Parker Station Cafe at the corner of Alma and Parker in Plano has been a favorite breakfast spot for my family since we moved here in 1990. Naturally, when my oldest arrived for the Christmas break, the two of us wanted to go to Parker Station to celebrate.
Ratsafrats!
The door is covered with hand-written notes from Crystal the waitress saying how much she misses everybody, and from the management saying "We are closed due to circumstances." There are notices about who owns the waffle makers and dishwashing equipment inside the cafe.
My sons, my dad, and myself are all sad "due to circumstances." If your town has a friendly locally-owned cafe, please go there and have the breakfast special for us! And if you happen to know the origin of the word "ratsafrats", I'd love to hear about it.
12/23/05
12/15/05
Fresh Ink
This year's coveted Golden CollageMamaDrama Award goes to Dallas Theater Center's Fresh Ink for the outstanding staged reading of Denis Johnson's "Psychos Never Dream". This free event last Monday evening knocked my yellow gox box socks off. The writing was tight, profound, powerful, and hilarious-- Sophocles meets the Coen brothers. The cast* was extremely strong, and the experience was theater boiled down to the essential characterization through voice, physicalization, expression, rhythm, and timing. Fresh Ink productions have no set, no props, and next-to-no costuming.
I work with small children. If there is a loose thread in a sock, or a snag in the rug, they will pull on it and be unable to concentrate. If one child adjusts the velcro strap on a shoe, the carefully woven classroom chemistry will disintegrate. If there's a loose corner on the wallpaper, the children will pull at it until the room is a disaster. It is difficult to explain the art concept of form.
Form is when an art work has no velcro shoe strap! This staged reading was so perfectly constructed and executed there was not the tiniest chance of unraveling. Seventy-two hours later, I'm still held in it's orbit. That's gravity!
Notable Mentions for the 2005 Golden CollageMamaDrama Award:
Second Thought Theater's "Wonder of the World" by David Lindsay-Abaire.
Theatre Three's production of "Going to St. Ives" by Lee Blessing.
Wingspan Theatre Company's "Blind Date" by Horton Foote presented as part of the Festival of Independent Theatres (FIT).
*Psychos Never Dream cast
Critter--Raphael Perry
Floyd--Bruce DuBose
Red--Tina Parker
Sarah--Sally Vahle
Man's Voice--Lee Trull
BRAVO!!!
I like to box.
How I like to box!
So, every day,
I box a Gox.
In yellow socks
I box a Gox.
I box in yellow
Gox box socks.
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Dr. Seuss
I work with small children. If there is a loose thread in a sock, or a snag in the rug, they will pull on it and be unable to concentrate. If one child adjusts the velcro strap on a shoe, the carefully woven classroom chemistry will disintegrate. If there's a loose corner on the wallpaper, the children will pull at it until the room is a disaster. It is difficult to explain the art concept of form.
Form is when an art work has no velcro shoe strap! This staged reading was so perfectly constructed and executed there was not the tiniest chance of unraveling. Seventy-two hours later, I'm still held in it's orbit. That's gravity!
Notable Mentions for the 2005 Golden CollageMamaDrama Award:
Second Thought Theater's "Wonder of the World" by David Lindsay-Abaire.
Theatre Three's production of "Going to St. Ives" by Lee Blessing.
Wingspan Theatre Company's "Blind Date" by Horton Foote presented as part of the Festival of Independent Theatres (FIT).
*Psychos Never Dream cast
Critter--Raphael Perry
Floyd--Bruce DuBose
Red--Tina Parker
Sarah--Sally Vahle
Man's Voice--Lee Trull
BRAVO!!!
I like to box.
How I like to box!
So, every day,
I box a Gox.
In yellow socks
I box a Gox.
I box in yellow
Gox box socks.
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Dr. Seuss
12/11/05
Nice runners, bad coverage
Dallas' premier running event, the White Rock Marathon, usually known as The Rock was run this morning by thousands of runners. Runners come to the Metroplex for the event from all over the world, or from just down your street. About 4000 runners do the 26.2 mile marathon through lovely parts of Dallas, and the rest run the half-marathon or the five-member team relays.
After volunteering at the timing chip testing station for two days, I had greeted a big chunk of those runners, and wished them a good race. In two days, I met one (1) grumpy runner. The rest were polite, and easily amused. As they waved their timing chip above the scanner, they were stunned by the technology that instantly brought up their name, age, hometown, and race number on the computer screen. For many it seemed to be an official acknowledgement that whatever their time was on Sunday, they had already done something major by committing to the race and being disciplined in their training. "Sweet!" "Bingo!" "That would be me!" Spouses were proud of each other. Children were proud of parents, age twenty-five to seventy.
