customers

while working at world peace this weekend, a woman was really rude to me - the rudest customer i've yet encountered while working there.  and i know these people exist in the world - and i know everyone is fighting their own battles and dealing with their own difficulties - but this woman made me feel like an idiot several times over as i was ringing up her order - she talked to me like she was important and i should hurry up and know what she wanted before she even said it out loud.  as an example: we had a minute-long discussion while a line formed behind her about whether the bread was wheat or multigrain and she had had multigrain when she was here before (not possible, said the chef, when i went to ask) and she guessed wheat was okay if that's all i could offer her.  and then: for the first time ever, i charged her credit card the wrong amount and had to grab our manager to fix it for me.  and i felt like she was justified in believing i was an idiot, because i couldn't even ring up her order.  i gave myself a 5 minute breather in the kitchen to fume about it (and warm up by the ovens - it was cold this weekend and the cold permeates into the front of the restaurant...).

so, i was flustered and grumpy.  but i took a deep breath and traded with the manager (who'd been ringing up orders while i pulled myself together).

and then this happened: two little girls with messy blonde hair and gaps in their smiles from losing teeth came up to the register with their dad's credit card and proceeded to place a very complicated order involving an omelet with nothing but cheese in it and what kind of cheese was it?  and did it come with potatoes on the side?  and toast?  they didn't want potatoes.  but the toast: yes.  lots of toast.  and a strawberry cupcake.  and when i told them all these things were fine, and rang them in, they were so excited about their omelets (one clapped, i think) and the older girl signed their dad's signature on the receipt and i could read her mind: "i am a grown up paying with a credit card and signing a receipt."  and i forgot about the crazy lady who'd made me grumpy earlier.

and this: a woman with down's syndrome came in alone, bought lunch - another semi-complicated order involving one dish for here and one to take home for later, ate it, came back to the front of the restaurant, perused the jewelry in the little shop we have.  i saw her smiling at this pretty flowered necklace that i have also been admiring.  she brought it up to the register and paid for it and left and i imagined how hard her life must be (or maybe it isn't, and i'm being patronizing) and whether she gets judged for having down's and how happy that necklace made her.  and the world was okay again.

instead of watching the superbowl

my night:
manicure and pedicure - the first i've had since september and a needed splurge.  i read a whole newsweek while the ladies at my favorite nail place worked on my nails.  GLORIOUS.  i will spend the rest of the night trying not to smudge it.  so far: success.
leftover pasta i made on friday night: asparagus, peas, and parmesan cheese with whole wheat linguine and pesto.  it is really, really delicious.
watching season 2 of big love from netflix.  fictional polygamists are entertaining.
reading a reliable wife, my newest purchase from borders.

i love sunday evenings.

and i might, just might find out who won the football game.  if this is like past years, though, that game will be going on until past my bedtime, and no way will i be staying up late for a football game.

words on a friday

found this quotation somewhere and it really stuck out to me.  i present it without commentary:

loyalty to the country always.  loyalty to the government when it deserves it.
-- mark twain

yum

i tried this new recipe last night and it was DELICIOUS: fiery sweet potatoes (from the new york times).  they are pretty spicy in that thai curry spicy way, but you could tone down the curry if you wanted to.  sweet potatoes are one of those foods that people say are healthy and magical and have vitamins and such.  they are also, conveniently, tasty.  i like baked sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries and now i like this.  HOORAY.

another reason you wish you worked at my school

An email conversation between me and one of my coworkers -  the man I would marry if I were 70 (like him) or he were 27 (like me).  I adore him.

Email from me to all teachers of 11th graders:
Hi all -
We haven’t met in a while, but this Thursday our first 11th grade team meeting of the semester is scheduled – 7:45am in room 105. I’ll bring some breakfast. Please be thinking about student concerns that you’d like to bring up. [Principal] would also like your feedback on whether we should hold any students’ contracts because of behavioral or academic concerns. These would need to be pretty serious concerns...but be thinking, and let us know.

Thanks -
Claire and [my co-Dean]


Reply from my BFF:
Will be there. Only contract I know about is Willis's. He hates me.

Sent from my iPhone

[Let's just take a moment for the fact that he is 70 (literally) and has - and uses effectively - an iPhone.]


So I replied:
Rumor has it that Willis wants YOUR contract held. Ooooooooh! Fight, fight, fight!


My BFF:
A food fight it will be. Game on ! Will you be my second in case I should fall ?

Sent from my iPhone


Me:
Um, of course! And in the meantime, I will pour water into your mouth and wipe your brow during the fight – you obviously won’t be able to, as you’ll be wearing boxing gloves.


My BFF:
OMG. Don't tell Willis.

Sent from my iPhone


I then forwarded my BFF's email to Willis, who replied:

I will win. Because he’s the 1 person on faculty I walk faster than. Though I really should be ashamed because he’s more than twice my age.


[Note to readers who aren't under the age of 30: BFF=best friend forever, and it is what middle school girls call each other.  I like to appropriate those kinds of phrases and use them as my own.]

the oscars

okay, let me tell you about what i think about the oscars.  who should win, who shouldn't.  i don't care very much about what "experts" or "analysts" think.  i am my own expert.

best picture:
if avatar wins, i will punch someone (probably the couch).  i think that if you have made a movie about aliens, you should be automatically disqualified.  this would nix district 9, too.  note: i have not seen avatar and i will not be seeing avatar.  but i am dismissing it anyway.
up should win best animated feature film, HANDS DOWN.  but it shouldn't win best picture.  because i have that reserved for the next film on my list. [fun trivia fact (thank you new york times): up is only the second animated film to be nominated for best picture.  the first was in 1992.  can you name it?]
i neeeeeed the hurt locker to win. i don't like war movies (they stress me out and make my stomach hurt and put my nerves on edge, and i generally try to avoid that when watching a movie for pleasure), but somehow i was compelled to see this one, and i'm really glad i did.  i had to leave the room for one scene (you'll know which one if you see the movie), but overall, i was so captivated by the characters and how beautifully filmed it was and how subtle it was.  avatar does not strike me as subtle.  the hurt locker was.  i think it helps that the film follows one group of men in one small unit, and you see the war - and the country of iraq - from their eyes.  it's personal stories that take place during a war, not a war movie.  and i couldn't stop thinking about it.

i've got some movies i need to watch - a single man, the last station, an education, a serious man.  i have 32 days. [amusing note: the closest theater to atlanta that is showing the last station is (according to moviefone.com) in TORONTO, 706.8 miles away from my current location.  this entertains me greatly.]

what do you guys think about the oscar nominations?  (if you care, that is...)

5 things i've learned in 5 years of teaching

1. it doesn't bode well for a kid's grade if you need a calculator to be sure you've correctly added up the points on his test.  [or, perhaps, it speaks to my math skills.]

2. remember when you were a student and you were whispering in class and your teacher ALWAYS knew it was you?  teachers don't have super sonic hearing...students just whisper really loudly.

3. when a student gets a detention, it is also a punishment for the adult who proctors the detention.  i didn't do anything wrong!  why do i have to get to school early and sit silently in a room for an hour?

4. the freshman hallway smells like b.o. and the sophomore hallway smells like axe body spray (to cover up the b.o.).  by junior year they have learned how to use deodorant to stop the smell from getting started in the first place.  i'm so glad i work with juniors.

5. kids surprise you a lot.  sometimes it's for a bad reason, but more often it's for a good one.  that's what makes going to work every day worthwhile.  on thursday i found out that a student of mine had received an award from the atlanta rotary club - one student every year gets the award from each high school in the city.  this is a special little award, in that the student gets to pick a teacher to honor, too, with an accompanying award.  and our student this year picked me!  i'm really and truly touched...especially because i never would have guessed that she would pick me.  you never know whom you affect, i guess.  (though you can usually guess who you DON'T...)  the cutest part?  she and the college counselors were told to keep it a secret from me until i got my letter from the rotary club.  which made it that much more fun.

basic math

if i am watching a movie and a character with a bad southern accent enters a scene, i lose a lot of respect for the actor playing this role.  if this character with a bad southern accent plays a prominent role in the film, i am unable to get over this and begin to hate the movie.  what are these directors thinking?  you aren't kidding us.  i'd rather have an unknown actress from the region the film is set in than a famous actress who has to fake it.  perhaps i am in the minority here.

case in point: last night i watched elizabethtown, an okay movie that certainly entertained me, but kirsten dunst's poor attempt at a southern accent ANNOYED THE CRAP OUT OF ME and caused me to dislike the movie.  and this wasn't just a bad southern accent, it was SOMETIMES a bad southern accent, sometimes no accent at all.  and that is a worse sin.  and then the plot line moved from "improbable" to "inconceivable" and i had to stop myself from rolling my eyes so hard that i gave myself a headache.  good music, entertaining movie, but friends: it is not worth seeing.

have you ever seen songcatcher?  this movie IS AMAZING and you need to put it in your netflix queue pronto.  one of the best parts of this movie: the girl (played by emmy rossum, who is from NEW YORK CITY) has the most believable appalachian mountain accent i have ever heard.  i'd never heard of the actress when i saw the movie, and my initial thought was "where did they find this mountain girl?"  IT IS THAT BELIEVABLE.  and for that reason, among many others, songcatcher > elizabethtown.

