Music and Books.

Yup, I still write about things other than how happy I am .... just not as often as I should.

That being said, there are several albums that you need to pick up as soon as possible, as well as a few books which I really think are terrific.

Books;

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran - such a valuable piece of writing, truly flawless in it's genius
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk - yup, the Fight Club guy. Not a new book and a bit of an insane one (even in terms of his work) but a damn fine read and highly recommended.
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin - really been thinking about this one lately, such a great story about life after death.

Music;

Krishna Das -Pilgrim Heart - This reminds me of yoga and makes me realize how much I need to practice more often. A very good feeling.
Zac Brown - The Foundation - the guy who sings Chicken Fried is actually kinda smart (sometimes) and he has the single best love song I've heard in the last few years ("Whatever It Is").
The Weathermen - the Conspiracy - Supergroup of fellas I listen to these days (Cage, Yak Ballz, et. al) and they are putting out another album this year...with Aesop Rock officially in the group. Damn I'm excited about that.
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble - This album should never have ended because there is no way he can top something so beautiful (and his follow up was so pale in comparison).

I will bleed willingly and joyfully.

They say time flies when you are having fun. What does time do when you are in love? I don't know how to describe it although I might say that it blurs. I see things and experience things but they all have this little haze over them that puts a smile on my face whenever I think about it. It's not a blur makes me forget things, it's a blur that makes me giggle when I talk about it. It is a blur that makes me forget times I'm not with her. It's a blur that makes me act in a way I have literally never acted before. Sorry ladies. I love her. I feel equal to her, I feel she is her own amazing person who I respect so much and I just am thankful for every moment that I am fortunate enough to spend with her. Words don't describe how I feel for her yet Khalil Gibran does a pretty decent job explaining what my love for her feels like in 'The Prophet'. For those of you who have not read this book it is absolutely integral for anyone who aims to better themselves. Under one hundred pages and more valuable than most every other book written all together.

"Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate loves ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

I absolutely love my life.

Seriously, it doesn't even do it justice to just say it. I love everything about my life. I have the two coolest best friends ever, I have the coolest job working with the most amazing children ever. I am so incredibly thankful for everything.

He's Crafty! He's Always Down.

Maybe I'm not crafty like the lady in the Beastie Boys song (I've never actually stolen a skateboard - I don't even like skateboarding), but I'll be damaged if I'm not all sorts of crafty these days. With the help of trusty sidekick Beth Bathory (not sure sidekick is the right word since she regularly is more useful than I turn out to be....) I have gone craftinsane over the last few months. Here to review my own crafting is no one other than....me!



Screen printing - this is far easier than I could have ever imagined. I remember having a couple friends back in the day who made this seem lie the most intricate and tough project possible. Well, if that is the case I must just be an absolute genius because I have made over one hundred shirts in the past month. Yup, one hundred shirts. Sure, seventy of those were the exact same design (a Sir Isaac Newton t-shirt for every single one of my students - winter break gift), but they also included an absolutely amazing Aesop Rock one (courtesy of Bathory), a pretty spiffy M.I.A one (Get High Like Paper, Fly Like Planes - although that one was recently given away), an amazing Bladen McLaughling one (thanks again to Bathory....so much more skilled than I!), and then four ridiculous ones for the assorted Wilson's.

Really though all you need is a screen (can be purchased at AC Moore for less than $30 or made if you are at all an artist), a scraper (that's probably not what it is called but it's a piece of plastic you scrape the ink with - less than $4), an X-Acto (for cutting the designs out of paper - less than $6), some cardboard (free....?), some t-shirts (only $2 a piece at AC Moore), and a little bit of patience (if you are making huge batches of shirts). More than hard work though this has proven to just be a fun time, we even made labels for our new line of wine.
Which brings me to....

Wine making - Sure, this ain't Sonoma, and sure, what we made isn't going to taste that great, but we made wine! Yup, toilet wine, just like they do it in the Big House. I'm talking ten minutes of work for a gallon of wine. Now, our first line, known affectionately as 'Repeat Offender' was made in limited quantities but assuming Raleigh Way Winery doesn't go out of business as a result of this one you better believe we'll be makin' this hooch for the selling. The most fun aspect of this was naming it (almost was named Fifi which I can't in good conscious explain on this site). Good times, wanna try? Here is the recipe;

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 (12 fl. oz.) can frozen juice concentrate - any flavor except citrus, thawed
• 3 1/2 quarts cold water, or as needed

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the yeast, sugar and juice concentrate in a gallon jug. Fill the jug the rest of the way with cold water. Rinse out a large balloon, and fit it over the opening of the jug. Secure the balloon with a rubber band.

