09 December 2010
05 December 2010
Albuquerque Moment
When still new to Albuquerque we were asked if we had had any "Albuquerque moments." When we asked what that meant, Kamila's cousin simply told us, "you'll know."
Last night we had such a moment. We heard a clip-clop outside. And what do you know, there was a horse! A horse-drawn cart. And it was completely decked out in Christmas lights. I don't think there was a parade, but we had one!
Last night we had such a moment. We heard a clip-clop outside. And what do you know, there was a horse! A horse-drawn cart. And it was completely decked out in Christmas lights. I don't think there was a parade, but we had one!
25 November 2010
07 November 2010
At the young folks' home
I have had an affinity for all things folk for as long as I can remember. I remember having a Cumberland Gap Christmas cassette that I would always put in the car around holiday time to my family's chagrin. I've never endorsed country music, but folk was different. Mostly due to listening to NPR, I later found artists like Tracy Chapman, Michelle Shocked, Nickel Creek, Ben Taylor, etc. I think I was also influenced by an early appreciation of traditional Celtic music, appearances by James Taylor on Sesame Street, and other Muppet related experiences. After watching the Muppet Movie at a fairly young age, my dream was to learn to play the banjo, and I was devastated to find that they were not accessible to a boy with a pre-teen budget.
After performing for years in the BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble I became semi-obsessed with finding non-American folk music. I mean, who actually listens to Klezmer music? willingly? That's me. In a workshop I went to recently we took a Multiple Intelligences test. My strongest, hands down? Music smart. Even though it has little to do with what I do or how I do it, music is still a huge part of how I live my life. So when Kamila's aunt took us to a concert, I was a bit affected.
Last night we got to go see Po' Girl. They're a Canadian folk band. The two lead girls had such soulful voices that were almost shocking when they started to sing. The deep passion was just elemental in the room. And they had a slide guitar. And a clarinet. And a washtub bass. (WOW! I got to see one in real-live action. Ask my wife how excited I was.) Folk music just seems so authentic. Just the other night we were talking about how all of a certain band's songs sound exactly the same as everything else they've ever done. The music is personal, real. They played a fantastic song in French, which is totally appropriate since they're Canadian! They played a few songs based on styles of her Portuguese ancestry, and a couple more just in memory of their grandmothers. When I listen to folk music I start to feel a connection inside of me. A connection so deep in my gut that there is a physical reaction when I start to feel it, which happens rarely. The feeling is light and dark, it is sweat, tears, and joy. It is my ancestors. It is my being stripped bare. When I listen to folk music I feel that we are all family, and I cannot help but stomp my foot on the wood of an old church concert hall.
After performing for years in the BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble I became semi-obsessed with finding non-American folk music. I mean, who actually listens to Klezmer music? willingly? That's me. In a workshop I went to recently we took a Multiple Intelligences test. My strongest, hands down? Music smart. Even though it has little to do with what I do or how I do it, music is still a huge part of how I live my life. So when Kamila's aunt took us to a concert, I was a bit affected.
Last night we got to go see Po' Girl. They're a Canadian folk band. The two lead girls had such soulful voices that were almost shocking when they started to sing. The deep passion was just elemental in the room. And they had a slide guitar. And a clarinet. And a washtub bass. (WOW! I got to see one in real-live action. Ask my wife how excited I was.) Folk music just seems so authentic. Just the other night we were talking about how all of a certain band's songs sound exactly the same as everything else they've ever done. The music is personal, real. They played a fantastic song in French, which is totally appropriate since they're Canadian! They played a few songs based on styles of her Portuguese ancestry, and a couple more just in memory of their grandmothers. When I listen to folk music I start to feel a connection inside of me. A connection so deep in my gut that there is a physical reaction when I start to feel it, which happens rarely. The feeling is light and dark, it is sweat, tears, and joy. It is my ancestors. It is my being stripped bare. When I listen to folk music I feel that we are all family, and I cannot help but stomp my foot on the wood of an old church concert hall.
10 October 2010
3 things
First item up for discussion: social media and the gospel.
A few years back Elder Ballard invited us to use social media sources to share our testimonies. I thought, cool! The church has since started a YouTube channel, updated its site again with new directory profiles, created facebook pages, etc. And I was ok with it since I have often carried on gospel related chats with some friends who aren't members. But I felt pretty off when people started facebook fan pages of Christ. It's not that I'm not a fan, but it just seemed that "out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being" we should "avoid the too frequent use of his name". I am also a staunch supporter of only supporting official sources. As a missionary I campaigned against the use of the official church logo on t-shirts, and avoided commercial sources for materials such as Deseret Book. I am not a huge fan of facebook either, and I choose not to display a lot of personal information on there anyway. Broadcasting myself is not what I do, especially when it concerns something so sacred. I have, though, always been a supporter of mormon.org and the Church's banner ads that I've seen pop up on the web.