WFAA (Channel 8) coverage of The Rock was new this year. The t.v. show seemed to think viewers were only concerned about which man and woman won $12,000 in their divisions, and which handicapped runner completed the Hummer-sponsored Cooper Gender Challenge to win $25,000. I bet you could count on ten fingers the viewers who wanted to hear George Mason University coach Juli Henner's opinions about the decisions leading up to the Cooper Challenge handicap figure for the elite women. Nothing against Frank Shorter, but I wanted to see REAL LIVE PARTICIPANTS more than hear a pivotal figure in the sport analyze the history of modern marathons. I wanted to see coverage of all the elite runners finishing, of the enormous mass of runners at the starting line, coverage of outstanding local runners, and footage of runners passing the aid stations with live music.
My mom would have been so annoyed. This is what frustrated her about golf tournament coverage. It's all talking heads analysis, commercials (the same ones over and over), speeches by pompous corporate sponsors, the requisite athletes' visit to hospitalized children, and allegedly heart-warming stories of people overcoming adversity (or obesity) to compete. Thank heaven when I watched the NCAA mens soccer championship match on ESPN2 this afternoon there was coverage of the play, not coverage of the sportscasters.
After volunteering at the timing chip testing station for two days, I had greeted a big chunk of those runners, and wished them a good race. In two days, I met one (1) grumpy runner. The rest were polite, and easily amused. As they waved their timing chip above the scanner, they were stunned by the technology that instantly brought up their name, age, hometown, and race number on the computer screen. For many it seemed to be an official acknowledgement that whatever their time was on Sunday, they had already done something major by committing to the race and being disciplined in their training. "Sweet!" "Bingo!" "That would be me!" Spouses were proud of each other. Children were proud of parents, age twenty-five to seventy.
WFAA (Channel 8) coverage of The Rock was new this year. The t.v. show seemed to think viewers were only concerned about which man and woman won $12,000 in their divisions, and which handicapped runner completed the Hummer-sponsored Cooper Gender Challenge to win $25,000. I bet you could count on ten fingers the viewers who wanted to hear George Mason University coach Juli Henner's opinions about the decisions leading up to the Cooper Challenge handicap figure for the elite women. Nothing against Frank Shorter, but I wanted to see REAL LIVE PARTICIPANTS more than hear a pivotal figure in the sport analyze the history of modern marathons. I wanted to see coverage of all the elite runners finishing, of the enormous mass of runners at the starting line, coverage of outstanding local runners, and footage of runners passing the aid stations with live music.
My mom would have been so annoyed. This is what frustrated her about golf tournament coverage. It's all talking heads analysis, commercials (the same ones over and over), speeches by pompous corporate sponsors, the requisite athletes' visit to hospitalized children, and allegedly heart-warming stories of people overcoming adversity (or obesity) to compete. Thank heaven when I watched the NCAA mens soccer championship match on ESPN2 this afternoon there was coverage of the play, not coverage of the sportscasters.
12/8/05
Hot-Air George
Dubya gave us Speech Two of his plan for victory in Iraq this week. Condi explained how torture was illegal under U.S. law. Don't you feel better? I love a good story or fairy tale after some milk and cookies.
"Reconstruction has not always gone as well as we had hoped," Mr. Bush said, in an admission that paralleled his concession last week, in the first of four speeches laying out his Iraq strategy, that the United States had not properly armed and trained Iraqis to resist insurgents. --NY Times 12/08/05
I want our soldiers, heck, all the soldiers of the whole dang Coalition of the Willing, to be home by New Years. They are risking their lives daily for Dubya's Web of Evil Deceits. What really bothers me, as a mother and a citizen, though, is the big mess the U.S. has created in Iraq. Who is going to clean up this mess? I look the part of Mama Bear, I'm disgusted enough, and I could probably find a big enough box, but I can't just stomp in and throw the whole mess in a box. When you make a mess, you are responsible for cleaning it up. My mama told me so. Didn't Barbara ever mention it?
Better Together
Buy The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room and The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan & Jan Berenstain today!
Buy Together Today: $6.50 --Such a deal, George! Better than the story about the goat.
I do wish Stan and Jan could have a session with Brother George and Sister Condi!
"Reconstruction has not always gone as well as we had hoped," Mr. Bush said, in an admission that paralleled his concession last week, in the first of four speeches laying out his Iraq strategy, that the United States had not properly armed and trained Iraqis to resist insurgents. --NY Times 12/08/05
I want our soldiers, heck, all the soldiers of the whole dang Coalition of the Willing, to be home by New Years. They are risking their lives daily for Dubya's Web of Evil Deceits. What really bothers me, as a mother and a citizen, though, is the big mess the U.S. has created in Iraq. Who is going to clean up this mess? I look the part of Mama Bear, I'm disgusted enough, and I could probably find a big enough box, but I can't just stomp in and throw the whole mess in a box. When you make a mess, you are responsible for cleaning it up. My mama told me so. Didn't Barbara ever mention it?
Better Together
Buy The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room and The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan & Jan Berenstain today!
Buy Together Today: $6.50 --Such a deal, George! Better than the story about the goat.
I do wish Stan and Jan could have a session with Brother George and Sister Condi!
