This weekend I finished The Lace Reader, a new fiction book by Brunonia Barry. I have a paper to write for school and should not have been reading it but I could put it down. It's a captivating novel set in Salem Mass. It centers around the making of Ipswich Lace and the idea that each piece of lace contains a message. It is a must read for anyone familiar with the area. For me it was sort of oddly nostalgic because it touches on all of these places familiar to my childhood. Even if you don't know Massachusetts though, the story stands alone as a memorable read.
On another note, I have formed a book club with a bunch of friends. We meet monthly and I finished reading The Painted Veil by W. Sommerset Maugham for the group about a week ago. It was not something I would have picked up myself, but definitely a surprising novel. A little to Gothic for my taste but as I said, worth reading if you like fiction.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Uninteresting things I did today....
Today, I went to work. No real remarkable happenings there. Although one of my students told me that I sing pretty. Oh, which reminds me of another funny work story: the other day, a little four year old student said to me "Miss R, Kevin called me black." To which I responded well aren't you J?" And he said, "no, I'm brown!" True enough. I couldn't argue with that. Sometimes little kids are much wiser than we are.
After work I played school with my nieces and their little five year old cousin. It's always fun. We say the pledge, work on numbers and letters and at recess we play hide and seek. I love those girls.
Later, after a little Thai food, I went to a lecture at church on the life and society of St. Paul. It was interesting but not fantastic. I thought it would focus more on his letters. I was looking forward to hearing them and picking them apart. The priest talked a little about St. Paul's life and Jewish culture, but the discussion was mostly a general timeline of his life. What he did and where he preached when. I was the youngest person in the room by about sixty years. :) I really need to get better at geography, maybe then I would have connected more with the discussion.
After work I played school with my nieces and their little five year old cousin. It's always fun. We say the pledge, work on numbers and letters and at recess we play hide and seek. I love those girls.
Later, after a little Thai food, I went to a lecture at church on the life and society of St. Paul. It was interesting but not fantastic. I thought it would focus more on his letters. I was looking forward to hearing them and picking them apart. The priest talked a little about St. Paul's life and Jewish culture, but the discussion was mostly a general timeline of his life. What he did and where he preached when. I was the youngest person in the room by about sixty years. :) I really need to get better at geography, maybe then I would have connected more with the discussion.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
CAPS Caps Caps Caps....
Today, I went to the Capitals versus Pennguins game at the Verizon Center with Em and Jon. It was so much fun! I forgot how much I loved hockey! This is surprising because I don't like a lot of other sports. We had REALLY great seats! They were reject tickets from my mom's boss so we were on the second landing in row T (in direct line of sight from the goal.) The Caps lost the game by one goal in a post overtime shootout but it was still a lot of fun.
The score was tied one to one in the first period. In the second, Pittsburgh unexpectedly scored 2 goals, leaving us with a two point deficit. We were pissed. The caps fans were so riled up. At the top of the third period, Alexander Semon and Brooks Laich scored each scored a goal and tied the game 3 to 3. There were some great assists by Green and Ovechkin. Not much happened for the rest of the 3rd and all of the five minute overtime period. The Penns scored 2 goals though in the post overtime shootout. The caps had no points so we lost.
I hadn't been to a Caps game in years. It was such a fantastic time.
The score was tied one to one in the first period. In the second, Pittsburgh unexpectedly scored 2 goals, leaving us with a two point deficit. We were pissed. The caps fans were so riled up. At the top of the third period, Alexander Semon and Brooks Laich scored each scored a goal and tied the game 3 to 3. There were some great assists by Green and Ovechkin. Not much happened for the rest of the 3rd and all of the five minute overtime period. The Penns scored 2 goals though in the post overtime shootout. The caps had no points so we lost.
I hadn't been to a Caps game in years. It was such a fantastic time.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Music....
Music has always affected me a little more than most people. I was in choirs growing up and most of the time that I'm not working, I live with an ipod attached to my head. I enjoy all genres: rock, punk, classic rock, metal, jazz country, world music, oldies, R and B, Hip Hop and crooners like Frank Sinatra or Michael Buble.
