Musings of a mouse

I am supposed to be going to Beverly Hills High School's homecoming game and parade but I am still sitting in my classroom at 5 pm..I think I got here 11 hours ago. Still deciding about my Halloween costume for tom night in between grading papers..I have my costume for school all set out but I may be a mouse on Saturday night for the party. I have little pink felt ears and a fuzzy gray dress I can wear. I just feel like being cozy and wearing lots of pink blush and ballet slippers....

Only exciting to me.

As I sat in traffic on the way home from school today, I decided to compile a list of my favorite restaurants/dishes of all time. Yes, this is how fixated on food and completely un-cerebral I really am. The list (in no particular order):

1. Robin Du Bois (Brooklyn): Steamed mussels with garlic
2. Bagel Factory (Los Angeles): Egg salad sandwich on a toasted everything bagel with red onion.
3. Thai Boom (Los Angeles): Prik King with Chicken
4. Natalee Thai (Los Angeles): Chicken Laarb
5. Tuk Tuk (Los Angeles): Nua Kem
6. Dr. Shokshukas (Tel Aviv): Shokshuka and salads
7. Wagamamas( London): Yasai Cha Han (with chili oil and lots of beer)
8. Budgens (yes, a supermarket..London): Vegetarian toad-in-the-hole
9. Nick's ( Los Angeles): Bacon and eggs with rye toast
10. Thai Bamboo (Los Angeles): Thai bamboo chicken
11. Chili Duck (Boston): Drunken noodles, golden bags
12. Ali Ababbas (NYC): Falafel with hot sauce
13. Cube (Los Angeles): Pumpkin ravioli
14. Vinnie Testas (Boston) Bread and roasted garlic
15. Nameless bakery off high street Willesden (London): Beef and onion pie
16. Mashti Malones (Hollywood): Rosewater ice cream
17. Grand Cafe (Brooklyn) Avocado and Hummous fried sandwich
18. Cafe Brazil (Los Angeles): Vegetarian plate (black beans, plantains, rice)
19. Versailles (Los Angeles): " " plus garlic sauce
20. Roscoes (Los Angeles): Fried chicken and waffles
21. Nameless cafe in The Oberkamf (sp?) district..(Paris) Chicken with rosti in a tomato reduction
22. Emils(Los Angeles): breaded sausage rolls
23. The Tudor House (Santa Monica) Sausage roll, gingerbread dolly
24. Mi Cocina (Plano, Texas) Beef fajitas
25. Tartine (San Francisco) Puffed cheesy gruyere roll
26. The Coop (Los Angeles) Pepperoni pizza well done
27. GRIMALDIS (prob my fave rest ever- Brooklyn) Anything they make

The list goes on............

Finally, a costume.

Finishing up my Edgar Allan Poe unit and trying to create a somewhat decent segue into Julius Caesar..my only thematic link being "war". Anyways, as we begin webquest research assignments in class and the kids start actual explication of the text next Monday, I realized the perfect Halloween costume- Cleopatra. I am not sure that it is 100% appropriate that I will be playing the part of a famous concubine but what the hell? I just cut my bangs and I can wear lots of eyeliner and a sheet to school (with full-on clothes underneath, of course). Some visual inspiration follows:

weekend.

Almost Friday. Just finished an 11 hour day- exhausted but very excited to see my little sister who arrives at LAX in an hour.

- Sleep. grading. probably some drinking.

a tiny robot. I want to start collecting them.

Impia Tortorum

Starting my "literary devices" unit utilizing Edgar Allan Poe's famous gothic work, "The Pit and the Pendulum". I am going to scare the daylight out of my poor kids, I think. I have a soundtrack of screams and the clean , grating "slliiiiiice" of a knife to help them visualize the maddening horror of the story. I am using the piece to introduce mood and tone, two ridiculously evident devices found in the story.

I heart Poe.

Back to School

It has been too long. Working very hard and drinking even harder.

Thinking of cutting my hair short and going blonde again...hm. I think I look kinda mean as a blonde at moments.....

These are taken from my crazy days of New York/London. So young. Haven't looked at these polaroids in years.

New crush

This Gap Sweater Is Fucking Awesome

Letitia and Ed 7-22

A few wedding photos courtesy of the lovely Dana Archer-Rosenthal.


Top Left: Nina(the designer) steaming the dress
Top Right: The groomsmen
Middle Left: Bachelorette dance party
Middle Right: Blake, Me, Amber, Susan
Left: The couple.

Geeky crafts

My favorite store in San Francisco is called Little Otsu, a tiny paper goods store that has an in-house printing press utilizing all vegan and natural dyes. They also carry limited edition prints by new artists primarily in the Bay Area, Portland, and Austin. I spent a whole morning of my recent trip to S.F. picking out handmade cards and stamps for my new (currently non-existent) apartment. After visiting my second favorite store in San Francisco, Tartine, I had pretty much filled my happiness quota for the next several weeks.

Above are some images of the prints I purchased-

I also spent most of my afternoon looking at the following sites:

http://www.lillicarre.com/

http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/index.php

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/

http://asthmatickitty.com/main.php

http://www.stereogum.com/


I am trying to keep myself busy in an attempt to detox this week following an extensive bout of drinking and general debauchery. Soy milk, herbal tea, and running are not as exciting as I remember.

