Your assignment

April is National Poetry Month. As a high school English teacher I am going to incorporate this celebration into my daily routine.

My request: What is your favorite poet and poem? Have you written any poems that I may share with my students?

My plan: I would like to compile and publish some of my students' poetry on the blog-in-progress (more on this soon).

Your assignment: In order to inspire and encourage my students to write poetry, I thought it would be fun to utilize the brilliant friends I have chosen to play with during this game called "life." Don't you remember my 20-something birthday party in Bend, Oregon when I asked you to bring a libation and an original poem based on the theme of time? (What a joyous memory...ahhh, that was a great night!) Share that poem, give me a new one, make up a haiku, look at the fresh blossoms and get inspired...you know the drill!

Your assignment is due by April 7th. (post it as a "comment" here or email me)

My bro's wedding

Here is the lovely bridesmaid dress that I will be wearing. Whatcha' think?

Sleepless in Adams Morgan

What causes this?



For the past few weeks I have had an impossible time staying asleep throughout the entire night.




I have my suspicions, but what do I know:
1) My job makes me think and care about too many people
2) We are starting to read "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and I am eager
3) I didn't run as much as planned this week
4) I ate dinner too late tonight (about 9pm)
5) I didn't stretch the run all the way out of my body this afternoon
6) It is my mind's way of tricking me into some alone time

All of these theories are merely that, theories. I have an extremely busy day tomorrow (early morning meetings, I am being observed, more meetings, three classes to teach, the last day of the week for students, and I could go on and on and on...), but I have similarly busy days every single day. It is not work, it is something else. Or, maybe it is work and a combination of other things...but what?

Here are the precautions I took today, in order to stay asleep:
1) One, and only one, piece of chocolate at 4ish
2) No coffee since 9am
3) Slow run with Keba around 6pm


It is now 3:33am and there are no glimmers of sunrays, no chance I am fighting this the strangely cold air, and no hope that friends want to hear from me now. I just have to figure this out. This is odd, eh? Sing me a lullaby please, or come and tuck me in and sprinkle some fairy sleeping dust over me, pretty please!

What is true love?

PREFACE: This was my Do Now (warm-up activity) in class recently. Much of this entry is from my Do Now's (I write with my students) that I just found, pondered and decided to publish...

I have wondered about this every single day since May 5, 1999. I ask my students to write about it. Anna and I are doing a video project with students about it. I instigate conversations about it with my family as we take up an at least two acres on the beach. I have finally figured out why I am consumed by this thought...because I am in love and it all started one Cinco de Mayo many years ago!

This is a major revelation for me! I try so hard to make everything harder than it has to be. I fight through easy things, I struggle when I am bored, I make mountains out of mole hills, I move after I start to like a place, I run marathons for fun and so on... Now, as I ponder constantly about what happens next, where should I run to this time, how much better could I do "this" or "that", I am smacked with the first real truth of my life. I love Aaron, the real way. I love him the way it has been explained over and over to me (which is that it is unexplainable, you will just know...), I get it now because I realized today that I love him.

I have this insatiable part of me that yearns and questions every thing, and Poor Aaron! For the past seven years I have forced him to listen to my craziness, demanded his attention to detail (and we all know that Aaron could care less about most things, this is why we love him so), broken our hearts, messed up a lot, been selfish (and I am sure that I have erred in many other arenas) and he still holds my hand no matter what. He still takes time for me every day, he still is my best friend, he still calms me down when one else can, he still listens to me (and even I know that I can be too much to listen to sometimes), and he loves me for who I am. WHAT MORE IS THERE TO THIS CRAZY NOTION?

I have been questioning and doubting because this is what I do best, I doubt and question. Today, I have grown up a lot. I even told one of my students the "secret" of our relationship the other day...this is another funny story for another time, but I realize that I have a good thing going with this man. He is the love of my life!

Reunion and Frustration

Reunion:
It has been a long time but I am back. Currently, I am drowning in a pile of papers needed illumination from my authoritative red pen; however, I will try to persevere and dribble for a bit here.

A recent event in my life:

Believe it or not, I have fallen for the enemy. Despite my avoidance and refusals, I have fallen in love with the scent I previously detested, the way to my mother's heart, the mesmerizingly-beautiful green plants I peered upon in Vietnam-- the freshly-brewed deep dark roast of organic fair-trade coffee.

I never wanted to be a coffee drinker. In fact, I put it off until graduate school. (Well, to be honest, there were occassional "Oh, ok, let me try...OH YUCK! How do you drink this..." conversations many times, but they always ended with an embittered glance and a sip of water to make the YUCK go down and away.) Grad school did much to change me, and my love for coffee is top of the list of radical changes. During those two years, I found my friends' faces were only familiar with a mug covering their lowerlips. Thus, I caved and fell victim to this common drug of stimulation. Now I am captivated daily by this luring, and never disappointing potion.

