Bullets of Tuesday

Well, the enjoyment and self-discipline continue unabated (or so I'm telling myself). 

• Met a classmate/colleague at Peet's Coffee to work on our theses together.  In reality, we spent several hours catching up after not having talked much throughout the year, though we did spend an hour or two actually working.  She was a bit hungover, so we cut the afternoon short.  I did stay a little longer than she, but then it got cold again so I went home.
• It's been cold-ish here.  It's as if we traded weather with Seattle.  I love the misty-rain and cloudy mornings. but the rest of our locale is complaining mightily (they'd be complaining it if was wretchedly hot, too).  On Monday, the sun only managed to break through for about half an hour, in the very late afternoon.  Today it managed a couple of hours, but again, only in the afternoon.  We'll see what tomorrow brings. 
• Today the rain-ish-ness kept me in bed longer than I had planned.  It's ok, though, as I was reading a book for my thesis, so it counted as work. 
• Tomorrow I will head to Starbucks for the majority of the day, to work.  I'm supposed to email my advisor "something" by Friday.  (Gah.)
• Thursday is the funeral for Madame X's dad.  Madame X reported having a day that actually felt "normal" today, for which I am grateful.  It's been difficult to know how to provide support to her and her family, which is odd to say about someone I've known and loved for over a decade.  I think the books and movie gift card were the right things, though;  she called today to thank us for them and let us know she's already used the gift card (which helped lead to the shreds of normalcy today).  After the funeral, she and her family may have to head to parts north to see her grandmother once more before the dementia sets in full-bore.  Pardon my English, but Madame X has had a fucked-up year, and I know she won't be sorry to see 2010 get hit in the butt by the door on its way out. 
• Saw Winter's Bone, and it was excellent.  They made a few changes between the book and the film, but it did not detract from the story in any way.  My only criticism is that the beating one of the main characters receive is in no way as intense in the movie as it was in the book.  That was probably motivated by a desire to spare the viewer the discomfort and gore, but it weakened the impact of the later plot events, at least for me in comparing it with the book.  They definitely nailed the casting dead-on, and the setting is just perfect.  I recommend both the film and the book.
• I think Despicable Me comes out this Friday, doesn't it?  Strangely, I'm really looking forward to seeing it.  When I first started seeing trailers for it, like, last year, I was fairly meh about it.  But since I've seen more detailed trailers recently, I'm hooked.  "It's so FLUFFY, I could die!"  (LOL.)
• I walked today. 
• I've been obsessively checking the College Board's website to see if our AP scores have been posted yet.  This is the first year we get to check them online (finally, join me in welcoming the CB to the 21st century), but they're not up yet, at least not for my school.  Sigh.  The curiosity is giving me heartburn (or was that the KFC I indulged in earlier?). 
• This was a pretty boring post, but I'm in documentary mode, I guess.  Thanks for reading. 

No more Debbie Downer for today

Other things are going on besides death and cancer this summer, so I figured I should include a post on those, as well. 

• I am actively working on my thesis.  I met with my advisor this week when I was on campus to do library business.  I struggled a bit this week with carving out my daily schedule to be efficient and regular.  I don't think I'll have as many problems with that next week, though;  I think I know now what I need.  If it doesn't work well on Monday, then I'll leave the house and work out in public somewhere.  (Damned distractions.  Damned internet.  Damned wi-fi.  Damned procrastinator and rationalizer that I am! :-)
• The weather here in SoCal has been gorgeous -- cool and "June-gloomy" in the mornings with full sun and breeze in the afternoons.  Fabulous!
• I've gotten to see some good movies recently:  Toy Story 3 (cried like a little girl for the last twenty minutes of it), Eclipse (liked it, want to see it again, and now that "Jacob" is 18, I can drool openly over his chiseled torso -- heh), Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (yeah, I'm a little behind in my cult favorites -- loved these movies, the second even better than the first), The Closer, Season 5 (which finally came out on DVD -- sheesh!).  Looking forward to seeing Despicable Me, Salt, and Inception when they come out.  I'm hoping to go see Winter's Bone this afternoon.
• My reading has been oddly varied of late.  Naturally I've been reading a lot of sci-fi criticism and theory for my thesis.  I did read Winter's Bone, because I knew I was going to want to see the movie;  I really liked the book, though I'm having trouble explaining why.  I think the main character is likable despite the world she's trapped in.  I also just finished Barbara Walters' memoir, Audition, which I've had for, like, ever but finally just decided to pick up.  It was a good balance of juicy and judicious, which I appreciated.  I've just begun The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender.  I've only read the first chapter, but so far I like it and am looking forward to reading the rest of it.  I'm also reading Switch, which is about the psychology of change (both institutional and individual);  I am learning a lot. 
• Bought and love Sarah McLachlan's new CD.  Will be going to Lilith Fair next week, which I hope will be fun.  Court Yard Hounds are good, too.  Bought but haven't yet absorbed the Eclipse soundtrack;  same with the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack. 
• Planning a road trip to the PacNW with nieces at the end of July, which should be fun.  We don't have any other major vacations planned this summer.  The thesis MUST be done this summer.  Next summer we may celebrate with a trip to England -- yeah-uh! 
• The theme for this summer:  total enjoyment and self-discipline.  I know, I know, those two things sound like oxymorons, but I think they're just a paradox -- they seem to be contradictory but they can coexist quite well.  It's like a sonnet -- strictures of format but complete freedom within those boundaries to write about absolutely anything.  My life this summer needs to become a sonnet. 

