Sherri over at The Claw hosted a blogger's spring swap. Sherri's blog has been a frequent stop for me since I first started blogging. Movies, TV show reviews, music, sarcasm....what's not to like? Anyways, she switches us all around and we send a package. I participated in the Fall swap and enjoyed the fun so I joined again. My package came from Alexis over at Knot Sew Crafty. She spoiled me to death. Instructions were "around five items," but look at my jackpot. Really springy post-its and pencils for teacherly duties and so much more. There is a book on "Questing," which has me totally intrigued.
Thank-you so much Alexis for the goodies and thank-you Sherri for hosting!
In other news, Braja is home from the hospital . Stop by and give her some love.
One of the first bloggers I met in this adventure was Kristan. A young college graduate who is also a writer. I happened upon her blog on an early foray into blogosphere, she was reviewing an interview with Amy Tan and was discussing being biracial. It caught my attention since my own children are multiracial and deal with similar identity issues. We've been following each other ever since. Well, Kristan is a quarter finalist in the Amazon break through novel contest. You can go here to read and review her entry. If you have time, please do so; it is wonderful and you can vote for her.
This is a whirling dervish of a week. Work has been kicking my ass. Lots of stuff going on in the homestead that needs to get done. My daughter is in Hawaii Opera, and tonight I am going, despite my lack of time. My blog addiction is a bit on the back burner. Even with my insomniac habits - waking up at 3 or 4 AM and unable to sleep - I still cannot keep up with the blog world.
Wasn't I surprised and delighted that two bloggers shined some blogging love on me by way of bloggy awards. I humbly accept the lovely awards and I'd like to pass them on to everyone I read, but they come with rules that I will adhere to (I try but sometimes I am not a rule follower).
The first one came a few days ago from The Scholastic Scribe. She is a high school journalism teacher in D.C.
We are having our version of weather over here in Hawaii. It is 62 degrees out.
Last week I had to walk from my classroom to the office during recess. I try not to do this. I usually walk to the office during my prep period or late after school when there are not a lot of students around. The buzz created when over 2,500 teenagers converge in the middle of campus for a fifteen minute break is like being submerged in a YouTube fuck me video. I rarely stop or admonish language use outside my classroom. I’d never get to the office to sign in. But here’s a sample of last Thursday’s recess, what with the temperature in the 60’s and a bit of a wind.
It’s fucking cold.
Fuck, it’s cold.
I wish I wore a fucking jacket. It’s fucking cold.
FUUUUUCK! It’s fucking cold.
That was pretty much repeated all the way to the office and back. However, as I approached my building, the recess bell rang and the throngs of teens started moving towards the buildings. As I walked through the doors, the girl two inches behind me said,
This fucking wind turned my hair into a mother fucking cunt.
Before thinking I turned around to see the young lady who had a more creative take on the cursing. When she realized a teacher was smack dap in front of her she blanched and apologized.
Sorry miss, I didn’t see you there.
I wonder what language these kids would come up with if they were shipped to one of the many parts of the country that is really having some weather...
On a side note, over my winter break I was able to spend more time with my still somewhat new blogging hobby. I was able to visit sites more regularly and read some new blogs as well. Check these bloggers out, if you haven't already.
Beth is an elementary school principal with some great stories from behind the scenes.
Mile 17 is a writer and a mother who I always feel a connection with when I visit.
Irish Gumbo is an inspiring and prolific writer who has come into the blogging scene in a big way.
Sprite’s Keeper has a weekly spin cycle, where participating bloggers put a spin on a writing topic. I’ve read Goodfather’s spins and I enjoyed the heck out of them (try his shed series during Halloween). So I moseyed on over to Sprite’s. I had plans to join in the last cycle, but my job got in the way of anything close to actual writing. This week’s I couldn’t pass up.
Play Secret Santa and write about a blog you enjoy.
So I sent a list of blogs to Sprite’s Keeper, received my assignment, and am tickled pink to be Secret Santa blogger of a really special blogger.
Da da da DA! Without further ado, I present a little tale of one of my favorite blogs:
I ran into thistle in my first ventures out into the comment world. I think it was this post. Thistle lives in British Columbia and these shots of the trail where she walks her dog stopped me in my tracks with a sharp intake of breath. OHHH! Pretty. Gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. The icing on the photographic stunningness was the inner monologue that went along with the pictures. One because it was a Wordless Wednesday (I loved that she could not help but narrate the pics). Two, because she had to let the internet world know that her dog’s penis really wasn’t as big as it appeared in the photograph.
So, I left a comment and I let thistle know how much I enjoyed the photos of her world. She came and checked out this blog post and left this sassy comment, “OMG...is that...a palm tree at your feet? I will trade you both the woods AND the river for that view. Plus the Littleman. Well, maybe not the Littleman, maybe his mom...the Pipsqueak. She'll keep the beastie entertained for you...”
