Last Lecture

What would you say in your last lecture?

Randy Pausch gives his. This might just have to be required viewing for my mentor group.

If Only It Came In Black...

...then I'd totally get one. This is me, totally awake at 9pm, after my ride in the Tesla Roadster. It's Lotus meets Electric Vehicle. It's been in the press lots in the last few months for its sleek looks and lack of a petroleum habit. It's not even being produced yet (just prototypes) and yet they've already sold a bunch of them, including one to George Clooney. You can get one too for $100,000. Dorian, battery master, was putting the car through its paces this weekend and we definitely worked it on the streets of Menlo Park. 240 horsepower, 0-60 in 4 seconds. Yeah...that's what it felt like. We didn't quite get it up to 60 because of all the darn stop signs, but over 40, really really fast. Feel the G force fast. The little top comes off so it's like a Honda del Sol (sorry Tesla for that reference) and there's a lot of legroom. I would totally recommend this car. The gas mileage is great! And we look cute together, right?

There's a Holiday Every Day

September 24th is National Punctuation Day. I'm not really sure what one is supposed to do in order to celebrate, other than make the official meatloaf of NPD. Go here for details. I can't even begin to figure out what makes any particular meatloaf recipe worthy of being an "official" meatloaf.

I will not be making this meatloaf. I haven't actually posted about this, but I've been doing my best to eat entirely local for the month of September (within a 100 mile radius of my house). I've done a good job, except for food that people give me (namely the parents at school) and when I've gone out to eat. But my school day meals are pretty local. It's been great because it certainly cuts down on snacking and my September has been filled with lots of tomatoes. Last week, I discovered that I can get soup tomatoes at the farmer's market for $1 a pound! That is awesome! I've been making summer squash and tomato soup and straight tomato soup. Both SpecialTeas favorites. I've been flexible with salt, pepper, and other spices and I cheated to make brownies waffles last weekend for Matt, but I'm mostly sticking to the 100 miles. I've accomplished my biggest goal, which is food awareness. I wanted to think about where my food is coming from and do what I can to support local farmers and businesses. I technically only have a week left for my local challenge, but I'm sure I'll keep up with it throughout the year as much as I can.

What The?!?!

Check the puddle behind the black car...yeah, that's rain. The last time I lived here, I didn't see rain from June to November. It's been so cool here in the peninsula that I even had to put my down comforter on my bed. This area averages .19 inches of precipitation for the month of September and it looks like we'll get that all today. Tahoe is even getting snow in the mountains this weekend. The best part about this weather was the lightning show last night. The worst part is that I'd rather sit around all day watching movies, but alas, I have to do schoolwork and be Jewish. I guess it makes for a good day to fast and atone, with nothing too tempting going on outside.

So Much for "Environmentally Friendly"

I took some things to the environmentally safe dry cleaner nearby. This is how my dress came back...on this 3-D carboard mannequin-like structure with stuffed breasts...looking better in the dress than I did (I would like to remind you all how much I was sweating the night of Ali's wedding). What's the point of going to a place that doesn't use perc if they are just going to stuff the chest of my dress with paper? I'm not impressed.

Save These Guys!

Okay, so this picture is just ridiculous. I mean look at this guy...is he trying to be that cute? And the ones in the background? I feel like this has to be posed. Anyway, it's on the cover of the latest Patagonia catalog and their website to continue to raise awareness about the situation in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Reserve). The topic has been floating around Congress for some time but it seems as though they might be getting close to permanently protecting the area from oil drilling. Click on the picture to get to a website for more information and to contact your representative. Or, just stare at these cute bears...and try not to think about the fact that they are in danger for so many reasons.

Rooting Real Hard From This Coast

Okay Red Sox...you have 9 games...9 games to keep the magic going. Some people are really superstitious about talking about when a good thing's going in sports. I'm just trying to let the boys know that I'm pulling really hard for them from out here and expecting results. I'm actually starting to miss "cowboy up."

Yay for Insurance!

Some of you know that I've had this weird sore throat thing since Sept 2. Yuck! I've wanted to go to the doctor and get it checked out, but, while insured, I had no active insurance cards. Today was a great day (in many ways), but mostly because my insurance cards came today! Yay! I scheduled an appointment for my throat immediately. Cross your fingers.

