Miscellaneous Missives

As many know, the first time I voted was for Jesse Ventura. I was proud to have voted in an election in which an Independent was voted governor until I watched him govern. Recently I watched this interview with Keith Olbermann. IMHO, it shows Ventura as an intelligent well spoken individual. Maybe politics wasn't his venue, but his latest interviews make me understand my initial vote.

A friend visited this evening. We have been trying to get together since I moved in last summer, but we haven't been able to make it work. Over FB we were finally decided to meet this evening. It was wonderful to converse and "get caught up." She also brought the most wonderful housewarming gift that she made for my new place. Almost 11 months later, and I'm still receiving housewarming gifts. Life is good!

Today for the second time this year, our middle school sent all of the children out into the community to volunteer. In the fall my group of students helped at the elementary schools. This morning they traveled to Feed my Starving Children. Before we went, I showed this video and explained that when they went to the elementary schools, they changed someone's life for a day; today they would changes someone's life forever. I understand this was a little melodramatic, but I wanted them to understand the importance. When the came back from the elementary schools, they had the "instant gratification" because they were able to feel the hugs and view the smiles. Our discussion upon the return proved that they understood the importance of volunteering and realized they did make a difference. I feel privileged to work at a school that cares...

Allergies and perhaps a cold have left me debilitated. Sleeping, drinking fluids, and blowing my nose have become my life for the last three days. My evening will include watching liberal television and sleeping. Although I had to take a minute to post when I heard this on MSNBC. RNC= Rush (Limbaugh) - Newt (Gingrich) - Cheney (Dick-- what a perfect name!) I was humored. It must be difficult to be a sane Republican these days. Oh, there are sane Republicans... right?

In language arts we are working on the writing process. I am trying to take my students through the steps of writing (prewrite, rough draft, revision (major changes), editing (smaller changes), and final draft). Each student is at a different step in the process which is aggravating since it's the end of the year, and many students are not being productive. Most students are supposed to be on the editing although some students are still working on their rough draft. This afternoon after a harrowing day, I was looking at a boy's paper with him. M- "Are you going to put an apostrophe in lets?" S- "No, it's lets." M- "Yes, let's stands for let us." S- "No it doesn't" M- "Really? Yes, it stands for let us" S- "That doesn't make sense it's not a question." I get what he meant by the question since he is thinking of let as, "Is it OK?" The conversation continued although he still didn...

Yesterday I listened to James Lawson . Lawson was jailed in 1951 for refusing to be part of the draft for the Korean War. He was later expelled from Vanderbilt University in response to his nonviolent organization during the times of segregation. This 80 year old man captivated the audience for 60 minutes. Many went down after to have breakfast with him and continue the conversation. Of course I was impressed because he studied with Gandhi and helped Martin Luther King Jr. His message is nonviolence which is fitting for Memorial Day. As he answered one question, he reminded us that war has not worked for hundreds of years. Why do we think it will work now? As Ellison had mentioned the week before, we need to work together to end the violence and promote peace. Part of his message highlighted what has worked in America (suffrage movement and civil rights movement). Although this was meant to give us the hope that we can end war, I wonder if Americans are too lazy to organize mo...

Today I planted parsley and chives from seeds and some cilantro. They are next to their lettuce, spinach, and basil counterparts. Planting, placing, and watering was a breeze. I also planted three cherry tomato plants and one slicing tomato plant. Although the planting was easy, the placing and watering was difficult. These plants are 144 steps up to the deck. By the time they were placed and watered, I was exhausted. This does not say anything good about my aerobic exercise routine. Maybe after I haul two containers of water up the 144 steps for a couple of weeks, I'll be able to do it without breathing heavy.

Growing up we (I'm not really sure who the we is, but it's better than saying everyone) always joked about Catholics leaving Saturday mass. We used to say they went to Saturday mass, so they could go out drinking without worrying about Sunday morning mass. It was the way the departed the church in a variety of directions without pausing or stopping in a "fast and furious" manner. This evening I changed out of my shorts and sweatshirt into crisp white pants and a nice shirt to attend a friend's daughter's graduation. J is a wonderful young women, and I am pleased to have known her as a child and as a young adult. Her graduation was at the Catholic Church Parish. Since I wasn't sure which building this referred to, I tried to search for signs of a graduation open house as the Catholics were departing Saturday mass. I was disjointed and finally decided to leave without attending. Hopefully the card will make up for my absence and perhaps dinner next ...