This led me to avoid things like the Mormon Channel or 'liking' many religiously themed messages of any of my friends online. But the week before Conference in Priesthood meeting we watched a couple of the Mormon Messages put out by the Church. I really, really liked them. They were not trite tidbits of Utah-Mormon culture, but genuine, Spirit-filled media spots. That prepared me to be receptive of the message given by Elder Nelson at the General Priesthood Meeting. So, I went on the web and started following the LDS Newsroom, and I am in the process of creating a public profile on mormon.org. When in discussions with students of an evangelical tradition from BIOLA a couple years ago, I admired how they talked so easily of their faith. I do have a testimony, and I don't want to over-bushel my light.
Second item: school
I started my first real teaching job in August. Last year I worked as an intern. I cannot say enough how much that has helped me. If I had only done regular student teaching I would have tanked. I'm not sure I would still be alive right now.
My school, La Academia de Esperanza is a charter school focused on helping students that have moderate to severe social and learning disabilities as well as serving a population that cannot successfully function in regular schools. Many of my students have parents who are or have been in jail, have been in jail themselves, have absentee parents, have a number of substance abuse issues, etc. I have a few students who were very concerned about being convicted of crimes as juveniles. I have another who has been pulled out from class a couple times to meet with her parole officer. I have a kid who wears a hoodie in class and hardly speaks. He's smart, but supremely unmotivated and uncooperative. I think I have about 5 kids who AREN"T pierced, most in some bizarre manner.
When leaving Orem JH, I told the principal that the most important thing I learned was that I could do it. I could teach. I could wrangle teenagers into some half-hazard submission. I could deal with self-centered coworkers that didn't support me. And it turns out that's mostly all I could have learned that would have served me here. I teach US and World History and Government and Economics. That's only two different classes. Apparently our goal is to graduate as many students as possible, which means that they need to fulfill credits. There is no end-of-course exam for social studies like there is for math, science, or reading. So they lump the students into US/World and US/NM history classes. I had a student that transferred from a US to a World history class, but she stayed in the same period. It's only dependent on what credit she needs to graduate. When I tried to wrap my head around it, I couldn't. What do I teach? There's no way I can teach the state core for both classes. I can't teach one half of the class one thing, and the other something else. It would be pure chaos. My Government/Economics class has 15 taking government and 3 taking econ. So, I just teach them history and civics. And as one of the other teachers told me, if they get repeated information, so be it. They need to know it. If they miss something, they won't know and it will be filed along with all the things that they forget even day to day, regardless of long-term retention.
I have issues with this. I know that colleges are have more and more trouble with incoming freshman that have to spend time remediating because they didn't learn it in high school. Getting an A with me is far easier than an A at a regular institution because I'm shooting at the median. How do I maintain higher standards? How do I maintain regular standards? I have some brilliant students, and some who are very motivated to learn. But so many of them have been gone more in the last month than I was through all of high school. And because the situations that have led them to be at our school are still affecting them, we must support them. Because that's what we do. We have to be the ones that care.
Third: Albuquerque
We live by the zoo. Like, not close enough that we can smell it, but at night you can hear the seals barking and the exotic birds having a go at each other. Every day we cross the Rio Grande. During the day the water looks like mud, and it's mostly all that's there. But in the mornings, the light hits the water so that it shimmers white. Kamila's grandma told me in a moment of clarity that her favorite part of Albuquerque was the river. I can see why.
I like the cold more than the heat. I was surprised when I lived in Arizona during a summer that the feat was even possible. But I love fall the most. All during the summer i could not get over the weirdness of the sun. It cannot possibly be 9:30, the sun is still up! And the winter is just as bad. It just doesn't seem natural for it to be so dark so much. But the fall just grooves with you. It's cool at night! The day ends when your activities are ending. As a teacher its when you've got things in order and the kids are finally used to being in school again. I love the fall.
This weekend we went to see the morning Balloon Launch at the International Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was one of the most spectacular sights ever. I don't think I enjoyed the experience of it as much as I could have since I was madly taking pictures, but I enjoyed it tremendously! If anyone visits Albuquerque only once it should be during the Balloon Fiesta. Every morning this last week there were balloons in the air. There's just a special wimzy in the air.
