May Playlist

Here's the latest in the Playlists.

A few notes:

Goods and Book of Love are songs I have loved for years.  They are always in rotation.

Ottoman is from "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist."  After so many instances of hearing great 

Vampire Weekend songs, I'm going to have a get their album.

One Night In Bangkok is a shout out to my students.  They freakin' love techno.  I have heard this song a lot in the last few months.

Just Dance and Various Disgraces have been featured on The Office, so these songs serve to remind me how much that show makes me laugh.

Wonderwall...a cool cover by Ryan Adams.  I do love him.

John Doe and The Sadies...I heard them on Fresh Air.  Actually, I saw the Sadies back up Neko Case way back when and they are a totally great band on their own.  They collaborated with John Doe on a cool album of country classics.

New Baby!

Here's the newest addition to the Dudley family (West Coast division).  Lightning (my VDub) already likes her and she made enough room for her in the back so she could come home today.  I'm trying to come up with a good name.  The only thing I can think of is "Long Tall Sally" and I just don't like the name Sally.  So, any suggestions are welcome.  I wanted to take her for a spin to the grocery store, but I need to get the right locking devices before we go galavanting.

How did I end up with an xtracycle?  Well let's flash back to this post.  I posted a picture of an xtracycle...without even knowing what one was at that point.  And that was before I started commuting on my bike.  Reading that post now, it's so funny how nervous I was about it.  I remember talking my friend and telling her I might be emailing her with questions.

So, it's been about five months of steady commuting and I just love it.  I am always excited to get on my bike in the morning (mixed excitement at the end of the day, but once I get on the bike, I'm happy).  So, I'm ready for a full on lifestyle change.  I loathe using my car for my one mile trips to the grocery store, so I wanted something that would those car trips out of my life.  And yes, I thought of getting a bubbe cart, but it's just a smidge too far for that.  Back in December, I started saving $1 for every mile I put on the bike instead of my car.  The fund was to go towards a fixed gear.  I drained the fun (save $60) for this bike.  It's a steal, given that I paid less for this than I would for just the xtracycle extention and bags.  What's cool is that this purchase will speed up my savings to get back up to the amount I need for a fixie.  That's fine anyway; I need more time to figure out exactly the fixed gear I want and I really want one to have in time for the rainy season out here.  So, if I have one by November, that will be perfect.

Now the question is...what will I name this cute thing and who will be the first to get a ride on the back?

Oh, and I still love my car.  I just only want to take it out for trips more than 15 miles one way.  If it's 15 and under, I think I should try to bike.  I got my road bike fixed.  Somehow, the screw I ran over went through the tire, tube, and rim!  It punctured my rim, but only a bit and the guy at the bike shop said I don't need a new one.  So, $44 later, I was riding again.  Not too bad, I guess.

Paranormal Computer

I have been trying to buy a flight on AA.com for about an hour.  It's a flight I have on hold.  I go through all the steps to buy it and when I get the confirmation screen, it comfirms a flight I bought a few weeks ago, not this one.  I called American and tried to explain to the nice woman.  That's when I felt crazy.  I got off the phone, saying "It's proably just me.  It'll be fine," and then tried to buy it again.  Same thing.

My computer has a mind of its own right now.

Update: I just opened up Firefox and the same thing happened.  I'm going to bed.

Up To Something

Go see Up!!  I don't care what Manohla at the NYT says, this movie is just fabulous.  Whimsical, creative, touching, and funny.  It is everything you want a Pixar movie to be.  This was the weekend to see this movie.  The theatre was packed with kids.  Kids who like to talk along with the movie.  I loved the part in the movie where a character said: "They said I was a fraud." And then the girl three seats down from me said, "A frog!?!?"  

The characters in this film were great.  Russell was just so cute and innocent.  I loved every second of him.  Including: "Tents are hard" (after his failed attempt to set up a tent...Wilderness Explorers must not learn that).  Mekado Murphy NYT (different writer) calls him "annoyingly eager."  That pretty much seals the deal for me that I really hate reading film reviews.  They are never relevant for me.  I loved this little boy and all the excitement he brought to everything he saw and did.  We should all be so into life.

Carl, the old guy, comes around to young Russell and they develop a sweet friendship.  I was totally weepy during this film.  Carl had lost his wife and is trying to get his house to Paradise Falls.  It's a struggle.

(Pictures from Pixar's website.)

