So what happens when you rip your husband apart for mixing soy mayonnaise and medium green salsa with a fish taco?  You get the same raging stomach problems he gets.  Even though you didn't have the fish tacos.  Ugh....  Barely made it home form my nephew's birthday party yesterday before getting sick...  I don't know what the heck we ate, but crackers are all that is passable for now.  And I can't call out over the next two days due to testing.  So the Brioschi stays in the lunch bag.

We went to the NYC Anarchist Book Fair on Saturday.  There were barely any zines and fewer tables, at least it seemed that way to us.  But there were many good books to peruse.  I bought a few:  A Howard Zinn piece on artists at times of war; a semi-autobiographical piece by the singer of a band I like; something on the cold war; and one I have been meaning to get for awhile - Hey Shorty - a book on how girls can combat sexism and harassment in and out of school.  There were so many good looking books on education.  It is refreshing to see the independent world getting into the topic of education.  For so long it was just viewed as another means of indoctrination.  But it is not in the hands of the right people.  I see being a teacher as a way of empowering my students, and that idea seems to be getting some legs.  I must find these books in the library so I know which ones are worth buying.

Today was a bit rough.  All through the day I was getting sharp stomach pains.  I was supposed to help my friend with the last of her moving, then go to a very important town meeting.  Both of those are out.  I sit here with Millie on my lap.  Typing.  I can only move my upper body with my normal speed.  I couldn't walk my normal speed at all today.  I hated it.  I can't stand slowness.....  And then hubby says he is still not 100%.  Darn germ carrier....

Goodies

So a former student is arranging a massive donation of equipment from his college.  They decommissioned the big darkroom and we are getting the enlargers and possibly timers and station furniture!  I was there until 5 o'clock on Friday looking at the stuff and talking.  What an eye opener into that program.   Oof.....

I have one hell of a week....

Today, curriculum revision, faculty meeting, then helping my friend move more of her stuff out of her place.

Tomorrow, another three hour slot on my old college radio station.  Listen at WMSC 90.3 FM from 4-7.  I loaded all the vinyl onto CD yesterday so it will be at least 50% music originally from vinyl - they have no turntables.  So excited to have another three hour slot.  I guess they like my music.  Tee hee... The guy who does the schedule said he liked what I was playing and he's a DJ.  Maybe if the Loop in Passaic needs a fill in, I could do it.  That's where he DJ's sometimes.

Then a political meeting on Wednesday.  A guy ran for Alderman in our town and can't even make it to the meetings.  So we have to find a challenger.

Then an ScIP meeting on Thursday.  The department has some concerns I have to bring up....  I doubt they will like that, but, hey, that's why I am on this team.

Then a former student coming on Friday, if I can still stand and stay awake.

Then on Saturday, the Anarchist Book Fair in NYC.  I can't discuss my politics....  But it is a great place to get independently published works, see art, talk to people, and other stuff.  So many zines and books from good presses.

And last, on Sunday, my nephew's second birthday party.  I do not like my brother-in-law's family and I have a hard time hiding my feelings.  My sister recommended I attend the kids' party in the am.  I like that group better and I know two of the parents.  They a better people.

Phew....  I have no idea how I will manage, but I will.  Millie will not be happy, but I will make up the lost time with her.

Highlight

Last week's special moment.... A student who stopped talking to me for two days because he hated digital so much said there were some cool things that could be done in Photoshop.  Once he gave it a go, he liked what he saw.  Yay!!!

Then it was a rotten Thursday.  I am meticulous when I prep the work for Art Show.  I cut each matte to size for the individual photo.  Then I pile them paired with their mattes so when I assign students to tape the work into the matte, they just grab a set and tape.  Some(one) did not do that, grabbed willy nilly form the pile and messed the whole shebang up.   UGH.  Then I hit the worst traffic on the way home from picking up the cameras.  I despise driving in this area and that commute made it so bad.  I woke up the next morning, showered and just did not feel right.  I have been feeling wildly exhausted to the point of feeling dizzy.  So I called out.  Badly needed.

Then I spent the next two days working like crazy in the garden.  I have so many little weeds to pull from the grass before hubby mows the lawn.  I don't want the tops just lopped off.  I want to pull the weed.  They are those little tree sprouty thingys.  My arthritic finger is so swollen and sore today.  But, damn, the garden is looking good!  I am hoping my seeds are in the mail today.  Must get those babies started in the basement.  Still too cold to plant outside.