On my drive to Okoboji, I called my dad, who will not be at his house this weekend, to see if he had any baby geese or ducks on his ponds. He told me if I walked to the far ponds, there were babies down on the right. My walk to the ponds was filled with the cacophony of a variety of bird noises fighting for attention. When I arrived at the far ponds, I did not see any babies although two smaller birds buzzed me as I was perusing the grounds looking at the geese, ducks, pheasants, and a variety of black birds. My favorite were the yellow headed blackbirds (Oh, I don't know; they're black and have a yellow head.). As I walked back to the house, I heard several rustling noises in the grass. I kept walking, then pausing and looking, then walking, then pausing and looking. Although I couldn't see anything, I knew there was something in the tall grasses. Finally, as I was giving up, a deer zigged towards me then zagged away from me. My only hope is that his/her heart was...

This evening a group of ladies, with whom I used to teach, and I went to Burger Jones for dinner. Our server asked what brought us together, and we started to explain. When he asked if we were retired, I felt a little old and yet hopeful. I felt old because I am not at retirement age and hope I don't look it yet hopeful thinking someday I will be able to retire. Of course it's difficult for the four of us to get together without discussing school especially since two of the four are still teaching. As we were talking about school, I mentioned trying to motivate the students by placing a calendar on the board with the important dates of the remaining year. In reality, it was as much for me as for the students. Counting our last workshop day, we have 13 days left of school. Unfortunately, I also have an additional eight days in June to work with school committees, etc. L, who also has such days the summer, reminded me it's like a part time job but probably more profi...

As I sat down to enjoy a glass of iced tea and enjoy being free from my all day meeting, I looked up the word facilitator using dictionary.com. "Facilitator- noun a person responsible for leading or coordinating the work of a group, as one who leads a group discussion: Each committee will meet with its facilitator." The definition was as I had assumed, but after today's meeting, I wanted to check my understanding. Our facilitator is either a) not a facilitator or b) doing a below average job. I find it difficult to listen to people dictate the way things should run in the classroom when they have been absent from the teaching for too many years. At least I am fairly certain I am not the only one frustrated with the process since we had a "bitch session" on the way to lunch. The good news of the day was when the facilitator put her own agenda on the screen as if it was part of our discussion and another teacher "called her on it." The bad news ...

Testing, reading, and baby ducks. What do these three things have in common? They made my day. Today I am spending my entire day (at least work day) monitoring a computer reading test. This means I have already read one young adult novel, perused scores, continuously checked e-mail, posted to my blog and checked on the baby ducks in the school yard. Although it has been fairly boring, I do feel I'm being creative and productive. Only once did I get into trouble with these activities. While I was reading my book in the silent test taking atmosphere, I giggled (not super loud) when the main character had two questions for a priest: 1) Could someone who went to church have an abortion? 2) Could someone who was gay go to church? Of course she realized the minister probably thought she was talking about herself, the gay girl who had an abortion. The baby ducks are probably the highlight of the day. In the courtyard there is a momma and her ten baby ducks. They are adorable....

Keith Ellison spoke this morning at my church. I find the man to be quite intelligent. As he spoke, I took several notes, but his main message was peace in the Middle East. He spoke of the importance of opening the crossings, so items, such as food, won't have to go through the tunnels with drugs and weapons. He spoke of the formation of a Palestine state. He spoke of the fact that 56% of the population on the Gaza strip is children while 48% of those children are under the age of 15. Most importantly he talked about not being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine but pro-Peace. The United States needs to show they're effective in managing peace. Ambassador Warren Clark also spoke. The two had a similar message about contacting your senators and congressmen/congresswomen to let them know that we want peace, diplomacy, and development. It seems on of the largest lobbying groups in this peace movement may be CMEP (Churches for Peace in the Middle East). I recommend joining the...

