Ice Ice Baby!

Inauguration

We watched the inauguration.


Rose played beat a rhythm while Aretha sang.
The sun came out after days of gray and snow. The branches of the trees seemed to glow.

work work work

Lots of snow, some warmth, dripping water, fluid stalactites.

Lots of work to do. Been doing it all weekend. Writing student reports on the heels of writing secondary applications. Carpal tunnel is experiencing rush hour traffic.

BSOD and Snow

Yesterday as I went to add a blog entry, I was confronted by a BSOD, so I did what any rational person would do. I turned off the computer and went to bed.

Today, the computer started up fine after checking my backup disk. Hopefully my backups are not all corrupted.

Right now, a gentle snowfall of movie style clumps of snow is falling gently. I have already shoveled one batch of snow off the walk, and it looks like several more inches have fallen. I have to get reports done this weekend--by 10:00 A.M. tomorrow to be precise--so I went to school to pick up some student work. I moved the materials to the front door and then used sleds to pull them to my car. I love the all wheel drive!


Before that, Rose and I watched the snow fall from our front window, her with sharp toes digging into my ribs and me with appreciation for the quiet blanket being laid over the usual city noises.


Snow piles up on the skylight.

This fall, I took some pictures of the imprints leaves cast on the sidewalks. These shadows of leaves get stretched out by runoff from rainfall. Wish I had my camera instead of phone to capture these images!

String Theory

Rose loves to grab onto anything string-like. Necklaces, hair, and of course the window blind cords.

Today was a full Rose day. Since I missed yesterday, enjoy multiple photos!
This is Rose looking out the front window while holding the blind cord. She is standing on me to rest her arms on the top of the couch.Rose has recently learned how to stand when holding on to something. I couldn't resist the behind bars shot. Most of the time while standing We also went to the library today, and thought it is just across the road, it is bitterly cold here. I bundled up the package and scooted across the street to pick up some books that came in.

101.1

Sounds like a radio station. It is Rose's temp. Not a happy camper, congested, not sleeping well. First bug.
So we gave her some tylenol. First drugs administered by us.

I also fixed the strap on the changing table. It came with a hole for the non-adjustable strap set at the very end. This made the loop, when the strap was buckled, far bigger than an infant and even still too big for Rose even with the adjustable side at its smallest. I made a new hole by heating a wire and melting a hole halfway up the webbing. Now it fits and is adjustable. Rose is starting to wriggle more on the table, so this should help.

Choices, Choices

Today, I put a souvenir Cardinals baseball and a cricket ball in front of Rose. After reaching for each one, she moved to the side of the cricket ball and picked it up. As the afternoon wore on, she played with both, but spent more time chewing on books.

Fossils of Summer

Each summer I can usually be found at Sugar Hill. It is my favorite dance weekend for quite a few reasons. Camping, singing, swimming in the lake, late night revelries, eating together, great music, great dancing, nice dance hall, and so many more. I have been going since about 1996 or 1997 and have only missed a few.

One of my favorite things to do on Saturday during the day is visit the beach on the other side of the lake. The beach is almost entirely made of fossils and geodes. This image is taken of one of the many pieces that has traveled home with me from the weekend.

School at Night

After a day of shoveling snow and writing student recommendations, I went to school to set up for the professional day I am taking tomorrow. Had to get the room ready and drop of materials for the person covering. I will be continuing to work on recommendations tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get to report writing, too.

While at school, I took some night photos. I really like taking night photos. I love my gorilla pod! It can do such neat tricks.
After taking some building shots, I played around with making prints in the snow using the bottom of one of the safety cones.

Clippings, indeed

Hey all,

I hope people are catching on to the daily posts and enjoying them. If so, please let me know by making a comment now and then. I'd love to hear from you. I added a service to see where people are located who look at my blog. Barcelona? Who dat?

Today's post reflects what I suspect the nature of this spurt of blog activity will be. Some art, some fun, some mundane...
On the mundane edge, I found my side view mirror cracked this morning. Whether from the intense cold of last night or by foul play, I don't know. It is very disconcerting, though, to watch cars pass from one segment of the mirror to the next.

