Life in Kansas

The Best Things about America

2011-02-27T11:29:00.001-08:00

Whenever you go abroad you learn to appreciated the things you love about America. When we visited Italy we had such wonderful food, but I craved American dishes as soon as we entered the terminal. The funny thing Cali and I noticed was that what we missed about American food was all the Mexican and Southwest influences. Italy doesn't use chiles or salsa in their cooking and it made me realize that one of the great things about America in general is the amazing cultural influences that come from such a diversity of cultures. I notice this every day in school as I teach kids from Pakistan, India, Mexico, Brazil, ect. Because of this I have been irritated with some of the recent bills and legislation targeting both legal and illegal immigrants.

Kansas and Missouri are now both working on passing bills that focus on immigrant rights. Both bills seem pointless and maybe a little vindictive. I wonder if some lawmakers are upset with the way the economy is going and blaming it on recent immigrants. The Kansas law is one that is similar to the Arizona law being held up in court right now. This is such strange timing to try to pass this law in Kansas and no one seems to be able to figure it out. Arizona is in the midst of getting sued over virtually the same law and it makes no sense to pass a law in Kansas before a court ruling on the Arizona law. I thought this was very puzzling.

The Missouri law seems just as puzzling. They are seeking to up the standards for getting a drivers license in Missouri. The bill that has been proposed makes it a requirement for citizens to be able to pass the drivers license test without the use of an interpreter. Since it is already a requirement to be a legal immigrant in order to get a Missouri driver's license this bill only targets legal immigrants who are still mastering English.

Hopefully people will begin to realize that America is great because of our diversity and learn to appreciate it, even in the midst of difficult economic times.

Cooking and Cats

2011-02-03T08:43:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot of time at home this last month. Right now we are in the midst of our 6th snow day, which is maybe a little excessive. During that time we have had lots of time for cooking and we feel lazy if we don't cook. I have been working my way through the Dunham family cookbook while Cali has been moving along through a cookie cookbook (which is a great combination). I have made everything from Coffee Cake to Beef Con Queso. Cashew Chicken, submitted by Leah was one of our favorites. It was a big mess and not particularly healthy, but a fun meal. The sauce especially was good and not too sweet, which is a necessity in our house. We also had a good time with the Beef Burgundy (pictured left). This I have been wanting to try ever since we got our new dutch oven. This was a great way to use some round steak if you have three hours to kill. Many of these recipes were ones that Cali grew up with so they reminded her of being a kid. Some of them she wasn't even sure if she would like if she met them as an adult, but memories of food can change the way we feel about it. We both enjoyed the Hungarian kraut although like many of these recipes we had to freeze 2/3 of it.

While waiting for food to heat up, we have enjoyed sitting in the living room with our fireplace and cats watching a BBC show called Doc Martin. I have been using up some of the wood sitting in our back yard that looks like it has been there for years. A lot of it burns quickly, but every couple hours or so I throw in one of the huge logs that seems to burn for hours. Worf is fascinated with the fire which makes us a little nervous, but he looks pretty cute when he is lounging on the rug in front of it. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but I did catch him hanging out on the footstool. Mali didn't get quite as close and mostly hung out on the futon.

Goals

2011-01-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

We saw this great presentation at school called Rachel's challenge. The program is in memory of Rachel Scott, who was the first student killed in Columbine. The program is designed to challenge students to be kind to their classmates and gave them several challenges, one among them being to set goals and write them down. Apparently, their is a famous study with Yale graduates that found that those who wrote down their goals were way more successful than those who didn't. I decided to write down some goals and I am taking it slow because I only want to write down goals that seem attainable. Most of them I will keep to myself, but one goal I did write down was to get involved with charity work in some capacity. Cali and I decided to start with Harvesters. We are interested in Harvesters because of the backpack programs at our schools, where students take home food for their families over the weekend. Cali likes helping a program where she can see the impact in the lives of her kids.

Tuesday we went to Harvesters for the first time. They had us work on sorting cans in various bins. The guy who worked their was pretty funny. He went around telling us which types of food went into each bin. Then he would tell us about the ridiculous mistakes people often made when sorting and that the consequences for those mistakes was getting made fun of after you left. It was fun work because we got to move around and work with other people. It's the type of work where you can see that you have accomplished something which is always rewarding. There were lots of kids their including one of my former students working with the boy scouts. Cali was pretty sure she saw one of hers as well. We actually got some exercise for once which was also nice after being cooped up in the house with all the snow days. We liked it enough that we are heading back next week.

Tempo Changes

2011-01-20T06:09:00.000-08:00

I remember being so excited the first time I heard "A Day in the Life" from Sgt Peppers. What makes this song so great is all the tempo throughout. It is not very often that pop music writers decide to make changes in tempo or even use interesting time signatures like 5/4. Cali and I spent some time listening to K-Love, the Christian music station, figuring out how some of these songs might be less monotonous if they were in 5 instead of 4. The Beatles did some of these great tempo adjustments pretty frequently and there have been a few groups that followed their lead:

On New Years Eve we went to Joel and Traci's to play some Rock Band. This may sound stupid, but when you play this game you find out which songs really do "rock". Everybody gets into these songs and everyone sings along (Weezer still rocks by the way). Anyway, one of my favorites from the game is the Franz Ferdinand which totally has the best slow down tempo change:

I've totally gotten into the tiny desk concerts on NPR. They bring in some great bands to sing in their studio and have made the videos available on youtube. The Avett Brothers were fairly recent guests and the first song they performed on this video is one of my favorites (although I wish they had taken a little longer to tune their instruments up). At the end they do a great accelerando:

Amanda turned me onto this next one. I have been a Radiohead fan for a super long time, but for some reason I never bought In Rainbows. I think sometimes you just need a break from a band for a while. Anyway this next song is in 5/4 (Christian producers please take note).

The Slow Build

2011-01-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

I was listening to this song by Mumford and Sons and realized that I am a big fan of the slow build. This song starts soft until the crescendo midway through. My experience with the slow build is that it tends to emerge out of repetition. They hammer it home as the energy builds. It's also a nice touch to soften it up for the ending.

