We Must Be the Change We Wish to See in the World...

I saw that quote a couple weeks ago on a cup at the Barnes and Noble café. I’m not much of a quote person. I get too curious about what else it says and if it was taken out of context or what.

But that Gandhi quote really resonated with me.

All around, people keep squawking about change and things are actually changing. You could hear the earth rumbling last year and then it picked up speed at the end of ‘08. At times it seems like they’re coming so hard and fast, they might crush a few of us against the wall.

It’s a little daunting to think of what is to come. Normally, I’m the kind of person that enjoys change, but I don’t know what it is that has me freaking out. Perhaps it’s the uncertainty of it all. The fear of falling face first on the ground. I know all of these things are normal, but I hate feeling them. I want that hopeless optimism to kick in already, and at the same time, I know it probably won’t until I make peace with all of this change.

And really, what I put in is what I will get out of this whole experience enter the Gandhi quote. Overall, I think 2009 will bring more of the good stuff and less of the crap that 2008 spewed out at the end. If anything, The Bush will be out of office; so it really can’t be that bad.

When my butt starts scraping the dirt, the Gandhi quote will be my mantra. 

El Ike

I'm hunkering down near downtown Houston awaiting the wrath of Ike. I don't know what anyone did to him, but he's pretty upset. I don't think much will happen to us though. I have a strong feeling it's all going to be okay.

Little Big Planet

Growing up, I had a Sega. I loved all the Sonic games. My absolute favorite was Sonic Spinball which I was never able to beat. Still, I was never really the kind to becomes obsessed with video games.

Now, we own a PS3 and a Nintendo DS. There's been talk of a Wii, but no final decision has been made. I mostly play on the DS, but I'm really looking forward to Little Big Planet. It might even make me a video game obsessed junkie.

Ode to the Cana

Growing up, my mom was always concerned about her canas. It wasn’t uncommon for my mom to don a large black trash bag around her shoulders to protect her clothes from the jet black, goopy concoction massed in her hair.

The message was clear canas=the enemy.

In my early twenties, when I came across my first enemy, I examined it carefully in my 10X mirror. Was it simply a light colored hair or was it a legit cana?

When I determined that it, in fact, was a cana, I plucked it out. A few weeks later, it came back…with a friend. This time, I doused them in Cherry Jubilee goop.

After a rinse and some air dry time, it was made known that Thing One and Thing Two were resistant to such a thing. Unlike the rest of my hair, they’d only taken a smidgen of the hue. My canas were demure ladies on a date.

Gabi was the first to begin questioning the canas=the enemy theory when she stopped dying her hair. Suddenly, I became ultra aware of them.

I noticed how the less you mess with them, the cooler they look. Men with the salt and pepper look pretty nice. But my most remarkable observation was that many of these academic types I admired were cursed with them. Because they were associated with one of my pedestal dwelling ideas, my point of view shifted and my analogy did as well: canas=intelligence.

Now every new sapling is celebrated in my 10X mirror. I run my fingers across my hair in search of them and stare in wonder as the reflection of light glistens in the reflection of the mirror like a shooting star.

B&N Disappoints

J.P.’s post made me think of my evening yesterday. I had originally set out to find a pair of sensible shoes, the kind that will look good when I have to dress up and my loafers won’t do. Since it was Sunday, everything closed early.

I parked my car on one end of the shopping center and decided to walk my way down in hopes of finding a store that stayed open past 6 P.M. One of the stores that I passed was Barnes and Noble. Now, B&N has never been my favorite bookstore, but I end up there a lot because it’s the only one near by.

I decided to go in because I’d read in the Houston Press that the Ask A Mexican book was now in paperback and I also was considering buy Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize Winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

I was really disappointed—yet again—by B&N. I had to go dig through the stacks to find a copy of each. I would have thought that they’d at least have the Diaz book on one of their shelves near the front. I mean, he did win the Pulitzer.

Needless to say, I left with nothing. I really didn’t feel like investing my time in money at this place. Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize Winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

I was really disappointed—yet again—by B&N. I had to go dig through the stacks to find a copy of each. I would have thought that they’d at least have the Diaz book on one of their shelves near the front. I mean, he did win the Pulitzer.

