Miscellaneous Missives

Last night I went to see Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love ).  I had already read her new book, Big Magic when I entered the church.  As I looked at the people in attendance, I felt as though they were cultish and not my people.  To be honest, I was a little irritated that I bought a ticket and wanted to go home.  When she said she was going to read from her new book before she answered questions, I felt even more irritated.  Again, I had already read the book (Kindle).  Once she started answering questions, my attitude changed.  She's actually seemed to be an intelligent, thoughtful, and caring person.  I was surprised.  In fact, even though I'll never read another book written by Elizabeth Gilbert, I'm going to listen to her podcasts .  IMHO, she should give up writing and merely talk to people.  This being said, I will admit that Big Magic was a good book.  Perhaps not great, but the ideas are worth reading.

Moon Hidden by Trees I'll admit that I went out early to see if I'd be able to see the eclipse.  When I realized I couldn't see it from the roof or the driveway, I went inside and looked at other's photos.  More than anything I love the name.  Who wouldn't? I feel like today needs an equally impressive name.  Super Observation Employment.  Yeah, I don't really like it either.  When we were asked to set up our observation times, I decided to sign up for the first day and get it done.  Since today was that day, I signed up for both the pre-observation and the observation on the same day.  It was actually a decent plan.  It's only a shame that I couldn't get the post-observation done today as well. My last hour class was the class to be observed, well technically me, not them.  They're always good for entertainment.  At the end of the hour, students read one of the chapters with a partner, but I had one group of three.  "...

On the news this afternoon, they talked about an app called High Low Glitter.  It's an app to share the events of your day. The High is the best part of the day.  I'd say the best part of my day was probably when I came home to a lit hallway.  Remember when the owners of the upstairs condo (HUD) shut off my gas.  Recently, they also shut off the electricity to the stairwells and my storage area.  The association guy has been great.  When I sent him an email last night asking about the progress of getting the electricity back on, he said, "There's light at the end of the tunnel.  Pun intended."  Today I came home and turned on the light.   The Low is the worst part of the day.  The worst part of my day is probably that allergies are driving me crazy.  Not only do I have a headache, but I'm also tired and will not be going to the gym as I should. The Glitter is a fun, unexpected part of the day.  I would say the glit...

I love going to the farmers' market as I've mentioned many times.  Today's list included spinach, little potatoes, apples, small decoration pumpkins, and perhaps lettuce.  Although I really needed some meat, it wasn't my farm's day for the market.  My other favorite stop is where I buy my sweets, but I knew this might not happen because of limited funds (cash in the purse).  Farmers' market today, however, was the loaves and fish story.  As I was getting my mini-pumpkins, I noticed it was my farm lady with the meat.  I actually saw her and gave a little yes aloud.  She laughed and the lady next to me looked concerned.  When I went to her booth, I explained that my excitement was caused by my thinking it was next week when she was at the market.  "You didn't post to Facebook.  I didn't think you were coming," I explained.  It seems she posted to FB at 2am, so I hadn't seen it.  My last purchase before my sweets is the apples....

Sometimes I don't post because I don't have a picture.  It's lame, but I really like using an image.  This evening, however, I've been thinking of my last hour class and felt the need to post.  My last hour class is irritating.  I mean really, really irritating.  They (especially three boys) don't know when to shut up.  It's the last hour of the day, and there's always a lot of unwanted touching (in a seventh grade annoying type of way), talking, and other off task behavior.  Today was no different.  Several times I stopped to class to remind them it was Friday, and no one wanted to have to stay after school with me on a Friday.  "It's Friday.  I just want to go home. You just want to go home.  No one wants to stay after and talk to me."  At one point, I thought today's class could go "off the rails."  When the class turned into a call and response atmosphere, I knew it had happened.  After each point I made, they gav...

Although I chipped my tooth (took a chunk out of the side) my tooth yesterday afternoon, I was still super excited about the Counting Crows concert.  As we walked to the show, a guy holding a placard said the show was canceled.  At first I thought he was messing, but he was serious.  We kept walking towards the Cabooze and realized it was going to be an outdoor concert.  I'm not sure how I didn't know this, but it made me even more bummed.  It would have been amazing.  Perfect night.  Perfect group.  Instead of staying, we went back to where we had met for dinner and chatted.  It was still a good night with friends. This morning also turned out to be better than expected.  I didn't need a crown today although I'll probably need one eventually.  Anyway, I have a filling on the side of my tooth and a mouth full of Novocaine.  Before I go back to work, I plan on taking a nap and eating something.