 I just wanted to show off my raccoon eyes.  I never got around to sunscreen this morning. I had it in my bag, but didn't actually apply.  I did have my sunglasses on all day and I'm glad to repor that they do a great job at blocking the sun.  I hate, hate, hate sun damage and I get really mad when I let things like this happen.  I had to take this picture to remind myself in the future why I need to be diligent about sun protection, in any form.  I've also realized that very few pictures exist of me because I'm always the one taking pictures of the things I do.  I don't know how to resolve that, as I do a lot of stuff on my own.  So, until I figure that out, I'll turn the camera around every so often.

I Made It!

Today was pretty epic for me.

I got up and started getting ready.  I had to make it to San Mateo by 10:30am.  I was going to ride my bike.  It's 13 miles from my house to Bec's school.  I made it there in about 55 minutes.  I got there just in time for the tree planting with the mayor and then the kids had booths set up where they talked about their environmental research projects.  The kids were so cute and really had a lot of great things to say.  I asked every kid what changes they've made in their lives after doing these reports (about recycling, BPA, global warming, food, deforestation, etc.).  It's great to listen to kids talk about how they and their families are now thinking about the environment when they go about their day to day lives.

This was one of my favorite posters.  I love how different fifth graders are from 11th.

Then, I got back on the bike and rode the three miles to the San Mateo Fair Grounds to take in the Maker Faire.  I parked in the bike valet (should have taken a picture of the bikes there...they were amazing...some locked to the fence, but 3 feet up in the air and all kinds) and made my way in. I got a free ticket by signing up as an educator, but it's $15 this year versus the $25 last year.  Recession?  I bet they were scared that no one would pay $25 this year.

I came across this first.  What is it?  I'm not totally sure.  A wagon car?  Whatever it is, it is beautiful!

Here's the pen guy in front of his pen car.  Yes, those are pens glued all over his car.  The wheels are done with highlighters.  Totally awesome!

Pinwheels galore.  I mean, there was just one amazing creation after another.  This is the second event (the Pow Wow being the other) that I've thought my mom should be out here enjoying this with me.

From here, I made my way into the Bizarre Bazaar.  It was crafts, crafts, crafts.  T-shirts, belts, cards, yarn, plates, dresses, posters.  You name it and you could get it.  And pretty much all of it was so cool.  One of the best areas of the bazaar was the clothing swap.  People did not just swap clothes, but there were sewing machines and the like so you could create clothes as well, from the used clothes that were turned in.  

To one side of the sewing area were the people of Patchwerk Press.  You got in line with a piece of clothing, told them which screen you wanted, and they printed it on your clothes.  It was awesome.  I wish I had a spare shirt on me.

Screenprinting in progress.

If I had a shirt, I would have printed this on it and then worn it to the Newport Folk Festival.  Or a bike, which they had as well.

Another sweet shirt that I would totally wear.  I did commit to spending no money at this event.  

Hula hooping!  This was the stress relief area (as it proclaimed).  Since hula hooping only stresses me out more, I didn't give it a whirl.  Pun intended.

Another sign of the recession?

Piano Liberation Front.  As far as I could tell, this guy had rigged the piano to be played (the strings were strum by those mechanical things) by a computer.  I thought the t-shirt was funny.

The Whirl-a-Gig (not its real name) thing that was made my the father of my student.  He made it for Burning Man last year.  The base twists around and goes up and down the pole in the center.  The genius is in the roller blade wheels that help the base go up and around the pole...motion in all directions!

This was right next door and it was the most beautiful thing I saw at the Faire.  The craftsmanship was exquisite.  Two people sit in the seats and just rotate around.  The builder has to get the weights of the two people just right for it to work, which he does with weights and a fanny pack of rocks.

No idea what this is.  How do you transport something like this?

This guy had a typewriter.  His sign said: "Poem Store.  Your topic.  Your price."  So awesome!

I hit the road in an effort to make it to see "Up" in 3-D.  About three miles into the 6 miles to the theatre, something felt weird...my bike went ca-chunk ca-chunk ca-chunk.  I pulled over and I had a flat.  I've never had a flat before.  I started to change it (which I couldn't, because I have weird tire levers and I couldn't get them to work) and thought, "How could I get a flat tire?  This is so strange."  This is what I saw (sorry for the lack of focus).

A screw went straight in to my tire.  Through the tire, tube and rim.  I may need a whole new wheel as it put a decent hole in the rim of the wheel.  I put my bike over my shoulder cyclo-cross style and made my way to El Camino Real, hoping for a bike shop nearby.  I sprinted when I saw the bus and hopped on.  I took it to the theatre, found out the movie was sold out, so I ate pizza on the sidewalk instead.  I got back on the bus and rode home.  I'll have to take the wheel in tomorrow and see what they can do (this is beyond what I should be fixing...even though I was just at the maker faire and am both inspired and intimidated by the craftsmenship of people in this world).  I am most likely purchasing an xtracycle (bike and all) tomorrow, so I'll be fine to ride for the rest of the week.

