"He seemed like a really nice European DJ with a face tattoo."

I'm having to re-scan everything I scanned at work yesterday. Lame! Photoshop tricked me into thinking it had saved my custom settings when it had not.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I watched the so-far season of "The New Girl". I had heard good things about it and I am a fan of Zooey. Things I liked about it:
Zooey is funny.
Zooey's character's clothes are amazing.
The three fellas are (sometimes) funny.

But, I don't think these three things can save this show, yo. I'm not a tv show critic or anything...I don't even watch much tv at all because I only get one channel, BUT, there's not much of a plot on that show that I can decipher. I don't know. I think it's hard to create a truly eccentric character without making them seem unbelievable. Zooey's character is believable, and I actually don't think she's as weird as people have claimed she is. She just seems like a fun person that's slightly too open with her feelings. I really wanted to like the show, and I laughed. But I wasn't hooked on it. I volunteer to take all of Jess's clothes when the series gets cancelled, though.

I have a backpack brimming over with graphic novels today. Astro Boy, Cyborg lunch lady, the one about the girl that saves the books in Iraq, etc. My last assignment for Children's Lit was to create a library program for a group of kids. I picked the 9-12 age range and decided to do an entire program on graphic novels and basic cartooning. The gist is that we would look at graphic novels and see the different cartoon styles and the different plots and storylines for the novels, and the kids could share their favorites or be introduced to other ones that the library has in its collection. Also, an art teacher or cartoonist would come in and work with the kids to learn the basics of cartoon drawing and the kids could practice their drawing and create characters and things. I'm planning to read through a couple of the graphic novels before class tonight, just so I have a better idea of what I'm doing here. So, if you see a girl in bright red jeans reading Astro Boy (Volume 8) all by herself at dinner, say "Hey!", won't cha? I don't have to do this program in real-life. Just pretend do it. Which is good. I bombed the last presentation I had to do in that class. Bombed it hard.

It just occurred to me that I might not be assertive enough in certain settings. I'm not a super assertive person to begin with. I generally kind of go with the flow, or go it alone. I don't really put up much of a fight about things. Most things aren't worth fighting about, but sometimes...I think I should say more about what I'm thinking. Like, when this kid (who is very nice) is constantly using the computer I use at work to check his facebook,e-mail accounts, and chat on google plus. I just want to be like, 'Hey, I need the computer for work stuff, can you save the personal stuff for the library lab or your home?'. But I'm like, 'Oh, Hi! No, I don't need the computer. No problem. I'll go find some collections and be back later.' I mean, I don't want to go off the deep end and become one of those mean drivers who constantly is flipping people off on the highway. But, just a little more confident in my own abilities. So at least during presentations, when I mess things up, I don't go "Eeeek. This is a mess! Sorry! [exuding flusteredness]', but rather: 'Oops, that was a mistake. I meant to say...[oozing composure]' Hmm. I'm going to work on that.

Keep your hands out of my virtual cart!

I'm a bit lost without Dancing With The Stars to occupy my Monday nights. I'm watching some sort of Christmas made-for-tv movie marathon. The Grinch was on earlier, now it's Shrek. I'm kind of watching, but mostly cyber Monday web stalking different clothing sites. Modcloth is my kryptonite. I'm currently in a long distance relationship with these shoes:

They've been on sale all weekend but keep selling out in my size. I'm not quite quick enough on the checkout trigger. I put them in the virtual shopping cart and then keep looking around on the site, and when I go back to checkout, some bitch has taken them out of my virtual cart and bought them. How rude. I shouldn't be too mad though, because as a big-footed gal, I understand the problems with finding cute shoes in giant sizes. Little-footed girls have no excuse to wear ugly shoes. There are tons of cute shoes in sizes 6-7. Much less when you get higher than that. It becomes ruthless when you reach my size.