Working up a sweat
Yeehaw! It's a Snow Day in the Metroplex! The streets are icy, and it's about eighteen degrees. Nice and sunny, and not much wind.
Since I knew last night that today's classes were cancelled, I didn't wake up until nine, mostly to the noise of icicles falling and squirrels galumphing on the roof. Stayed under the blankets until I admitted defeat by the NYTimes crossword puzzle. The condo seemed so cold and drafty.
Capri pants weather is officially over when we have the first ice storm. It's time for the closet switch. Capri pants to the back. Winter pants and fat pants to the front for the official trying-on. What works, what fits, what zips?! It's a lot like jumping jacks, and I feel lots warmer now.
Since I knew last night that today's classes were cancelled, I didn't wake up until nine, mostly to the noise of icicles falling and squirrels galumphing on the roof. Stayed under the blankets until I admitted defeat by the NYTimes crossword puzzle. The condo seemed so cold and drafty.
Capri pants weather is officially over when we have the first ice storm. It's time for the closet switch. Capri pants to the back. Winter pants and fat pants to the front for the official trying-on. What works, what fits, what zips?! It's a lot like jumping jacks, and I feel lots warmer now.
12/7/05
1433 Q Street
Dad was a young college student at the University of Nebraska in 1941, about the age of my youngest son. He first heard about Pearl Harbor at his boarding house near the campus. That is on his mind tonight.
Difficult to imagine, but when Dad was living in that boarding house he would mail his dirty laundry to his mom. She would mail it back clean and folded, with homemade cookies tucked into the box. What a different world!
This is what Grandma's house looks like now, but in those days it was surrounded by tall, gracious elms, spirea bushes, and hosta. The porch floor was painted gray, not covered in outdoor carpet escaped from a miniature golf course.
Grandma was a fabulous cook. She could womp up a "midnight lunch" more satisfying and fun than you can possibly imagine. When I was small, my sister and I always slept in the Pink Bedroom next to her dining room when we visited. No matter what time I was sent to bed, I would keep myself awake so I could eavesdrop on the adults' conversation and stories during "midnight lunch". Sometimes I would sneak out of bed to open the door just a crack. If it was warm, I would be listening to the bugs and small town night sounds through the open window, so it was very difficult to wait up. I had to make up stories about the porcelain figurines on the dresser to stay awake. The porcelain bride and groom would dance on the lace doily, circling the hairbrush. The bride would sing a song with the words in the frame on the wall.
It's easy enough to be pleasant
when life goes by like a song,
but the man worthwhile
is the man with a smile
when everything goes dead wrong.
Difficult to imagine, but when Dad was living in that boarding house he would mail his dirty laundry to his mom. She would mail it back clean and folded, with homemade cookies tucked into the box. What a different world!
This is what Grandma's house looks like now, but in those days it was surrounded by tall, gracious elms, spirea bushes, and hosta. The porch floor was painted gray, not covered in outdoor carpet escaped from a miniature golf course.
Grandma was a fabulous cook. She could womp up a "midnight lunch" more satisfying and fun than you can possibly imagine. When I was small, my sister and I always slept in the Pink Bedroom next to her dining room when we visited. No matter what time I was sent to bed, I would keep myself awake so I could eavesdrop on the adults' conversation and stories during "midnight lunch". Sometimes I would sneak out of bed to open the door just a crack. If it was warm, I would be listening to the bugs and small town night sounds through the open window, so it was very difficult to wait up. I had to make up stories about the porcelain figurines on the dresser to stay awake. The porcelain bride and groom would dance on the lace doily, circling the hairbrush. The bride would sing a song with the words in the frame on the wall.
It's easy enough to be pleasant
when life goes by like a song,
but the man worthwhile
is the man with a smile
when everything goes dead wrong.
Don't make me put on Midge's mittens!
We had a bit of wintery precipitation on Wednesday. It got a bit cold, although where I grew up it would have been considered a heat wave.
The local t.v. stations switched to non-stop weather coverage. Reporters haven't had enough chances to stand on street corners and exit ramps and yell into microphones since Katrina and Rita. There's a risk they could lose their skills. This time they informed me that I should "drive more slowly than normal", and "not follow too closely". Most profound, I should "stock up on toilet paper". For a one day ice storm?
Weather Doll Midge will need a change of attire for the winter. I may still have her red and gold ice-skating dress.
I spy with my little eye something that is icy. How on earth did the homesteaders survive without tv weather and Doppler radar? Those poor people had to walk outside to see what was happening! They had to use common sense and caution when deciding about travel. They had to take a shovel, a blanket, and sand along.
Lots of memories this week of time spent reading Berenstain Bears books to my sons. We all need a refresher course about Too Much TV. Maybe curl up and read how Laura and Mary twisted hay to burn during the Long Winter when they ran out of coal. Sure hope they stocked up on toilet paper!