Playing songs for people is always tough because you are always way more excited about the music than the other person. They are normally like "yeah this is pretty cool" and then try to talk to you about some other subject, but you are like, "wait wait check this part out is really good". I think this is especially true of songs that have the slow build, becuase you can sense them getting impatient and you are like "no wait it gets really good just hold on. It like crescendos and then there is this part where it is really loud". I am paraphrasing of course, other people probably sound way more intelligent when they are describing the music. It's normally better to play it cool and act like you don't care if they are paying attention or not. This next song has a long wait time for the slow build (if you are super impatient it starts about 5 minutes in):

Classical music has of course been doing the slow build for years. I remember first hearing this next one when I was in high school. I was so excited because when it started on the CD you could almost not hear what was happening. Sometimes the range on classical music is so great it is difficult to to listen to in recorded form. You constantly have to adjust the volume nob. We performed this piece (Enigma Variations) when I was in college and Cali said it moved her to tears. Apparently, when I saw her after I said something cynical about the crying (sorry Cali):

What's up?!

2009-05-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

What's up?! I am fully aware that I never post in this blog and I don't even have any good excuses like my computer was down for three months and so I couldn't get computer access. Anyway, I have had a gazillion concerts recently and so today we kind of chilled and watched part of a video today. I normally don't do that for strings, but apparently I need to give them a break every now again or in 6th grade they really complain and say things like, "We never get to do anything fun like play a game or watch a movie in here." Of course I normally answer by saying, "Every day is fun in strings!" It's kind of like when your parents tell you that even though there is a Mother's day and a Father's day there is no Kid's day because every day is Kid's day.

We watched part of a barrage video and I now have my whole spiel down. (Barrage is a strings band and they play rock, fiddle, and other types of music. They are pretty cool, they are made up of violin and viola players, bass, guitar, and a drummer). First, I have to let them know that these people dress kind of like rock musicians so they should be aware that one of them has a midriff shirt on and they look a little grungy just like your favorite bands. Also, I have to warn them that there will be dancing and singing and that they really get into the music when they play, they are not spasming. That pretty much takes care of it. If I give my preemptive speech they really enjoy the music and are super impressed with how well they play. Occasionally I have to stop the tape and say, "No, they are not in love with each other they are just being entertaining for the audience." Sometimes I think maybe my kids should get out more. I guess it is my job to expose them to things and make their world a little bigger.

Motivation

2008-11-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

Close to the holidays motivation is a bit tough. 5th graders are still going strong, becuase they can't belive they can now play Jingle Bells on their instruments. They look excited even when I tell them to take out their bows! Every direction I give them is exciting! 6th graders, however, are a little harder to motivate sometimes. They still get excited about certain songs, but it's not the same as when a 5th grader comes in telling me about all the songs they have performed for their parents. I just started using a new trick to try to get my 6th graders to go home with the same excitement.

Whenever my 6th graders look bored and I feel bored, I just have them close their books and I teach them a song by rote. This week we learned Star Wars, which was super fun. They get excited when they get to play "a real song". I already have some other ideas running around in my head. I was thinking about teaching them The Hockey Pokey and Pirates of the Carribean. Maybe I can even use these rote songs as leverage. They can be my new reward for good rehearsals.

It All Happened in Just a Year

2008-11-20T18:15:00.000-08:00

This year is the first time I have the same students two years in a row. It seems to be a good thing and a bad thing. The positives are that I got to start them from scratch. I taught them how I wanted them to play and they even know my weird language and how to do what I mean and not what I say. The problem is that they despite these positives, they soon grow up and start becoming adolescents.

Just last year my 5th graders were all happy-go-lucky kids. They seemed excited about everything and always came to class with a million stories about guitar hero, sports, and anything that was on their mind. This year they are pretty much the same, but sometimes they're just a tad bit grumpy. And sometimes they are a bit too tired to be bothered by me. And they certainly are becoming more sarcastic. What is the deal? Some of my 6th graders were that way last year, but I just assumed that's how those kids were. I never presumed that those students had been sweet 5th graders the year before. I guess there is something to that whole puberty thing. Maybe I just need to focus on the positives. I mean, they really do play quite well. And they still enjoy strings and want to come to class. But it does make me a little more suspicious of my super nice 5th graders.

For those of us sufferening from political humor withdrawal....

2008-11-08T12:16:00.002-08:00

I thought this was the funniest thing. It is great for both music nerds and political humor nerds....

2008-11-08T12:16:00.001-08:00

Holy Spirit

2008-10-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

I am reading a book on the Holy Spirit that has changed my thinking on how the Holy Spirit works. For some reason I always thought of the Holy Spirit mostly as a guide and someone who gave me strength in my daily life. This may be partly true, but this book has a focus on obeying the Holy Spirit. I knew that I was supposed to obey the Father and the Son, but I didn't think about obeying the Holy Spirit. Little by little we get better at obeying the Holy Spirit. I am becoming more aware of how patient I need to be as the Spirit works to change my life. It is apparently a very slow process.
It maybe seems slow to me because this idea of obeying really challenges me. This is true for a number of reasons. First of all I don't really like obeying. In particular it is hard to learn to obey other people, but that is an essential step in learning to obey the Holy Spirit. If we aren't able to surrender our will and our opinions in order to obey a person we won't be able to do it in response to the Holy Spirit. Also I find it hard not to rely only on my own will. Old habits die hard. Anyway it at least seems like the beginning of something new in my own faith even though it is a very old idea.

This and that

2008-10-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

Softball is sadly over. We had a great time. We even ended up in first place! We had one loss, but apparently that was good enough. Now I have to find a new activity to rid my mind of thoughts about school. I shouldn't complain too much about school. The students have been a lot of fun. It has been really nice getting to have some of my students for the second year in a row. 5th and 6th graders also can make me laugh more than just about anyone. Some of my students makes my laugh so hard that it is difficult to respond to his off-task behavior.