I do not need coffee, I just like it now. I like the smell which will always remind me of Mom coming home from work in the summertime. Quick aside: When we were young, my sister and I quickly learned that if we had a fresh pot (yes, a pot) ready when my Mom came home from work she would instantly be in a good mood and forget (even if only for a few moments) about her hard day (or the trouble we were in). I like the taste when swirled with a lot of Silk Soy Creamer. I like the warmth of the mug in my hand as I read my book on an early Sunday morning. I like the undeniable buzz in my head when I can't fall asleep because I drank a cup after 8 pm. I thoroughly enjoy this dependency, and as I sit in my favorite coffeeshop I am confident that this vixen has ensnarled yet another unwilling victim. Still to be determined...Do I partake or refrain on the morning of my upcoming marathon? Hmmm...what are your thoughts?

Frustration:
I can't import photos to IPhoto, does anyone have any tips? The camera seems to work, the cord-thingy is new, IPhoto opens and even says it is importing when I try to close it...Ah, please just tell me anything, something. It is no fun to blog without visuals!

ECO FILMS

The Environmental Film Festival is now showing in DC.

Oh, I have been waiting and waiting...

I am sitting at school anxiously awaiting the sound of the bell that begins my last class for this long week. I am anxiously awaiting because as soon as the bell rings to end this class, I will join the mass of joyous weekend-bound students to the door. When we reach the door, we will divide and conquer this spring-esque weekend.

Here is what I will do...
My weekend begins with a metro ride to the rental car. Then the rental car will escort me to Keba and Aaron. We will all hop in the car as quickly as possible and venture to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia! Then, as soon as possible, I will submerge my exhausted body into a bath a mineral-rich water. And the Ahhhhhh's will begin. Plus, Aaron and I are playing hookie on Monday. This is an interesting feat for we both teach at the same school. Many laughs erupt when colleagues look at the "Teachers Out" board and see our names together. There is no escaping the justified ridicule!

My goals for this long weekend:

1. Alone time with my Amazing Aaron and Delightful Dog
2. Many soothing minutes under mineral water
3. A 14 mile run in the woods of WV
4. Slow meals as the sun sets
5. Time to exhale, together
6. Time to rejuvenate what is now a huddled mass of lethargy
7. A long slow drive in a rental car
8. Time to hide from the world!

Pictures to come soon!

Speaking of International Women's Day...

I just found out about this:

Breaking the Political Glass Ceiling: Women and Congressional Elections
by Barbara Palmer and Dennis Simon

Book Launch Party and Happy Hour
Thursday, April 6, 6 - 8 pm
eyebar
1716 "eye" st. NW, one block from both the Farrgut North and Farragut West Metro stations.
Everyone is welcome. Please feel free to pass this invitation to your friends.
Books will be available for purchase and signing.


Politics and Prose Reading and Signing
Saturday, April 8, 1:00 pm
5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Everyone is welcome. Please feel free to pass this invitation to your friends.


Breaking the Political Glass Ceiling provides a path breaking analysis of the obstacles and opportunities for greater representation of women in Congress. Based on the stories of women candidates and the most comprehensive data on women and congressional elections from 1956 to 2004, Barbara Palmer and Dennis Simon explore how incumbency and entrenched attitudes toward female candidates affect women’s decisions to run for the House and the Senate. The authors also examine the districts where female candidates have been the most successful. They identify the factors which have contributed to their success and how those factors allow more women to breakthrough the glass ceiling they have encountered far too often and for far too long.

“For anybody wanting to run for office or wondering why more women aren’t elected to Congress, Breaking the Political Glass Ceiling explains the past, describes the present, and forecasts the future. The authors identify eighteen congressional districts out of 435 that are ‘woman-friendly,’ compared to 153 unlikely to welcome women candidates through 2010, a reality that perpetuates the ‘achingly slow pace’ of women taking their rightful place in Congress.”
—Eleanor Clift, contributing editor, Newsweek

"It's about time. Palmer and Simon masterfully scour modern history for the smoking gun behind why women continue to be hindered in their quest for integration into Congress."
—Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)

International Women's Day (is today)

Today is a very special day. In honor of today's recognition of the women of the world, I would like to give the women of my world a small token of my appreciation. As I grew, I was molded by uniquely strong women. These women surely included my mother (who truly is the world's greatest), her three sisters, my sister, my cousins, and my grandmother. Together these women have shaped me, guided me, taught me, and challenged me to no end. Their unconditional love and support has given me the wings needed to soar and the roots needed for support. I thank them for everything they have given me! And, I love them more than words can say.

Also, there are women who have attracted my magnetic force and I just can't resist their pull. This magnetic force I feel for my girlfriends is also uniquely strong and undeniable. I would be a mushy mass of wrinkled skin if it were not for them, I would be lonely, I wouldn't understand how important a slow Sunday brunch really is, I would constantly be saddened by the injustice of the world, and I would never eat chocolate and laugh until it hurts. I would never be able to do what I do if I didn't get to share in what you amazing women do!