I heart Barack

While there were a couple of nice moments, the Duke game today was pretty tragic. Harumph. The best moment: President Obama was in the crowd at the game, and he spent about 5 minutes with the CBS commentators talking about basketball in general (Obama likes to play) and the game at hand. I thought that I couldn’t love him any more than I already do. And then this happened:

CBS commentator: “You’re obviously a left-hander.”

President Obama: “Yeah.”

CBS commentator: “Do you have any problems at all going to your right?”

President Obama: “You know, I went the Republican House Caucus just yesterday to prove that I can go to my right once in a while. But there’s no doubt that I’ve got a stronger left hand.”

Mr. President, you entertain me GREATLY. Let’s hang out some time.

the least of these

the upper school chapel at our school today was dedicated to haiti.  donations from our school over the past several years have helped build two schools in haiti, both of which were damaged in the recent earthquake and are currently unusable.  the children who attend those schools and their teachers?  we've received very little information about how they are doing.  having a sister school in haiti has meant that i am feeling a connection with this earthquake and the people who were affected.  i am also feeling so uplifted by our students and their thoughtfulness, their care, their motivation, their hope, their desire to help these people so far away.  the reading in chapel today was from matthew 25, and ended with this line:

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

the "I" and "me" in matthew is jesus, but sitting in that chapel, surrounded my our students who came to the altar with donations for the people of haiti, the "I" was me.  i'm not religious, but for the first time ever i was truly moved by a biblical verse.  and by "moved," i mean i cried a lot, through the rest of the service: our students' songs and piano music and poems, all in honor of the people of haiti.  (don't worry - willis held my hand and tried not to look freaked out.)  the way we treat each other is the important thing in life.  and i'm a part of a community that gets that.  i am such a lucky girl.

(sounds like i'm totally drinking the kool aid, huh?)


it makes me think of this (overused, but i don't care) john donne quotation:

"No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind."

this, friends, is my night.

tonight, i love...
sushi from orient express with the lovely kelly
clearing out my tivo
a long shower
pajamas
all the good tv tonight - i'll be switching between the duke game and the state of the union address, which tivo will magically let me do without missing a beat of either one.
the new york times' news blog, "the caucus", where their analysts will be live blogging about obama's state of the union address.  i can't just watch the address on tv.  in addition, i'll be playing state of the union bingo, making notes about what obama says in anticipation of our class discussion on friday, talking back to the tv screen, and refreshing "the caucus" on my computer.  because i am ridiculous.

"this is one of the most stunning things that i have ever seen in a basketball game."

dear duke university men's basketball team 2009-2010,

winning on the road is hard.  good work at clemson on saturday.  i am reminded of how sweet road wins can be; this is why i love duke basketball.

[thanks to dad for reminding me of this glorious game.]

i know we can't always come back like this - we may never come back like this again - but a fan's gotta dream.  this, i think, was when duke-maryland became a rivalry second in duke fans' hearts only to duke-unc.  i was a freshman in spring 2001.  i remember watching the game - the panic of the black screen and then the picture coming back but without the volume.

now, you boys this year need to steal the ball like this.  and shoot three pointers like this.  i would be very grateful.

love,

claire

a post in which i am quite excited

it's official - i'm going back to oxford to work this summer!  i'm a lucky girl.  a lucky girl who is very excited.  several of my friends from last summer will be back, and apparently last year there were record amounts of rainfall in england...so maybe i'll get to see the sun more this summer!

and there is a john/dodie/becky/possiblybrandon/claire trip to scotland in the works for two weeks after i finish working in england.  so exciting!!

fridays

i teach 12th grade.  to stereotype: all the boys are taller than me, they can't keep their shirts tucked in, they spend a lot of time pretending they aren't as bright as they are, they are intimidated by smart girls, they are super competitive at any game we play in class, they talk trash to each other, they make really funny history jokes sometimes, they are usually polite and always kind.  the girls are diligent and eager, unsure of themselves and their knowledge, they outperform the boys on almost every assignment, they hem their skirts far too short, they laugh at the boys' jokes, they remember things from past history classes (!), they text in class - under the desk like i won't notice, they love non-uniform days when they can dress up, they are always polite and usually kind.  even though they can get into real trouble, they are becoming real people - the adults they will soon be.  and i love spending my days with them.

while i could never teach the younger kids - i do NOT have that kind of patience - i love working in a school where i get to see them occasionally.

one of the best parts of my week: fridays at about 2:45.  the lower school gets out earlier than we (the upper school) do on fridays, and a cute 5th grade kiddo with lots of red hair comes up to the upper school to meet his big sister and get picked up.  he walks past my office to do so, and pops inside for a minute because i have a bowl of candy and he knows he can have a piece.  he's loaded down with a backpack that's bigger than he is, a jacket tied around his waist, and a laptop bag and he kind of staggers through the door.  some days he's sweaty from recess in that way that little boys are sweaty, like he's just run as hard as he can.  some days he's tired and some days he talks a mile a minute.  today he was covered in pine straw.  "did you just have recess?"  half smile that indicates he knows he's a mess, but can't help it.  "yeah."  (this is what i love about elementary school kids: they aren't trying to impress anyone yet.)  he takes his orange starburst candy and he's on his way.

gay men don't know everything.

the scene: my office.  the topic of conversation: the upcoming wedding of two dear friends of ours.

willis: "apparently her wedding dress has two sashes - one for day and one for night."
me: "oh!  i didn't hear that."
[pause for contemplation.]
willis: "what's a sash?"
[a lot of laughter from me.]
me: "what do you think it is?"
willis: "to me a sash is like a pageant sash [over the shoulder].  why would you need that for a wedding dress?"

okay, men, the green ribbons here are sashes:

[just ignore the fact that one of these people is REALLY REALLY PALE. she spent the summer in england.  there wasn't a lot of sun.]

but willis is right, women in pageants also wear sashes over one shoulder.  but seriously, willis?  you didn't know that there were two kinds of sashes?  i am extremely amused by this.

losing is not very fun

well, it's hard to win a basketball game when your opponent is shooting lights out and you are shooting okay-to-moderately-poorly.  oh, and it appears only three people on your team can make a basket.  sigh.

and seriously: must everyone rush the court when they beat us?  i recognize that you're unranked, but simmer down and (as my dad says) act like you've been here before.  i have never rushed a court, and i would estimate that was in the student section in cameron for 60 games while in college.  when you win, you jump up and down a lot.  and scream.  and high five people.  maybe you hug your friends.  but rush the court?  i would have had to jump over a reporter, and have you met me?  i'm 5'4".  plus, i'm pretty classy, and classy people don't rush the court.

mid-week pick-me-up

willis is in my office right now, playing the song that, to quote him, "would be my drag queen song when i am a drag queen."  note: it is extremely spicy.  willis "jiggled that" when the song told him to.  and just said "there would be lots of fast spinning at this part."

[to relive this moment in your own office, listen to ciara and missy elliott's "work."  you also need your own version of a willis to dance for you, and i don't think all of you have this.  sad for you.]

yogurt rant

every morning i eat a yogurt for breakfast.  i pack it in my bag and eat it when i get to work, because i CLEARLY do not wake up with enough time to eat breakfast at home.  the yogurt-a-day practice has been around since i started teaching in atlanta.  at first, i ate a lot of yoplait yogurt.  but then i got on this organic milk and eggs kick, and yoplait, while cheap and delicious, was not rocking it for me.

then i fell head-over-heels in love with greek yogurt.  like, i couldn't stop telling people about how good it was and how they needed to try it.  i was prosthelytizing for yogurt.  i converted a couple people.



now, friends, i have found the yogurt to beat all yogurts.  yes, i'm still eating greek yogurt, but it is slowly being beaten by the best yogurt ever.

wallaby yogurt is (a) delicious (i am in love with the maple flavor and the caramel apple flavor), (b) "australian style," which means it is a different/better consistency than yogurt i'm used to - not as gelatinously thick, and (c) they have totally suckered me in with the list on their website of family farms that produce the milk used in the yogurt.  they are attempting to sucker me in, and it is WORKING.

note: this yogurt costs $1 each.
note: i realize this is significantly more than your grocery store brand yogurt costs, let alone yoplait or its rivals.  but think of the cows!  they want to play outside and eat grass and not get antibiotic shots all the time.  and think of the family farms!  they want to make a living doing what they love and naming their cows.
note: to entertain myself, i put in my parents' zip code on the wallaby yogurts website to see if wallaby yogurts are sold in our county.  i thought this would be a riot - to see where the closest store selling this yogurt was.  i predicted: boone.  FALSE.  the lowes foodses (i have just pluralized foods) in town stock them (not the one closest to home, but they don't have anything other than white bread, either, so i'm not too shocked).  this is not just a yuppie product!

