Waiting To Blow Up

The talk around school is that we might just be approaching our tipping point. Why is this? The film I told you about, "Waiting for Superman," just won an Audience Award at Sundance. It was also picked up for distribution by Paramount before the festival even started. I asked someone the other day how our school ended up in the movie (it features an 8th grader as she weighs her options for a high school and follows her through the lottery and decision process). It turns out that the filmmakers had a bunch of urban schools of note, but were looking for a different school to add to the mix. They went to the California Charter Schools Association and asked them what schools they should check out. I guess we were one of the schools suggested. So now, I think I'm working at a school that might just blow up (in the slang way) in the next few years. Bold statement, I know, but quite possible.

So now, as I ponder all of this I am trying to decide which coast I want to live on. And I think, "Is working at one of the top schools in the country the thing that should guide my life?" "If I worked at Google in the beginning years, would I have left to move back home?" I might be pushing that Silicon Valley analogy, but it's a useful thought experiment for me. Those Google people work crazy hours too (why else would they need 24-hour dining rooms and laundromats?). I need to think about this but I have only about 2 months to figure it out (and need to contact new schools soon if that's where I'm leaning). There is a tarot card reader right around the corner from my house. Maybe, if I get desperate, I'll have to stop on over there because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.

Dangerous

Yesterday, I listened to an old podcast about the cell phone world we live in and how no one has land lines any more. Of course, as a kid, I don't think we called them land lines because no one had anything else (my communication with submarines was very limited at that point in my life). The guests were talking about how answering behaviors are different with a house phone (usually shared) and a cell phone (usually not shared). It was quite interesting and made me want to have a rotary phone again.

The Google Nexus One smartphone has the following feature (maybe this is old news but this is the first I've heard of it). I do not have this feature on my phone. I just never pick it up. That also diverts the calls to voicemail.

To divert all of a contact's calls to your voicemail

1	Open your contacts or favorites.

2	Touch the name of a contact in the list to view its details.

3	Press Menu and touch Options.

4	Check Incoming calls.

5	Press Back .

When this contact calls you, your phone doesn't ring and the caller is sent directly to your voicemail.

Here's a funny montage of the "no cell service" plot line in horror movies since cell phones because ubiquitous.

Signs of The Apocalypse

Does anyone else love this tidbit in Sports Illustrated? Given my respect for Conan, I am going to do my best to not be cynical.

Here are two gems from the week:

Town considers banning bikes from bike path

via Cyclelicious by Yokota Fritz on 1/26/10

From Go Blue Ridge in North Caorlina:

Officials on the Town of Boone’s Greenway, Parks, and Gardens Committee will discuss the possibility of prohibiting bicycles and joggers on portions of the Greenway Trail at their regular meeting Tuesday evening.

And

SoCal school district bans the dictionary

via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow on 1/26/10

Southern California's Menifee Union school district has banned the Merriam Webster's 10th edition from use in fourth and fifth grade classes, over this salacious definition of "oral sex": "oral stimulation of the genitals".

"It's hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we'll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature," district spokeswoman Betti Cadmus told the paper.

While some parents have praised the move - "[it's] a prestigious dictionary that's used in the Riverside County spelling bee, but I also imagine there are words in there of concern," said Randy Freeman - others have raised concerns. "It is not such a bad thing for a kid to have the wherewithal to go and look up a word he may have even heard on the playground," father Jason Rogers told local press. "You have to draw the line somewhere. What are they going to do next, pull encyclopaedias because they list parts of the human anatomy like the penis and vagina?"

'Oral sex' definition prompts dictionary ban in US schools

Isn't that why some people look at the dictionary to begin with?

Flicks

Films of Note:

1. The film, "Waiting for Superman," directed by Davis Guggenheim (Inconvenient Truth fame) features my school. It's currently at Sundance, so keep your eye out for distribution around the country at some point. The film a documentary about public education today. Guggenheim definitely has a point of view and I'm guessing he makes it plainly known that this country is not doing enough for public education. I don't know whether to recommend it yet, but I'll watch it, if only to see if I make an appearance in the background.

