Even in context while Michael was playing Montezuma being killed by Cortes and the Spanish explorers in their class play, it seemed like an awkward thing to say.
Almost as awkward as my student pronouncing the missionaries in our history book "Cath-oholics."
This morning I couldn't find my hairbrush, which is weird, since I am usually so organized and tidy and have everything in its place. (Former roommates, no comments please!) Then I saw it sitting on the table. As I went to grab it, I yanked my hand back with sudden shock as my brain recalculated the situation--comb/scissors/hair/disaster!! Turns out, instead of a green hair comb it was my green-handled pair of scissors. Even first thing in the morning, that's the kind of detail you can't let yourself overlook!
Now, hopefully I am not so spacey that I would actually try to comb my hair with a pair of scissors. But the experience was especially disconcerting because I had just woken up from a strange dream... like most dreams, I guess.... Last night in my dream I got this really great new job (I have no idea what it was, but in my dream, I was thrilled.). Unfortunately the next day I was certain I was going to get fired because somehow I had a really horrible haircut, and I didn't know how it happened. I just remember trying to hide my lopsided bangs from my boss, as we were talking face to face, knowing all along that I was doomed!
I hope that I will ever get fired from a job over my haircut (or wake up someday looking like a preschooler mistook my head for an art project. Or like I confused my hairbrush with a pair of scissors... who does that?), but still, the coincidence of having a hair "nightmare" and then brush with disaster seemed like kind of a freaky coincidence.
Even freakier, I also dreamed this week that I went home to see a friend who was getting married. We were on our way for me to meet the fiance when my friend commented that she had just met his other wife, who was "super nice." "Oh, so he's divorced?" I asked. "No." My friend replied, giving me a puzzled look, completely unphased by the fact that she was about to enter into matrimony with an already married man. In fact, no one in my dream seemed the least bit concerned with the situation. It was like everyone had suddenly gone crazy. I was the only sane one left. I knew I had to take things into my own hands! I met the guy, and he seemed nice enough. And I thought to my(dream)self, "He's a sweet guy. It's a pity I'm going to have to ruin his wedding. I hope my friends don't hate me forever for this!" I had no plan, but I had my certainty--THIS WEDDING MUST BE DESTROYED!
Dreams.... to be honest, I hope most of mine never come true!
the definition of foster I excitedly told them that to foster is to...
encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something regarded as good). To cherish, raise up, nurture...*
thinking they were extra engaged in the article we were reading and interested in learning some new vocabulary. Yay for English! They actually care!
Then one of them said "Oh cool. I was just wondering because there's this band called Foster the People."
Yeah, really? Too bad, "foster the minds of Spanish youth learning English" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Then maybe they'd listen to me too. Maybe.**
It's okay though, because Foster the People really does make good music. And now my students are practically guaranteed to remember at least one word we learned this year! Success!
Anyway, I haven't been as diligent about posting music this week as I originally intended (shocking I know). But I ran into this lovely song, "Ruby," by, have you guessed?? Why yes, that one group.. something akin to Encourage the Human Race, or was it, oh yeah! Foster the People. Yeah, them. Anyway, I love the song. And I thought I'd also add an acoustic version of some FosterthePeople favorites from NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series. If you're anything like my students (and me), you'll love it!
What else should I be listening to friends? I need your expertise!
*well, I'm sure I said something like that
because when you're an English teacher you're expected to know the exact definition of
I've been listening to some new (to me) music lately that I really enjoy. So this week I'll share a few songs/artists with you, my dear friends. Maybe you already know them, maybe not. Either way I hope you enjoy listening! Also, please feel free to share some of your own favorites too (new or old, really)!!! I'm in a new music mode. I'm bored of my current tunes and looking for something fresh. So, first up:
Paloma Faith
The other day I randomly came across the Paloma Faith's single "Picking up the Pieces" from her album "Fall to Grace" coming out next week. She's rather quirky, and has a strong, unique voice. Her songs are fairly upbeat but also soulful. I like the retro feel of the music and her voice (and her costumes/hair/makeup). In all, I quite enjoy her and her songs. Hope you do too!! Here are a couple to try out...
