Miscellaneous Missives

I knew I wanted to go on a ride tonight, but I wasn't quite sure of my path.  At least I wasn't sure until I received an email from Zap Twin Cities .  It seems I've zapped enough that I earned a light set (head and tail).  My prize was available at Move Minneapolis located in the Minneapolis Visitor Information center.  The guys were super nice and funny.  On the way home, I tried a different route which took me to the Loring Park Trail.  Let's say it was an interesting ride that probably won't happen again.  The good news is that I had my new lights, so cars could see m downtown as I encountered some rush hour traffic.  I do love free stuff and prizes.

Little Bird Eating a Cheese Curd at Last Week's Happy Hour OMG!  It's only Wednesday .  How can this be?  It's been a week of meetings and appointments, and I've had enough.  At least my meetings have gone well.  Today I had the post observation with my new principal.  It's the most positive meeting I've ever had with an administrator, and I appreciate her encouragement. Like the little bird in the picture, I've been eating too much this week.  I think it needs to stop, but I don't think it will stop until next week.  The good news is I think I'll have time to get on my bike tomorrow.

I love that I posted this to FB and Instagram today and no one commented about the ridiculousness of taking this picture while driving merely because it looks kinda cool. As I was drinking my coffee this morning, I remembered something I had forgotten to take care of this weekend.  Something that was important for my first hour class.  Something that could be done from home.  Something that would put me behind a bit for the day. Driving to school a bit late caused the traffic to be a bit slower.  Slower traffic allowed me to take a couple pictures of the beautiful morning drive.  Slowing down, even when someone's a bit behind, is good. It seems a bit behind, actually works.  I thought my pre-observation was at 11:15, but it was at 11:00.  My meeting was with my new administrator who hasn't necessarily seen me teach and doesn't necessarily know much about my planning.  The meeting, however, went well, leaving me excited about tomorrow's obs...

The truth is we've had less rain than most.  My prayers go out to my Iowa friends who are sandbagging to save their towns.  Lately I'm having a difficult time blogging because I want to have a picture to go with my blog.  It's not really that difficult. Let's be honest, it's not like I didn't blog at all this week.  Remember Monday?  I kicked ass on my list, so I was able to hang out with my RAGBRAI friend on Tuesday.  Plus, I was able to go to Carl Hiaasen on Wednesday.  I was ready to ask him about his female characters.  Why are your female characters stronger than you adult book female characters?  As he spoke, I realized he's less ignorant and chauvinistic than I had imagined.  He's actually intelligent and funny.  Although I did ask my question, I realized reading satire when our country is struggling makes me crabby instead of entertained. The other news is that we have a tentative contract.  My guess is that it's...

Britt Britt on One of Our Weekend Walks Time is something that I need to manage.  In order to balance my work and my life, I need to make decisions.  Yesterday my decision was to ignore grading, so I could finish the book for Wednesday's Talking Volumes.  When I planned everything out, I knew tonight was my initial LYFE group (We're reading We Make the Road by Walking by Brian Mc Laren), but I knew I could use tomorrow to grade the remaining assignments that I ignored this weekend.  Since I had the entire night free (I already called to say I would not be at book club, another reading group), I would be able to grade the procrastinated papers and the papers coming in tomorrow... perfect! Unfortunately, sometimes life gets complicated and decisions must be made.  Today I received a FB message from a fellow Wimp (my RAGBRAI team member).  "How do you feel about drinking on a weeknight?  I'll be in Minneapolis tomorrow night and would buy you a beer...

Reading Time with Britt Britt Britt Britt and I are hanging out this weekend while her family is out of town.  I've learned a lot about Britt Britt.  She likes my potted plants that sit on the floor (dirt and leaves), tissues, and the lotion that I put on my legs.  She also likes most humans. Those two leggeds on cycles, walking, and running are wonderful even when they don't stop for her (although many actually do).  Two leggeds walking dogs (even those with puppy pugs who are way smaller than her) are also likable to quite likable.  She, however, is not a fan of the attractive man on his skateboard.  Luckily, this two legged was enamored with her, so they became friends.  He even left walking his skateboard to make her feel more comfortable.  It seems she, like most puppies has two speeds.  She's going full speed or hanging out peacefully near me.  I'm confident that she will ask to stay with me again soon. Britt Britt After Mo...

Last night was the first Talking Volumes.  The author was Elizabeth Alexander.  I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I really didn't know anything about her.  Although I read her book, I didn't look into the author.  When we were sitting waiting for the discussion to start, J said she was a poet.  Instantly I knew what made her memoir so beautiful.  She was a poet.  As she started speaking I was enthralled.  She was is intelligent and kind and a true beautiful human.  Her memoir is about her loss, but it is really more of a love story.  I fell in love with her as she spoke.  It seems I should have known Elizabeth Alexander.  She read and inaugural poem at Obama's first inauguration (I was there!  BTW, Kerri asked if she was shaking.  "Yes," I whispered, "It was cold.").  Of course, I used the Google machine to find it as she spoke.  I knew the poem and not her.  Now, I know her.  When I get a cha...

