Letters from Lisa

Here’s the red scarf to match the hat. I used the same stitch for the scarf as I did for the hat, anticipating that it would roll, so I added a little border around the edges. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped it from rolling! Good thing I made it wide enough that it still covers my neck when it rolls. No one will ever see the border, but oh well.

Here’s what it looks like when I smooth it out so that it’s laying flat against me.

A matching set!

Just finished this rolled brim red hat… it’s hiding my chipmunk face pretty well right now!

Currently working on a matching scarf.

Folks who believe that people were created through Intelligent Design clearly have never had their wisdom teeth out.

First of all, what stupid “designer” would ever give people more teeth than can fit in their mouths? Answer’s simple: none. As we’ve evolved, the human skull has gotten smaller. Most people’s mouths no longer accomodate wisdom teeth — because we’ve evolved.

Secondly, what is the point of a pain perception system that continuously bothers you, well after you’re already aware of the problem? There’s no OFF switch. You can’t say, “OK, cranial nerve #7, thanks very much for letting me know I’ve just been cut open, but see the thing is, I ALREADY KNOW. So stop it!” If you were designing a human being, wouldn’t you devise a mechanism to turn pain on and off as needed? Yeah. me too. But we don’t have one. Thanks, Flying Spaghetti Monster!

My sister gave me 1,000 Places to Visit Before You Die for Hannukah. I flipped it open to a random page, and — voila! — there was Seven Spirit Bay, where I spent a lovely few days this past summer.

Freaky!

Other places in the book that I’ve been to include:

Europe

• London, England
• Giverny, France
• Paris, France
• Cathedrale Notre Dame, Paris, France
• Chateau de Versailles, France
• Loire Valley, France
• Capri, Italy
• Pompeii, Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Italy
• Florence, Italy
• Venice, Italy
• Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Bergen, Norway
• Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway
• Vikingskiphuset, Oslo, Norway
• Hardangerfjord, Norway
• Vasamuseet, Stockholm, Sweden

Africa - nothing yet

Middle East - nothing yet

Asia - nothing yet

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

• Sydney Opera House and the Harbor, Sydney, Australia
• Arnhem Land, NT, Australia
• Seven Spirit Bay, NT, Australia (the page I originally opened to!)
• Kakadu National Park, NT, Australia
• The Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea - yeah, rumor has it I was here!

The United States and Canada

• South Beach, Miami, FL
• Walt Disney, Orlando, FL (sigh)
• Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
• The Freedom Trail, Boston, MA
• Martha’s Vineyard, MA
• The Adirondacks, NY
• The Catskills, NY
• Hudson Valley, NY
• New York City (duh)
• Historic Downtown New York - took the kids here
• Museum Mile, New York City
• Saratoga Springs, NY
• Pennsylvania Dutch Country, PA
• Philadelphia, PA
• Cliff Walk, Newport, RI
• Colonial Williamsburg, VA
• The National Mall in Washington, DC

South America - next summer, stay tuned

The Caribbean

• The Four Seasons, Nevis
• Buck Island, St. Croix

If I counted correctly, that’s approximately 43 out of the 1,000 listed. Not bad for someone who didn’t leave the country at all until 1999.

A brief roundup of some odds and ends from this past week:

Making Swedish gingerbread cookies for St. Lucia celebration…
Kid: (gesturing proudly at lumpy brown mass on cafeteria table) I made South America!
Me: OK, time for South America to go on the cookie tray! Um… South America’s too big to fit on the cookie tray.
Kid: I WANT SOUTH AMERICA TO GO ON THE COOKIE TRAY!!
Me: OK, um… well, South America’s made up of countries, so let’s see. Here’s Brazil (grabbing a large chunk and placing it on the tray) and Ecuador, and Colombia, and Peru, and Chile… whoops, Chile broke, so I guess here’s the northern part of Chile, and here’s the southern part…
Kid: You broke Chile!
Me: Hey, have I told you about St. Lucia Day? Which they don’t celebrate in South America, but in Sweden?

Me: Hey guys, time for our holiday party!
Kids: Cool! Donuts! (five seconds later) Can we play now?
Me: Sure, you can use any of the board games, draw a picture, make something out of the pipe cleaners…
Kid: Can we go on the computer and play Marble Blast?
Me: No. No more Marble Blast. We’ve been playing Marble Blast all day.
Kid: OK. (sits down at the computer)
Me: Sorry. The computers are closed.
Kid: Why?
Me: Because we’re not playing Marble Blast.
Kid: OK, I won’t play Marble Blast.
Me: The computers are closed for today. Find another activity.
Kid: What? I’m just sitting here.
Me: The computers are closed for today. Find another activity…
Kid: Aaargh! I’m so bored! There’s nothing to do!
Me: Riiiight. We don’t have ANY games, ANY toys, ANY drawing paper or art supplies… sigh.