The local t.v. stations switched to non-stop weather coverage. Reporters haven't had enough chances to stand on street corners and exit ramps and yell into microphones since Katrina and Rita. There's a risk they could lose their skills. This time they informed me that I should "drive more slowly than normal", and "not follow too closely". Most profound, I should "stock up on toilet paper". For a one day ice storm?
Weather Doll Midge will need a change of attire for the winter. I may still have her red and gold ice-skating dress.
I spy with my little eye something that is icy. How on earth did the homesteaders survive without tv weather and Doppler radar? Those poor people had to walk outside to see what was happening! They had to use common sense and caution when deciding about travel. They had to take a shovel, a blanket, and sand along.
Lots of memories this week of time spent reading Berenstain Bears books to my sons. We all need a refresher course about Too Much TV. Maybe curl up and read how Laura and Mary twisted hay to burn during the Long Winter when they ran out of coal. Sure hope they stocked up on toilet paper!
Hot-Air Henry
My youngest spent last weekend volunteering at Gallup's Redrock Balloon Rally. His reward was a ride in a hot-air balloon on a cold-weather day. Eleven degrees! His balloon photos are way down at the bottom of his photo album webpage.
This photo really speaks to my current life. I've let go of the draglines, and my sons begin their ascents. Sometimes I'm the one up in the balloon looking down on the highways and interchanges of their lives. Which direction will they go? Will they merge carefully? Are their seatbelts buckled?
Other times I'm the clueless land-bound driver gawking up at those glowing bubbles floating on invisible thermals I can't begin to understand. The world they will live in, the world they will help create, is a leap beyond what I can imagine.
Read my little students Mary Calhoun's wonderful story, Hot-Air Henry, today to set us off on a snowy project. Yowl-meow! My sons are high-flying cats!
This photo really speaks to my current life. I've let go of the draglines, and my sons begin their ascents. Sometimes I'm the one up in the balloon looking down on the highways and interchanges of their lives. Which direction will they go? Will they merge carefully? Are their seatbelts buckled?Other times I'm the clueless land-bound driver gawking up at those glowing bubbles floating on invisible thermals I can't begin to understand. The world they will live in, the world they will help create, is a leap beyond what I can imagine.
Read my little students Mary Calhoun's wonderful story, Hot-Air Henry, today to set us off on a snowy project. Yowl-meow! My sons are high-flying cats!
12/6/05
Baby Jeff and Baby Katie
Sometimes I get mixed up. I sort e-mails into my Trash bin instead of into my Recycling folder. Maybe I should rename the Recycling folder "Condo Waste Diversion". Then Trash could be called "Deep Six".
These days I push wheely recycling carts around the condo complex. Recalling a hot day in 1983 or '84 when my college buddy and I pushed our stroller babies around the UNL campus. How did Baby Jeff and Baby Katie become grad students?? They were just playing in the red wagon, and out in the inflated wading pool!
These days I push wheely recycling carts around the condo complex. Recalling a hot day in 1983 or '84 when my college buddy and I pushed our stroller babies around the UNL campus. How did Baby Jeff and Baby Katie become grad students?? They were just playing in the red wagon, and out in the inflated wading pool!
Conditions not favorable for mosquitoes
Forecast covers a broad range of mosquito types. Specific mosquito
species may be more or less active than the overall forecast,
depending on weather conditions or time of day.
Trying to find out if my morning drive will include sleet, and Weather.com gave me this very helpful insight. I'll be wishing my species could be less active if we actually get a winter storm overnight. Thought I'd have to turn on the air conditioner last Saturday when we had a record high of eighty-nine degrees.
Forty years ago last weekend I rode a saucer sled down an elevated iced run sculpted by the teenage boy next door. I went flying over a retaining wall and clonked my nose on the edge of the metal sled. Not to be gross, but I held an aluminum foil pie pan under my nose while it bled for a couple hours. Conditions were not favorable for mosquitoes that day either.
Tomorrow I will read Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening" to a class about to create cool color metallic constructions. They will be using aluminum foil pie pans from Mrs. Smith. There's much to do to for class preparation:
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Frost wrote "The Road Not Taken" ninety years ago, a full fifty years before my saucer sled exhilaration led to the lifelong aggravations of a deviated septum.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Thank heavens. Knowing I'll be safe from mosquitoes has made all the difference!
species may be more or less active than the overall forecast,
depending on weather conditions or time of day.
Trying to find out if my morning drive will include sleet, and Weather.com gave me this very helpful insight. I'll be wishing my species could be less active if we actually get a winter storm overnight. Thought I'd have to turn on the air conditioner last Saturday when we had a record high of eighty-nine degrees.
Forty years ago last weekend I rode a saucer sled down an elevated iced run sculpted by the teenage boy next door. I went flying over a retaining wall and clonked my nose on the edge of the metal sled. Not to be gross, but I held an aluminum foil pie pan under my nose while it bled for a couple hours. Conditions were not favorable for mosquitoes that day either.
