I officially read Life of Pi in 2 days. I don't think it was that long of a book, if I remember correctly looking at it in Barnes and Noble, but a Kindle doesn't measure length in pages.
In general the story was quite intriguing, although the first half was a bit tedious at times. Actually there were many instances of tediousness. But every instant was important to the story. And then it got really gruesome. Seriously, if you want to read this book, go with that warning in mind. It will graphically describe predators turning on each other. While also examining survival instinct and necessity, and the presence of God.
And then the ending. And you question everything. And you think you get it. And you go to Sparknotes and read every analysis for every chapter and question everything some more. And then you realize you didn't get it, and maybe get it now. And then you feel very glad to have read it. And thankful to Sparknotes.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
UPDATES AND FUN
First shift of the summer down. Roughly 60 more to go. At least with 9-10 weeks and 7 shifts a week. Yikes.
Today I was just filling in for my mom. We haven't started the summer schedule yet, and since the youngins are still in school, it was a quiet day and I got to sit in the box office and read. Currently I'm reading Life of Pi, which I've always heard was a good book, and I don't know if people ever read it in school, but I've never picked it up. In two days I'm over half way done, and it's a lot more gruesome than I thought it would be. But considering all I knew about the story was that a boy gets trapped on a life boat with a tiger, a hyena, an orangutan, and a zebra, I should have seen it coming. In any case, I'm now slightly shocked that one of my sixth grade students, granted an avid reader, recommended this book to me. The first quarter of the book the main character goes on for pages and pages explaining things like zoos, zoo animal behaviors, the morality of keeping animals confined in zoos, and religion, because the main character loves religion and God and wants to be Hindu, Catholic, and Muslim-at the same time. As verbose and boring as all that may sound, it was quite interesting, and went by relatively quickly. It's hard to tell how many pages one truly reads when reading on a Kindle, but like I said, I'm over half way done and it's only been two days.
Anyway, Pi is now on the life boat and well, the animals have quickly turned on each other and it puts terrible, gory images into my head. Not pleasant before bed. But it's one of those stories that tells you ahead of time that it's going to end well, so now I'm just eager to see how Pi possibly survives all this. You should read it! Whoever you are reading this now. Or maybe I'll wait and give the recommendation when I'm done...stay tuned, people.
Other than reading and working, this past weekend I also went into Boston with my mom to see Starkid's Apocalyptour concert at the House of Blues. Luckily for us, the Red Sox game was at practically the same time! (If you haven't already, just go ahead and reread that with way more sarcasm). We took the train in from Alewife, and then waited outside the HOB in the shade while the line to go in died down (we had seats). Since there was so much activity around Fenway, the line snaked its way behind the HOB building instead of up the street, so it seemingly never ended. We watched endless girls in various shades of Ray-Ban sunnies and bright costumes go by, while we sketchily stood on the corner across the street. Comparatively, I was dressed very plainly, so you really couldn't tell what we were waiting for.
We also saw several band members emerge from the tour bus parked nearby, although I only recognized one (cool Clark!). In hindsight, I should have been that creepy bus-watcher fan who ran over to get a picture, since the door was not facing the line and no crazies in line would have seen, but I guess that's just not who I am. So instead, I just stared at them and probably sketched them out with my awkwardness. Welcome to my life.
Once inside, Mum and I found our way upstairs to our cushioned, swively box seats. And no one sat in the seats in front of us or behind us, so it was PERF! I had a great view, and could stand up whenever I felt like it without bothering anyone around me.
Charlene Kaye opened the show and she was amazing and if you don't know her, look her up right now because I love her and she has a new album called Animal Love and it's wonderful and why aren't you listening to it yet???
Then the Starkids came out and goofed around as archaelogical diggers who were going to give up singing and dancing, except they awoke a Mayan god of death, chaos...and musical theater! So they put on a show to try to save the world...from, you know, the apocalypse. It was fun and the music was great. Here are some pictures. Enjoy the beauty.
