catumatic

fireworks

2008-07-14T16:36:00.002-05:00

check out this short, and the others on their page. perfect post-graduation, post 22-hour trip home lazy day fun.

yes bri, i am in the middle of maus right now! it is awesome.

independence day

2008-07-03T20:35:00.003-05:00

i have been talking over email with my mom lately about levels of dependence (financial, logistical, emotional) as a parenting strategy. where is the healthy level of support without fostering too much dependence?

in the spirit of my independence today, i was an ambitious dragon... i patched some holes in jeans on my own. i know my way around a sewing machine, but i usually still give jeans to my mom to patch. the thick seams are tricky, and she is so good at it.

it went okay. the thread broke many times though. maybe i'll go back a stepping stone of dependence and ask her to show me her technique next time.

other independent things i did:

transportation: biked to a meeting in uptown, then to franklin library to get my reserved books. i am turning to graphic novels and comics since they are easier on my relentless weird vision. i got books by art spiegelman and ariel shrag. they have the same initials. WHOA!

food: made chicken stock from frozen bits i'd been saving. this is the year of chicken progress!

like unambitious dragons

2008-05-21T22:48:00.002-05:00

thesis finishing and spooky vision problems have kept me away from blogging.

but i won't let it stop me from sharing this video, "David Sedaris delivers a pizza"

chicken and may day

2008-04-27T16:07:00.009-05:00

food experiment of the week... roasting chicken! i've been into the idea of roasting whole birds (and otherwise being involved in more steps of getting the food to my plate) to have more of a connection to the food, and save money. i also threw in some sweet potato, carrot and onion, in a bath of orange juice, honey, oil, cumin and garlic. mmmmm. and, now i'll have lots of bones and junk to make more stock! i froze the chicken scraps and will make stock after i save some more veggie scraps... should have been doing this all along!

other lesson learned: next time, roast veggies longer while carving chicken. or cut them smaller.

in other food news, i made more bread last weekend. this time i did the full recipe so it made 2 loaves. i froze one, and reheated it today. turns out reheating in the toaster oven was not a good idea - the top got a little burned. maybe next time i will make 3 or 4 smaller loaves. it is best in the first couple days anyway.

in other, non-food news.... drum roll please.... i'm going to be in the May Day parade!

A parent/board member and teacher at my school were interested in organizing some kind of action as a response to the recent killings of three young people, all transgender and of color.

Ideas of a march or other demonstration eventually turned into joining a part of the MayDay parade called Change of Heart, which urges us to take responsibility for making change in society.

Today I went to rehearsal for my section, along with 4 students and their families. Come see us next Sunday! (details)

We also did an anti-hate teach-in at school on Thursday. All the classes address the issue in an accessible way for the students - so the middle school students learned about these recent crimes and discussed the intersection of race, gender, and sexual identity issues, while in kindergarten and first grade we teamed up to read this beautiful book, talk about valuing all people, and decorate posters of a kid-friendly version I did of the Declaration of Human Responsibilities (which inspired our MayDay section) ... good guidelines for everyone! Here's the text of the posters:

We value everyone. Every person is important.

So, we should...
1) Treat everyone well (No matter how they look, dress or talk, where they come from, or what their family is like. Families are groups of people who love each other.)
2) Take care of each other
3) Not do things to other people that we would not like done to us
4) Respect life
5) Solve conflicts in a peaceful, non-violent way
6) Protect animals and the environment
7) Be fair and tell the truth
8) Do our best

UPDATE: Dinner of champions! (FYI... i take all these photos with my laptop, which is why they are on the weird side of lighting and framing... i am not trying to be artsy or anything.)

bread! bread! bread!

2008-04-13T15:13:00.006-05:00

Today, I entered a new culinary terrain: yeast bread making! I rarely bake anything, held back by many obstacles: inability to keep a well stocked baking pantry, avoidance of dealing with the many unlabeled baggies of a few tablespoons of mystery bulk flours, and fear of baking in general - you can't just taste as you go, and there are many points of no return - rising too much, killing yeast, over-baking, etc.

My motivation to get into baking stems from 1) reading about Barbara Kingsolver's Friday night pizza tradition - simple! tasty! throw on whatever's in the fridge! have some wine! and 2) wanting to make bread for Youth Farm this summer.

A friend from school (who cooked for one of the other YF neighborhoods a few years ago) said she used the recipe from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest as a base and made some improvised bread every day.

I stole the book from my mom, inventoried the flours, and was ready to rock this morning fueled by coffee and this season's best grapefruit. I made a few mistakes due to not carefully reading both the recipe and the illustrated breadmaking guide in the book, but nothing big.

Here's me and the loaf (I already cut off a slice but put in back in the pan for photo purposes,) and me and a slice (I still need to work on even slicing. Straight lines have always been tough for me.)

It was tasty! Fresh baked bread is so great, even my novice efforts won't to too much of a hardship to eat as I get better with practice.

fish! fish! fish!

2008-03-19T20:02:00.002-06:00

I've followed Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl (former City Pages critic) to Minnesota Monthly, and was pleased to see how many of her selections for No-Guilt Fish (that aren't "nearly extinct and terrifyingly toxic" like the ones all over the news) are available just a block from my house at Coastal Seafoods.

Some of you may remember that I am not a big fish eater ... but, I'm a willow, and I just may bend in the direction of some local fishies.

farm! farm! farm!

2008-03-15T14:50:00.003-06:00

I am very excited to report that I'll be working as the summer chef at West Side Youth Farm and Market Project.

To celebrate, please enjoy this article about some other hipsters connecting sustainable farming to urbanites in another way. Check out the multimedia feature.

this is my brain on procrasination

2008-03-08T21:03:00.001-06:00

Fill in the blank
Originally uploaded by philsk8s

i just (re-)discovered i can directly blog other peoples photos from flickr. Phil and i saw this in Sweden. awesome. Want to see more of the pictures from my trip to Scandinavia? click on the little link over there where it says philsk8s.

practicing

2008-03-08T20:56:00.001-06:00

practicing
Originally uploaded by aflamingstar

last weekend we went to the cabin in progress. it's gonna be great! here's dad and i practicing the fine art of imaginary relaxation.

Fun with Google

2008-03-05T13:31:00.004-06:00

On Jordan Jesse Go!, a podcast I ~~listen to obsessively~~ like, Jesse mentioned that he googled a misspelling of his name (Jesse Thorne instead of Jesse Thorn) and found a New York Times article from 1887 titled, "Whipped Her False Lover; Jesse Thorne Gets a Lashing in a Jersey City Street." He broke up with his fiance, saying he couldn't financially support a wife. Later, she saw him on the street with another woman on his arm. She tracked him down and, "drawing the rawhide from under her cloak laid it vigorously about him." Hearing Jesse and Jordan talk about the oldtime-y language and the gossipy nature of it was hilarious.

So, I was inspired to google my own name, and found, after my school's website, a couple places I have volunteered, and proof that was trained to drive a 15 passenger van at the U eight years ago... this! It seems the State University of New York at Buffalo has among its many research centers, a Center for Applied Technologies in Education (CATE), and a Center for Applied Research in Library & Information Science (CARLIS).

Whoa!

So, dear readers, if there were a research center that had your name as an acronym, what would it be?

Do I Need TechAnon? It's a Real Thing!

2008-03-01T23:36:00.006-06:00

Here's some irony... after a night of on-and-off productivity, working on the next thesis chapter due next week, I came across this - Mark Bittman, who writes the Bitten blog I mentioned in the last post, wrote a piece about taking a weekly sabbath from technology (or at least media/communications technology, he's not forgoing the microwave or lightbulbs or anything.) But, a link in his article lead me to a long stint of poking around this blog and then her flickr pictures... including this one:

It's too much! Too cute! Even though I hate olives!

I'm going to bed.

more food thoughts

2008-03-01T12:45:00.004-06:00

I've been reading Pollan's In Defense of Food, (thanks, mo!) and therefore thinking a little bit more about what I eat, a little more suspicious of all those unpronounceable ingredients... just in time for girl scout cookie season.

Also, reading this opinion piece, and thinking about what it would be like if national food policy encouraged sane eating.

Made this soup:
it turned out good, but think it would have been tastier if I had roasted the tomatoes longer... I was hungry and impatient. This blog, Bitten, is just one of the many food blogs that I've been reading lately... I guess it feels like less of a waste of time than snooping around myspace or many of the other things that have somehow seemed worth reading. And where else would I get new recipes to try?? My many cookbooks are so high up on that shelf...

Dreaming of spring, sunshine, and farmer's markets.

A Quote I Like

2008-01-31T18:09:00.000-06:00

"I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions and big success. I am for those tiny, invisible loving human frces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which, if given time, will rend the hardest monuments of human pride."

William James

This is an epigraph in a book I am really enjoying.

sooooo. or should i say, Sooooo.

2008-01-30T13:04:00.000-06:00

Turns out I'm not as great at posting when I'm home. But, there's always hope for change. In fact, I'm challenging myself to get over my avoidance of the shift key, and actually capitalize.

Thousands of you have complained that I never announced the winner of my hilarious pseudonym contest... drum roll, Tito, please!

It's a tie! Winners are Mo, for "daily inquiring about returning roommate, hoping everything aligns" and Julia, for "Just Using Loved Internet Access, Going Unto--Lo--Idyllic Academia."

However, I didn't actually obtain any mystery prizes from Vermont... so I will compensate by promising to comment on all of your blog posts under a hilarious pseudonym... for the next two weeks!