Beatrix be crazy. Today was her first day all alone at home. When I got home tonight it was celebration city in my house. She couldn't stop running around and jumping on and off of everything and sliding across floors. I glanced over once and she was literally hanging from a curtain in my living room. Enjoy the nails while you can, Bea, those are going away next month.

I need bookshelves in my house. I recognized this fact when I was cleaning the dining room to get ready for the Christmas tree that was put up yesterday. The tree never actually left the dining room since last year, but it was just re-decorated. I have one built-in bookcase in my house. It's in the dining room and crammmmmmed full of books. I don't even keep a lot of books. I only keep good ones that I like, or that I've torn pages out of in my little crafty phase. 

Hmm, some kind of gameshow has come on. No more Christmas cartoons? Boo. Time to watch a movie, I think. And make a peanut butter sandwich. Yum. I had lunch with Megan today and tried the new chicken stew at Panera. I can report that it was delicious.

Back to cyber monday stalking, I go.

Rumi

Feeling crafty plus planning for future free time.

I am getting excited. For a while now I've been considering getting back into sewing clothing. This is something I used to do in high school because I have long legs and nobody made long inseam lounge pants (now they do, but it took a while for them to figure out that some chicks have long legs and prefer to not have to have highwater pants in gym class or when going to the Y.) Anyway, I've been sneaking around on blogs looking at sewing patterns and the end result of people's patterns and they look cuuuuute. I have unproven confidence in my ability to make clothing. I've only ever made pants...but a skirt should be doable, right? There's no legs to sew... I think this is going to be okay. I tend to reconstruct a lot of shirts that I buy or am given and turn them into other things. So, I plan to have a blast with this whole thing.

And anyway, in a few weeks I'll be faced with more time and no homework or assignments. Just work. I'm planning to join a healthplex in town to try to have a place to work out. I'll be losing my student rec status at MU. I'd rather have a place to work out in JC rather than up in Como, anyway. I don't really enjoy having to go work out right after working on campus. Plus, I've been asked to help with an afterschool running organization in the spring, as well, so it will be nice to have a place in town that I can workout at on weekends rather than only in Como during the week. The afterschool organization sounds interesting and I'm considering doing that, because I'd be all for trying to help girls boost their self-confidence and stay healthy.

I'm watching Baylor beat Texas Tech. I'm proud of those Bears.

Introducing Beatrix to Watson was a disaster. Watson tried to attack her. He's been pretty grumpy ever since he figured out she was in the house. Bea is a really sweet cat who is really interested in Watson, but it's going to take some time before Watsy is calm enough to handle being in a room with her without charging/attacking her, which just means that then I have to shout really loudly and quickly chase/herd a nearly 20 pound hissing and puffy-tailed cat down the hall and into a guest bedroom. It's about as dramatic as it sounds. Last night was dramalicious in my dad's house.

Live and learn.

For now: Go Baylor. And I'm off to eat meatloaf leftovers from Thanksgiving. Yum.

Kitteh is here. And other news.

New kitteh in the howwwse.

Name: Beatrix
Age: ehhh, just under a year?
Energy level: through the roof.
How she handles meeting an 11 year old nearly 20 pound male cat?: We shall see today.


Also! Insurance says I totaled my car and they're giving me more money than I expected, so I might have a new (to me) car come December. Got my eye on another Subaru in a car lot in town.


I had begun the week determined to throw off the awful of last week and have an awesome week. So far, so good! But still could get better if my godmother would get released from the hospital. She is still in ICU (boo). She might not get to go home for Thanksgiving now and they won't let us bring our T-giving dinner to her (although, actually, we're just having meatloaf...so, perhaps hospital mystery meat is not really that different. Happy Thanksgiving?).

No matter. Send good thoughts up yonder regarding those stuck in hospitals over the holidays, si?

Tweety tweet blog.

Lesson of the Weekend: Caves + wine sounds great, but give it one more thought before you do it.