okay, it is.  but apparently there are yuppies in wilkes county, nc.

invictus

get thee to a bookstore/library and find yourself invictus (originally published as playing the enemy), by john carlin.  then read it.  it's one of the best nonfiction books i've ever read - more about mandela than rugby, but uses rugby to tell the story of reconciliation and forgiveness and triumph at the end of apartheid.  i learned SO MUCH.  i finished it on saturday afternoon and then lay in bed for another hour finding this gorgeous version of "shosholoza," a work/protest song that became the official song of the 1995 rugby world cup in south africa (i want to take the little bitty soprano boy in the video home with me).  and, of course, trying to find actual video of the end of the final game so i could see what john carlin writes about so beautifully in the last chapters of the book.  if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, this might not mean much to you, but i loved being able to see it.  THE INTERNET IS AMAZING.

and then i promptly emailed my friends and got a group together to see the movie.  and it was amazing - very well done, i thought...touching and funny...and how did morgan freeman not win best actor at the golden globes last night?

i can't put the book away yet.  it's sitting on my desk and i look at it and think about how incredible the story is - and how much i am in awe of mandela and his country.  and it gives me a little hope for other parts of the world that face equally daunting circumstances.

so i think i'll be six, now and forever.

In honor of Georgia Tech beating UNC today (!!), I give you this story:

I went to the Georgia Tech-Duke basketball game last week, and even though Duke lost (tragedy), there isn't a bad seat in the house and it was really fun to get to see the boys play in person.  Other than the actual game, the best part of the day was the little kid who sat next to me.  He was approximately six years old, and he had on a Georgia Tech jersey and visor, and it was clear that he had these items specifically so that he could attend this game.  He was with his dad, and he liked to do all the cheers along with the student section.  When Duke was ahead he got a little bored and played games on his dad's phone, but when it got close he would focus on the game.  At one point late in the game a Georgia Tech player was taking a free throw.  As all good fans of basketball will know, the home team's fans are quiet when the home team takes free throws, but the opposing team may try to mess up the shooter by making noise.  (I am not one of these people when I am in an opposing team's stadium - don't worry.)  Some Duke fans were yelling things and trying to throw off the shooter, and the kid next to me got really nervous and screamed to the shooter, "whatever they say, don't listen!"

Quiet giggles erupted from our section.

Cutest. Thing. Ever.


On another topic altogether: it has been noted that sometimes I write in all lowercase on this blog and sometimes I capitalize random things and sometimes I capitalize all the appropriate words (as I'm doing here).  If I blog when I'm at work, I'm much more likely to capitalize like I'm supposed to, because I'm in WORK MODE, and work mode requires appropriate capitalization.  The rest of the time I'm likely to be lazy and write in all lower case.  When I capitalize a whole phrase LIKE THIS it means LISTEN UP, FRIEND.  I'M RAISING MY VOICE AT YOU.  Really, I do what makes me happy at the time.  That's what this blog is about...and, to a larger extent, what my life is about...

familiar

5:30pm:
me: "want to have dinner?"
roommate: "sure.  is it okay if i ask m & k & the baby if they want to come?"
me: "of course!  i'm just leaving the gym - i'll be home in 15 minutes."
roommate: "okay, let me call you back."

5:40pm:
roommate: "m & k are in.  i told them 6:15 at blue moon pizza - does that sound okay?  i know you like blue moon's salads."
me: "sounds great!"
roommate: "and that doesn't give you a lot of time to shower, but i know you don't always shower after the gym [embarrassing, but true], so i hope that's okay."
me: "perfect!  i'll just hop in the shower...i won't blow dry my hair."


people: i love having a roommate who knows me so well.  he may not have the best memory for some things, but he's got a good memory for the important things.  love you, roommate!  hooray for pizza and friends on a friday night!

i survived a five day week

last night i volunteered at world peace cafe, as i do most thursdays, and with a mountain of plates and bowls and coffee mugs in the back, i found myself doing dishes for about an hour at the end of the night, while playing the "guess what each person's middle name is based only on the first initial" game with the other people in the kitchen (mine was the hardest to guess - and the most awesome, obviously).  i hate doing dishes at home.  but that's partially because it's required if i want to have a respectable looking house.  at world peace i'm doing it because i've chosen to help an organization that is bigger than me, and they need it done.  and it's better than cleaning the bathrooms, which was the other thing that needed to be done.  so i did lots of dishes, and at the end of the night drove three buddhists home to the buddhist center where they live.  did i see myself driving buddhists around when i started this job four months ago?  no - no i did not.  but now they are my friends, and i was happy to give them a ride home.

today?  today is the friday before a three day weekend, and i have new whiteboard markers to use when giving notes on the board.  and that's all it takes to make a teacher happy.

i'll leave you with this video, courtesy of one of my favorite blogs (again).  you will only think it's funny if you watch "jersey shore" (aka "the trashiest show on television"), which i am not embarrassed to admit that i love.  enjoy.

thank you, clemson

last night duke won pretty convincingly and unc lost pretty convincingly.  basically: my ideal evening.

on my bad list: pat robertson

this makes me want to throw up.  (courtesy of the new york times' awesome news blog, "the lede.")

haiti

i just made a mini donation to the international committee of the red cross - you can designate that you want it to be spent in haiti - and if you can help, too, the red cross and the people of haiti certainly need it.  i'm thinking of it as choosing to eat something in my freezer for dinner tonight instead of going out to eat.  and bam - there's my donation.

our school has a partnership with a school in haiti - through donations, we've helped to build them a new school building that was just complete a year ago.  the school is just outside of port-au-prince, and it's devastating to think about what must have happened to it and to the families of the students who go to school there.  i've heard that there is no electricity in the entire country, and we haven't been able to touch base with anyone that we (as a school) know there.  so scary.

i heart mash-ups

i heart this  (thanks to joey for sending it to me!)

and i heart this  (are you reading this girl's blog?  because you should be.)

fact: i love music.
fact: i am a horrible singer.  if you have ever stood next to me in chapel, driven on a long car ride with me, or danced around an apartment singing along with someone's ipod with me, you know this to be true.
fact: i do not care.  i will continue to belt it out.

also, have you seen (500) days of summer?  the music in it is awesome, but more than that: the movie is awesome.  best movie i've seen in a LONG time.  i literally clapped my hands.  and talked to the screen.  go rent it now.

to counteract all the cookies i've been eating: vegetables!

i love to cook - and it doesn't all stem from my love of eating (though that is certainly a good reason to cook).  some days i only want to heat up a frozen pizza, but other days i want to cook, to chop and stir and boil and bake and compose.  in december i didn't really make a lot of time for cooking, and i'm trying to remedy that in january.  the cold weather helps - it is comforting to be in a warm kitchen.

since i am only cooking for one person, i often have to/get to eat a meal for several days...so i'd better LIKE what i cook.  for christmas, dad bought me the cookbook chez panisse vegetables, by alice waters.  it is arranged by vegetable, and gives a couple pages of information on each vegetable before giving you recipes.  earlier in the week i was in the mood to make pasta, and the index led me to asparagus and onions with whole wheat linguine.  i'm going to be honest: whole wheat pasta scares me.  i don't think it tastes as good as regular pasta, and i always imagine it to be tougher than regular pasta.  but i made it, and it turned out really well - i may be converted.  the recipe is sauteed asparagus and onions and garlic, to which vegetable broth (and butter - yum) is added.  you pour the sauce over the cooked linguine and squeeze lemon on it, and then add some ricotta.  it was SO GOOD.  it's not a super thick sauce, but that's good - in the bowl, the noodles sit in the broth and are flavored by it.  it works.  i made enough for what i considered to be two portions.  and then i ate it all.  oops.

(note the creamy delciousness on the sides of the bowl that indicate that this is my second helping.)

now i need to make lunch, because i am hungry just thinking about how good this meal was...

let it snow

the low tonight in ames, iowa, where my aunt and uncle and cousins live: -15.

holy shit.

we can't compete - and i don't think we're trying to - here in atlanta, but it has been cold here by our standards this week.  highs in the 30s, lows in the teens.  we are cold and not amused.  but with cold, friends, comes this much snow:

that is my car with approximately 0.5 inches of snow on it, our total accumulation.  be impressed.  photos taken last night at 9:45pm immediately after receiving the phone call that indicated that school was cancelled today.  snow day!  hooray!  i know this looks like we are weenies who can't deal with inclement weather, and we are.  that's the point.  atlanta public schools were cancelled today, as were cobb, fulton, and dekalb county public schools, and basically every private school in the area.  so we weren't alone.

my bedroom window looks out on a slight hill leading out of our neighborhood.  all morning i heard people trying (and many failing) to make it up the slightly icy hill and out of the neighborhood.  once i woke up, i perched myself on a chair next to the window (yes, i know that this is what old ladies do) so i could watch people try to get up the hill and thus learn what i would need to do if i wanted to go out to lunch with my friends.  some people made it up the hill in several attempts.  at least one person tried, failed, and went back home.  TRAGEDY.  when it came time for me to leave i was a little nervous, as my roommate sat perched at that very window, ready to judge me and laugh if i couldn't make it.  with a bit of a running start, i made it just fine.  I AM AMAZING.  the well-used roads were fine, and lunch at taqueria del sol was delicious.

happy weekend, everyone!

just another reason why i love being a teacher

the following is what one of our students wrote in a paper for his english class:
"thomas jefferson purchased the louisiana territory because, as any woman knows, you shouldn't pass up a good deal."

one guess as to the gender of the student who wrote this paper.

just some websites i stumbled upon...

do you know about stumbleupon?  as in, "i stumbledupon this cool website!"  in my ongoing quest to bring you the cool things i find on this fabulous internet of ours, i suggest you check out stumbleupon.  here are a couple websites it found for me that i loved...