We recently celebrated our 1st year anniversary of living in the same house. I even got the "let's move somewhere, Cali" itch, but I think it has mostly passed. I still do love looking at other houses. Last Sunday we went to an open house that was down the street. I thought it was fun, but it kind of depressed Cali. The house had a huge master bedroom with a walk in closet and a master bath. This prompted us to go home and rearrange our bedroom and make it look bigger. It kind of worked. We created a bit more space.

This week has been busy. Cali and I have had trouble getting to see each other. I have had parent teacher conferences and she has had some after school classes. We have used much of our free time to fill our brains with too much information about this year's campaign. There have been a few days that we got stuck in front of MSNBC for hours. It's amazing how they can keep presenting the same information too us in so many different entertaining ways.

Gotta go, special live coverage of the final president debate is now at hand!

ha ha

2008-09-26T20:53:00.001-07:00

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Radio

2008-08-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

Perhaps one of the marks of a true nerd is their love of NPR. Perharps the mark of a nerdier nerd is one who calls NPR shows to comment. From time to time I am sure everyone thinks about calling a radio show and I actually have before, but I never got through. Today on my to Cali's school I got a little excited and dialed the number for "Up to Date" on KCUR. It was weird because the phone actually rang and the woman I talked to asked me what to comment on. I told her and then she told me that I was 4th and line so I might not get on. She put me on hold and I got super nervous. Fortunately I had enough time to sort of calm down so that I wouldn't sound terribly dumb. Here is the link. It is the show dated 8/1/08. Once you are there download the file because then you can fast forward. Obviously I am the caller "Jeremy from Shawnee" about 30 min or halfway into the show. Pretty nerdy, huh.

Lazing and exploring the West

2008-06-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Summer days have been a bit lazy. Shower time has gotten later and later and Cali, Amanda, and I are alternating between reading, playing video games, watching tv, and going to the pool. I don't think I have had a summer like this since I was 12. So far the reading has been quite good. Cali and I went and saw Leif Enger talk about his latest book, So Young Brave and Handsome, a few weeks ago. This is his second book. Peace Like a River was his first and it is one of our favorites. We have trouble keeping it stocked because we tend to recommend it and give it away. This latest book ended up being quite good, but I didn't like it as well as the first. His books have kind of a Western feel and fantastic characters. When we heard him speak he talked about how the characters always come to him first. He generally has several characters floating around in his head and eventually he gets to the point where one or two won't leave him alone and he has to tell their story. Interesting.

The latest character I read about was Hondo, the star of an old Louis L'amour (that can't be his real name right?) book. Has anyone read him? It was actually kind of good. Maybe sometimes borderline sexist and occasionally borderline racist, but all in all good clean fun. Hondo was a tough hombre. And of course their was a woman. Not just any woman. She was "all woman" (that's how Hondo described her). Anyway if you are looking for something fun and a little silly to read, I recommend it. I think maybe sometimes I like books with a bit of a Western feel. It is an escape from the trials (or lack of trials) of suburban life.

Pictures from New Orleans

2008-06-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in New Orleans for our 5th year anniversary. I have included pictures of some of the highlights. We went on a swamp tour and saw some interesting trees and many alligators. The sunset picture is from our steamboat dinner cruise. The best thing about New Orleans is definitely the food and the music. Although we went to some fancy places our favorites ended up being Acme Oyster house, and Cafe Beignet. Cafe Beignet had great outdoor seating and music going every night. They also had some great musician statues (Cali with Benny Goodman).

Peace

2008-06-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished this really terrific book on interior peace. It mainly talks about being peaceful within which allows God to speak to us. The author gives the analogy that calm water is able to reflect the sun while water in turmoil does not. In the same way when we are worrying about things and are minds and hearts are full of clutter we don't hear God's voice. Trying it out in my life I have found it to be very hard. For instance, with our condo I want to just trust God, but instead I find myself fretting over every detail. It is difficult to trust that God will take care of us.

One of the other challenges of this book is to be patient. I was struck by the fact that we can desire good things but fall into sin by desiring them in the wrong way:

"Because the thing that we want is good, even seen as desired by God, we feel justified in wanting it with that much more impatience and displeasure if it is not realized. The more a thing seems good to us, the more we are agitated and preoccupied to realize it!"

Another quote from the book....

"That is to say that our wanting must always be caring, peaceful, patient, detached and abandoned to God. It should not be an impatient wanting, hurried, restless, irritated, ect."

Interesting, eh? The book is real short and it is called Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Father Jacques Philippe.

Maintenance

2008-05-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today I realized that I will have to do body maintenance for the rest of my life. I went for a jog. I thought it would be a little rough, but I have been playing softball and starting to get in shape. It turned out to be terrible. I was breathing heavy and my heart was struggling to keep up. What is the deal? It seems that anymore I will have to do more than just some summer maintenance. I may have to exercise fairly regularly forever just to be able to recognize my body.

We tried hammocks today in the back yard and it was about a five minute success. I set it up for Cali and she started to sit down and then was instantly bit by a mosquito. Next time we will be better prepared. For now on going outside=putting on bug spray. Still, for a moment it seemed like such a romantic idea; lying in the hammock doing some summer reading. I am little worried that when we outgrow this house it is going to be hard to convince Cali to leave. She has already declared that she is not trading down for a smaller yard. The real challenge will come when our strawberry plants start producing.

Catholic!

2008-05-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

A little late on the news, but I became Catholic. We had a bbq to celebrate. The best things about being Catholic so far:

1. Eucharist
2. Not going to RCIA anymore
3. Catholics are nice
4. Sports: I have gotten to play all kinds of sports with youngs adults of the Catholic church
5. Education, no seriously we have had some great classes as part of our young adult group
6. Being part of the same church as Cali
7. Rich and colorful history
8. Seeing my kids from school at Church
9. Being part of the music team

We finished our softball season. We finished with a loss, but we had a great year. By the end of the year it only took my legs one day to recover from the running. I feel like they had atrophied or something. The first week it seemed that I had not actually used my legs in years. They couldn't seem to understand what I was trying to do. When I ran from one base to another it was like the running in a cartoon where the first few steps I didn't actually go anywhere. When did I become so slow?! I think I am going to try to keep up with the movement. Cali is encouraging me to take tennis lessons this summer and I think I might. Now that my legs move again I don't want to lose them.