A few years back Elder Ballard invited us to use social media sources to share our testimonies. I thought, cool! The church has since started a YouTube channel, updated its site again with new directory profiles, created facebook pages, etc. And I was ok with it since I have often carried on gospel related chats with some friends who aren't members. But I felt pretty off when people started facebook fan pages of Christ. It's not that I'm not a fan, but it just seemed that "out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being" we should "avoid the too frequent use of his name". I am also a staunch supporter of only supporting official sources. As a missionary I campaigned against the use of the official church logo on t-shirts, and avoided commercial sources for materials such as Deseret Book. I am not a huge fan of facebook either, and I choose not to display a lot of personal information on there anyway. Broadcasting myself is not what I do, especially when it concerns something so sacred. I have, though, always been a supporter of mormon.org and the Church's banner ads that I've seen pop up on the web.
This led me to avoid things like the Mormon Channel or 'liking' many religiously themed messages of any of my friends online. But the week before Conference in Priesthood meeting we watched a couple of the Mormon Messages put out by the Church. I really, really liked them. They were not trite tidbits of Utah-Mormon culture, but genuine, Spirit-filled media spots. That prepared me to be receptive of the message given by Elder Nelson at the General Priesthood Meeting. So, I went on the web and started following the LDS Newsroom, and I am in the process of creating a public profile on mormon.org. When in discussions with students of an evangelical tradition from BIOLA a couple years ago, I admired how they talked so easily of their faith. I do have a testimony, and I don't want to over-bushel my light.
Second item: school
I started my first real teaching job in August. Last year I worked as an intern. I cannot say enough how much that has helped me. If I had only done regular student teaching I would have tanked. I'm not sure I would still be alive right now.
My school, La Academia de Esperanza is a charter school focused on helping students that have moderate to severe social and learning disabilities as well as serving a population that cannot successfully function in regular schools. Many of my students have parents who are or have been in jail, have been in jail themselves, have absentee parents, have a number of substance abuse issues, etc. I have a few students who were very concerned about being convicted of crimes as juveniles. I have another who has been pulled out from class a couple times to meet with her parole officer. I have a kid who wears a hoodie in class and hardly speaks. He's smart, but supremely unmotivated and uncooperative. I think I have about 5 kids who AREN"T pierced, most in some bizarre manner.
When leaving Orem JH, I told the principal that the most important thing I learned was that I could do it. I could teach. I could wrangle teenagers into some half-hazard submission. I could deal with self-centered coworkers that didn't support me. And it turns out that's mostly all I could have learned that would have served me here. I teach US and World History and Government and Economics. That's only two different classes. Apparently our goal is to graduate as many students as possible, which means that they need to fulfill credits. There is no end-of-course exam for social studies like there is for math, science, or reading. So they lump the students into US/World and US/NM history classes. I had a student that transferred from a US to a World history class, but she stayed in the same period. It's only dependent on what credit she needs to graduate. When I tried to wrap my head around it, I couldn't. What do I teach? There's no way I can teach the state core for both classes. I can't teach one half of the class one thing, and the other something else. It would be pure chaos. My Government/Economics class has 15 taking government and 3 taking econ. So, I just teach them history and civics. And as one of the other teachers told me, if they get repeated information, so be it. They need to know it. If they miss something, they won't know and it will be filed along with all the things that they forget even day to day, regardless of long-term retention.
I have issues with this. I know that colleges are have more and more trouble with incoming freshman that have to spend time remediating because they didn't learn it in high school. Getting an A with me is far easier than an A at a regular institution because I'm shooting at the median. How do I maintain higher standards? How do I maintain regular standards? I have some brilliant students, and some who are very motivated to learn. But so many of them have been gone more in the last month than I was through all of high school. And because the situations that have led them to be at our school are still affecting them, we must support them. Because that's what we do. We have to be the ones that care.
Third: Albuquerque
We live by the zoo. Like, not close enough that we can smell it, but at night you can hear the seals barking and the exotic birds having a go at each other. Every day we cross the Rio Grande. During the day the water looks like mud, and it's mostly all that's there. But in the mornings, the light hits the water so that it shimmers white. Kamila's grandma told me in a moment of clarity that her favorite part of Albuquerque was the river. I can see why.
