Thursday, May 26, 2005

Good Things This Week

So far a lot of good things this week. Having Joel around has been fun: dinner Tuesday night for him, Jacob and Doug. Andy was out, and Joel asked for the fruit and nut chili (Jacob is a modified vegan, Doug on a diet–looking at my Popcorn Factory catalog while they waited to eat.)

Monday night I went to a book group, the Barbara Heisler-Williams/Lorraine Graves group, and participated in a discussion of Oradell at Sea, which was a lot of fun– to feel my most- fully-me work participating, as it were, in a conversation.

And yesterday, at Ridge Street School, Rodney Gilbert and a crew of young actors performed monologues by my students there. It was a tremendous amount of fun--They did cuddly puppies and whining chihuahuas and a rotting appendix and blind children and deaf children and Ray Charles and rats and feet in tight shoes and various kids talking about themselves-- oh my it was fun! I'm so glad to have been a part of that. Tonight is my Coalition meeting, but I'm feeling less dread than sometimes. I hope that is a new confidence rather than bad luck.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Why Are We So Busy?

I'm not complaining about today so much, which was a lovely day. But stillyet, I am complaining because I feel so rushed. Today preparing for my last day at Conley School in Asbury, NJ tomorrow, getting out Issue # 71 of my Books for Readers Newsletter, doing some research for Takeshi and Chiaki's New York apartment hunt, plus a trip into New York for Edith Konecky's reading/celebration of her new book View to the North, plus hurrying back to make part of the presentation by Diane Hughes on Stereotype Anxiety and the Academic Achievement Gap. All fun, and one of my main feelings at this tired moment is, Yeah, but I didn't get any writing done.

Friday, May 13, 2005

Teaching, community organizing, the odd bit of writing...

My mom went home yesterday after being here two weeks, and I'm still teaching, looking at more maybe, plus moving the college kid to his summer apartment, also in Pr0vidence. The weather here is superb, mid sixties, light scumble of bright yellow green on all the trees and stunning blue skies.