Behold. Toilet paper.
 

A teacher in Michigan boldly proclaimed to his students that ‘for every 100 dollars raised for your science field trip, I’ll sit perched up in a tree for 1 hour!’
They raised $6,500.
I can only imagine how Mr. Buth must have gulped, eyebrows raised thinking ‘why did I say a tree! I could have said a […]

How do trees provide so much by simply being trees? And the sky? And sea? And flowers and insects and a long trail to a lake?
Lauren got a large turnout. Her descriptive email about a Tarzan swing rope next to a lake yielded 21 hikers in all. It was the biggest group of people any […]

Came out sizzling to the fingertips with maximum happiness, shouting “I love you!”  to the open night air, completely encapsulated by the singer’s presence, mesmerized by the band’s music.
The singer’s Perry Farrell, 50 years old, wearing a corsette, taking flamboyant strides across every dimension of the amphitheatre.
Last night was good.

Problem: Turns out I can’t receive one of the education grants until after  I have taught for 4 years, until then, I’d need to pay monthly interest on the loan. 
In times of trouble I seek a clairvoyant. This time instead I turned to Paul, who brought out two pens and a paper. We know what we […]

Gosh, I meant to take a 30 minute nap. It’s already been 3 hours? 
I took a test this morning, last of the CSET, part of California’s teacher credential process. Last night I crammed all that I could, wishfully thinking I’d make it to a party before dawn, which I didn’t. 
I think I passed the test. 
It’s exciting […]

A skinny older brother with tattoos up to his neck, wore 2 layers of big white T-shirts and a cap. 
His frail mother looked aimlessly about while her boy stood crying. He was about 6.
This was in a small food court of a mall.
K and I sat facing each other eating Japanese; I wanted to take […]

Picnic in the wild it was.
A few scenes from the day:
We drove to Auburn National State Park. Dipped our feet in the river, went to view the dam. Got our nails polished and looking pretty. We had dinner.
Down by the river, I asked her if she believed in god, she said ‘yes’.
“What’s your god like?”
“Oh, […]

The CASA staff and I were planning for this day to come. It’s my CASA girl’s 15 th birthday, and we managed to get 2 ballet tickets at the War Memorial Opera House. It starts at 2pm today. She’d looked forward to it so much. 
The other day she called me and we talked about what to wear. […]

One of the best things about driving to work is the radio. I tuned in and listened to an interview with Nancy Carlsson-Paige.
Nancy is a professor of education, who recently wrote Taking Back Childhood: Helping Your Kids Thrive in a Fast-Paced, Media-Saturated, Violence-Filled World. She’s also known as Matt Damon’s mother.
A few things I learned […]