I'm off to see Up in 3-D!  What a great day.  I'm tired and a bit sun-kissed, but feeling great.  Now if only my laundry were folded and my room was clean.  That will be my job tomorrow morning before work.

Dam It! Well...maybe not.

On Thursday evening, I went with some weekend job folks up to Searsville, which is about five miles from my house.  Well, we sort of went to Searsville.  Searsville actually doesn't exist anymore.  It flooded as a result of either the intense logging in the hills or the dam.  People argue about that.

Here's the deal.  Back in 1890ish, the water company built a dam in Searsville.  About 25 years later, Stanford bought it.  It became a popular swimming spot and the water was piped to Stanford for agriculture, landscaping, and fire control.  It's now closed to the public and Stanford does a lot of research up there.  Stanford does not want to take the dam down right now.  They argue that the downstream area is too developed and we would risk flooding.  While all true, I think there has to be something political going on here.  

Stoecker Ecological intends to take down this dam.  Dams are one of those things that makes me sad to be a human.  We have just marched into places and basically ruined them for the animals around us.  In this case, it's the Steelhead trout.  They swim upstream and bang their head against this dam.  Gross.

It looks pretty from here, but when you learn more about what's going on here, it starts to look evil.  Steelhead migration is cut off because of this reservoir.  It is filled with sediment.  The dam is about 60 feet tall and the water is only 12 feet deep at this point.  It's basically a sediment trap and a breeding ground for non-native species (that is, ones not part of the original ecosystem).

After we hiked the area, we heard both sides of the dam argument.  The Stanford lab side (with all their charts and graphs) and the Stoecker side (with all the support of the environmental community to take down dams wherever possible).  This is an incredibly sticky issue, one that Matt Stoecker has been fighting for about ten years now, and he expects that it will take ten more to get the dam down.

Matt Stoecker's map of the area before the dam.  Curvy, curvy creeks...about seven of them, came into this gorge.  

There is a totally different ecological system now.  Bats and bullfrogs, as well as bass.  Trout that do get into the lake, do not last very long, as the bass eat them up.  And, if a trout does make it to the dam side of the reservoir, they are not likely to survive the fall down, as they bounce off the concrete steps of the dam.

It's such a tricky issue because of the peninsula is completely over-developed.  It's also tough because the watershed affects so many towns and runs through two different counties and on Stanford property.  There are a lot of stakeholders.  If they just tore the dam down, the lower lying communities would get the brunt of the impact.  The good thing is, there are different ways to take a dam down.  Stanford clearly has the money to do pretty much anything, so they could do some studies and go with the best plan, but they haven't done anything for the last ten years.  I'm going to have to figure out exactly why they don't want to invest in this project.  It would bring them international attention, as one of the leaders in urban dam removal.  Perhaps they aren't willing to give up the current research opportunities at the reservoir.  But, that can't be the entire story, as new research opportunities would exist when the creeks came back.

Matt is totally determined.  He grew up here, went to school here, fished here his whole life, and lives here now.  He is totally commited to restoring the wild to what it should be.  My weekend job company is doing what they can to help out.  We're (not sure who exactly) are going to intern with "Beyond Searsville Dam" to try to get awareness in the community.  I have never heard of this dam, so I'm guessing lots of others in the are haven't as well.  I'm excited for the time when all the rich homeowners downstream (I am downstream, but not rich, nor am I a homeowner) get wind of this and start fighting based on their possessions and not the environment.  That's when you see what people are made of.

Ironic thing of the day: As soon as I got in my car after the dam talk, I heard these words, "A dam collapsed in (somewhere) Brazil, killing four people."  I thought: That's one way to get rid of a dam!

Random fact of the day: Bicycle Polo was a demo event in the 1908 Olympics.

Polaroids

The New York Times requested readers to send Polaroid pictures.  Here is the gallery.  I could look at cool pictures all day long.  This one is by Christian Rebecchi.

Fancy, Fancy

On Thursday, I was in charge of community building for the group.  I decided we should do a potluck breakfast and write Happy Sheets!  It was awesome, if I do say so myself.  I brought a full bag of Menlo Park cherries and they were almost all gone by the end of the day.  We were aided by Howard's whipped cream trifecta: plain, vanilla, and amaretto.  I probably ate half of the cherries, mostly dunked in cream.

The group assembling.  DC is the only one responding to my request for smiles.

Here's Ernie.  He loves to eat and be cheesy.  It was also orange shirt day, unbeknownst to most of us.  Three faculty wore orange sports shirts (Durham Bulls, Bucknell Lacrosse, and Texas Longhorns).  I didn't get the memo.