Photo from Today's Needed Ride! As I started to post, I was thought of a title from one of Shel Silverstein's books, Falling Up .  Lately, I feel like I'm falling up.  Of course, I keep going forward, but it's not a smooth path.  As usual, the first two or three weeks of school brings some good and some bad.  Typically, the good is greater than the bad.  This morning I walked by a member of our administration who was talking to the secretaries.  They were discussing last night's debacle of a school board meeting (teacher's still don't have a contract and the school board and cabinet continue to be disrespectful... even made tonight's local news).  Passing I said, "I'm going to keep walking.  I need to teach today, and I need to be excited about my job."  Walking to me room, I circled back.  The member of administration was actually standing up for the teachers as she talked to the secretaries, and I wanted to let her know that I appr...

At 6:57pm, my main goal is to stay awake long enough to make sure I unload the dishwasher when it's done.  No, I'm not really joking, well maybe a little, but I'm not a comedian.  I'm merely super tired since I stayed up past my bedtime last night on a school night.  Last night, I went to the WellRED Comedy Tour to see Trae Crowder, the Redneck Liberal.  Although I was confident he would be good, I didn't know about the other two guys.  All three exceeded my expectations.  It was definitely worth staying up past my bedtime. My favorite quote of the night was when one of the comedians was talking about being a redneck. "I'm the Jane Goodall of rednecks.  I've lived among them for years.  I know their ways." If you are not familiar with the Redneck Liberal, I suggest going to Youtube and watching.  I mean watch them all.  He's funny and intelligent, a rare combo.

Today I'm embracing fall.  I donned jeans and a light sweater for church and stopped on the way to get a pumpkin spiced latte on the way to church.  I went on a bike ride after church and crushed it.  Perhaps it was the cooler weather.  Most trees are still green, but I can feel fall in the air.  Curretly, I'm drinking another cup of coffee, watching the Queens (and hoping they lose) while geeking on the internet with the windows open. Fall is certainly a delightful time of year.

The first week of schools (with students) is done.  As usual, there were "ups and downs."  It's a bit frustrating working my butt off for a district that doesn't respect it's teachers.  After a year, we still don't have a contract and negotiations seem stalled.  The students and my new administration, however, do seem to appreciate our collective efforts.  This is appropriate since new students are arriving daily.  It's been a bit crazy. As usual, the first week of school has left me a bit tired.  My new bed came today, and I'm hoping it brings me a good night sleep.  Actually, my day has been swell.  It started with the farmers' market, followed by my new bed, and then a stop to picket with the Allina nurses. Nurses are amazing people.  As we walked, we listened to them.  They talked about trips, work, and family, the normals.  They waved at all the supports that honked.  They also worried about those around. ...

My last weekend of summer was spent in God's Country hanging out with two wonderful friends.  We are like minded, so everything was easy and comfortable.  Hanging out with loved ones is one of the important things in life. Sunday morning we discussed Jacob Wetterling and the current news.  Two of us had lost the same friend in high school due to a similar situation with the exception of his body being found, so we had always followed the Wetterling case.   Patty Wetterling has done so much to help other families, so it's not surprising the love has poured out to her and her family on social media.  Her comment today was touching:  "Everyone wants to know what they can do to help us.  Say a prayer.  Light a candle.  Be with friends.  Play with your children.  Giggle.  Hold hands.  Eat ice cream.  Create joy.  Help your neighbor.  That is what will bring me comfort today.  Wow!  She's a remarkab...

I posted to Facebook and asked people about their favorite podcasts.  Although I didn't get a lot of responses as I had expected, I did find a podcast that occupied most of yesterday's workshop.  As I worked in my room, I listened to Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell.  Most people are familiar with Gladwell yet may not be familiar with the podcast.  I listened to three episodes that talked about "the idea of capitalization-- the measure of how well America is making use of its human potential."  The first on was Carlos Doesn't Remember .  It was good, and I immediately suggested a colleague start listening to it, which she did.  If you're looking for a good podcasts, I'd check this out.   We have more time to work in our room today, and I'm going out of town this weekend.  I'll have time to listen to more podcasts.  What would you recommend?  Really, what would you recommend?

from one of my first trips to Zihaut The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, It learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared. Also see... Rosa Do Provo.  You'll need to use a translate site to change it from Portuguese to English. This poem was shared during workshop day on Wednesday.  Since I'm using "Obey your Verse" quotes for one of my bulletin boards, and the first quote comes from Tupac, I was happy to add it to my first week plans.  After all, we're talking about community the first week, it's going to be perfect. Yesterday, the staff was engaged (the word of the afternoon workshop) as Wing talked.  As he was talking, I was wondering about three words and how the relate.  Prejudice, R...