Straight up

This is a good one.  I think I'll read Winesburg, Ohio next.  It's been in the basket beside my bed for probably two years now.  Perhaps the time is right. 

One more day to pack up the classroom at school.  I'm taking this opportunity to purge my filing cabinets like mad.  It's gorgeous...but it's taking forever.  I lost an entire day Saturday when I was sidelined with an icky stomach thing.  Dammit.  Oh well, if they want to fire me for not being done, let 'em.  Rumor has it our "new" classrooms won't even be ready for the beginning of the school year, so I'm already mentally gearing myself up to unpack right back into the same room.  Can anyone say "typical educational bullshit"?  I knew you could!

After I'm finished at school, I start on Teh Thesis.  And before the week is over, I will have seen Toy Story 3.  Can't wait, actually.  :-)

'Night for now.  More...much more later. 

Ack! I've become a weekender!

Oh, well. If that's the way it needs to be right now, so be it. I envision a different reality once summer begins.

In light of another busy week past, I will reiterate my practice of last weekend and list the things for which I'm thankful, and follow it with the photos I 'owe' myself and the blog for the week.

I am thankful...

• that POM's sister's surgery ended up being less radical than initially planned (rather than resecting her liver, they ended up doing oblation -- burning the lesions -- instead), which means less long-term trauma to her liver, more options for treatment later, and a shorter recovery time.


• that my sister made it home from a three-week business trip in Europe safely tonight.


• that my parents are excited about their Alaska trip upcoming this week (retirement gift from us).


• that my parents are really enjoying retirement.


• that I finally got my Gmail synced up with my Outlook (IMAP) -- sounds insignificant to most of you, probably, but it was a pretty big deal to me; I hadn't had time to do this minor procedure, and that inability was throwing me off-kilter since our email change. (I hate changing email addresses; hence, the gmail address, so I never have to do it again, knock wood.)


• that my master's classes for the summer are finally posted.


• that POM is enjoying her drawing class and that her new math class is engaging and not as difficult (and thereby discouraging) as the last one was.


• that jury duty next week should provide me with some quality time to work on grading the AP research papers I just collected Friday. (Hey, I have to find some good in this situation!)


• for Madeleine L'Engle, whose books I am slowly rereading my way through and who continually reminds me what is important. Reading her is getting back in touch with my soul and my roots.


• for Grace Llewellyn, whose Teenager Liberation Handbook is rocking my world and, like Madeleine, reminding me what is important in this world; it may guide me into a career change.

My student who finally spiked her mohawk again.

Local car wash.

Can we say thank God for the sixties?

Arty lines.

Morning pose.

From under.

Iris. D'oh! I mean, they're gladiolas! My bad!

Iris, up close. D'oh! Glad, up close!

Backside of Iris. D'oh! Backside of glad.

The lion.

Obvious

Oh, and I finished the Jodi Picoult book last night -- stayed up to do it. I was right. I had figured it out, by page 8. Disappointed about that part, but I still enjoyed the book. Certain lengthy sections of explication about religion dragged. She always manages to be easy to read and still give you something to think about.

My World

We're discussing Lord of the Flies in my sophomore classes. I think some of them are beginning to get a clue about how civilization can descend into savagery. It's still a pretty raw book, even by today's standards. Love it.

My AP juniors just finished The Crucible. Their knowledge of the Red Scare is woeful to nil. And their understanding of civil liberties is even less. I feel a unit coming on...and I'm already so behind...but aren't we supposed to take advantage of teachable moments? I guess I'll have to be satisfied with being behind. It's not as if I can't teach them the crucial AP skills through this unit. I have to resign myself to the fact that I will never -- never -- be finished planning.

[ed] I meant to add that I just watched Good Night and Good Luck again, in thought about this unit I'm scheming. Edward R. Murrow had some really amazing things to say. I think I'll have to read more of his written work. Any suggestions?

Madeleine Rereading Update

I have now completed the entire time quintet, and I just finished A House Like a Lotus. What a delight to reread that one! I have such fierce memories of certain events and conversations in that book, but other things I had forgotten utterly. It was a pleasure to rediscover.

I'm still trying to decide what my next one will be. Perhaps my all-time fave, And Both Were Young, though I did reread it about five years ago, along with Camilla. Perhaps some from the Austin series. It's been a while for those. I'm not quite ready to broach the poetry or the spiritual non-fiction yet. My soul needs story just now.

In the meantime, I'm reading Jodi Picoult's Salem Falls. I needed a fairly light read for school. I'm not far enough into it to know what I think of it yet.