(be warned, once you stumble, it may be hard to stop and then you will look up and realize how much time you have wasted...except, of course, it isn't really wasted.  it's well used.  either way: stumble at your own risk. )

some of the most gorgeous photography i've ever seen

world sunlight map as of this very moment

i kind of want to live in this house

SO CUTE IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL

piano stairs

driveway moment

i heard this story on NPR and couldn't stop crying.  i pulled into the parking lot of whole foods and sat in the car to listen to the rest of the story (and pull myself together).  please listen...and join the national marrow donor program if you feel compelled to.  i volunteered with the american red cross in college, and the national marrow donor people came to duke to register people in the months after september 11th.  i joined the registry, and i actually want to be called.  just like i want jury duty.  does this make me weird?

anyway.  one way to start 2010 off on a good note would be to join the registry...

8:45am

super willis is the informant!

(as in, willis walked into my office this morning, and this is exactly what he was wearing.  he said "i'm not sitting on the crapper, though."  true, but that doesn't negate what you are wearing, willis.)

second semester begins

it was 19 degrees when i left my house at 7am this morning.  THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS WRONG WITH THAT STATEMENT.

an outing

scene: woodland brook road (yes, this in the name of a road near my house. it flooded this fall. there really is a brook.)
saturday, 1:20pm

as i approach the railroad crossing i see a father and son on the opposite side, holding hands and standing on the sidewalk a couple feet from where the tracks cross the road.  just standing - not walking.  the father is in his thirties and the kid is four or so.  i realize they are waiting and hoping a train will pass by.  i am hopeful for them - that they won't have to wait long; this is a busy crossing, by my standards - maybe four trains pass by an hour.  i shift into third gear as i cross the tracks and head down the hill on the other side, and in the split second it takes to do this the bells start to ring and the lights start to flash and a train is approaching.  i look over at the boy and his face is pure surprise and pure anticipation.  and i wish i could stop and watch him watch the train.

revived

i just had the most amazing plate of nachos and diet coke at atkins park, a restaurant in smyrna i need to go to more often.  that, plus the shower i had beforehand, have revived me.  i am invincible!

some people start a new year by exercising more or eating better or saving money.  i started this year with a plate of nachos and good conversation with my roommate (hi roommate!).  and i'm content with that decision.

hello 2010!

because i am good for nothing today except (a) lying in bed and (b) lying on the couch, i bring you - live from my bed! - a top ten list of my favorite songs purchased on itunes in 2009.  in no particular order:

single ladies - beyonce
city hall - vienna teng
josephine - brandi carlile
forever - chris brown
highway 20 ride - zac brown band
back where i come from - kenny chesney
run this town - jay-z, rihanna, and kanye west
gillian - the waifs
sons & daughters - the decemberists
winter song - sara bareilles and ingrid michaelson

note: i purchased 175 songs from itunes in 2009.  i hope the songs above feel special to be a part of the elite top ten...

magical deals

i get such a warm fuzzy feeling when i find something cute that is on sale.  (is that bad?  i guess i'm supposed to get a warm fuzzy feeling when i help others...which i do.  this is just a different kind of warm fuzzy.)  i am feeling especially proud of my trip to ann taylor loft today.  i bought a fuschia dress (i can't find it online to show you the link), regularly priced at $98, for $23.  and this dress, regularly priced at $128, for $29.  I AM AMAZING.  and there was vanity sizing.  really, it was the best shopping outing ever.

i'm going to a new years (or year's or years' - help!) party tonight and needed something cute to wear.  i will probably freeze to death.  but at least i'll look good doing it.

hope everyone has a happy and safe end to 2009!

mashup

this is a really cool mashup of some billboard hits this year, and i hope you enjoy it: Blame It on the Pop.  i have now watched it three times in a row.  i figured: good enough to repost.  i found it though a friend of Becky's blog that i read daily.  she entertains me.  you should read her blog, too.

mcgrady

after a really nice week at home, i'm back in atlanta, the land of wireless internet and central heating and yoga studios!  it was a great trip home, though, and so good to spend time with my family.  this is where i grew up and where my parents still live.  just keep zooming out until you find a town you've heard of.  i hope that happens before the towns on the map are charlotte and raleigh.

for those of you who haven't been there, mcgrady is a zero stop light town, a place where you drive ten miles to get "into town" to work or do whatever shopping you need to do.  when i was just learning to drive a stick shift (i was probably 20 years old), i was driving through "town" (north wilkesboro) and i stopped at a stop light.  i was in the left turn lane.  i was the first car.  the light turned green.  i stalled.  and restarted the car.  and stalled.  and restarted the car.  bottom line: i stalled all the way through the light.  the light was green for a while and then turned yellow and then red again and i was STILL SITTING THERE frantically trying to get the car to move.  this is indicative of my driving skills early on; i'm much better now thankyouverymuch.  here's the thing, though: not a single car honked at me while i stalled through that light.  and THAT, in a nutshell, tells you a lot about the place where i grew up.

i am an object at rest

i gave up on reading the oldest living confederate widow tells all because it was boring and it was slow.  i got through 250 pages before i just couldn't make myself pick up the book any more.  i hate abandoning books, but i really had to this time.  now i'm reading the story of edgar sawtelle and it's so hard to put DOWN.  victory.  and christmas time allows for a lot of book reading.  and a lot of tv and movie watching...i watched the two movies from netflix that i'd had at home since just after thanksgiving.  sheesh. 

oh, and eating.  christmas time allows for a lot of eating.  gingerbread cookies, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, sea salt caramels from trader joe's.  i don't even want to think about what i've been eating.  the gift certificate dad got me to my new yoga studio (!!) will be put to good use in january...

there is also a lot of dog petting required at our house.  even after floor time with dad, the dogs will come up to you when you're sitting on the couch and put their head next to you and just LOOK at you until you pet them.  it's impossible not to.  so cute.

19th place

i'm in a bowling league and we had our last night of bowling tonight.  our team, the pin-ups (we hope you're giggling about that team name right now), was in 19th place out of 20 teams.  hold your applause.  we were battling the 20th place team to try not to lose the league.  tonight we won 2 out of 3 games and total pins, and avoided last place (hooray).  my average is a 120, and this is so symbolic of our team: i bowled a 135, a 187, and a 93.  we are perhaps the least consistent team on the planet.  but oh how proud i am of my 187...

i'm traveling home to NC tomorrow where internet access is spotty, so posting may be sporadic...if i don't write again before friday, merry christmas to all!  i hope you spend the holidays curled up inside with good food, fun board games, and the people you love.  i plan to eat excessive amounts of calories, force my family to play fun games with me, and snuggle with our dogs.

love to you all!

i'm sad that i'm missing this...

omg.  this means ohmygod for the old(er) people reading this.  except the old(er) people i'm directly descended from aren't reading this because when i talked to them at 9pm there were 10 inches of snow on the ground in mcgrady, they don't have internet access at home, and they CLEARLY won't be getting into town any time soon.  10. inches. of. snow.  i made mom get out her tape measure and put on shoes and go out to measure how much was on the picnic table in the backyard and then tell me about it.  she acquiesced because she's a great mom.  the tape measure read 10 inches.  the dogs must be so confused.  abby the dog is only approximately 10 inches high.  i should have made mom measure her, too.

this is an amazing article for two reasons.  one: it says that 3-7 inches of accumulation were expected today (um, they got 10) and an additional 8-12 inches tonight.  yikes!  i can't wait to call tomorrow and find out what happened overnight.  two: the article is on the website of the biggest newspaper in wilkes county, and it is, uh, perhaps not the fanciest website.  this entertains me.

creepy picture guy

for my AP government final exam i gave my students the ability to earn 10 bonus points, 1 each for correctly identifying the following important people, places, and things of 2009.  i purposefully made some of them easy enough that everyone should get them (SHOULD), and some so hard that i didn't know if anyone would get them.  here's the list, for your enjoyment, along with the funniest answers i received.  (giggling over the silly things that students write is the best part about being a teacher.  i figured i should share.)  maximum number of correct answers by a student: 7.

