You know I love TV... I don't watch it as much as I used to, but I still know What's On and the plot lines of most of What's On. Possibly sensing a kindred TV-loving spirit, a student approached me today about doing an interview for the school paper on the subject of "summer television". I was describing my interest in both True Blood and the Jersey Shore and fumbling around for something meaningful about the differences between the two, when I said, "I like Sookie's strength of character, as opposed to the characters on the Jersey Shore. I mean, Snookie is no Sookie." RIGHT! I've been taking DHA pills, and I think they're working.

summer, how I long for you...

Spring Break ends today, which is unfortunate as my body spent the last week thinking it was the summertime and therefore advisable to stay up late watching movies and reading trashy novels. This spring break is so close to the end of the year (only one more month) that it’s going to be particularly hard going back.

Speaking of trashy novels, I’ve spent all winter reading them! I shouldn’t say trashy, but it is now abundantly clear that I am nowhere near as academically-minded as I might wish to be. In addition to children’s literature, I read Bossypants by Tina Fey (Really awesome and funny, though at times I do wish she were a bit more aggressive in her condemnation of the ridiculous, politics-wise. She tends to be more reserved). I also read Packing for Mars, about the difficulties of sending organic bags of blood (humans) to space. I liked it and the writing, and I also found the psychological testing parts interesting—people weren’t meant to be isolated with other people—they go crazy! (You of course know this if you are married).

Finally, I just polished off Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal. If you were a tween girl living in the mid-80’s, then you might like to know that the Sweet Valley High franchise has transitioned to adulthood! Jessica and Elizabeth are now in their late 20’s, though, of course, still stunningly beautiful size sixes. You also might like to know that Francine Pascal’s writing has, unfortunately, not transitioned into adulthood. It’s nearly unreadable, which is to say it is written in exactly the same way as the SVH books. Honestly, a waste of ten bucks. I did finish it though, as I pride myself on finishing what I start (unless it’s by Faulkner, Joyce or Nabokov. Yay me?).

My soul mate and I went to Lake Tahoe where we scored free accommodations after listening to the hard sell on some timeshares last year.








He also turned 35 a few weeks ago, though we just celebrated with cake last night. I came up with an awesome theme of "crossword puzzle". This theme was somewhat ruined when he read about the crossword proposal in the Washington Post (I swear I had it picked out before that!).



Finally, I won the peeps diorama contest! Click here to read about it. I am dying in anticipation of receiving the official prizewinner’s box of loot from Just Born candies. I’ve never won anything in my life that had an actual prize box associated with it (like on a game show). When I was a kid on the swim team, we won pizzas for swimming a certain amount of laps, but it’s just not the same.

The Portrait of Hanna Gray-Peep and the Infamous Prank of the Century

Yesterday I decided to check out this year’s submissions to the U of C’s peeps diorama contest. When I tried to find them, I could only find the original call for entries, which stated that the deadline had been extended to April 10. I’d noted (with interest) the contest a few months ago, but was refusing to participate again due to the sting of failure from 2009. Back then, I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking and planning for the contest (which I then lost). It consumed me for weeks—my mood and approach to my 2009 dioramas could best be described as “nostalgic and warm-hearted”. When I saw that the deadline had been extended and that I had a full 24 hours to make it, I decided to brush off my pride and embrace the excitement of a new diorama! (Apparently, what I really want to be when I grow up is a peeps diorama maker)

I brainstormed “nostalgic and warm-hearted” ideas for a while, but then my mood became “irreverent” and I thought of the perfect diorama scene. It’s a bit meaningless for people who aren’t alums, but the story is thus: There’s a huge eating hall on campus. In this hall hang the portraits of all of the past university presidents. There are only two women. One of the women, Dr. Hanna Gray, has a portrait that is lighter in color and not as solemn as the others. It also depicts her with disproportionately large hands. This portrait is hated by many because it sort of sticks out among the darker tones of the hall. It is also considered the ultimate prank to steal the portrait (and return it, of course). Check out Gray’s Wikipedia page and its mention of the prank.

And that is what I show in my 2011 diorama: The Portrait of Hanna Gray-Peep and the Infamous Prank of the Century.

summering on the continent

We officially have our summer vacation plans! I applied to a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) program studying Mozart and the Enlightenment in Vienna for a month and got it! It pays for most of the cost (lodging, flight, some food) for me, which means that our vacation expenses are cut in half, as we just have pay for NWB (ball and chain, albeit cute). I’m super excited about this, as I like:
--learning (I get to read a book on the above mentioned topics and go in deep for a month)
--organized tours (part of the program involves taking various guided Viennese tours from academics)
--music (I will formally study two of Mozart’s operas)
--architecture (a component of the program is the study of Viennese architecture)
--projects (I have to do a curriculum project and have a few fun ideas)
--free trips
--long vacations (we’re going to be gone for a total of 6 weeks)
--winning things (other than the "accidental deletion" of my gmail account by google, which I won last month)

The enlightenment ushered in the birth of modern science (or at least science as separate from religion--in contrast to alchemy, which was an attempt to understand nature for the sake of the soul), and I like the history of science, though I feel woefully uneducated on it. I did read a book on the history of the periodic table and chemistry last fall (The Disappearing Spoon)—when I was temporarily obsessed with chemistry. And I did double major in philosophy (and science), which means I read the Greeks and their crazy/awesome/observationally-based thoughts on science (you never step in the same river twice! The elements are earth, fire and air!). But obviously I have only pockets of knowledge, rather than a comprehensive picture. THIS WILL CHANGE! (hopefully--if my brain has not become completely inelastic due to the savage process of aging).