Tomorrow I will read Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening" to a class about to create cool color metallic constructions. They will be using aluminum foil pie pans from Mrs. Smith. There's much to do to for class preparation:
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Frost wrote "The Road Not Taken" ninety years ago, a full fifty years before my saucer sled exhilaration led to the lifelong aggravations of a deviated septum.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Thank heavens. Knowing I'll be safe from mosquitoes has made all the difference!
12/5/05
Younger than springtime by geologic standards
The Buick is a mess. My car hasn't looked this bad since Mt. St. Helens erupted awhile back. Windblown dirt last week coated it, and was followed by sprinkles of rain. This created grubby leopard spots, reminiscent of the flocked foil wallpaper popular in the 1970's. No time to wash or wax, as I'm still trying to find the sweet spot in the wiring for the driver's side rear turn signal.
Huh? What's that you're saying?
The big Mt. St. Helens eruption that dusted vehicles in Nebraska with volcanic ash was twenty-five years ago???? Half my life ago!? Are you sure?
KENNETH CHANG wrote about Mt. St. Helens in the New York Times of November 29th. I'd kind of forgotten that Mt. St. Helens has been erupting in a fairly low-key way for a couple years now. Geologists are surprised that this slow-mo eruption has occurred so soon after the 1980 biggie.
What is twenty-five years in the geologic time scheme? A blink of an eye or less. What forces are at work? Those way beyond our ken, to use a crossword puzzle word. We are each just a sniffle or an itch on the Major Cosmic Time Line. If you feel really self-important, maybe you rate a wink. Mt. St. Helens, Pompeii, and Krakatoa are just the self-conscious zit-fussing of Geologic Adolescents.
The forces moving continental plates, whether designed or impressively self-motivated, grind along steadily, unenthused by our ridiculous religious squabbles.
Small self-serving minds do not wish to consider such large time-frames. Ethics, responsibility, conservatorship, and stargazing wonder are so totally out of style in the Era of Dubya. Perhaps the current powers that be will be surprised when swallowed in a tar pit of their own deceits, asphyxiated in an ashfall of their own rhetoric, or swept away by the melting glacier of their arrogance.
Igneous MagmaMama suggests we ought not sit here sedimentarily while layers of wisdom are buried under the silt of lies mixed with aggregates of excuses and broken promises. It's time to apply heat and pressure to cause transformation. You may be whichever Metamorphic Power Ranger you prefer!
Younger than springtime, are you
Softer than starlight, are you,
Warmer than winds of June,
Are the gentle lips you gave me.
Gayer than laughter, are you,
Sweeter than music, are you,
Angel and lover, heaven and earth,
Are you to me.
12/4/05
Scale
SCALE The relative size of an object when compared to others of its kind, to its environment, or to humans.
Who am I?
My name is Ned.
I do not like
my little bed.
This is no good.
This is not right.
My feet stick out
of bed all night.
And when I pull them in,
Oh, dear!
My head sticks out of bed
up here!
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss
How do kids learn the concept of scale? How can we teach it? When should we introduce it in art class?
Had an interesting discussion with my students ages 6-10 about scale and making the relative sizes of things agree Thursday afternoon. My efforts to explain the concept verbally were total failures. I couldn't even "get it" myself, so how could they?
Because my younger classes were doing a fish collage, I have been reading A Fish Out of Water for a week. This is one of the few books that I am just as delighted to read aloud the eighteenth time as the first. (I especially like adding sound effects!) You remember the story. A boy feeds his fish too much. The fish grows and grows, as the boy keeps trying to put it in a large enough container. Thank heaven Mr. Carp is able to save the day!
The kids (and I) get the concept best when an image has a scale problem. Showed them some funny magazine ads--a stinky sneaker dwarfing a living room chair, a woman appearing to pick an apple bigger than the planet Jupiter from an orchard tree, a high-heeled shoe taller than the Eiffel Tower, a man golfing on a lily pad.
How could a shoe be taller than a building? The kids patiently explained that a photographer had photos of shoes and of buildings. The photographer cut out the images and pasted them together to make the picture. "That would be a collage like the one we made last time," they told me. Whoa, skippy. I was impressed.
How else could we make that picture? One student took off his shoe. I moved the papier mache jaguar to the far end of the hallway. We took turns laying our heads down on the rug to squint past the stinky shoe to see the teeny jaguar jumping out of the giant shoe.
The first time Barbie invited Tiny Tears and my Gordie doll over to her Dream House for shish kabobs I got an inkling of scale. That would have been in first grade. About fourth-fifth grade kids get interested in scale models and train sets. I'm not sure they really grasp the concept before then.
Who am I?
My name is Ned.
I do not like
my little bed.
This is no good.
This is not right.
My feet stick out
of bed all night.
And when I pull them in,
Oh, dear!
My head sticks out of bed
up here!
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss
How do kids learn the concept of scale? How can we teach it? When should we introduce it in art class?