After the show, there were still many Red Sox fans hanging around, even though the game had ended about 45 minutes earlier, so combined with the 2,000 plus fans leaving the HOB, there was quite the crowd, especially trying to get into the T station. So instead, me and Mum found a self-serve Fro-yo place and made our own fro-yo creations and it was delish. I went a little over board with the candy and tried to add some fruit... They also had fro-yo machines that MIXED FRO-YOS! So I got Strawberry on the bottom, and then added a mixed banana-peanut butter fro-yo on top. Again I say, DELISH.
Also I attempted to paint my nails with flames in honor of Apocalyptour! It was fun and I think it turned out pretty cool...I even had to improvise because I couldn't find toothpicks or small brushes, so I used the tip of a mechanical pencil to swirl the colors. YAY!
Today I was just filling in for my mom. We haven't started the summer schedule yet, and since the youngins are still in school, it was a quiet day and I got to sit in the box office and read. Currently I'm reading Life of Pi, which I've always heard was a good book, and I don't know if people ever read it in school, but I've never picked it up. In two days I'm over half way done, and it's a lot more gruesome than I thought it would be. But considering all I knew about the story was that a boy gets trapped on a life boat with a tiger, a hyena, an orangutan, and a zebra, I should have seen it coming. In any case, I'm now slightly shocked that one of my sixth grade students, granted an avid reader, recommended this book to me. The first quarter of the book the main character goes on for pages and pages explaining things like zoos, zoo animal behaviors, the morality of keeping animals confined in zoos, and religion, because the main character loves religion and God and wants to be Hindu, Catholic, and Muslim-at the same time. As verbose and boring as all that may sound, it was quite interesting, and went by relatively quickly. It's hard to tell how many pages one truly reads when reading on a Kindle, but like I said, I'm over half way done and it's only been two days.
Anyway, Pi is now on the life boat and well, the animals have quickly turned on each other and it puts terrible, gory images into my head. Not pleasant before bed. But it's one of those stories that tells you ahead of time that it's going to end well, so now I'm just eager to see how Pi possibly survives all this. You should read it! Whoever you are reading this now. Or maybe I'll wait and give the recommendation when I'm done...stay tuned, people.
Other than reading and working, this past weekend I also went into Boston with my mom to see Starkid's Apocalyptour concert at the House of Blues. Luckily for us, the Red Sox game was at practically the same time! (If you haven't already, just go ahead and reread that with way more sarcasm). We took the train in from Alewife, and then waited outside the HOB in the shade while the line to go in died down (we had seats). Since there was so much activity around Fenway, the line snaked its way behind the HOB building instead of up the street, so it seemingly never ended. We watched endless girls in various shades of Ray-Ban sunnies and bright costumes go by, while we sketchily stood on the corner across the street. Comparatively, I was dressed very plainly, so you really couldn't tell what we were waiting for.
We also saw several band members emerge from the tour bus parked nearby, although I only recognized one (cool Clark!). In hindsight, I should have been that creepy bus-watcher fan who ran over to get a picture, since the door was not facing the line and no crazies in line would have seen, but I guess that's just not who I am. So instead, I just stared at them and probably sketched them out with my awkwardness. Welcome to my life.
Once inside, Mum and I found our way upstairs to our cushioned, swively box seats. And no one sat in the seats in front of us or behind us, so it was PERF! I had a great view, and could stand up whenever I felt like it without bothering anyone around me.
Charlene Kaye opened the show and she was amazing and if you don't know her, look her up right now because I love her and she has a new album called Animal Love and it's wonderful and why aren't you listening to it yet???