I am glad to see the end of this week. There has been a ridiculous amount of crap in a incredibly short amount of time. Sometimes, I guess it's just your time to deal with the bad stuff. I've noticed that it's been a rough time for a lot of people. People seem to just be going through some crazy bad stuff lately. Not just me, either. Yesterday I went to the lake to hang out with my dad, my godmother, and my godmother's sister. We went to a winery and drank wine in a cave. There's neat winery that has these steps that lead down to a cave that has some tables in it and you can sit in there and they'll bring you pizza and you hang out and laugh and have a good time. Caves + wine sounds like fun (and it is), but getting out of a cave after drinking is less fun. It did not end well. Yesterday's cave adventure ended with my godmother being life-flighted to University Hospital in Columbia. She's doing well. Quite sore, but well. In fact, I think she's kind of the darling of the ICU up there. They don't really get very lively, funny people in that unit... She's both (thank goodness!). But it's been a rough weekend for her. Her sister is a nurse and did a truly outstanding job during the craziness of yesterday. I know EMTs and nurses and doctors are trained to handle emergencies and have to be ready for anything, but when it's your own family and you have to do what you're trained to do, it's extraordinary. And she did an amazing job keeping her composure during it all and doing what she knew she had to do. I was really impressed by the people who stepped up yesterday. There happened to be an ICU nurse from Joplin at the winery who helped out a lot, too. It kind of makes you think that sometimes people are all in the same place for a reason, you know? Anyway, things are much better today than yesterday and my godmother is going to be a-okay. For now, she's entertaining the ICU nurses at Mizzou, but she'll probably be home for Thanksgiving. As an aside: I'd never been so close to a helicopter before. What a debris machine, those are. I was standing near an old machine shop in a pasture where it landed and the amount of dirt and machine dust and junk in the air around me was kind of crazy. I wasn't a huge fan of the helicopter. It was interesting to see it land, and I was happy that it could land there in an emergency to get someone to a good hospital quickly, but I don't think I'm interested in riding in one. My godmother was not awake for the ride, but she's been told she can now check 'helicopter ride' off of her bucket list.

Tomorrow I hope to find out what's the deal with my automobile. If I had to guess, I'd say that the insurance company will total it out, but if they decide they want to pay to fix it, I'm awesome with that plan, too. I have been doing a little more looking around at cars and seeing what is in my area, and there are some possibilities. We'll see. I'm currently trying to take a 'What kind of car is right for you?' internet quiz. It's uber-scientific and accurate, I'm sure.

After yesterday's fiasco, I decided last night to do yoga again. It relaxes me and I sleep like a log if I do yoga at night. It was actually really nice. I used to do it every night and then got out of the habit of it, but I might try to get back into that routine. I really do sleep much better... And clearly, if life is going to continue on this anxiety-riddled trajectory, I need my sleep.
----------------
p.s. This was my #1 recommended car for everything I told the quiz that I want in a car:

2012 Hyundai Elantra

(Interestingly enough, this is one of the cars I've been doing some research on! My Subaru Impreza came in #5 on my recommended cars in the quiz results.)

Anne Frank

If your sky is falling, take my hand and hold it.

Blargh. I totaled my car tonight. When I have a bad week, I don't do it half-heartedly. Hell, no. I go all out. All is well though... In the big scheme of things, everything is fine. I am minus one cat and one car than I was a week ago, but I am fine and I still have a house and a job and family and friends and three seasons of "Designing Women" and a bag of those awesome cinnamon imperials candies to eat. So, there's really not a whole lot to complain about.