As I was driving around today, I saw this sign encouraging folks to walk upside down or to do fancy ski tricks.My penchant for patterns was satisfied by a trip to the hardware store. Had to return some hose clamps of the wrong size for a project I was doing and pick up some brushes for a school art project. The pipes caught my attention.One of the blogs I read, Art from Pushing Buttons and Turning Dials, has some of my favorite art out there. I was inspired by recent posts to play with a picture I took of copper pipes.

Back to School

Last year, I had a student teacher from Lesley University. In return for the work of being a supervising teacher, I received a credit for one course at the school. I was supposed to use the voucher by last semester, but with the new baby, new job role, and then Reena's broken ankle, it just did not seem the time to take on a course as well. Now that much is settled and moving more smoothly and the extended voucher is only good for this semester, it was time to enroll. I have not taken a formal college course for quite a while and am looking forward to doing so. I have chosen a course called Teaching the Fundamentals which is for students going into fine arts education. I look forward to learning much about integrating art into the main curriculum.
I pushed Rose's stroller into the elevator and was prepared to hunt down the registrar's office. Amazingly, it was an open desk area just outside the elevator with very approachable people. I was able to enroll and shift down the counter to pay. This is a far cry from my previous experiences in higher education in which the registrar's office and finance offices are often far if not in separate buildings, and they are either hidden or staffed by people whose job it seems is to keep enrollment down. No, this was just too easy. What a pleasure.

Sunrise and masks

This morning as I set off for the hardware store and then school, I saw a most gorgeous sunrise. I know the physics of it, but sunrise and sunset still amaze me. I pulled out my camera and snapped this picture hoping to pull over later and get a better foreground. As soon as I found some nicely silhouetted trees, the glow had almost gone. Fleeting beauty.
At school today, my students put petroleum jelly on the inside of the plaster casts they made of their faces. Into these greased vessels, we poured plaster. These new casts will serve as the foundation on which the students will build several masks.

Cow Doughnuts

We have now set up a rug on which Rose spends much of her time playing. Easier to get around on than wood flooring and somewhat more insulated from the New England Winter cold.

Today I was incapacitated by a cold I picked up returning from Sydney, so I called in sick. School, however, was canceled, so I am not out a sick day.

In looking at the toys on the rug, I am struck by the prevalence of plastic, noise-producing gizmos--exactly the thing I wanted to avoid. The pink donuts-shaped piece in the middle is covered with soft Holstein black and white on the other side and moos when you press the right place. A cow doughnut. We have a wood rattle and a wood teething ring (on the carpet).

Recent cool toys I have found are at: Earthentree, Hazelnut Kids, Oompa, Happy Green Baby, Tiny Bird's Organic Baby, Progressive Kids, and EcoToys are just a start. I am aiming for a bit more of a balance; however, life and reality may just be plastic, lit-up, and sound-producing. On the positive, we do have tons of books!

Books to Chew

Last year, my students threw a baby shower for Rose and the gift was books. Each student selected his or her favorite childhood books. A recent favorite of Reena and mine is Sheep in a Jeep from Mosby. Rose seems to like it, too; although it might be for the taste!

A new start

I have long wanted to do a daily picture, so when Reena decided to run a daily picture blog I watched it unfold with admiration. I, too, will now try to do a photo a day. Perhaps some text, too.

Last night, I heard the rain falling. I didn't realize the obvious that it was below freezing, so this morning when I was hauling recycling down to the front, I slipped down the stairs on the glazing of ice that had coated every surface overnight. Cans, bottles, paper, and cardboard rained down and skittered away over the slick surface. Luckily, I was just shaken. After much spreading of salt and ice melt, I attacked the ice on my car.

Temptation resisted

I saw these at Whole Foods and did not buy one. Wow, what temptation.

notes and updates

Hello faithful blog readers-you three know who you are!

What is new? The school year is beginning to look like it might settle down into a predictable pattern. I might even know what I am teaching a day or two before I teach it. That would be good considering I am only teaching half time this year.

