This entry is time sensitive. If you look up in the sky December 1st at around 5 p.m. until around 8 p.m., you will see Venus, Jupiter and the moon all in a line. Tonight and last night, Venus and Jupiter were aligned. It is a very pretty sight to see because they are both so bright. The brighter one on the bottom is Venus.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Beneath the Pale Moonlight
Posted by vicmarcam at 11/30/2008 07:35:00 PM 2 comments
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tag, I'm It
It has been a very long time since I’ve updated. That has a lot to do with being busy with work and very tired when I get home, but it has more to do with the things that occupy my mind when I’m back at work. Does anyone want to read my thoughts on teaching algebra to all eighth graders, or on whether or not the National Board for Professional Teachers is easier for teachers from rich schools to achieve, or should I or should I not get new cabinets for my kitchen (the answer turned out to be that I shouldn’t)? My mind has been much occupied, but not with anything interesting.
PJ sent me a meme in which I was supposed to tell seven things about myself—that’s it. I thought this was what I would start writing about, but even that has taken a long time because it was so open-ended. Most of the people who read this already know me well, so I don’t think I can say anything that people don’t already know, but here goes:
1. I have a horrible fear of slugs. People find this really funny, and so do I, when I’m nowhere near a slug. When I am near a slug, I will scream and run and hyperventilate. If I’m on a hike and I come across one, I will run. You know what’s funnier than this stupid fear? People who feel they can talk me out of it. Fellow science teachers have helpfully said, “But, Vicki, they can’t move faster than you.” Lately, I’ve been able to make some peace with the fear. A fairly large slug comes into my kitchen at night whenever it is warm outside and I have had to learn to go into the kitchen when he/she is there, and I do, though I stay very far away. Also, if I’m pulling weeds and I see one, I will just move far away instead of running back into the house for the rest of the day. Baby steps.
2. Fun with Irony: My favorite place to be is in the California redwoods. I love the smells, the quiet, the filtered light, and the dampness. I love everything about them, except for their most famous denizen. See number 1 above.
3. As much as I fear slugs, I fear losing self-control even more. I fear saying or doing something stupid. When I see movies where the characters decide to take a chance on…whatever, I am filled with awe and envy.
4. I have never been drunk (slightly tipsy twice) and I have never used drugs, even though I went to Berkeley in the ‘70’s. See number 3.
5. My life as a free-range chicken buying, Ferry Building shopping foodie is a fairly recent thing. My children, I’m sure, would gleefully tell you that they were raised on a diet that included Tater Tots, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and canned peas. I saw the light a bit late in life.
6. When I learned to sew in eighth grade, it was as if I’d finally learned the skill I’d been waiting all my life to attain. My parents could tell that sewing had won my heart and they surprised me with a Singer sewing machine for my birthday. That was my one and only machine for the next 30 years, when I bought my beloved Viking machine. But the Singer allowed me to attempt many, many things that I now, on looking back, find pretty funny. Not content to stick with making skirts and aprons when I was 13, I decided to make myself a two-piece suit, complete with skirt and jacket. Where I thought I would be wearing such a thing in eighth grade is beyond me…a job interview? Anyway, never one to have much taste, I went right ahead and made myself a pink stretch polyester suit and, yes, reader, I wore it.
7. I am fascinated by life-changing moments. For example, in 1977, my new friend PJ was sitting in our dorm lounge reading a novel from one of his classes. He was laughing out loud and I wanted to know about this book that he found so funny. I had already noticed that he read at a much higher level than I, but I asked him if he thought I would enjoy the book. He said he thought I definitely would and so I got myself a copy of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I did love it, and thus began my great love of not just Austen, but Dickens, Trollope, and Burney as well. I’d like to think I would have found my way to these authors by some other path, but I don’t think I would have. That would have definitely been a less fulfilled life for me.
Alas, I have no one to tag, so I'll have to be a dead end.
Posted by vicmarcam at 11/29/2008 09:26:00 PM 4 comments