the great blizzard of 2010
The year I was a senior in high school, we got a LOT of snow in Raleigh- school was cancelled for over a week. We lived in a small, hilly neighborhood outside of the city limits, without city services like snow plows and except for my brother and his annoying friends, there was only one other person near my age in the neighborhood to enjoy the snow with. Aside from the fact we got a few days off from school, I did not enjoy snow and decided to go to college in Florida where I would not have to deal with cold and snow.
Outside of being in New Hampshire in February last year for Kate and Garrett's wedding, this is the most snow (4-5in?) I've seen in years.
It's much more enjoyable when you can drive a car yourself and have people to enjoy it with! So yesterday, my friend Maria and I went to the park a mile from my house and spent a few hours sledding and snowboarding. 'Twas brilliant fun!
Having no sled of our own, we experimented with multiple improvised sleds: laundry basket, cookie sheet, the lid of a Rubbermaid container, cardboard boxes, and garbage bags. The best was a cardboard box inside of a garbage bag. As is the norm with me, I spent half the time flying down the hill backwards, or lying face down in the snow.
For the first hour we were there, there were only adults, no kids, sledding- beautiful! A family had an enormous 4-person toboggan that they happily let anyone who wanted take a ride on.
That far exceeded our improvised sleds! Maria is a snowboarder and, lucky for me, we have the same size feet, so she let me give it a try.
I could stay on my feet pretty well, until I tried turning. That'll have to wait till we (hopefully) go again in Colorado in May.
songs for haiti
Thank you,
Paste.
a brief rant
This is my blog, so occasionally, I get to rant. And you can join me: If you feel like getting really angry, then you should read
this article on the "rubber room" from The New Yorker. I listened to an
episode of This American Life on the same subject a few years ago. Aside from the day in and day out aspects of teaching in an urban public high school that made me want to pursue teacher reform at a policy level, the level of outrage I felt after listening to that show played a significant part as well.
I was just assigned the article as reading for my teacher policy seminar and from what I remember from
This American Life, you should listen to/read both- they offer rather different and together a more rounded perspective on the whole concept of rubber rooms. Both made me spitting mad at the ludicrous difficulty of getting rid of poor teachers.
The article does, however, do an excellent job of delineating the most basic of reasons I would like to take a sledgehammer to both tenure and teachers' unions. This crazy concept that some old men in white wigs put into play a few hundred years ago comes to mind: balance of power, anyone? The list of things related to teacher pay and tenure from this article that just don't make any rational sense are myriad and all go back to that union contract protecting incompetent teachers.
And if this sparks your interest at all,
the Widget Effect study the article mentions can provide some good info. Meanwhile, I'm off to scream for a little while in an attempt to ease my ire.
Labels: education, teaching
ugh
Possibly the most horrifying sentence I've ever read, from
Life of Pi:
Before my incredulous eyes, the rodent [a rat] hopped over the various parts of the raft, jumped onto me and climbed to the top of my head, where I felt its little claws clamping down on my scalp, holding on for dear life.
recommendations
A few thoughts of the Books of 2009: I wasn't particularly taken with any of the fiction that I read.
44 Scotland Street and
The God of Small Things were the best that I read.
All New People and
The Maytrees were enjoyable, but not captivating. Both were very redemptive, however.
Non-fiction, on the other hand, was another story. I read both
Outliers and
Freakonomics in the span of a day- they make the year's top three list.
Outliers wasn't earth-shattering, but it was a great read. And
Freakonomics was fascinating and made me think, which earns it high marks in my book.
Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl was also enjoyable- it spoke to both my inner child and to my desire to see broken things made whole. It didn't quite live up to my expectations though, in depth or literariness.
Evidence Not Seen, which came highly recommended by Betsy and Jessica, was the best missionary biography I've ever read. I think it's also the only one I've ever read, so others now have a high standard to live up to!
The best thing I read last year was
Surprised by Hope. I really can't put words to how much I liked it. It's definitely of a heady, theological bent. If that's your inclination, I highly recommend it.
I'm hoping 2010 will be a better year for fiction! Here are a couple of things I plan to read:
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (It's probably a bit adventurous to suppose that I might read all 5)
- Franklin and Wilson
I'd love some other suggestions.
Books Read 2009
I was on course for two a month till grad school hit...
All New PeopleAnne Lamott FreakonomicsStephen Dubner & Steven Levitt Pride and Prejudice and ZombiesJane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith The Pirates! in an Adventure with CommunistsGideon Defoe Notes from the Tilt-a-WhirlN.D. Wilson OutliersMalcolm Gladwell The God of Small ThingsArundhati Roy The MaytreesAnnie Dillard The Dying Crapshooter's BluesDavid Fulmer The Pirates! in an Adventure with AhabGideon Defoe The Pirates! in an Adventure with ScientistsGideon Defoe Surprised by HopeN.T. Wright The Sunday Philosophy ClubAlexander McCall Smith The House on Mango StreetSandra Cisneros The Devil in the White CityErik Larsen Their Eyes Were Watching GodZora Neale Hurston 44 Scotland StreetAlexander McCall Smith Knowing GodJ.I. Packer Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose Once Again, to ZeldaMarlene Wagner-Gellman
It's much more enjoyable when you can drive a car yourself and have people to enjoy it with! So yesterday, my friend Maria and I went to the park a mile from my house and spent a few hours sledding and snowboarding. 'Twas brilliant fun!
That far exceeded our improvised sleds! Maria is a snowboarder and, lucky for me, we have the same size feet, so she let me give it a try.
1 Comments:
touche ms preston. you are right but with this comment, i am a lurker no more. i am excited about the possibility of seeing you soon in Nashville. Your snow adventure looks fun.
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