I'm looking at cars online and I am completely overwhelmed. I have no idea what is a good car versus what is not? I would like good mileage and good safety. I know I'll be buying a used car, but I have a lot of research to do suddenly in the auto world. I haven't ever had the luxury of choosing a car for myself. I had a Nissan Sentra that I bought in college and it was good. It served me well through my Texas adventures. I bought it because it was cheap and the only thing I could afford, not because it was necessarily fantastically reviewed or anything. But I ended up loving it. It was a good little car with the most kickass sound system a gal could want. I mean, people could hear me coming down the streets in Waco like you wouldn't believe. And then I sold Luna the Sentra after I kind of inherited my mom's Subaru (named Tinker). I had no car payments on and it served me well, also. Tonight, especially. I am sold on the safety of Subarus. I would definitely get another one if I could somehow afford it. That cashflow thing seems to be where my hiccup is. I had thought to get a new car but not yet. I was thinking maybe next year sometime after I actually was working for a while and saved up some moolah. My dad offered me his Subaru (named Pilgrim) to commute back and forth for a while. I might do that for a bit. Pilgrim is bigger and I'm not as comfortable with it as I was with Tinker, but I'd feel safe driving it.

Let's end this on a high note: Tomorrow is my neighboring old folks home annual cookie sale! Yuuuuum. Oatmeal scotchies, iced sugar cookies, and chocolate m&m cookies: come to mama.

Oh, and another high note: Tonight after my dad came and found me on the highway and the first wrecker man showed up, my dad took me to Steak and Shake for hot chocolate and an awesome cookie sundae thing. When the waitress came and asked us how we were doing tonight, my dad said I totaled my car and that I had a bad week and after we ate and went to pay for our food, the cashier said it had already been taken care of! How sweet is that? I love random acts of kindness from total strangers...especially when I am the recipient of it. Steak and shake waitress, I wish I could remember your name because I would write to the restaurant headquarters about how nice you all are, but since I can't remember: you are awesome and fantastic and I hope you have a wonderful life!

My boy builds coffins.

Boo. I'm feeling down in the dumps. The house feels big and lonely without that little cat in it when I get home. Last night I sat around at home. My class decided to meet online instead of in the classroom, so I was stuck sitting around the house more than I normally would on a Tuesday evening. I cleaned a little bit more around the house, and I started listening to music, which is a constant in my life normally, but when I get really sad, I don't listen so much. So, I tried to listen to some music. But I woke up this morning with "My Boy Builds Coffins" stuck in my head, and I realized my choice in music last night was probably not the healthiest. I should probably throw on something a little less maudlin.

Class was interesting last night, even though it was online. I stuffed my face with goldfish crackers the whole time and nearly choked once when the teacher suddenly asked me a question about censorship in libraries and I had to respond quickly. That's one of my issues with online classes: I become a multi-tasker and I'm not really the best at multi-tasking. It's hard for me to sit in front of the computer and just listen to a voice come through the speakers. So, I tend to snack or halfway watch a movie or surf the internet while listening. It just doesn't work out for me because I just don't pay attention. But, since I find this class really interesting and I didn't really want to focus on my empty house around me, I was paying more attention than usual last night. We got into quite the censorship discussion, although it was mostly on the topic of challenged books, I guess. The removal of books from libraries because of a patron complaint. It's going on right now in Blue Springs, Missouri, where a high school freshman read the book "Hold Still" and she shared the story with her parents, who then got upset and challenged the library, and the book has been removed. I think that fight is not over, because librarians in general have a problem with removing books because of a parent's challenge. Or any challenge, for that matter.  I looked that book up on Goodreads and it seems like everyone liked the book, there was nothing on there by those who had read it to say it wasn't a good book or that they found it offensive in any way. I have a personal opinion that many times, the challenges come from people who never read the book that they're requesting be removed. In schools, especially. Maybe the parents just overhear what the kids say the story is about, or maybe they read one or two pages in the middle somewhere and decide it's not suitable for their child. It's not the librarian's fault that a child is reading a book that the parent doesn't want the child to read. It is part of a parent's job to watch what their kids are reading, but requesting that no child be allowed to read a book that you don't want your child reading always makes me queasy. There are better ways to handle your child reading and sharing a book with you that you feel uncomfortable talking about than deciding that you want to deny this book to all children.