Last day of school! Yeah! Of course I start summer school soon, but that will be fun. Cali is not thrilled that my summer starts sooner than hers so I have to keep all my excitement to myself. Soon we will both celebrate. Have a great summer everybody!

It's Been A Bit Chilly

2008-04-11T15:47:00.001-07:00

Cali and I were excited yesterday when we went into the yard and finally spotted a few buds in our garden! We thought maybe the birds had eaten everything. They are constantly in there rooting around and pecking at the ground. Stupid birds. Cali and I both have an aversion to birds for some reason. Maybe because they are dirty and stupid. And they eat stuff that isn't theirs! Anyway, mustard and radish buds are protruding, but I am a little worried. Can those guys survive this weekend? Today was really cold and it is supposed to get worse tomorrow. When I got out of my car today the door flew open and I thought it was a gonner. I was picturing myself pulling up to school for the rest of the year with nothing but a plastic sheet protecting my left side from the elements.

In other news, we managed to win a basketball tournament. I fell asleep. I was excited, but couldn't make it through the second half. I felt a little old when I found out that many of my 5th and 6th grade students had stayed up for the whole game.

Been a while

2008-02-25T10:36:00.001-08:00

It has been a long time since I have written an entry. For lent I decided to limit my at home internet time to 10 minutes per night which makes it very hard to blog. Normally I just have time to check my email, some sports scores (Illinois is terrible this year), and the latest election results (go Obama!).

A quick update on the cats: As Beth predicted there are lots of them. They still make themselves very scarce. We haven't seen them often, but we have confirmed sightings of at least 5. I have tried to limit how often I feed them because I don't want them dependent, but I still want them hooked. This weekend I hope to try to start catching them. We have a program here called catch, neuter, release. That basically sums up our plans for these cats. I am a little concerned that only one is eating off our porch, so I am not sure how we are going to catch everyone.

We had a great time visiting Amy and Paul this weekend. Amy played in the pit for the King and I, which I thought was a great show. It was one of the best Carousel productions I have seen. Paul did some fantastic cooking this weekend. I have to say that he cooks meat better than just about anyone I know. We had fabulous steaks, homemade sausage, and awesome meatloaf. While there (or before) I picked up a bit of sickness, but not bad. My voice is a little rough, but that actually helps with teaching. Students listen better when you sound sick.

Baby Kitty (or Sister) continued.....

2008-01-29T17:43:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was when I started investigating baby sister. After that things took a downward turn. We put out food that night and there was no response. In fact for the next three days we didn't see her (or him, who knows) and the food wasn't touched. Cali started getting worried as these were some of the coldest days of the month. I tried moving her food to the other side of the porch just in case she wasn't finding it. We started to think maybe baby sister was gone.

Friday night I took her bowl in and put some fresh food in it. I went out with my brother for dinner and returned late that night. I saw for the first time in five days that someone had eaten the partially frozen food. I went to bed and felt a little better. The next morning all the food was gone. This trend continued through the next several days. She has now cleaned her plate four days in a row.

Last night we decided to grill because the weather was great here. Later I went back out to cover the grill when it had turned dark. Something quick scattered from underneath our porch out into the yard. Baby kitty then turned and stood there. Cali joined me on the porch and I motioned her to shut the door quietly. I couldn't see much but as Cali and I mewed and made smoochy sounds sometimes I could see a pair of eyes reflecting our porch light. This morning when I went out I heard some quiet mewing, but couldn't see anything. I tried to converse, but then didn't hear anything else.

This evening I had one more spotting as she trotted away from our house. When I called she would turn and look each time, but then keep on trotting. I think she didn't like that I had turned on the flood light to the yard. I keep wondering if she and Malachi talk during the night. I mean surely he is aware of her, right? I guess I wouldn't put it past him to sleep through it all.

The Investigation of Baby Kitty

2008-01-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

One day Malachi was yelling like he always does, waiting to get fed. Cali was ignoring him until she started hearing an echo every time Malachi was yelling. Somebody was responding outside the door! Cali went to check it out and a small black cat ran off. Since then we have been keeping an eye out for him and today because it is so snowy, I did some research. Here are my findings......

First of all I had to track him and see where his hangouts are. He appears to spend most of time in various buildings formally owned by our neighbor. She passed away and so the house and the surroundings sheds have become the perfect hiding place for baby sister (as Cali calls this cat). Here you see the footprints of baby kitty as I followed them throught the snow.

I next found one of the sheds that they kitty had gone under. You can see where the kitty went under the shed (there if plenty of space as seen below). Cali also maintains that sometimes he/she is sleeping under our porch. She likes to keep the dryer running just in case to provide some extra heat.

The house has not been lived in for at least a year and you can tell by the shape that it is in. The side porch is torn up and there is additional space for a kitty to slip and and sleep for the night.

I decided to talk to the neighbors about this kitty. The neighbor on one side says that she has not seen this black cat, but has seen its paw prints. She also told me about all the other interesting critters she has seen back there. Apparently a family of foxes was birthed under her porch last year and they got footage of the little babies by videotaping from and upstairs window. She also has seen groundhogs and we certainly are aware of moles in the back yard. This woman and her husband say they call it a mullet house, city in the front and country in the back.

When I talked to the neighbor on the other side, he said that he is pretty sure this cat is a stray. He has seen it several times and even saw this cat catch a squirrel! Just as we have been checking out the kitty she has been checking us out. I found several prints around our driveway, front door, and side door. Malachi seems to enjoy watching this cat, although we have only spotted her three times. I put food out tonight on the porch and Cali and I are excited to watch and see what happens.

