oh, Wednesday

Dear sister,

I was going to write you a post about the Monday-blahs, but then Monday came and I just felt so blah-y that I never got around to writing anything down. Then Tuesday was pretty blah too. And now it's Wednesday, and guess what? Still blah.

I think living in someone else's house and teaching someone else's lesson plans and making someone else's food is starting to get a little bit ... frustrating. So I'm trying to focus on the little bits of positive that I can pull out of all this. As I told my chester-tree-hopper the other day, hey - at least I'm still wearing my own clothes.

And while I was trying to figure all this out, this happened at breakfast with StrongDad:

Me: This is turning out to be a really long week.
StrongDad: Hey, at least it's Thursday.
Me: It's Wednesday.
StrongDad: Huh. Really? Huh.
Me: Yep.
StrongDad: Well, I'm way ahead on work then. That's good.
Me: And I'm not.
StrongDad: How do you get this little butter thing open?
Me: I don't know. You pull the little tab thing.
StrongDad: Mine doesn't have a little tab thing.
Me: You can stab it with the knife.
StrongDad: You think it would be easier than that.
Me: Here, you can have my fake butter thing.
StrongDad: Do you really think they're fake butter?
Me: I don't know.
(pause)
StrongDad: So it's really Wednesday, huh? How did that happen?

Love,
your at-least-I-won't-be-teaching-this-time-next-week sister

Dear Sister,

Part of my job at the internship is to troll various websites and look for "emerging science" or "cool fix for a hot planet"s. Also, part of my internship is trolling the internet pretending like I am looking for "emerging science" or "cool fixes." 

Awhile ago, there was a Weekend Update where Seth Meyers reported on some recent study about how linebackers in football are obese, and the joke was that it was done by researchers at "the university of my eyeballs." 

I'm sure you can see where this going...

This weeks edition of studies from the University of My Eyeballs:

Obese Adolescents at Greatest Risk of Becoming Severely Obese Adults

Home Exposure to Tobacco Carcinogens High in Children of Smokers

Company errors, complacency preceded oil spill: panel

Okay, now, really people? 

In other news, there does not appear to be any Veggie Tales long underwear or apparel. However, I have a sewing machine. So, this is not over. 

Okay, that's all I've got today. 

love,

your sister 

who v. how many?

Dear sister,

(This post will be interspersed with outtakes from SuperTiger brother’s senior photo shoot this past weekend, even though you’ve probably seen them all on facebook. Oh, and they have nothing to do with the content of this post. Not saying anything, just sayin’ …)

Election confession: I didn’t vote. I know, I know. When I turned 18, SuperTiger Brother wrote me a birthday card that just said, “Happy Birthday – don’t forget to register to vote!” And I did, that year. And then I’ve voted shamefully few times since then … it bothers me every time. But when you move every 9 months or so, as I seem to do these days, it’s hard to remember to change your voter registration each time … along with your license, vehicle registration, insurance garaging, cell phone, bank, and credit card addresses, and on on, and so on …

I think our country’s leaders, the ones who want us to vote, are making the same mistake I often make in teaching. They’re asking “who” instead of “how many.” Try it some time with a group of teens: ask them “who has the answer to #4?” and you’ll get the few, the proud, the courageous raising their hands. The others, the ones who know but don’t care, can’t be bothered.

For some reason, asking “how many have the answer?” generates a much larger response. Maybe because it somehow makes you feel that the response is obligatory, instead of optional, since the question is looking for a head count and not a volunteer. Or maybe because they’re not used to hearing that question and it wakes them up. Who knows. Either way, sometimes I think our voting system might want to try asking "how many" sometime, instead of the usual "who?"

Anyway. I was thinking about this, and I was watching the “Rally to Restore Sanity” (since working 7 days a week makes it hard to travel anywhere these days …). I’ve been to two different marches in Washington D.C., both to protest the war, and both times I was struck by the same impression that the point of the rally was not actually to make a statement, or send a message, or even to change anyone’s mind. The point of the march was simply to march – and the point of the rally, to rally. In other words, what was great about the experience was the feeling of community, of being surrounded by like-minded strangers coming together from across the country, of solidarity and unity and vocal, visual similar points of view. A call to answer the question "how many" instead of merely "who."