Things I get to buy for “school in Vienna”
--Till, Nicholas. Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart’s Operas. (Rad, right?! I think I just learned from reading the title alone!)
-- Mozart’s Opera: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio)
-- Mozart’s Opera: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute!)

lots of words and a few pictures too

Hidy ho neighbor! I’m starting to think that deep winter-time is not my best blogging time--but that’s OK, because deep winter is officially over—when the weather hits 80, I’m calling it for what it is. Lots of things/nothing have/has been happening around the Benyonapruett homestead.

In entertainment:
--I read the Hunger Games trilogy, which seems like a good winter feat, even though I am a wizened old woman and those are books for children.

--Big Love ended and I decided to watch the final episode on a 3-day weekend, which was a major mistake as I ended up totally depressed for my extra day off. That show was pretty awesome in the beginning and then it got totally crazy for the last 2 seasons, but then started to mellow out. The last season: self-actualization of the wives, which I liked a lot.

--I did watch the entire season of the Jersey Shore, a measure by which my boo (and possibly society at large) negatively judges me. BUT! NWB had to “emergency call” me to find out what DTF meant because his students were dropping DTF-bombs in class. It was my proudest moment to be able to help him decipher their language. He then prepared an entire lecture on the dangers of Jersey Shore and actually said out loud what DTF stands for in order to take the wind out of their sails.

--As a student of popular culture, I happen to know a little about Justin Bieber. I used my rudimentary knowledge as a way to make a connection with a student who is a true Belieber (she has a cardboard cutout in her room). Because of these attempts, she asked me every day for two weeks if I had seen his movie. She e-mailed me to remind me that the movie was leaving the theater and that I promised her I would go. Her concerted effort made me feel guilty and so I broke down and paid the damn $10 to see Never Say Never in 3D (by myself at a 10 am showing on a Sunday). There is something about JB that is sort of special—I’m not going to lie. He obviously has some musical talent, unlike the teen stars of the 80’s who just sang songs that were written for them (NKOTB, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, etc. Do you remember when NKOTB were learning how to play instruments in order to make themselves feel less puppet-like and more musician-like?). He can also solve the Rubik’s cube, which is something I cannot do. I feel kind of bad for him, mainly because we (pop culture spectators) all know that being famous is going to totally ruin his life and now he can’t undo it (like babies???).



In career:
--I went to a science teachers' conference, which was fun and useful. The best part was going to a session on education in US schools about Africa (or rather, the lack of). I took about two pages of notes on that one, including one that says, “Rippin’ on Sarah Palin—awesome”.


It was at this conference that I also honed an official note-taking style/philosophy.

I had the epiphany that we have many methods of note-taking—computer, paper, notebook, phones—and that it is OK to use all of them. I had this idea that since the computer is obviously the best--because you can save and easily retrieve/annotate notes-- I was living in the dark ages for taking paper notes. Then I realized that in reality, you are not going to whip out a computer for all occasions and the old-fashioned notebook IS appropriate for all situations. Plus, notebooks allow you to draw pictures and jot down ideas in non-traditional (non-word) ways.

So, for the first time in my professional life, after two different careers and a bazillion conferences on topics ranging from Volcanism in the Earth's Atmosphere to How to Teach Science with Art, I finally developed a firm conference note-taking plan. I bought a notebook that has pockets for papers/schedules/handouts/business cards as the outside and unlined paper on the inside.


It was so successful! (I’ve also have the experience of never having business cards when I need them, so now they can always be stashed in my new notebook pockets (I know it seems weird that I would need a business card, but, for example, I got free lab supplies from this gas sampling company and I felt really unprofessional with no business card to give them)).


--Still love my job. Read this article on Jezebel about the effects that teenage boys and girls have on each other. Summary: girls are good for boys (they help them emotionally), but boys are bad for girls (girls with many male friends report riskier behaviors—drinking, etc.). How to address this in education: I don’t know. You need boys to be around girls (even though it is to the detriment of girls), which is an argument against same-sex education. But at the same time, girls’ schools are awesome and do so many positive things for young women. Maybe if we did a better job of raising both sexes this wouldn’t be an issue. Sometimes I have no hope for our country (especially when watching Jersey Shore).

On the homefront:
--Pumpkin was unable to move one day, so I took her to the emergency vet where she was diagnosed with diabetes. I then took her to her regular vet where they weren’t so sure. After three days, she was officially diagnosed without diabetes. So, 1.2K later, she was misdiagnosed, given insulin by me that I had to buy (along with a large quantity of needles), and still there is no explanation for her inability to move (blood clot maybe?). She can move now.

--We have, currently, living in our house: 1 cat, 1 dog, 2 freshwater fish (in tank), 2 saltwater fish and sea anemone (in another, saltier tank), cocooning butterfly. The butterfly and saltwater tank are “temporary”, but that status is based on the idea that we will take them to our respective schools, which we are clearly too lazy to do.

--Remember a few weeks ago when google accidentally erased the accounts (including e-mail and blogger) of .018% of their customers? I got to be in that .018%! It was so excruciating and debilitating that I was numb. (Try living without gmail for a day and see how far you get. We are all deeply addicted.) I swore up and down that I would back everything up if/when it was restored. But, really, I learned that I don’t need to, because they have like 3 backups and it’s pretty safe. I learned the wrong lesson! I should be backing everything up on my home external drive and guarding the last 7 years of my life intensely. Instead, I just let them worry about it (because they apparently do a good job). I am OK with a robot computer for president, I guess.

Socially:
--Established official Wednesday dinner dates with Marialena.
--Attended 2nd women’s coffee talk session. topic: education.
--Had a visit from Aaron and his lovely girlfriend Carolyn which was inspiring and fun. She’s a Latin teacher and genius. Did you know that vagina is Latin for “sword sheath”?