Tonight I saw The Soloist . I love movies like The Soloist that deal with social justice issues and make me search facts on the internet. In fact I actually did a quick Google search while watching the movie. As soon as I returned home I searched some more. It seems they used homeless people in the shooting of the movie. Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. were fabulous. When the movie comes out on DVD I will watch it again with pen and paper in hand. Of course I will also need to add the book "to my pile."

My amateur gardener eye tells me that I planted too many lettuce seeds. I also have more questions than answers. 1) How long before I start pulling some of the lettuce out so the remaining lettuce can grow and thrive? 2) Is that my spinach coming up next to my lettuce? It looks like little weeds. 3) Is it time to pinch off some of the basil? BTW- The basil smells wonderful. The courtyard outside my deck is in full bloom. When will my spinach be in full bloom. Speaking of gardening, I'm rethinking the worm compost bin. We'll see... It is fun to see the green coming out of the soil. I've never (that I remember) planted anything from seeds!

At the beginning of the week I listed Monday through Friday on the board. Behind the days of the week I listed our task for each day. In one of my afternoon classes, I needed more board space to explain to the students how to space their poems on the page, so I decided to erase some of the board. Me- Wednesday, we're almost done with Wednesday.... What day is it? Class- Thursday. Me- We're definitely done with Wednesday. Student- Yes and we're almost done with Thursday. Me- Got it... thanks! It's amazing how slow Monday and Tuesday progressed. At least yesterday and today are proceeding quickly leaving FRIDAY!

Recently I talked to my students about poetry slams and showed them a few Youtube examples. Today as I was checking my news feeds, I saw an article about Obama's poetry jam. I love how Obama reinforces the fact that it is a jam and not a slam since a slam is a competition. I love the fact that he is trying to bring different people to the White House. I love how he wants the White House to be the people's house. I love the fact that he is a complex and intelligent man. Although I don't always agree with him, it is refreshing to have an intellectual in the White House. It's amazing that the United States media didn't pick up on this jam. The article comes from the UK. If Obama was holding a basketball jam at the White House, I'm sure that it would have been newsworthy in the United States. Who know... it's early in the day, maybe the mainstream media will pick it up before tonight's news.

Since my head hurts too bad to read, I decided to spend my evening taking pointless quizzes on FB. Actually, I often take pointless quizzes on FB which is rather sad. Tonight's intrigued me. As with most of the FB silly quizzes the result has some modicum of truth. Blaise Pascal and I, however, have something else in common beside the result form the quiz. It seems we also have the same nose and perhaps hair style! Mary took the Which philosopher are you? quiz and the result is Blaise Pascal Oh, Blaise! Brilliant mathematician. Elegant writer. "For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed." You are convinced of so...

Look! It seems like little green shoots are coming up from my soil. Maybe the little lettuce seeds will sprout. Now if the spinach, empty patch of soil with no green, would make a move... At least I'm super patient, so I can wait a day or two.

I appreciate my church community. Although today is Mother's Day the focus was on "Mother Earth." We are "birthed, nurtured, and sustained" by Mother Earth. Nature all around us is a place of nurture. As spring surrounds me this is all too evident. The discussion also led to the people in our life who are those things to us. Those who lament with us and share unbelievable joy are the people who nurture us. Today I will gather with three other women who also no longer have their mother present in their lives and realize I have many people who nurture ans sustain me. I am also blessed to have different kinds of friends that nurture and sustain me in different kinds of way.

Isn't there a cliche that says something about no free meals? Ah, I am happy to say this is not true. How do I know this? I know this because I am sitting down to my free meal. My free meal includes a burrito bowl from Chipotle and a fountain Diet Pepsi from SA. At Chipotle when the girl started to bag my burrito bowl, the other person working said, "She never takes a bag." This was followed by, "She comes in all the time." I would like to say this is not true; I haven't been there since last Friday. Then she wouldn't take my credit card and gave me a free burrito bowl. After my Chipotle stop, I went to SA to get my free fountain Diet Pepsi with my buy six and get one free receipt. Friday and a free meal... life is good!

I saw this on Daily Kos. It is a contest to name the Goposaur (Republicanus ex). Oh, this is funny stuff! Happy Friday people!!