We have a senior at our school who is a film maker.  He has done some awesome stuff, including an amazing zombie film starring all the senior teachers during Winter Intersession.  For this intersession, he is putting together a senior video for graduation.  Each mentor group was filmed for the video and on Thursday, it was time for the mentors to get involved.  The mentor groups each filmed at fun locations: at a small airport with a private plane, roller rink, trampoline place (not sure what this is), a yacht, etc.  I think they are trying to go all "I'm On A Boat" style for this.  The mentors (that's me) were told to wear formal wear for our shoot.

JMac...looking pretty from the neck up.  She was in on the orange shirt day.  In high school, her parents said she'd never be able to eat everything with chopsticks.  She's been proving them wrong for about 15 years now.

I am very serious about this Happy Sheet.  A Happy Sheet, a la Chewonki, is basically like a yearbook page that everyone signs at the end of the year.  I totally love them.  I am trying not to be obsessed with my smaller right eye.  Can I get that fixed?  This picture makes me think of Rushmore.  I don't know why.

Diego looking sharp for the shoot.

We did a lot of fierce walking.

 A lot.

We had a lot of fun shooting.  Only two weeks until graduation.  I can't wait.  I won't be wearing mascara that day, because I'm going to be a sobbing mess watching my mentees graduate.  Oh, and I bought mascara for the first time in my life for this shoot.  For the record, I'm almost 29.

GUR-ate?

Two weekends ago, Bec and I did the Great Urban Race in SF.  I haven't had a moment to blog about it, but there's not much of a story.  Basically, it's a scavenger hunt around the city.  You have clues that you have to decipher, go to the place indicated, and either take a picture or get something.  

It was fun to do this race, but spending 5 hours out in the heat (it was above 80 at least), pounding the concrete, is not my favorite thing.  We had fun, but by the end, I was spent, and I wouldn't call the race fun.  It's just not fun (for me) when you have no idea what you're supposed to be doing and no idea where you are in the race because you can do the clues in any order.  The last thing we had to do was 10 pushups and throwing a medicine ball and jumping rope.  I'm sure the look on my face when we were told this was priceless.  I had no interest in doing anything of the sort after 4+ hours running around the city.  I might have enjoyed it more if I did this in Boston, a city I know and love much more than SF.

Here we are indicating the answer to a math problem.  We were told to wear matching outfits, so I brought the pink running skirt for Bec.  We didn't win the race...we didn't even get all the clues right, but we did look pretty cute.

Yummy corn!  We had to eat it clean.

Take a picture of both teammates shaking a dog's paw.  This dog had already had three teams ask for his help on this one.

We are done.  And we were so sore the next day.

Math 08-09

Just for posterity, the math peeps of this year.  BB is leaving for the new school and it's likely that we won't have common planning time next year so we can increase student learning.  You know, no big deal.  KMc and I will find time to watch YouTube videos to cheer ourselves up regardless, I'm sure.

By the way, I should have taken a picture of how I took this picture.  I took the huge margarita shaker, put a bowl upside down on top, and then put the camera on top of that.  All of this was resting on some big wooden box next to our table.  I'm lucky my camera survived.

Two Amazing Videos!

1. My friends from high school are part of the LA comedy troupe Casual Mafia.  Here's one of their latest videos.  Ric Martinez is the stuffy guy in the brown blazer and Matty Doherty is the hippie with the long hair and the green sweater bouncing around in the background every so often.  You know I love the environment!

2. Horny Toad's blog told me about this.  The animator, PES, uses commonplace things to make spaghetti.  The animation will blow you away.  I really have no idea how this is made.

Pitty Party!

[Updated: I realized I could  do more with the post title, so I did.]

I resisted all urge to tag Dorian and Marge's garage with cherries as spraypaint today, like I did back when I was 12 or so to Grandma's house.  First rule of grafitti...never use your own name.  That's the lesson I learned back then in Colorado.  Actually, I learned that you probably shouldn't tag someone's house, even if it was only cherries because it's just not a nice thing to do.

This evening, I headed off to Dorian and Marge's house for an annual cherry picking weekend.  So far, they have about 75 pounds off the tree.  They were also showing each of the Terminator movies, one per night.  I got there around 6:30 and there were a bunch of people hard at work on the tree.  What's crazy is that it is just one tree.  Soon, it was just me with the tree and I got to work.  I packed up two large Ziplocs, while chatting with Marge about teaching and kids, and decided that I couldn't eat much more than that.  Now, I need to figure out what to do with these.  A good chunk will be in my stomach this week, but as someone said to me tonight, "Your intestines can only take so much."

