Miscellaneous Missives

Before I left for Atlanta, I called a couple of bike shops trying to rent a bike for the two days.  I've rode through snow, ice, sleet, and rain trying to bike all thirty days in April and didn't want to lose two days in Birmingham.  It seems Birmingham is NOT a bike friendly city.  Even though the weather was beautiful, bikes are rare (at least in downtown Birmingham).  Friday I spotted a couple on bikes sitting in the park.  I approached and asked if I could ride one of their bikes.  Poor S had to stay and talk to them (strange to quite strange) while I rode around the park.  According to #30daysofbiking , the important thing is getting on a bike each day and distance doesn't matter.  Saturday morning I rode the exercise bike in the fitness room not thinking I'd be able to find anyone with a bike.  After our session, I walked through another park with an art fair.  Once again, I found someone with a bike.  He was also strange ...

I spent this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama at the National Writing Project's Urban Sites Network Conference.  Since it is the 50th Anniversary of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement (MLK Jr Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Children's March, 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing), Birmingham was the perfect place to talk about social justice. The speakers were phenomenal.   Eric L. Motley was the moderator yet had powerful ideas and thoughts to share.   Charlene Hunter Gault and Rami Khouri spoke Friday morning.  They talked about promoting civil and human rights world wide through education.  I'm inspired to reread the Declaration of Independence, Gettysburg Address, and Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  According to these speakers, part of being a good citizen is informing self in a multitude of ways... difficult to argue with this statement.  My favorite speaker of Friday was Jose Antonio Vargas .  If you don't know his story, it's worth re...

Today was World Book Night, and I had the opportunity to distribute The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer.  It's actually one of my favorite books.  This may be because of the amount of time I spent on both sides of the bar in college and my early teaching career.  When I applied to hand out this book, I stated that I was going to give it to people working in the service industry.  This snowy morning, I started with the baristas at Caribou.  I also gave two copies to guys in the parking lot.  One man was a bit shocked when I explained it was a coming of age story about a guy that falls in love with the bar.  Actually, it was my next comment that caused an the look to come across his face, "Everyone loves a bar."  He told me that he used to love the bar... too much.  I think he'll like the book.  My next books went to the workers at SA when I stopped to get a diet soda at lunch.  Finally, I decided to give my remaining books to bar...

Cardinal in the Tree Cold Poem by Mary Oliver Cold now. Close to the edge.  Almost unbearable.  Clouds bunch up and boil down from the north of the white bear. This tree-splitting morning I dream of his fat tracks, the lifesaving suet. I think of summer with its luminous fruit, blossoms rounding to berries, leaves, handfuls of grain. Maybe what cold is, is the time we measure the love we have always had, secretly, for our own bones, the hard knife-edged love for the warm river of the I, beyond all else; maybe that is what it means the beauty of the blue shark cruising toward the tumbling seals. In the season of snow, in the immeasurable cold, we grow cruel but honest; we keep ourselves alive, if we can, taking one after another the necessary bodies of others, the many crushed red flowers. Earth Day 2013 = winter storm warning (possible 4 to 6 inches of snow)  I've been disgusted with the weather and the season (winter) that won't leave...

I'm Going to Plant a Heart in the Earth I'm going to plant a heart in the Earth water it with love from a vein. I'm going to praise it with the push of muscle and care for it in the sound of all dimensions. I'm going to leave a heart in the Earth so it may grow and flower a heart that throbs with longing that adores everything green that will be strength and nourishment for birds that will be the sap of plants and mountains. -- Rosario Murillo Today I was able to work with a former colleague.  We're presenting at a conference in Birmingham at the end of the week.  I miss working with her... her concrete sequential self that keeps us on a straight line, our ability to finish each other's thoughts, the ability to finish each others ideas, a unique vision for our students and their voice...  It was a great afternoon, and we are almost ready for this gig. Since we spent the majority of the afternoon working, I put off my biking until the rain start...

04.18.13 Poor Robin in Snowy Tree Today was another Poem in Your Pocket Day .  I was super impressed that the majority of the students had their own poems in their pockets.  The weather sucks.  Even though the day started out gloomy, students were excited about their poems and happy to get candy when they had a poem in their pocket.  The weather sucks.  During one class a student asked me if I had read the poem To This Day .  When I asked her about it, she told me to find it on Youtube.  The weather sucks.  Basically it was a quiet day, so I waited until lunch to take a look at it.  Why do I spend as much time as I do teaching poetry?  It's obvious because kids get excited, kids have to think, kids write, and kids learn lessons that they could only find searching for poems.  The weather sucks. This was also Day 18 of #30daysofbiking.  Even though the snow was coming down and the wind was blowing (18 mph), I decided to gi...

After seeing the "Dog Wants a Kitty" yesterday, I decided it was the laughter we needed to start class today.  Watching the kids was a entertaining as the video.  Some of the "cool kids" covered their mouth, so no one would know they were smiling while others laughed outright. Also, today I was sent an e-mail from a colleague about Caroline Kennedy's appearance on Colbert.  Tonight I went and bought the book.  It's beautiful.  Tomorrow is Poem in Your Pocket day, and I have five poems which means I'll have to wear jeans and a hoodie to have five pockets!