Rose continues to grow and amaze us every day. I think many first time parents discover this joy, but it has not diminished over the many years humans have had children. Today, she finally took to a food--carrots. We have tried rice cereal, bananas, and other foods, but it was carrots that started her slurping greedily rather than pushing the offending substance out of her mouth.

Last week, Reena broke her ankle pretty badly, and that has led to a ripple of changes in both our lives. I have taken the opportunity to restructure my life to include a few priorities that I wanted to focus on. Each evening (for a few days, let's see how long this lasts) I have stretched, written in my journal, and then read before sleep. It is a pattern I want to cultivate in my life.

nuff for now.
ciao.

Full Night's Sleep

I think last night was the first full night's sleep. We've had stretches from midnight to 5 or 5:30, but this was a full 11 to 6. Rose also now grabs both legs with her hands.


The itzbeen is a wonderful tool. The glowing orange buttons have symbols for diaper change, feeding, sleep, and anything you want. The oval button above the readout turns on a flashlight. There is a right/left slider for keeping track of which side a child was nursed. As you can see, Rose went 9 hours between feedings and 8.5 between diaper changes. This is about how long she slept.

Dancing and Doing

I was in a groove before heading off to Philly, and upon returning, I have found my groove still in place. I worked on getting my desk set up, straightening out the house for cleaners tomorrow (yay), and I even went contra dancing tonight. Even better, I found the New England crowd to be welcoming. This is a first and a big incentive to return and dance again.

Pot Rack

We purchased this thing over a year ago, it was majorly delayed in shipping (something about bad weather in China), and then it just sat on my table amidst piles of jobs to do. Well, today I did it. I hung the pot rack even though the placement of joists was masked by the use of thin wood strips used to space the ceiling from the joists. I spent way too much time on it, but I am very happy with the results. Now all I have to do is patch about 20 or so drill holes in the ceiling.

Insomnia

Having taken care of the baby each night at the 3:30 feeding, I am not wide awake at this time. We switched off to give each other a bit of a break for sleeping, but I can't sleep. Been awake since 12ish. Bleh. I'll be on again around 5:30. I'll need to nap sometime today.

The Band and The Baby

So it seems that the baby is a great fan of The Band. I put on Kingdom Come (a live album) and she just went to town in her little floor exercise setup kicking and swinging arms to the music. Who knew that a Bostonian by birth would love Southern Rock from such an early age?

new togs

I was shopping for new shorts and other summer gear. I try to balance environmentally/socially responsibly created new clothes with going to thrift stores and giving clothing continued life. The latter is much friendlier to the wallet, but recently I have been trying to help the demand for new clothing from good sources grow.

One of my favorite companies is going out of business. Check out Nau to see a model of a very good clothing company that didn't make it. Also, there are some excellent deals on the inventory that they are trying to sell off.

On Time and Sleep and other fancy things

With the new baby in house for over a month, I am learning the new perspective on time and sleep that each new parent learns. The many warnings of, "Say goodbye to sleep" and "Go see lots of movies now" are warnings communicated in simple terms.

Granted, Reena and I are both home full time, and that is a huge precondition to my new perspective. A full-time parent, whether single or unsupported, has a Herculean task. However, I have found that my sleep hours have decreased a bit, but the most interesting thing is my notion of time and sleep have radically changed. They are no longer tied to the rising and setting of the sun, but now they revolve around the sleep cycle of the baby. Reena and I trade off the night with one of us staying up until 3:30 or so and the other waking with the dawn chorus. Rose is beginning to catch 3 to 4 hours of sleep at a time, so this doesn't necessarily mean that the responsible party has to be up during that whole time--it just means it fairly often.

Thus, I am getting about 5 hours of sleep each night--an amount that would not work for teaching full time but is seeming to suffice for parenting an infant. Yes, this parenting gig is much less work than teaching full time, so far. This will get even more doable now that the New York trip is over (I took my class to New York for three days and two nights last week), the yearbook is done (I can't even describe the frustration that inDesign has been giving me), final reports are written, and the year-end DVD is authored and produced. Then it will just be my normal projects patiently waiting their turn to be done. Baby has certainly ratcheted the pace of getting projects back a further notch.