I totally forgot to take pictures, despite purposefully having my camera.  So, I took a picture as soon as I got home, just after 10pm.  Here I am,  fresh off the bike, with my bounty.  Here I am, trying not to look too nerdy, but I don't think I met success on that front.

Reflection

For some reason, I don't want to sleep.  So, I started reading my old blog posts.  I did it because I was looking for a picture from my road trip up the coast and then I just got sucked in.  It might also be that this week was so intense at school.  It's our first week of Intersession and after two luxurious days of grading, we started working on our Strategic Plan.  That is, what do we want to be as an organization and are we going in the right direction?  After we figured all that out (just kidding), a group of us started to plan New Student Orientation for next fall and it did start off well.  It's all better now, but I was worried there for a little while.  Emotions are running high right now.  With Everest starting up, I think we're all unsure of how to feel about it.  We all put a lot of work and energy into helping it happen and all we want is for it to be a success and now a few of our teachers are going there.  In so many ways, it feels like Everest will be part of our school, but in so many ways, it's going to be totally separate.  We are losing three amazing faculty to Everest, which is so fantastic for Everest, but sad for us.  A lot of this emotion came to a boiling point this week, when we all started to see the reality of the future.  They are still our colleagues, but in a different way.  I am bummed about losing them as people I see every day.  That's my reflection on my week.

Now to the blog.  I'm not sure what's happened in the past 18 months, but I noticed some changes.  I'm writting much longer posts now than at the beginning.  I was much funnier back then.  And I seemed to be enjoying life a bit more and getting out into the world.  Not that my life is devoid of enjoyment now, but that was a clear theme back in the early days.  

So, I'm going to try to channel back to that person in the second half of 2007.  I don't know how successful I'll be, but I'm going to try.  I'm going to attempt to recommit myself to my intentions.

From my first post: I intend this to be the place where you all can come to find updates on me and life on the west coast. 

And from August of 2007: One of the original intentions of this blog was to inform you all about life on the west coast and to try to convince you to come visit. 

I don't think I've successfully convinced anyone to come visit.  I've seen my sister and my dad (when he was here on business), but that's basically it.  I know that I have no long-term plan and many of you keep thinking I'm just going to move back to the East Coast soon.  If I knew the plan, I'd tell you.  In the meantime, California is pretty great.  And I need friends to explore it with.  I just got a new tent (finally!) and the only place I can think of to sleep in it is my back yard.  That's pathetic.

Onward!

Fridigerators

Here is an excellent group of photographs of people's refrigerators.  Enjoy!

Free!

Today, I took a run in my new Nike Free 5.0s.  As you can see, no socks.  This is how I've been told to use the shoes.  I decided to do an experiment.  Left foot with BodyGlide, right foot was the control group.  And guess what?  My right foot has a blister on the arch.  Experiment conclusions: put on some BodyGlide with the shoes if you're going sockless.  And, it's pretty comfortable and preferable to go sockless in these shoes.

I've been wanting to try out the Frees for a while.  Granted, I'm on the heavier side for a female runner, but I do want to work on strengthening my feet and leg muscles as much as possible with the hopes of staving off injury.  I don't have enough grass in my backyard to get a running start and I don't like being barefoot on asphalt...and I really don't like being barefoot on cement.  So gross!  My opportunity came when I strolled into RRS and found these cuties in the back for $40.  

Nike Frees are built to simulate running barefoot, without you having to get splinters and glass in your foot (or the creepy feeling of cement underfoot).  They are incredibly lightweight, do not have a rigid heel to stabilize your ankle, and the tread is such that you can twist and move your foot in any direction.  I found them extremely comfortable to run in.  I could feel my feet and legs working hard, but not too hard.  I also felt fast.  These shoes are so light that I felt like I could really get my knees in the air and work today.

The shoes are built more for the neutral (regular arch) or underpronating (higher arch) runners.  I am not that runner.  However, I think if I use this for one or two short runs each week, I will get stronger.  We'll see.  They were $40 and when I bought them, I thought, worst case scenario, they become my grocery store shoes.  I love that pistachio color!

Heck Yeah!

I ran 4 miles today...first four consecutive miles since the marathon.  It felt tough, but I'm getting my running groove back.

My toughest student (the only one who is in danger of repeating) passed her quiz on Conics today.  Could you do that?  This is probably my biggest accomplishment all year.

My iPod is playing the most awesome shuffle of songs.  You know how sometimes you put it on shuffle and you just skip over song after song?  Not today...only the best today!

I will survive this school year...

Sum-What?

Friday was the best day ever:

Students wrote great evaluations of our courses...fall down 5pi/6 times, get up 11pi/12 was my favorite advice for future students.