Note to self: Uninstall Marble Blast. Better yet, donate the computers to charity, along with everyone’s cell phones, iPods, talking toys…

Me, glancing outside the window today: Oh my God. Guys! There’s a CITY BUS!
Kids: (running to the window to look) Where, where?!?

I’d type more, but I’m coughing up half a lung. (Yes, I’m STILL sick.) Time for tea and then bed.

Since I didn’t go into work today (school was closed as part of the transit strike contingency plan) I don’t have any strike-related commuter horror stories to share.

So instead, I give you: New Yorkers doing what they do best… KVETCHING!

Some choice bits:

m Kim from Riverdale – it took me more than 2-1/2 hours to get from W. 235th in the Bronx to W. 96th in Manhattan. The principal reason for that was *not* the transit strike: it was the nitwits who insisted on driving with fewer than 4 passengers in their vehicle, stupidly thinking they could get past the police barricades at 96th St. Based on our observations of other cars this morning, there were at least as many cars turned away @ 96th due to insufficient number of riders as there were cars eligible to drive south of 96th because they had enough passengers. Loud, clear message to the nitwits who congested everything so badly this morning: EITHER LOAD UP YOUR VEHICLE WITH ENOUGH PEOPLE, OR STAY OFF THE ROADS AND MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THOSE OF US WHO OBEYED THE TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS TO GET TO WORK AND SCHOOL ON TIME!!!

Nitwits? In cars? I don’t believe you. Simply is not possible.

It was wonderful. I dressed for the weather and walked from Woodside Queens across the 59th Street Bridge along with hundreds of other brave souls to 43rd street and Madison Ave. Had the option of walking to 61st street in Queens and taking the LIRR but figured there would be thousands trying to crowd onto the trains. I was right, co-workers from Queens made the trip in 2 hours plus… My trip… just 1 hour and 20 minutes.
I’ll be burning the calories and hopefully losing a few pounds for the holidays, for a change.
Nicole

You’re not a native New Yorker, are you, Nicole? God bless you.

Getting to work was a snap. At 5:00 am, I forced three hapless people into the cab I hired and presto… I was in Manhattan. A short walk later, I found a cab going downtown and managed to get to work in less than one hour. The two dollar fare had increased today by $32! But here’s where my plan is really flawed. I have no idea how I will be able to compete with everyone on the trip home. I’m calling on anyone who knows Donald Trump personally to give him a call and see if he can pick me up on Varick St and W. Houston in his helicopter…. I’ll be waiting for Mr. Trump’s call at the local pub on Carmine Street.
As far as the strike is concerned. A big Bronx cheer for the entire TWU! Pfffft! Teachers worked without a contract for two years before finally reaching an agreement. Did they strike? No! And the reason why is because it would have been illegal. Let’s fire the lot of them as Ronald Reagan did to the air-traffic controllers in the 1980’s, get the National Guard as temporary replacements and find 33,000 other people who would love to make $63,000, pay no health care costs and retire at 55. Gimme a break TWU!
Eric
Astoria, Queens
P.S. Seriously Mr. Trump, help a guy out!

Hey Eric, you ever wonder why the transit workers have that level of pay, no health care costs and an early retiring age? Oh, right. A union who fought for those things. Pfffft yourself, and don’t wait around for Mr. Trump or his helicopter to come get you. If you had breasts and a designer evening gown, you might have half a chance, but… ah well.

And finally…

I live in Bushwick so I walked to the Williamsburg Bridge with everyone else and got a ride across the bridge in a car that didn’t meet the four person minimum. I even made a new friend and contact along the way. This is New York so I guess it really IS all about the networking, even during a transit strike.
Once on the Manhattan side walking to work I noticed the clearly marked bike lanes set up for the contingency plan and the irony was definitely not lost on me. So this is what it takes for biking in this city to be given its equal share of space and consideration - a transit strike! Maybe this will teach Bloomberg to stop criminalizing cyclists. Maybe the city will finally divert its energy away from harrassing and arresting Critical Mass and other cycling activities and toward making the city safe for biking and other forms of sustainable transportation. Maybe? Couldn’t hurt, right Mike!
Jeanne
Brooklyn, the Planet!

Amen, Jeanne! We need fewer vehicles in the city, and more respect for cyclists. Maybe then they’ll stop running us over at intersections.

Sigh… I’ll have my own firsthand account tomorrow. Wish me luck!

They’re striking!
Jeez.

Well… school’s closed… I’m going back to bed.

Seems like the Transit Workers Union looked outside this morning, saw the ice and heavy rains, and said, “Uh uh. We’re not striking in that!”

So, business as usual. But we were going through all these complicated machinations about alternate routes in case of a strike, and this seems, well, anti-climactic. Not in the least because, in the event of a strike, there would have been no school today.

