A Quote I Like

"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.

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

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

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

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

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.


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

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

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!