And I wake up sometimes and see the clock glowing red and wonder if five more minutes of shut eye will be worth the pace it'll take to make up for it. I try. I really try and I'm such a perfectionist about the things I truly value. I want to get things so right. But then, I'll miss and not have timed tests prepared for all of my students, or forget a kid's name, or have a boring homework review, or just not feel great. Little things. It feels like I have so far to go. It sucks realizing that you're not that good...yet. Then, one of my students will crack a joke that's terrible silly, or say something so deafly honest, or just smile. Sometimes, I'll just look at them while they're working diligently at something and feel this faith in us. Someone will ask a question because they really want to figure things out.
It's still amazing to me how fast you come to care about them. I think sometimes people forget that children are people too. They have stories and favorites and opinions and senses of humor and at the end of the day, they just want to be happy too. They want to feel loved the way we want to feel loved. They want to feel valued and valuable like we do. They want and need too.
I don't just want to be great at teaching for the sake of, I want to be great for them. I want to add to their lives. Change has become a popular word of late and I'm beginning to care less for it. I don't necessarily want to change their lives. I want to empower my students with the faith and wherewithall to advance their lives and the lives of others. I literally wake up, look at the red numbers, think about rolling over then think about my kids. I get up, get dress, brush my teeth, and go to them.
1943-2008
I'm not sure if you knew, but Bobby Fischer died last year. As a chess player and scholar, I find a sadness in that that's a bit hard to describe. I'm not sure how I feel about the man. I never knew him. I'm pretty sure though that he was a genius chess player. Dude ranked as a grand master at 15 years old. That's ludicrous. Speaking of though, word is he lived the latter end of his life in bitter solitude. Whether that is true or not, I don't know. I wasn't with him. I can recall learning about him and the gift he gave to the game, more witnesses. If you've never played chess, I encourage you to try.
Post.Script.
I hope Bobby died happily
Calisthenics form a category of physical exercises closely related to, but not a part of, gymnastics. The name of the discipline is Greek in origin, a combination of the words kalos, 'beautiful' and sthénos, 'strength'.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calisthenics
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calisthenics
Japan from Eric Testroete on Vimeo.
Showreel 2008 HD from Peter Roe on Vimeo.
So I was drawn to this word.
I looked it up just to see what would pop up.
Providence is the province of _________.
I'm not sure where this thought is leading me but I wanted to get it down nonetheless.
Can you hear "Dance of the Charming Maiden" in the background?
Definitions of providence on the Web:
- the capital and largest city of Rhode Island; located in northeastern Rhode Island on Narragansett Bay; site of Brown University
- the guardianship and control exercised by a deity; "divine providence"
- a manifestation of God's foresightful care for his creatures
- the prudence and care exercised by someone in the management of resources
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
I'll be the first to say, I don't claim Bk
despite the birth certificate
Not as many memories made
when compared to my time below the Mason Dixon
-all despite my obvious difference
p.s.
What is this whole thing all about anyway, style gentrification. Is it okay? Yes. Why? Because nobody owns style. I'll fess up and say it. No, I don't like to tell people what cologne I prefer because I don't want too many people smelling like me. I purposely avoid buying super commercialized scents like Aqua de Gio or Curve (huh?) or Ralph's stuff because I want to be readily distinguishable. The shoes, gotta be distinguisable. The ties, gotta be distinguishable (for the most part).
I can remember wanting exclusivity for the first time after I discovered this little shop in downtown Orangeburg. It almost didn't fit. Most of the clothes didn't especially fit me as they were sized larger for the 'urban' style of the time. The designs were nice though. Miskeen. Pay $50 and you'll never see anyone else with this shirt. "What!" I was working at Bi-Lo at the time and could have bought one but never did. I wasn't used to paying that much for a shirt. $50! I had jeans less expensive than that, but these painted shirts.
Then I discovered LRG. The materials, the stitching, the concepts, the details, those little messages in odd spots. They cared about their clothes. You could tell. I loved that. They inspired me to take on clothing design, big brother style. I dug 'em and could swing the $30-$35 shirts.
I remember when I first started wearing it and people at my high school were asking, "what's LaRGe?" Anyway, style is no exclusive province. What it is or isn't is up to whoever is talking.
All that being said, I don't really like observing folks JUST wear whatever they wear beacuse they've gotten the idea that it's in. That seems so impersonal. "How unfortunate", I think to myself.
A Message from the Brooklyn Tourism Board from jeff on Vimeo.
So my student teaching semester officially begins tomorrow morning with Day 1. I assume that I'll be doing less posting as a product of how much time I'll be devoting to that and other extra-curricular responsibilities. I hope to keep up with this phase of my life experiences with this blog but am unsure of how things are gonna work out. Hopefully well. I'm going pro.
So, I downloaded Ruckus last night/this morning. Love it. Ruckus is a free music download service. The catch, it's legal. Why is it legal? Because, the free version doesn't let you transfer the files via a personal media player. This basically means that music you download onto your computer stays on your computer. I don't mind. It provides a great tool for discovering and previewing new music before you commit to purchasing it. While the music may not be completely free, it feels like free. Gotta lud'at
=D
So, Apple's final appearance at MacWorld is here and gone. There were a few good things but in this case, the hype leading up to the event was just too high to leave us with that sense of 'wow' that we've seen in the past. To be more precise, it didn't leave us with the sense of 'wow' that we got from the keynote at MacWorld '07 a 'la iPhone debut. There were several good things announced.
