Tales of a 7th Grade Nothing

I'm back in full swing with student teaching, working at the center, and bishopric duties--all at full tilt. It's going well, but the all day--often 12 hour--schedule is pretty rough. The kids in my classes are pretty good though and it's funny to remember middle school. It is SO much different than high school. Here is a funny conversation I had with a student in my 4th hour class (keep in mind that this is 7th grade):

"Did you know that my brother and sister are models?"
To which I replied, "Hmm... that sounds an awful lot like a brag to me, wouldn't you say?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well--it's kind of like saying 'My parents are really rich!'"
"Oh. Well, my parents ARE rich!" she said with a giggle.

Silly girl.

My own son said this to me on my first day of being gone from 7am-9pm. He was in my room trying to fall asleep on my bed (this is the current protocol as the kids have a hard time falling asleep in the same room--they just talk to each other--so we just move Seth into his own bed when he falls asleep) and this is what he said when I told him I had been missing him all day:

"I've been missing you too, Daddy--'cause you are a really great man."

At least somebody thinks I am.

He said something else funny a little while ago that he must have seen on a commercial for Go-gurts. He said that he really needed to get them because (and then he quoted from the commercial exactly) "kids on the go need Go-gurts to grow, Daddy."

I thought that was pretty funny.

One good thing about my student teaching situation at the moment is that since its 7th grade and there is a heavy emphasis on reading, the kids spend a lot of time in class doing required silent reading. I have already finished one book in the four days I've been here because of this extra reading time (My Name Is Asher Lev--I'll comment more on this book later--I absolutely loved it) and am almost finished with a thin Steinbeck novel (The Red Pony). It's nice to just read. It's also awesome that my mentor teacher is so chill and doesn't make me pretend to be doing something more productive when there isn't anything to do. In fact, I am typing this during our third hour prep. While very time consuming, this semester should be pretty low-key...which is exactly how I wanted it.

Guide to 2006

I wanted to get my two cents in on my greatest influences in music, film, and books during 2006 as it seemed a year of shifts and new experiences. You may or may not notice that many of these things were not new in 2006, rather they were new to me in 2006.

Music:

1. Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas- I posted about my discovery of this great singer and bluegrass band earlier in the year and my respect and love for the music, especially as egged on by Dave Bertoglio, has only grown. Alison Krauss and her band have been around forever, so they are nothing new, per se, but for some reason, their music just clicked for me this year. It’s funny, because there were inklings years ago that I might like this kind of music when Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? and their song “Man of Constant Sorrow” came out way back in 2000 (There exists a video tape of me and Nick singing this tune together at my parent’s house in Laramie). But it has taken me this long to jump on the horse (as it were). And while I really love Alison’s signature voice, it is really the other elements of the band that have grabbed me. I have to admit that I have become quite the bluegrass fan and can’t help but perk up whenever I hear a banjo and though I now know the instrument that Jerry Douglas plays is called a dobro, I didn’t know at first and thought that he was making a regular guitar sound that way. I have since also learned that he is considered the best dobro player in the world. I have enjoyed seeing him play with and sans Krauss on such programs as the wonderful James Taylor tribute concert that aired on PBS over the holidays and playing with Garrison Keillor’s band during his New Year’s Eve special. I look forward to seeing them in concert someday.
2. Sufjan Stevens- At the end of 2005, I had only just begun listening to the radio program All Songs Considered and was officially hooked on it after listening to their annual “best songs of the year” countdown. Sufjan’s 4^th album Illinois was consistently being ranked in the number one spot, so I knew that I better hop on the bus and see what the fuss was all about. It is safe to say, now, that Steven’s (a former creative writing major) sometimes pop, sometimes not music was very much the soundtrack of my year. I have listened to the songs on each of his albums (as well as all of the songs from his Christmas songs collection) hundreds and hundreds of times. I wonder if it will be hard for me in the future to listen to his music and not think about Norton Anthologies and the ASU shuttle. I am now (as well as every other kid in America) a life long fan and can only hope that he completes his 50 States album project. Check out this performance from Austin City Limits. This too.
   
