Annual Note to Self

It's February, so it's time for the reminder that I tend to be generally cranky during this month. Also, the students start to act a little crazily. This week, I've noticed 13 year-olds diving onto the floor, roaring like dinosaurs, jumping around and flapping their arms, and wildly throwing pillows and shoes. And that stuff all happened during lessons.

This is just par for the course. After 11 years, I know this. I'm not panicked. I'm taking deep breaths and forging ahead.

Roses and Thorns

Mac and I visited our music store today. It's called House of Note. Isn't that adorable? Anyway, our main impetus for the visit was the fact that my teacher has deemed me ready for Suzuki Violin Book TWO! I've gotten stickers on most of the pieces in Book 1 now, and next week, she's going to assign me something from the next volume.

Of course, I originally played the songs in Book 2 when I was like 8, but never mind. I now approach them with sensitivity and emotional maturity.

We also picked up an adjustable red music stand for Mac and me to share. Mac loves it. Finally, I asked the violin guy for what's called a practice mute. It's a heavy rubber thing that you put over your bridge so as not to bother your family with your musical stylings.

"My husband asked me to get one of these," I explained sheepishly.

"Well," he nodded gravely. "That's telling."

Marley and Reggae

Last night was Poetry Night for the 7th graders, and man was it adorable.

The kids all sat on the stage (the room we were using is a former chapel, so it's not a huge stage, but a rather a little elevated area with benches built in around the walls), and then one at a time they came up to the microphone and read their poems.

They demonstrated a range of skill and intellectual depth, and I loved them all. I even loved the two boys in my F period class who, after reading Of Mice and Men, became obsessed with the phrase "blue balls" and worked it into their poetry just for the occasion.

Look at My Muscles

Claire and Mac and I stayed up late watching Downton Abbey. Btw, Mac has been staying asleep better and in his own room, but he still has a really hard time actually falling asleep. So. My Handbook of Marginal Parenting said the best thing to do was to let him come down and watch a show that is inappropriate for his age group, but that he would never understand anyway. That was page 6 in the book. Page 10 said it's fine for Shef to make up his own lyrics to go along with inappropriate pop songs that he doesn't understand. He's Sheffy and He Knows It.

Anyway, I fell asleep thinking about Downton and I woke up thinking about it. We have now finished Season One on Netflix, and we're beside ourselves. How will we watch Season Two in comfort and happiness? I've charged Claire with figuring this out.

JONAS

We watched Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 on Netflix. Let's just say that they were both awesome.

After we were done watching, I quickly became obsessed with the Jonas Brothers. Joe! Nick! Kevin! Which could be my favorite!?

Then, I remembered that the Jonases are fundamental Christians who wear purity rings to remind them about their promises not to have premarital sex! They also don't drink or do drugs!

Then, I remembered that maybe Joe Jonas was kind of a player who may or may not have cheated on Taylor Swift with Camilla Belle!

Then, I watched Taylor Swift's funny SNL musical monologue about Joe Jonas being kind of a jerk to her!



Then, I loaded up a new Jonas Brothers station on Pandora which has so far featured Joe, Kevin, Nick, Taylor, Demi Lovato, Jesse McCartney, Selena Gomez, and Miley Cyrus! No Bieber yet!

Yes! I really know how to party like no one can deny!

What Kind of Day

The 1968 play I saw today made me feel very proud to be a Minnesotan, actually. We had Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey. These guys made me think of other Minnesotans I'm proud of. People like Walter Mondale and the great and inspiring Paul Wellstone. Now I'm represented by Al Franken, who consistently stands up for my values and ideals. Tim O'Brien, a Minnesotan, wrote beautifully about the difficulty of being a veteran in his many books about Vietnam. The play reminded me that we need to take really good care of our Iraq and Afghanistan vets, even if it costs money.

I was glad to hear that our current president is committed to doing this. In fact, Barack Obama reminded us that we can't park the bus. We have to keep working for a better world. I hope that the President will be massively aggressive to achieve his agenda. I hope he has learned that negotiating and compromising with republicans will only hurt us all.

The Batch

We're way into The Bachelor here. However, I have so much work to do that I've been multitasking constantly while watching. For instance, this week, I'm getting observed three times in a row. They want to see the arc of my teaching. They also decided to visit my least well-behaved class. So, I feel a little nerve-wracked to tell the truth. Today's lesson went fine, so here's hoping the next two are fine, as well.

The good news? We're going on a field trip tomorrow to a play that sounds great. It's called 1968. It's at the History Theater. Maybe you want to go too? Check it out at the History Theater in St. Paul. Erin's here (she's here for Ben AND she works for our beautiful capital city), and she says The Minnesota History Center is a "treasure trove of the best of our great state."

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