I have been put on house arrest for the evening which isn't all bad. My plan was to play golf since it is lovely outside. Instead I am on house arrest while the painters are outside my door inhibiting my ability to leave. My guess is they will leave soon, but I should have been out the door by five in order to arrive at the golf course on time. If it was important I'm sure I could ask them to move, but honestly, I need time to relax and do mundane chores such as pay bills and Swifter my floors. At least I brought my deck chair up when I arrived home. Maybe I'll use the time in between chores and Grey's to read outside in my chair. After a week of being away from home, being on house arrest will be somewhat of a relief. BTW- The painters are having a grand time laughing and chatting while they are painting. They even shouted hello when my phone rang. How could I interrupt such gleefulness?

This evening book club started with the question, "What is saving your life now?" Although I found the question to be complex, I was quick to answer, "the sun, the blooms, and the scents of spring." Ideas were shared around the table, "the warmth, being ok with life, family, friends, birds and frogs..." As the conversation continued, I agreed with most answers. Life seems to be more complicated lately. My mind is continuously challenging its decisions and worrying about what needs to be done next. This has manifested itself in a cold sore on my lip, a true sign of stress and discomfort. A friend commented on my Facebook page that my status updates have been a bit grim this week. Actually my status updates are much more negative than my life. My only wish is for more time. It seems I am always busy, perhaps busy in a good way, but I need more time for me. A four day work week for the remainder of the year would be a perfect solution. Wouldn'...

Today I planted lettuce and spinach in a container on my porch. As I was planting the seeds I was constantly questioning my decision. What am I doing? Isn't the farmer's market sufficient? What if nothing grows? The seeds are in the mixture of soil and worm castings (I had to buy a small bag since I haven't made my worm bin). I left a space at the end for a basil plant that will be added tomorrow. Honestly I feel a bit more comfortable with the basil plant since it is already a plant. In reality the only way I have a green thumb is when I use my green nail polish. Maybe I should paint my thumbs green while I sit back and wait for my seeds to become lettuce and spinach.

Tonight as we were eating dinner, the family at the table next to us was discussing the fact that they didn't have school tomorrow. The oldest son wanted to get his homework done tonight, so he could enjoy tomorrow while the youngest daughter was amazed at his stupidity, "Homework when you don't have school tomorrow?" Of course middle child used this brief confrontation to talk with his dad. While they were discussing the homework thing, I, too, thought about my work to do tonight. I have school tomorrow, but it won't get done or even started. Thoughts also went to the no school situation. Is it like a snow day? Does the school need to make up the days? If not, where does one purchase swine flu germs? swineflugerms.com? Do I need to kiss a pig?

As I was driving back from getting ice cream at Sebastian Joe's, I questioned the flag on the car in front of me. Was the driver of this car one of the fanatical Republican holdouts? Was the driver in front of me a Democrat who was finally proud to be an American? It seems over the last several years anyone flying a flag, especially from the car window, tended to be the first and not the latter. In fact, I'll be persistent with this stereotype and say they also typically had an NRA sticker someplace. Driving today, however, I felt a bit of joy. What if it was someone finally proud to be an American, proud to fly the American flag, proud of the changes and the opportunities? Unfortunately as I came closer to the car, I realized my flag stereotype (and redneck stereotype) was fitting as the car had the figure pissing on the name Obama instead of Chevy or Ford or whatever. Maybe someday I will see a car with a Peace or Tolerance bumper sticker flying from the window.

Although J brought me information a couple days ago about a worm composting bin, I needed more information. Today at the Living Green Expo, I obtained more information, a lot more information. It seems I can buy the worms in Linden Hills. While I was at the expo, someone suggested looking at the worm composting videos on Youtube. This is the one I found most entertaining and helpful. Next weekend, I will be building a worm compost bin.

Sometimes I wish I didn't have to make all the decisions alone. It would be nice to have someone to help me with the "tough calls." This weekend I am making a major decision hoping it won't negatively impact a good friend. I've come to the realization it's the best decision for me financially and emotionally, but I don't want to upset my friend. If only I had someone to assure me that the decision I'm making is the correct one, I wouldn't feel sick to my stomach. Maybe it's not the correct decision. Then it would be nice to have someone tell me what to do. Of course I realize I don't like being told what to do.