I am totally against the removal of a book in a library that is in the collection if it falls within the collection development parameters of that library, and is often circulated, etc. But last night my teacher made a point that I had never really thought of before and that is that librarians are often so into protecting the right to read and immediately want to throw down with any patron who dares to challenge any book in the library, that we can get pretty high and mighty about it. Most patron challenges in a public library are not taken all that seriously. Librarians provide forms for patrons to fill out when they want a book to be removed for whatever reason. Often though, this a total front to just pacify the angry patron. It also serves as fodder for jokes. My professor last night brought up this point to show that these challenges do need to be taken seriously because librarians are always removing books from the collection. Always. Weeding is a constant chore for librarians, but we want to be the ones to choose what is removed, we don't want to bow down to a patron request for removal. But, maybe the challenged book doesn't actually fit with the collection development policy in place. Maybe it really shouldn't be in the collection. It is a good point. You don't want to give in to someone who wants to censor reading in a public library, or a school library, or anywhere. Just as a matter of pride, you don't want to give in to that person. You don't want to remove a book that is popular because one person finds it offensive. It's a public library for a reason and it can't become the library of Joe Smith, who doesn't want anything on witchcraft or homosexuality in his library. And despite the fact that most public libraries are supported by tax dollars that are paid by the patrons who use it, that doesn't mean that the patrons have the right to decide what is in it or not. It really doesn't...Sorry. However, challenges should be taken seriously and actually looked at and reviewed to make sure that book was selected following the policies in place. (It would still really gall me, though, to have to remove a book from a library if the challenge was something that I completely thought was ridiculous. I would probably want to write some sort of Librarian's Rebuttal or something in response to the challenge. Kind of like the dissenting opinion in a Supreme Court case.)

So, that discussion at least got me thinking of things other than how lonely my house is. I did think of all the things I can do now though. Like cook or do yoga. Those were always a little tough with Iris around. She was my [messy] shadow and being the kitchen was her domain and you had to watch your step. Yoga was difficult because she LOVED it when you were on the floor because suddenly she could be all over you because she couldn't jump up on things, so suddenly she had free reign to headbutt you while you were trying to do yoga and hold some pose. It didn't work so well. 

Rest in peace, baby girl.

This morning Iris was euthanized. This was a really rough weekend. She hadn't been eating for much of the week, she refused to drink water, and got so weak that she couldn't walk. She would fall over and try to drag herself from one place to another. It was heartbreaking. She was frustrated at how she couldn't get around, but she had lost the will to fight any longer. She was exhausted and wasn't going to come back from this. It's sad and lonely with out her around, even though I know the decision to put her down was the right one. And I know that she had a good life and that I did what I could for her and that she was a happy cat who impressed a lot of people with her courage and her strength. I'm proud of her and, although she had a short life, I'm thankful for the privilege to have had her share her short life with me.

So long, little one.

On the day I adopted her in 2007. So tiny.

Sort of discovering the great outdoors while on vacation at my Dad's house in 2009.

My darling Iris. Even though she was never healthy like an ordinary cat, she was always sweet and loving. 

Jonathan Safran Foer

I know I'm slow to arrive to the nice, grown-up restaurant party, but listen here: I have a good one to share.

I went to Sycamore tonight for the first time ever and it was delicious! I recommend it. Not only is the food good (although at first I wasn't sure, but by the end of my meal, I was more than convinced that the chef clearly knew what he was doing). Also, far be it from me to criticize the workings of a culinary master when I mostly survive on instant oatmeal and peanut butter sandwiches. But I had the gnocchi+squash as my entree and then I got some chocolate cake for dessert. Mmmm. And the atmosphere at the place was really cool. It also seemed to attract a much cooler crowd than I'm used to seeing at my regular eating establishments...which would be Wendy's, Steak N Shake, Subway, and my kitchen...  You're thinking, 'No way. A cooler crowd than those four hoppin', trendy locales?' I know. It's pretty incredible, but true.