3. Iron & Wine- One of the shifts that occurred for me this year was a shift toward more quiet, acoustic music. In addition to the five groups listed here, I have found myself listening to more classical and jazz music and spending much more time with my own acoustic guitar (I even bought a new one this year!). Iron & Wine is, essentially a guy named Sam Beam. And while he is in the same genre (maybe) as some of the other artists that I have mentioned here, I think that he is very different. His music is almost like a whisper when compared to these other groups. I love it. His collaboration with Tucson’s Calexico and the album that they produced (In the Reins) along with Beam’s 2004 album Endless Numbered Days got top spots in Ipod consumed tunage this year.
4. Jose Gonzales- Gonzales was a late entry for me, but he stuck fast. I don’t quite know what it is about his 2005 album Veneer that moves me—especially since I am usually not very complimentary towards overly short albums (his clocks in at just over 30 minutes). But it does—move me, I mean. The songs are short and soft, but they are intense. His guitar playing, which is entirely done on a classical guitar, is droning and full and his voice is melodic and has a comforting quality to it. Besides Alison Krauss, his music is the easiest for me to recommend and it has almost universal likability. I missed seeing him in concert at a very small venue in Tempe last autumn—mostly, I think, because I had only really head of him when he came through. I didn’t know!
5. James Taylor’s complete catalog (instead of just his ever-present Greatest Hits album) has come to be much more meaningful to me this year(especially songs like: “Don’t Be Sad ‘Cause Your Son is Down” and “Frozen Man” but with new respect for “Sweet Baby James”). I have always been a fan, but JT has now moved to everyday listening status.
6. The Decemberists- In a lot of ways, Collin Meloy is, for me, this year’s Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie/Postal Service). The dudes look like they could be brothers, but this added to the fact that they both sport high tenor voices and front post-Indie rock bands kind of seals the deal. The two artists’ music, though, is quite different. The Decemberists are to Irish seafaring folk music what the Postal Service are to the Pet Shop boys. My dad would be proud to know that with the help of bands like the Decemberists, the accordion is making a comeback.
7. John Mayer’s “Stop this Train” Off the 2006 album Continuum (also a big album for me last year), might just be my favorite song of the year. For some reason, the lyrics to this song got to me. I think it may have something to do with the fact that John Mayer and I are nearly the same age (he is only four months older), share the same first name (which he refers to in the third person in this song), and it is a song about getting older and not knowing what to make of it. Plus it is one of those songs that you can listen to over and over without getting tired of it. John Mayer is consistent—but he always manages to be innovative as well. I loved his Trio album—who can’t get behind a lyric like “Gravity is working against me; gravity always gets me down”?—and (maybe minus “Waiting on the World to Change”) really love Continuum. I also just found out that he was nominated for 5 Grammys this year.
8. Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”- Is Gnarls Barkley a fad band? Probably. Was “Crazy” one of the best songs of 2006? Absolutely.

Movies & TV:

I don’t know that I can go to one or really even a group of movies as being stand out for me this year, but thought I should mention that due to the amazing Tivo ability to search and record any movie you may have ever wanted to watch in your entire life—ever. So, this year, I have tried to watch as many of the classics as I could find.

Tina and I have also enjoyed 24, Lost, Heroes, Scrubs, and only recently (technically not qualifying for this 2006 report) the Office.

Books:

While you might think that a Literature major would have read a lot of books in the past year…well you’d be right. I read like crazy last year. My favorites were: Moby Dick, Empire Grill, Cold Mountain, The Chosen, Life of Pi, and the Giver. I also discovered a love for American author Stephen Crane, English legend John Milton, and found out what the big whoop is about Mark Twain. I have also tried to start reading my Best Short Stories series and made it through 1989 and can’t wait to read the rest of them.

Websites: see my “Waste Your Time on My Dime” entries below.