Then the Starkids came out and goofed around as archaelogical diggers who were going to give up singing and dancing, except they awoke a Mayan god of death, chaos...and musical theater! So they put on a show to try to save the world...from, you know, the apocalypse. It was fun and the music was great. Here are some pictures. Enjoy the beauty.
 |
| Starkids, how I love them. |
After the show, there were still many Red Sox fans hanging around, even though the game had ended about 45 minutes earlier, so combined with the 2,000 plus fans leaving the HOB, there was quite the crowd, especially trying to get into the T station. So instead, me and Mum found a self-serve Fro-yo place and made our own fro-yo creations and it was delish. I went a little over board with the candy and tried to add some fruit... They also had fro-yo machines that MIXED FRO-YOS! So I got Strawberry on the bottom, and then added a mixed banana-peanut butter fro-yo on top. Again I say, DELISH.
Also I attempted to paint my nails with flames in honor of Apocalyptour! It was fun and I think it turned out pretty cool...I even had to improvise because I couldn't find toothpicks or small brushes, so I used the tip of a mechanical pencil to swirl the colors. YAY!
Monday, June 4, 2012
The rain in Maine falls mainly on the plains...
So Amanda is helping people in Guatemala and Julie is studying art in Verona, but hey, I went to Maine this weekend.
It was a rainy, chilly couple days, but Brys and I spent it in some good company with Owen and Rick. We went to the movies to watch Snow White and the Huntsman, which, despite Kristin Stewart's manly voice and cross eyed death scene (very reminiscent of a certain vampire-y movie), was an enjoyable movie. K Stew has definitely improved, or maybe I was just distracted by the huntsman...Who can really tell.
So now that Brys and I have officially seen Snow White and the Huntsman, as well as The Avengers, we thought it would be appropriate to watch the superhero movies that came before The Avengers, and started with a completely random, has-nothing-to-do-with-a-hot-Australian-actor pick, Thor. Followed by Captain America. Which we rented and watched in one day. A good way to spend a rainy afternoon, even in Maine.
We also ate a lot, but what else is new. I think I've taken in enough calories in the past week to last me the rest of the summer. It's too bad it's raining or I would go for a run. Darn that rain. (I'll let you guess how much sarcasm should be behind those words...)
But for reals, I probably should start working out and stop eating ice cream every day of my life.
It was a rainy, chilly couple days, but Brys and I spent it in some good company with Owen and Rick. We went to the movies to watch Snow White and the Huntsman, which, despite Kristin Stewart's manly voice and cross eyed death scene (very reminiscent of a certain vampire-y movie), was an enjoyable movie. K Stew has definitely improved, or maybe I was just distracted by the huntsman...Who can really tell.
So now that Brys and I have officially seen Snow White and the Huntsman, as well as The Avengers, we thought it would be appropriate to watch the superhero movies that came before The Avengers, and started with a completely random, has-nothing-to-do-with-a-hot-Australian-actor pick, Thor. Followed by Captain America. Which we rented and watched in one day. A good way to spend a rainy afternoon, even in Maine.
We also ate a lot, but what else is new. I think I've taken in enough calories in the past week to last me the rest of the summer. It's too bad it's raining or I would go for a run. Darn that rain. (I'll let you guess how much sarcasm should be behind those words...)
But for reals, I probably should start working out and stop eating ice cream every day of my life.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Inspiration
Wow, Blogger has become pretty snazzy since I last left it. Look at this, I can put videos from Youtube right into my post! Or maybe it's just me getting more technologically advanced... In any case, listen to these girls! I love them. They're so talented and good at harmonizing...and using empty containers as percussion. They only have 12 videos online, so obviously I just got done watching them all, and they're also just amazing musicians, playing guitar, ukelele, and piano. What am I even doing with my own life? I guess instead of crawling into a corner feeling sorry about my lack of talent, I should use these young girls as inspiration to actually do something with my life. At least that sounds good when I write it out.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Three months in one post
Let's see if I can remember how to do this...
Some people, who would remain anonymous if the few people who read this didn't know each other, have told me I should not let my little blog die. So after months and months of absence, lets see if revival is possible.