In other news, I gave my first presentation about action research at staff meeting today. I have been thinking about it obsessively for a few days now, so it's nice to have it over with and have new fodder for my journaling... and obsessive worrying. It went okay, and we have meetings set for a couple small group projects. So that's good, and I'm happy that at least some people were willing to be my guinea pigs. I still have the feeling that several people are very skeptical and not interested in change. Maybe in a couple weeks I'll reach out to everyone, not just the people participating in the small groups, and see what they think of professional development... how they grow as educators, etc. Maybe a survey? It's hard to get everyone to contribute to large-group discussions, and I don't want to take up any more time at staff meeting than I have to.

Not sure if this makes sense, since I may not have explained very much about my thesis project before. As always, I'm happy to answer any clarifying questions... especially if you sign off with a hilarious acronym, of course. Or should I say, aN hilarious acronym?? It seems like people only say "an" before h words when the word is "historical," as in "an historical figure, Ethan Allen, led the colonists to victory at Fort Ticonderoga, and may or may not have also made furniture."

The quote above represents what you may have learned if you happened to have been taught about the American Revolution by your unsuspecting substitute teacher (cough-me-cough cough) last week.

Okay, that's all for now.

-Wow, I Need De-frosting, Can't Handle Iciness, Lordy Lordy

phoggy in philadelphia

2008-01-21T17:43:00.000-06:00

here at PHL in the middle of a 4.5 hour layover. in that foggy state where i can't concentrate on reading. very much looking forward to getting home tonight and maybe not flying in an airplane for many months. there's no joy in the airport. and, really, i should find it more important, it pollutes a lot a lot.

i have no plans at all to fly anywhere right now, which feels good. i hope to drive to goddard for graduation this summer as part of a road trip to canada to see phil's phamily. i wish the US had better trains. see no impact man for further thoughts on air and train travel.

PHL offers free wi-fi for college students. you just have to show your id at an info desk. they write down your info in a log... on pieces of paper. it struck me as lo-tech and funny. my coupon is good for one log-in, so if i close my computer to go to the bathroom, i think i'll get booted. but, i could just get a new coupon from a different desk.

this is all very riveting i know.

things i've been unable to read much of in my fog:

-The Yiddish Policeman's Union. I am liking this book. It is a detective story, but also funny and moving.
-NYT article about Ben Bernanke. I want to understand more about the economy, but i can rarely make myslef read anything about it. Mr. Marsh where are you? Mr. Marsh was my high school econ teacher. He liked to put a Yoda magnet on the overhead projector so we saw the silhouette and do the voice.

what i made it through:
-good old achewood.

how have you felt about the color strips lately? i like them. i also liked the reference to chris ware, who had a strip in the funny pages of the NYT magazine back in the glory days when the ladies upstairs never took in their paper and we got the times daily, for free! i liked ware's style, but the strips were always so bleak and depressing. sometimes too dark for me on a sunday morning.

done, done, and almost done

2008-01-19T13:47:00.000-06:00

well, i am done with my thesis proposal, done with my proposal to my school for my project there (so i can get PAID,) and aaaaaaaalllllmost done with my portfolio from last semester. it feels good.

so. back to tying up the last loose ends.

to those back home in the frozen tundra... stay warm!

action jackson

2008-01-16T10:47:00.000-06:00

well, the good news is i am outta my funk and getting things done. the internet in my room went on the fritz today, perhaps due to a divine intervention and forcing me to work without internet distractions...though, i must give myself credit for resisting the temptations of both an excellent novel and a renewed interest in the game reversi on my computer.

good thing i don't have snood.

so, i accomplished a lot on my (sorta overdue) portfolio form last semester this afternoon, and worked more on my thesis tonight. at goddard, we have many choices for what the thesis can be... a literature review, a new theoretical contribution to the field, a creative project, or an action project.

I am doing the latter. Here's my rough draft research question:

How can Southside Family Charter School use action research to create a job-embedded professional development program? (there might be another clause at the end explain what this PD program will do... to more fully fulfill our mission? to improve student learning? )

So, my homework for the advising session tomorrow was to prepare what i am going to present at staff meeting to begin this project.

The really cool thing is, I am using action research as my methodology for the thesis, but the thesis project IS starting the ball rolling for teachers doing even more action research about their own practice. so many layers. mmmmmmm.

not sure if this post is meaningful to anyone.

if you have any questions, fair (and possibly non-existent) readers, fire away. and, in the words of the mexican (google "ask a mexican" of you don't know who i'm talking about), make sure you make up a hilarious pseudonym, or i'll do it for you.

UPDATE!

based on the drastic increase of comments on this last post, i have decided to start a hilarious pseudonym contest.

the writer of the hilari-est pseudonym (with a comment on this or any other post while i am gone) will receive... a mystery prize of vermont origin upon my return!

hijacked no more

2008-01-13T19:55:00.000-06:00

i have re-gained control of my day, thanks to frida khalo, a new yoga class, and miracle of miracles, spending less than 10 dollars and only buying what i intended to buy at seward co-op.

seward is letting all former north country members join for free, which is a very kind gesture. i still feel like it is more of a step-co-op. we still don't quite know what to do with each other, and awkward jokes aren't helping much.

here's a video.
value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GUHLa1qSy24&rel=1&border=1">

it reminded me of part of a photography exhibit phil and i saw at the kulturhuset (culturehouse) in stockholm. noyuboshi araki took photos of 101 japanese women ages 0-100.

the kulturhuset is very cool. every city should have one... free art, coffee shops, libraries, theaters, teen art center, old man chess hangout space, all in one.

i like coincidences like that. like yesterday while we made pancakes and eggs about i tip i had read on smittenkitchen.com for making your own buttermilk from milk and vinegar or lemon juice, which would be handy for me since i never use the whole carton if i buy some for a recipe. then, just a few hours later, a character in the book i am reading (yiddish policeman's union,) offered someone a waffle. (i am paraphrasing here) he asked, "what kind?" "buttermilk," she said. "real or milk and vinegar?" he shot back.

whoa.

okay, here it is, 8:02. i really should be working on the portfolio now.

weird hijacked day

2008-01-13T15:40:00.000-06:00

hello world.

for my 8 hours of wakefulness i have been needlessly building up a house around me of expectations and waiting. for phone calls, for plans to come together. waiting and wondering and taking no action.

now i'm not sure what is going on.

i have done some writing today, but it doesn't feel like enough. it is never enough in this weird la-la-no-man's land beyond deadlines and supervision.

so, i just used a big chunk of time reading the entire archives of this blog. i had pretty much forgotten that i used to blog more often and that my writings were occasionally even funny or thoughtful. it was a good outlet my first semester to digest and reflect... maybe i'll get back into it.

okay, off to make clarifying phone calls i could have made hours ago ... huff and puff and blow down my weird head trip house.

fake food for real thought

2008-01-09T16:46:00.000-06:00

well, loyal readers, i am back from a lovely trip to see my honey in scandanavia. he has suggested that i might blog about it. and i may. but not today.

i am writing to alert you to an article that disturbed me. especially this quote:

Kimberly Latham, a fashion publicist in New York, said: ''I would never have read 'The Omnivore's Dilemma.' I'm not even sure I know what an omnivore is. But I know what a skinny bitch is, and I know I want to be one.''

in more encouraging news... Pollan's new book.

did you notice i am trying to use real links here? i can learn!

long time no blog

2007-12-22T08:22:00.000-06:00

woke up early (thanks to neighbor clomping down the stairs) and decided to get up and pack. aaaaaaaaaaand also try to find my new favorite christmas song on the internets. i heard it yesterday on sugar shop on kfai.

the song is silent night done by huey 'piano' smith and the clowns (you may remember them from the catchy tune that goes "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-aaaah-ah! aaaaaaaaay-aay-ay-o! oobah doobah doobah dooobah. ah. ah. ah. ah." on the snatch soundtrack, also known as Don't You Just Know It. here's that song:)

anyway, to find silent night, go to http://kfai.org/node/100
stream the show from 12/21/2007 (you need realplayer)
silent night is around 2h43min, but why not listen to the whole show (if you have 3 hours...)

it has come to my attention lately that some of my faithful readers do not like silent night. you find it slow. boring. monotonous. no more! huey and the clowns have unlocked the funky glory i always knew was there. oh ye of little faith.

in other news... i am going to norway today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so. back to packin'.

re-post... not from slog!

2007-10-11T22:34:00.000-05:00

hoo boy. when aliens come down to the desolate nuclear remains of our planet after we have destroyed ourselves, i bet their anthropologists will have a field day trying to figure out what the hell we were thinking living in a culture that produced this.

someone else's tastebud timeline

2007-09-12T23:24:00.001-05:00

tastebud timeline
Originally uploaded by smitten

i started reading a food blog, www.smittenkitchen.com and really like this graph of pretty colors and sudden food likings (ps - i liked eggplant on saturday!).

the whole entry is here
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/corfu-sils-and-timelines/#more-303

i should re-title this thing "Reposted Videos from Slog"

2007-08-31T15:52:00.000-05:00

And now for something completely different

2007-08-16T17:11:00.000-05:00

Let me break from this goddard photos to post this video.. I quote Dan Savage, "This is some fucked up shit right here. Rudy Guiliani in drag again—but this time in lion drag. Purple lipstick, headdress, yellowish-green blush. And there’s a whole welfare subtext going on that some folks might find, oh, vaguely racist."