I'm shopping around for post-graduation celebratory eating places for the family. Another restaurant was actually on the bill for this evening, but plans change and I am flexible about that. All this rambling is to say that Sycamore on Broadway in Columbia is a must-try kind of place. Not for the quicky meal, mind you. But for the 'I'm going to enjoy this food and this atmosphere with my friends/family/significant other' kind of meal. It seemed pretty popular (good food tends to do that to a place). By the time my friend and I had left, the place was getting packed, but not uncomfortably so. If you've not been there before: do try!

http://sycamorerestaurant.com/

And if you happen to have a favorite sit-down kind of nice restaurant in Columbia that is your go-to place and you'd like to share, puh-lease leave a comment. I've coerced a co-worker or two into trying some places with me after work sometimes, and we have a list of places to try, but there's room for more!

E.M. Forster

[I make these little quote boxes now. And I will sporadically share them with you. They're quotes from books or authors or about books and authors and reading and all things awesome.]



Also, it is late and I am sleepy.

I accepted a real grown-up job this morning!

I was offered and accepted a job this morning! It will pay enough for me to commute to it! And I'll get benefits again. And vacation time. And paid holidays. And all that grown-up stuff that I actually enjoy. Maybe I can buy cable tv again? Or get my own internet? Perhaps I can even invest in a car that has better gas mileage? Oh, the possibilities. Success. Is. Miiiiine.

It's still at the same place that I do my civil war grant work, but I'll be finishing that grant and the full-time job is on a national newspaper digitization grant with the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities will go for another two years. So, it's another two years in Central Missouri, another two years in my house (which is what I needed to do to not have to pay back my city 5 thousand dollars), and learning new skills + more money, vacation time, and benefits than I ever got working for the state. And also, my co-workers are awesome. All in all, this is good. I was looking forward to moving away and starting over someplace else, but not sure about the house situation and everything. Now I can take my time and hopefully, by 2014, the housing issues will be in a better place and so will jobs! So, it's allll good. Central Missouri, you just love me too much to lose me, I guess. But, I will be taking my beach vacations...

Here's my new project: http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/

That's where we're all the same.

Daylight Saving Time, you are a cruel master. I prefer the 'fall back' to the 'spring forward', but here it is only 6:30 pm and I'm in my jammies and pretty much ready for sleep. I've got a book to read for class this week and it's interesting, but I tend to do my best reading in bed before sleep, I'm also kind of just putting off doing my readings. It's a mind conundrum. Like, if I get into the book and start reading it now, I might actually finish it pre-bedtime and then what? I don't have a back-up book. Or, well, I do have plenty of books but none for class and I've tried reading multiple books at once and that's just a complete mess when it comes time to try to book talk in class. It becomes sort of a ramble of things like:

"The main character was put in a tower in rural China because she refused to marry the guy her dad wanted her to marry, and then a Renaissance painter showed up from a far-off kingdom and said he wanted to paint the whole family and he fell in love with the girl's servant who was also in the tower, and then there was a guy that turned into a werewolf and killed everyone in the village, but the servant escaped and wandered around for a while. Oh, and also, there was a land of wild things that was ruled by a little boy named Max then Max got bored and decided to sail back home and as he was sailing back, Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt flew over during a night flight. And Max got home and his mom had dinner waiting for him. And Eleanor and Amelia were good friends with matching fancy scarves. And the wandering servant eventually found another village, stood up to the werewolf, saved the village and married a prince."

And then my teacher often looks at me like this:

True story.

Hmm.

Youtube swoops in for the save.

First for the pretty-song:



For the more dancy out there, this song never gets old for me. It always reminds me of a club called The Rock Castle in Perugia and it was a night club inside the wall of the city. And my roommates and I would go there and they played this song and everyone in the place would go crazy singing and dancing and generally manic-dancing like crazy people. So, get up and shake it, but don't break it, 'cause it took your mama nine months to make it:

I PASSED MY COMPS!

History education in schools? Begin rant (er, newest rant).