Had an interesting discussion with my students ages 6-10 about scale and making the relative sizes of things agree Thursday afternoon. My efforts to explain the concept verbally were total failures. I couldn't even "get it" myself, so how could they?
Because my younger classes were doing a fish collage, I have been reading A Fish Out of Water for a week. This is one of the few books that I am just as delighted to read aloud the eighteenth time as the first. (I especially like adding sound effects!) You remember the story. A boy feeds his fish too much. The fish grows and grows, as the boy keeps trying to put it in a large enough container. Thank heaven Mr. Carp is able to save the day!
The kids (and I) get the concept best when an image has a scale problem. Showed them some funny magazine ads--a stinky sneaker dwarfing a living room chair, a woman appearing to pick an apple bigger than the planet Jupiter from an orchard tree, a high-heeled shoe taller than the Eiffel Tower, a man golfing on a lily pad.
How could a shoe be taller than a building? The kids patiently explained that a photographer had photos of shoes and of buildings. The photographer cut out the images and pasted them together to make the picture. "That would be a collage like the one we made last time," they told me. Whoa, skippy. I was impressed.
How else could we make that picture? One student took off his shoe. I moved the papier mache jaguar to the far end of the hallway. We took turns laying our heads down on the rug to squint past the stinky shoe to see the teeny jaguar jumping out of the giant shoe.
The first time Barbie invited Tiny Tears and my Gordie doll over to her Dream House for shish kabobs I got an inkling of scale. That would have been in first grade. About fourth-fifth grade kids get interested in scale models and train sets. I'm not sure they really grasp the concept before then.
ChexMama/ChipMama
I don't just feel like a winner because the tiles are still sticking to the shower wall. I won a competition among the Indiana grad student residence hall supervisors for Mom's Best Chex Mix, with my version known as Kris Kringle Krunch. Plus, I'm getting ready to volunteer at the chip check station for The Rock Marathon's Fitness Expo next weekend. Have fun and get a free t-shirt? What a deal.
After their Thanksgiving visits my sons needed extra carry-on bags for hauling their Krunch back to campus. Krunch is how college sons know their mommy still loves them!
I offered to wear a t-shirt marked "Chip Dip" while manning the chip testing mat at the Expo. The volunteer coordinator politely suggested I could be a "Chip Chick". This sobriquet reminded me less of a Hooter's gal than of that legendary woodchuck chucking wood. I think I'll just call myself the "Chip Mama".
Chip dip always meant stirring one package of dry Good Season's dressing mix into a pint of sour cream. Serve with Fritos and Fresca!
I am loathe to give up my winning Chex Mix recipe, but I will offer a few hints:
This is not a microwave recipe. Good things take time!
The Cheerios, Corn Chex, and Rice Chex may be replaced with store brands, but don't tamper with the Wheat Chex.
Frito Lay is a major employer in my Dallas suburb, so I use Rold Gold pretzel rods or tiny twists. Mister Salty disappeared from our grocery shelves years ago.
Add only the nuts your family likes.
Don't use the lowest price oleo. Spend a little bit more for a better result.
Melt the oleo in a big bowl in the microwave.
Stir the Lawry's Seasoned Salt, garlic powder, and Worchestershire sauce into the melted oleo.
Preheat the oven to 250, even if Great Aunt Neuralgia says 200 degrees.
Contemporary snackers are accustomed to more spicy flavors than your Great Aunt Neuralgia. Add cumin, Tabasco, cayenne, paprika, more garlic, cilantro, and sage to the oleo mix.
Put all the cereals and nuts in big roasters.
Drizzle the oleo/spice mix over the cereal mixes in the roasters.
Use a Rubbermaid spoon-shaped spatula to mix up the ingredients.
Bake in the 250 oven 2.5 hours uncovered, stirring every half hour with the rubber spatula.
Be sure to taste-test every time you stir!
After 2.5 hours, turn the oven off, and leave the roasters in the oven until morning.*
In the morning, scoop the Krunch into large and small containers. Cover tightly. Put some in the freezer.
Always tell the postal worker that you are mailing Chex Mix as a survival kit to your college kid. It seems to brighten their day, and keeps them from being disgruntled.
*Do not trust this step to a male spouse or family member. My ex turned the oven to BROIL instead of OFF. When I returned home with my children the house was filled with smoke, and the Chex Mix was cremated.
Carbon 14 dating is not an online service for middle-aged singles, but maybe it shoud be.
After their Thanksgiving visits my sons needed extra carry-on bags for hauling their Krunch back to campus. Krunch is how college sons know their mommy still loves them!
I offered to wear a t-shirt marked "Chip Dip" while manning the chip testing mat at the Expo. The volunteer coordinator politely suggested I could be a "Chip Chick". This sobriquet reminded me less of a Hooter's gal than of that legendary woodchuck chucking wood. I think I'll just call myself the "Chip Mama".
Chip dip always meant stirring one package of dry Good Season's dressing mix into a pint of sour cream. Serve with Fritos and Fresca!
