own in my bathroom with a bottle of grocery-store brand dye ("Lusty Lavender," I believe).  The color goes quickly, and by the end of 2 weeks my hair is much more pink-brown than purple.  This is the primary reason that I'll probably give it up towards the end of the month when it's time for my next haircut.  I keep imagining having purple hair in Asia.  They would love my purple hair in Asia.  But it would only be purple hair for part of Asia, and then diminishing shades of lavender and pink for the rest of the time, and that's just not as fun.

I'm getting used to the sight of myself in the mirror - I don't startle myself when I first see my own reflection, at least not as often as I did five weeks ago.  I am getting used to seeing rivulets of purple water streaming down my skin and the drain when I shower, and I am only wearing about 2/3 of the colors in my closet at the moment.  Sometimes I miss wearing red.

I will say this, though.  I have never had a hairstyle before that prompts so many strangers to stop me and say how much they love my hair.  I forget I have purple hair (it is out of sight after all), and then I catch a little kid staring at me and wonder what I did wrong before I remember, "Oh.  It's my hair."

Total strangers come up to me on the street or in the grocery store and tell me they love it.  People in Boulder especially loves my hair (naturally), and the tattooed bagger at Whole Foods gave me a side-eye as his colleague rang me up tonight.  "I love your hair," he said.

"Thanks," I replied.  "I like yours too."  His hair was bright red-orange with deliberate black roots.  It was meticulously coiffed.

"Thanks," he said.  "We should hang out sometime.  We could... fascinate people together."

With this hair I feel more proper wearing heavy eyeliner, big jewelry, and all-black clothes.  Tonight, on my way home from work, I was at the grocery store in tan dress pants, a turquoise blouse, and demur earrings.  I don't look at all like someone who would have purple hair, but there it is.  I don't look like someone who would hang out with the 20-year-old tattooed grocery-store checker and fascinate people, but there it is.

I think it's the actor in me who loves this, loves that I look like a particular someone to other people.  It's not who I usually am, but it is a still a part of who I am.  And I think I am going to miss having other people notice that part of me.

Shh...

(Whispered)

Shh...

Don't tell Ullr.

Look:

We did a show tonight and the skies are completely clear.

I can't believe it.

We aren't going to talk about it out loud, though.  There is still one more show tomorrow night, and all hell could break loose between now and then.  Oh, sure.  The reports might look like this now:

But you and I know better....

My Bloody Holidays

How do Waterhouses celebrate Easter?

By performing minor surgeries on each other at the kitchen table, of course!

Rachel wanted to have a few moles removed, and I figured that as long as the tools were prepped I might as well go under the knife myself.  The evening also included my learning how to remove stitches because Sisters Take Care of Each Other in Time of Need ("time of need" being one week post-op when we're both back in Denver and the stitches need to come out).  Rachel, a nurse with plenty of experience (as she repeatedly pointed out to Dad), didn't need the practice so I had the pleasure of taking tweezers and scissors to the back of Mom's scalp to take out the stitches Dad gave her the weekend before.

Hey, everybody, it's Family Night!  Whoo!

Aside from the fascination I have with any kind of medical training, I found this to be an appropriate holiday activity given my adventures on Valentine's Day.  One of my students fell off the stage mid-class and hit her head on a bench on her way down.  She gave herself a pretty good gash on the back of the head and a concussion, which meant I got to flex my own medical skillz while waiting for the ambulance.  For the record, it was bloodier than the Easter surgeries (being a head wound and all), plus I had an audience of 17 wide-eyed teenagers watching me with that eerie quiet that teenagers get when they know something serious is going down.

Both bloody holidays turned out fine in the end; although I'm still glad that Memorial Day falls on the weekend after school gets out.

Hannah's Visit - The Second Half

The rest of Hannah's visit was consumed with school normalness.  She taught a few of my classes, observed several others at both the high school and the middle school, and we filled in the non-school-time as much as we were able to despite the exhaustion that comes with a typical week at school.

Happily, I was able to coordinate a drama field trip for the week of Hannah's visit, so on Wednesday we packed up 18 kids and headed downtown for a day of drama.

We had a pre-show workshop about the Marx brothers and slapstick comedy before going to a school matinee of "Animal Crackers' (based on the Marx brothers' movie of the same name).  The show was well done and highly entertaining, albeit with a script full of nonsequitors like the original (Why a sudden dream sequence all about a French king seducing his mistress with the help of the three musketeers?  Why not?).  The students loved it, as you might expect when the show includes jokes like:

Groucho: (to an audience member)  Thank you for dressing up.  So many people don't dress up for the theater today.  Just the other night, there was a woman sitting in your seat wearing a t-shirt.  The t-shirt said "Guess" on it, so I said, "Implants?"

They were quoting Groucho the whole ride home.

I talked the transportation department into giving us the bus for the whole day, so instead of rushing back to school right after the show we stuck around for a Q&A with the actors.  My students (and all of those in the audience) were shocked to hear that 98% of the show was not improvised - including an entire scene where one character flubs another character's name.  It happened by mistake in the movie and Groucho Marx just ran with the joke while the cameras were running.  They kept that scene verbatim in the play, and the students were astounded that it was scripted and not just a live mistake.

After the Q&A we detoured on our way to lunch to give Hannah a photo op in front of some of Denver's famous street art:  

"The Dancers" outside of the DPAC

and "The Big Blue Bear" outside of the convention center

Then up to the 16th Street Mall for a quick bite of lunch before heading back to DCTC for a second workshop.  The educational director offered to customize the second workshop to a topic of my choice, so I asked for one about the play the class is working on.  "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" is a famous enough play that I was certain they'd have no trouble getting one of their "teaching artists" to spend an hour with my students on it.  Justin, an actor in residence and a former Disney cast member (which always reminds me of the stories Annie told about her stint there!), spent an hour working with my students on the characters in their play and talked about using Uta Hagen's exercises to figure out some of the problems Stoppard presents.


It was good trip all around, and I liked giving the students a chance to get to know Hannah outside of the formalities of class.  She thought they were just adorable (which they are) and such good kids (which they are), and they decided she was "the British Waterhouse."  She and I came to school for just the first two classes on Friday before she had to catch her flight, and the students presented her with a giant card, a bag full of candy (evidence that they haven't tasted non-American chocolate because anyone who has tasted the wonder of European chocolate knows better than to offer someone from those lands Snickers and Twix), and a group hug:

This class is big on group hugs.

As we were signing out for the day, I spotted the chance to check off one more photo of Hannah's list and pulled our current school resource officer out of his office:

Then we headed back to DIA to send Hannah on her way.  By the time I dropped her off there was no point in my trying to get back before the end of the school day, but it wasn't even noon yet.  So I hopped back on I-70 and drove to Grand Junction to visit the family for the Easter weekend.

On the way, I spotted two more good American signs that I texted to Hannah, much to her enjoyment.   This was printed on the tile in front of the toilet in the restaurant where I stopped for lunch:

and this was posted outside a second rest stop along the way:

America!