smorgasboard o' snark

Was going to find some clever Leap Day info to post, but was side-tracked by the following cartoons/sayings:

hip, hip, hooray

had my annual professional review today and passed with rave reviews.  Nice to hear as it's been a challenging academic year for several reasons.

Yeah me!

scenic sunday

Yeah!  The omelet didn't break; Julia would be proud.

Explored a new area of town and delighted by these whimsical stone creations.

The sun is gone by now and we're awaiting flakes o' snow!

je me suis amusé aujourd'hui

 Only slightly true.

 teeny signs of spring, despite snow thinking about showing up this weekend.

Drummmmmm roll please; after five years of living sans insurance, my cards showed up in today's post.  Feel lucky that I've been so healthy during that stretch of uninsured living.

 & to celebrate this momentous occasion, decided to treat myself to these beloved childhood pens.  They still smell the same and delivered some wonderful Alaskan memories while sniffing.  (and yes, that is an incredibly awkward sentence; think that my English skills are going backwards right now.)

Trying to take a photo one-handed on the way back from town yielded this blurry little blossom.

holy toledo...

 how can it possibly be Friday already?  Surreal.  I would say that I want more hours in a day, but I know someone reality would expand and fill them.   Fell in love with this poem and as always, am happy to discover a poet-new-to-me.

Here's to looking sharp and staying balanced.

To live until we die—
The job seems just impossible.
The great weight of the past
Pushing us forward, the long future
Thrust out before us, and so little room to either side!
The least we can do is stay sober,
Look sharp. The thousand-foot ore boat
Slides through the ship canal
And eases beneath the bridge,
All engines thrumming,
Including the pilot's heart.

"The Thousand-foot Ore Boat" by Barton Sutter, from Farewell to the Starlight in Whiskey.

career advice

...and to ash you shall return

Perhaps this belt is a bit flippant, but am glad to be using Ash Wednesday as a chance to reboot some healthy eating habits.

a-chooooooo

Am delighted to be an English teacher again, will full license to run around and correct all the grammatical mistakes that I hear or read.  Have to watch myself or I begin to correct strangers I overhear on the ferry or in various lines during errand running.

sur le marché, la deuxième partie

picturesque path to the local market discovered today.

to market, to market

 Had no idea when I purchased Bookopoly at the Princeton Library Christmas Bazaar, that I would someday be using it to teach in Washington.

 But it turned out to be a brilliant way to introduce novel/literary vocabulary:  protagonist, narrator, genre, etc.  Plus, it is highly energizing for them to be able to use math skills in a language class.  Not to mention the rather feral urge in each of them to drive the others into bankruptcy.....

 Today's outing was to tour Seattle's Central Library and do a food scavenger hunt in Pike's Market.  It was wildly windy and hard to stand upright for most of the day.

 Success with a mini-cheesecake location.

Acme of the library.

 

poetic simplicity

It's been a good week with several mini-light-bulb moments of self-awareness.  And!  This is a delicious long weekend.  Many hours of slumber and reading stacks of library books ahead.  Bliss.

brain candy

Have been swooping about my classroom, shrieking with joy over this unexpected loot from my textbook supplier.  I had ordered four textbooks (a puny little order, I'm sure in their entire life) and as a result of our conversation, THIS stack arrived for me this morning.  GRATIS.

My students have been giggling over my great glee over books.  They don't understand, but hey, Teacher is happy, so let's celebrate.

roses are red, violets are blue...

on this day of over commercialized sentimental goop, it is good to remember that you can bring yourself flowers (you've a better chance at getting the ones you truly adore) and that it is okay to have a solitary toast to the wonderful being that is you.  Or at least, the path to wonderfulness that one is pursuing.   After all, as the fabulous Mr. Wilde said:

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

and best of all?  Tomorrow all those chocolates will be 50% off.

what do you do, be do dah?

whether? whither?

discovered these random compasses (compasi?) on an exploratory walk today.  Thought it was delightful as one of the poems I've on a post-it right now begins with:

"She wasn't where she had been.
She wasn't where she was going…but she was on her way."

Another surreal arts experience occurred yesterday in this alien new county.  I will draw a veil over it as I'm still rather horrified.

I've lived many places and among myriad cultures, but I cannot get a read on this current zip code.   It's not necessarily bad, but I've never felt so out-of-place.   A fish up a tree is the best way I can describe it.

But this fish finally got paid for January lessons, so there was a trip to the market and the first batch of cookies was whipped up in my new kitchen toy!  V. fun to use.  

And now to Monday....

master of fate

We are watching the film Invictus in 5th period; true story of the football team in South Africa when Mandela became President.  It's an inspiring story, an inspiring film and it is based on an inspiring poem and it has carried me through this week.  May you also be inspired.

    
 Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley 

appropos for island living

a little paper writing/editing humor...

In addition to our insane English grammar and cosmopolitan vocabulary, my students are also needing to learn how to format papers.  And I forget that EVERYTHING needs to be taught--from appropriate academic fonts to layout to saving in the correct paper size for our non-metric world.   

While they are, indeed, teenagers, I admire them so much for hopping across the globe to tackle high school in their second language.  The first vocab word I gave them this semester was 'courageous' from the old French 'coeur' because I told them they have strong hearts.

And on a whimsical note, I am focused on adding glitter--either metaphoric or literal--to my classroom and my routines.  V. important.

language play

As I require so much English vocabulary from my students (yes, that is indeed, the task for which I am paid), it seemed fair that they get to teach me words from their language.  Two of my sessions are with Chinese students only, so each day they choose a Mandarin word from something in my day to add to my stack of flashcards.

Friday's word was tang (soup) and today's was yang-guang which is sun.  And the lovely forceful way of pronouncing these words led to a zany little poem about sunny soup.    

Am not sure what grammar points my students will remember from this semester, but I know they are absorbing the fact that words can fun & friendly and there is far more to language that tedious recitations and rules.

opinions wanted

As the sun is finally shining and I was actually home during daylight hours, I snapped photos of the paint chips I have taped up around the place.  It's a bit ironic that I am now living with two of my most detested colours:  turquoise and lime green.  These need to disappear, post haste.

Right now, I am leaning towards the card on the left; if you know Behr paint, it is Cashmere.  I am also wanting to do the technique that is called chalk paint--makes furniture look aged--anyone ever use it and have advice?

The lightest shades on these cards are also contenders.

Here's a shot of the vile room.

Sadly, no amount of paint will turn it into my dream kitchen where most of a favorite movie (It's Complicated ) is shot, but at least a neutral tone will help step in that dream direction.

Another one--standing in front of the horrid cupboards and looking at the hideous curtains.

The nasty lime green shows up on the bathroom cupboards as well.

Am wanting to paint the bathroom a rich chocolate brown--toying with the idea of icy pink cupboards, but don't know if that would cover the icky green.

A long shot of the kitchen.  The living room just needs to be painted again--the place is rather shabby and was not treated well by the last tenants.  The guess room eventually will be raspberry (as dictated by the local princess nieces) and my room will probably be touched up as the current greyish lavender is okay.

That concludes the inside projects that are within my budget (and what's reasonable--this place needs to be razed and a new unit needs to be moved in); stay tuned for outside and yard projects and aspirations.