Thinking of rallys, and of solidarity, and of the fact that I owed you a post, I was watching the rally with a notepad at my side, jotting down my thoughts on a minute-by minute-basis so I could share them with you later. It started out like this:
11:55 – how do I get the TV to turn on?
11:56 -- (ring, ring) why doesn’t SuperTiger brother ever answer his phone?
12:02 – oh, there we go.
12:03 – are they having mic problems? why is every one running around behind the drum set?
12:14 – Did John Legend just take his cell phone out of his pocket as he sat down to sing?
12:16 – (ring, ring) Hi SuperTiger brother. No, I just wanted to know how to turn the television on. No, I got it. No … well, yes, I am related to StrongDad.
12:17 – is my cell phone ringing again?
12:18 – oh, no, that’s part of the song. that’s … weird.
12:44 – Hi, Bode. Oh – ok, okay, okay .. Ok, good dog. Lie down. No – no, lie down. Good boy..
12:58 – They’ve managed to make our national anthem sound amazingly like a contemporary Christmas carol.
1:05 – Huh, I really wish I could talk to Ella right now. I mean … oh, wait.
1:07 – (ring ring) Hi Ella!
And yes, that was the point at which I realized I could just call and talk to you. Which means this is the end of the blog post, because you know what happened from there.
Love,
your sister

Allow me to introduce...

Hi sister,

Keeping with the picture theme...Meet Moxie! The kitten, not the soft drink (complete with captions, of course).

First day we brought her home. Just crawling on me, checking things out. 

Playing some stellar defense. (Notice the new air hockey table. You're jealous, admit it.)

Snuggling on the couch. 

She's pretty cute, it's true. But, the pictures are slightly biased. Mostly because generally she is moving too quickly to take a picture of her, so the only pictures are from the rare calm moments. For instance, five seconds after the above snuggling picture, she was gnawing on my arm without ever changing her general body positon. Other not-so-cute-unpictured-moments: chewing through my head phones, knocking water off my bedside table and straight onto my ipod (it's drying out, I'll keep you posted), punches to the eyeball while we sleep (she takes after me, apparently), deciding that the roommate is for snuggling while I am for biting/wrestling...

I started out trying to lure you to come visit, but I feel as though I may have just shot myself in the foot. Hm. She is super cute, I swear. And FYI, hair things are basically the best toy thing ever.

(Oh, also FYI, when I told PecanMama that "Moxie is a nut" she responded with, "We'll have to go shopping for some cat toys for her." So, you know, not for nothing, but I do have cat toys for her, the crayfishes tank is plenty big, he is making his water dirty, the water isn't makin ghim dirty, and when we have kids, she's gonna be alllll over us "helping." So, basically, you go ahread and have the first one or two so she gets it out of her system.)

All right then, one last thing. Where can I get rainbow knee socks? 

love,

your air-hockey-champion (at least in our apartment) sister

the fires of fall

Hi sister,

The "little summer" has passed and fall is here for good. (Well, not for good -- for now. Until winter comes, I mean.) I meant to post this a while ago but, as seems to be our pattern, things got away from me. But since you've decided to post more frequently, I guess I can try to also. Just know that sometimes my posts will be more of pictures than words. They will, however, always be labeled. 'Cause that's how I roll.

fires from the past

fires of the present

fires for the future
Love,
your sister

"I've been busy"

Dear Sister,

So, I've been meaning to post, but...err...I've been busy...

Okay, now, I'm sure you've realized before that the "I've been busy" excuse is pretty much my biggest pet peeve. Why you ask? It's not because I don't believe that people are busy. Or even that they are so busy that they simply just don't have time to get everything done. Believe you me, do I know that is absoutely possible. The thing is this-- no matter how busy you are, no matter how little sleep you are getting, it's just all about prioritizing. So yeah, I work every single freaking day, and often get off work at 130am and have to get up for the other job six hours later, but have I really not had time to go grocery shopping? No, I could have after work one day. It just was not high on my priority list. Speaking of lists-- here is the most current:

Ella's list of prioritizes

Work ($$)

Sleep (zzz)

Run (ahhh)

So, basically, what I really mean, and what I think everyone really means when they say "I'm busy" or "I've been busy" or some variation thereof, is "It wasn't on the top of my priority list." Now, don't get me wrong, that's totally understandable. Especially if someone is working ridiculous hours or has a lot of super important life stuff going on. It is very reasonable for some things, like communication with the people you love, to fall a little bit down on the priority list. But the thing is, in the world of communication we live in these days, "I was too busy" just doesn't fly. Texting takes approximately 20 seconds (unless, of course, we're talking about the parentals, in which case its probably more like one minute 20 seconds...). Writing a post takes a little bit longer, granted, but I'll be honest: I could have posted instead of watching Law and Order one night. 