1. bagram - [no funny answers - just lots of wrong answers.  two kids knew, though - i was so proud!]

2. fareed zakaria - president of iran AND president of afghanistan AND regular contributor to Newsweek (creepy picture guy??)

3. fort hood - shooting massacre!  [if you are a 17 year old girl, you like to put exclamation points at the end of sentences that, perhaps, don't need them.]

4. going rogue: an american life - [everyone knew this - hooray]

5. khalid shaikh mohammed - former Nobel Peace Prize winner OR winner of the mayoral race in atlanta

6. mary norwood - [you non-atlantans may not know who she is; she lost the atlanta mayoral race in a run-off, but would have been the first white mayor of atlanta in almost 40 years had she won.]

7. rahm emanuel - terrorist

8. tehran - [most kids knew this, too.]

9. timothy geithner - guy from project runway who always says "designers!" [said by a boy - i love it]

10. the west wing - [i got more answers related to the tv show of this name than the actual location, but i gave them credit]

tuesday, december 15

how to be happy, by miss claire:

step 1: after work, go check out the yoga studio on your way home that you've been meaning to try for a while.  have the best hour and a half of yoga of your life (not totally true...but the best in a really long time), even though the man next to you moans for most of the class.  afterwards, they serve you a little plate of fresh fruit.  who does this?  i will clearly be going back, both for the yoga and for the fruit.

step 2: for dinner, take Trader Joe's Biryani Rice, add a handful of cashews and half a can of chickpeas.  stir fry for 5 minutes.  YOU HAVE NEVER TASTED ANYTHING MORE DELICIOUS.  bonus: when you bring your leftovers to school for lunch it looks like you are an amazing chef when you have done little more than pour things in a skillet and stir.  (shout out to aunt monica for introducing this to me!!)

step 3: watch your blue devils score 113 points and jon scheyer play the game of his life.

step 4: read the story of edgar sawtelle until you fall asleep.

dear santa,

i would like the following things for christmas.  i know some of them won't really fit in your sleigh - i'm just dreaming...


for duke to beat carolina at home and in chapel hill.  and for duke to win the national championship, but i'll settle for just beating carolina twice.

this necklace from etsy

for madewell to start making their graphic t-shirts again.  best fitting shirt EVER.

this wallet, in color "mogano"

any of the following books: city of thieves, gentlemen and players, dreaming in hindi, her fearful symmetry, the hour i first believed

an extra hour every day in which to read these books

for al qaeda and the taliban and all the other bad guys in the world to put down their guns/bombs/other weapons

this ring from etsy (i have no idea what size ring i wear.  7 1/2?  8?)

a garlic press

itunes gift certificates, so i can continue to go crazy every once in a while

love,
claire

chelsea grill

i've found the perfect neighborhood bar, where the bartenders are fun and hilarious, the drinks are reasonably priced and plentiful, the menu includes three vegetarian meals and lots of waffle fries, and you never want to leave.  unfortunately, this bar is in new york city and i do not live in new york city.  CRAP.  this cannot be my neighborhood bar.  THE WORLD IS NOT FAIR.

fantastic dork-a-palooza

last night i went (with three friends) to see a taping of the NPR show "wait, wait...don't tell me" at the cobb energy center here in the lovely atlanta.  it was so fun to see what the panelists and karl casell and peter sagel looked like in real life.  the guest was rick sanchez from CNN, and he was a little lame.  if you had to get someone from CNN, why not anderson cooper??  or better yet, don't get someone from CNN.  give me someone cool.

two wonderfully dorky moments from last night:

in line at the bathroom before the show:
woman #1: quite a line!  we'll get to see if that theory plays out...that a whole bunch of stalls open at the same time, the line moves really fast, and then it stops and you stand and wait for a while.  fast, stop, fast, stop.  what's that theory called?  string theory?  chaos theory?
woman #2 [potentially woman #1's friend]: yeah, doesn't traffic work like that, too?
woman #1: yeah!
[four stalls open at once and the line moves quickly, proving woman #1's theory.]
woman #3 [who definitely did not know the other two] as she walked toward a stall: it's actually alfred p. lloyd's theory.*
woman #1: oh yeah!

*i actually can't remember what she called it, but it sounded something like this.  dad, i am hoping you know.


at the end of the show, they brought a woman from the audience - from the second balcony, where we were sitting! - up on stage to answer a question and win a prize for the audience.  and she won us something - hooray!  what was it, you ask?  well, we NPR fans/listeners each got an NPR tote bag so when we go to whole foods to pick up our free range chicken eggs and organic produce we don't have to use a big bad plastic bag that will hurt the environment and add to our liberal guilt.  oh, NPR, you know us so well.

go to hell, carolina

i paid off one of my two student loans!  i am amazing!  i am patting myself on the back right now.

and you know, even though i had/have two student loans from attending the lovely duke university, i don't care.  it was the best school ever and totally worth paying for some of it myself.  here is why.  a list.  (of course.)

1. i am still very close to rachel, jen, the other rugby girls, morgan, q, andy, mike, thomas, jenny, and veronica from duke.  oh, and the non-blog-reading-sister-of-mine.  that is a lot of people.  i have great friends from college.  i know i am so lucky.

2. duke basketball = the reason to live from november to march.  for those who don't know, i used to regularly forgo warmth and sleep to stand in line/tent for games.  and i miss that a lot now.  it was worth every minute.  i never felt more school spirit than when i was in cameron, sweating profusely, and losing my voice while cheering on the blue devils with 1,600 of my classmates.

3. indian food wednesdays.

4. duke is gorgeous.

5. duke informed me (nonverbally) that i was good at history and liked it.  and that i was bad at chemistry and hated it.  this turned out to be an excellent thing, as i now have an excellent life at an excellent job that i love.

6. veggie tacos and chips and queso at the dillo.

7. i learned how to play rugby, later became president of duwrfc, lived in the rugby house, learned rugby songs, and made some rockin' friends.

8. hearing the bells played from the chapel at 5pm every day.


fellow dukies, what am i missing?

written while watching "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer"

i have an obsession with christmas tv and movies.  i MUST watch the following programs in december:

1. a charlie brown christmas (you will not be surprised to know that i own it)
2. rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (the claymation one)
3. how the grinch stole christmas
4. it's a wonderful life
5. love, actually

optional, but highly suggested, watching:
1. mixed nuts
2. home alone (totally a christmas movie)
3. meet me in st. louis
4. elf

there is something about watching christmas tv programs, particularly, that takes me back to when i was little and believed in santa claus and sat in the living room of our house in mcgrady watching these shows.  if you lived in mcgrady in the 1980s your tv weatherman was neil macneil (real name), and on christmas eve he would pop onto tv every hour or so and show us where santa's sleigh was over a map of the united states.  typically, santa was over new england.  this would be the signal for moms throughout the region to tell their children that santa was getting closer and we needed to go to bed.  because neil macneil was a NEWS ANCHOR (sort of) and if he said santa was coming, SANTA WAS COMING.  i believed it 100%.  and that is what is awesome about being a kid.

lunch time

it was mexican food day in the cafeteria (best lunch day ever!) and in addition to black bean and cheese quesadillas or chicken fajitas (we all know which one i chose), they had real guacamole.  that had come from an avocado, not a bag.  IT WAS AMAZING.

oh, the little things in life...

country singers and creepy abraham lincoln

let me set the scene for you.  nashville, tennessee.  yesterday.  claire, erica, and i are full to the brim with delicious food and we have spent a lot of time reminiscing and giggling.  erica's on a high because alabama kicked florida's butt, i'm on a high because duke beat st. john's (though not as handily as i'd have liked), and claire's on a high because she went for a run.  claire's high is a result of doing good things for her body.  mine and erica's high is from sitting on our butts and eating spinach artichoke dip and occasionally clapping and cheering.

note: there are two claires.  i am one of those claires.  the other claire also works at my school, and sometimes we call her claire #1 because she was there first.  we also look kind of a lot alike.  it is weird.  and awesome.

back to the story.

so we're in nashville and we've put on our dancing shoes and gotten ourselves in a cab and we're headed out to listen to live music and go dancing.  nashville is the BEST PLACE EVER for live music - free, in every bar on the main (touristy) strip, and of really high quality.  mostly country music, but not always.  this was my third time in nashville and every time i've had SUCH a good time going out, mostly because i love live music.  hooray.

at about midnight, in a bar, claire and i saw cowboy troy and gretchen wilson and a man dressed up as abraham lincoln.  the man dressed up like abraham lincoln was creepy because he looked SO like abraham lincoln.  we ran away from him.  or, scurried away from him.  it is hard to run in a bar.  i did not know who cowboy troy was.  we passed by him in the bar at one point and i thought he was just a guy with bad facial hair.  twenty minutes later he was up on stage and the band was introducing him and he was singing/rapping songs.  really fun.  and then the band introduced gretchen wilson who i HAVE heard of.  i kept asking claire "is that really her?" but the moment she started singing her hit songs it was clear that it was.  she sang a couple of her songs with the band behind her - in what appeared to be a totally impromptu performance - and the first stanza of janis joplin's "oh lord won't you buy me a mercedes benz," which entertained me greatly - and then she and cowboy troy disappeared and all was normal again.

so fun.  and it felt so NASHVILLE.

now i am back in atlanta.  and i will take a nap.

typical

Transcription of a voicemail I received today:

"Ms. L [yes, adults who are at least 15 years older than me often call me by my teacher-name...I guess because their children do], this is so-and-so, blah's mom.  I just wanted to let you know that blah is going to be tested for ADHD this Friday and Monday and will miss school for it - we think she has it pretty bad.  If you could...[3 second pause]...oh my goodness, I'm driving and I thought they just tore down Rio Bravo on Roswell Road.  Maybe I have ADHD, too.  Anyway, if you could give me a call, my number is..."


