More Reactions to NPR

I've been listening to NPR a lot lately. It's a nice break from the inane conversations I have every day at work. There's lots to like about NPR. No, not the pledge drives, although I think I would be ecstatic if Ira Glass of This American Life called me and shamed me into pledging. But I like hearing the stories. I like that the news comes in narrative form, with real people telling the stories. And I like that more often then not, it makes me think about the world outside of my microcosm.

So I was listening to an All Things Considered* story about soda in America. The story posits that children today drink too many sugary drinks, largely due to a lack of education about what those beverages do to the human body. There was even mention of children who drink soda in the morning to "get them woke up." Kind of appalling, right? When asked about water, the kid says he can't drink water, he has to have something with flavor or his digestive system acts up. Really appalling, right? So all of this I agree with. Something should be done. I'm not opposed to taking soda out of schools, it's a small step, easy to make, and would probably do a world of good (although they tried to do that when I was in high school, and if memory serves me correctly it lasted less than a year). Then the reporter asked whose responsibility it is to educate children about good eating habits. Parents? Teachers? The guy at the Quik-E-Mart? "We all bear responsibility," the interviewee said. Again, I don't necessarily disagree with this. As a teacher, it's my job to help mold my students into happy, healthy, productive young adults, whatever that entails. The problem is, how do I teach them something if they go home and their parents teach and model the exact opposite?

This highlights a more widespread problem with education today, something that I've observed by interacting with parents. Lack of parental support and involvement. The principles, concepts, and behaviors that we try to instill in students at school are undermined when they go home. The problem isn't always with teachers or the public school system, although we tend to take the blame. It starts at home. That goes for learning and nutrition.

*Question: do you italicize radio program titles, or put it in quotes? Standby for MLA check--my handbook is still within arms reach of my desk, even though I haven't written a paper in years. Indeed, you do italicize. The episode title goes in quotes. I WIN!

She Supposably Won a Pulitzer

I'm a bit of a grammar snob. That's not to say that I have perfect grammar, know how to use a comma properly, or know when to use whom. But I do my best. So, imagine my indignation when I heard a Pulitzer Prize winner say the word supposably on NPR. Supposably. Really? I thought to myself, supposably? I can understand when my high school students mispronounce supposedly, they are neither educated, nor do they care. But a Pulitzer Prize winner?

So, in the midst of judging her for her use of supposably, I got to thinking, I must sound like an idiot with some of the slip ups I make. Glad I'm not on NPR.

If you're interested in the story, you can find it here. It's actually quite good, despite the early slip up. The supposably [tsk, tsk] is in the first four minutes.

Ugh

You may or may not have noticed that I haven't been writing that much lately. This is not limited to the electronic pages of this blog, but to everything in general. Yet for once, it's not because I've been busy, but more because I haven't really had anything to write about that didn't involve school. I have this hesitance to write about school (and probably justly so). Privacy laws and everything. But the rhythms of my life are dictated by the ring of an electronic bell, and there is sadly little else. So, I don't write. Because there's nothing to write about. I prefer silence to pointless drivel. You're welcome.

Group Singing Usually Sucks...

You know how a large group of people singing usually sounds pretty terrible? There are lots of people singing who really shouldn't so it all ends up sounding like a convoluted mess vaguely resembling a popular song. That is, of course, unless the large group of people singing are all theatre people, and therefore sing all the time. I was fortunate enough to witness this a couple of weeks ago at Districts. Owl City came on before Closing Ceremonies, and the room burst into song. Actually, we'd already been singing, because they played Lady GaGa right before that, but I digress. We'd gotten through the first stanza when the music cut out. But to room kept singing...on key, and in perfect time. Some were even singing the harmony. It sounded great.

Just one reason why theatre people are awesome.

Anyway, I haven't been writing much of anything lately. I tend to shy away from this blog when things get busy out of a sense of guilt. Why should I spend any amount of time on blogging when there is work to be done? But I've just spent the last couple of hours wasting time, so why not spend a little more, eh? I felt like I should post something, if only to remind the internet that I exist.

Laundry

I finally folded my laundry. I had started it some time last week, maybe Monday or Tuesday, or maybe even Wednesday, heck, I don't remember, but it got so late that I didn't feel like waiting up for the drier to buzz to fold it. When I woke up the next morning, my clothes were already wrinkled and still the slightest bit damp, so there was no point in folding them at that moment. I was running late anyway. So the drier's contents were emptied into my basket and trudged up the stairs, then riffled through for a pair of jeans and the least wrinkly shirt. And then they sat. I had intended to fold them when I got home, but that didn't happen for whatever reason; laziness, most likely. Several mornings of dodging laundry baskets on my way to the door has finally prompted me to fold my clothes. It took half an hour. I didn't know I had so many. I hate laundry.

The Last Hurdle

Today, November 12, 2009, I jumped the final hurdle into adulthood with the addition of a single card to my wallet: a Sam's Club Advantage Membership card. Not only am I old enough to have one, I'm old enough to care about the price difference when you buy bulk. Sure, there are other things in my wallet that say, "Look at me, I'm not a little girl anymore," credit cards, proof of insurance, money...but there is something distinctly grown up about a Sam's card. Probably the fact that it's not something I will brag about to my friends. Oh, I'll tell them, as I'm telling you, but I won't brag, I'll bemoan its presence in my wallet, adding a fraction of an inch to the thickness and a decade of age to its owner. It's the only card that does that (except for maybe an AARP card, but ignore that, I'm being melodramatic). A credit card says, look at me, I don't even need money! A driver's license says, why yes, I can give you a ride! A learner's permit says, why yes, I can make the car stall in the middle of the road! But a Sam's Card...it says, yes, I can purchase 36 Cup o' Noodles in the same package!

So, if you see me around and I'm leaning on a large mountain of Cup o' Noodles, you know why. Give me a nod, and welcome me to grown-up-hood.

Another One Bites the Dust

This weekend was a serious fail as far as NaBloPoMo is concerned, however, I blame it on The Foreigner and am resolved to try to continue for the rest of the month (until I get busy again).


Speaking of Foreigner, it's over. Two months of hard work has come to an end, and the only thing that remains are memories and dried droplets of paint on the black stage from careless brushes. And maybe some stickiness from spilled Coke. That reality is one of the hardest things about theatre in my opinion. It's so temporary. You work on it for a set amount of time, then you do it, then it's over. I don't think I would want it to keep going much longer, but I still miss it when its gone. For me, taking down the set is the hardest part. We spent weeks putting it up, getting it to where it needed to be, painting, building, taping, painting some more, hour after hour; the whole thing came down in three.


The only thing that makes it easier for me is knowing that there is another show coming in a few months. There are already things I'm working on and planning for December and January. I have not one, but TWO one acts in the works, one with 6th period as an in-school performance, one with 4th period for Districts. I'm only sort of directing them, acting more as a consultant/producer for student directors. I wanted to put it in my student's hands and see what happens. Hopefully they will rise to the occasion.