High school journalism

I found this article online after searching around the school website today. The class was watching a video about the mating patterns of frogs... summer school is kind of awesome.

Oh, please ignore the hilarious mis-information and abundent cliches found throughout the article- My favorite band is NOT Poison and I do not only love listening to dance and salsa music as asserted. I think they needed more space in the article and got a bit creative.

...and I totally failed to mention to mention that "The Cutting Edge" is also one of my favorite movies.. they never need to know that.

http://www.elsegundousd.com/eshs/bayeagle0607/DecemberP12Ms.WilsonANewArrival.htm

Summer reading

Instead of reading All Quiet on The Western Front and Night, I have been consuming graphic novels this month. I have always wanted to read Blankets by Craig Thompson- a poignant coming of age story about a young man raised in a fundamentalist Christian household and his first experiences with infatuation, lust, love, guilt, etc. It was probably one of the most touching pieces of literature exploring adolescence I have read and only enhanced by the imagery of the graphic form.

The other graphic novel I finished was The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci, the first in a new series by DC comics aimed at the adolescent market. The Plain Janes comments on cliques and the social hierarchy of schools- accurately catching each nuance of what it means to be a creative and "different" in a society increasingly based on fear.

I read each novel with my students in mind- hoping that I could share some of the explicit messages about being "cool" and "fitting in" but Blankets is a bit too mature for many of my students due to direct references to sexuality in the writing as well as nudity in the illustrations. Nonetheless, I am a bit infatuated with both novels and look forward to exploring the genre more - ie Chris Ware, Adrian Tomine, etc.

I should probably be reading "Julius Cesar" instead...

Playoff Game 1

More kickball pictures from 7/16:

We won 3-0.

Photobooth

One last set of Mickey, Britt and I. These are from the photobooth at Tana and Beree's wedding. The three of us pretty much camped out by the booth all night with our drinks.


And yes, Mickey's bow tie does match his skinny jeans-We shopped for pants all afternoon.

Tana and Beree 7-7-07

Pictures from Tana and Beree's wedding last week. I had to miss the beginning due to Tish's shower but made it in time for dancing, drinking, and congratulating the bride and groom. They looked incredibly happy and the wedding was a blast. I miss Tana and really need to plan for more sleepover/empanada eating soon.

Bridal Shower -Tish and Ed

Letitia's bridal shower was beautiful. I finally had the opportunity to visit the new Ivins house and was completely overwhelmed by the impeccable mid century design and landscaping. Modern grass and succulents mingled in the front yard with large stone areas peeking out from the corners of the garden...The Ivins have completely arrived.

Letitia was literally glowing and Ed was grinning all afternoon. The games (I made a questionnaire/survey about the couple) went really well and the family from the Philippines mingled effortlessly with Letitia's childhood friends and new colleagues. I cannot believe that it all happens Sunday. Tish's wedding has to be the most extensive week of socializing I have had in the last few years:

Wed: Bridal prep (hair makeup etc planning is finalized)
Thurs: Bachelorette dinner at Edendale grill followed by dancing in Echo Park (not sure where....)
Friday: Group BBQ for New Yorkers...Mets/Dodgers game ( I am skipping...)
Saturday am: Bouquet tying/flower arranging Saturday pm: Rehearsal dinner at the Ivins
Sunday: The wedding.

I also drunkenly told Tish that I wanted to do a toast...her sister is definitely doing one as maid of honor..but I am totally thinking of backing down now..decisions.

Mickey does L.A.

Pictures from a long overdue visit by Mickey last week for Tana and Beree's wedding. I will be seeing him in Brooklyn soon but I have missed him so much.


-Dinner at El Compadre with Jerry, Taylor, Micks and Lori
- Very sleepy after two flaming margaritas.
- Brittles and Micks- reunited from June street.
- Something you do not see every day...Mickey and Hip Hop Jenny making out.
-My best friend. Matching t-shirts.

pictures only

My laziness and inability to sit in one place for any period of time has forced me into posting only pictures. Here goes kickball two weeks ago.

Top Left: Enabler, Cuddler, me.
Top Right: Warming up
Above: "Meanwald" Greenwald
Above Right: "The Constant Gardner" Linn
Right: Alissa "Grassy Knoell" and Ms. Lozano

dork.

A photo of me in my classroom with my "pamther" hat that two of my students bought for me at Disneyland- they had it embroidered at the Mad Hatter a few weeks ago. This was taken on my LAST day of classes with the class of 2007.

Surreal.

my first hallway display.

So, my class project last Friday asked students to create a visual expression of the oppression faced by the characters in Mark Mathabane's autobiography, Kaffir Boy. The students were asked to choose one significant or poignant excerpt from the text and interpret it visually using imagery and symbolism. I bought a huge block of terra cotta colored self-drying clay that attempted to emulate the color of the desert in Africa..a bit of a stetch. The students were building their visual literacy while their teacher got to sit and sculpt all day. I was really impressed with the results and have included some images from the display case in the K building that I arranged yesterday.

This afternoon was the English department's Mexican themed BBQ. I tried mango tequila and consumed a delicious meal made by Ray Gen, our veteran AP Language teacher and resident chef. I will try to upload some photos soon.

Pictures: Top: The cabinet (it looks better in person..) 2) J's manacles and truncheon (both vocab words!) 3) B's child curled up- it is so detailed and tiny 4) E's skull and bone