Happy New Year

Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year, on this beautiful California evening.

Music Lists

Back before podcasts, I listened to A LOT of full albums (I still buy CDs so that I can listen to them straight through, over and over). I'll spare you lots of words about each of these, but the chronology is here (although I wasn't always on the cutting edge).

(Note: I can't figure out what full albums I was listening to in 2000...the mix CD still ruled my life)

O Brother, Where Art Thou (soundtrack) - Baltimore '01-'02

Parachutes by Coldplay - Apt 1010, Baltimore '01-'02

Brushfire Fairytales by Sim Redmond Band - grad school, 2002, cruising around the campus, fun with JJB

Good Thoughts by Sim Redmond Band - grad school, 2002 vacation in Pebble Beach

Busted Stuff by Dave Matthews - grad school, 2002 driving on 280

Justified by Justin Timberlake - grad school 2003

Songs About Jane by Maroon 5 - grad school 2003, rainy winter at Hillsdale High

A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay - sunny days in Berkeley Spring 2003

Whoa, Nelly by Nelly Furtado - first semester of teaching, Fall 2003

Red Letter Days by The Wallflowers - lots of confused trips between Cambridge and MetroWest in Fall 2003

Soul Journey by Gillian Welch - snowy NYC trip 2003...Whitinsville 2004

White Ladder by David Gray - Whitinsville, 2004

Nickelcreek (self-titled) - Whitinsville, 2004

Garden State (soundtrack) - this music changed my life, 2004

Feels Like Home by Norah Jones - busy work music in my aunt's NYC classroom, 2004

Skylight by Harpswell Sound - Maine 2004/5

The Eminem Show by Eminem - various times in the Saab but mostly on the Mass Pike, mid-aughts

The Creek Drank The Cradle by Iron & Wine - Winter '04-'05 in Somerville

We Were Here by Joshua Radin - Fall 2005 driving to and from field hockey games

Twilight by Twilight Singers - winter '04-'05...whoa...can't believe how long it's been

The Tigers Have Spoken by Neko Case - Brookline and/or Charlestown winter '05

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco - some nondescript time in Somerville '04-'06

Futuresex/Lovesound by Justin Timberlake - Fall 2006...good afterschool working in the classroom music

Loose by Nelly Furtado - seventh semester of teaching, Fall 2006

Trouble by Ray LaMontagne - winters, working, '06, '07

The Clarence Greenwood Recordings by Citizen Cope - Woods Hole trip 2007

Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams - various times, latter part of decade

Ongiara by Great Lake Swimmers - this album got me through many, many trips up to Tahoe and back in 2007 and one of the best opening songs of any album I know

The Story by Brandi Carlile - Cali road tripping summer 2008

West by Lucinda Williams - Fall 2008, losing daylight

Simple Times by Joshua Radin - Cali 2009

Together Through Life by Bob Dylan - cruisin' in Cali 2009

For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver - the 'Gucc 2009

Vampire Weekend (self-titled) - 'Gucc 2009

Viva La Vida by Coldplay - summer 2009

I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers - driving to and from school...the entire fall semester 2009

Songs of the Decade (49 of the 73 on my December playlist were able to be published in iTunes. I thought I had figured out how to make it work by using only songs that I owned, but if they are songs that don't match iTunes in the slightest way, they don't show up in the published iMix. You used to be able to drag and drop songs you didn't own into the mix and that would solve it...why must you prevent me from the drag and drop iTunes? Why?)

Sigh...

Link here!

Best Stuff

Wow...did we really just start a millenium this way? This was the decade of the Internet explosion and all that it entails, wars with many lands, and reality (and real competition) shows in the living rooms of all Americans. Kind of depressing when put that way. Coming up with the best stuff of the decade is tough because it's hard to think back to when I was a teenager and the time when we didn't have this stuff. I can hardly remember what that was like.

Best Stuff o' the Decade:

Podcasts - my vote for the best thing to come out of this decade, but I guess they wouldn't be as awesome without the ipod.

iPod

Blogs - obvi.

YouTube

Google!

Single camera comedies (and their stars - Fey, Carell, Braff, et al)

Honda Insight - paving the way for the Prius, which made it cool to drive hybrid

Tesla Roadster

The GPS as a personal electronic

Social networking - I could care less if Facebook and Twitter went away at the stroke of midnight, but Good Reads has changed my book reading for the better.

The rise of Whole Foods - you can have any kind of dietary restrictions under the sun and WhoFo understands

Comedic News (Onion, Daily Show, Colbert Report...)

Netflix

Obama

Point and Shoot Digital Cameras

Skype

Reviving Kafka

Texas Instruments software - changing how one can teach students mathematics and calculator functions

Non-BPA water bottles

Increased social and environmental responsibility

What I Could Do Without:

Cell phones everywhere...as if they have

Globalization - local shops closing and USPS losing ground

Twitter...why is everyone talking about this?

Photographs are hardly a physical thing anymore now

Book List

I met my goal of reading at least 12 books this year. It's far fewer than I'd like or really aspire to, but it's progress. Next year I hope to keep increasing my numbers.

Back before Good Reads was a site, I kept track of the books I read in a word document on my computer. With that and GR, here is my list of the best books I read in the last decade that I would read again in an instant. It's been some good reading. These are not necessarily published in the last decade, but just the best of what was in my hands in those ten years.

Angle of Repose - my mom's favorite book, and so thus, I love it too. It is simply a wonderfully told story of family, love, and land.

Everything is Illuminated - my favorite author and a ridiculously impressive first novel.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - a ridiculously strong follow-up to Illuminated

Botany of Desire - Pollan's best, in my opinion.

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers - I read a bunch of this book while on in the training room during the fall of my senior year in college. Hard to believe that was also in this decade. I'm a math nerd through and through and when I read about Ruth-Aaron numbers, I was in heaven.

Blue Highways - the book that made me want to explore the world. And the book that reminds me to accept myself.

It's Not About The Bike - I love reading about my heroes. This was the book that put Lance on that list.

Me Talk Pretty One Day - Sedaris made me one of his followers with this book, the first of his that I read.

Into The Wild - I read this is the summer of 2000, when I returned to being a reader (after 7 years of hating reading, mostly brought on by lack of interest in my assigned school reading and uninspiring English teachers). I believe this is Krakauer's finest. He tells this story so neatly and passionately.

Pre - I love books about my heroes and Steve Prefontaine inspires me to this day.

Honorable Mention (books I wouldn't read again, but still such great reads)

Monkey Wrench Gang - this book isn't a book I'd read again, but I just loved reading it at the time. I think those are the books I remember best...the ones I couldn't put down.