Yikes

rainbow break

2007-08-15T21:55:00.001-05:00

DSC03726.JPG
Originally uploaded by ninnyleigh

In the middle of the cabaret (talent show) people started noticing there was an amazing rainbow outside and going to look. when the current musicians got words, the declared a rainbow break so everyone could go see. it was very goddard.

rainbow break 2

2007-08-15T21:54:00.001-05:00

DSC03722.JPG
Originally uploaded by ninnyleigh

our skit for cabaret

2007-08-15T21:24:00.001-05:00

DSC03738.JPG
Originally uploaded by ninnyleigh

the four of us on the left pretended to be freshman considering rushing the goddard fra-rority, a co-ed greek organization that has keg parties ... of organic blueberry juice! and you have to turn in your own initiation plan explaining what hazing means to you! etc.etc. har har.

Salsa

2007-08-15T13:55:00.001-05:00

DSC03769.JPG
Originally uploaded by ninnyleigh

After the Cabaret, one of the professors gave a salsa lesson.

Swimming Hole

2007-08-15T13:46:00.001-05:00

DSC03181.JPG
Originally uploaded by ninnyleigh

Sadly, I never made it swimming this year... I guess I was too busy being a square and going to workshops.

Photo 2

2007-08-15T13:45:00.001-05:00

DSC03562.JPG
Originally uploaded by ninnyleigh

This one has Sidney (aviators), and Winston (often said to resemble a young Castro.)

Test of Posting Photos from Flikr

2007-08-15T13:41:00.001-05:00

DSC03556.JPG
Originally uploaded by ninnyleigh

Through the magic of facebook, I found someone's photos' from the last residency, so i am going to see how easy it is to post them here.

This was a nice sunny afternoon, and we took many silly pictures. Clockwise from me are: Sheldon, Kenyada, Meredith, Kristen, and Emir.

n-p is as far as i can get today.

2007-07-19T14:12:00.000-05:00

n is for nel noddings. i used a lot of her books last semester. the goddard library is pretty great. they'll mail me any book I want, and track things down through interlibrary loan if i ask. I forgot to bring back noddings ' book, Challenge to Care, when i went to the residency. but, there are no late fees. woo-hoo.

o is for oil. i went to a maple syrup farm with rowie, mike and isaac. there was a video playing in the outdown wooden "theater" about syrup production. the old farmer in the video was chopping wood and said, warms you up choppin it, warms you up burnin' it. now tell me why we need all that oil from the a-rabs!"

p is for pickle. the new rock paper scissors is beer pickle dad. dad eats pickle, pickle spoils beer, beer spoils dad.

half way done

2007-07-12T10:35:00.000-05:00

-a is for apple. i had a tasty golden delicious today. and a good plum.
-b is for bonfire. we haven't had any yet - sad. too rainy.
-c is for Come Back, Charleston Blue, (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068403/) a funny movie i saw last night.
-d is for doc. one of the profs is called doc by all. his real name is david frisby. he's great.
-e is for enchiladas. the best cafeteria meal is the mexican lunch. i could eat it every day.
-f is for freire. i've noticed students and faculty pronouncing his name correctly with soft, not english sounding r's. go goddard.
-g is for goddard process. you must trust the process. they can't give us the answers, or the questions.
-h is for health care. saw sicko last night in a tiny theater in montpelier. got fired up about health care. have since calmed down.
-i is for ice cream. as we got off the plane, some kid said, "is this where ben and jerry really live??"
- j is for joiner. as usual, i have been attending lots of workshops, but my willingness to attend things and participate dwindles the later in the day ad the week it is.
-k is for knowledge. someone recommended Knowledge by Heart, by Barthes to me, and i am excited to read it. school reform from the inside out through teachers becoming life-long learners.
-l is for lightfoot. another book recommendation was for an author called Sarah Lightfoot Lawrence,
... and it made me think of Gordon Lightfoot, and therefore Lauren.

-m is for magic hat. still a tasty beer.
n-z to come!

i'm here...

2007-07-08T14:53:00.001-05:00

-flight and all traveling went well. was able to share the van-taxi ride up so i saved 45 bucks - saving which will be passed on to delicious pizza (at local hole in the wall here in Plainfield and it's bigger twin in Montpeilier www.positivepie.com) and of course, local beers (such as www.magichat.net ).

-so, my listed roommate is still Sam, who is not coming. looks like I have an accidental single room again. the privacy is nice, but so would someone to walk to meals with, etc.

-what i should do: yoga, or go for a walk. what i feel like doing: nap, or finishing the netflix copy of constant gardner that i started on the plane.

-here's a not terribly thrilling link about my program, in case you want some light reading material.

http://www.goddard.edu/academic/MATeacherEducation.html

-next
post i will be more reflective and poetic, i promise

off to goddard again next week!

2007-07-02T18:33:00.000-05:00

well, time flies when i'm having fun, and not blogging.

despite my ignoring all school-related things since i handed in my portfolio, it is time again for summer residency.

fun facts:
-the theme for the dance is: PIRATES!
-i emailed the friend i signed up to share a room with, and it turns out she is not coming this semester. we hadn't done too well at keeping in touch, but at least i found out before i got there, as opposed to last semester, when i didn't learn that my roomie wasn't coming until she failed to show up. i hope that i end up with a single room for the price of a double, like last time, rather than getting stuck with a stranger.

uhhh. out of fun facts. more next week. instead, here are some parts copied from a profile of Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from VT, which I wanted to post a link to, but the rag that rhymes with Moo Fork Limes, does not see fit to let the non-paying public read its archives...

'I urge you all to argue with your teachers, argue with your parents,'' Sanders told a group of about 60 students at South Burlington High School -- generally liberal, affluent and collegebound -- one afternoon in mid-December.

The newly elected senator whipped his head forward with a force that shifted his free-for-all frizz of white hair over his forehead. (Journalistic convention in Vermont mandates that every Sanders story remark on his unruly hair as early on as possible. It also stipulates that every piece of his clothing be described as ''rumpled.'')

___

Sanders calls himself as a ''democratic Socialist.'' When I asked him what this meant, as a practical matter, in capitalist America circa 2007, he did what he often does: he donned his rhetorical Viking's helmet and waxed lovingly about the Socialist governments of Scandinavia. He mentioned that Scandinavian countries have nearly wiped out poverty in children -- as opposed to the United States, where 18 to 20 percent of kids live in poverty. The Finnish government provides free day care to all children; Norwegian workers get 42 weeks of maternity leave at full pay.

But would Americans ever accept the kinds of taxes that finance the Scandinavian welfare state? And would Sanders himself trade in the United States government for the Finnish one? He is curiously, frustratingly non-responsive to questions like this. ''I think there is a great deal we can learn from Scandinavia,'' he said after a long pause. And then he returns to railing about economic justice and the rising gap between rich and poor, things he speaks of with a sense of outrage that always seems freshly summoned.

...that's all folks.

completely different

2007-05-03T18:30:00.000-05:00

here's the update on my completely different stuff:

yoga practice is back. david swensen + calypso awakening = tons of fun.
and, though this is meaningless to many of you, gentle readers - i bound in marichysasna d! by myself!

i shoveled all the compost out of the bin and stirred it, added some compost from youth farm courtesy phil, and now it is literally steaming! i rule. i feared for a long time i only had rotting food, not compost. but his is rich and black and warm with biological process action.

hung out with grandma.

got a job, the place closed before i could start, now working on better job.

have found many of you long lost friends, thanks for not disowning me during the time of silence.

slept not so much.

drank more.

love

cate

done and done

2007-04-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

Hooooooo-ray beer, and hoooo-ray me.

i'm done with my portfolio! that's everything i wrote this year (200=pages!), plus some other junk, all organized to display my maximum ability to shape young minds and use words like "critical transitivity" "embrangled" and "numeracy."

aww yeah.

now, its time for something completely different:

find all the friends i've shunned
clean the house
comprehensively stir the compost
dust off ye olde yoga practice
hang out with grandma
get a jobby job
cook more/have you all over for a bbq
sleep like a baby/log/baby in a log

peace out.
c

well, looks like i didn't blog all semester

2007-04-20T15:50:00.000-05:00

spring is here, and the adirondack chair is in the yard, in a wi-fi hotspot.
i wonder if neighbors are aware of the high speed mooching.
i may be be scaring birds away from the bird bath.
portfolio is due in three and a half days.
look, each sentence gets shorter.
ants are crawling in my tea.
wish i liked writing more.
does anyone like it?
for school, that is.
okay, back to it.
that's all.
bye
c

more photos. not all mine

2007-01-20T14:38:00.001-06:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaduppy/

here's some pictures I found from someone who was at goddard the week before i got here. we've had a lot of snow globe winterwonderland snow... just like in this person's pictures.

macbook photobooth funtime.

my advising group. Eric Debbie and Chuck. (not pictured: advisor, Eileen, and Allegra, who is a 3/4 time student and not here for this residency)

talk about transformational praxis!

more photos. not all mine

2007-01-20T14:38:00.000-06:00

day 4 at goddard

2007-01-17T19:51:00.000-06:00

my dorm room as seen by the computer

me with goddard window decal

well. here's a quick update:

- my roomie from last summer, heather, didn't come back this time. due to lack of communication between the housing people and the enrollment people (i assume) i am in a double with no roomie. heather didn't have any experience working in or studying education and had been in and out of a few different programs, so i'm not surprised it didn't work for her. i miss having someone around to chat with, go to meals with, etc., but i like having the space and privacy, and being more of a free agent socially is going pretty well.