Let's go away for a while...Holiday update

Tonight, finally: a lull. It has been a busy season. Classes ended for me on the 15th, and with what I thought would be another successful semester in the hole (and it was! Straight As and summa cum laude are now mine!), I started the process of—one by one—finalizing my applications for graduate school. Wisconsin Madison, Pitt and the U of A were all due on the 15th, Rensselaer was due on the 1st and I tossed the application for Texas in the mail this afternoon (hoping that the Ford holiday doesn’t foul up the postmark requirement). It has been a good time here in Tucson—though it’s hard not to miss my family during Christmas. Here is an excerpt by Dave of a letter to Scott on his mission that sums up a lot of the holiday activities:

Well, we had a snow adventure yesterday. With all the rain (and consequently snow) recently there was a bunch of snow on Mt. Lemmon. We had gone up to Mesa Friday for a doctor appointment for Maryn and went to the temple. On the way back to Tucson, we stopped at Matt and Mindy’s house and they loaned Tina a few things for the snow; boots, gloves (“glums” Seth calls them), bibs and a cool sled which is like a boogie board with handles. So we left home about 3:30 and passed hundreds of cars pulled off the side of the road as low as Bear Canyon picnic area. We trudged on up to the Mt. Bigelow road to the meadow there. There weren’t as many cars there but the road was icy and we drove up as far as we could and then parked and walked a hundred yards or so. You might recall that the meadow is in the shade and when the wind blew, the snow on the tree branches came down on us. Yeah, it was cold. But Seth loved it and rode down the hill on the sled with Jon several times (he made a snow angel with Rachel too). He would dig his heels in at the bottom to stop and spray them both with snow. I took Maryn down a short version of the hill and she liked it too. Jon HAD to start at the road above us and go all the way down by himself. When he hit the first bump he caught some glorious air and landed hard on his coccyx (pronounced “kok-kicks”). He was injured… injured bad… and is sore today. Carlie and Trevor came up and met us there and Trevor rode down the hill a couple of times. It was very fun but Seth was very sad that we did not build a snowman. But it was getting colder and dark (and Mom and the sisters had about had it) and the snow was pretty powdery. Besides, we pretty much had had all the fun we wanted to have. At one of the pull outs someone had made a very cute snowman and people were lining up to have their picture taken beside it (On the ride down we drove into the sunset up to a long line of cars lined up at the Houghton/Catalina highway intersection. Maryn screamed the whole way. My theory is sore ears from altitude change. But when we got home Mom made TWO kinds of soups to warm us up (clam chowder and ham and potato). Yum.

We have been doing some serious chillaxing here these days. Playing Mexican train (a domino game), Settlers of Catan, Apples to Apples, watching DVDs, playing Nintendo (including Mom’s favorite, Tetris), staying up late, getting up late and eating… a lot. On the Jon Stone Coke Zero can count, he is currently at about 35 for the vacation. He is hoping for a record. He also is rockin’ on Picmin 2 (a game he claims he bought for you last time they were down—it was only $10 at Circuit City). This week we are going to paint over the drywall repairs that Handy Manny George made for us and probably put the decorations away. Seth loves to play Nintendo. Just give him a controller (plugged in or not) and he will have a great time. He also loves the DVD “The Polar Express” and we have already watched it while drinking hot chocolate. It’s his new favorite movie.

Anyway—back to Mesa tomorrow. The Illinois application is due postmarked by Friday and then it starts again on the 15th. Writing these letters and spending so much time looking at the University websites and faculty articles that have been published is making me excited at the prospects of getting in somewhere. Every school that I have applied to has its virtues and so far I haven’t felt like I have wasted any time or money (though the money thing is huge—I figure that by the end of the process it will have cost us as much as a semester in school costs to apply to grad school.). It’s hard not to dread the possibility of not getting in anywhere. Another seminary-like rejection. We found something out, though, recently that helped to curb some of that dread. We discovered that school districts in Texas hire teachers for almost 10K more per year than they do in Arizona (around 38K a year) and housing there is half as expensive. This perked me up a bit—all that I have really wanted in all of this is to have a job that I enjoy that pays enough for us to be able to buy a house and not have Tina work. So, it looks like we have a very viable plan B.

So that is the update. Stay tuned above for the best of 2006 entry. Coming soon.