2. I saw "The Blind Side" this weekend, which I've wanted to see for more than a month. Sandra Bullock absolutely puts on an award-winning performance and the story is sweet and fairly well-told, but does not have all the details of the book, only the sentimental story and justification for the title. When I grow up, I want to be Leigh Ann Tuohy (Bullock's character) or Tami Taylor (fictional Mrs. Coach on Friday Night Lights). I think I need to move to a place where I can cultivate an accent that makes people think you are sweet just by how you talk. And improve my EQ.

3. I just watched "I'm Not There" three times. The first time was just to take it in. The second time was to determine the versions of songs featured in the movie (you know...where does that version of "Idiot Wind" exist?). The third time was to listen to the director's commentary. In case you don't recognize the title, the movie is a Bob Dylan biography/musical film that features six different personae of Dylan over the years, played by various actors. You may have heard about Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Dylan in '65-'66 in the crazy, crazy time before he moved to the boonies and crashed his motorcycle, cleaned up for a while, and went on his way to find God. I need to own this movie. Yes, I have an abnormal love for all things Dylan and the things/people that influenced Bob Dylan (my calculator will soon be adorned with "This Machine Kills Fascists") but this was such a fascinating delivery of an icon. And just as Dylan is an enigma, the movie does not attempt to give us anything new, but a way of seeing Dylan through different lenses at the same time. The director's commentary was like attending a two-hour lecture on Dylan and I enjoyed the movie even more after listening to him tell the story of his story.

By the way, the version of "Idiot Wind" in the movie is from Bootleg 1-3 and it makes me like the song (I've always "hated" it). The movie also introduces us to the song "I'm Not There" from the Basement Tape recording sessions with The Band in 1967. The Dylan version is just why I love Dylan and Sonic Youth's raspy cover of the song proves that Dylan's voice (despite the haters) is the best way for much of his lyrics to be conveyed. This song is now in the rotation.

Probably my favorite part of the movie is when Jim James and Calexico perform "Goin' To Acapulco." I have loved this song for only a few years, overlooking it on the soundtrack until I saw James perform it with Calexico at the 2008 Newport Folk Festival. In the movie, James delivers a performance that brings new meaning (or meaning at all) to the song. It's a song that's unlikely to lose ground on my most played list. I'm reminded that I relied heavily on my college boyfriend for Dylan listening and actually do not have that many Dylan CDs. So, with a gift card to Amazon, I now own the first seven Dylan albums. As much of a fan as I might be, because I didn't come across him sequentially, I don't have a sense of his trajectory. I am hoping to hone in on this sense.

What I learned from the movie: Desert Island CDs? Dylan's Biograph and Bootleg 1-3. Done. Although I would love a version of Trouble in Mind, which does not seem to exist readily. Thoughts out there?

I'm still trying to figure out how to post a January playlist effectively and hope I can figure out a way to make it happen. iTunes is still uncooperative and iMeem, which I used a few months ago was bought by MySpace and now I can't even access my previous playlist. Boo!

That's enough about Dylan. Time to read Vonnegut!

Blue Monday

Depending on when you read this, you might be in the middle of or about to encounter January 25, which has been identified as the most depressing day of the year, or Blue Monday.

To combat this, I am planning to:

Run (please, please, please)

Commute on my bike

Eat breakfast out with the whole faculty

Plan the senior trip to Yosemite

Finish the first semester with most of my students (only a few still have mastery to demonstrate)

Finish Cat's Cradle

Wichita

Sometimes I hear about things that I just have to share with someone, but there's no one around to fill that role. Maybe that's why I have a blog.

I got an email from This American Life the other day about an event that Ira Glass woiuld be doing with his cousin and composer Philip Glass. They performed part of "Wichita Vortex Sutra," a poem by Alan Ginsberg that (P) Glass composed music to accompany.