- my new advisor, eileen, is awesome. we did a lot of group work with everyone's overarching problem statement and research question for the semester. mine situation is different since i am going for licensure so the general topics of my study are already set for me this semester, whereas my other group members aren't in licensure.

i think i may have had a breakthrough with my question, realizing that it must be more than one sentance. (other people's are more than 1... why was i trying to cram it all in??) the p.s. and r.q. in their current form are as follows:

Problem Statement: Traditional instruction in elementary schools has often consisted largely of rote memorization of discrete facts from disconnected content areas. This promotes conformity and passivity while discouraging the independent, critical thinking and internal motivation that are crucial for engaging as citizens in communities and democratic society.

Research Question: How can curriculum be designed across the content areas of ELA, math, science, history and social sciences as a dynamic process of active, collaborative learning through inquiry and reflection? How can this process create conditions in which students gain capacity and motivation to become social change agents, including deep understandings of core ideas, strong knowledge base, and critical thinking skills?
To what extent can teachers implement such curriculum in alignment with state standards?

I'm not sure about the last sentance here... i just added it to include the idea that all this hand holding drum beating protest marching idea contemplating curious creative playing stuff that i am into is not what the department of education is into, and there's only so much fun to be had talking about progressive dreamland before it gets depressing in its stark difference from the reality in most schools.

all in all, the r.q. may seem jargony to you all, vast and gentle readership, but i assure, it could be much much worse.

also, eileen (my advisor) had to leave the residency early (tonight) so i did most of the work on my study plan already. there's still more i can do, but it's mostly starting to read my books to make sure i like them. so that's good. what do i do for the rest of the week then, you ask? go to workshops by faculty and current students,thesis presentations by graduating students (these are helpful so i can get more ideas of types of projects), go to dance nights and the "cabaret" (talent show), commencement, hopefully more yoga and a night out in bustling montpelier.

okay, off to have fun now.

peace!
c

here

2007-01-14T22:03:00.000-06:00

well, i'm here.

flights went fine.

there's a french meadow in the airport now! a real restaurant and separate deli it seemed. i resisted the temptation to eat this potentially tasty (but still overpriced) food.

meredith from my adivsing group picked me up at the (teeny burlington) airport. it was nice to chat on the ride down to goddard about how the semester went... we also discussed why we both failed at keeping in touch with anyone. it could be potentially so helpful/comforting/grounding...

this my dorm room is in a bigger building near the cafeteria and other main campus buildings (my room last summer was in one of several small buildings of 8 rooms each.) i think i may still have to walk outside for cellphone service, but at least it won't be as far. i tried to find a picture of the building on the goddard website but failed. oh well.

my roomie this time is the same, heather. we got along well so i'm happy she's back. she's not here yet though.

there's snow here and we're getting mroe in the next few days. looks there was more at home too. have fun shoveling, suckas!

that's all the wit i can muster for now...
i am planning on sleeping soon... long day.

off to vermont

2007-01-13T21:37:00.000-06:00

well, winter break has flown by and i'm off to vermont again tomorrow afternoon.

tonight i am babysitting. kiddo was asleep within 45 min of my getting here so now i am half watching one of my most re-watched movies of the last few years: "to be and to have." it's a documentary about a one-room school in france. the kids are cute as hell of course. but i also love that the teacher is so kind and smart and good. even when he's grumpy he' still a placid pond of creamy butter. an inspiration.

i'm pretty mellow too, believe it or not.

the other half of me has been half non-essential internetting, half organizing my documents into a sensical system of folders and messing with NVU, this webdesign for dummies program. i am using it to create an electronic portfolio for my licensure stuff. this will take the place of having a huge binder with hundreds of pages. (last semester i wrote about 125 pages, and gathered at least 25 more of other "evidence" (letters, evaluations, photos,) of my worth as a pre-student teacher. i really like the idea of this e-portfolio, but i suck at this supposedly idiot-proof program. my advisor is running some workshops at the residency about the program, but they overlap with other workshops i want to go to. yes, i am the dork who wants to go to all the workshops. i am looking forward to this one especially:
Swagger and the Urban Male. Sinatra invented it. Ali perfected it. Snoop-Dogg's lazy drawl is saturated with it. What is it and what role might it play in the male teacher's identity and social justice? This workshop will examine men's identity development theory and the need to define, understand and perhaps embrace swagger in the classroom.

Okay. list time.

victories so far:

-confirmed ride from the airport to campus with buddy meredith.
-found out there is open yoga time on the schedule for this residency.
-realized my three weeks for working on packet one don't start til the monday after i get back, so i'll have almost a week to catch up on stuff like...

oopses:
-didn't go to the u library to look for books as i have meant to for weeks now.
-like i said, e-portfolio is stalled by my laziness/inability to work userfriendly programs

goals:
-spend the necessary time while i'm out there finding books for the semester, so i don't have to do as much searching when i should be reading.
-take better notes about workshops
-be open to new people/experiences

okay, that's all for now, if i don't post more from vermont, take it as a sign that i am fully immersed in a wonderful world of dialogue, contemplation, snow, and delicious local beer and therefore unable to write.

yule blog

2006-12-28T16:18:00.000-06:00

well, i haven't blogged much lately. christmas was good. i chrocheted many things, maybe there'd be pictures of them if phil's camera battery worked.

one highlight was going to the holiday pops concert at school - i can see this feast and joyful singalong becoming a much more emotionally fulfilling annual yuley community tradition than i ever found at church.

still unsure about the meaning of my blogging... as in, why do i do it? who reads it? what's the point? it's kinda fun how many people i know have blogs now, i guess... but but i dunno.

anyway, with no internet at home, my time for blogging is unpredictable and sparse... like the body hair of an old man.

so... i leave you hanging, blogosphere... be well.

winter breeeeeeeeeeeeeak

2006-12-12T15:32:00.000-06:00

so, my semester's over. i'd probably have written more but there's been no internet at home for a while.

Good:
-no more homework-avoidance induced guilt
-i completed a semester of class without having class or assignments. i feel very self-acualized
-i'm planning on making a mix for the first time SINCE THE NINETIES
-i heard some stan freeberg on kool108. please respond if you have heard of him... i think no one outside my immediate family has.
-i got an unlimted month yoga pass, and i've been practicing a lot more... the benefits are exponential from more frequent practice
-Me and julia's holidayfestivalofmerrimentandcomfortandjoy is destined for greatness
-I don't suck at backgammon as much anymore
Bad:
-Christmas presents. AAAAAAAAAAH. You are all getting crocheted animal ears. or nothing.
-Christmas cards. will i send them? every year i say i will. but then fail. over and over.
-stupid grey crap weather
Ugly:
-How will we live without the cat when corey takes him back?
-We are getting the paper while our land(lady? person?) is out of town. this is mostly good, but i can't not read katherine kersten's column. i forget about her... and then she's still there! writing offensive tripe!

i'm vaugely unsatisfied with this post. next time, i'll be more interesting... or i won't! wait and see! oh the suspense!

love, typey mcblaberson

two posts in one day - what the crap

2006-11-25T16:19:00.000-06:00

http://www.laweekly.com/art+books/books/jest-fest/14990/

bri's friend paul wrote about this a little, and so will i.

i have only read maybe 50 pages of Infinite Jest, but now I really want to give it another shot. i've already vowed to read Endgame by derrick "j is for" jensen over winter break. could i possibly read both?? i think i'm going to try.

update: s was for soup indeed - spicy chicken curry from ...a co-op
cracks are filled in.

yoga, soup, coffee = splendid saturday afternoon

saturday superalphabeblog

2006-11-25T11:42:00.000-06:00

a is for awesome that it's saturday -feels like sunday.

b is for bowling - the true origin of the "get your ducks in a row"

c is for cookie, it's good enough for me (is that really how the song goes??)

d is for dad - he's turning 60 on jan 2 and i haven't helped contribute to the 60 small presents my mom is giving him one a day for 60 days. shame!

e is for ... not sure what e is for.
f is for first avenue. i lost my coat check ticket at the ike show wednesday night. i badgered the guy into finding our coats ("if there's more than one hanger with a puffy 80s vest and a fuzzy jacket with llamas on it, i'll eat my hat."). as he handed then to me he whimpered, "but where's your ticket..." i felt like a jerk. i really didn't want to wait until all the coats were gone. then, on our way out i found the ticket on the floor where we'd been standing when i answered mo's call... should have put the ticket in its own pocket. there's a lot to learn from this story.

g is for going to get my tea now. several times a week i make tea and then forget about it and it steeps too long and sometimes gets completely cold before i remember. another one of my charming household habits.

h is for homework i haven't seemed to be doing much of... nine more days til my last packet is due! soooooo many good books so little time...

i is for i can't beleive i am awake right now.

j is for jensen. with book club and my mom reading endgame, his ideas or stories come up a lot and i like that.

k is for kareoke - many excellent selections last night. the only disappointment was no wreck of the edmund fitzgerald. we dropped the ball on that one.

l is for lauren's going away shindig was a great success. to pull a lauren, i'll say a had a really nice time and i'm so happy to have such great friends. who else fights off the food coma with parlor games and a johnny cash dance party. no i mean it, i love you guys.

m is for moms. need i say more? no.

