Top up, bottom down

That's how you're supposed to teach vocabulary to kids, you know-top up, bottom down. Yep, I went to ANOTHER vocabulary conference tonight after work. This one was more of a happening, mainly cause I got to ride in a car. I love riding in cars, and it's few and far between when I ride in cars without meters in this town.

I might as well just continue with the vocabulary conferences and put it towards a PhD in vocabulary. I'm a vocabulary queen. It's true.

Oh and I didn't take a real picture today. This is me thinking about vocabulary.

...ohhhh vocabulary!!!

Yay for one whole month of a photo-a-day the Jane way! Hooray!

Not gonna write you a love song

There was gridlock on the FDR on my way home, so luckily I just walked on by. I noticed the building up ahead as the sun shone through. It created this funky bock pattern on the building in the middle, so considering it noteworthy, I took a photo.

I was exhausted by the time I got home, and all I wanted to do was lay down on my big red couch. Last year I suffered from plantar fasciitus in my left heel, eventually just rupturing the tenden all together (which was pleasant), and now I'm starting to feel a strain and pain in my right heel these days. It's curious, and worrisome to say the least. Don't worry too much mom, I'm stretching twice a day...

The activities that followed were these: lounge on big red couch for .2 seconds before Dan gets home. Eat cottage cheese. Watch Sarah Barielles on Ellen (which I loved!), did my Pilates DVD while Dan was at the gym, watched some I Love the 70's on VH1, made meatloaf with Dan (yum), laugh uncontrolably at more I Love the 70's on VH1, then carry on with the laughter during American Idol. Then I showered. Somewhere along the line I lost the will to care about being an interesting person. Now I shall sleep.

Ponderings...

I wonder...





I wonder why my middle school students were acting like this today:

I wonder why it became a gloomy rainy day today and even AFTER checking the weather this morning I wasn't prepared.

I wonder why EVERY time I go to the Rite Aid around the corner, someone blatantly cuts in front of me in line at the check out.

I wonder why the Three Times a Lady song by Lionel Richie always MUST be hummed, sung, or screeched along with by strangers when playing in a store.

I wonder if my students will ever remember the difference between they're, their, and there. (I'm working on a game right now to remedy the situation...I needed flashcards, hence the trip to Rite Aid)

I wonder why my stinking apartment is either an icicle or a sauna whenever I come home from work. Today it chose sauna.

I wonder why my hair is so fuzzy when I shower the night before.

I wonder if I will get pink eye after a 6th grader went home sick with it today.

I wonder why even after cleaning out my closet, I still fee like I have too many clothes.

I wonder why I chose peanuts for a snack.

I wonder if I should exercise at home, or if I should just suck it up and go to the gym.

I wonder why the Latino guy emptying the trash outside my apartment building is singing in Italian.

I wonder if this blog will be entertaining to anyone but me.

Stop and smell the flowers

I was enticed by the sweet smell of flowers today on my way home. I was just off the bus, heading to the gym and as I passed by this flower shop I was overcome with the urge to document the place photographically. Just cause it smelled so good. It seemed a little out of the ordinary to have out these fragrant little numbers, but I just couldn't resist. Also there were orchids in the window. I LOVE orchids. L-O-V-E love orchids. I went bonkers in the Amazon this past summer when I saw them growing wild!

When I lived in Korea I bought the most beatific orchid that ever lived at a garden center nearby the neighborhood where I lived. My Brit friends Chris and Kerry went with me on the little excursion to the end of the subway line and made our way into a hot little plastic dome to pick out some wonderful foliage to brighten up our homes. I settled on this cute little purple and yellow centered orchid that I called Charlie from that day hence. I loved Charlie, I looked up ways to care for Charlie-lighting, how much water, how often, best temp to keep my apartment. It was all well and good until I left most of my things in Korea to travel in Australia. It was then that I made my fatal error. I left my beloved Charlie with Chris and Kerry, hoping they would be good foster parents. Alas, about two weeks before my return to South Korea, I got an e mail from Kerry bearing the terrible news that Charlie had kicked it in their apartment. Apparently conditions just weren't right. I cried a little on the inside. I wept fully on the outside while sitting at a hostel computer. I somehow made it through though. It wasn't meant to be. I knew Charlie would never have been able to come home with me to the U.S. anyway. Sigh.

So, now I am tempted, but just admire the orchids in the shop window. It's how I roll.

This was taken outside the International Plant Center in Manhattan. I like the reflection of the buildings in the windows. Much more artsy than intended! They are a friendly crowd here. I once bought some sort of ficus there last year and they told me it was hard to kill. I managed to kill it. Good one Jane. Ah well, enough about plants of my past. For now I'll just ogle them through the windows.

