Triad

Last night I watched the following movies (courtesy of netlfix live streaming and our projector): Best in Show, Holy Rollers and Exit Through the Gift Shop. I enjoyed them all immensely and really think this mix pretty much speaks for itself (in my mind it says: what an eclectic Saturday night you had!).

MLK day was last Monday and it made me particularly nostalgic for my City Year days, when MLK day was the most important day of the year, with many months of planning and procuring in-kind donations preceding it. It’s an experience that I’m glad I had, even more so as I get older and realize that I will probably never spend a year of my life doing a service program again (maybe after retirement). And the particular set of values that underlies that program seem nobler to me now. The whole point was that people with no education, a great education and somewhere in between worked together to serve a community, usually through education. MLK was of course, the inspiration for the program and if I learned anything of academic value that year, it was the beauty of his thoughts.

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

Where are our service leaders today? I can’t think of anyone today who speaks as beautifully. The man had mad community building skills! I know it was a different time, with different problems, and service was something that young people wanted to do eagerly. It’s just sad that service isn’t a bigger part of our culture today.

In completely unrelated news, I am slowly making my way up the totem pole of pedicure luxury. First, it was a simple washing and painting of the nails. Then, I discovered that you can get a pedicure that includes a hot rock massage. I thought that was the most luxurious it could ever be, but NO! I had one this weekend that blew my ears out. It went thusly:

Foot washed
Nails trimmed/pruned
Foot scrubbed with pink sugar
Foot covered in lotion and rubbed
Foot rubbed with hot rocks
Foot placed into plastic bag with hot wax
Hot wax cooled/solidified and is cleaned off of foot
Foot is messaged for several minutes
Nails painted

poopoocachoo

2011 was welcomed in much the same way as 2010—board games. Last year it was scrabble, this year it was Settlers. I lost, handily, and had very little interest in continuing to play after the first few rounds. Playing with zero chance of winning is completely pointless (and boring, except during the rare moments when one gets the opportunity to draw a resource card and perform an act that infuriates one of the other three players who are closely tied. Drama!). I’m not so sure about this year, though. My car got hit late at night, a person literally pooped on our sidewalk and I got pink eye again. Not to mention the birds falling out of the sky and the crazy shooting rampages. Is it going to be a bad year? I forced myself to eat bacon-laced black eyed peas on January 1st in order to avoid bad luck. Are southern superstitions not true? In all fairness, the poop incident has my beloved and I in stitches nearly any time it’s mentioned. I mean, we don’t live in the best part of town, but the fact that there was a runny, human poop outside of our house is completely over-the-top farce. Naturally, Albert is intrigued and goes straight for it any time we go outside. It rained, which washed a lot of it away, but there is no way we are cleaning it. Isn’t it some sort of city health code violation? I feel like city workers in masks and tyvek suits should be outside of our house with high pressure hoses.

The most exciting thing about 2010 for me (and therefore is promising about 2011) was the mere fact that I blogged roughly the same amount as in 2006. This is momentous because 2006 was the year before I became a teacher, when I had a very relaxing job that required little emotional energy on a daily basis. I think I've finally broken through the tumultuous first years of teaching and gotten to a place where I can again function as a normal human worker (fingers crossed). This is for certain in no small part due to my love of my new job and the feeling of being an actual person of value again. It also helps to have students who are very serious about school and thinking.

The great job fix of 2010 left me more interested in things, both old and new. I can't wait to see what obsessions will come my way in 2011! (Hopefully either Mozart or Dante's Divine Comedy).