Hunkering Down?

I don't know if it's the shift of light with fall officially here, or just that I feel the need to change seasons. (Will someone remind me in the dead of wnter that I just said that? I won't believe you, so you may have to link to this post to show your evidence.)

Anyway, I've been craving comfort foods and I've been wanting to just stay inside. I know being a teacher puts you on the academic calendar, and you fall back into doing "school" things like buying school supplies, or new clothes or new shoes. So I'm sure starting school has also thrown me into fall mode. The days are shorter, the nights are cooler, and I've been craving meat. Thankfully, Stein has too.

So last week, he made this meatloaf (which I've swooned about before), and this past Sunday he made this pot roast. Yum. Just what this comfort craver needed. Reason #783 why I married this man.

The Hiding Game

I've been noticing something lately. Actually, it hasn't been lately, it's been for a while now. People hiding behind technology. Technology - a blessing and a curse. I believe this wholeheartedly. It has made our lives easier, but it has also cluttered and complicated those same lives. One day when I was talking to my mom about something I had written in my blog, I finally asked her, "Didn't you read my blog?" I was schooled by her reply, which was, "Yes, I read your blog, but I want to hear your voice." Don't we all?

I first noticed the hiding game, as I call it, when I worked at Einstein's. Email messages to and from bosses or colleagues could say almost anything, and we assumed it wouldn't be taken half as seriously if those same words were said in person or on the phone. It was as if people used the label of email to cover up any harsh words or comments. I got caught up in that game, wordsmithing until the cows came home in order to get my message across, regardless of how it was said. A friend of mine said it perfectly a couple weeks ago when she said, "Email doesn't have a specific tone, nor can you create one, so you can never fully understand the message. You can never truly understand what someone is trying to say." I was thrown back to that first communication course I had in college, when I learned about the messages and how they are interpreted. I never knew that I would use that information again.

I have noticed the hiding game more and more in the last few years. Cell phones and text messages are the newest tools. I like text messages, especially when I'm at a place like a noisy restaurant or watching a sporting event. But what I don't like is when people can easily dial your number and call you instead of texting you. It's like they want to say something, but don't want to say it to your face. Call it being a coward, call it being passive-aggressive, call it being lazy. Whatever it is, I think it's hiding. (And don't think I'm immune from this, oh yes, I do it too.)

And now that I'm on Facebook (which is a whole other post in itself) I notice that people are hiding all the time. My neighbor said Facebook is kind of like reading Us magazine, only the people are your friends. You want to see the pictures, read the latest, and gossip about those people without them seeing you do it. It's so true. So we become "friends" with all these people who have been in our lives at some point, but don't maintain the friendships in the traditional sense. We don't call, we don't meet in person. We just send occasional notes to let them know we're reading their information, but it stops there.

Where is all of this going? I'm not so sure. But I know by the feeling that I have right now that the tone isn't so good. Maybe you could sense that, maybe you couldn't. Regardless, I'll have a more upbeat post tomorrow. but for now, I just needed to get on my soapbox. And use technology to do so.

Only in Michigan

The economy in Michigan stinks right now. I know it's nothing new to hear about the economy stinking, but here in Michigan it's pretty bad. There are many theories out there as to why it stinks so bad, but some of the reasons are the car manufacturers, people moving out of state, and students going to college here not sticking around.

Regardless of the reasons, one way (among many) that they're trying to jump start the economy is by encouraging movie makers to film in Michigan. Lately, there has been a flurry of action around the Detroit area. Drew Barrymore filmed a movie here in Ann Arbor, Clint Eastwood filmed one near Detroit, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. is currently filming one near Detroit. Clint Eastwood even filmed a commercial promoting Detroit as a good place to film movies, and the state is giving extra incentives for film companies coming here. I hope it works. The state definitely needs the boost.

Just a few words of advice to all those people coming to visit the state: there are a few things that you have to know about this place. A few things that only happen in Michigan. It's taken me a while to understand some of these things, but here they are:

• Party Stores. Growing up in Chicago, a store which sells alcoholic beverages is logically named a "liquor store". Here in Michigan, that store is called a party store. I always thought a party store sold plates and cups and balloons for parties. But here, there's beer, wine, and liquor.
• The Michigan Left. On many four-lane streets around Michigan, in order to go left, you need to go through the intersection, do a U-Turn in the designated place in the middle of the road, and then turn right at the street you want to go onto. Sound strange? It is, but I guess it decreases the amount of accidents of people going left.
• Coney Island. Here in Michigan, there are diners that are mostly owned by Greek families called Coney Islands. The signature meal at these diners is the Coney Dog, which is a hot dog with chili, onions and mustard on it. But besides this, the menu is basically a diner breakfast/lunch menu. I guess the name started with the hot dog? So you'll see all kinds of Coney Island restaurants around: Main Street Coney Island, Frank's Coney Island, etc. They all have the same food, don't worry.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the movies made here. Maybe they'll film in front of a coney island or party store and you could see them for yourself.

Maybe I'm Not Modern Enough

I like to think of myself as a culturally-in-tune person. I enjoy seeing plays, going to art museums, and occasionally find myself listening to classical music.

So last night when my friend Linda asked me to go see this show, I was really excited. I am ashamed to say that I have never been to the Power Center, and was interested to see what it was like. The Power Center was very cool. The show, however, was not.