Me and my produce

So, I love vegetables. It's true. I also love fruit, and whole grain bread, and low-fat cottage cheese. I love them so much that it's actually all I eat now. Or at least says the "Rock the scales" meal plan. So far it's been going well.

Dan and I made the weekly trek to the grocery store, list in hand with the weekly stores of protein, carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, all that good stuff. We were lucky enough to have shrimp on the menu for this week. Can you believe it?! Could this GET any better.

Don't I look happy to be there?? I am. I'm rockin' that hat, and I'm showin' that granny cart who's boss.

Is that POLKA music I hear coming from my neighbor's apartment??

I want chocolate cake.

Stimulate the pedegogy

I had to get up WAY too early for Saturday today to go to an ESL conference that was requested of me of my principal in the Bronx. I hemmed and hawed about it, but luckily Kate had also signed up, so we made the ridiculous trek up to the Bronx at stupid o'clock in the morning together. It was considerably colder than I had anticipated, so we really didn't walk to walk far. We ended up getting there a few minutes late because the 4 train we were on originally decided it wasn't going any further than 141st St. Bah. Bah on crap-o train service on the weekends.

Anyway, with all the grumbling going on, I was surprised to find out that I was actually really engaged in what Dr. Kate Kinsella was saying. She's from San Francisco and had many interesting and applicable things to say about teaching vocabulary to English Language Learners (ELLs). Good stuff. Felt like I was back at NYU, which was a good thing cause ya know, sometimes you just have to turn your brain on a little bit. It's so easy to just get caught up in the routine of teaching and not reflect and actually USE all the wonderful things I practiced last year. It's overwhelming this year, and I think that's part of it. Either way, it was good to think, and she did inspire me to teach in better ways.

As we were walking out of the campus of Fordham University, I took this picture of Keating Hall, which is actually been a popular filming location in the past. It's a beautiful campus, and I really enjoy going there actually because it seems like such a perfect escape from the city and surrounding Bronx areas full of shops with clothes that are ALWAYS on sale, and all the electronics stores that you could ever want for. Very nice indeed.

TGIF

Yep, it's Friday again. Thank GOODNESS! For such a short week, it seemed long, and exhausting. I could tell the kids and teachers were exhausted today.

I got observed by my Assistant Principal today, which actually went very well with my 7th graders. They basically rock, so I was really pleased. I'll know on Wednesday after the post-observation review how I actually did, but I think it went great!

Kate and I, despite our weary arms, legs, eyes, bones, brains and more, decided to try a new place. It was another sort of New Years resolution to have a Random Bar Night every so often and try a new place in our neighborhood. What can I say, I need to take advantage of finally having a friend live close by! We made a visit to a place called Tequila Jacks, which is known for wings and margaritas. We got a rita, and watched a bit of the Pistons game on TV, which seemed like the perfect event to sum up my week. Must work again tomorrow, or rather, attend an all-day conference in the Bronx. Boooooo for working on Saturday!!

Late Bus Still Life

This is the best I could do, considering the day I've had. Should have have taken a picture of the bus careening past the curb as I ran up the hill to catch it this morning? Or maybe a group shot of me, another teacher guy and a well-to-do middle school child riding up to the Bronx in a taxi, all to separate schools. Wait, wait, maybe it should have been a picture of me trying to coax Stephanie to not play with the tacks from the bulletin board in the back of her English class. Or, it could have been the picture of me scrambling to put in all the correct information into an online report of my ESL students today, one ear to my cell with the Bronx compliance coordinator (who knew there were SO many rules and mandates for English language learners??), flipping wildy through my binder of information, while trying to convince my friend Rachel that she should be get a later start on her errands because I needed her help on the computer data program. Perhaps I could have taken a photo when I went out to dinner with Kate tonight (that was actually a highlight). But really, I think the winner would actually have been a photo of me walking around the East AND West sides of Union Square in the freezing cold with my stinking roommate who dragged me out of my perfectly warm room to try to find the Revival Bar in order to hang out with Couchsurfers for a weekly meet up. It WOULD have been a good idea, had I not so immediately become miserable. We walked over a mile. We never found it. I took the subway home by myself and tried to ignore the smelly homeless man across from me, because even though he hasn't washed (not his fault really), he still deserves to get out of the cold.

No, no, no. None of those pictures will do. I'll settle for the still life of my most current book (it's worth a look if you like YA stuff) and my iPod Shuffle. Sigh. Must sleep now.

Criss Cross

Double Dutch is an interesting sport, here's a fun little website that I decided to look up after taking a few pictures of the girls double dutch team in my Harlem school. They actually were getting pretty good. I have stopped in occasionally since the beginning of the year. I'm good friends with the teacher that runs the program, and she's tried to convince me to try. I wish that I say I have, but I just haven't gotten the motivation/energy up to do it. Perhaps I will try that, and for sure if I ever do, I'll definitely post a picture!