Students wrote letters to incoming Huskies...great letters about how much they love our school.

Best Student of the Month ever...efficient, great students were recognized, and the kids were so supportive of each other.

Great 9th grade speeches preceded by lots of cheers.

Beautiful walk to lunch with my mentor group...I heart them.

First Ever Senior Showcase...so many talented seniors performed.  I was teary!

Pre-prom party at my house with about half the faculty making an appearance.

Getting ready with my colleagues...it felt like my junior prom again.  Except I wasn't throwing a tantrum about being made to wear make-up.  I willingly put on mascara, since P-squared told me to.  And she did my hair.

A wicked fun prom!  Dancing all night.  Blisters to prove it.

Go Figure

I am completely puzzled about this.  It's Bike To Work Day and I have never seen more stand still traffic on my bike route than today at 5:30pm.  I didn't leave any later or earlier than usual.  I probably passed 150 cars that were just sitting there.  Suckers!

I did see more cyclists today than usual and I received a goody bag of some snacks and a sweet bike map of the county for my effort on two wheels.

Pow Wow Alto

This weekend was the 38th annual Stanford Pow Wow.  I don't know much about the history of the event but people come from all over the west for this on Mother's Day Weekend.  It's probably one of the cooler weekends in my area.  There are hundreds of dancers of all ages and the ceremony of it all is beautiful.  I only got to stay for a bit during my lunch break, but I was mesmerized.  I'll have to spend a whole day there next year.  I haven't been before, but it didn't seem like the economy had too much of an effect.  The crowd was 10 deep around the dancing circle.

You can find some great pictures on Flickr, which is where I got this one.  I left my camera at home today...what was I thinking?  Thanks to ClatieK on Flickr for this one from last year's event.

Mmm...My Post Marathon Meal Remade

Last weekend, I had a great meal at Laughing Planet in Eugene after the marathon.  I ate the Soylent Green Bowl with a side of sweet potatoes and ever since, I've been wanting to eat more food like it.  I am three-trick pony when it comes to cooking.  I have my standards that are healthy and I love to make, but I don't have much beyond them.  I wanted to figure out how to make this awesome bowl of barley, quinoa, shitakes, broccoli, chard, and tempeh.  I went to the grocery store, and as much as I didn't want to cook tonight, I bought what I thought the ingredients would be.  I got home and googled "barley quinoa pilaf" and up came a website with the actual recipe from Laughing Planet.  

I couldn't find tempeh/I didn't look very hard so I just got some sesame tofu and I didn't make the pesto.  However, I did add roasted sweet potatoes to the mix.  Everyone is going to be jealous of my lunch tomorrow.  If someone wants to enlighten me on tofu and tempeh and how I can learn to incorporate them into my cooking, I would love to hear it.

The recipe below is courtesy of eugeneweekly.com.  Oh, and they have tons of dinosaur toys at Laughing Planet.  Leah and I almost wet our pants laughing at this cute girl who was cuddling with a triceratops like it was a stuffed dog.  But no, it was a hard plastic triceratops, about the size of her torso.

Soylent Green Bowl from Laughing Planet Café

• Barley Quinoa Shitake Pilaf (see recipe below)
• 12 oz. marinated grilled tempeh
• 1 lb. Steamed fresh broccoli
• 1 lb. Steamed fresh chard or collard greens
• Cilantro Pesto (see recipe below)

Cook the barley quinoa pilaf according to the recipe below. While it is cooking prepare the pesto and set aside. Wash and cut the vegetables. When you are ready to assemble the bowls heat the tempeh in a saute pan. Cook the vegetables in a steamer.

Place the barley mixture in the bottom of a bowl. Layer the steamed vegetables and tempeh on top of the barley. Top with 2 oz. pesto per bowl. Serve & enjoy. Serves 4.

 

Cilantro Pesto

• 1/2 c. toasted pumpkin seeds
• 1 oz. (by weight) fresh parsley (omit the stems as they are bitter and tough)
• 3 oz. (by weight) fresh cilantro(stems may be used, they have lots of flavor & are not tough)
• 1 1/2 t. minced fresh garlic
• 3 T. fresh lime juice
• 3/4 c. olive oil
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. black pepper

To toast the pumpkin seeds preheat oven to 350. Evenly spread the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet. Put them in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Wash the fresh herbs in cool water. Shake well to dry. Place all the

ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

 

Barley Quinoa Pilaf

• 1 c. pearl barley
• 3 1/4 c. vegetable broth
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 c. red quinoa
• 5 to 6 small Shitake mushrooms

Wash and slice the mushrooms. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes or until the water has been absorbed and the barley is tender.