I am loathe to give up my winning Chex Mix recipe, but I will offer a few hints:
This is not a microwave recipe. Good things take time!
The Cheerios, Corn Chex, and Rice Chex may be replaced with store brands, but don't tamper with the Wheat Chex.
Frito Lay is a major employer in my Dallas suburb, so I use Rold Gold pretzel rods or tiny twists. Mister Salty disappeared from our grocery shelves years ago.
Add only the nuts your family likes.
Don't use the lowest price oleo. Spend a little bit more for a better result.
Melt the oleo in a big bowl in the microwave.
Stir the Lawry's Seasoned Salt, garlic powder, and Worchestershire sauce into the melted oleo.
Preheat the oven to 250, even if Great Aunt Neuralgia says 200 degrees.
Contemporary snackers are accustomed to more spicy flavors than your Great Aunt Neuralgia. Add cumin, Tabasco, cayenne, paprika, more garlic, cilantro, and sage to the oleo mix.
Put all the cereals and nuts in big roasters.
Drizzle the oleo/spice mix over the cereal mixes in the roasters.
Use a Rubbermaid spoon-shaped spatula to mix up the ingredients.
Bake in the 250 oven 2.5 hours uncovered, stirring every half hour with the rubber spatula.
Be sure to taste-test every time you stir!
After 2.5 hours, turn the oven off, and leave the roasters in the oven until morning.*
In the morning, scoop the Krunch into large and small containers. Cover tightly. Put some in the freezer.
Always tell the postal worker that you are mailing Chex Mix as a survival kit to your college kid. It seems to brighten their day, and keeps them from being disgruntled.
*Do not trust this step to a male spouse or family member. My ex turned the oven to BROIL instead of OFF. When I returned home with my children the house was filled with smoke, and the Chex Mix was cremated.
Carbon 14 dating is not an online service for middle-aged singles, but maybe it shoud be.
Who do you read?
Last couple of weeks I've read books by two of my favorite authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, age 78, and E. L. Doctorow, now 74. The March.
I guess I go for older guys. George MacDonald Fraser is 79, and his wonderful creation, Sir Harry Flashman was born in 1822. Don DeLillo is about seventy. Just two young pups, Ron Hansen was born in Omaha in 1947, and Carl Hiaasen is only 52. My dad and I share our birthday with Ted Kooser, who is 66.
Bo Diddley is 77.
I walk 47 miles of barbed wire,
I use a cobra-snake for a necktie,
I got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide,
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of a human skull,
Now come on take a walk with me, Arlene,
And tell me, who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you read?
Don't know what it means, but my favorite female authors are close to my age. Louise Erdrich is 51. Barbara Kingsolver and Steph Kallos are fifty, which is a whole lot younger than it used to be.
Edgar Laurence Doctorow is a pretty scary name for a boy born during the Great Depression. The March is interesting, but less memorable than Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, and my favorite World's Fair.
Love In the Time of Cholera is still my favorite by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I can't imagine his books as plays or movies. I hope they will become compelling, steamy, magical, modern and timeless operas!
I guess I go for older guys. George MacDonald Fraser is 79, and his wonderful creation, Sir Harry Flashman was born in 1822. Don DeLillo is about seventy. Just two young pups, Ron Hansen was born in Omaha in 1947, and Carl Hiaasen is only 52. My dad and I share our birthday with Ted Kooser, who is 66.
Bo Diddley is 77.
I walk 47 miles of barbed wire,
I use a cobra-snake for a necktie,
I got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide,
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of a human skull,
Now come on take a walk with me, Arlene,
And tell me, who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you read?
Don't know what it means, but my favorite female authors are close to my age. Louise Erdrich is 51. Barbara Kingsolver and Steph Kallos are fifty, which is a whole lot younger than it used to be.
Edgar Laurence Doctorow is a pretty scary name for a boy born during the Great Depression. The March is interesting, but less memorable than Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, and my favorite World's Fair.
Love In the Time of Cholera is still my favorite by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I can't imagine his books as plays or movies. I hope they will become compelling, steamy, magical, modern and timeless operas!
12/2/05
Robert's Rules Radio Soap Opera
Pledge drives drive me to other radio stations. Say it louder: Pledge drives drive me to other radio stations. I can't hear you! Hey, Public Radio! PLEDGE DRIVES DRIVE ME TO OTHER STATIONS!
Dear Terry Gross,
I enjoy your program, Fresh Air. I can only listen to it on Wednesdays. The trouble is, KERA had so many pledge drives that I started listening to the Dallas City Council meetings on WRR,101.1 fm on Wednesday mornings.
The City Council meetings, held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, are broadcast live from 9:00 A.M. through their conclusion if earlier than 6:00 P.M., or through 6:00 P.M. (subject to change).