Next up during or after all of this is new material on the freedmanriles website with Rose. I have the structure down. Now I just have to build it.

Mountains to Move

As I get closer to the day the baby is born, it feels like there are mountains to move. Some, I am sure, are not needed, yet I construct them and am forced to move them. They, along with the important things, will be left behind when my priorities and time are reapportioned. I would love to see now from the future to know which mountains to move. Instead, I just shove ineffectually at all of them simultaneously. There are so many mountains to move.

A photo from the family vacation in Cornwall when I was in 6th grade. The scan is more grainy than the photo, but I still love this shot.

Digitized Photos

I recently sent my old negatives to Scancafe to have them digitized. They just came back, and now I have access to all of the photos I have taken (minus a few b&w rolls that were part of high school photo class and yearbook class). The photos stretch from my 110 camera back in 1982(?) until I transitioned to getting my negatives returned with a cd of the images. The cds are not as good quality scans, but they'll do.

As I began to explore these images, all 4 dvds of them, I happened upon this photo of the spiral stair within The Monument in London. This column commemorates the Great Fire of London. Clearly this photo shows my fascination with things helical, so I ported it to my store and stuck it on several items to see how it would look.

Two Facets

Last weekend and this one upcoming, my newly formed reading response group met, and the participants shared writing. I loved being able to get back into my story and have revisions to make.

Today, my Redsox/Cards tickets arrived in the mail. Wow! Another kind of excitement.

Cards Tix!

Red Sox tickets went on sale Saturday. I was at a conference and drove back to town that day. I forgot that it was the day to buy tickets until a party-goer downstairs reminded me. I quickly went up stairs only to be greeted by the interminable window of too busy. I finally got through that and then had to deal with the interminable too busy Red Sox window. Eventually I ended up with pairs of tickets for two games and a single for the other. I will see the Cards when they come to Boston. I'll be wearing the right color...

facebook

found facebook. Nuff said.

Lots of changes at work.

Lots of work at work.

Bees are lazy cads today!

Usually I get a few things done each day and am happy, but today I am outpacing the bees. I have oiled hinges, replaced light diffusers, put down non-slip material under bath mats, run around town shopping for things to do chores with, got new parking tags for both my car and Reena's as well as putting them in, changed my voter registration address, and the list goes on. Buzz Buzz.

Recently I posted much stuff on Craig's list. Reena and I had culled this stuff from the rest for getting rid of before the move, but it came with us and sat in a room. More than half of it has already been picked up. I am ready to give anyone who shows as much of it as they want to carry off. Yay Craig's List.

The last push to organize the basement storage/work room and get stuff down there from the dining room where it has been hulking in the shadows will happen in the next few days. I will also be writing student recommendations for next schools, doing curriculum, and some of my own art. Plenty of feet up and watching movies, too.

So here I am, a year older, perhaps wiser, perhaps more foolish, and looking at fatherhood.

Oh, I posted house pictures on the other website. Very messy, but I hadn't gotten around to it, so there they are.

calendars ready

I finally got around to refreshing my calendars on Cafepress. Click on them to see the new pages.

Susan Cooper

I just returned from a round table with Susan Cooper and Gregory Maguire. While I have not read any of Maguire's books, I was teethed on Cooper's Dark is Rising series. She was an articulate and wonderful speaker. Maguire tended to dominate the discussions, but there was plenty of Cooper's voice as well.

My soul is filled once more.

First Computer

When I started teaching, I purchased a computer and printer. These stayed with me for a long time--the printer until just a few years ago. The computer was one of those old Compaq all-in-one models. Gary Garber, with whom I was living at the time, supplied the credit card as I had none.

The good and the bad

It finally came. Through much hoop jumping and frustration I was able to finally acquire my Massachusetts teaching license. Attached to it is a statement:

Congratulations on completing the
requirements for licensure.

You have worked diligently toward
this goal and should be proud of
your accomplishment.

It is people like you who help to
enhance the quality of education
in the Commonwealth. I wish you
the best in your future endeavors.

