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”?