I like bands, solo artists and pretty much any decade, musician or genre in between. I love how, when you make a mix for someone, you can tell how well you know that person by what you put on it. Today, I had one of those moments that always amaze me. Nothing can resonate with a time or experience in your life as well as a song you heard at a particular moment. Today I heard that old jazz song "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croche and I was instantly back on the stage in eighth grade, singing the song with the Swansonettes.
It's a silly and stupid memory from when I was thirteen, but music has always been one of the absolute high points in my life. My favorite songs are those that I discovered by accident. When I was fifteen, for example, I was babysitting and came across the Verve compilation of jazz hits by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. That was the first time I had ever listened to jazz. I became instantly fascinated by Billie Holliday, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Ella, Louis and others.
Christmas carols will always remind me of being little, because they are what I listened to each night as I fell alseep. The Bell Song from the opera of Lochmey will forever be my grandmother's song. "The Canibal King" is a song I've only ever heard sung by my grandpa. I think he must have made it up.
Janice Joplin, Patsy Cline and Sam the Sham and the Pharos will always remind me of my father. (Though he doesn't particularly like music.) Jefferson Airplane, The Association, Laura Nyro, Smokey Robinson and many other hits of the sixties are my mother's music. Buddy Holly, by Weezer will always remind me of my older sister. Allyson Crouse, Nat King Cole and "Love Shack" by the B52's endure as my mental set list for my older sister's wedding. "Bette Davis Eyes", "Iris" by the Fugis, "Stand By Me" and Red Hot Chili Peppers were my first exposure to "cool music" at the hands of my older brother.
My childhood best friend and I used to listen to early ninties VH1 every afternoon in her basement. We collected baseball cards, formed a band (we never played any instruments...)
and played pool badly while listening to Spin Doctors, Boyz to Men, the Eagles, Miriah Carey, and Curt Cobain.
I learned the Macerena in sixth grade and only reccently discovered that the song had words. This is because I learned it prior to learning Spanish so I never associated the music and words in my head. "I believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelley was the song I danced to with my seventh grade crush. Jonah Matranga could be the single handed soundtrack to my high school years. Which, until the end, were kind of an angst ridden and unhappy time in my life.
Fugazi, Molotov, Strike Anywhere, Good Clean Fun, Against Me and other independent bands
were the soundtrack to my college years. They blasted out of speakers on afternoon drives to Charlottesville or weekend jaunts to the beach with my friends.
Today, my musical taste is an amalgamation of old favorites. It is sprinkled by the Johnny Cash, Van Morrison and "Mary Wore A Red Dress" that I sing with my two little nieces, and rounded out by whatever new addictive riffs I happen to download on itunes. (Where I spend entirely too much money.)
When I talk to God, I think of hymns like "On Eagles Wings," "Be not Afraid" or my favorite, "The Prayer of Saint Francis." No one remembers these songs. The fact that I have them memorized is a completely ridiculous waste of time but they are the soundtrack to my life.
I like bands, solo artists and pretty much any decade, musician or genre in between. I love how, when you make a mix for someone, you can tell how well you know that person by what you put on it. Today, I had one of those moments that always amaze me. Nothing can resonate with a time or experience in your life as well as a song you heard at a particular moment. Today I heard that old jazz song "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croche and I was instantly back on the stage in eighth grade, singing the song with the Swansonettes.
It's a silly and stupid memory from when I was thirteen, but music has always been one of the absolute high points in my life. My favorite songs are those that I discovered by accident. When I was fifteen, for example, I was babysitting and came across the Verve compilation of jazz hits by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. That was the first time I had ever listened to jazz. I became instantly fascinated by Billie Holliday, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Ella, Louis and others.
Christmas carols will always remind me of being little, because they are what I listened to each night as I fell alseep. The Bell Song from the opera of Lochmey will forever be my grandmother's song. "The Canibal King" is a song I've only ever heard sung by my grandpa. I think he must have made it up.