I then listened to a recording of the poem (below). I liked seeing the words as I listened, so I went here for the poem written out. The combination of Ginsberg and Glass is quite amazing. I marveled at how the music fit the words so well and accentuated certain lines of the poem. It was wonderful to listen to as I sit and proctor an extended time SAT this morning and in the backdrop, hear the rain pinging on the roof.

Benefits of Giving Blood

1. Save lives.

2. Get a free movie ticket.

3. Win a $60 gift certificate to a local Mediterranean restaurant!

They really know how to suck a girl in.

Get Your Pants Up

The sensation, apparently:

And then, the best thing Jimmy Fallon has done as a late night host:

Raaaaaaaaain!

Here it is, people: the rainy season in Northern California. But a twist! This storm so intense that even San Diego and L.A. are soggy as well (you may have seen all the arms holding umbrellas in the margins of Golden Globe pictures.

And deja vu. Two years ago this week, we had the same exact weather. Just days and days of rain. This storm is different. For one, I'm riding my bike through it. So far, my rain pants, balaclava, gaiters, and gore-tex shoes have been so valuable. As are the fenders. The other difference in this storm is the lighting! I have never experienced lightning here in the Bay Area. But, we have lightning and thunder!! This is one of the things I miss most about the east coast. I love me a good old fashioned thunderstorm. Today, I got one and rode home to lightning on the horizon. Spectacular.

I'm upset about the election results in Mass. I should have been phone banking and helping out. But I've been so distracted by the horror at NBC with Leno and Conan (arguably another disaster involving Bay Staters). I love Conan. Granted, I didn't watch (but I've never watched late night...except for online), but NBC seems to have royally screwed up. Five years ago, they made a deal so they wouldn't lose Conan and when the time came, they didn't want to lose Leno. And they had no idea how to handle it well. I've been tuning in to see Conan in his last few nights and he is just fantastic. And he's doing it all with a smile. I have loved his monologues this week about how he's not supposed to say anything bad about NBC..."but no one said I couldn't sing it" and "they didn't say anything about saying it in Spanish." So clever and fun. I hope for Conan, his family, and staff that they find a place to land soon. I'll be watching.

Snooooooow!

Ahhh, the three day weekend. It might be my favorite thing in the world. You can have an entire weekend and then have another day to get stuff done (or mentally prepare for the week to come, like I did today).

On Friday after school, I drove up to Tahoe with PP and EF, my friends from school. EF rents a ski house in Truckee, which has great access to the slopes. On Saturday morning, we went to Alpine Meadows and enjoyed a fabulous day in the snow.

Here are EF and PP on the lift. They were on snowboards and I went to the beginner hill to reacclimate myself to skiing after two years of only horizontal snow sports. Look at that sky!!

Here I am way up high (not too high though...it takes me forever to get down) and getting a nice lake view. Oh, how I've missed you Tahoe.

EF about to show us her mad skills.

PP on her birthday!

And we ended the night with JC (our other co-worker who was also up for the weekend) and KG, his wife. I couldn't resist donning the Longhorns Snuggie that was in the house. It's the first time I've ever had one on and it was dangerously cozy. Then, I failed to make a fire in the wood stove and had a pity party on the red shag carpet.

The next morning, we got some nice snow and EF and I went on a power walk around the neighborhood, because it was about $80 cheaper than Squaw. Can't wait for another snowy weekend in the near future.

Mazes of Hardware

The other day, I was riding my bike to school and had a great flashback to my childhood. We had two fabulous hardware/houseware/everything stores: Spag's and Somerville Lumber. What I loved about these stores (and it was most true of Spag's) was the maze-like layout. It was such an adventure to wind through the aisles that were like the streets of New England themselves (we don't have grids) and be surrounded by so much variety. Just shelves and shelves of lightbulbs and nails and containers. And walls of light switches and drawer pulls. Somerville Lumber had a maze of sliding glass doors, shower doors, and tubs. It was magical.