Cheers! to the mothers, the sisters, the aunts, the grandmothers, the cousins, the nieces, and the friends who truly make the world go 'round! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

This weekend's plan

It is time to scram for a weekend, maybe a long weekend. I have asked Aaron and Keba to search for nonconcrete-covered land with me. They both agreed. I am hoping to convince him to take off on Monday (please understand colleagues, I know you do).

Here are some of my ideas, let me know if you have a better one:

1. Phili to see Body Worlds at the Franklin Institute
2. West Virginia in search of mineral-enriched aqua
   
3. Frederick, Maryland to see the upcoming marathon site and venture in the woods
4. Ocean City to see my wonderful parents
5. Locked in the apartment pretending we are stranded on a deserted island surrounded by blood-thirsty sharks (one of my all-time favorites)

This summer...

...I think I will land in Chile on July 3rd.
Check out this program and please tell me what you think!
My school will pay for the Spanish classes...and this program mixes immersion with snowboarding! I mean, what could be better?

What is wedlock?

What a wedding-ful weekend...my lucky brother is engaged to the most awesome girl ever, Erica. They had an engagement party this weekend. I am still dying to see photos, hear the stories of mayhem, and share in their joy. Their wedding is in November in Florida (and I am in the wedding party, YIPPEE). I will put some pictures up when I receive them.

Also, my great friend Liz is getting married in 24 days! I attended her bridal shower on Saturday. I appointed myself "maker-of-the-ribbon-hat" as she opened gifts.

I learned much this weekend:

Concerning bridal showers...
1. If the bride-to-be breaks a ribbon while opening a gift that means she will soon have a baby.
2. The number of ribbons she breaks equals the number of kids she will mother.
3. The ribbons are to be gathered and assembled into a bouquet (this quickly became a hat at this party).
4. My friends and I sure know how to "wrap-up" a bridal shower!

Concerning me...
4. Drinking mimosas after running 12 hard miles gives me a headache.
5. I love the idea of marriage, yet have no idea what it means!

Here is my challenge to you:
Share your thoughts on wedlock.
(I will withhold my thoughts and constant queries until I read yours!)

Technical support for those in my world

Over the weekend I learned that many of my lovely companions have trouble with this newfound means of communicating...Let's fix that:

As you feel the urge to respond, argue, challenge, simply hit "Comments" (this is at the bottom of what I type and there will be a number before the word "comment" referring to the number of times people have responded to my posts). This link should take you to the page when you can type your thinkings. Then you hit "Publish Post". At this point you will have to either add your name or leave an anonymous post (please leave your name, for the curiousity would kill me). Having you write on this blog is the point, this is why I am here, this is why I do this...

It really is that simple, try it, you'll see!

Why are sweaty running clothes optimal? I am curious of your thoughts!

As you probably know, I have been an avid runner since high school. It started as a curious way to expend energy, time to hang with my sister, and as the initial means of luring my first love, Mark. I was and have been successful with all of the aforementioned--I still find it necessary to burn energy (even and especially after a long, exhausting day), my sis and I are still passionate running partners (among many other things), and Mark was my boyfriend from the age of 14 'til 20. This habit of mine, usually a daily long run, leads to hours of talking to myself (or Keba when he can keep up). This self-chatter is when I solve multiple public policy issues such as poverty, the inequitiable educational system in the United States, and overall global understanding. It is true, during my runs all of these issues are dealt with, debated and then solved. The only problem is that I usually can't remember my epiphanies after I remove my running shoes.

That said, I may not always be able to remember my perfected solutions to these serious issues, but I do remember my thoughts from yesterday's run. I have finally figured out why I do not wash my running clothes often (read: hardly ever, sorry Mom)...

WHY SWEATY RUNNING CLOTHES ARE OPTIMAL (according to KB):
Through osmosis my old sweat empowers my developing muscles. It is true, even a mere whiff of this odor empowers. Yesterday's toil, pungent through my Capilene tee-shirt, inspires me to run further, push a bit harder and to make my pungent smell even more intense. If my laundry detergent came in contact with my running attire this unique form of osmosis would be skewed and the run certainly less productive. This is my story and I am sticking to it...

Wasting minutes with Anna, as usual

So, I am sitting in front of a computer next to my friend, colleague, running partner and secret-sharer, Anna. Luckily for me, she just gave me permission to digress with her instead of tackling the pile of papers needing marks from a red pen. I thank her for this special permission, and blame her as well. We collaborate together often on the futon in my classroom (read: we attempt to make sense of our daily battles and joys while trying not to fall asleep). Since I have this newfound freedom of digression...let me exploit the opportunity!

How Anna became my running-partner...

One day, after our first ninth grade field trip (to the National Museum of the American Indian)
we decided to enjoy the sunbeams and walk home from the Smithsonian. This walk allowed me to spark now-enduring friendships (with Anna and Emily) centered around a unique desire: TO RUN A MARATHON. This desire spread and we are part of a running team of teachers whom I pseudo-coach. We will conquer this incredible feat on April 30th during the Frederick Marathon. I will keep you posted on our training.

If possible come and spend a weekend marathon-cheering and Western Maryland-hopping with us the last weekend of April!