Sub 2nd Ave.

So, after a LONG day of work, I managed to make it home AND work out AND make dinner AND watch American Idol. I also took this engaging photo of the construction on 2nd Ave. that causes much clanging, beeping and general rucus that is caused by all the work machines my 2 year old nephew would flip OUT about.

It's quite an interesting mess really. It results in traffic backups, horns honking incessently, having to walk along chain link fences in the street instead of on the sidewalk. Oh, and in 2014 when it opens up finally, it will cause my rent to go up significantly. That's what happens when you live by the subway. It's quite the project.

Many cures

Apparently when I get around Heather I turn into a high heel wearin', hair curlin', cat talkin', manicure gettin' kind of girl. So, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. we went to get our nails done. Not really, but I did watch a whole lot of news, walked in the cold to Heather's regular place, then tried out a new one just because we could.



No vist with Heather would be complete without taking dumb pictures on her couch!



I flew back to New York tonight...what a crazy crazy flight that was. It was way late. Of course. Flying with O'Hare on one end and LaGuardia on the other just means you will be EONS late. Luckily, our plane took off despite the snow only a few hours late. Even though I love Chicago, and the city beckoned to me in a way I wasn't prepared for (I'm pretty sure I'm going to move there in the future), I was happy to be back to New York. It's big, it's loud, it's rambunctious, it's crazy, and it's mine. No matter where I will go in the future, I'm not quite done with New York yet.

Laying around with Laila

After getting kicked out of a sushi bar with Heather and her boy thingy and some friends last night, and later snuggling with a pug puppy named Pete until the wee hours with Heather's friends(it's a good story, but I don't have pictures...I wish I'd gotten a picture of the fiery asian man who yelled at us for being "demanding all night" whatever, we weren't being demanding, we just wanted another bottle of our BYOB wine open!) Heather and I spent the morning in. It was another cold day in Chicago, so while Heather napped, I took pictures with Laila, her cat.



Later we went to see 27 Dresses, which was actually touching, girly and romantic to the point of vomit, however, I enjoyed it none the less. I'm such a sucker. I'll probably go see it again actually. I cheated on the meal plan. Don't tell.

Field of Fun

Hey, look at those families enjoying Sue!!


Maps! I saw an exhibit all about maps, and it was excellent. I don't know many people that get as excited about maps as I do, but I guess some do. They made a whole exhibit about it in the Field Museum in Chicago!! Here's Heather looking cute with her map outside Maps!



Heather and I decided to head out into the COLDEST day of the year, literally, the windchill was -8 degrees. Ouch. Thank goodness I'd packed appropriately. Thank goodness I'm a big enough dork to just enjoy wearing long underwear around. I'm awesome.

Another awesome thing about me is that I'm an educator. It's true. It's SO awesome in fact that it gets me into the Field Museum-for FREE! I was pretty geeked about that. As geeked as a Map geek can get anyway.

We wrecked havoc on the museum, they didn't know what hit em, but in all actuality, it was Heather and I. We ogled maps, then visited fake tombs and real mummy's in the Ancient Egypt Exhibit. Here we are having fun.



The rest will come, but now for sleep.

Bowl-o-Rama and Chicago Bound

I had a busy, busy day today. It included waking up and trekking to the Bronx to meet up with my chillens for a fun filled day of bowling. Except…most teachers had sent out the wrong permission slips, so I’m sure you can picture all the available teachers huddled into the counselors office on any phone/cell phone available. I still have an outrageously long list of parents’ numbers in my phone from calling to make sure it was ok if we took their children to a different location. Yes, your child is fine. No he’s not in trouble. Yes, we are still going on the trip. Is this ok? Great, have a wonderful day.

The bus was fine. I made the much smarter decision this time to actually sit in the back with the kids to provide supervision, and occasional conversations about my sign (they read me my horoscope- someone will back stab me at school this month) and an invitation to “get lit”, which apparently means dance around like a fool.

Once we got to the bowling alley, mass chaos, as usual, ensued. I policed the line for getting bowling shoes, of which they ran out. Then I was hounded my little kids while handing out slices of pizza, of which I got none. Then I helped settle a dispute of so-and-so actually bowling in so-and-so’s lane, which wasn’t theirs. It was pure teacherly bliss. Here’s a photo of my co-workers Rachel and Tanya.

Despite the hysteria, the kids actually had a wonderful time. Here’s the kids having a wonderful time, including many of my crazy boys.