Life of Pi - it took me a few tries to get into this book, so it's barely making this list, but I really liked the story in the end. It's fun when at the end of the book you understand what the author was trying to do at the beginning.

Mountains Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder. Paul Farmer. Fantastic.

My Movies List

As many of you know, I love, love, love year end/decade end/century end/millennium end lists. I've been doing nothing but catching up on all of them from every source I can.

I'm working on lists of my own.

Movies I Loved This Decade:

Best of the Best - Movies I Would Watch Ad Naseum if I Owned Them:

Royal Tenenbaums (I do own it)

Garden State

O Brother, Where Art Thou

Almost Famous

Best In Show

Amelie (own it)

High Fidelity

Slumdog Millionaire

Wall - E

Winged Migration (but only because I have a big screen in my house)

The Rest - Movies Of The Last 10 Years that I Would Watch Right Now:

Darjeeling Limited

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Little Miss Sunshine

Good Night and Good Luck

Two Days In Paris

Aristocrats

Death To Smoochy

Step Up

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I Heart Huckabees

Spellbound

Stranger Than Fiction

Thank You For Smoking

Finding Nemo

Ratatouille

Helvetica

"Best" Movies I Haven't Seen (movies on the lists that I haven't seen and why):

There Will Be Blood - blood...ewww

No Country For Old Men - I hear this one has killing and/or dying

Lord of the Rings - sci fi...yikes!

City of God - huh?

Moulin Rouge - seems Andrew Lloyd Webber-ish

Brokeback Mountain - just didn't get the time

Pan's Labyrinth - is this anime? That's what my brain thinks.

25th Hour - huh?

Memento - potentially disturbing

Mulholland Drive - potentially disturbing

Kill Bill - potentially disturbing

Spirited Away - potentially anime

The Departed - killing and/or dying

The Hurt Locker - killing and dying and war

Together - huh?

Casino Royale - was this on someone's list? Never seen a Bond movie...didn't want to start now...

Grizzly Man - possible death and/or mauling

The Bourne Movies - possible moments where I'd be too nervous

Not Too Shabby

I was that kid who never had one of those license plates in the airport gift shop and someone whose name is perpetually misheard, misspelled, and mispronounced. It's nice to get some good name karma every now and then.

Today's New York Times crossword. #19 across. Amazing. With all the vowels in my name, it was only a matter of time before I saw this.

The rest of the puzzle is a work in progress.

Cracking

Finals week. Capital O M G! I can't even see straight or think straight. Here's all the fun stuff I am doing (and please don't say...oh but you get two weeks off and the rest of us don't get anything...because I'm apparently working at my other job every day that I'm not in Boston...so much for catching up on sleep and work):

Creating all the schedules and attendance sheets for the seniors during finals week

Planning review sessions for my Stats kids

Proctoring exams in the morning and running review sessions in the afternoon

Helping to hone a proposal for the math department's new direction

Taking pictures of students

Learning all 410 students' names

Planning the last 4 hours of school on Friday after the math final

Writing a math final (well, more like polishing)

Making my math final more accessible for my kids who have learning differences and difficulty with the English language

Writing pump up post-it notes for my kiddos

Trying to be Jewish...lighting candles every night

Attending work parties

Ordering pizza for the 30 kids I'll have at school from 5-8 pm tomorrow to study (what was I thinking?)

Creating a slide show of students for a naming competition that we will have on Friday

Crafting a mix CD for my friend (lots of pressure)

Trying to pull something together for the holidays

Trying to keep up appearances with some friends

Trying to keep my sanity and wake up when my alarm goes off

Trying to smile even when I don't want to

But I am not in the hospital trying to keep a pre-term baby in utero (thinking about you AH). And I am not JMac, who is moving to LA at the end of the semester and her husband packed all her underwear when he left the house on Tuesday. She has two more days until she is reunited...

But JMac wrote to me saying...if you weren't cracking jokes, I'd worry that you were cracking up. It's true. I'm trying to keep my sense of humor.

Happy birthday Ma! (And Beethoven!) I'm almost home...

Do Something

Assumptions:

People who are reading my blog know me personally.

If you read this and don't know me personally (or my family/friends personally), well, I'm not sure why you're reading my blog, but my political views come out every so often. If you don't agree, don't read.

You will pardon my incoherence (and help me correct it)...I am an overworked teacher, after all.

Okay, if you're still reading, I'm going to ask you to do something. You need to email your senators and representative right now and tell them what you think of their recent votes regarding the Health Care Bill. Right now, the Republicans are doing whatever they can to keep Health Care Reform from happening at all. The way I see it, Republicans are putting abortion bans in the bills (despite the laws already on the books) so that Democrats won't pass the bill as a whole. They are playing their cards so that the midterm elections are advantageous for them, without fully considering the needs of their constituents.

For the 54 Senators who voted on the side of civil rights today, they need our thanks and appreciation (especially those who are facing tough re-election battles next fall). You can head to Planned Parenthood to thank all the Senators who took Nelson-Hatch off the table.

Tonight, I went to a meeting of people in the area who are concerned about the implications of the Stupak Amendment in the House Health Care Reform Bill (the equivalent of Nelson-Hatch). One thing I heard loud and clear is that there are not a lot of young women involved in this fight right now. It's true, we haven't had to fight to get equality. I was playing soccer and baseball with the boys from an early age. I was never told that I couldn't be whatever I wanted. I never considered that I might not have access to the health care I needed and the advice of doctors about my health as a woman. I haven't had to take my friends to get illegal abortions. But there are a great many women alive today who continue the fight for women's rights and we must join them. We can't take their work for granted. We must continue to remind our politicians that they need to speak up for us women...we are more than half of this country.

But, I have had students who have been faced with the choice. And I know each of them made a choice. They didn't all choose an abortion, but I know they all made a choice. We cannot let this choice disappear for those who cannot afford private health insurance.

For every woman you know, for every woman whose voice is not as strong as yours, and for every girl that inherits the rights we currently maintain, rights that we must protect, send an email or get on the phone. Talk to your friends.

My guess is that you're like me and you haven't really heard of the Stupak and Nelson amendments until someone called it to your attention. Here are some links about women's health and the Stupak bill that I found interesting, but are not necessarily on both sides of the aisle.

Not Under The Bus

Rachel Maddow (oh, how I've missed you)

Kaiser Family Health Report

Five Thirty Eight Analysis

Erren

As a teacher, you sometimes connect with certain students and you realize: "I was meant to teach that student." (And I get such joy when I see students of mine connect with another teacher in a way that makes that student fell so important.) I have a few of those in my current class. Students who resonate with me as a person or a learner or who maybe just need someone like me to be on their side. These are usually students who inspire me to be at my best with them and I feel like a real teacher.