Faculty Fun Time

Every Monday and Wednesday, we have full faculty meetings for 70-90 minutes and we make a lot of big decisions. But, we also get 10 minutes at the end for just fun. Someone's role at the meeting is as the "fun coordinator." Their job is to plan what we'll do for the fun. On Monday we played "What Not To Name The Baby," where we were in teams of three trying to think up what our expecting colleagues should not choose as names. Today, we had a hula hoop contest (and I learned that I haven't made any progress on that front since I was eight). I won't be the fun coordinator until 2008, but I'm looking for ideas now. Ten minutes...something cool. Leave your comments!

Hopkins Hockey

The Blue Jays are #11! Check it out here.

Hours of Amusement

On Sunday, Matt and I went down to Santa Cruz for a little boardwalk action. I like Santa Cruz...they have great beaches, a really cute and walkable downtown, an old fashioned boardwalk with rides, yummy Mexican food, and a Patagonia outlet. So I was happy. My favorite ride has to be the old wooden roller coaster (which you can see in the picture)...I love the sound it makes because you get a really broad sensory experience.


Matt was pretty bummed when this lady told him she'd rather ride by herself.

What Kind of Dog?

I'm trying to figure out what type of dog we saw...black, lab sized, "skinnier" than a lab, white on the chest. Anyone?

Stinson Beach

Whoa...crazy beautiful. This beach is just to the west of Mt. Tam...just a few miles on Route 1. I've wanted to get there for a while, as it's where my dad first put his wheels in the Pacific after his cross country cycling adventure. There's a break about 20 feet out and then the water comes onto shore as flat as glass. It was pretty amazing. It doesn't seem like this could be naturally occurring, but I can't find anything that says it's not, so I spent my time at the beach being completely in awe of the natural beauty...and watching some really cute dogs romp around.

Mt. Tam

I am giddy that I did my first hiking in probably two years this weekend. I'm not really sure why it took me so long, but sometimes the rest of life can be distracting. So, this weekend, Mt. Tam(alpais) was the destination. It's about 45 minutes north of the city in Marin County. While not the most aggressive hike you can do (by any stretch), the views are pretty nice. To the north you get the rolling hills of Sonoma County, the bay is to the east, the city, Sausalito and Tiburon to the south, and the Pacific to the west. So, when you're new to the area, it's a fun vantage point to get the lay of the land. It's a beautiful ride once you get on the Golden Gate bridge...lots of curvy mountain roads and all. The only problem with this place is that you can drive to within a short walk of the summit, so despite the fact that we did almost four hours of hiking, it doesn't feel that satisfying when you see people rolling up in the SUVs. Although I did see my dad's doppleganger getting on his motorcycle. It was pretty uncanny.


This picture of Matt below makes it look like we're in the middle of the California version of the White Mountains. I'll get to that kind of place soon.

Walk It Out....Literally

So, school is great, life is great, I am great, but when things get tough...I start walking until I stop thinking about it. And I like to "sing" "Walk It Out" as I go. The best part is seeing all the cute houses around here. Unlike New England, where big houses look really big and tall, most houses here are one story or their two stories are well concealed and you can't tell how big they are. I really like this about the architecture here, that the houses aren't overwhelming to look at from the outside.

Word of the Day

Erg = rowing machine.

It Feels So Good To Erg

At my school, there are lots of kids who row in the bay (there is a rowing center/club about a mile away from our campus). Today, the club came to school to recruit with an erg and set it up at lunch. It was awesome! Kids were crowding around, watching people to try to get their 500 m split as low as possible. I got down to a 1:48, which isn't bad given that I haven't been on an erg in almost a year and I was wearing a skirt and trying to be as professional as possible. I'm going to give myself a month to get acclimated to life and school here and then try to get involved adult club. I'm just itching to get back in a boat! I'll keep you posted.

That Kid Can Dance!

Oh man! Chris Brown can move! His performance at MTV's Video Music Awards was so good...almost as good as what he did at the Grammy's. Actually, the VMAs may have been better based on Rihanna's appearance, except he was singing live at the Grammy's. I guess I just like both a lot.

Check out the VMAs here: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1568788&vid=173459
Scroll down and click on the Chris Brown video.
The Grammy's performance is here. If you like what you see, rent "Stomp The Yard."