The end of the day couldn’t come too soon. After returning to school and doing a bit of desk work I ducked out a few minutes early to catch my bus back to Manhattan to pick up my luggage and then head out to the airport. I sat around waiting and looking at the sun set over the city.


It was a typical LaGuardia flight-delayed. I was pretty antsy during my flight. I hate being antsy on airplanes. There’s nowhere to go, nowhere to put my feet. I read and listened to music, but was still antsy. I finally relaxed when I realized I was flying over the city of Chicago. I immediately relaxed. It was weird-felt like coming home.

I cued up for the cabs, and ended up getting a crazy driver who had gotten out of the cab to yell at the guy behind him. I was hopping the line attendant would say to get in the peaceful cab, but he ushered me into the crazy one. My luck. The guy spent the entire ride on the phone speaking in God knows what language, apparently making some claim or ordering something because there were occasionally long lists of numbers.

Turns out, he should have gotten off the damn phone cause he had no stinking clue where he was going. He made a U-turn on Lakeshore, which is in a word-busy. Then when the wrong way again, tried to look up the name of the street on his map and claimed he couldn’t find it…while the meter kept running. I asked him to turn it off. He turned around and turned it back on. In the end, I pretty much just chucked the money I had (which was less than the cab ride alone) and he let me cause he knew he was a tool.

Heather welcomed me with open arms, which helped me to stop hating the taxi driver and we decided to hit up a late night diner to inaugurate my late arrival.

It comes to this

My brain is sort of refusing to work after the past few days I've had. Do I want to go on and on about how crappy testing is again? Not really. I was with 6th graders today. Character traits are extremely hard to understand for English language learners apparently. There were moments when kids would look up to me asking to explain and I just couldn't. When else in education will that happen? It made me sad, and stressed, and put me in a zone.



My good friend Kate and I ventured out into the slushy rain for a happy hour or two. It included a peach margarita and a good burrito, and then the world seemed a little clearer. As we walked home, Kate introduced me to this tiny nook of a place that's actually outside a comic book store.



They are serious about their garden. Thanks Kate for being another guest Photo-of-the-day-er! You're the best. My day is a bit happier.

I may have to take a short break for the weekend. I'll be out in Chicago, and the daily update will be decided upon by how much internet I can borrow from my friend Heather's neighbors! If I don't get to post, I'll be sure to play catch up on Monday. Thank GOODNESS for the three day weekend! Waaaaa who!! MLK Jr. was a great great man!

Gooooooooooaaaaaaaaal...I'm hungry

When middle school students play soccer, it's hilarious.


Soon after this picture was taken, the white team scored a goal. Then suddenly, the smallest 6th grade boy comes tearing down the field screaming"Goooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal" he slides on the ground still screaming like a maniac, then stops promptly, jumps to his feet and exclaims "I'm hungry" and then just as soon, scampers back down the field. Both the other teacher and I who overheard this burst into laughter. What a funny funny group of kids.


They all needed to get out and have some fun after these past two days of testing, and frankly so did I. I had a slightly better today, though I'm still tired out. I decided to stick around a little while after school to kick the ball around with the kids, and even had a chance to play defence with my head. I'm bad ass really.


I was also hungry after the game, and I headed down to the East Village for some Sacred Chow. What a delectable treat that was. I met up with a new friend, and fellow Couchsurfer, Ian. We chewed and chatted about travels and tried to sum up the place with a picture. Enjoy!

** from time to time, I will be posting guest blogger photos, but it will still be the Jane-way. Never fear! Thanks very much to Ian for this interpretation!

How smart you are=how still you sit

I remember back to the beginning of my program at NYU about a year and a half ago. There was a meeting that took place for the group of NYU graduate students who were accepting the Partnership Scholarship, which basically meant that we were indentured servants to the New York Public Schools for two years after graduation, and in return, they paid for 1/3 of my schooling. It seemed like a good deal. It still seems like a good deal.

What struck me at that meeting, was when the dean of such and such came in representing the Department of Ed. She welcomed us to the school, welcomed us to the city, and stated how pleased she was to build this partnership. It was all fine and good to me until she started going on and on about testing and accountability. I have a distinct memory of thinking-- F that.

I revisited those feelings today after spending 4 hours straight in a classroom with 18 ESL students trying to explain to them why they had to miss lunch to finish their standardized test. I'm sorry, but certain 8th grade boys are incapable of sitting still for that long. And even some girls. They wanted drinks, they wanted bathroom breaks, they wanted to call out random turrets-style sayings during the test. I was dreading today, and for good reason. It is inane. What is this test really testing?

I know my students are smart. I can prove it in MANY different ways. I don't need this test to do so. But the instruction manual tells me otherwise. F that.