Today, one of my students was down. Everything about this student was screaming teen angst, or the like. I wrote an email with a quick note to "perk up" and "enjoy this one chance in your life to be a high school senior." I got a reply with "I've decided that I'm not going to act like that anymore."

Here's what I wrote in response. Sometimes I think I need to be my own teacher, too.

You have decided you can't act like that anymore? That sounds bold, which can be good. I think bold is good, but not brash. I'm sorry that unfortunate things led you to this conclusion, but just like humans are bad at random [AP Stats teacher in me always comes out], we often have a tough time making the best decisions. It often takes getting burned (a few times even) to really learn not to touch the stove (or put your chin too close to a cup of tea, in my case). I am sure that any of the adults you know, myself included, can make a longer list of mistakes we've made than great decisions. That's not to say that we're always screwing up in life, but making mistakes, learning from them and doing better...this is what makes us who we are to a large extent.

Coincidentally, I'm listening to Pandora and a song just came on called "Mistakes I Meant To Make." Song titles like this are just great.

And finally for you: my favorite quote from one of my favorite books. It's a book called Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. The book is autobiographical about a man who loses his job as a teacher and on the same day his wife, with whom he's separated, tells him about another man she's been seeing. Ugh! He basically gets in his camper van right away and sets off on an extended road trip...on only the blue highways, which refers to the color used on maps for the rural roads connecting towns (as opposed to the color used for major highways and interstates). The book is just fabulous. There are many books out there about trying to find yourself when so much seems lost, but I love this one the most because of his fabulous writing and how much he describes the land and its people.

p213...he starts thinking about errors that has led him to this place.

"The word error comes from a Middle English word, erren, which means "to wander about," as in the knight errant. The word evolved to mean "going astray" and that evolved to mean "mistake." ... The annals of scientific 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."

I don't believe that we are really meant to ever stop wandering in life and that means making mistakes. But learning from them has to be the most important part. At least that's what I tell myself. Potentially, we could stumble upon something wonderful in life while on a misguided journey that feels hopeless.

The very end of the book finds him at a gas station and the attendant says, "Where you coming from?"

He answers: "Where I've been."

Oh man. It's so good. I need to read this book again. And I need to delight in the wandering.

Home Stretch

With only a few holidays left in the year, I'm starting to get restless for some new goals. I completed all of mine for 2009 (except maybe not the "get out more on the weekends"...because how was that a SMART goal?), which makes me think I need a bit of a challenge this year. (SMART - specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.)

I will probably try to up some of the goals from last year...more riding, more running, and more books seems like a reasonable task.

Some other thoughts that are floating around:

Become a "Vegan Before 6pm." I don't think I'm ready to let go of animal products completely, but most of the time seems okay. The hitch on this is that I ride my bike a lot more when I don't have to deal with lunch and school lunch is definitely not vegan. This is a work in progress.

Get a little more into the bike stuff...you know, learn how to track stand, do a race (possibly cyclocross now that I know someone around here who does it), go on rides. But here is the conflict...do I want to be a runner or a cyclist? How does one manage both of those sports? I can't imagine how I would have added cycling to my life in the past semester as a teacher. Basically, CKB, I'm asking you how it's possible.

I was supposed to run a marathon today. One that I was training hard for up until mid-October. But this year has been, well...pretty awful at school. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and my job is enjoyable when I'm in the classroom, but it is literally all I do. I work seven days a week and at least 10 hours a day, if not 12 or 14 during the actual work week. I literally have no balance anymore. In the life gives you lemons analogy, I have put the lemons into a drawer in the fridge and am praying that they don't rot before I can deal with them. Actually more accurately...hopefully they don't rot before I am required to make lemonade for school.

I have had to resort to buying my lunch at school just so that I can have a little less on my plate and have time to ride to work. I have stopped running, just so I can get 7 hours of sleep instead of 5 or 6. It is with this track record that I have trouble thinking about the next 12 months. I honestly don't know how I will manage the next six months with sanity. I want to be a dedicated, consistent runner and I want to ride my fixed gear everywhere and I want to meet new friends and actually spend time with them and I want to be planned for school far in advance and when my kids ask me if I look nice because I have a date, I want to be able to say yes. I want to feel reliable and organized again. And I want to turn 30 in the presence of at least one person who I adore rather than by myself.

So maybe the only goal I should have for 2010 is to do whatever it takes to get my life back and get on track. I don't want to be at the end of 2010 wondering where I went wrong. But that is daunting to me. I have about 25 days to figure out where to start.

More Funny People

Here's the latest in people being very, very clever.

Fixie "Friends"

On Friday afternoon, a student told me, "You seem happier lately." I'm glad to know that's what it seems, but I'm not sure if it's true. One thing that could be the root is that I've been riding my fixed gear exclusively for the last few weeks (and commuted on it every day this week) and I am having a blast. Some background...a bunch of my students ride after school on Thursdays (mostly fixed gear riders but not all). They ask me to ride each week and every week I remind them that I have a conflicting faculty meeting. Here's a snippet from a conversation I had with another student on Thursday.

St: "Ms. D...so we're going riding tomorrow [Friday] after school?"

Me: "Ummm...we are?"

St: "Yeah."

Me: "Have we talked about this before?" (Now I'm getting confused that I'm losing my mind and memory.)

St: "No, but I thought if it sounded like it was already happening, it would be easier to get people to go."

Me: "Okay, great!"

So, yesterday afternoon, I hipstered up and joined the boys (the girls didn't have their bikes). One of the coolest things about my kids is the fact that they spend quite a bit of their time riding bikes. There are some of them who don't even have a driver's license because they really don't need one.

So we took off and headed for the bayshore area by our school. Business parks full of nice smooth roads for riding. When we went over the train tracks on the way and I dropped by chain (must have been too much slack), I had three young bike enthusiasts all over it. Literally, I just watched them as they fixed my bike. It was pretty cute. One thing that surprised me is that as I rode around with them, I can't remember hearing a single cuss word. And I don't think it was because I was there (given that my presence doesn't seem to stop most teenagers I know). What a relief to know that there are some youngins out there who keep it clean. Although I was told I couldn't talk about math. Noted.

We saw two awesome things: A sign at a boathouse that read "Warning: Watercraft may come out of the blue" and some mini train cars (about the size of a large bathtub) on a mini train track.

We got back to the school, brought our bikes in to find that a DJ 101 course was happening. It was not an official class, but a 9th grader from our sister school came over to get some tips from our Finnish exchange student and DJ. Bizarrely, this was a spectator sport for anyone else in the school at the time. I tried to practice track stands in the meantime...so far, not so good. And I illegally rode my bike around school (we have a rule about no wheels in the building but less than 10% of our population was still around).