I nicely personal message printed on every license. Funny thing is that all of my diligent work for this license had nothing to do with my ability as a teacher. I studied for and took three exams, I collected letters from colleges and universities documenting my coursework, and I did other paper shuffling. Anyway, I have the document in hand that lets me be the supervising teacher for student teachers and, should I need to, teach in a public school. I have no intention of moving schools, but this gives me options.

That was the good news. On the bad, and temporary front, I have come down with the season's first cold--a nasty sore throat followed by prodigious phlegm. I took a day off on Thursday and a half day on Friday. Friday was our grandparents and special friends day, so I felt obligated to be at school, but I high tailed it out of there soon after the associated assembly (actually in the middle of the assembly).

Blue Fractal

This is a slightly changed version of the image. Can you see the difference?

new fractal

Etching and The Beginning of the School Year

The year has begun. I have a new co-teacher, a student teacher, and much new curriculum. Thus, I have been pretty absent from this blog. I thought I'd share a project I just finished with my class. We did some glass etching which will lead to both a unit on soil, air, and water quality and to a unit on algebra. Here is a picture of the student teacher's water bottle that she etched.

One Heck of a Morning

This morning started early with the new bed delivery. Yes, they said 7:00 to 11:00, and guess which end of that bracket they arrived. At least this time it fit up the stairs. The guys who delivered were nicer than the last set. Then, I called a guy who I was going to buy a drafting table from off of Craig's List. I set up a time to meet him at his storage locker and went about trying to print directions. I knew I had to put new toner in the machine, and it took a while to figure that one out as I had never done it before. The printer refused to print. New toner was not the only problem. Now, after noon has passed, I have finally troubleshot that issue, but at the time, it ate up my time until I just wrote down the directions knowing I would be a bit late after stopping at a bank to get some cash. Ooops, the ATM spat my card out informing me that it was expired. Sure enough, I hadn't gotten around to sending in my new address, and the replacement card had been sent to the old apartment. Things like that do not get forwarded. Now I was really late, so I called up, apologized and rerouted my trip to pass by home to pick up the change of address form that Reena and I had filled out and to swing by a bank to turn it in and get cash. Fortified with cash, I set off. Yup, I don't know good routes yet in the Boston metro area, and I was stuck in traffic quite a few times. I finally got there an hour and a half late, although I had kept the seller appraised of my lateness. It worked out for him in the end as he had some shopping to do in the area. I like the table (it is still in my car right now), and stopping for my new glasses and eggs on the way home put me back after midday. That was a 9:30-12:00 trip just for a table! Much has been accomplished, but I feel that it was reactive instead of proactive.

Here's hoping the rest of the day is of a different nature.

Intentional??

Here is an alcohol ad next to a "Live outside the bottle" ad.

Old Friends and Boxes

I am just arrived back home from my Midwestern road trip in which I caught up with several friends I was planning to see and a few that were pleasant surprises.

After packing all of Tuesday (including the entire night), I headed from Cambridge around 12:30 in the afternoon toward Bloomington, Indianan. It was wonderful. After a night on the road, I pulled into Bloomington in the early evening, set up my tent, joined the community for dinner, and then danced until 1:00 A.M. It was during the evening that I reconnected with Rose who used to live in Bloomington. What a sweet surprise.

A day of hunting fossils and food with some naps thrown in for good measure followed, and Saturday night was another dance. I danced late and stayed up later talking with friends. 3:00 A.M. finally saw the curtain close for me, and Sunday morning was the time to drive up to Chicago. There, I got a chance to catch up with Sarah who I have know almost all my life. Monday afternoon, I picked up Jay from the airport, and we took the train to Wrigley for a Cards/Cubs game. Cards won!

We left at the rain delay and headed to St. Louis. I stayed at my folks house in the blazing St. Louis summer heat. Downstairs is air conditioned. Upstairs reminds me of what it was like growing up in St. Louis without air conditioning. My folks and I finally sat down to look at wedding pics over a year later. All good things happen in time. That evening, Jay and I went to a Cards/Marlins game and another Cards win.

The next day, Jay and I explored the world of adwords, Google's search ads. I even went as far as to set up an account. If you read this, don't search my artwork and click through. It'll cost me each time. So far, quite a few people have clicked through to see my site. What fun.