Cincinnati, not so bad

2007-12-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

The reports I got about Cincinnati from everyone but Max had been mostly negative. Tom let me know that is was a pit of a town while others including my Dad had gone to visit only to find little or nothing to do. Therefore I approached the city with apprehension, but have concluded that it's not so bad. But don't come here for the chili. The unanimous consensus among the Parkinson's that the chili is not great. We went the the famous Skyline chili to try true Cincinnati chili. What separates this chili from the chili everyone else knows and loves is that it is served on spaghetti noodles (pretty good), and it contains cinnamon (not good). What amazed us the most about Cincinnati chili was the shear amount of it. Skyline restaurants are separated generally by about two blocks in this town. They apparently can't get enough of it.

On the positive side of the Cincinnati food front was Jungle Jim's grocery store. This place was amazing. It appeared to be a Mecca for food and public bathroom lovers (they won an award for the nicest public restrooms in the country). When we walked in there was a greeter with a map who had to describe the layout of the store to us. I've never been in a grocery store that requires a map. This is because they have a huge selection of everything! I was most impressed with the beer selection. There was a wall display of domestic beers from all over the country. Max and I each selected a six pack to try. Hers was a java stout (brewed with coffee) and I picked an outmeal stout. I still haven't tried out the outmeal stout, but the java turned out to be quite good.

It has been fun hanging out with Max and I am glad we got to see where she lives and get a better understanding of what she does. Her place is kind of funny because it is converted offices running the length of a hallway, so it reminds me a little of the dorms. Our room turned out to have a gorgeous view of the Ohio river and the towns of Kentucky that lay beyond.

Tomorrow we head back to Macon and from there to Kansas City.

Date Night

2007-12-16T18:36:00.001-08:00

Cali got me tickets to Kurt Elling for my birthday and we went on Friday night. Elling is a jazz singer and is best known for his scatting and amazing ability to sing just about any jazz lick that a saxophone could play. I was really impressed with him and his band. I spent most of time watching the drummer who was extremely intense. He even managed to break one of his drum sticks at the conclusion of the concert. We also sat next to a guy Cali knew from college. He was pretty funny; he brought a date and never really introduced her to us. He also spent most of the time talking to us instead of her. We sensed he might be in trouble later.

Before the concert we went to a restaurant called Fritz's. Cali located this restaurant on the internet because she was in the mood for something salty. Fritz's definitely fulfilled that craving. There are two of these restaurants in the Kansas City area. One is posh and it is located in Crown Center. The other is not very posh and it is located in Kansas City, Kansas. We went to the latter. For those of you who don't know, there are very few beautiful parts of Kansas City, Kansas. However, I think this Fritz's probably has more character than the other one. It was clear Fritz's was a local favorite and it seemed like a great place to take kids. You order on a telephone and then a train delivers your food! It was so cool, the train car traveled around the restaurant on tracks that ran over our heads and then it dropped our meal onto a metal tray just above our table! The food was similar to Winsteads or any other diner, but we decided to try their special which was a burger with hash browns on it. If I were Max I would have had a camera and I would have taken a picture of it, but since I didn't you will just have to picture it yourself.

Snow day!

2007-12-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

Most people don't get the luxury of a snow day, but that is one of the great things about being a teacher. It is crazy icy outside so we are stuck at home again. Cali of course loves being stuck at home, but I am kind of indifferent. However, I am enjoying the scenery. I wish I could take a picture of our back yard because it is beautiful. The trees are covered with ice and icicles hang from every surface. Of course this is kind of scary also because our power line looks pretty weighed down. Cali is worried we will lose power so she has worked herself into a frenzy to get as much baking done as possible while she can use the oven. I have mainly been organizing cd's, reading, and doing other frivolous work. I have a hard time working on anything of any importance on days like today. They seem like such a gift so I hate to squander them by doing actual work. I got started on the latest Nick Hornby book which so far is great and I also am reading the Barak Obama book, Dreams from My Father. His story is fascinating. It reads like a novel and as I am reading it I keep forgetting that it is someone's actual story. It just seems so fantastic. My life story I am afraid wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. It's probably more exciting then Malachi's though. He spent today's snow day sleeping in various chairs. He is even more of a bum than I am.

Frustrated

2007-12-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been frustrated with many things at my schools. Especially with my 6th graders. I have tried to give them more responsibility and choice in my strings lessons, but so far it only seems like it has opened the door for more complaining. I keep trying to emphasize what things are their domain and what sort of things are my decisions, but we are struggling to find that line. Cali has noticed some of the same problems in her schools. We have some kids who seem to think they are the teacher and that they should make the decisions. Somehow I need to find a way to balance giving them some choice and input into the classroom, but still having them respect the decisions that I make.

Another difficult issue is at home practice. Some students will go weeks without practicing at all. They will come in and say, but Mr. Martin I had a lot of homework. I keep trying to tell them that they had homework for my class as well, but orchestra is put on the back burner when it is pitted against spelling and math. My latest plan is to get them to practice during Hannah Montana. I figure if they practice during every commercial break they will get a total of 10 minutes worth of practicing which is just enough.

These issues may be coming to light because we have concerts coming up. I just want them to be really good and to be successful. I only hope that I am not pushing them for my own selfish reasons, but instead to see them accomplish something great.

Choir Extravaganza

2007-12-03T19:07:00.002-08:00

"Jeremy if you keep taking pictures you are going to run out of batteries"

What a great Mom!

Flight of the Concords

2007-11-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Anybody hear these guys? I think they are crazy funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5tmnBeNv18

Dropouts

2007-11-27T11:11:00.000-08:00

I guess I don't normally talk that much about my experiences at school. For the most part I really love my job. It isn't stressful and the kids are fun to work with. However, one thing that is always difficult about teaching strings is that sometimes kids drop out. Even if you are super fun and creative and you give out donuts every day some kids just decide to quit. It is hard to not take this personally.

