A How Dee Do

The unwelcome visitor, stress, has been by lately and is affecting my sleep among other things. Lucky for me, since I woke up this morning, the song going round my head was this one:



Go to 2:58 and start watching from there to 4:11. I especially am keen on the jig in the background.

I face neither love triangles nor death by the lord high executioner in the near future, but this song obviously made an impression on me, since it's been dancing its own jig around my head all day. I hope that you enjoy!

And it begs the question: how is it that we have not seen this 1966 Mikado?

Not Cryin'

Hope you enjoy, as I did, this Flight of the Conchords delight.



Lasagna for one. I am still laughing tears down my face.

Christmas Wonders

Christmas is such an interesting time of year. My family always does a nice job of focusing of the true symbols and purpose of the season, in action and in word-- and especially in song-- as we worship the Savior Jesus Christ. This Christmas the whole family was home-- and I mean the WHOLE family-- for an overlapping interval of 20 hours before someone had to visit another branch of the family, and that was so fantastic. It was my favorite part of this entire season. 

Anticipating and experiencing Christmas in a more secular way is an interesting phenomena to me. When you are a kid, it is the most magical time EVER, and it is hard to be disappointed except for the fact that you didn't ever get the Barbie Jeep (but you secretly knew that there was no way Santa could fit that down the fireplace anyway, so asking for it was just throwing a random wish out there). Then you get to that awkward stage where you still want to play with toys but are too cool for them; the tweens. This is where no matter the gifts, you still feel unsettled and feel awkward about having had expectations for Christmas. You aren't even sure what you wanted in the first place, so it's even harder to feel satisfaction about getting things. I feel like I was spared too much agony during this stage because getting new clothes was always a huge novelty, and so new clothes at Christmas= instant good gift. And new socks too. Hopefully that helped Santa out a bit. 

So, sorry to be giving a dissertation in didactic snippets-- I really am getting somewhere. As a kid, Christmas is magical, and you love what you get. As a tween, you are kind of disappointed with the whole thing, but are glad you got some things. As a teenager, everything is just confusing, but for me at least, this is where I started to really feel a lot of excitement about getting other people gifts. I just feel a bit sorry that my recipients were getting my part-time job budget shopping results ;0). 

I venture that it is now, in my young adult life, that Christmas is most magical to me. I love it. I LOVE IT. I suppose I still have expectations (I would like to get new shampoo in my stocking like we do every year, and again, new clothes = instant good gift), but I could get shampoo and a new sweater and feel pretty excellent about that. Throw in a chapstick and bam. Santa's set.  For the rest of the wrapping paper-strewn morning, I really enjoy seeing what other people get, and I love giving them a gift. Now, much like my teenage self, this year they are the recipients of a teacher's salary budget, but I hope they can at least use what I enjoyed choosing and giving, small though it was. 

All of those things said, I now have to show a most excellent treat that was next to my stocking. Imagine my surprise! Already put to use in the basement room where I sleep at home, is: fanfare--

THE VELVETEEN SNUGGIE

Then, coming in the mail, was this. I had put this on my Christmas list as the proverbial Barbie Jeep. By Ivan Aivazovsky, Between the Waves is a painting that has really struck me and I have been looking at it time and time over these last few months thinking that I would like to get a print of it. It came in the mail yesterday, and it is the first print of a painting I own that looks like it could have just been painted. The quality of the print is excellent. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

We saw this movie as a family, and I really loved the depth of the character's performances. It's a very personal musical version. Way to go, Russell Crowe.

I think the plan is to see this tonight. I cannae hardly wait.

My favorite gift to watch being opened this year was this one, to Melinda. Katy Cummings, the artist, painted this as part of her project to fund a year's tuition and send a girl to school (she met her goal, by the way! See the previous blog post). Giving this to Melinda has sentimental sister value, but I love it especially because this painting is so vibrant. You can see some of that through the picture online, but up close the fluidity of the colors and the deep gold makes this painting a rich portrait and a champion of a symbol for education and equality. Way to go, goose! and thanks to Katy for her incredible art. 