Of course, with the advent of Lowe's and Home Depot, these stores no longer exist. And thus, the maze of goods is gone, giving way to the sky high metal shelving, neatly organized in rows. I doubt that children have has much fun in these places as I did.

Endorsements

I love the Slate family of podcasts. I'm totally a podcast junkie (sometimes I ride a bit slower just to get more in), as you might now, and I learn so many amazing things while I listen.

On every Slate podcast, each host mentions something that the listeners should check out or know about. On the Political Gabfest, they are called Cocktail Chatter (hinting to the DC ties of Slate). They are Coffee Talk on the Double X (Women's) Gabfest and a revolving door of funny things on Hang Up and Listen (the sports podcast, which might be my favorite). But, the name for these that I love most is the Endorsements on the Culture Gabfest. I realized that I should make some endorsements of my own here and I'll clue you in to my favorites from Slate.

1. From Slate the blog Letters of Note. It is a simply amazing collection of letters. And it's the actual letters that were written. Check it out and scroll down to the one from the creator of Ren and Stimpy. It is thoughtful and inspiring. You might have seen this letter mentioned on Boing Boing.

2. The mash-up video of the Top 25 Songs of 2009. I saw this on Perez a few weeks ago and totally forgot to share its amazing-ness until my sis sent me the link today and I re-watched. I actually am a fan of the song that's created.

3. Heidi Montag's reported 10 elective plastic surgery procedures in a day. Really? I won't dignify it with too much time and she can make her own choices, but I'll say: I hope none of my students ever grow up to do such a thing. That would make me exceptionally sad.

That's it. Off to Tahoe tomorrow to play in the snow! I can't wait because it's actually going to snow while we're there.

New Bag

Right now, it's Intersession at school. That means that for the month of January our kids are doing their elective classes, we are doing professional development and school-wide planning, and in the afternoon, we work with students who still need to show mastery of course work.

Intersession is sort of relaxing, sort of. I am notorious for roaming around the school pushing a wheelie chair that has a padded seat, rather than sitting on the plastic kid chairs because all we do is sit all day. We meet all day, in workshops, in planning sessions, in interventions. It is very productive, but long and tiring. Another reason why my rear needs the comfort is because I do my best to ride every day. This year, the riding is much easier to do because I got a new bike backpack!

Mine is the Chrome Ranchero, which is the medium-sized backpack by the famous messenger bag company. It's just like the bag in the left of this picture.

Mine has a white stripe across the back, but I look pretty much like these guys, so you get the idea.

Why did I bring another bag into my life? If you know me, you know that I have more bags (and jackets) than I could ever need. Did I really need this one? Well, I'd argue that I did. I love riding my fixed gear. I love it, love it, love it. My dad asked me why I liked the fixed gear and it basically comes down to the same reason that I'll always drive a standard (as long as they keep making them). There's just something about having total control of your movements. And I love that on a fixie I have to pedal non-stop. It makes me feel strong and athletic. Anyway, I've been wanting to ride my fixie as much as possible. In the winter, my clothes are bulkier and my laptop doesn't fit in my usual bike bag (unless I wanted to ride the xtracycle). So, I got the Chrome bag at a good price and so far, I'm totally happy to have it in my life. I opted for a backpack rather than the shoulder bag (which is way more cool, but way less comfortable).

What can the bag do? Well, I really like that it has a large main pocket that is easy to wipe down and can handle wet stuff and there is a velcro sealed pocket in front of the main pocket that goes down the entire front of the bag. I keep my lock in there so it doesn't get anything dirty or banged up. There are a few more little pockets, one that fits my book and another that fits my moleskine, phone, credit cards, keys and a nylon tote bag. I have trekked back and forth with lunch, laptop, and an entire outfit. I also did my grocery shopping for the week and was all set with this bag. Potentially, I could have gone with the bigger size, but I think this one will do just fine and keep me from carrying too much. Oh, and it's made in the USA. In my fine state, even. Very cool.