Two kids have dropped out so far out of about 70, but both drops were a little hard on me. Since I am not a terribly mean teacher most of my kids drop because of "the workload" that is involved with strings. Kids have to practice for my class and that gets in the way of other things. Now is when I am particularly nervous about my kids leaving because things are getting a little harder. At the beginning of the year in the music they wrote the names of the notes on the note heads. They don't do that any more. Now they have to actually read music! That gets some kids a little frustrated. Especially the ones who don't practice.

The other thing that I am worried about is that I don't give out candy. One kid in particular is always telling me how the band gets candy and that they get metals when they learn certain stuff. I don't give out candy because we aren't supposed to at my schools in order to teach good health habits. Does that make me a lame teacher? Maybe. But they are starting to sound quite good and I am excited about what they are going to show their parents in their upcoming concerts.

Latest kick

2007-11-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

One of the two of us (Cali or I) always get on some life altering kick. This could be the way we eat, what we watch on T.V, or what we do with our spare time. The new one deals with the last of those three. This evening I had all kinds of time to call friends, play with the cat, and to read because she decided we should only watch two hours of T.V. a night. What freedom! I never imagined how much time T.V. was actually taking up. I've been feeling of late that I haven't been a very good friend or family member. I am not good at calling people and consequently I feel like I am losing touch with old friends and having trouble making new ones. I think this really has to do with the way I spend my time. In the movie we watched tonight (during our two hours) Steven Fry said that the greatest adventure we have in life is getting along with those who are all around us. He said that the truest test of character would be to get along with strangers if we were randomly dropped into their homes and essentially that is what happens when we are born. He was quoting someone and I can't remember who, but I thought this was interesting. Perhaps I will try getting to know our neighbors. Do people do that anymore?

Do 5th Graders Own Pop Culture?

2007-11-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

Since I have started teaching elementary school and high school I have been able to compare the two age groups. One of the differences is that the elementary schoolers have a tremendous sense of what I should be able to do as an "old" teacher. If I so much as mention pop culture I am met with groans and requests to stop. Once when I said "word" the girl asked me not to do that again. I then gave her the speech about how I was saying "word" before she was born. High schoolers on the other hand want to compare tastes and ask me about the music I like. They also don't complain about the clothes I wear. A fifth grader on the other hand asked me why I couldn't just wear a normal shirt someday. How did they become so confident when it comes to pop culture and tastes. When I was in 5th grade I wore sweat pants and had never heard of any current bands. I was only aware of my brother's and sister's favorite music. Is it Disney that gave them this sense of empowerment? To the tell the truth I kind of enjoy it. As a teacher there is nothing more fun than getting in to childish arguments with people a third your age.

Bad Music

2007-11-21T12:42:00.001-08:00

"I am pretty tolerant of Christmas music but I draw the line at soprano saxophone."
-Calista Martin

On our way to Macon Calista and I listened to the two Kansas City radio stations that are playing continuous Christmas music. It was pretty obvious that the best recordings and versions of songs for the most part were made at least 30 years ago. For the most part new arrangements of Christmas tunes just aren't so good, especially if they are performed by some Christian artist. We complain about this all the time, but why does Christian music have to be so bad. In the car we did our best to decide how these versions could be fixed. Mostly it boiled down to a few basic rules (Christian producers should start taking notes): 1. Use real drums, not funking sounding synthetic ones 2. Go easy on the strings, strings are nice just don't have them swell so much for every climax of the piece. 3. Avoid most keyboard sound effects 4. Cut down on the reverb 5. No chimes whatsoever. I think if we stick to these simple rules and maybe just simplify a little bit Christian music won't be so bad.

Various Kansas Stuff

2007-11-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Calista and I have been helping out with music at church. She has been doing mic and speaker setup to put her theoretical knowledge from grad school to work. I got to play cello with the music team a couple of weeks ago and it was great. It was a moving experience for me and I hope I get to keep doing it. It has been a while since I have performed by myself and I'm glad it was in front of church folks. Nobody appreciates volunteer musicians like the church. Several people have come up to me and told me how much they enjoyed it and my parents got to come to the service. We actually are starting to make some friends at church with the worship leader, with people in our bible study for young adults, and I have started going RCIA. I kind of feel like I am jumping on the catholic band wagon. Mainly because for the first time in a while I get up on Sunday mornings and I am excited about going to church. That I guess says something about the church and has lead me seriously consider becoming Catholic.

On a totally different subject, WE FOUND OUR CAMERA! It was in my van under the seat. Its amazing the things you find when you clean out your car. Although it would have been nice to have it for such events as my brother's wedding and moving into our new house at least we finally have it. We have been recovering pictures from our camera such as our last days in Urbana with pictures of our favorite diner and the U of I. Oh the leisurely days of college life how I miss thee.

New home

2007-10-18T16:18:00.001-07:00

As many people now know we have a new home in Shawnee. I love it. The house is little and shaped just right and the yard and fantastic. My friend Mark was over last night and he thought we might be able to keep some cattle back there. I want to spend more time in the yard, but right now I don't have many excuses to be outside. Sometimes I make phone calls to friends so I have something to do while I roam the yard. Most of the time on the weekends I do have an excuse to be outside. This past Saturday I worked on trimming up all the plants surrounding the side entrance to our house. This area was full of bind weed and other ugly prickly organisms. I spent hours killing almost everything in sight. I became slightly obsessed and Cali had to pull me away. I was running out of steam until some tough root broke my trowel which gave me the fuel to deal out some more punishment. I will post pictures of the place as soon as we can find the camera. It is still buried somewhere in a box.

Aida

2007-09-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

This Sunday we went to Aida playing at the Lyric. This is the first of four performances in the opera's 50th season. Being the nerd that I am I went to the library a week ago and checked out a recording of Aida so I would have a better understanding of the performance. I listened to the CD all through the week as I traveled between schools. I have found that the more familiar I am with an opera, the more I ultimately enjoy it.