Just as soon as I get these few pending "things" out of the way, I will turn off my computer, finally.
First, this graduation speech. I guess it is a bit outdated (from 2008), but I saw someone post it, and the message is relevant now... whether you're a recent graduate or not. It's insightful, funny and basically an admonition to live life fully and meaningfully.
Next: food. I was reading about brilliant ways people are bringing fresh produce and other healthy food options to "food deserts." Food deserts aren't literal deserts, but instead locations (such as in urban areas or very rural settings) that are devoid of supermarkets and thus lack adequate access to healthy foods and fresh produce. With the many issues facing Americans health-wise (obesity, heart problems, etc.) many people are working hard to make fresh food accessible in these areas. I think it is fantastic. My one qualm is that food habits also need to be broken--selling the food is the first and most important step, but if people have lived their whole lives without healthy options, chances are they might also lack some knowledge about what the best choices are and how to prepare these food items. Maybe a thought for the future.
While I was reading the article about food deserts, I also happened across this article about ways we can make food production safer, healthier and more sustainable. It has some great ideas! (Can you tell I LOVE FOOD!)
Finally, please enjoy this song. I first heard it when watching the film "Innocent Voices" about the civil war in El Salvador. I love the movie, and from time to time this song comes back to me. I hope you enjoy
They say that if you rinse your hair in cold water after a shower it will be shinier.
The thing is, when I tried it I realized is that I have no chance whatsoever of holding up under torture. I can't even handle standing in a cold shower for three seconds.
Why that was the thought that came to my mind, I'm not sure, but I couldn't get the image of Jennifer Garner in her TV series Alias out of my mind. Do you remember that show? I used to watch it with my mom and I remember enjoying it. Now, reflecting back (with my vague and possibly inaccurate memories of the show) I can't quite recall the appeal. In fact, in recent years I have become exceptionally averse to most forms of violence on TV or in movies. I make exceptions when I feel the film or documentary has a particularly important and thoughtful message, but I at times find myself repulsed by action films and super-hero movies. To me they seem so careless; so crude and ugly and sad. Often these films seem to trivialize the real effects of violence, conflict and war. They tend to paint good and evil in clear opposition to one another; everything is black and white. Sometimes we even want people to die, or we don't think twice when there are people left injured or killed on the sidelines. For me it's all rather sickening.
I can't recall exactly when or why my view of these depictions started changing. Probably about the time I went to college and just a small piece of the protective bubble of privilege I have always lived within lifted to show me something of what reality looks like outside of my own little world. And the more I read and see and learn the less entertaining violence becomes and the more upsetting it is, even if it is just "pretend." Because I know that often these films are nonchalantly depicting horrors that really happen. Or if not, they are showing violence in such a casual manner that it seems like a slap in the face to every man, woman and child who has truly suffered--whether it be from war or genocide, rape or domestic abuse, or any act of hatred or anger or meanness. It doesn't seem funny or entertaining or glamorous anymore. It turns my stomach and makes me morn for the society we live in that can turn a blind eye to real suffering and then, for financial gain, use stories of violence as a form of entertainment.
I know sometimes I take things too far. I can be a stick-in-the-mud and read too much into things. But I think sometimes, too, we don't read enough into things. We don't think enough about what we see and hear and read and learn. We disconnect from reality and let ourselves pretend that everything is well. And lets be honest, we all know it's not. I promise, teaching a teenagers is a great way to be reminded yourself of how gloomy things can potential be (the little downers!). Yet in truth I am really hopeful for the world and for society. Even though I am disappointed that the progress and advances in our societies have often only led to more destructive weapons and wars; to new kinds of dominance and oppression; to greater disparities between the rich and the poor.
But I don't think it has to be that way. I don't think we are destined to be hateful and selfish and violent. We have a choice and I believe that we can, and I hope that we will, change for the better. It comes down to the decisions we make and the way we choose to see the world and those we share it with. It comes down to how much we are willing to change and adapt in the name of the better good. I think in some ways we are going to be forced to change in the near future. But I hope we will also choose to change because we care about the world we live in and we see others as equally valuable as ourselves.
Anyway, that's what the kind of thing you think when you freeze your brain in the shower in the hopes of shinier hair. It's dangerous business.
