History

Right around this time, 50 years ago, nine high school students faced a sea of angry people and integrated the schools in Little Rock. I think the first time I learned about the Little Rock Nine was when I was in 5th grade, and all of the classes in my school spent a week watching Eyes on the Prize, a documentary about the nonviolent aspect of the Civil Rights Movement. I always think of that documentary as one of the most shaping experiences of my education.

More recently, I learned about some of the other events that shaped the Civil Rights Movement while watching another documentary. This time, the movie was shown to my graduate school class, and it talked about the Children's March. Until that time, I had not known of the children who forced Birmingham to integrate. These were the children the fire hoses were turned on. The children that the dogs chased. And, it was all so they could receive the education that they wanted.

I always wonder if I am doing enough to teach my students about the history that shapes each of their lives. Wonder if I am doing anything to really promote social justice? Struggle with the fact that I may be perpetuating some part of the myth of "separate but equal" in my position as a special educator. Those are issues I am not sure if I will ever come to terms with....

After school, when I learned that yesterday was the 50th anniversary of that famous day of school, I spent time trying to find things that might help my students understand the history they have inherited. But, this is proving to be more difficult than I had hoped. I am going to have to explain this to them in some way. They should know what has happened before them. I am the one who is supposed to teach them.

blogging nothing

So, I've hit a blogging dry spell. It's not that things in my life are not blog worthy (at least in my own eyes). It's more like a (maybe I've already said "that" / what is the limit for blog-items can one person recycle and still call herself a blogger) + (time away from the computer is good time) = no blogging. [Little homage to order of operations, there...did you see it?]

In the past, when I've run into spells like this, I've resorted to the bullet point. Here it goes:
*My new little baby iPod shuffle is perfect for a walk around the lake. At first I thought I was being an uber-consumer by getting a second iPod whilst having a first big iPod that works perfectly. That was all thrown out the proverbial window during today's outing. The little baby iPod weighs practically nothing. And, clips to my pants. I was out and about with everything attached to me janitor style. It was perfect.

*During a conversation with a friend who lived in Astoria/left Astoria in a very similar pattern with me, I tried to figure out a little more of what makes LA tick. Using NY and Boston (her new city) as comparison, we decided that the essential differences in the cities came down to making out in public. LA embraces the public make out. It's kind of everywhere. NY is a little less inclined (partially because people kind of make out with one person while they keep an eye out for someone better to come along, diminishing the overall quality of the make out). Boston is on the other end of the bell curve. Their Puritanical history makes for very little public action.

*I'm listening to Middlesex on my way to work. It's amazing. Plus, the audio book format is surprisingly wonderful in the car. And, it breaks up my somewhat obsessive NPR-listening.

*this is funny: http://www.dieyuppiekickball.com Sorry Brian.

Ok...Enough. This post is over.

The Weekend, in review

Techie Time
I got to delve deeper into my techie-love by going to Wired's NextFest. I saw green homes, artsy stuff, amazing artificial legs, some scary big brother security stuff, a game that is played with brain waves, and the mayor of LA walk in a robot.

Backyard Time
After hearing about a few meat days, I have been craving some q.t. with grilled food. Last night, thanks to the MaDonks, my grill needs were met. There is something so perfect about sitting in a back yard and eating something off the grill.


Sunday Night Time
I'm now neck deep in Sunday time. I'm having a hard time getting the motivation to do my work I have put off all weekend. IMs with a sister and a deep appreciation for relaxing is making it very difficult to want to get back into the weekday swing of things.

What I have learned

Now that I'm working daily and living in a city with a whole lot of NPR, I've been listening to the radio a lot. Because it's NPR, I'm always learning something. Yesterday I found out that when people talk about trading pork bellies they really do mean the stomach of a pig. I thought that pork bellies was a term for some financial thing. But, it's not. It's all about the bacon.

I also learned that the monster truck is huge in Europe. There is a new truck called Thor. It's Swedish. I think I may need to time a trip to some Scandinavian country to coincide with Monster Jam Europe. If the Air Guitar International Championships are happening at the same time, that might be the most perfect trip ever.

HOT

LA is in the middle of a heat wave. I spent the weekend by the beach (where it was 20 degrees cooler). Now I'm back and I'm schvitzing. I've got a natural glow about me. The news said that this glow should last until the middle of the week. I have little desire to move and I don't want to eat. A few more days above 100 may be a more effective crash diet than a week in the MaDonk's shed.