n is for noodle. i think chicken noodle soup would be just what i need today. as corey said, soup fills in all the cracks. really, i should have saved this for s is for soup, as i could also go for a nice black bean and mint, or coconut curry. sorry, no editing.

e i guess is can go back to e is for emu. someone in phil's honors seminar (music and adolescents, i think) was expressing confusion when people discuss other music types, as she only likes country, "I don't even know about, what is it? emu? music..."

o is for owls. i still like 'em.

p is for pointlessly paranoid. i keep getting weird and worried lately.

q is for quite groggy.

r is for resisting the urge to eat leftover pie for breakfast.

s is for squid and the whale. just got it from netflix. i slept through most of it on thanksgiving ... but i am looking forward to sleeping through different parts of it today, or even being awake. i love that movie.

t is for trying to write poetry on lauren's checks was maybe a good idea, but poorly executed, due to shitfacedness.

u is for usually it's me who falls asleep on the couch during a party or at the table of late night munchies... but lately is has been other people. maybe i am learning to drink again.

v is for vanessa. i miss her. she called me a few weeks ago. why didn't i call back? no reason. why is it hard to keep in touch?

w is for "what is the letter we love? W! the sound that we're extra fond of? W! its not any trouble you know it's a double-u when you hear W! W! W! W! " kids of a certain age love this song. and so do i.

x is for they've banned new drug names using x or z because it's too confusing.

y is for yonder, the great blue.... not sure why. i guess it's also for young americans. i think i miss my middle schoolers. i bet they are not thinking about math right now. nor am i really. man i gotta wrap this up i am babbling

z is for

zubiquitous.

i hope you have enjoyed this experiment in blogging.

friday funblog

2006-11-17T22:32:00.000-06:00

just kidding! this is going to be about school.

i've finally been getting things done for my long delayed project for packet 4.

the good part is, i'm really enjoying it. i enjoy lesson planning. i enjoy learning theory. i am not ashamed.

i still have a fair amount of editing and turning handwritten assessment rubrics into stupid tables in Word... but i think i am going to do it... tomorrow.

i also enjoy booze.

i'm going to the town talk to go see what all the fuss is about and hang out with julia.

hmm. for the next packet, i'll be working on my personal educational philosophy and call to school reform activism... so maybe that'll lead to more interesting blogging than this lesson planning stuff. not that i actually wrote about that in any detail.

okay, no roughdrafts on this blog, just posting this p.o.s. as is - probably incoherent.

why does mark wheat see 10pm as the weird electronica hour. shit's creepy.

f it.
to the bar!

-c

monday miniblog

2006-11-13T19:36:00.000-06:00

okay, i promised myself to start studying in by 7:30. so this is going to be short, and probably uninteresting.

-2 elderly relatives of mine passed away this week. lots of wondering about family, and closeness, and death.
-delicious dinner of leftovers tonight, including acorn squash with curry apple compote, and pumpkin lentil stew. the stew is from 2 weeks ago but i froze it and i've actually been reheating it and not letting it slip into the blackhole of forgotten frozen mystery items. glad to have at teast taken advantage of fall/winter foods a few times so far this season.
-really not used to daylight savings time.
-delayed turning my project in on time (today) due to deaths in the family and other unexpected things that have lead to busyness and general malaise. feel guilty, since theres been plenty of time i could have been working, but didn't. guess i need to forgive myself for not being a robot.
-have been a hermit lately and not communicated with many people i usually talk to. i'm sure in 3 (!) weeks when my semester is over i'll be a social butterfly again.
-tootsie is still really funny.

too much thinking lately

2006-11-10T23:36:00.000-06:00

time again for foto fun.

kitty likes to sit on whatever i am reading.

better days last week = an almost real smile

up late studying delirium =why not photograph my asymmetrical thumbs??

-a short list

*go IRV!
*please try your beer michelada style at salsa a la salsa. you won't regret it.
*remember when i went to the downtown library and it was closed for columbus day? today i went. closed again. veteran's day. isn't that observed on a monday? blast. please remind me not to go on arbor, groundhog, secretary's etc. days...
*the u is starting a utopia in rosemount! (look it up on the strib)
*creative juices now dry

-c

they schools

2006-11-09T09:50:00.000-06:00

(from my myspace)

what do you think of my new profile song?

please, do tell me what you think, about the song and what i'm writing.

dred prez doesn't pull any punches.

i'm going to try to write here about something i feel strongly about without editing or stopping because i'm overwhelmed like i usually do.

the song is a good reminder that so so much about the school system works for the status quo while beating the drum that if you try hard, you'll do well, you'll get a job, you'll succeed. the extent to which that can be true for some people is far overshadowed by how often school teaches us to resent adults, to get away with what we can when no one's looking, to stare at the clock and wish away minutes of our life until the bell rings, to look for the right answer not the interesting question, the gold star or the A plus not the powerful or complex idea, that our worth is bound up in grades and rankings...

and that was all in good old edina public schools. on the other end of the money and power and color spectrum there also, yes, the fact that the school system ignores the daily reality of kids and the history of their people in this country and does nothing to change the system.

the song says "i love education but if education ain't elevating me ain't getting me where i need to go, then fuck education. this whole school system can suck my dick, biatch." at the root of this is the same feeling that i've seen over and over in so many kids: no one is helping me understand why i need to know this, or why i have to fill out this "bubble sheet" or why i'm being asked to learn in exactly the same way as everyone else or i'm labeled dysfunctional or disabled. almost everything about how school and teaching is organized serves bureaucratic institutional needs, not human needs. we're "taught" so many things by plunking down isolated facts and memorizing and regurgitating and moving when the bell tells us for the next set of facts from the next overworked idealist or jaded paper-pusher with the next sanitized formulaic textbook "covering" the next bits of "content"... this does not result in deep or useful understanding even with passionate teachers ample school budgets. i believe kids love learning. most of what we so in school beats this out of them. "i tried to pay attention but they classes wasn't interesting." we've all felt that, the utter uselessness of vocab lists and quizzes and cramming in info so soon forgotten.

the song says "ya'll know they don't give a fuck about us." so. yeah. i still wanna be a teacher and "change the world" but i know i need to do it by giving a fuck. every day. about they kids as people above all else. meeting them where they're at and accepting who they are and rejecting everything else that gets in the way of teaching them what they need to know. they need to know how to love themselves. they need to know how people have been strong and resisted and fought together and made history. they need to know how to comminicate with all kinds of people. they need to know how to make peace. they need to know they are their own greatest teacher.

okay i'm done. i give myself 9 out of 10 for effort, 4 out of 10 on clarity. ha ha ha!

__________________________________________
Lyrics:

Why havent you learned anything?

Man that school shit is a joke
The same people who control the school system control
The prison system, and the whole social system
Ever since slavery, nawsayin?

[verse 1]
I went to school with some redneck crackers
Right around the time 3rd bass dropped the cactus album
But I was readin malcolm
I changed my name in 89 cleaning parts of my brain
Like a baby nine
I took a history class serious
Front row, every day of the week, 3rd period
Fuckin with the teachers had, callin em racist
I tried to show them crackers some light, they couldnt face it
I got my diploma from a school called rickers
Full of, teenage mothers, and drug dealin niggas
In the hallways, the popo was always present
Searchin through niggas possessions
Lookin for, dope and weapons, get your lessons
Thats why my moms kept stressin
I tried to pay attention but they classes wasnt interestin
They seemed to only glorify the europeans
Claimin africans were only three-fifths a human being

Hook:
They schools cant teach us shit
My people need freedom, we tryin to get all we can get
All my high school teachers can suck my dick
Tellin me white man lies straight bullshit (echoes)
They schools aint teachin us, what we need to know to survive
(say what, say what)
They schools dont educate, all they teach the people is lies

You see dog, you see how quick these motherfuckers be to like
Be tellin niggas get a diploma so you can get a job
Knowwhatimsayin but they dont never tell you how the job
Gonna exploit you every time knowwhatimsayin thats why I be like
Fuck they schools!

[verse 2]
School is like a 12 step brainwash camp
They make you think if you drop out you aint got a chance
To advance in life, they try to make you pull your pants up
Students fight the teachers and get took away in handcuffs
And if that wasnt enough, then they expel yall
Your peoples understand it but to them, you a failure
Observation and participation, my favorite teachers
When they beat us in the head with them books, it dont reach us
Whether you breakdance or rock suede addidas
Or be in the bathroom with your clique, smokin reefer
Then you know they math class aint important less you addin up cash
In multiples, unemployment aint rewardin
They may as well teach us extortion
You either get paid or locked up, the pricipal is like a warden
In a four year sentence, mad niggas never finish
But that doesnt mean I couldnt be a doctor or a dentist

Hook(first part of hook twice)

Cuz for real, a mind is a terrible thing to waste
And all yall high class niggas with yall nose up
Cuz we droppin this shit on this joint, fuck yall
We gon speak for ourselves
Knowhatimsayin? cuz see the schools aint teachin us nothin
They aint teachin us nothin but how to be slaves and hardworkers
For white people to build up they shit
Make they businesses successful while its exploitin us
Knowhatimsayin? and they aint teachin us nothin related to
Solvin our own problems, knowhatimsayin?
Aint teachin us how to get crack out the ghetto
They aint teachin us how to stop the police from murdering us
And brutalizing us, they aint teachin us how to get our rent paid
Knowhatimsayin? they aint teachin our families how to interact
Better with each other, knowhatimsayin? they just teachin us
How to build they shit up, knowhatimsayin? thats why my niggas
Got a problem with this shit, thats why niggas be droppin out that
Shit cuz it dont relate, you go to school the fuckin police
Searchin you you walkin in your shit like this a military compound
Knowhatimsayin? so school dont even relate to us
Until we have some shit where we control the fuckin school system
Where we reflect how we gon solve our own problems
Them niggas aint gon relate to school, shit that just how it is
Knowhatimsayin? and I love education, knowhatimsayin?
But if education aint elevatin me, then you knowhatimsayin it aint
Takin me where I need to go on some bullshit, then fuck education
Knowhatimsayin? at least they shit, matter of fact my nigga
This whole school system can suck my dick, beeyotch!!

pigeon fever!