I like the cold more than the heat. I was surprised when I lived in Arizona during a summer that the feat was even possible. But I love fall the most. All during the summer i could not get over the weirdness of the sun. It cannot possibly be 9:30, the sun is still up! And the winter is just as bad. It just doesn't seem natural for it to be so dark so much. But the fall just grooves with you. It's cool at night! The day ends when your activities are ending. As a teacher its when you've got things in order and the kids are finally used to being in school again. I love the fall.
This weekend we went to see the morning Balloon Launch at the International Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was one of the most spectacular sights ever. I don't think I enjoyed the experience of it as much as I could have since I was madly taking pictures, but I enjoyed it tremendously! If anyone visits Albuquerque only once it should be during the Balloon Fiesta. Every morning this last week there were balloons in the air. There's just a special wimzy in the air.
02 July 2010
Sueño
Sleep doesn't come in the summer when it's hot.
You lie there
Waiting for it to come, like it always does.
But instead you are left to argue with the sheets.
Are my eyes open or closed?
All I see are scenes played out on the blackness.
When it comes, it sneaks in.
The dreams are unsettling,
So real, you swear they are.
Then you're awake again, and hot
Because the sun's already up
And the shade trees are gone
And all you want is a peaceful sleep.
You lie there
Waiting for it to come, like it always does.
But instead you are left to argue with the sheets.
Are my eyes open or closed?
All I see are scenes played out on the blackness.
When it comes, it sneaks in.
The dreams are unsettling,
So real, you swear they are.
Then you're awake again, and hot
Because the sun's already up
And the shade trees are gone
And all you want is a peaceful sleep.
13 June 2010
Going Southwest
We made a trip last weekend to New Mexico to feel things out before we moved there. On the trip I learned a few things about myself and the Southwest.
= Most of New Mexico is on the other side of the Continental Divide
= This weird, late spring has really made the landscape nice here in Utah. Its actually green!
= Albuquerque used to be Alburquerque.
= In New Mexico a common get-to-know-you question is "Red or Green?" They are, of course, referring to chilis.
= When someone asks you if you like chili, they are not referring to a stew of beef and beans. It's stewed chilis, red or green. It's kind of a sauce, but not like an enchilada sauce or salsa. Its just chili. It is smothered on everything: Mexican food, hamburgers, eggs, turkey sandwiches, etc.
= Now days it is sometimes hard (at least for me) to separate the Native American aspects of culture (art, architecture, etc.) from the Spanish influences. Both are entwined in modern New Mexico identity. It is one of the most plural societies I have seen in the US. Historically, the Spanish were there 400 years ago, yet they are only celebrating their state centennial in 2012.
= I love Colorado. Yeah, we went to New Mexico, but we came back through Colorado because of a detour up to Santa Fe. I realized why I loved horses and the outdoors and why I wanted to be a cowboy when I was a kid. The Southern Colorado mountain prairies felt like home. I realized on this trip that I had had a lot of Colorado pride, and I truly loved that land. I think that might have been one of the reasons why I never connected to Idaho - it just wasn't Colorado.
= The job market in Albuquerque is rough. It's also fairly rough back here in Utah, but there's a lot of openings for teachers still. But, another thing I learned is that the eggs in basket metaphor is silly.
= Albuquerque is a place where people stay. Not too many people go there, like Utah or California. That's why its still so small. People leave, but they also come back. It felt like home, in a way. Not like family. Net yet, at least for me. But like a friend's place that you're going to for the first time. You can tell it's theirs because you know them, so everything is at once familiar and new.
= I learned a bit about New Mexico design, but I'll do another post about that later.
= There was never a disappointing sunset the whole time we were there.
= I love wildflowers! Indian paintbrush have been my favorites my whole life (I also really like Honeysuckle and Dogwood blossoms). All along the road down there were washes of subtle purple with flashes of pink in the middle of it. I think I like wildflowers because I always root for the underdog and they just seem so idealistic - bringing out beauty and always surprising you when you didn't think it was possible.
= Most of New Mexico is on the other side of the Continental Divide
= This weird, late spring has really made the landscape nice here in Utah. Its actually green!
= Albuquerque used to be Alburquerque.
= In New Mexico a common get-to-know-you question is "Red or Green?" They are, of course, referring to chilis.
= When someone asks you if you like chili, they are not referring to a stew of beef and beans. It's stewed chilis, red or green. It's kind of a sauce, but not like an enchilada sauce or salsa. Its just chili. It is smothered on everything: Mexican food, hamburgers, eggs, turkey sandwiches, etc.
