Seismic upgrading…
Find a way to alter your physical experience of the world while on your travels…
Examples are:
squinting your eyes to blur your vision,
wearing colour-tinted glasses,
closing one eye,
hanging upside down for a time,
walking as slowly as possible,
and plugging your nose while eating…
— in HOW TO BE AN EXPLORER OF THE WORLD by Keri Smith
This evening a sushi chef told me,
from the other side of the bar,
how cuttlefish is highly misunderstood…
I’d ordered the grilled quid,
but what showed up in front of me was something so much more tender,
and delicious…
Don’t get me started on the miso eggplant,
it was better than any dessert I’ve ever had outside of my house…
Some things are so worth waiting for,
and I was willing to wait for one whole hour to sit at that sushibar,
and eat something,
other people will simply never get…
For as long as I can remember,
I’ve needed to snack before I go to sleep,
because of all of the activity in my dream-time…
But because I’m aware of the importance of sleep hygiene,
I’m careful to only take in what is good for me,
in the form of almonds,
spinach,
or smoked sockeye salmon…
While I was waiting for a seat at Toshi’s,
I noticed that everyone,
and their dog,
was texting,
and surfing,
while sitting with table companions…
This sort of social media isn’t very social…
In fact it’s downright rude…
The first person I met,
in the first class,
on the first day of the PhD. program I withdrew from,
told me how long she’d been waiting to make a close friend…
I wasn’t in the market for a new friend but I’m the kind of person who is generally curious,
and open to other people…
And it doesn’t matter what I do,
I make it my business to show up,
and put forward my best effort,
even when the other party is chasing the dragon…
Things were going along well until the day she invited me to meet her for lunch,
and while we were sitting there,
sharing a ceasar salad and some calamari,
she took a call,
on her cell phone…
I’m flexible about this kind of action if the person in question is a parent,
and is receiving a call from their children,
about whereabouts,
and rendezvous…
Or if someone happens to be injured and bleeding…
But in this particular situation it was Straw #1…
A month or so later I got an e-mail from this person,
who so wanted a close friend,
asking if we could meet for lunch in the 75 minute window she had,
in-between other appointments…
In my book that constituted a Straw #2 and 3,
all rolled into one…
It doesn’t matter what kind of a relationship one is looking for,
if you don’t have the focus to show regard for the time and energy of another person,
then it’s best to stay home…
There’s a song that sings one is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do,
but I beg to differ…
From my armchair research,
thinking that you’re part of a two,
when you’re really not,
because the one you’re supposedly with is more connected to their IPhone,
than your heart,
is more hopelessly alone,
and certainly not worth dying for…
I once met a woman in a pilates class who was full of advice about dating,
but she qualified everything she told me by saying,
I’ve never had any success with a long term relationship,
so I’m probably not the best person to be listening to…
I didn’t listen to her,
and I did everything and anything I wanted to do,
including packing a lunch,
because I knew that guys get cranky when they don’t eat,
and you can’t have much fun if you’re cranky…
Yesterday I was checking out my biceps and abs in the mirror by the front door…
I told Little Gem that I found them to be droopy,
and not as ripped as they once were with all of that pilates I used to do…
She told me not to worry…
She said,
You haven’t been working out for a while now,
but you’ll get it back…
And then she paused for a moment,
and added,
For some strange reason,
all of a sudden,
I’ve got the taste of your key lime pie,
in my mouth…
You pass through places and places pass through you... (photo: Starshine)
Eagle outfitters…
The word ‘precocious’ comes from the Latin preacox,
meaning to precook or to boil beforehand…
Because precocity refers to remarkable early development,
the term is applied to young gifted children…
Many children who are highly gifted show precocity in particular areas of development,
such as language, music, or mathematical ability…
Genius was the original term used to indicate a particular aptitude or capacity…
Today,
we reserve the word for those persons who demonstrate extremely rare (superior) intellectual powers…
— in Children with Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms by Margret Winzer
I am,
at this very moment,
in recovery,
from shopping,
at Metrotown…
Holy smokes…
Starshine and Little Gem are going to a wedding this weekend,
and new dresses were in order…
On the drive over I figured out a thing or two…
Like if I want to listen to classical music in the car,
all I have to do is dance to every other preset on my radio,
and the c.d…
Classical music is boring,
but at least it doesn’t bring on embarrassment,
because there’s nothing for Mama to sing and dance along with…
The mall was a great site for building camaraderie with other parents…
I saw the other mothers pulling out suggestions,
and getting the face,
of disgust,
and how could yous…
It was like all of a sudden I was part of this new club…
A club where you can make friends in an instant,
based on a common ability to be a major blemish,
on the face of the earth…
I was told,
in a store that forgot it was selling clothes and thought it was a nightclub,
If you move an inch to this song,
I’m leaving,
and I’ll go down to the car…
The fact that the man formally known as Prince was singing about a red car,
that this was MY song in grade eleven,
and that I put the cool in school,
was irrelevant and unwanted information…
There was no end to the rain on my parade…
Another mother,
wearing dark sunglasses which nearly covered her whole face said,
It only gets worse…
Just wait until she’s fourteen…
I said,
They should be obligated to offer morphine injections at the door…
Or danger pay…
Her daughter gave her a death stare,
from a rack half-way across the 1st level…
Other mother said,
I have to go…
The problem is,
she doesn’t even know what she’s looking for…
We were like, ohmigod, so in the same boat…
A few minutes later Little Gem sat on the change room floor,
of XXI Forever,
wondering,
How long does shopping take, exactly???