Test crazy

A crazy, crazy test prep day. Tomorrow is the start of the big ELA exam for New York middle school students, and nothin' like takin students out one at a time from class to make sure they are state of the art test taking machines. What has this world come to?


Everyone was stressed. It was just one of those days that I wanted to be over before it even began. I was prepping kids in the Bronx, while tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be giving my Harlem kids the test. Lovely. Anyway. Here's what the test coordinator Tom looked like today in the teachers lounge/my office at BECA.

And just for giggles, here's my desk.

Good luck children, good luck Ms. Risdon.

I saw three ships

The three Cunard Ships met tonight in New York Harbor and I'm so grateful to my grandmother and mom for sparking my interest in the idea to attend. What a wonderful spectacle in New York. It was Sunday night, I was feeling cozy and nestled into my apartment, but I took a chance venturing out into the cold weather to partake in the happening down in Battery Park. There were people lined up against the railings, but it seemed very laid back and relaxed for the most part. I wasn't sure what I was going to see, so when I left the subway and entered Battery Park, I squinted to see out into the waters around the Statue of Liberty to see if there were ships anywhere. I didn't think I had seen any, but that was all made clear as soon as I rounded the fort next to the water. Just as I came around the corner, I was greeted with the monstrous sight of the Queen Mary 2. It was enormous. Enough to make me actually exclaim "wow" as she passed by. It was like witnessing the Titanic in person (the whole one). I overheard the older couple next to me conversing with a younger woman about how they had actually been aboard the Queen Mary 2 when they came over to America! How awesome is that?

I waited around while the QM2 puffed out to Liberty Island and waited for the other two to arrive. After feeling colder, and more liquefied, and with no other ships in sight I ventured into Starbucks, where I had a hot apple cider, and shortly was able to see the next two ships pull into the harbor. It was amazing. I ran back down to the park just in time to see the fireworks display! So wonderful! I wish my grandma could have been there! Although, when I arrived the second time, it had just started to rain. I didn't really care. Watching all three of those ships pass through the harbor, for the once in a lifetime event was worth it.

The final two ships, the Queen Elizabeth 2, and the newest ship, the Queen Victoria had American songs drifting from it's balconies to all the spectators. Suddenly the sky filled with burst of color as the fireworks started. Fireworks in New York are a sight to see, they truly fill you wish awe and wonder. I was so struck by the entire experience, I wish I could go back.

Several minutes passed, the fireworks gave their grand finale bow, and the crowd clapped and cheered as the three ships carried on out of the harbor. It was raining pretty hard by this point, so I turned to leave, and as I did I heard the last of the ships give a long, low blow of it's horn. It echoed around the harbor, through the rain. The other two ships followed suit, and so as I walked away, I could hear the reverberations of those low tones that only a ship can give. Spectacular! It was worth the rain!

Over the river...

Saturday's in the Bronx- lovely. I had to go in to work today to help with some test prep for the little-uns. They are fascinating little buggers, always complaining about school, and yet they show up in droves to practice test taking skills? I think mostly they all just wanted to stand around at the back of the class in their baggy clothes singing along with their iPods, or playing their PSP. That's what they did anyway.


I got up far too early, headed out for a bagel, then went to get the bus up to the Bronx. On the way up, I enjoyed the sunny day through the window. Especially crossing over the Bronx is interesting.

When I was finished teaching, I strolled out to the bus stop to wait for the express bus to take me back into the city. There I encountered a little old man, who at first, just wanted to tell me about how the local bus had forgotten a child because he'd been sitting down inside the stop shelter. He thought it would probably take another 20 minutes for the bus to come now. I agreed. He then backed up against the fence with his cane (he must have been close to 90) to wait.

I decided to strike up the conversation again, and asked if he lived around there. He said "oh yes, for 30 years now". I found that impressive, and he carried on about how it was harder to get out now that he was alone. He had lost his wife 7 years ago, even though the statistics say that widowers his age only usually last 2-3 more years past their wives. He paused, then said "They say it's harder if you've had a happy marriage though. Well, it's hard if you were unhappy too, but not as hard." I chuckled a little and asked if he'd had a happy marriage. He said "ohhhh yes, we had a very happy marriage for 50 years! Well, except for two months!" "There were two months where all she ever did was criticize me"

I told him that I didn't think two months out of 50 years was that bad of a track record and so he told me about those two months saying "Yeah, there was a time when she didn't have many nice things to say to me, and after those two months, I finally figured out a way to stop it." There was a dramatic pause where I thought possibly he'd tell me he offed her in some way or something, but he continued. "I just decided to start giving it back to her. She couldn't take the criticism, and then one day she asked me if I wanted a divorce. I said NO, I love you very much, I don't want a divorce, I just don't want to be criticized. But, I told her, if it were to ever come to that, all I would want is my pension and social security. She could have the rest, the house, the mortgage, everything here (he gave a big sweep of his arm indicating the things that were in his house). After that day, she was so happy and content that we never had any more problems."