You may need to add a little extra water if the barley is not soft. Set aside in a warm place until ready to serve.

50 Habitats

The latest installment of the 5o States Project on the theme "Habitat" has been posted.  I am amazed, again, by the collection of photographs.

Dreams Come True

I probably check the Internet for news about the Newport Folk Festival at least once a week.  There's been some trouble with getting the permits and the funding this year, I guess, so news has been hard to find.  I finally got something good today!  Tickets are on sale now and this year, I don't think I'll be able to choose between the two days...I'm doing both!  How could I choose between Neko Case and Gillian Welch?  Who's in?  I will be buying my two-day pass next weekend.  Any of you out there...let me know when I'll see you there (or be driving with you)!  

This is my heaven.

Newport Folk Festival lineup:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm
Fort Adams State Park, Harrison Avenue

Pete Seeger, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers, Billy Bragg, Iron & Wine, Mavis Staples, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Ben Kweller, The Low Anthem, Brett Dennen, Tift Merritt, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, Langhorne Slim

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm
Fort Adams State Park, Harrison Avenue

Pete Seeger with Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Neko Case, The Campbell Brothers, Josh Ritter, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Tim Eriksen & Shape Note Singers, Del McCoury, Guy Clark, David Rawlings Machine, Deer Tick, Balfa Toujours, Dala Girls, Joe Pug

Open Letter

I try not to get too specific about my school, but when I read this letter from my boss, I had to share it with you all.  On tough days, like the ones I've had lately, it's good to be reminded what I'm working for and who I'm working with.

Dear Friends, Family and Fellow Supporters of Public Education,

Last weekend, I had the honor of being a member of the Summit Prep twelve-person team in The Relay (http://www.therelay.com/).  Beginning in Calistoga and finishing in Santa Cruz, our team ran 199 miles in just over 24 hours during this annual event.

Most people are surprised to hear of my participation in The Relay.  The common response is “I didn’t know that you run.”  And the truth is…I don’t.  Or at least, I never had before.  So what possessed me to sign up?

Every day I expect students to do things they have never done before.  I expect them to do homework, come to school, work together, exhibit character, prepare for college, graduate and go!  A good number of my students view this list in the same way I looked at a 16.5 mile run…impossible. 

Today, I can credibly say that with hard work and the support of Summit Prep’s team, the impossible is possible.  And, our students are proving this to be true every day.

·         100% of Summit’s graduates are eligible for UC/CSU acceptance

·         96% of Summit’s first three graduating classes have applied to and been accepted to at least one four year college

For those of us who have gone to college and succeeded academically, Summit’s statistics may not seem that impressive.  But consider them in contrast to what is happening state-wide:

·         35% of California’s high school graduates are eligible for UC/CSU acceptance

·         16% of 18 to 24 year olds in the state are enrolled in a four year college

The link between the relative success or failure of American public education and our country’s economic health and prosperity is undeniable (http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/socialsector/achievementgap.asp).  And, our current systems are incapable of producing the results we need, no matter the quality of the people working in them.

Seven years ago the founders of Summit Prep challenged me to build a model high school that could fundamentally improve public education.  We’ve done that!  Summit Prep is the game changing new American high school (http://www.summitprep.net/).  

If I am lucky, I have 35 years to replicate the model on a large scale.  It can be done, but I need your help.  Currently, I find myself in the all too familiar, desperate start-up mode.  We know from experience that in the early days every person can make a difference and that as a team we will succeed.  Please consider running a leg of our race to start replicating and build a second school, Everest.  Give what you can (http://www.thesummitinstitute.org/), then add your experience with Summit to this note, and pass it on to everyone you know who cares about public education and the future of our country.  The need is urgent, but the opportunity for success is great.

Thank you so much for your support.

With much respect,

Diane

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can

change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Mead

Steel-Cut Oats for the Busy Set

I can't even see straight these days.  Indicator: 80 emails in my combined in boxes.  Remember how I like to keep it under 30?  Not happening right now.  So, I need any strategies in the book to be efficient.  Here's a great "recipe" for steel-cut oats that I made on Monday night and have been reheating all week.  I suggest reheating for about two minutes then adding strawberries and/or bananas and cinnamon.  The steel cut oats end up with a texture that reminds me of sticky couscous but I don't mind it.

Overnight Oats:

Follow the 2 parts to one water/oats ratio. The night before you want the oatmeal, you get the water boiling. Once boiling, add the steel cut oats and let the water return to a boil for a minute or two. Turn off the heat and put a lid on the pot.

The next morning, put what you don’t want to eat in the fridge and reheat the portion that you’ll eat that day. It turns out well and makes getting out the door a little easier.