This feels like hell,
and I want to go home…
Imagine,
this is something that Veronica Lodge does EVERYDAY…
Fortunately for group morale,
after three hours in the trenches,
the exercise was a success…
But my head still hurts,
and we walked out of that mine-field looking like death warmed over…
If you know anyone who doesn’t believe in the existence of alien life forms,
take them to a mall,
during back to school daze…
There’s something about this artificial,
transplanted environment,
that brings out the beastly,
in all of us…
Nothing a little episode of crime-drama wouldn’t cure…
Someone must have taught you well, to beguile and to entrance...
Lazyboy 2010…
The lady of the early 15th century would run the household in her husband’s absence,
and check his nearby manors…
She also had to entertain visitors to the castle,
greeting them at the gate and being there to say farewell…
She was in charge of the castle kitchens and the menu,
although she would not normally cook the food herself…
In her spare time she would enjoy hunting,
dancing,
as well as playing chess,
and other board games…
Knights and nobles often married an heiress for her land…
In spite of this inauspicious start,
couples often grew close…
— in Eyewitness Castle written by Christopher Gravett
When I started teaching I had the great fortune of working at a school with one of THE gurus in education…
She is an expert on literacy and helped me with my first class of four and five year olds,
but the most important thing she put in my hot little hands was a photocopy of a program called Structures…
This program gave me the necessary permission I needed to make building a critical feature of my Kindergarten classroom…
And for the entirety of my teaching career,
time to play and time to build held equal weight with learning focused on literacy and numeracy,
because I could see the benefits of cross-training even before Nike made the shoes for it…
And if I could do it all again,
hockey would be in the top five of my list of most important things,
to be non-doing…
I left all of the materials I had collected over the years behind in my classroom,
for the young new teacher who was offered the temporary contract,
when I resigned on the Friday before Labour Day weekend…
I thought she would make good use of them,
but I heard through the grapevine that she put them all out in the primary pod,
because they wouldn’t be needed in her classroom…
I was disappointed,
but understood…
I knew how strong I had to persist in making play be seen as a valued learning activity in my own eyes,
and it took a number of years for me to find the words to articulate this value to parents,
and with my colleagues…
The first group of children I worked with were born in 1990…
I would love to find out what they end up doing,
and if their early primary year of building will influence them in some way…
I wonder if some of them look back through their Structures journal and remember when…
All it will take to find out is a call out on Facebook,
and the data will come storming in,
when the time comes…
This evening,
while we were making pizza,
Starshine made the observation that her friend Sunshine’s father does not even have his own shop to himself,
for making the things he wants to make,
and she felt sorry for that…
She said,
When he wants to build something he has to move everyone’s bicycles out of the way first,
to get at his tools…
I’ve always had my own bedroom,
I can’t imagine what it’s like not to have your own space,
to just be,
and create…
I told her that before Little Gem came along her Papa had the biggest room in the house,
for reading,
and listening to music…
And how I always felt bad for leaving my ongoing projects out in the open,
in a house with very few cupboards,
or closets…
That I’d always wanted my own space to write my report cards,
and make what I wanted,
in peace…
Starshine said,
Well now you have the whole house…
Papa has never been a DIY guy,
or a musician,
so a leather chair is all he really needs…
Canuck'd 