I'd say my life these past few months has been uninteresting and unbloggable, but I absolutely loved teaching sixth grade and every day was at least a little different. It's funny looking back at the little I did blog here about my student teaching, because the last time I was here, I was trying desperately to learn 85 names. I'm sure you've been dying to know this, but yes, I did successfully learn who everyone was. I even learned last names! And distinguished between the repeated "Bens," "Matts," and variations on Katherine. Can someone please cue the Sweet Victory song?
I also managed to teach an entire unit by myself! Although my mentor teacher supplied me with a lot of materials and advice. But it was kind of neat to become the teacher. And make judgement calls like, "Yes, you can go to the library because you forgot your independent reading book," or "No, you can't go to your locker to get your reading journal. Just use lined paper." Exciting, right? I even taught young, impressionable minds how to write a five paragraph essay...and then graded those five paragraph essays. I also got to come up with some great reason why watching the Pixar short "For the Birds" was relevant and necessary to a decision making lesson. (It's totally educational! Just watch it!)
The only regret I have--yes there is one, because life is not perfect--is that I never let my FLEX period class create their own flash mob dance to retaliate against the class across the hall, who barged into our room one day dancing to the annoyingly catchy Friday song. Oh well.
It's only been two school weeks since I left, and even though I've immediately embraced the go-to-bed-late-wake-up-by-noon lifestyle, I miss the kids and I miss the teachers I worked with. But I have a pile of hastily made glitter cards and a signed T-shirt to remember the experience by, and hopefully I'll get to visit some time before the year is over.
In any case, I'm now a Wellesley grad, living a boring life, waiting to find out if I passed my MTEL and get to become a licensed teacher. It seems a bit surreal that I'll never need to drive back to Wellesley again, or take a class there. The other day, trying to find my way to an office I'd never been to, I found myself back in the writing department, looking down a hallway I'd had many classes in, and feeling a little sad. The Wellesley bubble seems impenetrable when you're in it, but now, just like that, it's gone. I don't think I fully embraced the feeling of leaving everything until I was driving home for the last time, after graduation. My commencement speaker told us that there would come a September morning when we would wake up and miss it...miss going to new classes and receiving a new syllabus. I think I'm already ahead of schedule.
I guess it's just time I get a job, write that epic novel, and become someone worthy of Wellesley. Piece of cake, right?
Some people, who would remain anonymous if the few people who read this didn't know each other, have told me I should not let my little blog die. So after months and months of absence, lets see if revival is possible.
I'd say my life these past few months has been uninteresting and unbloggable, but I absolutely loved teaching sixth grade and every day was at least a little different. It's funny looking back at the little I did blog here about my student teaching, because the last time I was here, I was trying desperately to learn 85 names. I'm sure you've been dying to know this, but yes, I did successfully learn who everyone was. I even learned last names! And distinguished between the repeated "Bens," "Matts," and variations on Katherine. Can someone please cue the Sweet Victory song?
I also managed to teach an entire unit by myself! Although my mentor teacher supplied me with a lot of materials and advice. But it was kind of neat to become the teacher. And make judgement calls like, "Yes, you can go to the library because you forgot your independent reading book," or "No, you can't go to your locker to get your reading journal. Just use lined paper." Exciting, right? I even taught young, impressionable minds how to write a five paragraph essay...and then graded those five paragraph essays. I also got to come up with some great reason why watching the Pixar short "For the Birds" was relevant and necessary to a decision making lesson. (It's totally educational! Just watch it!)
The only regret I have--yes there is one, because life is not perfect--is that I never let my FLEX period class create their own flash mob dance to retaliate against the class across the hall, who barged into our room one day dancing to the annoyingly catchy Friday song. Oh well.
It's only been two school weeks since I left, and even though I've immediately embraced the go-to-bed-late-wake-up-by-noon lifestyle, I miss the kids and I miss the teachers I worked with. But I have a pile of hastily made glitter cards and a signed T-shirt to remember the experience by, and hopefully I'll get to visit some time before the year is over.