Do Something Different This Christmas

This is a goat.

This is an even more amazing goat.

My sister-in-law Katy is the creator of a project that will work with Heifer International to raise enough money to send a girl to school. You can read about her idea and inspiration here. 

This is your opportunity to think a little differently and give to a great cause. Can't think of what to give that one person who never needs anything because they always buy it for themselves anyway? Or are they so generous that they never put anything on their Christmas list, and so you have no clue what to get them? Try this on for size; a vibrant watercolor by artist Katy C. that is contributing to the betterment of an entire family and community. 

We all know that means a better world.

 Peace on Earth starts small. You can actually do something about it this time.

Visit her blog if you are interested in participating. Sooner rather than later, especially if you will require this to be mailed.

Me-eh-eh-eh-eh-rry Christmas.

 (Couldn't help it, with that goat picture and all...)

Hobart Shakespeareans

Sorry about the subtitles...but whomever put together the copy did a nice job getting some best-of scenes in the documentary ;)

About a year ago, Aaron and Katy told me about this documentary. Now that I have a Netflix account, I finally put it on my cue. This afternoon I watched it for the first time.

Inspirational teacher movies can do one of many things. They can make you feel inspired. They can make you feel guilty for not being as good as that teacher. They can make you feel like you need to go teach in an inner city school so you can finally make a difference because that's where the kids will really show the night and day change. They can make you feel like even if you end up being the teacher at the end of the movie who has lost their hair, who looks 15 years older than they really are, or who is out of a job because of budget cuts (thank you, Mr. Holland's Opus), then at the end there will be students who come back as adults and thank you to swelling background music, and you will feel like you really made that difference. That's what teachers are really out to do, right? Make a difference.

Let me tell you one of the things that I liked about this documentary. It features a man who is obviously looking for the good in life and in the kids around him, but he is very realistic about his expectations. That might seem ironic since it features a man who is teaching fifth graders how to read and understand Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn. But in the documentary, they keep showing sweeping shots of glowing performances and interviews, and happy glimpses where kids meet celebrities and go on national tours... but then they include dialogue where the teacher says that no teacher is going to reach every single kid in the classroom; there are some really terrible days that at times do outweigh the good ones; there are some obvious sacrifices that come with the successes of the students in his class. This admission is important. "Teacher Movies" hint at it, and sometimes even have whole scenes dedicated to it. Granted, this documentary's main focus isn't the ups and downs of teaching; it's a class of kids learning Shakespeare. But I do give the credit to the POV makers for including much more information than a focus on one teacher triumphing over a hurdle in society. I appreciate how they treat the topic of teaching in general. I think it is good for me to see, and for others too. I find new ideas, I find validation in things I am doing, and I get another opinion on how to approach something. Watching this movie felt like being back in college and having one of those moments in class where I knew that this would be something I used and would hold on to.

I like "Teacher Movies." I do. I own many of them. I watch them for different reasons. If I want to feel like being a novice is okay, I watch "Freedom Writers." For just all-around wow-spiration, I watch "Stand and Deliver." For entertainment, I watch "Take the Lead." For philosophical, political, and intellectual food-for-thought, I watch "The Emperor's Club" and "Dead Poet's Society." Now, for classroom ideas, teaching direction, and insight, "Hobart's Shakespearean's" will be added to the list. I really loved it, and even cried.

There's still one that will always be my favorite, though. Still one of my favorite movies overall: "The Miracle Worker." I watch that when I need to feel like a teacher. Or when I just need to connect to something deep inside of me. It's one of those movies that always makes me a little more of myself after watching it.

Lessons from Baking

Today at school my grade level and some other teachers were in charge of putting together a spread of goodies for our once a month "fat friday" brunch in the teacher's lunch room. The routine goes like this: we set up the food and then teachers can come in before school or when they have a break and get a plate of what ends up being mostly carbs (but tasty carbs, to be sure) to take back to their rooms. The array of treats this morning was impressive, but a little more on that later. My main comment is more personally based, and it has more to do with life and emotional lessons than calories.