Adjusting

I am not doing a good job of adjusting to being back in the states.  We went to Paris for Easter break.  We spent the week traipsing from museum to museum and I did my usual church hunting.  I managed to see the major ones I missed the other times - Saint Eustache, Saint Sulpice, Saint Germain des Pres, and others.  I walking in on a service at a Polish church and made my escape when everyone knelt.  (Hey, at least I didn't get myself locked into one this time.  That was Prague.)  I finally saw the epic organ at Saint Eustache.  I saw bone relics, candle wax stained walls, one of the few intact rood screens left in France, and oh so many other great things.  I did not make it to any of the cemeteries but I did see tombstones at the Musee de Moyen Age.  I was in Middle Ages heaven!  Unicorn tapestries, original sculptures and stained glass from various cathedrals, daily objects, devotional items, and illuminated manuscripts.The third time at the Louvre and I am still nowhere near done getting through that place.  I meant to find the Nike of Samothrace and the Code of Hammurabi, but ran out of steam. But man, there are so many Medieval objects there too.  We went to the Musee d'Orsay and saw a super Gustav Dore show and a Vincent van Gogh/Antonin Artaud exhibit.  Sooooo many Art Nouveau items there too.  Then there were the photography exhibits.  One was just utter crap.  This guy thought he was going to be the next David Bowie in the glam era.  He was just a legend in his own mind.  At lease hubby and I were not the only ones chuckling.  Then there were some amazing ones.  A few were commentary on contemporary issues.  One was this phenomenal body of work.  The man and the documentation do not specify his alternative process other than the fact that it involves brushing the light sensitive medium onto papers.  So many ideas for work.

We went to parks galore - everything was in bloom.  I love when I travel abroad and see that much of what I grow is grown in Europe.  I can't stand seeing the same garbage in every garden here - Stella d'Oro daylilies, Russian sage, blah, blah, blah.  I was super excited to see a preponderance of irises just like the purple ones I have.  The same beards, coloring, and lack of ruffles.  And many other things.  All the bulbs were in bloom - just the daffodils and hyacinths were past.  The Luxembourg Gardens, Jardin des Plantes (with a peek at the just re-opened zoo and some wallabies), the medicinal gardens at the Musee de Moyen Age, and their version of the High Line.  This was so nice.  More enclosed and intimate and runs past all these amazing 1800's apartment buildings.  Yes, we tried to peek into apartments.  How could we not?

We made it to the catacombs.  Tip:  get in line at 9.00 am for the 10.00 am opening or you will be in line for over 3 hours.  We had the best apple pastry I have ever had in my life.  Flakey, light, warm.  Then the excitement.  Over six million people are down there.  This is not the result of killings and dumpings.  This was done methodically and with reverence for the dead.  The burial grounds they came from are noted with stone plaques.  There is a rustic chapel down there.  They say it is a 45 minute visit.  Only if you don't care where you are.  We took an hour and forty-five minutes.  And that could have been extended if we weren't getting hungry.

Then we spent Easter day with family.  That is a large part of the problem we are having in adjusting.  It is one thing to visit a place and get an idea of what life is like by observing and reading locals stuff.  But going to someone's house and talking to the people who live there - of multiple generations - is eye-opening.  I met a host of cousins I had never met before.  My mom's cousin was as hospitable as ever.  He drove us around the towns, told us stuff.  And he does not speak English.  Hubby said I did very well with my French.  I vow to do better.  Much better.  We learned a great deal over the course of the day, from Biagio, his two adult kids, and their kids.

One example:  no one took out a cell phone at the table during dinner or dessert.  No one.  The five kids there were teenagers up through nineteen years old.  We had also noticed a lack of cell phones out at tables in restaurants over the course of the week.  Biagio bemoans the growing lack of respect in France.  If he came here, he would be disgusted.  The children and parents seemed to get along differently.  I have had no patience for the cell phone crap in school at all this past week.  I have mentioned the lack of respect to almost every class.  I did get through to one person.  He called me over on Friday to apologize for his behavior this week.