= Now days it is sometimes hard (at least for me) to separate the Native American aspects of culture (art, architecture, etc.) from the Spanish influences. Both are entwined in modern New Mexico identity. It is one of the most plural societies I have seen in the US. Historically, the Spanish were there 400 years ago, yet they are only celebrating their state centennial in 2012.
= I love Colorado. Yeah, we went to New Mexico, but we came back through Colorado because of a detour up to Santa Fe. I realized why I loved horses and the outdoors and why I wanted to be a cowboy when I was a kid. The Southern Colorado mountain prairies felt like home. I realized on this trip that I had had a lot of Colorado pride, and I truly loved that land. I think that might have been one of the reasons why I never connected to Idaho - it just wasn't Colorado.
= The job market in Albuquerque is rough. It's also fairly rough back here in Utah, but there's a lot of openings for teachers still. But, another thing I learned is that the eggs in basket metaphor is silly.
= Albuquerque is a place where people stay. Not too many people go there, like Utah or California. That's why its still so small. People leave, but they also come back. It felt like home, in a way. Not like family. Net yet, at least for me. But like a friend's place that you're going to for the first time. You can tell it's theirs because you know them, so everything is at once familiar and new.
= I learned a bit about New Mexico design, but I'll do another post about that later.
= There was never a disappointing sunset the whole time we were there.
= I love wildflowers! Indian paintbrush have been my favorites my whole life (I also really like Honeysuckle and Dogwood blossoms). All along the road down there were washes of subtle purple with flashes of pink in the middle of it. I think I like wildflowers because I always root for the underdog and they just seem so idealistic - bringing out beauty and always surprising you when you didn't think it was possible.
30 May 2010
Chipotle Joe
So, a few weeks ago we made a recipe that called for chipotle sauce. We got a bottle at the store, and as soon as I tried it I was in love. Chipotle is a hot sauce, but it has so much other flavor. It's almost sweet, but its got a dark, smokey secret. A couple days later I was making a pasta dish and instead of making up you're usual marinara, I just added a can of tomato sauce and a generous dose of our new chipotle sauce. It was crazy-easy, and really good, so try it!
28 May 2010
Schools out
19 May 2010
15 May 2010
End of the year
Not once or twice, but maybe 5 times these last weeks I have misplaced something in my classroom. Not just a stack of papers, but a copy of the final, my master key to a test, my ipod, etc. after checking the usual spots, plus the second usual spots, and still not finding the item, my first thought is: some punk kid came in and stole it. I wasn't looking, and they swiped it right under my nose. Ironically, one occasion was just minutes after I slathered praise on a pair of students doing some work for me after school for how much I trusted not only them, but ALL of my students. Apparently my trust is not too deep.
I think 'there was that one guy who wasn't my student sitting right next to my desk during flex', or 'it was the one kid that is ALWAYS in trouble that even the other kids don't trust'. It never has been, though. A couple months ago I thought that I had left out my mp3 player one day when there were ESL classes in my room that night. The next morning I searched my room frantically. Luckily I didn't send an accusing email to the administration because it turned up in one of my (way too) many drawers. They've all turned up in some odd spot or under something I never move.
This last week I had a real occurrence. My 8th graders were reviewing for a test and I had magnetted a copy of all the note sheets we had used during the unit. I noticed a particularly cool magnet of mine missing from the board. After I threatened to keep the class after the bell, and everyone accused the one person I actually suspected, someone found it under a cart. I think that the kid that stole it slipped it down there so that it would be found, but he wouldn't be blamed for it.
So, maybe I'm losing my mind. Maybe my suspicions are unfounded and ludicrous. Or maybe I've just been in a junior high too long. Yeah summer.
I think 'there was that one guy who wasn't my student sitting right next to my desk during flex', or 'it was the one kid that is ALWAYS in trouble that even the other kids don't trust'. It never has been, though. A couple months ago I thought that I had left out my mp3 player one day when there were ESL classes in my room that night. The next morning I searched my room frantically. Luckily I didn't send an accusing email to the administration because it turned up in one of my (way too) many drawers. They've all turned up in some odd spot or under something I never move.
This last week I had a real occurrence. My 8th graders were reviewing for a test and I had magnetted a copy of all the note sheets we had used during the unit. I noticed a particularly cool magnet of mine missing from the board. After I threatened to keep the class after the bell, and everyone accused the one person I actually suspected, someone found it under a cart. I think that the kid that stole it slipped it down there so that it would be found, but he wouldn't be blamed for it.
