Mangoes in March!! It's Madness!

People all over Hillsborough are enjoying fresh mangoes after an accidental shipment of super ripe mangoes hit Weaver Street Market. These mangoes are delicious and have made me appreciate tropical fruits like never before. I strongly advise myself to vacate or vacay to the nearest tropical place for unlimited mango goodness.

Warm sunny beaches
cocktails and clear waters also appreciated

Last night in ballyhoo!

Today is my last official day of spring break. I am sad. It's been quite wonderful to live in a fantasy world in which my toughest decision is which yoga class to go to on a particular day or what time to start drinking.

Fun was had by all but I suppose it is now time to return to reality. For a proper send off into my banal routine, we will celebrate a beloved birthday tonight at The Pit. BBQ*, beers and friends. Sounds good to me!


*I do not actually enjoy eating BBQ, but friends have often called me BBQ, and the idea of BBQ is exciting and retro-southern-cool, so I will partake.

Pretzels and the Pollen Apocolyspe

It's coming.


Beware!

A song in the head = A song in the heart

There is something so great about a good song's ability to wedge itself into your mind. Right there between the "do the laundry" and "what am I going to do with my life?", the song makes its home and gingerly narrates your life for the duration of its stay. The soundtrack for the day can warm the heart and turn a normal day into your own personal music video.

I live it and I love it.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

To be sure

I am not altogether sure what a G6 is or how one can be like a G6, but certainly I will be

chillin'

hangin'

frillin'

illin'

loungin'

kickin' it

for realin' it

and so forth

like a G6

to be sure.

face it

I'm suddenly obsessed with face wash- everything face wash. And damn it feels good to have a clean face.

Creeeeepy

Antiquing has always struck me as a strange and unsettling activity- looking through a bunch of other people's smelly old weird stuff and then paying a large amount of money for it. I mean, what?

And some of this stuff is just down right creepy.



"Hello, I'm going to eat your brains."




Is there a person in there?




What is this? 50's fairy porn?

A thing that I learned

Writing a children's book, and writing in general, is much harder than I thought. I, like my students, have always assumed that the goods will just flow forth when the time is right and BAM! Henceforth a book. It is not so. Writing is a process. Duh.
This might be one of the reasons that I enjoy blogging- I don't have to think about what I write or revise it at all. I vomit it out onto the Internet and people read it or they don't and that is that. Going back to what I write is terribly painful. Reading your work means hating it. Almost immediately I hate it all and want to start over, or worse, quit, burn it, and go drink a beer.

On western

During my "free time" (this is beginning to feel more and more like what I imagine rehab to be like, which has got me thinking that maybe this place wasn't created to teach teachers something about teaching to relay to their students but rather as a mini rehabilitation center for the withered and crazed teacher who needs retreat from their school), I Thoreaued my way around- exploring my surroundings and retreating within myself.

There was even a pond








The woods









Introspective ponderings









Joyous revelations









Stumps









Facing fears









Going towards the light









Coming out on the other side (which in this case was the campus of Western Carolina University- not a very peaceful setting at all, but ironic and thought provoking nonetheless)










Me, Thoreauing









"You only need sit still long enough in some attractive spot in the woods that all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you by turns." Brute Neighbors, Walden, Henry David Thoreau

How'd you fit all that into 24 hours?

Upon rising at 4 am, Jason and hustled ourselves off to run the American Tobacco Trail half marathon. I don't know if I am supposed to publicly admit this or how incriminating it is in the first place, but in the spirit of full disclosure I will divulge: I was not officially registered to run the race, but ran anyway, thereby making myself a bandit runner. Don't worry, I didn't take a medal or any of the shwag- only water. And, I didn't cross the finish line; I ran to it and then splintered off, so as not to be discovered. A certain official race contestant was lucky enough to appear on the News and Observer website, looking strikingly athletic and overall badassedly:



After meeting all goals (I finished in 2:05, besting my previous half marathon time by 6 min and Jason coming in under 1:30), I hit the road to drive 4 hours to Cullowee, NC for my greatly anticipated seminar "Is There a Children's Book in You?". Highlights from my drive include listening to many episodes of RISK!, finally getting the scoop from my beekachu, and maybe listening to my new favorite song on repeat for a while.
Cullowee, meaning valley of the lilies, is tucked between two mountains and appears to be a tiny town consisting of a Bojangles, Western Carolina University, and The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. I will spend the next 4 days here retreating and writing. Here's my little room which somehow feels like something in between a Howard Johnson and rehab. Or, rather, what I would imagine those things to be, since I have never spent the night in either.