2. Place jug in a cool (but not cold) dark place (such as a closet). Within a day you will notice the balloon starting to expand. As the sugar turns to alcohol the gasses released will fill up the balloon. When the balloon is deflated back to size the wine is ready to drink. It takes about 6 weeks total.

Paper Making - I can't really take credit for this one, I didn't do any of the work except put the screen in the water and then catch the paper, sit and wait for it to dry and then peel it off of the screen. That part of the process was fun and incredibly simple though and the paper is really high quality and has so much more personality than regular paper (it is being used for the 'Repeat Offender' labels - only the best for our customers...). Thanks Victoria for the help with this!

Music making - Not sure if this is considered a craft per say but right before break I recorded a song that was god-awful (although thoughtful and meaningful) and I wrote another over break. I've recently been talking to an old musician friend who has expressed interest in doing some real recording with me so who knows, maybe someday this will actually be a craft which I don't blow at.

Card making - As I have stated over and over again, making a card at home means so very much more than purchasing some foolish card from a Hallmark store. Really, anyone who disagrees with me is a tool and has no heart and might not even be human. Sure, that seems a little rough but it is a scientific fact. The effort put forth in making a card speaks volumes about how someone feels about you and it is one of the nicest ways to just brighten someones day. I adore the Paper Source in Cambridge, MA (and I'm sure they have stores all over) - their smaller folding cards are great because they are a nice thick white paper and they afford the option to choose from all sorts of different envelopes. Do it today, I guarantee you'll make someones day.

I have had more fun and gotten more joy out of the last month and my use of spare time than I ever have in my life and I really need to thank Beth Bathory for being so consistently willing to always try something absurd with me (moonshine might be next, I'm going to learn to knit, and it's more shirts since they are so fun!) Thank you Victoria for being willing to teach me new things (I would have added how to make Fruit Brandy but I might have been distracted when I was being taught....)

Got an idea for a design? Let me know! Questions on how to? Just ask! Have fun.

Snow Days and Haggery.

Snow days were heaven as a child. A day out of school to play in the snow. Even I had a really good time for a day or two when I had some snow days for the ice storm in December but that was because I was actually playing in the snow. The whole time though I was thinking how much more I would have liked to have been at school with my students. Today was another snow day, apparently because of a tiny bit of ice (feeble in comparison to what we had in December). I guess the school (and so very many other schools in NH) felt that it was dangerous on the roads which I completely understand because the last thing I would ever want is to put my students in any sort of danger. It made me sad though, I love work, I want to be there.

In order to try to keep myself busy I did some work related to school, dealt with life a bit and then I went to the gym. I tend to read while I'm biking at the gym and today was no exception. On occasion there will be someone who insists on distracting me. Loud talkers, too heavy for fast running on treadmillers, everyone's my friend at the gymers. These are all folks I can deal with, although I would rather never have to, I understand that everyone has a different expectation of their gym experience. Today though something really upset me, a new kind of 'er'.

The I'm going to make teachers look like d-bags because I'm a terrible oner.

There was a woman on the treadmill talking as loud as she is probably capable of about how excited she was to have a snow day. She was just all smiles and happiness. She was talking about how she'd earned it. Talking about how she wishes they happened more often. Talking about how she deserves it and how great a teachers job is because we don't have to go when the weather is bad. She even went out of her way to say that she specifically was not missing her students. Good lord.

I'm not one to avoid confrontation and I almost said something to her. There were a good number of folks in the gym and I wanted to let her know that she was the minority. She is the teacher who the children don't respect because she doesn't respect them. I love my job and look forward to every minute I'm fortunate enough to spend with my students. This hag (and a small handful of other hag teachers - male and female) clearly does not value exactly how fortunate she is to have such an opportunity to interact with the best people our world houses.

So to you Ms. Awful Teacher, and anyone like you, as well as to anyone who believes that all teachers feel that way, I am here to tell you that you are wrong. I would have driven around all day today to each students house giving them a writing assignment that would not stop them from enjoying their snow day yet would keep them thinking and on their toes. I bet you wouldn't have even gone to one of their houses if they called you and said they were in danger.

To all of those educators who spent the day hoping that their students were finding some way to be young while also exploring and learning - I would like to thank you.