So what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry writing to you has fallen down on my priority list some. You'll notice, though, that eating is also not on that list. Because I forgot to put it on there, and then I realize that's sort of accurate, since eating has become a bit of an after thought. I'm eating, don't worry, it just isn't very thought through. It's more like, oh, hey! I have to be at work in ten minutes, better inhale this bowl of cereal real quick. 

The other reason, though, for the lack of posts is that I really wanted to show you some pictures of my apartment but it's hard to get good angles that show what it actually looks like. So then I realized I could take a video and post that! But then I realized that I wanted to clean the apartment first, but I was really tired, and the kitten (oh, yeah, we got a kitten...more on that later) was running around like a nut and well, instead I napped and went to work. 

So here is my promise to you: I will revise my priority list. 

Ella's *new and improved* priority list:

Work ($$$)

Sleep (zzzzzz)

Run (ahhh)

Eat (numanumanum)

Post (eeeeeee!)

Stick to *new and improved* priority list

Video of the apartment to come soon. Just as soon as I clean. And sleep. And...err...you get the idea. 

love,

your reprioritizing sister 

lists, lists, lists

Dear sister,

You're busy. I'm busy. Instead of a post in the style of a column (Op-Ed, gossip, advice), this will be a post in the form of a column. As in, a vertical list of words in short rows.

I like lists. You like lists. Here are some lists I've made lately.

The grad-school list of "Words I Really Should Know By Heart"
1. epistemological (relating to the theory of knowledge)
2. ontological (based on existence)
3. tautological (needless repetition of a word or idea)
4. hermeneutical (relating to the study of interpretation or methodology)

The ever-popular grad school list of "Words Made Up By the Field of Religious Studies" (We made a bingo card for lectures.)
1. problematize
2. liminality
3. performative
4. preunderstandings
5. situatedness
6. literacies
7. ultimacy
8. solutionatize (Ok, we made this one up after we got tired of having to "problematize" everything.)


There's the list of books I have to read for fun:

(I had a $200 gift certificate to a used bookstore, which is a long story, and also an awesome gift.)

The list of books I have to read that are less-fun-because-I-have-to-show-teenagers-why-these-should-be-more-fun:
Selected short stories from the textbook
Of Mice and Men
Antigone
Ordinary People
Romeo and Juliet
(Confession: I don't think I've ever read this play all the way through. We studied it in 9th grade, but all I remember is watching the movie. And this was before the Claire Danes/Leonardo diCaprio one was made, mind you.)
(Major Confession: Okay. I can't actually think of any play I've read all the way through, unless I was working it or teaching it. Don't tell the theater police, ok?)

And finally, the reason for this post, the list of "Five Songs I Will Learn on the Guitar Before I See the Once-and-Future Boyfriend Again"
1. Froggie Went A Courtin'
2. Oh, Susannah
3. that Irish folk song the Once-and-Future tried to teach me before
4. "The Rainbow Connection" (as done by Kermit the Frog)
5.

Well, look at that. The Once-and-Future is arriving in about 10 days, but since I had no idea when we'd see each other again, I thought I'd have more time to learn 5 songs. I'm cheating a bit by including a song I sort-of knew before. But, help! What should my 5th song be? It needs to fit in with others. Read: not too fast, not too complicated, not too "unknown by me."

Got any song suggestions? Or, a list of words that YOUR field of study has made (and no, bio major, Latin names of body parts does not count)? And perhaps your to-do list for the Fall? That will entice me to make mine. I'll give you a hint: it involves a lot of variations on "don't throw the high school children out the window."

Love,
your swore-she'd-never-return-to-her-old-high-school-and-guess-where-she's-now-teaching sister