Like many of Verdi's operas, the plot of Aida is very dramatic. The story is about star-crossed lovers (one from Egypt and one from Ethopia), and one woman scorned. Of course the story is full of misunderstanding and ends in the two lovers being buried alive together (sorry to give away the ending). Although I knew the music well, I only vaguely knew the plot before seeing this performance. Cali and I were a little shocked when their was a virgin sacrifice as the Egyptian troops prepared for battle. Especially when she revealed her bare chest! I kept thinking "I wonder if there are kids here". All nakedness aside it was a really enjoyable concert. The story was tense and the music was beautiful. Also, I noticed that the opera crowd is different from the symphony crowd. There was a buzz in the air before the concert and it was great to be able to clap when the soloists finished their arias. Anyway, if you get a chance to see this opera do so, but be aware that it probably deserves a PG-13 rating.

Boston!

2007-09-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

So Boston is a cool city. Went there this weekend for Tony's wedding. While there we had a fabulous time. On Saturday we flew up there in the morning. We had some time to explore before the wedding and spent most of our time near Boston Common. It is a bit nippy and Cali was wearing sandals so we stopped by the Mecca of all shoes, DSW and got Cali some new tennies.

Saturday night we went to the wedding which took place outdoors (it was pretty cold). The ceremony was simple, and pretty romanticy. They both read their own vows. Jen and Tony are both very generous and I was impressed with the way they made their wedding not just about them. They really just seemed excited to have all their family and friends there. During the nine months prior to the wedding they scoured used record stores for songs they thought the guests would like. At the wedding we each received a record of a song they picked out for us and on the cover they marked where we would sit for the reception. At the reception we got to spend time with some other friends from Indy, Andy and Jess. We had a good time with them and got to have lots of beer, wine, lobster (Tony's from Maine) and barbecue. We also got to see Cali's favorite dog, Daisy who greeted us affectionately. Cali was relieved the dog hadn't forgotten us. I convinced Cali to do a bit of dancing, but she says she is more shy dancing in front of adults then 1st graders. I don't blame her. 1st graders are pretty fun to dance with.

Sunday was our day to explore. We took a duck tour through the city and surveyed the main sights of Boston. The city is beautiful and we had a pretty entertaining tour guide. He pointed out the main points of interest and I should have know this, but Boston has a pretty rich history. It seems that every American should take a trip to find out a little more about their heritage. I was disappointed when we drove past the Steinway and Sons piano shop and he didn't even mention it! I was excited, but it didn't warrant comment on the tour. In the afternoon we packed in some more fun time at and outdoor market/shopping area. There were street performers, many shops, and an amazing food court. Cali was able to get a pretzel (made boston style with salt and sesame seeds) and I got a Boston cream pie! Unfortunately, I was not feeling well before the pie so after the pie I felt a little pukey. It was an amazing weekend, but didn't offer much rest. We started back bright an early this morning as if nothing had occurred over the weekend. I think Boston deserves a second visit, so we plan on going back when we have some more time.

Blues, Barbecue, and Haughty Behavior

2007-09-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

Cali and I wondered out of our safe suburban Kansas world this weekend and ventured into Missouri. We went to the 1st annual Blues and Barbecue festival in Columbia, MO which turned out to be a great event. Everyone was surprised at the huge turnout. On Saturday night it was packed, especially in front of the main stage where Taj Majal was performing. Paul said he heard someone say that it reminded them of Mardi Gras in New Orleans (at least for a couple of blocks). There were some other great there acts like the Blind Boys of Alabama, Big Smith, Jerry Douglas, and Tab Benoit. Friday night we saw the Blind Boys and then crashed at the Burke's along with Cali's parents. In the night we were visited by the always scary, hand-biting Nora who loved the company, but gave constant reminders that she was not one to be trifled with. Unfortunately, Cali felt ill for most of the weekend and so she didn't join us for most of Saturday. She missed out mostly on bluegrass events, some of which we really enjoyed. We also tried some barbecue which was only okay (we didn't know any better and went to a place that didn't smoke their meat). However, it was still fun to wonder through the streets and look at and smell all the meat that was being cooked for the barbecue competition. One contestant was kind enough to share some of their scraps to all the drooling onlookers.

On the way down, we talked to Holly on the phone and found out that she was going to Columbia this weekend also. She went to visit a friend and to go the festival. We totally could have carpooled. Anyway, she also went to plug her store's coffee beans at a coffee shop in Columbia. The word is the store had nice equipment and good atmosphere, but kind of haughty employees. What is the deal with barista's. How come they gotta cop the attitude. Did I do that? I don't know. Somehow working in a coffee shop does make people feel pretty cool, especially if you are in a college town. I did enjoy being in Columbia and it made me kind of miss Urbana. For now we will just have to get our college town kicks by visiting Holly in Lawrence.

Where the buffalo roam

2007-09-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

So I was listening to this book, Thirteen Moons, with Calista several months ago. The narrator was adopted by an Indian tribe and was mentored by the chief of that tribe. He held many strong opinions about whites and how they changed the land. One of his main complaints was with white farming techniques. They brought with them farm animals instead of hunting for their meat. Buffalo were replaced with boring, slow moving, non-huntable cows and wild birds were replaced with stupid, dirty chickens. I think this fictional chief's points are valid and I started thinking maybe farm animals aren't as healthy as game meat. Animals that actually move around are bound to be more healthy than those that don't, right? And they probably are less of a drain on the land. All this lead me to believe that maybe we should continue eating beef, chicken, pork, etc. (Go Uncle Mark!), but also eat more game meat. I started looking into it and found some butchers that sell venison, buffalo, ostrich, and elk. I also discovered that this meat is indeed healthier than pork, beef, and chicken. For instance buffalo meat has 1/4 the fat that beef and pork have and about 1/3 the fat of chicken (turkey is also very healthy and compares with game meat). Pretty amazing, eh? Today I went straight out and bought about 6lbs of ground buffalo meat. Cali thinks I am crazy because I tend to get on kicks that seem to come from nowhere, but I am excited. Perhaps we should return to eating the meat that came from this land.