In any case, I'm now a Wellesley grad, living a boring life, waiting to find out if I passed my MTEL and get to become a licensed teacher. It seems a bit surreal that I'll never need to drive back to Wellesley again, or take a class there. The other day, trying to find my way to an office I'd never been to, I found myself back in the writing department, looking down a hallway I'd had many classes in, and feeling a little sad. The Wellesley bubble seems impenetrable when you're in it, but now, just like that, it's gone. I don't think I fully embraced the feeling of leaving everything until I was driving home for the last time, after graduation. My commencement speaker told us that there would come a September morning when we would wake up and miss it...miss going to new classes and receiving a new syllabus. I think I'm already ahead of schedule.
 |
| Wellesley grads |
I guess it's just time I get a job, write that epic novel, and become someone worthy of Wellesley. Piece of cake, right?
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Responsibilities are scary.
What am I doing right now, you ask? I'm grading things! How strange. It is an odd feeling to know you have some control over a child's success (only some! They're the ones doing or not doing the work, after all...). Right now I'm grading the packets my classes have completed over the past few weeks for the novel they just read. It's a lot to go through, and I take about twice as long as my mentor teacher, although I take twice as long as him in anything we are grading, really. But that's just thanks to experience.
I also have to finish planning for a lesson on cyber bullying I'm giving tomorrow. This stuff is so serious and the kids know it, but it's hard to really know if they're prepared to fight against it. I did an activity today with my group where I split them based on the kind of shirt they were wearing, and then had them compete against each other in a trivia game. Only I made one group stand in the back and ignored them, or gave them 1 point for a correct answer, and gave the other group 500 points every time they got an answer right. About half way through the group in the back realized I was "bullying" them. And only at the end when we discussed how the activity made everyone feel did the praised group realize they could have stood up for the group in the back, and refused to play until the rules were fair. I guess you could say that happens a lot in real life too.
In other news, this weekend was full of music, food, and football, which was lovely, until the Patriots lost the Superbowl. Sigh.
But on Friday, Amanda came over and we saw Jack's Mannequin with Randi, which was great (minus the standing for hours and dancing girls in front of us).
Amanda and I proceeded to consume Thai food, JP Licks ice cream, brunch, free Burger King onion rings (what a brilliant idea, BK), and Pinkburry fro yo all in a 24 hour period. Yum yum yum. Life is good. And delicious.
I also have to finish planning for a lesson on cyber bullying I'm giving tomorrow. This stuff is so serious and the kids know it, but it's hard to really know if they're prepared to fight against it. I did an activity today with my group where I split them based on the kind of shirt they were wearing, and then had them compete against each other in a trivia game. Only I made one group stand in the back and ignored them, or gave them 1 point for a correct answer, and gave the other group 500 points every time they got an answer right. About half way through the group in the back realized I was "bullying" them. And only at the end when we discussed how the activity made everyone feel did the praised group realize they could have stood up for the group in the back, and refused to play until the rules were fair. I guess you could say that happens a lot in real life too.
In other news, this weekend was full of music, food, and football, which was lovely, until the Patriots lost the Superbowl. Sigh.
But on Friday, Amanda came over and we saw Jack's Mannequin with Randi, which was great (minus the standing for hours and dancing girls in front of us).
Amanda and I proceeded to consume Thai food, JP Licks ice cream, brunch, free Burger King onion rings (what a brilliant idea, BK), and Pinkburry fro yo all in a 24 hour period. Yum yum yum. Life is good. And delicious.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
PB&J and cake
Whoa, today was long. At school from 7:15 to 2:45, then in class from 3:50 to 5:50. But now I am done. My next task is dinner. I have already perused the dining hall selection, and ended up leaving with nothing but fruit: three apples, two bananas, and one orange. I'll probably make myself a sandwich. I have rediscovered my love of peanut butter and jelly now that I pack my own lunch every day. Thank god I love this sandwich. I suppose one day I will branch out and buy lunch meats. I'm still getting the hang of Roche Bros. I go in there and wander around like a lost lamb because I don't know where anything is. Plus the entrance leads you right into the bakery, and I find myself slowing down as I walk by the cake counter.