2006-10-25T21:59:00.000-05:00

list

1a. packet 3.. well, i think the power of the lazy got me worse this time and i didn't start writing until 4 days before it was due (not good considering i have 21 days). it got in though, and i wrote a lot. not my finest work, maybe. i'm a little disappointed because i am really into the classroom management without coercion stuff (constructivism for moral/ethical knowledge!) but i shortchanged it in the paper. i read so much, and then can't cram it all n.... i'm still learning from it... i guess i'm still thinking about the writing as proving what i know, not actually part of learning... which is not ideal.

1b.i had a tough time writing about the legal processes of special ed... part of the problem being i think the vast majority of the time that kids are "behind" especially young kids who struggle with reading do not have an inherent disability. we just need to widen the range of what is considered normal and stop expecting everyone to learn the same thing at the same time and pathologizing everyone else.

2. stuff i've been reading
a.fuckcorporategroceries.net
b.yoga blogs - addictive. some good, insightful. others are terrible shallow people ... blog endlessly about yoga poses and tv and shopping. ick. like every pose is a badge of honor. want to get far far away from this. remember non-attachment and living in the now (and in the meow).

3. rowie told me they are training pigeons ("as we speak") to watch the baggage scan screen at the airport! they can recognize weapons. rachel raises the point - will it wear a little hat?

4. been on some play dates with young julia lately. when did it become a play date and stop being playing?

5. young julia held up a tortilla chip and said it looked like a penguin. it did have a curve like a penguin's back.... then later she held up a very rectangular one and said it looked like a pigeon. ... awww.

6. looking verymuch forward to halloween.

7. note on last post. the gult thing i wrote about was from a blog, not my real life. memory is funny that way

why do i procrastinate

2006-10-23T23:16:00.000-05:00

i swear i was just somewhere where we talked about turning guilt into some kind of postive action.... ugg. feeling the reverse of deja vu. is that possible.

anyway, if i hadn't looked at all at the newyorks times or mysoace or overheard in somewhere today, i'd definitely be done with packet 3 and in bed.

BUT. that's not how the cookie crumbles.

for your reading pleasure: an article i already sent to book club.

If We All Vanished Tomorrow
What would *really* happen if all humans disappeared? The Earth grins at the thought

- By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Friday, October 20, 2006
Of course you already know. Of course you can merely look out the window and see the traffic and the plastic and the smog and the bad haircuts and the war and the Paris Hilton and the Bush and say, well duh.

But imagine the result anyway. Imagine for a moment that every human on the face of the planet was suddenly whisked away to the divine gurgling ether in one big blast of cheery Armageddon nothingness, all the Bible-waving True Believers carted off to a giant sex-free harp-filled cosmic Wal-Mart while the rest of us leap to the next luminous transformational echelon of timespacelove.

What would happen, really? How would the planet respond if all bipeds disappeared tomorrow?

You can probably guess. Almost immediately, the planet would shudder, shift, align itself anew. Immediately, all endangered species would begin to recover. Light pollution (that is, pollution caused by industrial light) would soon vanish, followed by a great reduction in air pollution, methane gasses, chemicals in fresh water. Soon, all bridges and dams would collapse, roads would become overgrown, buildings would decay, corals would regenerate, most organic landfill would decay and vanish. And that's just the beginning.

In other words, as the fascinating/depressing cover story in the recent issue of New Scientist points out (along with this nifty graphic from the Times U.K.), the Earth would quickly begin to recover mightily from the deep disease that is human existence. What's more, the planet would, by every estimate, quickly become a whole lot healthier, more balanced, back in harmony with itself.

Translation: We have wreaked just a horrific amount of damage and done just about exactly zero good for the place while we've been here. It is, obviously, not the most heartwarming thing to accept.

Perhaps the good news is, with the exception of some nuclear remains, were our species to vanish entirely, most traces of man's existence would wink out within about 50,000 years, and almost all traces within 200,000. Not bad at all, considering the extent of our damage. Pretty much a blip on the geologic timescale, really. Don't you feel better?

Humans are the single most dominant and destructive species in planetary history. But sentient man has been around for what, a million years? The Earth has been here for roughly 4.5 billion. No matter how you slice it, the Earth still sees us as just another fly in its bedroom. A particularly obnoxious one, no doubt, but still a fly. Isn't that reassuring?

There are two ways to react to such a viewpoint: One is to say oh my God what the hell is wrong with us and just look at how much damage we've wrought and the pain we've inflicted, look how much better off the place is when we're out of the picture and what can we do to make less of a violent impact and improve our karmic outlook while we're here because oh my God this can not be good.

Option 2 is to ask: Who the hell cares? If all our remains vanish in a couple of hundred thousand years, does it really matter how much damage we inflict? After all, there's no way to say whether or not the planet really gives a damn one way or the other about our species, given how our entire existence has taken up but a flutter of an eyeblink of time anyway. Hell, we could nuke the whole place tomorrow and the planet would merely shudder and shrug and pause for a few million years and start all over. Right?

How do we really measure our impact? Soulless GOP warmongering oil execs see this planet as merely one giant oil well to be sucked dry. Millions of humans, if they think of it at all, merely view the Earth as a giant sandbox, a mute playground to be trammeled and paved over and drilled into and burned through and sliced up like so much ecological pie until it's all gone and we're forced back into the caves to beat each other with clubs over the last scraps of beef jerky and nuclear Twinkies. I mean, who cares?

I have friends who don't exercise. I know plenty of people who still smoke and drink a ton of beer and get stoned frequently and eat gallons of processed foods and watch TV like it was pixilated cake and the last time they truly got their hearts pumping was when they had to walk five blocks from their house to the sushi joint because their car broke down.

They just laugh. What's the point of eating right and exercising? they say. Why the hell spend all that money on yoga and gyms and vitamins and try to take excessive care of the body when we're all just gonna break down and die anyway? What's the point? Just to live a little longer? Who wants to live to 90 anyway? Why not enjoy life's vices now and let the body wallow and slump? This is what they say.

It is the cutest viewpoint, like, ever. The initial reply is almost too obvious to explain: The point of a healthy lifestyle is not to live longer. It is to live better, right now, in the moment, to breathe deeper and dream more lucidly and step lighter and orgasm stronger and be able to touch your toes and touch your lover's toes and try, just try, to evolve, just a little, while we're here, in fits and spurts and groans and via healthy snifters of Oban 14 and lots of tongue kissing in the street.

It's about paying attention. It's about tuning in. It's about respecting the physical so as to connect more profoundly with the spiritual so as to try and hone the interdimensional so as to prepare, somehow, maybe, if this is at all possible and many, many gurus and healers and mystics and wise ones truly believe it is, for some sort of massive cosmological transformative goobleslamdinglewhap. Hey, it's your choice.

Maybe the planet is no different. Maybe we should take care of it because it makes our lives better and our orgasms stronger and the trees look at us without cringing and begging for a divorce. You think?

We take care of it because it's the vessel. It's the womb. It's our collective body and it's the place that holds us and feeds us and plays with us in the park while at least some of us try to prepare to get sucked back up into the grand Mystery to see what the hell happens next.

But truly, the Earth may not really care. If we abuse her to death, she might merely shake us off like a bad rash, a nasty head cold, a giant whining bipedal kidney stone. After all, despite all our bitching and stomping, we really ain't all that.

But your soul. Your soul cares. But you knew that already. Right?

"You have writing style that is engaging and interesting to read."

2006-10-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

Har har. A direct quote from the comments on my last packet (yes! it came back much quicker this time.) mostly, school is going oky. i haven;t been working too hard since turning in the last one... but that's part of the process. soon i will wig out, then get back to work.

nannying follies: sometimes young julia doesn't want to get out of the car, regardless of where we are. i assume this is because i am so fun and entertaining, it is a joy to be in the car with me. once i said, "okay, we'll just have to stay in the car forever then!" now, she keeps repeating that when we're about to get out - "nope, we'll just stay here for ever and ever and ever!" yesterday, i pretended that i was so tired from trying to get her out of the car, I "fell asleep." (falling asleep is one of my best tricks.... comical snoring always distracts from whatever was making her put on the crabby pants. so today, she insisted that i "take a nap" before we got out. really, this is all in good fun, but has the danger of building into an elaborate routine and the neighbors will start to wonder why we sit in the car so long.

whew. trying to write about one idea for more than 2 sentances is hard. better make a list.
- i heart leaves.

-here's a link: www.losanjealous.com/nfc

-i bought a bunch of schoolbooks online last week and now they are trickling in. it's like christmas everyday!

-my mom dropped off some stuff (shock!) including minipeanut butter cups from trader joe's. now, i feel like ralphing, because i have self control with candy.