The apple, friends, does not fall far from the tree...

Tweeter

I'm on a listserv for the AP (advanced placement) course I teach; people on the listserv can email the whole group.  I get about 10 emails a day from other teachers - sharing cool articles or websites or lesson plans...or wasting my time.  Here are some real life examples of how people like to waste my time.

If you are a good person and don't want to listen to me complain about people who are both annoying and bad at technology, stop reading.  This is your only warning.


Email #1:
I know the FRQ's [free response questions - there are four on the AP exam in May] are posted on the college board's website but does anyone have them in word format? I would like a copy if you do.

What I want to say to this person:
You copy and paste.  Seriously?  Are you too lazy to go to the website and find the document...is that what this is about?  So instead you send an email that goes into all our inboxes and we have to delete it?  In the amount of time it took you to write that email you could have gone to the website and copied and pasted and been done with it.  Control-C!  Control-V!


Email #2:
Ok, I admit it I am behind in these things and I don't have time nor the interest to be a slave to them. However, I find that there are some political ramifications to them. I need a quick and brief instruction guide to the use of these innovations on the internet and possible uses for me as an AP teacher. Any suggestions?  I have an account with both Facebook and Tweeter (internet)

What I want to say to this person:
There are a lot of things I want to say to this person.  I like lists.  I will start a list.
1. Correct me if I'm wrong, English teachers - Erica, I'm looking at you - but shouldn't this be "I don't have the time or the interest"?  OR "I have neither the time nor the interest"?  This is my first problem with this email.  Oh, this list is going to be a long one.
2. If you don't have the time "nor" the interest, WHY ARE YOU TRYING??  Just do what you've always done - it's probably okay, and it hasn't gotten you fired yet.
3. Is technology going to enslave you?  Because you insinuate that it is.  And buddy, you're not making any friends ON THE INTERNET LISTSERV YOU BELONG TO.
4. This listserv is for us to exchange ideas, not for me to teach you all about Facebook and "Tweeter," so no, you will not be getting a "quick and brief instruction guide" from me.  [Note: Thanksgiving IS the time for me to teach you all about Facebook and "Tweeter," as I did for my dad last week.  Dad: you get bonus points if you remember what "Tweeter" is really called - show this guy up!!]
5. "I have an account with both Facebook and Tweeter (internet)" is the best sentence I have ever read.  I am giggling so hard right now I have started laugh-crying.  In my office by myself.  If you are not giggling, you are not my target audience for this blog.


Rant over.

hotel cafe presents "winter songs"

so i land in atlanta at 9:30am on sunday (don't ask how early i had to wake up in ames, iowa to make this trip), take MARTA to my car, and drive home listening to the radio.  one of my pre-programmed radio stations has made its annual switch to christmas music and i was embarrassingly excited about this fact.  i may or may not have listened to that station all the way home.  christmas stuff in stores in october?  unacceptable!  christmas music on the radio after thanksgiving?  welcomed!  hooray.  i love this season.

upon arriving home i promptly spent a grillion dollars on itunes, purchasing, among other things, this CD.  it had been in my itunes "wish list" since approximately february, but as it contains christmas music i couldn't very well purchase it in february.  but now?  it's the end of the month and i have more money than usual in my bank account (mysteriously...though i'm not asking any questions)...and it is christmas music season!  so i treated myself.  and it is glorious.

what do i wake up to this morning?  a story on NPR about how people spend more money online than they intend to because it's so easy to make purchases.  um, that's me.  NPR, get out of my head.

and he's not even my favorite character

"i am brave.  roller coasters?  love 'em.  scary movies?  i've seen ghostbusters like seven times.  i regularly drive through neighborhoods that have only recently been gentrified.  so yeah - i'm pretty much not afraid of anything."
--phil, "modern family" (11/25)

if you are not watching this show, you need to pull yourself together and start watching.  it is laugh-out-loud funny, and i am not a laugh-out-loud kind of girl.

my first pie crust

"this pie tastes like diabetes."
--my sister

that pie was the sweetest thing EVER, but also extremely delicious...so if you have a sweet tooth, head on over to bakerella and make it.  this is also the first time i've ever made a pie crust from scratch and it turned out great!  so if nothing else: remember this pie crust.  i had a minor meltdown while baking the pie because it wasn't firming up at quite the rate that i felt it should have been...and it did NOT stay in pretty layers like the photo suggests that it will.  but never mind - it all turned out okay in the end.  the perfect end to thanksgiving dinner!

today: leftovers for lunch (aka best lunch of the year), some shopping, then #7 duke vs. #13 uconn!  a little nervous about our first game against a ranked opponent this year...but hopefully we will persevere.

happy day-after-thanksgiving, all!

warning: don't read this while eating

since i'm leaving this afternoon for a five day weekend in iowa, i couldn't bear to go out to grab lunch (i've got food here! why spend the money?) or run to the grocery store (whatever i buy will likely go bad while i'm gone), so today is eat-random-leftovers day.  i dislike this kind of day.  for lunch i had the following:

• four mini vegetable eggrolls that i found in the freezer.  there was once a packet of sauce that went with them.  it is now missing, and the duck sauce i had in the fridge expired in september and BOY DID IT LOOK LIKE IT EXPIRED IN SEPTEMBER.  eww.  okay then - four mini eggrolls with a random packet of soy sauce i found.  excellent.
• a cheese quesadilla, made with two different kinds of cheese - not because i am fancy, but because i only had small portions of each cheese.
• approximately 20 chickpeas, eaten from the can until i realized eating chickpeas by themselves isn't exactly delicious. 

things i threw away while looking for food to eat:
1. the aforementioned duck sauce.
2. fresh parsley that i never used because i forgot i bought it
3. old cheddar cheese
4. half an onion whose other half was used approximately two weeks ago
5. a half gallon of barely used milk that expired november 8th.  it was so gross i had been holding out on throwing it away because (a) i wanted to recycle the plastic container, so (b) i had to pour out the GROSS milk inside.  i hope you are appropriately disgusted.  i can start talking about my dog bite wound any time now if you'd rather hear about that...


i would rather have been eating Fiery Sweet Potatoes
and my grandma's green bean casserole
and my sister's mashed potatoes
and Chocolate Bread Pudding.

but i guess that's what thanksgiving is for, right?  HOORAY.

four dogs

mom: so we're taking carter [one of their dogs] to the vet's over thanksgiving break.

me: he needs a little extra care, huh?

mom: yeah.  but the other three dogs are staying here.  i'm paying daniel and alisa $1 each per day to feed them.

me: mcgrady, north carolina may be the only place in the world where you can get three dogs cared for over a five day weekend for $10 total.


yes, my parents have four dogs.  how many did they set out to get?  oh, that would be zero.  dogs are just DRAWN to my parents.  it is adorable.  they spend all day on the farm investigating good smells and lying in the sun.  (the dogs, not my parents.)  there is also a dog hierarchy; one dog has had two hip replacements, which required my dad to come home every day at lunch for months to care for him...he is also overweight and thus has to eat fresh vegetables that fill him up but don't have a lot of calories.  i think he also takes several medications, which is why he needs to be at the vet's over thanksgiving.  on the other end of the spectrum: one dog isn't allowed inside.

daniel and alisa are my parents' next door neighbors.  they are in 5th and 3rd grade.  they love my mom and like to come talk to her and borrow things from her - a shovel, for example, to build a fort.  in turn, my mom gives them random things that only she and they can appreciate.  on the phone today she told me that she found a deer skull with the antlers still attached, and she gave it to daniel and he was so excited.  my mom and daniel are some of the only people i know who would appreciate a deer skull.  they are made for each other.

i love my couch

it is rainy rainy rainy in atlanta today - and quite chilly (for us).  i dragged myself out of bed this morning to go the gym, and from there went to work at world peace for the afternoon.  it was crazy at world peace - people everywhere - and chris had me working the register.  i'm pretty new at the register, but not as new as i used to be.  i know this because when i first started working the register this was every interaction:

customer: hi!  i'd like a TMB with a side salad and a pot of tea - what kind do you like best?
me: okay, i'm a new at this, so bear with me! (where is the key for TMB? TMB, TMB, where is it??  panic!  oh, here we go. okay, now what is the code for a side salad.  let me check this sheet, side salad...okay, 180.)  i've got your TMB with a side salad - i'm sorry, can you repeat what else you wanted?

and it would continue from there.  italicized words are my inner monologue, obviously.  at this point i would be sweating profusely.  out of nervousness.

now i'm at the point where i can ring up orders quickly and even key in things like "no mayonnaise."  (hold your applause.)  even when we were mobbed today, i pretty much kept my cool.  except i keyed in debit cards as credit cards, so when we ran the report at the end of the shift the credit card report was tragically off...until i realized what i'd done.  and no permanent damage was done.  whew.  crisis averted.

i'm back home now, and this is the perfect weather for eating a big lunch (check) and wearing a fluffy flannel robe (check) and curling up on the couch (check) under a blanket (check) and watching copious amounts of tv (check).  oh, i'm so happy right now.

in honor of my afternoon spent watching my tivoed shows, i offer you this quote from the daily show with jon stewart which is too good not to share.  I LOVE THIS MAN.  he constantly makes my day.