This does make things simpler for me, though, besides allowing me to do my job (and have the ever-elusive theater rehearsal). I’m leaving for Boston this afternoon, and I would have had to lug my stuff into the city regardless.

I’ll be thrilled when Dec. 21st is over with and the days start getting longer again. It’s almost 6 am and looks to be the middle of the night out my window. Not exactly the recipe for getting up and moving…

It just doesn’t seem possible. It feels like it ought to still be Friday afternoon. Amazing.

My voice STILL isn’t 100% back. It’s far better than it had been, of course. I probably shouldn’t have tried to sing at full volume at rehearsal on Friday, but then again, it is sort of tricky to try and teach songs without actually singing them.

I’m cautiously optimistic about the show. The kids seem excited. We’re way behind in rehearsals (we’ve only had two rehearsals with scripts, and it’s the middle of December!) but then again, most of the work gets done in the Spring anyway.

I’m just glad they don’t hate it. It’s hard, directing a show you’ve written. Next year I want to either write the show OR direct it - not both!

My first completed projects - a scarf and matching fingerless gloves!

Considering how long it took me to learn, I’m pretty proud of my first attempts!

This is the most effective rebuttal I can find to the ludicrous assertion that there is a “War on Christmas” in this country.

Turns out the President sent out cards to his supporters saying “With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness 2005.” No mention of Christmas or religious symbolism. The verse quoted on the card, while clearly monotheistic, is from the Old Testament.

(See the link above for a PDF version of the card)

For more excellent rebuttals of the “War on Christmas” nonsense, see this well-written article over at Salon. (You don’t have to be a paying member of the site to see it - just sit through one annoying ad for a Day Pass.)

And that’s all that really needs to be said about it. Some people need to get a life, not to mention some holiday spirit.

OK, this is what is known as a “lazy post”. That means I’m too tired/foggy to come up with a coherent opinion or narrative, so I’m slogging you towards interesting stuff instead.

I liked this free customizable mini-organizer called the Pocket Mod. You can choose from various layouts including storyboards, grids, shopping lists, and reference pages to complete an 8-page booklet that you print out and fold yourself. Cute idea.

I’m going to South America this summer. I’m very interested in doing a tour of the Galapagos Islands and possibly combining it with some other touring of Ecuador. I’m definitely doing an Earthwatch expedition excavating a pre-Inca site in the mountains. I’m also thinking of adding Costa Rica, probably before the Earthwatch since it’ll be on the way down. So I may get some turtles in there after all!

On a completely different note, I would like to knit this sweater without the overly girly ribbon around the neckline.

Sometimes my thinking feels less like an internal monologue, and more like a battle between Optimist vs. Pessimist… like Mad Magazine’s Spy vs. Spy. Take this evening, for example:

Optimist: (walking past a row of Christmas trees for sale) Mmm, what a fresh clean holiday smell!
Pessimist: This is a decapitated pine tree graveyard.

Sigh.

I attended the knitting meetup holiday party this afternoon. I scored big in the gift exchange - 6 balls of yarn! As if I’m not addicted enough!

Can I please find a hobby that doesn’t overwork my hands and wrists?
Between:

• typing
• writing longhand
• playing the piano
• knitting

I am so asking for tendonitis, or worse.

Maybe I need to take up something that uses my legs, instead. Time to start marathon training again?

So I went home early today to try to rest my voice (hope rehearsal went OK without me… though I’m sure me croaking the songs out would not have done much for cast morale) and all I’ve done is knitted about 2 inches of a scarf and watched about 3 hours of Daily Show clips, and coughed my head off.

Other than the coughing bit, not a bad showing.

Why one size fits all doesn’t work

A few excerpts:

Like I said in a previous post, teachers don’t have TIME to cover it all:

I’ve had to spend an additional day or two covering the same topic because my students either didn’t understand it or I didn’t believe that my students had mastered it enough. So, I will spend a day or days on a concept UNTIL all of my students have mastered it. That probably isnt what I’m supposed to do following the reading and writing workshop model, but it works for me. At the end of the day, my kids are my first priority. Their learning comes before any mandates given by the Region OR the Board of Education.

And here’s a reason I’m glad I teach in private school:

Give teachers support for their instruction, NOT whether or not their bulletin boards meet Reading and Writing Workshop Standards. Are you evaluating me for my teaching, or are you evaluating me to see if my bulletin boards are neatly presented, my writing folders are clearly seen in the classroom, and I have the literacy “flow of the day” (i.e. a daily agenda of what will happen in class) neatly written on the board? I understand that these things are important to have up or visible in the classroom. But, do bulletin boards matter when I’m struggling to effectively teach students who are scared to speak during classroom discussions because their first language isn’t English? Do they matter when I have to figure out a way to reach those few students who don’t want to do their work and refuse to behave in my classroom? I am sure that bulletin boards matter in the whole scheme of things.