My Classroom!

So, for many teachers, the classroom is huge. It's often the first impression that students get of your class and who you are. The classroom I have is "cozy" to put it mildly. I haven't totally figured out the space yet, but today was fun with the kids. While I don't have an activboard, I have a projector, so I can have the warm-ups and notes on the board while we're going over them. I'm facing east...and the building out the window blocks my view of 101 (good or bad?). Two features that are distinct to this school...the wall at the back with whiteboards on it (cool) is movable to open up to the next room and the English office is adjacent to both of these classrooms (window is next to the Pre poster). Kids aren't allowed to leave the classroom during class, so all the windows aren't really an issue because there are no distractions. These pictures were taken at about 7:20am to give you an idea of the light.

What Is The Goldenseal Doing?

Last Tuesday, I started feeling a sort throat coming on, which means a full-on cold is coming right behind it. I gargled with goldenseal at my earliest convenience and twice a day since, because in the past, it's completely rid me of any signs of sickness. The weird thing is that this "thing" I have hasn't progressed to a cold yet, but I still have a bit of a sore throat all the time. I wish I knew what was going on here. Tomorrow is the first real day of school...teaching math and all that. I'm feeling good, not nervous because I've met most of my kids already and I have a plan for at least day 1 and everything feels like it normally does when I start a year. I've been trying not to get sick, although it wouldn't be the High Holidays without tissues in my talis bag.

I'm Reed Fish

I just watched this movie and I recommend it (if you like the kind of movies I do). It's a sweet love story about twenty-somethings in a small town with that independent movie feel, great music, and a cute lead boy. Schuyler Fisk plays one of the leads and performs two songs. I first heard about her last fall when she did a song with Joshua Radin for "The Last Kiss" soundtrack. I loved that collaboration and the songs she does in this movie are equally as good (but not on their soundtrack). I'm hoping she releases an album soon. I'm sort of at a point with Netflix where I'm just forcing my relationship with them...I just get movies because I can, not because there are things I'm dying to see. But, Netflix recommended this movie to me, so maybe things are improving.

1, 2, 3, Point Stanford!

There are a lot of reasons why living in San Francisco would be cool, such as being 30 miles closer to Tahoe, but for me, there's not too much that's better than being 5 minutes from my favorite sports teams (behind the Red Sox and Blue Jays of course). The #2 Cardinal were playing in an invitational with St. Mary's (CA), Cal Poly, and #9 BYU. The Friday night game was against Cal Poly, who they beat in three games. The students aren't in school for another few weeks which means the volleyball games are pretty tame, except for the hundreds of middle-school aged girls, but most of the band was there, celebrating the win with the victory song, "All Right Now." I have yet to see The Tree (Stanford's mascot) at a sporting event...I am eagerly awaiting my first glimpse of what the costume looks like this year. The volleyball team is 7-0 right now and they should be able to keep up their winning streak, at least until they meet USC at the end of the month, a game that will certainly go to five games. The anticipation is too much for me! In other news, the Hopkins field hockey team is 3-0 and I'm confused why there was no coach's poll last Tuesday, bumping them up from #17.

Camping...

...it's in tents! One of the activity choices was Catchphrase, which the kids loved. Here are some upperclasswomen totally focused on it. I think they are ready for Pre-Calc based on their intensity here. After the three rounds of activity choices, it was time to set up the tents. Girls Camp was in an area called Cubland...which I thought was funny. I was pretty amazed and the competence with which all the kids put up their tents. We just stood around watching most of them. There were a few poles that couldn't be figured out, but for the most part, tent assembly was pretty quick. The boys' tent city (below) was a wild scene. They had less real estate to work with, so the tents were practically on top of each other. When I did my walk-through at 5am, the girls' side was quiet and the boys' side was loud with the sounds of snoring, and it was tough trying to negotiate moving around the boys without disturbing them. Lights out was at 10pm but the funny thing is that so many of them just stayed up and text messaged to communicate. Back in the day, we had to actually talk, which would get us in trouble in this kind of situation. The next day we had Mentor Group Olympics and then face painting. Below is one of my kids getting worked on by every other kid in our mentor group.

My Kids!