I learned very quickly that I am not a modern dance fan. The show consisted of 4 opera singers, 2 pianists (who played on the same piano - very cool), and a dance troupe of 12-14 dancers. In the first part, I was constantly trying to figure out the theme of the dances, trying to put order where there was none. I told myself to just watch and don't try to figure it out. But that bothered me. I wanted there to be some organization, some purpose. My friend Linda succumbed to her exhaustion after the intermission and was lulled to sleep by the music.

It was last night that I realized that I like structure and meaning in the performances I watch. I LOVE Broadway musicals, where the dancers are choreographed perfectly. I like ballets like The Nutcracker or Swan Lake, where the dancing reflects the theme of the story.

The operatic part of the show was phenomenal. The four people had amazing voices, even if I didn't understand the German language they were singing. At times I felt myself mesmerized by the musicians and singers, and ignored the dancers who squeaked across the stage (they were barefoot).

Call me old-fashioned. Just give me a classic ballet or musical and I'll be happy.

It Happened

I had one kindergarten class today for 35 minutes. The way I planned for it, you would've thought that we had 2 hours.

I read a book about pumpkins and talked about some of the pictures and words, then we sang "Ten Little Pumpkins" (sung to the tune of ten little indians) with hand motions and body movements, and then we colored pictures of pumpkins. At that point I looked up at the clock and expected it to be time to line everyone up. We still had 10 minutes to spare. Remember what I said about extra time, and kindergarteners, and the library?

I panicked.

"Okay," I said confidently, "Everyone on the rug." As all the little cherubs bounced over to the rug, I thought to myself, okay Kelly, what the heck are you going to do with them now?

Out of my mouth came the following words: "Okay, are we pumpkins today?" When the kids replied no, I said, "Well, today we can pretend. And we're going to have a jumpy bumpy ride just like the pumpkins in the story. Spread out so you don't knock into your neighbor."

This is when I laughed to myself. I laughed because they did exactly what I asked them to do. I had to remind myself that I wasn't in my fifth-grade class anymore, where I would've heard, "We're not going to do that. We're not babies." No, these kids looked up at me waiting for the next instruction. I had them. "Okay, get ready pumpkins!" I said. So we went through the whole story, where all of the kids were rolling down the hill like the pumpkins in the story, wiggling and waggling around. They loved it. I looked up at the clock and we had two minutes to spare. Just enough time to compose ourselves, turn back into kids, and line up to leave.

I did it. Now the question is: what are we going to do tomorrow?!

Add it to the List

Whenever the fall season of TV comes around, I get a little anxious. I get this way because usually the season before has brought all of the shows that I (or our TiVo) can handle. And then the thought of adding more shows onto the agenda makes me nervous. (Kind of like my obsession with magazines, when more come in and I haven't read the previous month's issue. But, not to worry - I'm letting all of my subscriptions run out. Sorry Mick!)

I digress, once again. Back to TV. Eventually a couple of shows drop off the list from lack of interest, and make room for other shows. But this year is a little different. This year, I added a show to the list in the summer. And this I blame on Anthony Bourdain. Two weeks ago, on Labor Day, Stein and I innocently sat on our couch for oh, about 6 or 7 hours straight. Purely gluttonous, we admit. But we had good reason to sit still and watch TV. There was an Anthony Bourdain No Reservations marathon on that day. That was when I added another show to my list.

I didn't like Anthony Bourdain when I first saw his show. I thought he was really arrogant and snarky. I thought he was a food snob. But now I am wooed by his vocabulary, and lulled by his sentences. He is a really good writer, and I really like his narrative style. He admits that he's snarky, which I think is admirable. He's brutally honest, which is equally admirable. He travels and talks about food, restaurants, and food people. A complete package, if you ask me.

I know I can't give up Lost or The Office to make more room, so I may have to restrain myself and just not add another new show. But then again, No Reservations is now in reruns so I'm not feeling a lot of pressure to watch. I mean, there's always Netflix, huh?

Raffi and Other New Quests

These past 2 weeks in school have been interesting, to say the least. This position has proven to be one of the most overwhelming, rewarding, and multi-task-intense jobs I've had. The variety of grades, learning levels, and needs has been a huge juggling act. I have been doing it somewhat on the fly, thanks to the incompetence of the co-teacher that I worked with the last 2 weeks.

I will be flying solo starting tomorrow. I have no doubt that I can handle this, but it's going to take a lot of planning. I can be kind of (ahem) anal when it comes to planning and organizing. It just makes me feel better when I have a plan in place. I tend to over plan, in fact. I know, hard to believe. But the worst thing is the feeling of panic that you get when you look at the clock and see that you have 20 more minutes left with a room full of kindergartners and nothing to do with them. Talk about the recipe for chaos. Do you know what 15 kindergartners can do with 20 minutes and a room full of books? Ike, you got nothing.

So where did I find myself this morning? On iTunes. No, I wasn't downloading stuff I normally listen to. I was downloading Raffi. Shake, Shake, Shake Your Sillies Out, and Bananaphone. I found myself remembering a family that Rick and I used to babysit. They listened to Raffi incessantly and Rick and I found ourselves at home singing, "Here come the horses clipping clopping," or "Who built the ark? Noah! Noah" on several occasions. Raffi's music has the tendency to stick in your head and not go away. By the way, for those parents out there, there is a cool CD by the Barenaked Ladies that is all kid's songs.

So now my quests when I'm out in stores will be books (as usual) and now kid's music. If you have any suggestions, send them my way. It's not the fifth graders who are intimidating me this year. It's the 5 year-olds in kindergarten. I'm going to need all the suggestions I can get.