"the special olympics is to winners what fox news is to experts; if you show up, you are one." -jon stewart, the daily show, 11/18/09.

be kind

"be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
--plato

recently, this is my mantra.  i repeat it a lot.  another volunteer at world peace tonight who didn't really do much work, and spent the whole time talking to someone about how she's having trouble with her boyfriend...leaving me to do much of the work?  for her, this is a hard battle.  student who tells you they need a college recommendation letter soon, and you have to stop what you're doing to write it?  who knows what else is going on in her life.  hard battle.  person who cuts you in the security line at the airport, yet their ticket (which you can see) shows that their flight doesn't leave for several hours?  maybe they never fly - maybe they're anxious.  hard battle.  person who can't return your emails even though you know they can make time for it?  hard battle.  person who lets their dog bite you?  (i know - leave it alone, claire.)  who knows what else is going on in her life.  hard battle.

you don't have to believe another person's battle is hard.  to you, it might be easy.  to them, it might be the most difficult thing they've ever faced.  we all fight battles - daily ones, lifetime ones.  i can't judge yours, and in turn i hope you won't judge mine.  this is what i repeat to myself in those moments where i just want to say GROW UP or MOVE FASTER or DON'T PUT ME OUT JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER.  be kind.  everyone - everyone - is fighting a hard battle.

overheard

One of my teacher-friends just sent me this email:

Overheard in the hall from two senior girls regarding recent exams and past exams...

"Those Duke people make hard tests."

There are three of us "Duke people" who work in the history department at my school, and I love that we have this reputation. (Spoken like a true teacher or what?)

healing

oh elaine - i feel you.  except i didn't try to pet a dog.  i tried to stand still and not get bitten.  AND I FAILED.

Dog Bites Elaine

did you know that you can get tetanus from a dog bite?  neither did i, but apparently everyone else DID know this and recommended it.  i thought you could only get tetanus from stepping on a rusty nail, like i did when i was little.  i have this very vivid memory of being at the house when i was mini (3 or 4?) and mom telling me to put on shoes before we went back to work on the old house, this (imagine that) old house on our property in mcgrady.  i hated wearing shoes as a kid - i have no idea why - and wouldn't wear them unless absolutely necessary.  i would pick my way across gravel driveways and field of just-cut hay with prickly bits sticking everywhere, going 1 mile per hour, just so i wouldn't have to put on shoes.  on this particular occasion i won the fight with mom and got to walk around near the old house without shoes on.  and then i stepped on a rusty nail.  of course.  because moms are always right.  i remember being in the white truck and driving back to our house really fast so mom could take care of my wounded foot.  she says that i had already a tetanus shot, so they didn't take me to the doctor.  i am, obviously, a trooper.

here in 2009 i don't have a tetanus shot that's up to date (they expire after 10 years and my last one was in 1996), so i went to my doctor's to get that.  she looked at my wound and said to keep an eye on it, but that it wasn't too deep and wasn't infected (yet), so i should be okay.  woo hoo.  do you want to see this wound?  do you?  do you?  well, i don't want to freak out casual observers, so you'll have to click this link to my picasa page to see it.  if you're interested, that is.

Dogs Can Be Mean (click on the photos to make them larger, for full gross-out effect)

is this weird that i'm putting these photos online?  has this blog gone too far into my personal life?  apologies if it has...

and i promise to stop talking about this soon(-ish).

i want to live in a land called paradise

at my dorky history conference this weekend i went to a session (as i mentioned previously) about muslim perspectives in film.  the presenter started the session by introducing herself and then immediately playing this video:

Kareem Salama - A Land Called Paradise

(i really hope this link works.)

kareem salama is a egyptian-american country-western singer who is muslim.  I LOVE THIS SONG.  since i found the video online when i got home i have watched it approximately 10 times and i will be purchasing his album even though itunes does not appear to be carrying it.  do you like country music even a little bit?  why are you still reading - WATCH THIS VIDEO.  watch it again.  try not to sing along.  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

the text and video are also so powerful, and in just a couple minutes they help, i think, dispel a lot of stereotypes americans (including myself, for sure) have about muslims.  for that reason, i love this video even more.  i will be showing it in class.  i just need to figure out how to incorporate it into a lesson plan.  or not.  it pertains to current events, right?  i can totally just show this.


[dog bite update: i have consulted both the school nurse (who gave me big bandaids and told me to make sure my tetanus shot was up to date) and my teacher-friend who is also a doctor (watch for pus, lots of redness, and firmness of the wound - those are bad signs...and she told me to take the bandaid off for a bit every day to let it breathe.  this is my mom's answer to all wounds: don't cover them up all the time.  woah.  apparently this is sound medical advice.  good work, mom.).  i think i will live.  it doesn't hurt...it's just a bit tender and really gross...]

there i was, minding my own business...

you will never believe what happened to me today.  THE DOG WHO LIVES ACROSS THE HALL FROM US BIT ME.  and it broke the skin.  and i screamed.  this is a dog who always barks A LOT when his owner leaves the condo to take him for a walk, and it has always startled me - it is some severe barking - but i never imagined it was a BITING DOG.  i was walking up to my door to go inside after a walk and the woman and her dog came out of their door at the same time.  the dog barked a lot, ran up to me, jumped up on me, and bit me.  I HAD TRUSTED THIS DOG.  I HAD ASSUMED THIS DOG WAS ALL TALK.  THIS DOG IS NOT ALL TALK.  the woman who owns the dog apologized profusely and offered to pay for the pants the dog ripped, which i first said wasn't necessary and then said would be fine.  i then immediately called my mom and had her talk me down - do i have rabies? (no, all dogs have to get rabies shots...this would only be a concern if this was a wild dog.)  then i talked to my dad, the lawyer (sure, dogs are SUPPOSED to be vaccinated, but you need to get some documentation or a tag number from the owner to confirm that their dog has been vaccinated on schedule).  valid point.  the owners weren't home when i went across the hall to ask about the documentation, so i left a note, allowing me to avoid confrontation (my ultimate goal in life).  here's hoping they get back to me tonight.

the bite mark looks awesomely tragic.  mom says it will probably bruise and swell up.  i'm excited about how gross it will look.  as long as it comes with no additional side effects.  like rabies.


update: i talked to the owner and she showed me the documentation that the dog's rabies vaccinations are up to date.  whew.  new goal: no infection...

pseudonyms

my senior year in college i started looking for a job, and in the search process i would get discouraged occasionally, as all people looking for jobs do.  you spend all that time trying to make yourself seem fabulous and perfect for whatever job you're applying for, and it can get frustrating when no one wants to hire you (yet).  my roommate and i created an alter ego for myself: spare cogsdon.  spare cogsdon was unmarketable, not me.  it did wonders for me to be able to blame things on spare cogsdon.  there is probably some psychology term for what i was doing.  if you know what it is - and if it means i have some deep-seated emotional issues - please don't tell me.

you know my friend willis, of blog notoriety?  well, his name isn't ACTUALLY willis, of course...but when i tell potentially embarrassing stories about him, i've started referring to him by this name.  you will all be happy to know willis has embraced the pseudonym willis.  he initially was not amused by this pseudonym and wanted a cooler name, but i'd already chosen willis and there was no going back.  "the name willis is too black.  i don't want it."  "you lose.  it's going to stick.  so there."  and oh, has it stuck.

on thursday, friends, we reached a milestone: WILLIS REFERRED TO HIMSELF AS WILLIS OUT LOUD.  willis and i have decided that if (excuse me: WHEN) he does extremely flamboyant things, he can blame it on willis, much as i blamed my unmarketability on spare cogsdon.  an alter ego!  it's like he's a superhero.  SUPER WILLIS!