-question: why do i hate trader joe's so much? choose one of the above:
a) shopping shouldn't be so cute and fun
b) i fear the new and unknown, much like young julia
c) i'm a jerk
d) people should just go to the co-op, where everybody knows your name. or at least they would if you went there more. okay, well, they know mine.
e) all of the above

ug. okay, enough for now.

fluxcapicitor, cate

what's the preferred nomenclature for indian summer?

2006-10-01T20:37:00.001-05:00

who is better at taking photos with the laptop?

me?

or phil?

you be the judge.

this weekend saw the return of nice weather and me staying in to get lots of packet work done. which i have... but procrastination is still rampant. if i never looked at myspace, people's blogs, or the new york times, i'd have many more hours for proofreading, and going out and seeing friends... if i still remember who they are.

here's an extremely creepy idea: reporting bad nannies anonymously on the internet! www.isawyournanny.blogspot.com

an another creepy idea of a very different sort... this speaks for itself. http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/

ok, back to my paper on authentic assessment.

ps mo, i'm too lazy to reply in comment form, but i know you'll be reading this as you procrastinate... why not start up your blog. it's easy. and, it feels more productive than other internet pastimes. and, i thought your nursing stories were funny. we'll be the internet version of people sending in their funny stories along various themes to readers digest. i'll cover schools and kids, you've got hospitals, old people, cancer. now, who's in for humor in uniform?? those are so great

subbin

2006-09-29T14:47:00.000-05:00

so I've been a sub this week. it's been good, but hard. even with going over plans with teachers, and knowing the kids, there are still a million ways that any class works that are routine to them and unknown to me. so... i was wrong a lot. but the kids like knowing better than me and were mostly helpful.

things kids said to me this week:

are you trying to be a teacher? (5th grader)

you should be a teacher. (5th grader)

you sound like a boy. (Kindergartener)

you are weird. (K)

you a funny teacher. I like you. (K)

why you using that weird voice, girl? (K)

another story:

2 Ks were making many bears with a playdoh mold. they had a long dicussion of how many bears they would make and how they would be famous doing it. the number of bears kept going up and up. One kid said "and then, we'll have 200 bears, and then we'll be dads." his buddy said, "yeah, and hen we'll make more bears and then we'll be old. we will still be famous, we'll just have to go to the old famous people home house and make bears there."

is that funny?

i don't know anymore.

off to nap.

study break mini-post

2006-09-25T19:32:00.000-05:00

trying to take photo booth pictures with the cat is hard.

but fun.

phil in a "comic book." this effect is weird.

well, finally got my packet back. comments: academic work was good, needs more of my personal reflection on relating the reading to my work as a teacher. so i feel pretty good about that.

in the spirit of not doing everything at the last minute, i will go work on my writing now. (i've already started writing! last time i waited til threefour days before everything was due)

peace

packet 2 - sophomore effort - sophomoric?

2006-09-19T15:23:00.000-05:00

well, i turned in my packet last monday. my advisor said she;d read it last weekend and get it back to me asap. asap is apparently not yet... my anxiety about getting it back has gone on an interesting journey from terror to mild worry peppered with terror to nagging nameless fear. i am comforted by emailing with my advising group who also tell of getting bogged down in finding too many things to read and not being able to narrow it down. they haven't got their packets back either, so at least i know its not just me.

in working on packet 2 i know what i should do to improve my working/studying process... buti am not doing it. that may be the real battle. i make plan after plan of when i will get done with what, but then i end up reading something else and looking up some source cited in that and digging around online for articles and oh yeah looking at overheard in newyork and etc etc and then oh wow! my plan has failed! how did that happen? sigh. i'll stop bitching now.

on the plus side: the family i nanny for is going to the bahamas next and it works out that they need me to sub at the school where i worked last year. i'm really excited to hang out with younger kids again! (my middle school math stuents are cool... but there is more "okay guys, let's not talk about the exorcist" and less hugging.

- i saw the brochures for the resort in the bahamas where they are going - ridiculo! it's called atlantis. the giant brochure/booklet says:" there was a time when we still believed in magic and wonder.... that time is now. Once upon Our time... "so lame. so i know we don't know where atlantis "was," but shouldn't it be more towards the mediterranean. and, i don't think there was a "mayan" temple there with a giant water slide on it. it was not their idea to go there, (blame the grandparetns) so i didn't have to pretend to think it didn't look insanely cheezy.

another plus:
108 sun salutes this saturday to celebrate the equinox! this will be my fourth season doing this and it is very meditative and cool. anyone want to join me?? any one actually read this? (side note: is there a word that means equinoxes and soltices? i don't know how to refer to all four as a group.)

okay. enough. off to make chili, go to board meeting, then study... maybe.

packet one is done: sociocultural implications of 3:20 AM

2006-09-12T03:27:00.000-05:00

the face that will shape the youth of our future! wowzah.

i think one of my eyes is swelling shut. AND i just typed "eye's" at first.. nooooooooo.

anyone care about what my crazy grad school is like? (anyone read this but phil? )

here is the cover I just sent off along with 19 pages of minimally proofread, highly agonized over writing... hope i don't find any typos now.... awk.

Dear Gail,
What I’ve Done (and Haven’t Done):
For Packet #1, I have written an essay and education and curriculum history and one on multicultural education. These two essays providence evidence for most of the “essential understandings” of Competency I. Additionally, I plan to uses them as partial evidence in other competencies related to multiculturalism and curriculum.
I changed the resources from those listed in my study plan, Two of the books I plan on reading for other packets. I was unable to locate two of the books, but substituted others that were similar.
In the resources I ended up with, I also did a significant amount of reading that I didn’t write about as I’ve realized will be more relevant in other competencies, such as on child development, and culture and language. The only significant change to my study plan that I need to make is moving my essay on school reform to another packet. I didn’t anticipate how much my curriculum reading would get into reform movements. However, I still want to write about other aspects of school change that I’ve just read and as they relate to my personal philosophy of education. This will include processes of school restructuring and critical pedagogy in relation to current trends like corporate control, charter school, and NCLB and standardized testing accountability. I have decided though that it makes more sense to do this at the end of the semester, since I know the reading I do in the weeks to come (especially on learning theory and special education ) will alter how I view reform and what I value in a personal education philosophy.
I also haven’t been able to secure documentation AmeriCorps trainings, but I should have that for the next packet (after my old supervisor comes back from maternity leave). I’ve started working with kids as a nanny and math T.A. in the last couple weeks, but I haven’t begun journaling.
The last thing I am lacking is work on e-portfolio as I’d hoped to do. I also plan to work on this in the next packet.
Evaluation and Reflection
The first packet has been much more of a challenge for me than I expected – I knew I’d be adjusting to studying so independently, but I forgot about re-adjusting to studying at all since it’s been a few years since I was in school. I knew I’d be moving during the first three weeks of the semester, but I got only a very meager head start in the summer that didn’t really compensate for how busy I’ve been. So, I’m looking to the second packet with renewed and more realistic goals of time management. I am mostly satisfied with the work I’m turning in now, but I’m sure it could have improved after a couple days of revision not under the gun of a deadline. I definitely don’t want to repeat this repeat of dealing with computer troubles in the middle of the night after the deadline… I hope I learn this lesson and wrap up sooner in the future.
I found making my own decisions about what to read and write a more rewarding challenge than time management. I took much more comprehensive notes while reading than I did as an undergrad in an effort to have good material to draw from for writing the essays… and because so much I read was of genuine interest to me. The results were mixed though, I still spent lots of time re-reading in search of a particular quote. Taking the notes may have enriched my learning, but I also felt like I was overwhelmed by everything I wanted to write about, so what I did write seems too over-simplified. I’m trying to remember that this is my first packet and I already have a much greater understanding of “the process” than I used to.
I look forward to your comments!
Sincerely,
Cate

Fall into foto fun!

2006-09-07T15:34:00.000-05:00

Well, gentle readers, serptember brings new jobs (nannying for precious young julia, and math class at southside!!) new apartment (charming duplex + phil + me + aesop = domestic bliss) and the real beginning of working on my studies! Here's the photographic evidence.
Yay, I'm actually getting writing done (first packet due on Monday!) This is grad school.... me and my computer and mountains of books (not pictured).
Is there water in my ear?? No, that's LEARNING.
New procrastination pastime - the photo booth special effects on my computer.
No double chins in the Freire book group!!

first ever dual lj and blogspot post

2006-08-24T13:04:00.001-05:00

well, it's been a while, or something.

news:

the beloved red dragon has finally crapped out its last crap, the check engine providing the blaze for the blaze of glory that was... one of the windows freezing halfway open. sigh. my patrons, i mean parents, sold the car to a 17 year old who either has the 400 bucks to fix the window or will be rockin the garbagebag window. meanwhile, i drive my folks' cars as they look for a replacement car to continue to spoil me with.

goodbye KMT 727. i'll remember the good times: crazily driving through austin after a year of no driving in south america, having a world of music at my fingertips in the 6cd changer, and the northcountry bumpersticker that held on with shitty packing tape for so long.... and the bad times: that phase where it refused to start for 15 minutes or so every couple weeks, the door locks freezing shut making me climb through the trunk frantically to the front to turn the car alarm off (since the alarm logically fires whenever the trunk is opened before the doors...), finding ancient forgotten thai take out in the backseat.