Here are my mentees (most of them), gathering for a check-in on our school's camping trip. They are juniors, so I'll have them in math class too. We took the whole school "camping" at a boy scout camp...400 kids, 40 teachers, and probably 30 parents. It was an amazing operation and we had a blast, as insane as it felt most of the time.

Less Than 500 Days!

Until George Bush leaves the White House! I've already requested 01.20.09 as a personal day. http://www.backwardsbush.com/

One Down

Sadly, I forgot my camera at home, but today was day #1. It was crazy and exciting and so great! I met so many kids today...there's no way that I'll remember all of them, but I'll know them all soon. My stomach isn't as nervous as it has been, but since the first day of math class is next Monday, I don't feel like I'm in the clear yet. I am amazed by how responsive students are here to the staff. It doesn't matter if you teach them or not, if you ask a kid to do something, they trust you. I am really appreciative of my colleagues for setting the norms for that. Today and tomorrow are just days to build community and help ease the transition, which is totally a valid thing to do in a small school like this. The kids here are so committed to this culture that it's awesome to watch them share advice with younger students and be really honest about what they need to do to be successful. I can't say enough good things.

Despite the fact that school starts an hour later here than I'm used to, I'm still getting up in the dark...but not to commute but to get some exercise. I'll keep that up as long as I can. But, it's almost 4pm and I'm fading...big time. Sleep hasn't been so easy lately. I feel like I'm just waiting for that time when my body decides that yes, I'm tired and it's going to get 'er done, but that hasn't happened yet. I'm still settling into this new world but absolutely enjoying it.

Labor Day in Pacifica

Went surfing today in Pacifica. It's a very foggy place. The water was great and the waves were pretty fierce today so I got thrown around a lot. I can't say I improved at all today, but it was really fun. I bought a wetsuit (on sale) so I'm hoping that inspires more ocean outings. i need some lessons though...to help me focus in the water. First day tomorrow! Ahhh!! Real teacher clothes!!

Definitely Not Kosher

Here's the low country boil with the co-workers and all the sausage and shellfish you could eat. The veggies (for those who maybe don't eat the other stuff) were corn, onions, garlic, artichokes, and potatoes. Dessert was grilled peaches with a brown sugar "crust" and ice cream. Unfortunately, (I think that's it) I'm having nervous "school's about to start" stomach, so my appetite is a bit suppressed, but everything was tasty.

9-Man Chinese Volleyball

Here's one of my former students, out in the Bay Area for a volleyball tournament. There are 9 men on each side (mostly Chinese) and the court is a bit bigger than normal. The game has slightly different rules in terms of carrying the ball (i.e., you can) and the players don't rotate. I think the game was to 21, although there were 15 courts busy at any given time, so I was pretty distracted. So distracted that I was hit in the face with a volleyball that sent my phone flying. Yikes! But, I'm not embarrassed at all.

Coit Tower

I went up Coit Tower tower. It costs $4.50, which I believe is only worth it when you have a day like it was today...crystal clear. I took a picture looking at the Golden Gate bridge, because it's so beautiful. I love how you can walk around the city and you just get a glimpse of the bridge...out of nowhere. Makes me happy. I also took a picture of the Bay Bridge...with no cars on it!!! They closed the bridge for Labor Day. Apparently, they shut it down because Labor Day is traditionally when the bridge is traveled the least, so they do repairs on it.

Bob Dylan Was Here!!!

On a recommendation, I went to City Lights Bookstore in SF. They are open 10am-midnight everyday and just a really fun bookstore to browse. I loved that there were signs everywhere that said, "Sit down and read." For some reason, I can't find my copy of "Blue Highways," so I bought one so I could look up my favorite passage on page 215. "The annals of self discovery are full of errors that opened new worlds. Bell was working on an apparatus to aid the deaf when he invented the telephone; Edison was tinkering with the telephone when he invented the phonograph. If a man can keep alert and imaginative, an error is a possibility, a chance at something new; to him, wandering and wondering are part of the same process, and he is most mistaken, most in error, whenever he quits exploring." --William Least Heat-Moon

New Stadium (for me)

Went to see Stanford's opening football game against UCLA. It wasn't a pretty game, but the stadium is quite nice. This is not the same stadium that was here when I was in school. This is the second season of this stadium and while it's really nice, fancy, and clean, it's a bit too tall for my taste.