I loved that story, and I told him so. He seemed pleased just to be outside in the sunshine, enjoying the company of others. He coughed, and seemed as if he wanted to tell me more, but my bus arrived. I was thinking of asking him for a picture, but decided that his story was enough. I thought about it the whole ride home. I hope some day I have a wonderful story like that to tell. It wasn't perfect, but it was life. And even though he was alone, he had fascinating memories to share with me at the bus stop. I hope I meet him again someday.

A room worth living...

Here's what I found in my living room tonight: A craptastic roommate who is sick and whiny. Also a roommate who coughs up nothing. Oh and a table full of junk. Looks like someone needs to clean up Christmas that threw up in their living room. That someone might be me.

I heart Fridays, even though I will be going in to work on test prep Saturday school with my Bronx kids tomorrow. My friend Kate and I decided to hit up a bar on the upper East side aptly named Uptown tonight after I A. came home and crashed on the couch to watch Ellen, B. worked out like a maniac at the gym, C. made dinner with said roommate a delicious pasta with salad and then D. showered and promptly fell asleep waiting for Kate to call. All before 9:30 on a Friday night. Ah the sad state of affairs it is to be a first year teacher. No matter. I went out to enjoy the nightlife in my hood, and it was worth it!

So there you have it, a daily recap AND a picture of a sickly (yet lovable...let's be honest-he sort of posed for these pictures) roommate. Another day in the life...

The Deli Dairy

Who wouldn't want to visit The Deli Dairy! This little Bronx gem is nestled up on Knightsbridge Rd., and is a standard place to ogle out the window on my ride home from school on Bronx days. I guess living in Korea really made me appreciate places and things with funny names. If you might like deli food, or possibly dairy, I would suppose this would be the place to go. I might make a guess that most of their foods would be on sale as well. I tried to look up an interesting fact about The Deli Dairy, but mostly all I found was the laugh out loud fact that "The Deli Dairy's line of business is eating place." No really. Either way, I find this little dairy barn entertaining on the bus ride out of the Bronx, simply because it makes me think that they might have good eggs and cheese inside.

I also failed at taking more impressive pictures today because soon after this photo, my camera batteries died. The lens didn't even retract they were so dead. I better fix that before tomorrow. I'm looking forward to Friday in a real and serious way. The weekend is my best friend. It'll probably mean more interesting photos as well.

I've decided that I'm in love with Juno. I don't know anyone named Juno, but I do love that movie fo shizzle. It was cute, and smart, and funny, and happy, and entertaining. Run, don't walk, to see it. I'm going to run, not walk, to bed at this time.

The World We Live In

This is the world we live in (well, at least the view from a middle school class in Spanish Harlem). In this world, I give test prep pep talks (say that 3 times fast!) to 8th graders, play soccer outside with 6th graders who claim "I'll smoke you Ms.", as well as offer hugs to 7th graders, who in turn, with a raised hand offer a high five saying "awww, I'll give you 5 Ms., cause that's how we do it in Harlem!" All of these things happen in that world.

This is also the world we live in. At least from the point of view leaving said middle school in Spanish Harlem. Oy to the world that sleeps on a dirty mattress left alongside the East River and FDR Drive. I pray to GOD it's not any of my children. As I was walking home I thought about the few pictures I'd taken today, and was faced with this immediately. Who sleeps on this mattress? How did it get here? Where did it come from? Is it being used, or is it meant to be thrown out now? All questions that need answering. Ah, this is the world we live in. A pleasant nap beside the East River after a long day at work.

I make wonderful chicken noodle soup.

Me and Julio out in the schoolyard

This is the view from the second floor at my middle school. I took a lunch break in my coworker, Patrice's room, and before biting into my super yummy turkey and lean cheddar cheese on whole wheat, I stopped to snap this picture. It was a glorious warm day in the city today, and the kids were in pretty good moods. I felt like I was in tunnel vision, working hard with a few individual students, trying to get them to realize that taking notes does not actually mean writing in full sentence paragraphs, as well as the importance of reading the question twice when you don't understand. At some points, I just had to lift my eyes to the sky and pray for these children. They will get what they get on this screwed up ELA test next week, and then they may or may not have to go to summer school, and if they pass that it determines if they are promoted to the next grade. Perhaps too many students won't improve their scores, which results in less money for the school, leading to only being able to employ me part time for another year, meaning the kids get less intervention, less one-on-one attention and ultimately, have a harder time improving next year. Don't you just LOVE No Child Left Behind? Yay accountability.