other news: i finished reading my first book for grad school, The Underground History of American Education, by John Taylor Gatto. It was maddeninngly repetitive and unorganized, but i still gotta love gatto... he's pissed off, he's right, and he says stuff like (not a direct quote but you get the idea) "taking religious morals out of western culture in favor of secular scientism is like sawing 2 legs off your kitchen table and replacing one with a stack of dishes and the other with a large dog. it may still stand up, but it's not going to get you through dinner." www.johntaylorgatto.com

it's very strange to be deciding for myself what and how much to read, and now what to write about it... but i'm still so glad i'm doing this and not some normal bs teacher licensure racket.

the end

highway 61 runs right by my baby's door

2006-08-14T10:51:00.000-05:00

i am back from an excellent trip backpacking with phil on the superior hiking trail and picking up his bro shawn from a 45 day canoe trip in the arctic.

ups:
-i have wanted to hike this part of the trail (btw magney st park and grand marais) for years, mainly because it includes the only part of the trail to cross hwy 61 and go right on the lake shore. this was indeed awesome, on a windy morning the waves were huge and people were surfing! wild raspberries were in abundance.
-the rest of the route was great too, especially devil's track gorge (a real canyon-seems like in a real mountain range or something) http://oregonstate.edu/~martjona/secondary_pages/MiscIce_files/image005.gif (this pic is from winter but you get the idea)
-relaxing on sunny saturday morning at pincushion mtn. amazing amazing views
-beautiful weather, warm but not hot and only a few hours of clouds
-perfect hiking partner...
-wonderful to go back to menogyn and hear about shawn's insane trip, and see him in his element.
-yummy lunch at angry trout in grand marais
downs:
-sad to see so many dried up creeks after such a dry season.
-crappy traffic
-washing smelly dishes and finding a tennisball sized mold chunk growing in the lemonade cup i left on the counter since the uptown artfair. sick

reading this over, i feel like i haven't really done it justice.... i'll just say, i love the northshore, i love phil, and it's hard to come back and deal with real life (lack of studying, impending move, car troubles, meetings...). i did get my crp refund deposited while i was gone... SWEET. phil's b-day dinner may now involve more than that dusty can of garbanzos on my pantry shelf.

i am the champion

2006-08-03T16:09:00.000-05:00

recently, i have been getting things done. but, when i say that, i want to make a getting things done for america joke, since that is the americorps slogan. sadly, i have now learned that there is this get-r-done thing that i just saw on a sticker on a gasguzzler and i don't want to be associated with that.

still. things i have gotten done. (aka, things that i did) (aka things that i made into reality, being a being in-a-situation, making my mark on the situation and being marked by the situation (yay for critical theory nonsensicality)).

yoga
making a new salad (quinoa!)
stirring compost with pitchfork
cleaning cursed-never-to-be-eaten ancient items off my shelf in the pantry
dealt with my committee tasks at the co-op
started reading for school
wondering about the Platonic Ideal
had job interview and was hired on the spot. i'll be making $33/hour! (yeah!) and working only 3 hours a week (sniff sniff).

wednesday wednesday

2006-08-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

alright. plan for right now.
stop looking at videos on youtube.
figure out if i have all the books i need for first learning packet.
look for needed books online.
read for a while.
yoga.
lunch.
volunteer? (i have to put in 10 hours a week for americorps. i do this tutoring at franklin learning center. i mostly enjoy it... but yet i always put it off til the end of the week.)
co-op.

is this where the hell is matt thing old news? there seem to be a million parodies of it.

pass the dutchie=timeless.

2006-08-02T11:10:00.000-05:00

Where the hell is Matt?

look i did it again!

2006-08-02T11:06:00.000-05:00

Musical Youth

Hey. i am so smart. i figured out how to blog video.

adios, fidel

2006-08-01T15:07:00.000-05:00

really, i don't have any meaningful commentary about fidel...

but i do have a list of additional things i recently have been unable to comment meaningfully on:

-lebabnon
-world cup
-tour de france
-mel gibson
-why i am eating so much red meat lately

in other news... here's a story i can speak to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/world/europe/01france.html

so in paris they truck in a bunch of sand and make a beach along the banks of the seine. i saw it last year, and it looked gimmicky, but fun.

now, they are enforcing rules against toplessness and thongs! a quote from the article:

“young women in search of cool relief are requested to stay decent and not expose their bodily forms to the eyes of passers-by.”

BODILY FORMS. oh the horror.
how disappointing to have france get all prudish in the name of decency.

god didn't draw a line in the sand. or around "decent" and "indecent" bodily forms.

so there.

schoolwork update: yet unstarted.
today or weds. promise.

how can i post a youtube video?? someone help me.

hey i figured out how to get titles

2006-07-28T12:25:00.000-05:00

well, here i am. still blogging.

it is supposed to get to 100 degrees today. screw you, skeptical environmentalist and everyone else who didn't believe in gobal warming.

now i'm off to go dump more co2 in the atmosphere to drive me up to a delightful lake home ... i'm part of the problem.

my yoga class got cancelled this morning due to "instructor illness." so i came back home, and was much more sucessful at really practicing than yesterday, realizing that i needed to replace all the seated poses where i fold over one foot - without other people to keep me present, i usually ended up spacing out, then picking at my toenail polish - not the point of yoga!

goal: begin schoolwork in a meaningful way withn the next 5 days.

went to the new central library. it rules! i feel very fortunate to have it since i don't have a real campus to go to...

2006-07-21T16:53:00.000-05:00

what i should be doing:

-finishing cleaning by using the dreaded vacuum.
-replying to emails from goddard peeps.
-napping.

what i am doing:

-starting things and not finishing them.
-wasting time on the internet.
-blogging.

in better news:
- i think my parents bought some land for a wilderness-y retreat of some kind. whoo-hoo.
- i have a job interview next week.
-nice cool weather for biking to my meeting at the co-op.

in worse news:
-i realized yesterday i have only been to the beach for sitting/swimming ONCE this summer. shame! but, i have also been outta town like crazy on the weekends. it's making this summer go by so fast. gotta go the the white sand beaches and chill. slow this mutha down.
-keep thowing money away by eating out.

in news of undetermined character:
-i seem to be blogging... i hope to keep it up, but i also hope to devote more time and actually think about things for more than 18 seconds and write more ... uh... thoughtfully.

but not today. i'm fried from little sleep and driving to sconnie and back.

2006-07-15T18:46:00.000-05:00

just a quick note, i know my vast audience is RABID for updates.

-doing good.
-hot a sweaty.
-2day headache FINALLY went away.
-have apaprtment.
-don't have job.
-master's study plan and fall semsterster plan are DONE! think.
- off to play cards and go to the dance. (hopefully not awkward)

2006-07-12T18:48:00.000-05:00

hello

for some reason it's not giving me a space to title the posts anymore.
meh. title was never my forte.

it's raining and raining here. i wanted to go back to the library tonight, and actually look for physical books, not just citations. but... i don't want to carry my laptop in the rain. boo-hoo.
i'm getting stuff done here though, so it's okay.

i am proud of myself for working hard NOT at the last minute. i am living the dream.
here is a cool photo of me at the library computer lab, warhol effect courtesy my spiffy new laptop:

2006-07-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s after mindnight… whoa, clearly I meant to type midnight but mindnight is cool too.

v.. tired again:

highlights:
-ultimate frisbee game
- great workshops on ELL, dual language immersion, immigration (that is the theme of this residency – very relevant currently and important to me personally and the discussion is great since the student body is actually pretty diverse in terms of race and closeness to immigration)
- been having a pretty good time hanging out with folks after hours. There was a fire last night. Also, have really enjoyed a few conversations with people I’d just met… seems like the residency enables interesting/real/”deep”/honest discussions right away.
-good advice from returning students
-nice solo nature walk this morning in light rain
-feeling very excited about what I will learn this semester

mixed bags:
-very busy… want more down time but don’t want to miss cool workshops or fun time… also wanted to be exercising more
-haven’t felt very academically challenged by advising sessions… still interesting, but don’t know how to up the ante – maybe w/in the group this isn't possible… don’t want to be a jerk/teacher’s pet/pretentious

ugg. It’s late.

Tomorrow is: Workshop on electronic licensure portfolios, then critical thinking, then lunch, then advising time, then learning more about the library’s systems, then work on study plan and research and dinner and film discussion.

Whoo.

first post

2006-07-09T15:24:00.000-05:00

7.9

greetings from vermont.

i thought instead of journaling i would start a blog. will i keep up with it? will i reflect on my studies, or just degenerate into blabbing about daily minutia. will i be able to write in paragraphs, or return to my old friend, the list? only time will tell, dear readers.

the good news:

why was i nervous about this?? everything is going well. goddard is a place for me. there are tasty vegan options at every meal, and naked people in most of the class photos from previous semesters.
the group of new licensure students who i have met so far (returning students arrive tonight) are from varied backgrounds and are at very differnt places in terms of background in education studies. i thought i might be behind the game (can i say that??) because i'm doing a MA without a BA in education, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

7.10
UHHHH. i already failed to finish and publish my first post... as i was typing my roommate heather asked if i wanted to go swimming. how could i resist! it was hot and muggy so 7 of us piled in a truck and a car and drover into town, asked some locals, and had fun in a little brook that was pretty clean and very refreshing.

so. things continue to be good. had fun last night hanging out with new and returning students in the music building, which "continues to be the place for parties" according to the campus info posted in my dorm.

i dont know... don't feel like i have the patience to write more than "oh, x y and z was pretty good and stuff...." so i'll break here for now.