When the cathedral was built, limestone was brought from the south.  Limestone craftsman (mainly African American) were also brought in because Minnesotans could work with the different limestone. Major Taylor was an African American cyclist.  The Twin Cities (and other cities) has a Major Taylor Cycling Club .  Last night (9pm to 6am) I rode their Dark2Dawn ride which focused on African American history in the Twin Cities.  Since it was dark, my pictures aren't phenomenal, but it was thought provoking. Everyone wore some form of yellow! I need to research the Dred Scott Decision. We started at MLK Park. A couple of years ago the neighborhood park created controversy as the black residents were not pleased about the idea of a dog park in the neighborhood.  Now they have the first Civil Rights themed playground in Minneapolis (perhaps the country). We also visited the new Seward Coop.  One's first opinion would be that a new Coop in this predomi...

Today is the Iowa State vs. Iowa game.  All of the intelligent people are cheering for Iowa State... just saying. Today's trivia at Caribou looked like this... What is wrong with this sentence? New York in the the spring. Although my answer was correct, missing a verb, they didn't accept it.  They were looking for the the redundancy in the sentence which isn't really a sentence. If I was a spice girl, I'd be Pumpkin Spice. Yep, that's it for today!  Go Cyclones.  #CyclONEnation.

If you haven't been paying attention to the calendar and/or days of the week, tomorrow is FRIDAY!  Woot!  It's going to be a crazy weekend, but I'm super excited about it.  Saturday evening/Sunday morning a friend and I are doing a Dark2Dawn ride (8pm to 6am).  It's sponsored by Major Taylor , and it's a ride titled Bicycling through African American History.  It's advertised as an all-night ride through Minneapolis and St. Paul's African American Historical Geography.  This ride will be followed by Sunday night's (early show 6:00) Counting Crow's concert at the Cabooze.  My guess is Monday will be an epic teaching day in my classroom.  Updates should appear over the weekend and of course after Monday's after school meeting :(.

Although fall doesn't officially arrive until September 23rd, I'm ready to embrace fall.  As I left God's Country this weekend, I took pictures of the fields.  They are almost ready for harvest.  Fall has also made it's appearance in the beverages I've enjoyed this week.  Earlier in the week, a colleague and I met for happy hour, and I enjoyed an Octoberfest beer.  Today it was a pumpkin spiced latte.  It seems school starting is not the only sign that fall is approaching.

This weekend my father moved out of his house in Okoboji.  Everything needed to leave (new house, donation, auction, trash).  I was visiting friends for the weekend and helped with the removal of goods.  One thing I wanted was a box that was in the closet of the room I use when I visit.  I knew there was an afghan that I received at my high school graduation (card still with the afghan).  Although I knew other keepsakes were in the box, I had forgotten my turtle stool that I made in middle school was in the box.  It may be ugly, but I was super excited to see it and have it out in my house for others to enjoy!  The other item I was happy appropriate was the painting of my great aunt Inez (crazy aunt Inez).  It may not be the greatest work of art, but since she painted it, it may hang in my house.

Last night while a friend and I were enjoying a pleasant conversation at the Barefoot Bar , we averted the negativity because we were under an awning.  Today I returned home from my short Okoboji vacation to realize I had no hot water.  It's a rather long story, but CenterPoint energy locked my meter without proper authorization.  When they told me they wouldn't be here until Thursday, I became a bit of a hurricane.  Luckily, my property management company called them since my menacing storm didn't work, and CenterPoint will be here tonight or tomorrow.  It's not ideal, but it's more like a heavy rainstorm than a hurricane.

Today was the first day of school (with students).  I will admit the students seem like fine individuals (with the exception of three of whom I already know names).  For some reason, and I don't think it's merely going out for happy hour after school, I'm tired and ready to relax for the evening. I wish I had some glorious stories from the day, but this is what I do know/recall. 1) I could not wait for my prep hour to use the bathroom.  I had to go between my second and third periods.  Realizing my bladder will build itself up as the school year progresses, I chose not to purchase Depends tonight. 2) Waiting until lunch to eat is really not an option.  Let's be honest, I'm used to eating what I want and when I want.  Snacking should be allowed for both students and teachers.  Although I made it until lunch today, a string cheese might appear tomorrow as I sprint to the bathroom between second and third periods. 3) Dealing with adolescents is...