In the museums, we saw people of all types - old, young, artsy, frumpy - taking in the art.  No whining children who hated being in a place of culture.  One very young kid was working on a beautiful sketch.  People took their time adoring, studying, reading, sketching....  People were in the museums and clearly loved and appreciated what they were looking at, not looking to check off another item from their "bucket list."  I was told there is a respect for the history.  I had a hunch, but this time it was confirmed.

And here I am trying to get my students to appreciate what we teachers are passing on to them, trying to drive to and from work without being terrorized by some frustrated middle aged man in a testosterone-fueled gas guzzling vehicle who thinks I should be driving over 65 in the right lane because it's his right as an American to speed and ride my butt.  But why is this even necessary?  Why don't people respect each other?  When a car overtakes my dad while driving in Italy, there was no malicious intent.  It was just "I want to go faster, so I will pass you."  No aggression, no anger.  Why can't a kid (and the parent for that matter) understand that when we are in a classroom together, that is time for us to pay 100% attention to each other, not some wireless device?

I'm done ranting.  I'll just keep dreaming of a better life filled with courtesy and respect.  Someday, I will find it.  But not here, sadly.

Break

I don't know how we did it, but we (teachers and students) made it to Spring vacation without ripping each other's hair out.  I ranted about the non-education field people moaning about "another vacation"  for the teachers on facebook, so I won't here.  I would like to thank the kids for toughing it out with us.  We bickered a bit, but I think we will all be back to normal when we return.

I have almost finished packing.  Mom has a gift for me to bring to her cousin.  Hubby and I am going to Paris.  Mom has some cousins who live there and I am meeting up with one of them.  I was going to maybe meet up with another one, but nixed that.  Too much to pack in to the week.  My French is no better than it was two months ago.  Sigh....  I can read a French magazine but speaking?  Ugh.

I am also dying my hair right now.  Two inches of grey roots would not cut it for me anymore.  I think I should be able to claim the hair dye as a work expense.  Oh, and the damaged clothes from all the chemical stains.

Yesterday was amazing weather.  I was outside shredding leaves like a beast.  The yard looks great.  I have to order some seeds and might get more medicinal herbs too.  So sick of the medicine that only exacerbates other issues.  My hips hurt and now I seem to have massive arthritis in my right pointer finger.  It's stiff, swollen and cracks like crazy.  This has been about a year.  And it is a major weed pulling finger.  When I garden, I use the tool in my left hand and my right hand does the dirty work.  Maybe I can find a good natural treatment in Paris.  The best poison ivy/plant allergy cream we ever found was at Boots in the UK, so why the heck not?

Packed cameras:  Canon DSLR, Yashica covert 35mm for shooting on the fly, & the Holga.
Film:  Kodak Portra 120mm in 160 and 400 ISO, Ilford HP5 35mm, and random Kodak and Fuji 35mm expired rolls from sister.
Sketch book for random ideas
Hell yeah, I am ready.

Dirt

Spent a few hours outside today.  It was colder and windier than we expected.  The leaves were hard to control.  My finger nails and finger tips are filthy.  It is fabulous!  I pulled off the carpet of leaves from under and around the grape arbour and under the mulberry tree.  Most of the front is uncovered.  Even with gloves on I had to pull out about a dozen cactus needles form my fingers.  I have an itchy feeling that I am allergic to them now.

The bulbs are coming up beautifully.  I am just dying to be gardening every sunny day.  The deer have eaten some of the tulip leaves behind the pool, but that's ok.  They get hungry.  However, it looks like they carpet bombed the backyard with poop again.  Yikes.

I follow this British gal on facebook.  She's a gardener.  She and all the other Brits are talking about their progress.  All I could contribute was that there was snow in the forecast not too long ago.  I think they pitied me in this zone 6 (yeah, micro climate up here on the hill).

Happy thought for the week:

A Photo II student told me how much she loved the zine assignment.  This was Monday.  She said that when I introduced it, she was confused and lost.  But after getting it, she loves it.  Thank goodness!!!  That is precisely what I was going for.  I wanted to introduce something so new and foreign to them that they would be absolutely perplexed.  Zine culture in itself is so totally unknown at PV.  But through their explorations, they come to understand it and like it.  So the assignment as well as the medium is a cultural exploration.  Hooray for the road trip of discovery!