Football

2007-09-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

College football has started today as some of you may know. I of course have come to the realization that in KC I will not be able to watch any Illinois games. Apparently those games aren't a huge draw for this area. So I feel a little pathetic because here I am sitting in front of the computer watching as every 20 seconds a new play is posted. It is not quite the same as watching real time, but it is allowing me to catch up on some reading.

Cali and I went out and had a fantastic day today. We haven't gotten to spend much time with each other since school started, but today we planned out a nice little Saturday. First we went to US toy which is an awesome place. They sell all kinds of interesting costumes, games, and teacher supplies. It was a great place to explore, but I found out that my kids are too old for all the cool stuff they had there. Cali wouldn't let me buy the ribbon that said "Congrats on Being Potty Trained" or the chalk slates or even any of the sports equipment like the wiffle ball/bat set. Maybe that also has to do with us not really having the space to store any of that stuff. Cali did get some things for her kids like hula hoops (those younger kids are more fun to buy toys for). After lunching at the cheesecake factory we made it back in time for a nap before heading out to Lawrence tonight. We are going to visit Holly and finally see her new place. I love three day weekends and it is amazing how after two weeks of school you already need one.

Master's Degree

2007-08-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

So I got my Master's degree yesterday! I had to go in for an oral examination to complete the degree and they passed me. When I went in one of my professors had an article he wanted me to read and compare it to another article I had already read. Then the two professors on the committee just asked me questions about things I had learned in the program and what I planned to implement into my teaching. A week before I had sent in three papers I had written and five articles I had read and they used this as a basis to ask their questions. I am so glad to be done. It was kind of an exhausting day because I decided to do the trip to Urbana there and back in one day. Fortunately Paul saved the day and decided to make the trip with me and share the driving.

When I got back I had a great surprise. Madeline had made an orange and blue cake and Madeline and Stella had made an Illini sign. Amy apparently had everyone dress up in Illini shirts and we had chinese food (orange chicken) for dinner. I have to say those ladies know how to throw a party.

Richardson?

2007-08-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

So Cali is adamantly in support of Richardson. We watched the debates this morning and she likes him more and more. I have to say I was excited when the question about education was finally asked. Richardson said he supported a minimum wage teacher salary (40,000) and mentioned several other important information such as his support of the arts. That was great to hear!

Scottish

2007-08-19T16:09:00.001-07:00

So I looked into my family history and found out some interesting information. My dad's family on my mom's side has a book that lists the history of the family back to 1800 when John Douglas first turned up in Athen's Ohio. He was about 15 at the time and was a Scot, but may or may not have been born in the US. Most likely he and his brother were born in Scotland and came over when they were young. I also found out that my Mom's family on her mother's side is originally from Scotland. Cali seemed a little nervous about this information seeing as she has Welsh blood in her. We thought maybe we should go over and do a trip through Wales and Scotland. Especially now that we both have jobs.

Change in Title

2007-08-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

So we haved moved to an entirely different state so I had to change the title. This year I am starting back into teaching which is fantastic. I was getting to where all my knowledge was theoretical and I am glad to see if some of it actually works. I haven't started with kids yet, but have instead been getting ready by trying to get my instruments and materials all in order. There has been a lot to do because I teach at three schools and each school operates a little differently. Starting this week I also have to start kids into "the counseling process". This is where kids pick an instrument and decide if they want to be a part of band or strings. So now apparently I am a salesman...to fifth graders.

2007-03-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been keeping up with this blog, but recently we have had a lot of exciting developments. We got to go to Michigan to see Amanda's recital and it was fantastic! She has become such a terrific player and it was great to see what she has accomplished in grad school. Also, I have applied for a job in Liberty to teach strings. I am thrilled to have had a screening interview and now I am hoping that I get called again for a building level interview. The person I student taught with, Mary Lou Jones is the teacher at the high school and it would be fantastic to be able to work in her district with her and all the other great staff that is in Liberty. We just found out today that Calista also got an interview in Liberty! It would be terrific if the two of us could get a job in the same district.

I decided to go for a walk today and I took some pictures of what is happening in Urbana. Spring is here! I forgot how beautiful Urbana is in the spring. It has been nice to have some extra time to enjoy it this week because I have had very few classes. Orchestra has been cancelled this week because the director wanted to give us some extra time to pay us back for the hard work we did last semester. Calista has also been sick so it has been good that I have had the extra time to get her tea and make sure she some day recovers. For now that is all in Urbana.

Allerton

2007-02-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

So last night Calista and I went out to celebrate the anniversary of when we started dating. We went to Montgomery's on the square in Monticello, a town about 3o minutes west of us. The food there was absolutely delicious. After we ate it was getting late and the roads weren't great so we decided we should stay the night. I had wanted to stay in this park near Monticello called Allerton, but we didn't think that we could stay there because you normally have to have reservations. However, we asked the server about it and he went to find out and the owner of the restaurant came over and said that she just happened to have a key to one of the houses on the Allerton property. She had picked it up just in case someone didn't want to drive home. So she got us a room and then decided to throw in brunch for the next morning, since the restaurant was serving it there the next day. So we spent the night and had a great time. The place was just beautiful. Apperently it was a huge estate that some wealthy man donated to the university when he died and they have turned it into a park and used the mansion as a hotel and conference center. On the property there is also a place called "the house in the woods" and that is where we stayed. The next morning we didn't have clean clothes so we traveled back home and got cleaned up and then came back for the brunch which once again was fabulous. Calista thinks she is ruined for ordinary food now. I have posted some pictures of us in the park the next morning.

Snow and Fun

2007-02-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

Everyone probabely had a great deal of snow recently, but I thought I would post pictures of all the snow we got. University of Illinois cancelled for two days (first snow days in 30 years) so it was pretty great. Cali and I got to stay home and watch movies. Our only real adventure was going out to the grocery store and that is when I took most of the pictures. As you can see from one of the pictures, a lot of the cars were completely buried because of the plows. It was awesome this year to have a garage!