The new iLife suite looks great! They have really stepped the bar up with their iPhoto, iMovie, and Garage Band features. I'd look forward to using them and I know my mom would love them. iWork '09 looks good too, though I'm not very familiar with that set of applications. DRM-free iTunes, great. MacBook Pro 17", gorgeous. I kinda want one now. Will I spend $2700 on a notebook; uhhhh no.
I can see why the pull out from Apple now. Whenever this or WWDC come around, the rumor mill cranks up. People are looking for spy shots, pouring through code, consulting analysts, and all to find out what's next. Apple enthusiasts have been waiting on a lot of things. Improved this; revolutionized that. And with the latest hardware updates, the focus had begun to shift from the software that supports Apple's hardware offerings.
So, okay Apple. No new iMac. No new Mac mini. No new Apple TV. No Tablet. No Media Server. No iPhone nano. It's okay. I understand. On your go then.
I had a very interesting meeting with a professor yesterday. After a rough semester prior (see: "Push"), I was a bit surprised at some of my grades. They weren't too bad. Scraping in good work by the nose is/was no fun. There was however one grade, or rather, a lack thereof that bothered me. I got an "I" standing for incomplete in one of my favorite classes. In all of my 7 semesters in undergrad, I'd never recieved an I. I finish. I finished, right?
As I arrived she decided that it would be more advantageous to her schedule if we could have lunch over our meeting. We talked several topics ranging from "what's going right in low-income Boston, MA schools that isn't going right in low-income schools in Orangeburg, SC?" and goals, to projects that we're working on. It was interesting but the high beams on that "I" sitting on my term grades repair was a constant glare in my eyes and mind.
It seems that she was simply unimpressed by my final paper. It was too fluffy with a lot of beautiful words. The problem comes when the reader has to spend too much time decoding it to find the true, raw statement. While drafting my statement of purpose and personal statement, I was told on a few occassions that I needed to drastically cut down on my adverb and adject use. The general nature of the judges reading through my application were looking for deliberate, accute statements, perspectives, and reasonings. They had several thousand to read through and were not interested in ruffling through the blanket to find the piggie. As a reader, I enjoy when authors can find creative ways to express the ordinary. As a thinker, I enjoy the journey of interpretation. As a writer, I find more joy in delivering writing that allows readers to interact with my thoughts and feelings. The only time I like things straight is when dealing with relationships.
We went through the paper and she basically echoed what my Fulbrighter advisor said. She also added the importance of being able to write in a scholarly way during graduate work. "Hmmn, indeed", I thought to myself. As my undergrad comes to a close, and I begin the journey into professional and post graduate arenas, it is important that I'm able to adequately transition. So, my professor pushed "pause" for me. I'm very glad she did. Way to look out Dr.
I still want to see this movie
2:56 PM
Your Favorite Designer's Favorite Designer 1
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John Ive
Full Name: Johnathan Paul Ive
From: East London
Now: Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple Inc.
Principles: Design first for function, then go beyond
A Word: "So many companies are competing against each other with similar agendas. Being superficially different is the goal of so many of the products we see. A preoccupation with differentiation is the concern of many corporations rather than trying to innovate and genuinely taking the time, investing the resources and caring enough to try and make something better."
He Caught Our Attention When: The translucent, multi-color iMac was introduced
We Knew When: We saw the 17 inch G4 Powerbook
I remember watching the Macworld 2007 when this thing was debut. It was sophomore year and I still lived in Calhoun Courts N5A with Nate. I was absolutely floored by this technology and design of this device. If you didn't know I'm a bit of a techy. I'd been 3 years after getting my first phone that I got my second. I only did a little research and Verizon's inventory was limited. I was moving onto campus for my freshman year of college and decided that a new phone aught to be a part of my new beginning. I dug that phone, an LG VX####. It had these two, loud speakers on the side, a front display and controls for music, and I could read text without even opening it. A super phone, considering my telephonic upbringing. After I got it, I rested atop cell tech for about 2 months. Then, as LG released other version, I became interested in the burgeoning cellphone market. These things were starting to get interesting. January 2007, Apple Inc. dealt a crushing, though still human, blow. The original iPhone was a wow device. There were several drawbacks. No MMS, slow internet, AT&T (I was in a 2 yr deal the Vizo), and the price. The price was the big one. "Can you really charge that much for a phone? It's a phone." I heard that one a few times. I came Apple's defense on many occasions. "Well, I'd say no. You can't charge that much for a phone. But we're not just talking about a phone. We're talking about a wide screen iPod, a pda, a personal internet browser, Google maps, and a phone. The best part is that all this is just version 1. They're gonna keep updating the software to make it better and better. While our phones 'old' in a few months and may be obsolete within a year or so, this thing will be up to times for the next 2 years at least." I can remember the looks. I can remember my own corner of doubt. But then I saw the muscle they were putting into this device.
I loved the commercials. The song was just so simple and great. They even sounded happy =D. They made it seem so useful. "Say you're watching 'Pirates of the Carribean'..." I watched it, found sources like Apple Insider and Mac Rumors, and have been keeping up with Apple every since. It's been an exciting company to watch grow, especially considering it's history. This other video, however, was posted many moons before the iPhone launch. I still wonder what impression it made on Apple.
One of my favorite tracks from the American Gangster Album chopped and screwed.
Not sure why, but this song resonates. There's something special about this iteration especially. Bob Dylan isn't half bad. So, who killed Davey Moore?
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