When I was in Oporto I heard a great Portuguese song, the subsequent search for which led me to this song, which I am now obsessed with.
It is actually Brazilian. Which reminds me that I drank some delicious Maracuyá juice yesterday at a Turkish Kebab place. Maracuyá grows in Brazil, as do many delicious fruits. And I now want nothing more than to move to Brazil, eat delicious tropical fruit, explore the rain forest, soak up some sun at the beach and listen to good music!!
... as long as they come from excessive amounts of laughter (or possibly excessive consumption of chocolate.. but that's another story*.)
Now, what you may or may not know about me is that I have an exceptional sense of humor. In fact, if you say something and I don't laugh, I can pretty much promise you it wasn't funny and never will be. And I feel bad for you, because I find most things funny.
I also really enjoy funny people. I have quite a few really hilarious friends (and I love them SO MUCH!). Just today I read three clever blog posts in a row (1,2,3), and I thought, "Gosh I'm lucky! I know so many funny people who make my life super great!"
But then I started getting a little depressed. Because while I am quite proud of my spectacular ability to appreciate humor, I also rather bemoan that fact that I don't have quite the same talent for creating laughter that I witness in my wittier friends. And I'll be honest, I hate them a little bit for it....
But anyway, the point of this post is, whether I am lucky or lacking, I love laughing! Thus, I'm sharing with you what those witty women wrote (see 1,2,3 above) and I hope you enjoy it (if you don't, I feel sorry for you)!
*Also, the real reason my side hurts is because I bought a large bag of peanut butter M&M's for lunch today because I was in a hurry, and also, I really wanted them, and I've eaten almost all of them over the past 4 hours.
(and I think they love me too--one time i was talking to someone by the HBLL library and a butterfly just came over and landed on my hand. And once in Guatemala about a dozen of them came and landed on me while I was lying in the sun--apparently they thought the flowers on my swimsuit were real. (and also, they really love me.) it was basically the coolest thing that has ever happened to me!)
Butterflies are so delicate and graceful and beautiful and gentle. Perhaps a bit aloof, but they seem generally friendly. They are, I think, a happy insect. And they're pollinators. Since I love flowers too I am extra grateful to butterflies for their elegant usefulness!
So today I'm sharing this article about Vladimir Nabokov's theories on butterflies, which have recently been confirmed. Quite interesting! Also, as a lover of literature, I feel that i have a double connection to Nabokov.
today the wind blew up with the sound of a tempest raging over the city, threatening to tear roofs from buildings and uproot trees and as i watched the trees bending and bowing under the ghastly strength of the wind and listened to the storm blast around outside, blowing open the door and seeming strong enough to sweep any unfortunate pedestrian off her destabilized feet, suddenly sirens and horns began to call as ambulances went whirring by and i was filled with a sudden anxiety creeping up to make me imagine scenes of destruction and woe--tornadoes raged across Provo and torrential rains left our city soggy beneath the deep flood waters that would grow higher and higher and i wasn't scared at all, but excited. and of course i never thought we'd have such adventures, but i wished they would come, masochistically or "savagely," perhaps. and i thought maybe my childhood enjoyment of Mary Poppins blowing in on a storm clinging to her ever handy umbrella or Dorothy being whisked away to Oz in a funnel of dust and debris has fostered in me romantic ideas of such natural phenomena. But then, perhaps storms are always romantic. and mysterious. and opptunities for adventure and an almost magical separation from reality. . .
so now, sitting at my desk watching the dark sky cloud with dust and seeing leaves shaking and scattering from the trees, i felt akin to G.K. Chesterton and his optimistic views of such things. if i'm crazy, at least i'm not alone!
"I feel an almost savage envy on hearing that London has been flooded in my absence, while I am in the mere country. My own Battersea has been, I understand, particularly favoured as a meeting of the waters. Battersea was already, as I need hardly say, the most beautiful of human localities. Now that it has the additional splendour of great sheets of water, there must be something quite incomparable in the landscape (or waterscape) of my own romantic town. Battersea must be a vision of Venice. The boat that brought the meat from the butcher’s must have shot along those lanes of rippling silver with the strange smoothness of the gondola. The greengrocer who brought cabbages to the corner of the Latchmere Road must have leant upon the oar with the unearthly grace of the gondolier. There is nothing so perfectly poetical as an island; and when a district is flooded it becomes an archipelago.