Thistle has several smooth terriers. And yeah. She offered to send me one for my ocean view. Thistle has a wicked sense of humor and is about the best I have ever seen at using the line out to mask/not mask her gift of sarcasm.
Like me, thistle is a horse and dog person. She just knows a lot more about them than I do.
Thistle’s insatiable intellectual curiosity, combined with her sarcastic sense of humor, makes her blog diverse and always a fun place to visit.
During our American elections and tabloid media frenzy, thistle diverted her readers by a series of posts on Canada’s elections. She managed to inform us and keep it really interesting. It had quite the calming effect.
She works in mental health and has a heart of pure gold to balance off her sassy wit. She volunteers for Special Olympics and is the creator of The Helping Hands Project.
What’s not to like?
Last time I heard from thistle, she was busy helping her dad fix his heater and shoveling snow.
So, here’s some balmy weather. I set up a chair for thistle. She might let some of you borrow it too.
This blogging stuff is turning out to be one good turn after another. When I started a blog I thought it would just be a public space to put down my thoughts and stories in writing. I had heard about building a community, but wasn’t sure how I felt about a virtual community. I already had communities of friends, family, and colleagues; plus I often felt neglectful of these communities. And what if people on the internet freaked me out? HAH! Well, that hasn’t happened yet; moreover, I’ve “met” some really cool people, some awesome and amazing writers and artists, and some great blog buds. The wonderful thing is in virtual time, we all get on the computers when we can, and “meet” on our own time. I can wear pj’s and be as ugly as I want.
A blog I found about a month ago, Two Dogs Running, is the site for Mama Dawg. I have to admit, when I first wandered in, Mama Dawg’s video of her adorable daughter LOML (Light of My Life) had me hooked from the start. LOML is awesome. On top of that, she and her Mama have these incredible southern accents and I am a total sucker for a southern accent. I love ‘em. AND, on top of that, Mama and her girl have infectious giggles and a zest for life that is contagious.
Wasn’t I surprised when Mama Dawg was so sweet and passed on two cool bloggie awards. Aren’t they pretty? Bling diddy bling bling. Thank-you Mama Dawg.
I’m gonna pass the virtual love on down the line and have tried to pass the awards on to bloggers who haven’t had the fun and pleasure of whichever one I’m passing.
These are the guidelines:
List six things that make you happy. I think this task originally was with one or the other, but since I feel we could all use a little reminder of happy, I say it goes with them both. I’ll just keep my eye peeled for the blog police if I’ve broken some kind of rule here.
Pass the award on to 5 (hooked) or 6 (kreativ) more bloggers.
Link back to the person who gave you the award.
Link to the people you are passing it on to and leave them a comment to let them know.
Let’s see, six things that make me happy….. in random order of course. 1)Body boarding and snorkling 2)Walks on the beach 3)Brief (or sometimes longer) periods of quiet 4)My family and friends 5)Metaphoric light bulbs turning on over my students heads 6)Border collie
Having a little bit of trouble keeping up with life of late. Work, migraines, some bummer stuff too. I haven’t been able to keep up with my online reading like usual. But I thought I’d pass on some links to some good stuff.
Abstraction has an amazingly good post about body image.
Meagan at I Kicked Cancer’s Ass always inspires me. She’s a young cervical cancer survivor who is also finishing law school. She’s opened a coffee bean site, Get the Bean, and she’s got contests going on over there. She also fundraisers for various cancer causes.
Joan Didion, one of my all time favorite authors, has a great article over at Salon, Election by Sound Bites.
Don’t Worry It’s Only a Movie had the video clip of Powell up before I was finished watching it on the news.
And of thistles and maple leaves had a link to a friend who had a friend who had the link to this a great little test. It’s called your political compass and after answering some very pointed questions about important issues, it shows you where you are placed in a political spectrum. I was pleased to see I landed in the general area as Gandhi and the Dalai Lama. Quite interesting and a reprieve from the blue and red counterpoints going on in American politics.
And speaking of politics a little, I found a new blog, UppercaseWoman, where there is a wonderful post of a first hand account of "health" (John McCain's air quotes - not mine) issues a woman might have that would cause her to seek to terminate a pregnancy.
I’m probably putting up melancholy pictures the rest of the week.
This blogging stuff is turning out to be one good turn after another. When I started a blog I thought it would just be a public space to put down my thoughts and stories in writing. I had heard about building a community, but wasn’t sure how I felt about a virtual community. I already had communities of friends, family, and colleagues; plus I often felt neglectful of these communities. And what if people on the internet freaked me out? HAH! Well, that hasn’t happened yet; moreover, I’ve “met” some really cool people, some awesome and amazing writers and artists, and some great blog buds. The wonderful thing is in virtual time, we all get on the computers when we can, and “meet” on our own time. I can wear pj’s and be as ugly as I want.