Terry, I love that Dallas Mayor Laura Miller knows her Robert's Rules of Order, or at least has a good parliamentarian by her side. Robert's is the K-Y Jelly of business meetings :
Why is parliamentary procedure important? It is important because it's a time tested method of conducting business at meetings and public gatherings. It can be adapted to fit the needs of any organization. Today, Robert's Rules of Order newly revised is the basic handbook of operation for most organizations from congresses to clubs, so it's important that everyone know these basic rules.
Even if only a few of the people in attendance at a meeting actually understand the intricacies of parliamentary procedure, everyone is reassured that there is an underlying structure for the meeting. If there's structure, then everyone feels safer. They sense they will have a chance to speak without interruption, and without fear of personal attack. They sense the presence of a civilizing force and generally try to live up to it. Church boards, student organizations, Model United Nations , babysitting co-ops, and parent-teacher organizations all use Robert's Rules with success in my personal experience.
Maybe because people listen and watch so many programs with confrontational styles of interviews and panel discussions, they expect and behave with that style at meetings of all types. Lately the U. S. House of Representatives has gotten pretty close to a Jerry Springer Show segment. Then we have the splendid example of Dick Cheney presiding as president of the Senate offering barnyard anatomically impossible suggestions to Patrick Leahy. The Dallas City Council meetings could easily cross into that pattern if it weren't for the strong parliamentary structure. Instead of everyone yelling obscenities at once, order allows each participant to sound as knowledgeable, foolish, self-serving, or arrogant as they really are at the microphone. That the mike occasionally picks up the Mayor's muttered asides is just gravy. It's good radio drama and comedy.
I don't vote or even live in Dallas. I just listen for the entertainment value, Terry. It's so much more fun than a pledge drive.
Wish my condo association would practice a little Oil of Robert's to smooth the meetings. As soon as the president erroneously asks for a motion to call the meeting to order, I get a gavel-pounding headache. After that, all pretense of structure falls away. People ages 25-93 imitate Dick Cheney over earth-shaking issues of pooper-scooping and tree-trimming.
If you don't hunker down in a secret vice presidential bunker somewhere, but need to live in the world with other humans, parliamentary procedure is one of the most useful foreign languages you can pick up. There are dummy and idiot guides at the bookstore. You can get a quick guide to chairing a meeting or more detailed instructions on-line. Maybe there are even audio lessons for learning while you drive!
Dear Terry Gross,
I enjoy your program, Fresh Air. I can only listen to it on Wednesdays. The trouble is, KERA had so many pledge drives that I started listening to the Dallas City Council meetings on WRR,101.1 fm on Wednesday mornings.
The City Council meetings, held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, are broadcast live from 9:00 A.M. through their conclusion if earlier than 6:00 P.M., or through 6:00 P.M. (subject to change).
Terry, I love that Dallas Mayor Laura Miller knows her Robert's Rules of Order, or at least has a good parliamentarian by her side. Robert's is the K-Y Jelly of business meetings :
Why is parliamentary procedure important? It is important because it's a time tested method of conducting business at meetings and public gatherings. It can be adapted to fit the needs of any organization. Today, Robert's Rules of Order newly revised is the basic handbook of operation for most organizations from congresses to clubs, so it's important that everyone know these basic rules.
Even if only a few of the people in attendance at a meeting actually understand the intricacies of parliamentary procedure, everyone is reassured that there is an underlying structure for the meeting. If there's structure, then everyone feels safer. They sense they will have a chance to speak without interruption, and without fear of personal attack. They sense the presence of a civilizing force and generally try to live up to it. Church boards, student organizations, Model United Nations , babysitting co-ops, and parent-teacher organizations all use Robert's Rules with success in my personal experience.
Maybe because people listen and watch so many programs with confrontational styles of interviews and panel discussions, they expect and behave with that style at meetings of all types. Lately the U. S. House of Representatives has gotten pretty close to a Jerry Springer Show segment. Then we have the splendid example of Dick Cheney presiding as president of the Senate offering barnyard anatomically impossible suggestions to Patrick Leahy. The Dallas City Council meetings could easily cross into that pattern if it weren't for the strong parliamentary structure. Instead of everyone yelling obscenities at once, order allows each participant to sound as knowledgeable, foolish, self-serving, or arrogant as they really are at the microphone. That the mike occasionally picks up the Mayor's muttered asides is just gravy. It's good radio drama and comedy.
I don't vote or even live in Dallas. I just listen for the entertainment value, Terry. It's so much more fun than a pledge drive.
Wish my condo association would practice a little Oil of Robert's to smooth the meetings. As soon as the president erroneously asks for a motion to call the meeting to order, I get a gavel-pounding headache. After that, all pretense of structure falls away. People ages 25-93 imitate Dick Cheney over earth-shaking issues of pooper-scooping and tree-trimming.
If you don't hunker down in a secret vice presidential bunker somewhere, but need to live in the world with other humans, parliamentary procedure is one of the most useful foreign languages you can pick up. There are dummy and idiot guides at the bookstore. You can get a quick guide to chairing a meeting or more detailed instructions on-line. Maybe there are even audio lessons for learning while you drive!
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