For now, I live life on pb&j.
Today was a good day. Lots of laughs with my other team teachers (the science, social studies, and math teachers). Had some good discussions with small groups. Every day I'm impressed with the students' ability to have class discussions, because I know that longer discussions on novels aren't always successful until later in high school or even college. But the kids impress me with their insights, and especially with the engagement they show with the story. Many a debate has sparked in these classes. It's fun to listen to.
I'm starting to work more one on one with various students, especially those who are behind in work. It is nice to get to know particular students, especially the students who might cause more frustration because of how behind they are. As a teacher I am determined not to hold grudges against any student, and I am learning that you cannot judge the students on only one aspect of their work ability. It has been quite interesting and eye opening to be on the other side of education (other than being a student or hearing my parents' opinions), because I have seen already how hard these teachers work to help every student succeed, and I have also come to know many of the more personal reasons as to why certain students are missing work. It's been tough realizing that as a teacher, there is only so much you can do during the day with the student. But as my mentor teacher has told me, despite anything going on at home with these kids, the best we can do for them is give them a good education.
On a different note, this past weekend Amanda, Julie, and I made butterbeer cupcakes! The recipe was inspired by the butterbeer drink from Harry Potter World, which essentially tastes like butterscotch soda. Very sweet. The cupcake batter actually smelled more like frosting. Although the cake itself did not come out too sweetly. The frosting definitely tasted very sweet, so it was a nice balance. And on top of all that goodness (literally), we drizzled butterscotch ganache, as well as attempted to add butterscotch ganache filling. Next time we'll get that technique down a little better. But they were DELICIOUS! I want another.
For now, I live life on pb&j.
Today was a good day. Lots of laughs with my other team teachers (the science, social studies, and math teachers). Had some good discussions with small groups. Every day I'm impressed with the students' ability to have class discussions, because I know that longer discussions on novels aren't always successful until later in high school or even college. But the kids impress me with their insights, and especially with the engagement they show with the story. Many a debate has sparked in these classes. It's fun to listen to.
I'm starting to work more one on one with various students, especially those who are behind in work. It is nice to get to know particular students, especially the students who might cause more frustration because of how behind they are. As a teacher I am determined not to hold grudges against any student, and I am learning that you cannot judge the students on only one aspect of their work ability. It has been quite interesting and eye opening to be on the other side of education (other than being a student or hearing my parents' opinions), because I have seen already how hard these teachers work to help every student succeed, and I have also come to know many of the more personal reasons as to why certain students are missing work. It's been tough realizing that as a teacher, there is only so much you can do during the day with the student. But as my mentor teacher has told me, despite anything going on at home with these kids, the best we can do for them is give them a good education.
On a different note, this past weekend Amanda, Julie, and I made butterbeer cupcakes! The recipe was inspired by the butterbeer drink from Harry Potter World, which essentially tastes like butterscotch soda. Very sweet. The cupcake batter actually smelled more like frosting. Although the cake itself did not come out too sweetly. The frosting definitely tasted very sweet, so it was a nice balance. And on top of all that goodness (literally), we drizzled butterscotch ganache, as well as attempted to add butterscotch ganache filling. Next time we'll get that technique down a little better. But they were DELICIOUS! I want another.
Julie drizzling the butterscotch ganache.
I also figured since I never got around to blogging my way through my choir Portugal tour, I will give you little pictures or stories of the day. Or something. Who knows. In any case, since I'm talking about food, here's a shot of a delicious Portuguese pastry:
Yum. So good. It was a crispy crust with custard inside and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. And warm from the ovens. We ate these tasty treats at a very famous cake shop called Pasteis de Belem. Here's a great video about the cafe (in English!): Check it out!
And in case you miss it in the video, they sell TEN THOUSAND of those custard tarts daily.
And in case you miss it in the video, they sell TEN THOUSAND of those custard tarts daily.
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