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.