This should not detract from the beautiful, simple picture of play above. Thank goodness for moments like these in my day. It wasn't just kids enjoying the mid-winter spring weather. Even on my way home, I noticed lots of bikers and joggers whizzing past on my walk home along the river. Heck, I even noticed the pigeons cooing outside our party porch this morning during my incredibly healthy multigrain English muffin! Here's for hoping for another bright day tomorrow!

Rockin' it

Today is a new beginning for a new me! I joined up with a program at my Gym (pictured) called Rock the Scales, which is meant to shed away the cookies and fudge that I ate over the Christmas Holidays. Oh and all the ice cream that Dan usually keeps around the apartment.

I joined this little sweat shop a few months ago and have frequently visited it, however, not on any set schedule. The new plan is to go at least 3-4 times a week, which I don't think will be too hard if I just pack my gym stuff and take it with me to work. I made a rockin' new mix on my iPod, and so today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical listening to such great music! I love Guster. I also love the new Maroon 5 B-sides stuff. Oh and Jack Johnson, old school, with a little old school Billy Joel thrown in for good measure. At around minute 21 I started to feel bored, so I began composing this blog in my head for kicks. It worked for awhile. I also noticed that when I am calculating my heartrate meter, I should probably actually count myself as closer to 30 than to 20. That made me sad in my heart. At least my heart with be slim and in shape after 8 weeks of Rockin' the Scales. We'll see.

Dan made too much rice with our Rock the Scales recommended dinner of chicken, broccoli and rice. I am full of rice now. Oy. The good thing about sticking to a menu though is that you don't have to think about what you will eat. It says right there on the sample menu. I just do what it says. We bought lots of yummy veggies and fruits yesterday at the supermarket.

I thought the food would be bland/left me feeling hungry and/or angry. In actuality, I felt good about my salad and blueberry yogurt for lunch. I attribute some of my ability as "an unending pool of patience" which seemed to be flowing today while in the last two wretched periods of school. The lead teacher was pulling his hair out and having a bad dad, but I was my regular pool of patience self. I didn't care when I asked Jose to write his notes and he wrote them sideways on his paper with his eyes closed (then ripped it out and started over later...ugh). I was also perfectly calm and collected when none of the students could pick out personification in a poem comparing fog to a cat (bad choice of examples, considering personification was defined as giving HUMAN qualities to non-human things (not cats...cats caused confused children) I breathed deeply and tried to show the connection.

I am an unending pool of patience. Sometimes I repeat that to myself multiple times a day. Today it worked though! Hurrah! Thanks salad!

Picture From the Edge

Here is the photo for today. It was another sort of lazy day. However to make myself feel less like a lazy slob I decided to call up my friend Kate and talk a walk down to the East River. As we made our way into the Carl Schurz Park along the river, we started to walk south. So what you see is what you get when it comes to heading south. In the distance you can see the Queensborough Bridge, which looks lovely in the mist. We had a nice little amble around, enjoying the warmer temperatures today, and the haze that hung over the city. It's great to get out and see the life of the city. Especially here, where families come to ride bikes and walk dogs. On Sundays, when I sometimes feel a little homesick for my family, it's nice to just be around families spending time together. I particularly liked the boy with the blue balloon!

Something funny...

Saturday is a great day to just lay around. Especially if you've been go, go, going like I have lately. I had a day of (mostly) nothing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The day started like many Saturdays in the Risdon/Smith household. Dan or Jane arises and then yells at the other to get up out of bed so that they can go get bagels from the greatest bagel shop on the planet that just happens to be a block away. It's tasty AND convenient. Today, I was the lazy one. I woke up around 10:30, but actually refused to get out of bed and out of my pajamas (Dan went to the lengths as to pick my clothes out of the closet due to my laziness) and then we went skipping off to breakfast/lunch at Bagel Express. It's a funny name for that place, cause there's usually a long line and they take their sweet time. It would be more aptly renamed "Bagel you'll-get-your-when-we-damn-well-please". Here I am dining on a delicious bagel sandwich!

This experience was followed by me changing BACK into my pajamas while Dan went off to Union Square to buy Spider Man comics and I picked out a comfy spot on the couch where I watched several hours of movies. It was delightful.

Later tonight, when Dan and I were meant to fetch MORE comic books from one of his old colleagues apartments (they were moving and want more space/less comic book boxes...like WE have space?!-whatever), we took our granny cart grocery getter downstairs and noticed how wet it looked outside. Both of us exclaimed how funny that was because there was no FORECAST of rain! We promptly went back upstairs grumbling to fetch our umbrellas. Back down and out the door, umbrellas up...hey...wait...it's...not....rain...damnit! We turned around to see one of the landlords spraying down the stoop and sidewalk. We all immediately broke into laughter. Here is proof that we were had! (Notice the sidewalk behind Dan is dry...)