When it gets warmer again and I don't need sweaters, I'll probably go back to my Deuter (kind of like this one) on days when I don't need a laptop going back and forth. And once I have time to fix my kickstand, I'll rotate the Xtracycle in since that's a sweet ride.

Muffins!

I have yet to post my 2010 Goals post because it's not finalized yet. Spoiler alert (!): one of my goals is to average at least 3 new recipes a month. I'm off to a great start with at least four new recipes, all of them vegan. I don't yet know what I want my relationship with animal products to be moving forward, but for now, I'm at least eliminating animal products from my house for the month.

So, here are some yummy muffin recipes that you should make and that I made tonight for a work potluck tomorrow. Click on the name for the recipe, courtesy of the wonderful folks at Post Punk Kitchen. I got the recipes from the book "Vegan with a Vengence," but they were nice enough to put them online for you all.

The Best Pumpkin Muffins

These really are the best pumpkin muffins I've eaten. The next time I make them, I think I'm going to use the eeny meeny muffin tin so that I can have bite sized muffins that last longer (if I limit myself to one per day). These are so moist, they need no spread whatsoever. All the spices make them just fabulous with some soy nog (which is still taking up most of the top shelf in my fridge...whooped 'em again, Josie!...a friend suggested that next year I could freeze the soy nog for even longer enjoyment).

Sunny Corn Muffins

Mmmm...these have a touch of lemon zest (fresh off my tree), which really perks up the taste. In the summer, I would love to make these with some real corn in them or some blueberries. I hope everyone enjoys these tomorrow.

And finally, here's a video that my sister would want you to watch. It's mildly funny to me (sorry if there's any bad language), but to her....she could watch it all day long.

This Will Make You Happy

This video is my new obsession. My sister, step-sister and I watched this at least 2 dozen times over break, trying to master at least the chorus and I continue to force most everyone to watch it with me. My new favorite signs are for overwhelmed and nervous. I hope this puts a smile on your face.

Also on the list of new obsessions is the show "Friday Night Lights." It is so ridiculously good. Rarely do I think that a book is matched by anything in the motion picture arena, but Peter Berg got it right with this one and since FNL was one of my favorite reads in high school, I am happy that it lives on. Some of the kids are a bit caricatured, but the coach and his wife are not. They are completely genuine and my new heroes as educators on the emotional intelligence front. I want to be Tami Taylor and I hope I might be lucky enough to find my own Eric Taylor. I love the content on this show and the style. Apparently, the actors are allowed to improvise, much of the show is first takes, and it feels real as if it's a documentary at times.

If you haven't seen any of the series, I'd plunk down and watch the first season (available of Netflix Instant Watch). If you like it, keep watching, although season 2 is kind of annoying and totally skippable. While I usually have no patience for an hour-long drama, I love this show because it is so familiar to me...the coach that reminds me of my uncle, the small town that rallies around its school, the families and friends that you've known your whole life, and the enthusiasm for high school sports is something I am missing at my current school. Not that Mass. has people going too bonkers over sports, but there was a lot of town and school spirit (probably the right amount, given that Texas high school football produces some pretty rabid fans). And after listening to some of the great stories from "Friday Night Lives" this fall, I was due for some high school football. Where I live in California, the schools are set up so that there is rarely a K-12 school district for a town with just one high school. The town community is lost, with this regional system. I teach at a charter school, and I definitely believe in school choice to improve quality of education, but I'm okay with a town with one really great high school that takes care of all its students. I don't know if that actually exists, but I think it's possible to get darn close.

Just got off the video Skype with Ali, Eric, and the new babe. Everyone is looking great. Video chatting might be the greatest thing for someone who lives on the other side of the country from most everyone she knows. Now if only my sister had a web cam.

Angry People

This concept of this blog, Angry People In Local Newspapers, just makes me laugh. It is sweet that the creator wanted to recognize local news photographers who have to take a lot of pictures of angry people.

The Decade, 10 by 12

In case you didn't see this in the Times, a great summary of the decade. In easy to read, chart form.