"Some consider such romantic views of flood or fire slightly lacking in reality. But really this romantic view of such inconveniences is quite as practical as the other. The true optimist who sees in such things an opportunity for enjoyment is quite as logical and much more sensible than the ordinary “Indignant Ratepayer” who sees in them an opportunity for grumbling."
I'm easily embarrassed. and I embarrass myself often.
Today I sat down at a computer at school with no intention whatsoever of doing something productive or in any way related to my education. Rather, I just wanted to listen to music on before my class and I've misplaced my iPod (a usual dilemma, as the girls who work in the lost and found could probably attest to, though I try to hit it up at different times of day whenever I go so no one will realize its me, again). So I sat down and put on these headphones that were sitting next to the computer conveniently. In my delight I began playing some tunes and I found this song on another blog and was happily listening along, flipping back to my emails and checking out other blogs when I removed the headphones momentarily to adjust them.
That's when I realized...
I wasn't hearing the music coming from the headphones. I was hearing the music through the headphones which was actually playing quite loudly from the computer itself. Ooops.
Face flushing with heat I quickly stopped old Billy and looked around to see how many people I had been disrupting. Then with a slightly abashed grin I pulled up my blog to document the incident at the very scene of the crime (accidentally restarting the song twice before getting the headphones properly attached to the computer... what can I say. I'm not tech savvy).
Just another day in the life...
And just a suggestion to the BYU computer labs: don't leave headphones lying uselessly next to computers with the volume turned way up on the computer speakers. Unless you are trying to get funny footage for one of those hidden camera shows that is. Then you're probably on the right track. You might get more for your buck if you just followed me around for a day though!
It has to do with the fact that I don't want to be obsessed... and it is oh so easy to get caught up. At least for me.
Last night we watched"Glee" in my apartment. And I liked it. And the music was quite good. But then...
Today I found myself wondering what was going to happen to Rachel, and if she would figure out that this evil James kid was a lying jerk, and if she would date this other boy Finn (I think that's his name).
I was actually worriedabout a fictional character on TV.
I am not okay with this. I love to be enveloped by stories--that is one of the joys of reading good literature. But TV is different-
it pulls you in and then. . . you are a slave to its time schedule and you buy the seasons and watch them over and over and then your brain turns to mush!
I've seen it happen to too many people to fall for that trap!
ok. ok. that may be a slight exaggeration, but I still don't want to get sucked into the world of TV series. I escaped it after two seasons of "The Office" and I will escape "Glee" too. The truth is, I just don't have the time. There are just too many other things I want to do!
Don't you just LOVE "That Thing You Do"? Here's a little taste...
I'm pretty sure I've been in love with Guy Patterson and wanted to be Faye since the first time I saw this movie! I can't help it! Here are a couple great scenes...
Yes!
And for those of you who, like me, are getting a little bogged down with the end of the semester and finals prep, I hope this abbreviated version is just enough to lift your spirits so you can hit those books with a smile. Or at least it gave you an excuse to procrastinate, right?
So I am getting antsy again- it's the travel bug. My roommate Rachel says it's the warm weather that does it, but for me it's something else. It's a kind of fear or nervousness; an anxiety that creeps up on me; the constant hand of time reminding me that with every passing day, every moment, I'm getting closer to the end...
the end of my days at BYU the end of an incredible five years the end of life in park place 2 the end of studying and not studying the end of plans security comfort the end of knowing what to expect in the next weeks months years the end of a kind of freedom from adulthood or responsibility and maybe even the inevitable end of my life.
And I'm not ready yet! there is still so much to see...
run through the sprinklers with warm grass tickling the soles of my bare feet blow bubbles that reflect prisms in the sunlight dive into a bright blue pool and relish the slight chill of the water against my skin in contrast to the scalding surrounding air skip two months ahead and pretend that it will bring me paradise fall back in time and be five years old in my backyard and know that everything in the world will be okay
if I can just stay in this moment a little longer.