My Version of Counting Sheep

It is 1:34 AM and I can’t get my happy self to bed. I had fallen asleep earlier, but the sound of a ringing phone woke me and I haven’t been able to go back to bed. I dabbled with some of the various notions flailing around in my brain. Still. I need to go to sleep already.

Fortunately, tomorrow will be a day of meetings and mingling. But I’ll pay for it because I’ll be slow when it comes to doing menial tasks like filing or re-organizing my great piles of junk. I have hope that with the good drink (coffee) and some catchy tunes, I’ll be able to whistle away the afternoon and items on my to-do list.

It’s rather sad that my days of nothingness have come to an end. I’m really going to miss them. I attempted to have an adventure every day, but none of my adventures were too thrilling. The coolest thing was Saturday, when I went to Niko Niko's and the owner took my order. He greeted me with a smile. When I said I would like a falafel sandwich, his facial expression portrayed pride in my choice. He also seemed very happy to be at work. That’s always nice.

This evening I was drawn out of my pj’s when Dealy-O called me up and said, “I miss you. Come meet us.”

That’s one of the nicest things someone can say in my book, so I could not object. I’m such a narcissistic bastard sometimes. We met for coffee/tea/hot chocolate. After my chai latte was prepared, the barrista sang out my order. He had a very nice voice, so nice that I heartily said, “Wow, thank you.”

Adios Navidad

I hate this time of year. All of the Christmas lights are coming down, stores are dead, and the good cheer is gone. It could potentially be a very depressing point in time. Fortunately, the depression hasn’t set in. I’m hoping it doesn’t. I have three more days before I return to work.

Speaking of returning to work, I’m sort of scared of going back. There are many tasks to be completed this spring semester and I fear that I’m going to lose some of my me time. The couple weeks before school let out, I was working 12-hour days pretty much every day. I did tell my students that I was done accepting late assignments. At least their homeroom and unbook reports. They are given deadlines for these assignments in advance. Plus, they are given time in class to complete the assignments.

I really thought that this year was going to be way better than the last two. It seems like there’s always a monkey wrench to be dealt with. There is always more that needs to be done. Or a new task that needs to be fulfilled. And it’s not such a big deal if my writing didn’t have to take the back seat to all this. Perhaps someday I will figure out how to balance life, work, and writing.

Miscellany

Happy International Women’s Day!

I hope you all had/have a wonderful one. I had some of the vagina shaped chocolates one of my colleagues gave me as a thank you for purchasing tickets to her church’s production of The Vagina Monologues. Also, if you haven’t done so, sign the Mujeres de Juárez petition, or pass along the link.

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve last been here, hasn’t it?

A couple years ago, when I signed on to do this teaching thing, I didn’t really realize how much of my time it would take up. I mean, I knew there would be grading at home and maybe some research, but I didn’t think there would be this much.

The giant TAKS Fairy is back in town. It’s been perusing the halls causing students and teachers to do weird things like this:


My students did most of the work on this. I just put forth the ideas, supplies, and ultimate delegation powers. They will also have to decorate lockers and perform a stomp and some other crap. Although it is a lot of work, it’s a whole lot of fun and the kids are so proud of their creations.

Some teachers get really competitive and begin to poison the kids. One in specific, tells them, “We’re going to win because I’ve never, in all the years I’ve been here, lost. I’m placing first in something.”

Her comments really bother me because I don’t think its right for an adult to say something like that to kids. My students have had so much fun and they are so proud of their work, and really, that’s what it’s about for me. Last year, I did a lot of the work and it was sort of sad. But this year, I’ve had at least five kids stay after school or come in before school every day to help. I don’t care about placing because we’re already pretty famous around the school, and my students love that.

In other news, I’ve actually been keeping my resolution about writing. The class I’m taking is okay. It’s a lot of extra work, but our teacher gives us tons of ideas/tips. I got work shopped a couple weeks ago and it was quite fruitful.

Spring Break is one day away and I can’t wait. We’re going to some tiny Texas town called Jarrell, outside of Austin. I suspect I’ll be making a lot of trips to Austin or spending a lot of time out by the pool.