Some other funny school things. In the past few weeks, I have signed a few contracts with students about work. These are not contracts that I have initiated. These are contracts that my students have asked me to sign. One was completely normal about what does the student need to do to improve her grade. The other was kind of a riot. I have been avoiding "high-fiving" all year to try to limit contact to germs. Instead, I'll fist bump or "high-elbow" instead. I have one student who cannot handle this. So, he asked if I'd agree to a contract: unlimited high fives for as long as he kept up on his schoolwork (homework, passing tests, etc.). I signed it. He's still on track and I'm not sick yet. Win win.

Two weeks left before first semester is over. So awesome and so scary.

Viruses...The Good Kind

On Wednesday night, I got the greatest email. It was from a collegue and she asked, "Can we use these with our students?" They are the best viral videos of the week (and one of the best campaigns I've seen in a while): LG's Give it a Ponder campaign. And yes, my students will be watching.

Meow

The Honeysuckle Twins

Brush Your Teeth

Steamy

Off Script

I love this time of year and decade. The Soy Nog and seltzer and keeping me well hydrated for all the "end of a significant period of time" lists out there.

I'll keep you posted on my favorites as they come up. Here is the first that you must check out: Newsweek's "When Life Went Off-Script." The top ten of the naughts and they are some pretty good ones. Of course, what would we do without YouTube...without which we wouldn't have already seen these ad nauseum. But the commentary is fun.

If you want the short version...the decade in 7 minutes is here. They have a bunch of great lists. "Unknown in '99, Indispensable Now" is just crazy to think about.

New Look

I am not as on top of this as my friend AS always is, but here is a shot of my new do. Given that I don't have a husband to take pictures like she does, I am happy that my new computer has a webcam to do it for me. I don't have a before picture, but my hair was a lot longer and a lot lighter in color. Also, my chin didn't have a burn on it. Seeing this picture makes me think that I should have gone a touch shorter on the hair. The haircut is pretty drastic for me...I've had my hair about 6 inches longer than this for three years or so. I'm excited to go back to something short.

I was thinking today that not many people go their job and encounter 450 people who know them by name (and it's a mutual acquaintance) like I do. So, when I walk into school with a new haircut and a burn on my chin, I am asked about both by approximately 100 people. No lie. I have two different stories about the burn that I tell. I started by telling people the truth. That I was so cold in my house (since I don't turn on the heat) that I was trying to warm up with some tea and that I was holding it close to my face to warm from the steam and that I got too close and burned my chin on the water. That's what actually happened. But after having multiple people laugh hysterically in my face (with no signs of remorse for doing so), I started saying that I crashed my bike. People don't laugh in your face when you tell them that.

But the nice part about having a big work family is that there are many, many people to compliment you on your new haircut. The response is overwhelmingly positive, which makes me feel great. If you aren't around a teacher all the time, you might not know that we are at one of the low points of the year emotionally. It's tough trying to get to winter break...the kids are restless, they are tired, and they aren't scared of failing anymore (because they have settled into the year and the failures have possibly happened already). So, to walk into work and have tons of people tell you that you look great just makes things so much better and I've been pretty positive this week.

So, if you know a teacher, other than me, give them a compliment, send them a card, write them a poem, buy them a cookie...whatever you think might help. One of my friends sent me an award for the Hippest Teacher in CA, due to my fixed gear riding. I don't think I am really remotely close to hip, but it definitely made my day and got me through the next one.

I'm totally on a Wes Anderson kick. Have been watching Darjeeling Limited and Royal Tenenbaums lately and hope to see Mr. Fox again so I can analyze. One of my kiddos asked me which WA movie was my favorite and when doing so, I realized some commonalities that I'd like to investigate in other films so I can write about them. And another student and I are doing our Intersession book club and reading "Cat's Cradle." I'm so appreciative of my cool kids, even if they could stand to a bit work harder in school.

The Goings On

Here are some life updates:

I have yet to mention that I was at "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" on opening day. This may shock those who know me well. I have never read Twilight nor seen the movie. In fact, I bypass everything related to R-Patz on Perez. I don't know what Team I'm on. Team Good Writing? Is that possible here? Doesn't seem like it.

So, why was I there? I have some great teacher friends who are into the books and I just wanted the girl time. After years of refusing to get on the bandwagon...with Titanic and Harry Potter, for example...I am starting to cave. Mostly because I don't know what else to do. But, I did get some fun hours with my friends, which makes me feel better about the world.

My thoughts on the flick: It was entertaining but not good. I was scoffing out loud at the dialogue (and why did I learn to spell dialogue this way?). The writing was completely ridiculous. But, I see why people like the story. Us ladies love the romance. And after being at the theatre on opening day with all the screaming girls (literally...screaming the whole time), I already have the next in the saga on my calendar for June. It was kind of like being at "Up" with all the kids. It's just a better movie-going experience when everyone around you is fully engaged and has been holding their breath for this day. The theatre was about three-quarters full, but as soon as we excited (around 7pm), the lobby was busting. Busting! I have never seen so many people at the movies before. We saw about 25 of our students. Some of them, I wish we hadn't seen. But that's because of their state, not ours. Ugh!

My new laptop comes Tuesday. I'm so excited about a battery that is not dead (I have been unable to leave my room with my computer since May), Windows 7, and all the hard drive space I should need for the next three years. And it has a web cam...so video Skyping can commence! Did I really need a new computer? Of course not. But, I think it is going to make my life a bit easier. And I need that these days. I'm looking for anything I can get.

And for the record, I love my name. I wouldn't change it for anything (except I wish people knew how to spell it when I say it). And mom says that about 1.39% of people have B negative blood. That's cool, right?

Working in a retail store, I have now learned how to shoplift. I will not share this knowledge, nor will I attempt anything even close, but it's knowledge nonetheless.

I burned my chin today. I got a bit too close to my cup of tea as I was trying to warm up. So, I have a nice linear blister on my chin. And I have a new haircut. Short (shoulder-length) and darker...I had to get rid of that box color that PP convinced me to do last summer.

I am faking positivity these days. This year at school is about a 5.5 out of 10. 5.5 because it's more good than bad, but I think I've rated it pretty accurately. For the first time in my career, I don't want to go to school tomorrow. Sad.

Here's to riding the fixed gear this week and doing my best to avoid animal products. More to come when I have time.

November Playlist!!

I'm still trying to figure out how to make a playlist as easily as I used to in iTunes. imeem is not the best way, but I needed to get this playlist created, at least for the sake of posterity. I miss the drag and drop of iTunes and the fact that I could just go in there during the month and add a song. There's a lot of good music out there...and even more music that I just like to listen to, whether it is good or not.