dork alert

dork alert.

jenny and i went to the national conference on the social studies today (and we get to go back tomorrow) and it was glorious.  i went to five sessions today: using technology to teach presidential elections, international humanitarian law and guantanamo bay, constitutional law and georgia cases, muslim perspectives in film, and deliberations on hate speech.  you should be jealous, because it was awesome.  jenny and i went to the conference two years ago when it was in san diego - much more exciting than downtown atlanta, but we're happy to go back again.  we spent all of lunch talking about the cool classes we'd been to and planning out which ones we'd go to in the afternoon and tomorrow.  we love history, and there were lots of us history sessions (for jenny) and government sessions (for me).

in one of the above mentioned classes we were given a bunch of words and asked to identify them.  while i didn't know a lot of the terms, i was one of the only people who could identify "bagram" - where it is, what it is, and how it related to the topic at hand.  bonus dork points to any blog reader who can do the same without looking it up.

gawking

scene: the school cafeteria.
time: lunch today.

i walk past a table of 11th grade girls on my way to the salad bar.  several of the girls are turned around and obviously gawking at the table of 11th grade boys behind them.

me, in a teasing voice: "are you girls looking at those boyyyyys?"

one girl, in an "i can't believe i have to explain this" voice: "no way, ms. L.  we're trying to see what kinds of ice cream are in the freezer case behind them."


i love 11th grade girls.

christmas in november

i am becoming that woman who starts shopping for christmas presents in july.  becoming - i haven't become her yet.  maybe there's time to save myself.  but this thursday, while sitting in a long and boring meeting, i bought my christmas cards online.  i'm embarrassed to admit this out loud.

i like sending handwritten cards through the real mail.  i like receiving them, so i assume others do, too, and there's something special about buying cards and writing a note and putting a stamp on it and putting it in the mail and knowing that soon someone will go to their mailbox and there!  mixed in with the bills!  it's a piece of mail they actually want to open!  i write my grandma norma cards every week or two because i know she's lonely and needs some cheering up.  but i write birthday cards and hello cards, too.  and a couple years ago i started writing christmas cards.  it makes me happy to connect with people once a year - let them know i'm thinking of them during that season where we are supposed to think a lot (and i do) about the people we love.  two years ago i bought whatever cards barnes and noble was selling that weren't totally cheesy.  last year i made my own cards.  this year i'm planning ahead like a freaky christmas lady and buying them online well in advance.  yesterday they arrived.  AND THEY ARE SO CUTE.  get ready, everyone.  if i don't have your address, send me an email.  because the christmas cards are adorable this year and i can't WAIT to send them.

where does one get fabulous christmas cards online that aren't totally cheesy?  www.etsy.com  (in a boring meeting?  spend some time on this website.  you'll be able to happily waste hours.  i've bought t-shirts, jewelry, wind chimes, stationery, a purse....  this time around i searched "christmas cards," and after sifting through many ugly or tragic ones, found some that i was really happy about.  everything on etsy is handmade and sold directly from the craftsperson.  etsy = awesome.)

TIPsgiving 2: return to the shire

it was a weekend of dorkiness. glorious, glorious dorkiness. the third annual TIPsgiving - a reunion of some of my favorite coworkers from when i worked for TIP, plus a thanksgiving pre-game (because a year with only one thanksgiving is a sad year indeed).

we ate - made-from-scratch guacamole, cheesy grits, sweet potatoes, apple pie and ginger ice cream, dim sum (not all at the same time)...

we reminisced -
"hey eric, why don't you put shadow's shock collar on your leg again?"
"shut up."

we played dorky board games, including settlers of catan, which is probably the dorkiest game i have ever played...but it is also certainly one of the most fun games i've ever played. i will be buying this game for someone (anyone) i know for christmas so i have an excuse to play myself.

and, most importantly, we had great conversations, from why the personality of lady bird (one of abby & aaron's chickens) to whether we should believe statisticians to the genius of dr. horrible's sing-along blog.

doesn't this sound like my idea of heaven? well friends, it is. it was my birthday on saturday, and when i talked to my mom she said, "what are you guys doing?" i replied, "eating lots of food and playing fun games." "your favorite things!" "i know! and they are THEIR favorite things, too!"

i've been hit by the november blahs recently, and thanksgiving break seems far, far away. this - seven friends, a box full of board games, a full refrigerator - was the perfect way to spend my birthday weekend.  and it was a much-needed break from the november blahs.

hello from 30,000 feet

did you know that delta has wireless internet on board their planes now?  they were offering a free trial today, so here i am, on the internet several miles above virginia.  what is this world coming to?  I LOVE THIS WORLD.

what is wrong with america, part 2

in class this morning:

student: "did you hear about the muslim guy who killed thirteen people yesterday on the military base?"

me: "i'm a little upset that the first adjective you used was 'muslim,' not 'doctor' or 'soldier.'  he is an american citizen who is an army doctor and his religion is islam.  but yes, i heard about it.  and i'm really sad and disturbed that it happened."  [oh, i am on my high horse.]


you'd never hear a christian or jew or nonbeliever in america who killed someone referred to as "that christian guy" unless he perpetrated the crime for religious reasons.  and there is no evidence this american soldier in texas did.  but apparently some media outlets (my student watched good morning america) are focusing in on his religion and putting that information side by side with the fact that the crime was committed, and if their viewers want to create causation there, the media isn't stopping them.  NPR?  not so much...a passing reference to the fact that he was muslim and a quick quote from his imam back in virginia WHERE HE WAS BORN BECAUSE HE IS AN AMERICAN.  i feel like i have to focus on that detail in class because my students will go off the deep end, and pretty soon they'll be talking in the halls about how this is an act of terrorism.  and i can't deal with that.

can't we be upset enough that a soldier is accused of killing other soldiers?  or is this not enough, media outlets?

rant over.  deep breath.  happier topics tomorrow.

what is wrong with america

thanks for the book suggestions, friends!  any others, send them my way...

on my list of "things i hate about america," which is not a very long list, mind you, is trashy tv masquerading as news.  we all know i like trashy tv, but when it is pretending to inform me about important things in the world around me, i draw the line.  example: i'm at the gym, walking on the treadmill, and "inside edition" is on the tv in front of me.  through pictures and closed captioning, i find out A NEWS STORY ON THIS PROGRAM is that michelle obama high fived a girl who nine days later went to the hospital with swine flu.  YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP.  i offer the following questions:
1. wouldn't it be helpful to your viewers to tell them (a) when a swine flu carrier is contagious and (b) if this girl even had swine flu nine days ago?  no?  okay, great - don't mention those details at all.
2. can one get swine flu via a high five?  INTERVIEW A DOCTOR.
3. does michelle obama have swine flu?  no?  didn't think so.  even if she does, IS THIS NEWS?

they replayed approximately five times the footage of michelle obama high fiving the swine flu victim-to-be.  then they interviewed swiney and her parents in the hospital.  i can only conclude that this family (a) knew this footage of the high five existed, and (b) wanted to use their sick daughter to get on tv.  THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA.

help needed

i'm searching for a good book to read next - any suggestions?

likes: something intellectually stimulating, but not hard to read or ponderous to get through.  fiction.  memoirs of people with interesting lives.  books about the south.

dislikes: most chick lit (i can't even believe i just used that term).

recent books read: the namesake (by lahiri), the help (stockett), the brief wondrous life of oscar wao (diaz), little bee (cleave).

hydrangeas

my new desktop background:

i've posted briefly about my love for smashing magazine's free desktop backgrounds - 50 per month! - but wanted to give a link so you can check it out yourself.  search "smashing magazine" and the current month to see the new ones...i looked through the november 2009 ones this morning and didn't love any of them - so i went back a year and this one is from november 2008.  here's the link if you want to see what's available: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/31/desktop-wallpaper-calendar-november-2008/  you can get them with a calendar or without...i like them without, since i don't imagine i'd use the calendar very much.

and many thanks to willis for telling me about them in the first place!

chickens and red feather boas

okay, so you saw the velociraptor on saturday.  but now you need to see a couple of chickens:

my costume = $1 pair of yellow socks + $5 pair of yellow tights + $5 pair of white shorts + shirt i already owned + $4 native american headdress that i cut in half an stapled to my shirt to use as wings + $3 beak.  glorious.

i am standing her with my fellow chicken, played by willis.  willis, who used a red feather boa to accentuate his chicken costume and then walked in a parade in front of approximately 500 students, parents, and faculty members.  i jumped up and down in excitement when i first saw willis in his costume.  i also stopped counting the number of times during the parade that people looked at us, opened their eyes REALLY WIDE, pointed, laughed, and then took a picture.  direct quote from willis: "i didn't think my costume looked gay at the time.  today i saw the pictures and realized i was mistaken."  yes, willis, yes you were.

the best part about working with one of your best friends: wearing homemade complimentary costumes to work on halloween.  so. much. fun.