So, maybe I'm losing my mind. Maybe my suspicions are unfounded and ludicrous. Or maybe I've just been in a junior high too long. Yeah summer.
18 April 2010
National Poetry Month
April is national poetry month. i've never really celebrated before, but i've missed poetry. also, when stuck on what assignment to give my ninth graders after watching a movie about apartheid, i decided on a poem. so they have to write a poem, any kind, about cry freedom. Here's one of my own that has been brewing in my head since friday.
sit me down at the sea
and be by me to look out over the world
lost in horizons and sunsets.
the bigness of it all, sinking in.
but not really.
we pretend to contemplate the universe
but minds slip back to calendars and tasks.
so we say, 'one day'.
one day
i will sit at the sea
with no cares in the world, but the world
and the bigness of it all.
17 April 2010
what's up in the world
let me share what's been on my mind lately: the world.
i've always been a geek for world news, other cultures, and anything of an international flavour. i'm a self declared xenophile. now i teach world civilizations and geography, so i take it as part of my job to be up on current world events, history in the making, anniversaries, etc. (eg: i started my unit on the civil war on the 149th anniversary of its beginning.)
as a result of content and curriculum searches i've been exposed to a lot of online stuff like blogs that i've started following. here are a few i thought i'd share:
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
This guy either grew up in Utah or went to school here. He now teaches in Texas. He's a great resource for social studies, specifically history. he also provides some interesting insight into some current social situations, specifically the texas board of ed.
John Sherffius: Cartoonist
Some of his editorial cartoons are a little cheesy, but for the most part he's right on and very clever.
Information is Beautiful
Visual artist that makes data representations for the Guardian of the UK.
i saw a guy walking along university parkway in orem with a sign saying 'the end is near'. i thought it was hilarious, but he also has a point. with the volcano in iceland, earthquakes in utah, china this week, mexico, chile, etc. i'm sure we'll keep seeing things happen.
lately i've also been frustrated with government. i've been leaning more 'liberal' in the past couple years. but denise said something to me the last time i saw her that has had me thinking: protect your rights even if you don't use them. like protecting the right to bear arms even though i will probably never own a gun or use one. but i really don't like the 'police state' that is rising. am i leaning libertarian? eh, i don't think so. but more than i ever thought i would.
i've always been a geek for world news, other cultures, and anything of an international flavour. i'm a self declared xenophile. now i teach world civilizations and geography, so i take it as part of my job to be up on current world events, history in the making, anniversaries, etc. (eg: i started my unit on the civil war on the 149th anniversary of its beginning.)
as a result of content and curriculum searches i've been exposed to a lot of online stuff like blogs that i've started following. here are a few i thought i'd share:
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
This guy either grew up in Utah or went to school here. He now teaches in Texas. He's a great resource for social studies, specifically history. he also provides some interesting insight into some current social situations, specifically the texas board of ed.
John Sherffius: Cartoonist
Some of his editorial cartoons are a little cheesy, but for the most part he's right on and very clever.
Information is Beautiful
Visual artist that makes data representations for the Guardian of the UK.
i saw a guy walking along university parkway in orem with a sign saying 'the end is near'. i thought it was hilarious, but he also has a point. with the volcano in iceland, earthquakes in utah, china this week, mexico, chile, etc. i'm sure we'll keep seeing things happen.
lately i've also been frustrated with government. i've been leaning more 'liberal' in the past couple years. but denise said something to me the last time i saw her that has had me thinking: protect your rights even if you don't use them. like protecting the right to bear arms even though i will probably never own a gun or use one. but i really don't like the 'police state' that is rising. am i leaning libertarian? eh, i don't think so. but more than i ever thought i would.
07 March 2010
new blog dos
Kamila and I started a blog together. It's for, like, US stuff. Since I finally posted something there, I'm sharing it here.
27 February 2010
New favorite movie
25 February 2010
PTC
Parent teacher conferences are weird. We sit around for 4 hours, half of which we're actually with a parent. 90% of the kids whose parents we see are the star students who are trying to figure out how to get from an A- to an A. I try grading stuff, but right when I get into it somebody shows up. We had midterms go out last week. This week all the 9th graders get with the counselors in meetings with their parents looking over grades and test scores. And as you can see, I have more than enough time to blog in the middle of it.
I also performed the National Anthem for my US History class today. woot!
I also performed the National Anthem for my US History class today. woot!
14 February 2010
new blog
so, google is taking over the world. but at least they have quality products. so i'll probably be blogging here rather than on LiveJournal. I'll keep that one open just for historical purposes.
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