So, here's the link to the November Mix. Since I had so many difficulties with getting this mix together, this is to serve for October and November. If you click on the link, you need an account with imeem. But it seems as if I've embedded it here so you can listen to samples of the songs without an account (but this is not compatible with something like Google Reader, so you need to open up my blog...I know...). I'm sure someone out there will help me figure out how to do this better.

More Of The Same 11.09

A bit about the mix:

Everything My Morning Jacket and The Weepies do makes me happy.

A few songs by Phoenix...one of my new favorite groups. Another KEXP discovery.

A few of these are songs I heard while watching copious episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" this weekend. Why didn't anyone tell me about that show before? NPH and Jason Segel? Paradise. And NPH deserves awards upon awards.

Jason Schwartzman continues to make the mix lists. I heart him (Bored to Death and Fantastic Mr. Fox are both excellent).

Paolo Nutini has been one my love list since "New Shoes" and I stumbled on this today while looking for another song called Rewind, also on here, and I quite like it.

Beyonce and OneRepublic...what can I say. I'm a sucker for some pop. I didn't mean for there to be three OneRepublic songs, but I'm not going to fiddle with it now.

Zoe Muth & LiliAna Rose are two newbies that I really like.

OCMS & Death Cab never go out of style.

Wes Style

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope the sides are good and the pies are a-plenty. And I highly suggest you see Fantastic Mr. Fox. It is just delightful and funny and, of course, fantastic. The worst part was at the end, when the movie did not automatically replay. I never read the book as a kid, one of the few Dahl books I didn't run across. I'm hoping to get through a lot of books, rec letters, crossword puzzles, and episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" this weekend.

This Explains A Lot

It's a miracle that my boss thinks I'm one of the most positive people at our school.

Exhibit A: My name translated means dark or bitter.

Exhibit B: And I just found out today that I got the worst combination of my parents' blood. They are O negative and B positive. My whole life, I've dreamed about being O neg or B positive. I would have taken O positive. But, of course, I am B negative. B negative?!?! I am walking around with 5 quarts of negativity? Ugh!

I consider it a major victory that I have yet to find myself standing on the side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

For The Win!

Last week, I was frantically trying to find out more about Jonathan Safran Foer's new book. There was some hubbub because of Natalie Portman's article at Huff Post that it was the reason she became vegan. I have a phenomenal local bookstore a few blocks from my house that attracts some great authors (Richard Russo and even Alicia Silverstone and Andre Agassi). I was desperately searching for book talks by JSF. All my searching led me to his talk at the SF JCC that I attended before my red eye on Thursday and a contest to win his book. At the JCC, I purchased his new book and had it signed by him. Today, I awoke to an email saying that I won a copy of the book through a website. I've won very few things in my life, but amazingly, when I have won things, it's something I actually would buy (or did buy) myself.

I just started Eating Animals after finishing Shooting Stars, LeBron James's book about his amateur basketball career. I really enjoyed reading James (assisted by Buzz Bissinger, of Friday Night Lights fame) and I can't wait to recommend it to some of my athletes. I'll let you all know if I become a vegetarian or vegan after this book.

I Was There!

Yes, I am a proud member of Red Sox Nation. But, I don't hate good athletes. That's just not in my blood.

So, I was at the Yankees parade today. Sure, we were 30 people back, but I did recognize Mariano Rivera.

Look who else was there! Yeah, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys Bridget Kelly (?) performed at the end of the parade. I didn't see them with my eyes, but heard them - the size of the crowds was pretty crazy in NYC. It might have been enough to send a Red Sox fan to Bellevue, but I was totally high on East Coast fall weather. It seemed as it everyone in New York was in blue. As much as I don't like the Yankees, it's pretty cool to see the whole city come out and for all types of people to be happy about the same thing. I was not too impressed by the number of school children who were roaming the streets instead of being in class.

Pictures will be posted at some point soon.

Why My Sister Moved To Chicago

In case you aren't constantly refreshing my social networking page. I'm pretty sure this was the draw for Little Duds.

Photo ID

Today, I only had 40 minutes to give blood (it actually took 50 minutes with all the paperwork, but only 7 of blood-draining time...don't faint AS). The first thing they asked was, "Can I see your photo ID?" I work in a really, really, really small school. Everyone knows each other, so we don't carry around IDs. But the blood-mobile people do not know me. I didn't have time to run out to my car to get the ID, but I did have my yearbook from senior year in my bag (high school girls are obsessed with stuff like this and a few asked me to bring mine in).

I used my senior picture as my picture ID. Did I mention I'm 29 and 4/12 today?

Awesome.

It's Not Real

Okay, so Freaks and Geeks took place at William McKinley High School. So does the new show Glee (which is one of my new favorites, despite what I believe to be blatant misogynism).

What's the deal? Of course, the Internet had something to say about it:

William McKinley High School was the setting of Freaks and Geeks, it's nice to see that they are paying a tribute to that show.

posted on May 22 2009, 10:18:39

it's not the same school. glee is set in Lima, Oh. Freaks and Geeks is set in Michigan.

posted on May 24 2009, 11:10:02

I beleive [sic] William Mckinley High School is a common school name, as most TV sitcoms use it, kinda of like Oceanic Airlines, and 555-5555 etc, President Name High School although used in the real world is used for some reason in movies / tv shows, like east, west, north, etc

posted on May 26 2009, 16:46:01

Ummm...person #2...do you know that neither of them are actual schools? I love the attention to detail, though.

Big Day

Today...

I turned 29 and 4/12.

I voted (first in line, of course).

I donated blood for the first time.

When I was in high school, I was on acne medicine that required me to get my blood tested every month. On the first day I had to get blood drawn, I was waiting for my mom to pick me up. It was snowing that day and I decided to wait outside (I love the snow). I was outside for maybe 30 minutes and my doctor was only about five minutes away. Because I was still so cold when I got to the appointment, it took foooorrrrreeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrrr to fill the vial. My blood was just not flowing. I've never been good with medical procedures...don't touch my knees, neck, or stick things down my throat...but that sealed the deal on needles. Since then, I was a disaster when it came to getting blood drawn.

What made today different? After 29 and 4/12 years? Today, the blood drive was at my school and I had tons of encouragement and support from my colleagues and kids. Two colleagues came and sat with me and one of my students changed his appointment so he could get blood drawn with me at lunch (I think he has a crush on me...but all the 16 and 17 year old boys love me...it's just the ones my age that don't even notice I exist). I was so grateful they were there; I couldn't have done it without them.

It's amazing how much you can do with a community supporting you. I was thinking that I definitely wouldn't have donated if I had to go to a random place and sit around with strangers. I hope we have another next semester.