Janice Joplin, Patsy Cline and Sam the Sham and the Pharos will always remind me of my father. (Though he doesn't particularly like music.) Jefferson Airplane, The Association, Laura Nyro, Smokey Robinson and many other hits of the sixties are my mother's music. Buddy Holly, by Weezer will always remind me of my older sister. Allyson Crouse, Nat King Cole and "Love Shack" by the B52's endure as my mental set list for my older sister's wedding. "Bette Davis Eyes", "Iris" by the Fugis, "Stand By Me" and Red Hot Chili Peppers were my first exposure to "cool music" at the hands of my older brother.
My childhood best friend and I used to listen to early ninties VH1 every afternoon in her basement. We collected baseball cards, formed a band (we never played any instruments...)
and played pool badly while listening to Spin Doctors, Boyz to Men, the Eagles, Miriah Carey, and Curt Cobain.
I learned the Macerena in sixth grade and only reccently discovered that the song had words. This is because I learned it prior to learning Spanish so I never associated the music and words in my head. "I believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelley was the song I danced to with my seventh grade crush. Jonah Matranga could be the single handed soundtrack to my high school years. Which, until the end, were kind of an angst ridden and unhappy time in my life.
Fugazi, Molotov, Strike Anywhere, Good Clean Fun, Against Me and other independent bands
were the soundtrack to my college years. They blasted out of speakers on afternoon drives to Charlottesville or weekend jaunts to the beach with my friends.
Today, my musical taste is an amalgamation of old favorites. It is sprinkled by the Johnny Cash, Van Morrison and "Mary Wore A Red Dress" that I sing with my two little nieces, and rounded out by whatever new addictive riffs I happen to download on itunes. (Where I spend entirely too much money.)
When I talk to God, I think of hymns like "On Eagles Wings," "Be not Afraid" or my favorite, "The Prayer of Saint Francis." No one remembers these songs. The fact that I have them memorized is a completely ridiculous waste of time but they are the soundtrack to my life.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Who I am....
I suppose I should begin by writing a little bit about myself. (Although, I don't know who I'm writing to because, as I said, no one is reading this.) I am a 24 year old teacher in training (well, almost a teacher,) at a local elementary school. I love my job and look forward to going to work every morning. I am the youngest of a large close knit family. I have amazing and dedicated parents. I also have a 30 year old sister who is a nurse, married with two kids. I have a 28 year old brother who works as a salesman and a 26 year old sister who works as a secretary in my brother-in-law's company. My two nieces, ages 2 and 4 are the absolute light of my life. I have a masters degree in American literature. I have studied creative writing, spanish and special education. I hope someday to be a middle school english teacher. I have a small, quirky and essential group of friends, most of whom I have known for years. I love to read, ski, listen to music and go to movies. I have gone skydiving. I enjoy traveling when I can afford it. I have visited Costa Rica, Portugal, London, Ireland and Canada. I spent five months living in Spain durring college. Living abroad was one of the best experiences of my life and I miss it terribly. At my worst, I am angry, selfish, insecure, stubborn and dificult to please. At my best, I am loyal, introspective, open minded, comunicative, kind and honest to a fault. I am serious but I can be silly. My life is by no means perfect but I love it and take pleasure in a few things every day.
Blogging....
So how do you start a blog that you know no one will read? I have had a livejournal blog before, (I never really wrote in it, but this is the first thing I've ever done on blogspot. My sister has one of these and I must admit it's kind of interesting to hear about the happenings of someone's life in their own words, even if the events or stories they describe are mundane. If you know the person well, it's fun to stil be surprised by what animates them. If you don't it's always interesting how much beauty you can find in someone else's' ordinary life. I called this blog sometime poet not for any pretentious reason. For most of my life I've been an exceptionally dedicated writer of exceptionally bad poetry and I couldn't think of anything else to call it. I probably will never write much here, but I've been thinking recently that it might be interesting to jot my thoughts down, if only so that I can have a record of them for later. We'll see how this goes.
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