Jay headed back to San Fran, and my dad and I went to the ballgame. Yup three games in three days, and each one was a win for the cards.

I left early the next morning to drive back to the East Coast. Thursday got me as far as Syracuse, and then Friday I pulled in to Cape Cod to catch up with Robin, a very close friend in college who I had not seen in a long time. It was a wonderful day of walking, talking and seeing the cape for the first time.

The next morning it was back to the new house and setting up wireless. Next project is setting up my desktop so I can download pictures to illustrate this story.

Sunrise in New Hampshire

I awoke after having a hard time sleeping this morning. I caught a glimpse of sunrise about to happen, so I got my camera and gorillapod and went out to catch the event. This is from Wendy's family's cabin in New Hampshire. It is on a lake. This morning, well after sunrise, we went to the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Fair. Beautiful craft items. I especially was into the wood, quilts, and stained glass this year.

And the Packing Begins!

Friday comes and it is a day of rest. Nope. The rush has begun.
My to do list:

• Packing
• Design next year's curriculum
• Finish up BWP things (extract stuff from e-anthology, write response paper)
• Prepare for road trip
• Work with my new teaching parnter
• Look at the two pages of to do list that I created at the beginning of the summer and have not reviewed since.

Yup, there are some heavy hitters on this list. I have started packing in a very random and non-effective way, but it is the only way I have been able to tackle this daunting task. I am sure I will give happier news midweek next week.

new fractal after re rendering

This fractal took a bit of doing. After rendering fractals and finding they were too small for the poster size at Cafepress, I decided to up the resolution, and it took two days to render the image. Unfortunately, in those two days something happened, so the image was useless. I rerendered it, and it worked. This is a very low res version of that image that will be put on my cafepress store.

Shakespeare

Last night I went to see the Shakespeare on the Common--an entertaining version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Standout performances by Bottom and Helena carried the show. Puck was passable, and the techno colors and music added a fun twist.

I remember going to one St. Louis Shakespeare Festival performance. I don't remember which. I loved the pre-performance entertainment.

It is amazing how well the material still plays.

Pottermania

It is great. People lining up for a book. I went to the local independent bookstore where my wife and I had a pre-ordered book waiting, and the large crowd at midnight was a sight to behold. Evidently Harvard Square was full of people in full regalia. We went to the supermarket to wait for the crowd to die down, and returned in time to waltz in and get a book with no line. Outside, I ran into two former students and one returning student. It was one of those pleasant surprises that makes an event extra special. It turned out to be the student's birthday. Wonder what she got?


Edit:
and now at 12:22, about 24 hours since we bought it, I finished the last Harry Potter.

In the midst of writing

The Boston Writing Project is great, and it is kicking my rump! I usually take a few weeks of down time in the summer, but this summer promises to not allow that. Ah well, at least I am writing again. I am starting the true revision of Bones. I will start up the emails again when I have enough to start sending out.

Red Eye!

We took the red-eye from Seattle that got in this morning. I, in fact, do have red eyes from not much sleep and a long drive previous to catching the plane. We drove from Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula to the airport via my sister's house.

Back home now. More to come in some form, but here are a few pics to keep you happy! I discovered that I love starfish.

turning point

Yesterday was a turning point.

My 6th graders graduated and students are off for the summer. This means I can work on curriculum for next year. This past academic year is, except for writing student reports, behind me. I am losing a wonderful teaching partner and hopefully gaining a new one. I am leaving a more familiar curriculum and going to one in which I have more passion. I am possibly leaving the model of co-teaching and moving to team teaching.

My scores for the last two tests I took for Massachusetts licensure arrived, and I passed. I am on my way to being certified in Mass, and I will have a student teacher next year (for the first time).

This summer, I am engaging in some powerful professional development, something that has been absent in my life for three years.

Reena and I are closing on the 20th.

So much change, and most of it is positive. Of course it means leaving some really good things, but they all have had impact on my life and will remain with me in one form or another. Nothing ever is left completely behind.

Who knows what other transitions this summer holds? Life continues to be fluid.