Funny Guys

A few weeks ago, I saw Mike Burbiglia in SF. You may recognize his humor if you listen to This American Life. Here are some things he said:

"...that guy hates second halves of sentences."

"Do you ever ask someone for directions and know from the first sentence that you're not going to use those directions? You thought you knew nothing, but this person knows less than nothing. You're dealing in negative integers of information."

"[in high school], you'd call anything gay. You'd call Geometry gay, which is one of the gayer maths."

I love all the math references!

Last night, I saw David Sedaris in San Jose. He read some new stories and diary entries. I hope those diary entries are in a book at some point. Sedaris will be coming out with a new book in about a year, which is most excellent news. He had the audience in stitches, so get excited for the book release. Here are my favorite lines of his:

About his upcoming book: "Its a book of fables because my morals are weak."

"For no reason in particular and every reason in general."

"His family aside, when would he have the time [to be gay]?"

"Sometimes things happen and I don't know what to do with my face." This describes my life in a nutshell.

Brief update: Haven't been running in weeks because my life just won't let me. If there's one success for me right now, it's that my total "still to deal with email" count is down to I haven't forgotten about the October mix, but the new iTunes won't let me create playlists with songs I haven't bought yet. Which means it hasn't been as easy to remind myself of the songs I liked that month. Do they know they are killing their business? I am like free advertising?!?! Oh well...I'm still trying to find a work-around, so hopefully I'll have an October/November mix.

I'm going to see Jonathan Safran Foer on Thursday night before I catch a plane to NYC. JSF is my favorite author...if you haven't read Everything Is Illuminated or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I could not recommend them more highly. He has a new non-fiction book out called Eating Animals which apparently has turned Natalie Portman vegan.

Cross your fingers that there won't be a World Series parade for me to pout about while I'm in the Big Apple.

Bring It All Back

I had a great day in Sonoma this weekend...and after taking a picture each hour to share with you, my computer decided to delete them from my camera without downloading them. Imagine fall in Sonoma and you'll get the idea.

Here's a video that gave me goosebumps. I can't wait to see the movie so I can relive my life one year ago (when HBO lets us poor people at it).

See Ya, SIGG

Just in case you didn't know (I've been surprised how many people haven't heard...but then again, I didn't hear that all these T-Mobile customers lost their contacts or something like that)...Sigg bottles contain BPA. You have until Oct 31 to deal with this...take them back to where you bought it (not sure if you need a receipt) or send them back to Sigg. If you're lucky like me, you have a store nearby (Sports Basement for me) that will just take the bottles back.

You see...I never was into Siggs. Here's why...an email exchange between SIGG and a a friend of a friend of a...something. These emails are from March 2007.

From Sigg:

I am not aware of any major changes to our liner in the last 2 years as you mention – I’d be interested in seeing the reports you are referring to.While the ingredients of the SIGG liner are proprietary, I can tell you that our bottles are tested frequently in Quality Control as well as in independent laboratories. In all the tests, SIGG bottles show no migration of chemicals, no trace of BPA. SIGGs are safe and I believe are the best reusable water bottles on the market.

From customer:
Thank you - my question was not about migration of BPA, the question was whether BPA is used in the liner. No one seems to respond to that - is there any information you can provide?

From SIGG:
It’s a proprietary formula – I’ve been told best on earth – exclusively manufactured for bottles. It is a competitive advantage for SIGG and therefore the ingredients are kept confidential.
But isn’t the real issue to ensure that what you and your family are drinking is free of any chemicals. I know the issues surrounding polycarbonate #7 (Lexan) have to do with the problems these containers have with migration of the materials, chemicals. On the other hand, numerous research studies show SIGGs are leach-free.

I want to call attention to a few things. One, I am not trying to flame SIGG. They have attempted to make a good product and been successful, most obviously with their branding. For some reasons, I do not wish this to be the complete downfall of the brand, but really? They refused to answer the questions posed by this consumer. That's number two. They are treating this customer as if she has no intelligence. What a shame.

As a result of these emails back in 2007, I had no interest in supporting this company. If they couldn't say they were BPA free, I didn't want one. I do not appreciate things that sound like lawyer-ese anyway in these situations. SIGG could have been the ones to make their reputation. Well, I guess they did this. They now have a reputation of being untrustworthy.

So, I have not been too jazzed about them, but, I got one in an emergency while I was traveling (that is, I didn't have a bottle). I liked that it didn't seem to dent as easily so I got another for school (since the Kleen Kanteen I have got so dented on the job that it wouldn't even stand up straight it was so dented). Then I got a third as a gift.

Then the BPA scandal. I was officially done. I had given them a chance and they failed. So, I took my three bottles to Sports Basement and they told me I could exchange them for three bottles of any brand that I desired. So three more Kleen Kanteens for me! At least Sports Basement knows how to take care of its customers.

Soggy Cobwebs and Heavy Feet

Biblical rain, my friends. And I couldn't be happier. I love the rain. Love, love, love it.

Buuuuutttt....there are some reasons why I Can't Stand The Rain:

1. I can't put my laundry on the line. Thankfully, I didn't this weekend (because I knew the rain was coming) so my laundry is almost dry, rather than being sopping wet.

2. My goal to get back on the bike this week is not looking good.

3. No offense, but I really dislike Halloween decorations beyond a pumpkin...and soggy cobwebs really make me gag. Of course yuppie Silicon Valley is now adorned in very, very soggy cobwebs. One way to stay skinny...

4. Running long distances is fun in the rain because you can feel like a bad a**, but today my shoes became very, very water-logged and as a result, felt very, very heavy for my last mile of eight.

5. Our nice landscaping at school washed away...I guess the landscapers didn't get the drainage right and so there's mulch floating on a small pond of water. Oh and our school's roof leaks!

6. My kids don't know what I'm doing when I sing "Blame It On The Rain." (Does anyone think this is a tragedy...or at least a tragedy that you can't buy the song sung by Milli Vanilli on iTunes?)

But I still love the rain because it makes California a little more real and a little less perfect.

Shout outs:

1. Newark Mayor Cory Booker. He was on my favorite radio program last week (On Point) and on my run today, I was completely hanging on every word he said. He is completely inspiring, even if he is a politician (he does go out with police in the middle of the night to talk to drug dealers). Two sound bites that I'm sure should be attributed to someone else, but seem completely relevant to the job I try to do every day. I am going to watch "Street Fight" about his first run for office. And apparently everyone already knows about him, but I didn't and he could make me move to Newark. JK!

Quotes:

"If you want the results that other people aren't getting, you have to be willing to do the things that other people aren't doing."