We met our friend Kate for a movie called P.S. I Love You, which takes the record for making me cry 14.5 times. It was awesome and awful all at the same time. Really. I say no more.

The next activity (for a day of nothing, there were many somethings) Dan and I headed to Midtown to see Naked Boys Singing. The name says it all. It. Was. Awesome. Who doesn't want to see naked boys singing? Well, some people maybe, but Dan and I were definitely not in that group. Some guys a few rows back were not so fortunate. They got up and left after the first number. Really people, like the fact that nude men were prancing around on stage singing about erections and going to the gym and multiple names for their thingies was going to be surprising to you? Really? I think the show delivered precisely what it advertised. Hilarious! I clearly do not have pictures of that, for I would have been promptly removed from the audience, however, we did take pictures with the fun cardboard cutout from the Alter Boyz show next door.

Good times, good times!

Christmas Tree Graveyard

I am ready for a weekend of rest and relaxation. It was a short, but trying week (hard to convince myself to go back to school, knowing full well that I deserved to be on vacation until next Monday!!) I am already sick of test prep for the big ELA state test that will be happening in a week and a half. Luckily, I have a great reason to pick out something enjoyable in my surroundings because of my Photo-a-day: The Jane Way blog.

Here we see a sad pile of forgotten Christmas trees, strewn on the sidewalk, just waiting to be taken to the big Tannenbaum in the sky. It's sorta sad really. They line these things up on fences along the roads beginning the day after Thanksgiving, wafting their sprucey scent up and down the streets. I get thwacked with them randomly by fathers and sons carrying them with mittens on the sidewalk in the days leading up to Christmas. I'm sure they are placed lovingly on a pedestal in all the homes that can afford a Christmas tree in New York until this time of year when they are stripped of their glory and tossed out with the bathwater. Uhg. What a sorry affair.

Well, even though these were cast aside, and I've been dodging clumps of them while walking home for several days, apparently there is hope on the horizon. NYC actually does a recycling program for Christmas trees. I checked the nyc.gov webpage to find out that IF these trees are free from lights, tinsel and other such decor, they will be gathered up and then used for mulch in the parks and gardens around the city. Hurrah for humanity! The link also is an advertisement for Mulchfest 2008: Chip in! Mulch your tree! Help NYC grow! It's this weekend, and I'm sure it'll be a blast. If I had a real tree, you'd for sure find me down there mulching with the best of them. There really should be more propaganda for this sort of thing! Maybe now someone else will see it and say to themselves "hey you, you should take that dry old needle-ridden dead tree down to Central Park and beautify the land a little". That's what I hope they'll say. Happy Friday tree-huggers!

Street Meat

Whenever I work in the Bronx, which is 1/2 the week, I enjoy taking the expensive, but speedy and comfy express bus from Riverdale down to my hood on the Upper East Side. It's pretty sweet. Expensive, but sweet. Anyway, occasionally I pass cool/funny things. Today I passed this fancy schmancy truck all lit up selling something of the Latin persuasion. Upon research, Frituras are sweet-corn fritters, and Chimichurri is a sauce that drenches well cooked beef product (also known as steak). Pica Todo is a Harlem based movable restaurant, which seems to do well outside Columbia University. I've never seen it before, but perhaps one day I will venture up that way to try it. The pretty lights draw you right in don't they?

I'm a happy mouse

It's a happy day for Ms. Risdon when I get a new mouse. Recently at my middle school in Harlem there have been several thieveries from my desk and room. Most recently (the last Friday before Winter Break (yes it deserves to be in capitals)) my computer mouse was stolen right off the desk in the middle of the day. Since I'm only a part time teacher, and my room is actually the balcony of the High School library (which has a set of midget stairs that come up from down below) it must be a prime target for dumb high schoolers to come and do their thieving. Dumb high schoolers. I know it's them because they have left graffiti on previous occasions.

They've also booby trapped my room with duct tape (wrapped around two table legs with a 1/2 inch strip off the floor-- lovely) and robbed me of my tape dispenser (which had my NAME on it!!), my dry erase markers, stickers, my scissors, post-its, a box of 50 brand new awesome mechanical pencils that I had bought to give as gifts to students who charm me. Oh, and my pride. How screwy is that?

Well today was triumphant because I got a new mouse. I unplugged it and stashed it in a box in the depths of my room after taking this picture. If you're out there vagrant high schoolers-- you will get yours!

In other news, my roommate's a slob... (who knew you'd get a two for one on the second day?!)