For my contribution, besides napkins and plastic cups, I decided I would bake a Grapefruit Pound Cake  , for I had been privy to its most excellent, light, fluffy flavor when Katy and Aaron made me this for my birthday. I decided this would be a perfect choice, and it would be a great opportunity to use my oven at my new apartment for the first time.

Last night I came home, I got my ingredients out, juiced and zested some grapefruit, pre-heated the oven, prepared my bundt pan, and things smelled and looked great. The first and only other time I have tried this recipe I made it for the family, but I over baked it and while good, it was dry. I was determined not to make the same mistake twice.

Cooking time on this is an hour and ten minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean, which was good for me since I was grading papers and used that long baking time well. I checked on it after 58 minutes, and guess what? Toothpick came out clean. Checked again, and it slip out, clean. Sides looked brown. Top was barely golden, but it looked just like what the picture showed. I took it out, cooled for a few, and removed it from the pan. I made the glaze (which I like better just fresh juice and pwd. sugar) and set it in the fridge (no use making the cake soggy overnight with it) and went to bed.

Today I woke up and plated by cake, glazed it, and wrapped it up. I made my little card to say "Grapefruit Pound Cake"and went to school, set it up, then proudly put my contribution on the table. I couldn't wait to come back and get my share of the cake-- it is quite delicious to be sure.

I didn't get a chance to come back until a few hours later, and when I did, I noticed that yes, indeed, the cake had been cut into and one piece was missing, and inside I could see that it was dense and woefully underdone. My heart sank.

It seems so trivial, but I was actually really excited to offer that as a contribution. I knew that amongst the donuts, the casseroles, and the bagels, it would be nice to have a light, citrusy alternative. I think that more people should be exposed to grapefruit in their food-- cookies, cakes, cocktail.... and on a personal pride level, I was hoping that people would be interested enough to try my cake and I wanted to see how much would be gone.

Accordingly, to look inside and see how underdone it was made me feel very embarrassed. I wanted nothing more than to snatch my tray back up, slide the perfectly done apple cake over to fill its spot, and take my wounded pride and deflated cake back to the corner of my classroom. I thought to myself, "Well, this is actually a perfect metaphor for how you're teaching is going this first year at the school. You are putting in some great effort and are enthused about what you have to bring, you want to share it with others, and you do your best, but inside, you are still just raw and inexperienced...just underdone. You are going to have to face the fact that this is how the year is going to be and it will just have to be okay. You'll just sit with those other cakes who have had more baking time and more experience, and you'll make it through. It will be embarrassing sometimes, but it doesn't mean you aren't doing the best you can; you know that you are trying your best."

I was already nodding to myself looking at that sad cake in the empty teacher room between classes-- and then I found myself snapping my head up and thinking, "Stop. THIS IS NOT SOME HUGE SIGNIFICANT EVENT. It's just a cake on a table. Period. It doesn't have anything to do with your teaching, and it is not a perfect metaphor. There are no signs like that, so stop making meanings out of mishaps. So the cake didn't turn out. SO WHAT."

It's hard for me to talk myself into failure-apathy ...so I had to think through that two or three times, but it helped. I looked at that cake, took the knife, and cut myself a slice. For all its denseness, it still tasted great.

                                                 ------------------------

Other treats at the Fat Friday:

Donuts
Bagels with Cream Cheese
Fruit Salad
Egg and Sausage Casserole
Potato and Cheese Casserole
Apple Cinnamon Cake
Peanut Butter Acorns (MY FAVORITE!)
Dried Fruit
Blackberry and Cheese French Toast Casserole
Juice
Chocolate Pretzels
Muffins
Yogurt and Granola
Cinnamon Bread

Call Me "Happy Birthday,"

Ishmael.

I read you when I was eleven. And I understood you when I was fourteen.

One of these days we'll meet again, and not just in the recesses of subconscious dreams where occasionally a whale swims below the surface of my view. 

Now, to just make the time to read....