"You cannot let your inability to do everything undermine your determination to do something."

2. The NYC PS 22 Chorus...rocking "Run This Town." These kids are in 4th grade?!?!

Run Down

This will be a run down, but since I love post titles that multi-task, it also describes how I'm feeling these days (months?). But, I'm trying to keep my positivity ratio at 3:1. I think I am successful here.

The scoop:

1. Working about 70 hours a week and resenting that.

2. Haven't seen my best friend in weeks.

3. "Ran" 20 miles on Sunday...that is...I did well for about 14 miles and then had Deja Vu of my marathon for the last six. Good thing I had so many podcasts to listen to. I'm feeling okay about this hiccup in the running plan. 20 miles is a long way and I have two months to get ready for Sacto. I need to figure out my fueling plan. The Clif Bloks don't seem to be working with my stomach.

4. Killed a 9 mile threshold workout this morning and felt great! Thank goodness for that.

5. I love the fall! It was overcast all day and I had the day off...my teacher friend came over and we worked until the cows came home. I followed Bec's 45 minutes on - 15 minutes off strategy and it was successful. I work so well when it's overcast, although I'm not the best people person.

6. Reading the LeBron James memoir and I can't wait to pass it along to some students.

7. Booked my Veteran's Day weekend flight to NYC for some time with Chapin girls, Jews, and Blue Jays.

8. Things I would have rather been doing this weekend instead of just trying to get my life back to normal: Been in Boston for the Tufts 10K, been in Chicago for the marathon, been in Tahoe for a hike, or been in Hawai'i because I think that's what I could use right now.

5770 is kicking me in the rear end. What gives?

Miss you all! I'll be back soon.

Shout outs to: Mr. Lee for a new baby, Hess Express and Lopez for helping me Save The Date. And to Jim and Pam for tying the fictional knot. One of the best Office scenes ever. Hopefully this clip will make you smile just a bit.

You Said It

Right before heading off to sleep...this quote came into my inbox:

Even after all these years, running continues to amaze me. Mostly in its ability to clarify - to make things OK and bring you back down to earth, even when things are insane. Especially when things are insane.

Mark Remy, Executive Editor, runnersworld.com

What about when things are beyond insane. Like insane that's gone insane?

The Tsunami Warning Playlist

Here's the playlist that will get you through a tsunami warning. No time for earthquakes here, were dealing with the big waves. Stay out of the water, don't go surfing, don't chase mermaids back into the sea. That noodle you bought at Wal-Mart and the arm floaties from the 80's won't save you now. Run for the hills. Oh wait...we're surrounded by water. Sigh...

And, here's the belated Newport soundtrack that I put together.

And today, I learned that cops are scary (but indirectly...don't worry...I'm not the one in trouble). By the way, what do cops/law enforcement officers do with drugs they confiscate?

For those of you who are trying to prevent Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and those two Google dudes from owning you, here are images of the mixes. I don't have time to make them a normal, readable size, but if you click on them, you'll be able to read the text, I assure you.

All The Single Babies

I'm sure most of you have seen these videos. But for lack of time to create my own content, I'm posting these. After enjoying four of my male colleagues recreate this video at our school Talent Show and then seeing it this week done by the football team on "Glee," this video is hot. I forget where I heard it, but I think someone said recently that this is "one of the best videos of all time." The babies sure seem to think so.

New Years

Just in time for the Jewish New Year, I've nearly completed my Secular New Year goals.

1. I've commuted 600 miles on my bike.

2. I hiked Half Dome.

3. Turning 29 has not ruined my life.

4. I am doing an okay job of getting out on the weekends (for example, September events have been a trip to the East Coast for a wedding, Rosh Hashana and Shabbat dinner in Berkeley, and a birthday party in the city).

5. And yesterday, I completed my 1000th running mile of the year! I am still running happy and looking forward to finding some races to do in the next month.

What's left? I have read ten books and listened to one. I'm trying to get to at least 12 books this year, but ideally, I'd like to complete at least one book each month until 2010. I have a great stack to choose from, I just need to get my work life under control.

For the Jewish New Year, I'm trying to decide character goals for 5770. I love having the Days of Awe (between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) of focused reflection time. If only I had the week off from work.

Tested

I woke up after seven hours of sleep and forced myself into running shoes. I made a last minute decision to do loops in my neighborhood, rather than venture into the foothills. Five mile easy, five miles fartlek of alternating minutes at 7:40 pace and easy, six miles easy, then two miles hard. Hard is a relative word after you've run 16 miles. Somehow, after four weeks of sleep deprivation and literally nothing but work and running, I was able to pull off 18 miles at 8:20 pace. Admittedly, I was feeling time pressure this morning to get to temple on time, but this workout gave me a litle more confidence for year 5770.

I finished my run, darted into the shower, threw on some heels and lip gloss and booked it to Stanford for the Hillel service. I probably should be going to the Conservative/Orthadox services, but I was with Reform/Reconstructionist community. The more time I spend in the West Coast Reform/Reconstructionist world, the more I realize that either I grew up Reform-Conservative or the East Coast is, by nature, more conservative. The Reform Jews out here recite prayers to melodies that are unfamiliar and people came in one, two, and three hours late (four hours of temple today, my friends), dressed all too casual for my High Holiday ideals.

I did appreciate that the Rabbi invited everyone up for an aliyah (the blessing before and after reading a portion of the Torah). The different aliyot were for anyone who had felt tested, present, blessed, or loss/fear in the past year. I decided that while I could probably participate in any of these groups, the most salient feeling of the last year is that I'm being tested (certainly this morning's workout was a big test...one that tells me I need to back off on my training for a bit and run slow, even though I'm happy to realize my fitness is good). It's not all testing in a negative sense, but I definitely feel as though I'm supposed to figure something out from my life and I just haven't yet. It definitely feels like a test to try to figure out how to spend my time well...I want to run, bike, row, enjoy time with friends, write letters read books, read the paper, and listen to my favorite podcasts and music...but I haven't been able to do all of these things consistently or well. I don't know how people do it. If I did, I'd try to learn from them, I hope.

As happens every year out here, the High Holidays remind me that I like being Jewish and wish I had more of a community here. Last year's desire to go to temple more did not happen with the election and intense marathon training. I'm hoping to explore the Bay Area's Jewish community this year, but I definitely am nervous about not finding something as meaningful as what I had in Boston. But, optimism remains. It has to.

I've Had...

...no time to go to the bathroom, let alone blog. I'm doing what I can to be the best Statistics teacher, math support teacher, high school exit exam preparer, athletic director, teacher-leader, and mentor that I can be. Everything else in my life (reader, friend, daughter, sister, cyclist, cook, paper-reader, letter-writer, crossword-doer) will have to wait. Except running. I'm up to 50 miles a week with 6.5 weeks down in the 18-week program I designed.