Before and After

I'm a bit bummed that there weren't more photographers on the course.  I wonder what I looked like during the break-down.  Judging from the photos of me and other runners, it looks like the 'razzi was only out at two or three points on the course.

Here are the photos:

This is somewhere between miles 3 and 6.  I was feeling awesome and focused.  The Clif Bloks popping out of my sleeve.  The chick over my right shoulder is smiling because she only has to do 13.1.

Somewhere after this is where my body decided it was gettin' outta Dodge.

I am almost done!  I am gritting my teeth through the cramps.  This picture is evidence that I survived.  More cowbell!!!

Leah looks great after doing the last mile!  Why am I always looking at my watch?  I'm going to try to let go of it a bit this summer.

What Not Not To Wear

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted."  

I have this quotation posted above my desk at school.  I'm not sure who said it, but it keeps me going some days, especially this week.  I did learn a lot about myself, my running, and the ideal running apparel for the rainy Northwest.

I probably haven't told you yet that I did end up wearing the perfect marathon outfit (for low 50s and misty rain).  Maybe it was the BodyGlide that made everything work, but I'll tell you a little bit about the apparel.  By the way, I never run without BodyGlide.  

Patagonia Wool 1 t-shirt: This shirt is brand new at the Patagucc and it is fabulous.  It is a wool-poly blend.  The polyester helps it be lightweight and softer than if it were all wool.  

Nike Spandex shorts: I've had these for years.  How come I can never find more at the Nike store that are respectable?  There are like 3 shorts at the store while there are about 10 million online.  I hate ordering online.  I'm always torn about Nike...do I really like them as a company?  I'm not sure.  The Eugene Nike store was bogus.  They have moved since 2002, and they sell way too many street clothes and stuff that seems to be from the 80's.  I want Nike to be a store with the best running gear ever.  It's not that.

Smartwool Running Socks: Not too hot, not too cold.  Juuuust right.  I love wool anything because the fabric is good for temperature regulation and odor-resistant.  I can wear a wool shirt or socks a few times before they need a wash.  

And finally...

The Moeben Arm Sleeves!  I was watching the weather all last week and when it became clear that Eugene was going to get rain, I needed to nail my outfit.  I have some wool arm warmers (of course), but they are just too warm once it gets above 40 or so, but I was sure that arm warmers were the way to go.  Why?  Because Kara Goucher says so.  And, temperature regulation is key.  So, I did a lot of research.  It's basically impossible to get the Nike arm sleeves that Kara wears (although when I met Dathan Ritzenhein, I told him to tell Nike to get them out to the stores asap).  You can get some Nike LiveStrong sleeves, but through the mail, which is not the instant gratification I needed last week.  Zensah also makes arm sleeves that are popular with runners, but I read some reviews that claimed they were warmer than the Moebens.  

So, off I went to the ZombieRunner store.  I love this place.  It existed as an online store for years before opening a store in Palo Alto last year.  It's mostly geared towards trail runners, but they have everything to make long distance running easier.  I was bummed that they didn't have the zebra print in the nylon sleeves in my size (I'm a small), but I knew black would look pretty cool.  

Where the logo is, there are small pockets on each sleeve.  It fits an iPod nano perfectly, but I've never run with my iPod in the pocket.  Because I didn't have pockets in my shorts, I put my Clif Bloks packets right in the sleeve itself.  It worked like a charm.  Having the packets in the sleeves was comfortable and I had easy access to fuel.  

The sleeves kept me warm in the misty rain and when it got a bit warmer, I was still comfortable.  While I was walking (for the second half of the race), it started to get sunny, so I dumped water on the sleeves to keep cool.  My body temperature was perfectly regulated throughout the race.  The sleeves stayed up the whole time...did not move a muscle.  And, they are UV-protecting.  Bonus!

My only complaint (and I didn't notice this during the marathon but during a test run) is that the position of the pocket is close to the bend in my arm (some call that their elbow) and the excess fabric folded up there was uncomfortable.

I am walking at about 80 or 90% of normal today.  It's great!  I have been walking every day and today I ran the last 0.1 miles to my house.  Slow but steady.  Now, if I could just keep my big toenail from falling off...it's threatening!

The Pose

Yeah, I really did have fun.

At mile 8:  I have water in my hand and I'm yelling at Leah for more cowbell.  Which is why I'm barely in frame.  It's not her fault that she doesn't have as much cowbell + picture taking experience as I do.  We were about to hit a steep hill and we needed the help.  I was feeling great at this point (and every time I saw my sister, I put my arm in the air...so she could see me...and to let her know I was still surviving).  

Finished!  Still feeling great!  Arm in the air.  And why not?