And maybe, somewhere nestled in between a Goo Chomp and a piece of steamed broccoli, there is a children's book inside of me. Although, now, I'm feeling like there might be a memoir waiting to bust out instead.

Home

I've done it again.

Talk about awesome...

A day in the life...

I hereby must make another exception to the "no video on the blog" rule, in order to share something with you that so flawlessly depicts the state of education right now. In some ways, I hesitate to share this with you, because typically a video like this would be relished by disenchanted veteran teachers who may or may not know what they are doing. Do I want to appear to be this? Maybe I am this? Or maybe they want me to fear being this because then I will conform to what they want me to be at the detriment to good instruction and best practices.

But, alas, I am compelled to share this because, seriously, this is my life. And certainly any teacher out there can identify.

Detrimental Miscommunications

Miscommunications that can be detrimental should be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately, in life there are many opportunities for such miscommunications. How are we to avoid confusion when everyone is different and has a different schema: a different understanding of what is what? It's enough to make you want to not even communicate at all.

So much for clarity of thought and precision with language!

The Town: T-T-Totally Awesome

I might not have mentioned this previously, but The Town rocks! I loved this movie and I totally love Ben Affleck, now, too. The Town has all the makings of a great (fun-great) film:

Hot Awesome Smart Chick:
Hot Dumb Scorned Drug Addict Chick:

Hot Bad Guy Who Manages to Steal Your Heart (consequently nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor):

Hot Don Draper Goes FBI Dude:

And, of course, Hot Ben Affleck Bad Guy Goes Good Guy (keep it in your pants, ladies):


We probably aren't dealing with cinematic glory here, but this film is quite entertaining and makes for for hell of a diversion. Now, get thee to your Netflix Queue or the nearest Red Box!

Nice

Spring forward

Daylight savings time means that spring is on it's way: longer days, warmth, pollen (nooooo) and spring meals! To utilize our longer day and warm afternoon we made this:



Grilled turkey burgers, served open face on asiago boule with avocado, lettuce, and tomato. Side by side with a grain blend.
Prefaced with a nice cold beer, and followed up with some mediocre, not quite ripe, but still good strawberries.

De-licious. And, promises to reinstate your excitement for cooking after falling to a winter rut of repeatedly making soup and pasta.

Orientation

Who decided that Right meant forward and Left meant backward? And who decided that Up meant forward and down meant backward?

I have always had a problem with my left and my right. I remember being in first grade and my teacher saying to the class "Alright everyone, if you write with your right hand come to this table and if you write with your left hand go to that table." Although I am indeed right handed, less people went to the left handed table, so I went there. From that moment on (who knows maybe before that?) I have been drawn to the left side. The left side feels right to me. This orientation to the left, has always confused me, and still to this day I get my right and left mixed up. I have to stop and think before telling someone to turn left or turn right.

Today it all came rushing back to me as I pushed the down button on the CD player in my car to skip to the next song. It just seemed right. Down- Forward. Up-Backwards. Why?

Is it wrong to want to push the down button to move forward? Am I dyslexic to think that left could be just as forward as right? Does it make me crazy to want to go right when I say left? And, who decides what is right?

A friend in need is a friend indeed

Getting a mix CD is like getting a little sliver of happiness and excitement. What better way to fight the doldrums and combat your apathy and recurrent ennui, than with a mystery mix adventure?

Traveling the road that is the mix CD can take several days filled with multiple listenings which can arouse your interest and activate the senses.
As each song unfolds the senses are heightened. As the brain is processing new musical stimuli, endorphins are released and music saves the day. New songs spark curiosity, while old familiar songs bring delight.

A good mix CD is friend, indeed.