But I've also had the time of my life.

East Coast Swing

One of my most favorite people in the whole, wide world got married this weekend. I spent only 48 hours on the ground in New England, but they were wonderful and filled with love. Note: I am still so, so, so tired, so I didn't edit this. Let me know if it's completely unreadable.

I took the red eye and landed in Boston around 8am on Saturday. I caught the bus up to Durham, NH where my aunt picked me up. I was nearly though my book, "Touching Spirit Bear," which is the first book my 9th graders read. I want to make sure I know what they are up to...

My aunt picked me up in the Miata and I was grateful for the fresh air in my face. I was so exhausted after my school's two day camping trip (read: no sleep) and the red eye (read: still no sleep). I got some food in my belly before getting in another vehicle to drive the two hours to Squam Lake.

I drove to Kate's house to have lunch with all the girls. Kate's parents just built a house on the lake and it was the most relaxing place to be after so much travel. And I was as happy as a clam to see Kate and Jenn run up the path to greet me.

After lunch, we went to the camp, where the wedding was to take place. Most everyone would be staying there for the weekend and taking part in all the activities.

We checked in and immediately made our way to the water.

Here's Kelly enjoying the dock as soon as we arrived.

This was the view right outside our door. Jenny, Kelly, and I (all teammates in college with Jenn, Kate, and Chrissie) were staying in adjoining rooms with a shared bathroom. It was totally camp cozy. When we checked in, we got a goody bag, that had a facebook of all the guests staying at the camp for the wedding. And everytime I referenced the facebook, no one knew what I meant. Let me break it down for you. The website "Facebook" is actually named for a real object, which is like a yearbook that you get at the beginning of the school year. It's called a facebook because it has everyone's picture in it (and usually their hometown and maybe their major). At Hopkins, we could become quite obsessed with these, especially the annual sports team facebooks (ehem, lacrosse). Some people liked them to remain pristine and other people liked to cut out the cute boys (or maybe they were cutting out the bad boys...I don't know...it wasn't my thing). I wonder if there is still such a thing as the paper facebook. The electronic facebook is pretty great...I get to keep in touch with people who I think are fabulous, even if I'm not that close to them. After checking out who was going to be there (and catching up with some guys I met in my first few weeks at the Hop), we got ready to join the wedding party for dinner and a contra dance.

Jenn married Rob. Here's the story of how I know Rob. Rob lived on the same floor as the first guy I dated at Hopkins. His name was Peter and we met during some orientation game where you had to group by birthday. He and I share a birthday and you can figure out the rest. We didn't last very long, but he had nice friends who I got to know fairly well in those first few weeks and were always nice to me when I saw them around during our years in Baltimore. The whole group of boys pledged the same fraternity, so they stayed very close. Jenn and Rob started dating in New York after she graduated (a year behind me and these boys). I haven't been back to any of our reunions (I see the people I want to see in the meantime), so it was fun to see some people who knew me when.

Here's Jenny, making som mischief by ringing the fire bell. Oops!

All the Hopkins girls after the Contra Dance. I love all sorts of dancing, but Contra Dances are very special to me, because it reminds me of my summers in Maine. I don't think I get much happier than seeing the girls I love from college. The line-up here are in the following places: Groton, Connecticut; Charlottesville, Virginia; NYC; NYC; San Clemente, CA; Silicon Valley, CA;Norwich, VT; Pomona, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; and Nashville, Tennesee. It's kind of crazy how much scatter has happened.

We were in bed around 10pm. Some people stayed up...I know this because the walls of this place were paper thin and my room was right next to the "rec room." I went to sleep hearing people talk about me...my headlamp (jealous, I'm sure) and how I knew the boys from freshman year.

On wedding day, I got up (not as early as I'd planned) and went for a run. I was so, so, so exhausted, that I didn't make it very far (I was supposed to run 16, but there was no way I was going to pull that off). We grabbed breakfast with the whole camp and tried to enjoy the outdoors before getting ready. It was rising up to 70 degrees for the day, but it was so windy in the morning. I couldn't even stand to sit out on the dock to read. So, I wandered into the bride's quarters to enjoy some girl time. Jenn had actually left me a book that I had just borrowed from school (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian...which I enjoyed a lot). After some fun catching up, and hair advice for Ryddie, I was off to get ready.

The women of the bridal party was taking pictures when we boarded the boat to the island. Yes. Jenn was married on an island. How awesome is that?!?!

Terry, Zack, Jenny, and Kelly enjoying the boat ride to Church Island. The boys here were making fun of us for wanting so many pictures. So, then we decided to just ham it up.

Church Island. We took this picture. Therefore, we were there.

We walked to the "church," which was pews set up outdoors, facing the lake, shaded by the trees. It was quite lovely.

Can you see Jenn's bouquet in the air? This is her "drive-by" before getting dropped off.

Five of the six bridesmaids. Lovely color on all of them. We have Sara (Rob's sister), Marisa & Amy, Jenn's roommates for most of college (from day one of freshman year...how cute!), Kate (teammate), and Emily (Rob's other sister). All the girls had the same color dress, but three styles were represented. I loved the look!

Why does the bridal party dress alike? To make it easier for the photographer, I think. We danced all night, even indulging Chrissie to do the Double Dutch...which is where you pretend to double dutch jump rope. I was skeptical, but it was so fun. The band was incredible...the lead singer was the white James Brown and the young(er) Mick Jagger. There was lots of blues and soul and just great dancing music. When they took breaks, they put on an ipod, which was a great combination with the band. I highly recommend a band with a few recordings thrown in. When JT's "What Goes Around" came on (not the most wedding appropriate), the girls were all out on the floor. This was not the wedding to meet your soulmate, as I think there was one single guy there, the 24 year old brother, but that meant it was the wedding for sweating on the dance floor. Actually, it was too cool to sweat. Can you believe that? I danced all night and hardly broke a sweat! Now I know when and where I need to get married to give myself a chance at not being a mess.

Here's the lovely couple, just a few hours married and 24 hours from a plane to France. Rob is wearing the lobster belt that Jenn made him. Is it any wonder why I love her so much? They are in Brooklyn for the time being, which means that I'm going to need to get myself there soon.

I was back in the car right after the wedding, back to my aunt's to get a few hours of sleep before my early morning flight back west. Everyone kept asking me how I like Cali and how long I'm going to be there. I never know what the answer is to those questions. But, I do know that when the pilot said, "We are now beginning our decent into San Francisco," I thought he had misspoke. I thought I was going to be landing in Boston for some reason. On well...I'll be back in December.