I got all worked up in class tonight (again). In schools of education all across the US, multiculturalism is being talked about. The need to reach more students based on their cultural background and the desire to gear lessons toward those cultures. I understand that those who support this sort of educational framework are trying to progress toward a better understanding of each other. I admire that thought process, but I disagree that public school history classes is the forum for this. Have multicultural festivals in you community, have as many get-togethers as you want. I love those sorts of events! But, the history classes of American students is not the place for this. And sometimes the proponents of this curriculum make illogical arguments. They want less talk about the founding fathers, more talk about civil rights leaders, more talk about inventors who come from non-european backgrounds, etc. I get it and I don't disagree with that. Not entirely, at least. Where I disagree is the assumption that all those who live in a certain community and who share a similar skin color also share a similar culture and a similar heritage. I feel that designing a history or library lesson for students that is trying to 'teach them about their culture' based on a half-assed attempt to guess what their ethnicity is based on skin color is ridiculous, offensive, and big move in the wrong direction. You are not helping anybody by doing this. There are a number of reasons why this has about a 0% chance to succeed.

1) Skin color does not equal ethnicity. It equals skin color. That's it. Nothing more. There are now 7 billion people on Earth and there are probably nearly that many skin tones. We are a mobile species and skin color has nothing to do with the language we speak, the religion we practice, or the traditions that we accept.

2) Nobody's cultural identity is the same and nobody can teach a culture effectively to all students without stereotyping a culture. And if all you're going to do is pass along stereotypes, there is no reason to even begin down this road.

3) Where you have a school, you have certain commonalities among students, chief among them is geographic location. When you are teaching history, teach the history of that place. No matter what the students look like or where they were born or what country their parents came from, they are all currently living in this place. They have this in common, so you teach to the commonality. If my parents had moved to Portugal when I was little and I was enrolled in a primary school in Lisbon, it's ridiculous to believe that my teacher should teach me about American history because my parents are Americans. My parents will pass on the American traditions to me and we will celebrate and share our traditions with friends that we make in Lisbon. But my primary school teacher will teach me Portuguese history because that is the commonality among his/her students, including me. I live in Lisbon, therefore I am in Portugal, therefore I will learn Portuguese history. It is not the teacher's responsibility to design an educational lesson specifically geared toward me because my ethnicity or racial makeup is different from a fellow student's. Don't put pressure on history teachers to teach the history of every nation or every culture on earth because they can't do it and it's ridiculous to expect it. Teach the history of where you are. Local history is the commonality. If a parent wants their child to learn about where their ancestors came from, it's on the parents to teach it. Asking a teacher or librarian to teach 'what it's like to be a Mexican-American' is only asking for trouble because no family's story is the same and no teacher or librarian can do that responsibility any justice.

4) Along with #3 but U.S. specific: any person born here or who immigrates here and becomes a citizen shares a common national history. It doesn't matter if you're teaching in an urban area or a rural area, it doesn't matter if your class is filled with students from the same race or if every student is a different race. We are all Americans, and as such we all share a past that includes Cesar Chavez, Harriet Tubman, George Washington, Sitting Bull, etc. Should the history curriculum be expanded to cover more than the 'always covered U.S. history themes'? Yes. Absolutely! But don't decide not to teach colonial history because your students don't have a similar skin color to George Washington. Don't decide Sitting Bull and the Lakotas aren't relevant because you have no students of Lakota descent in your classroom. Teach them about the Harlem Renaissance. Teach them about Henrietta Lacks and Alice Paul and Georgia O'Keefe. Teach them that women have accomplished more than just the right to vote.  Don't hide the sadness in our history, but don't only focus on slavery and the Civil War. Tell them the truth about WWII concentration camps, the Trail of Tears, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Matthew Shepherd. Teach them about those who built the railroad across the West as well as those who have flown in space. Teach them about politicians and philosophers and athletes who made a difference on a global scale. Teach them about inventors other than Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers, but don't exclude those historical figures because they're of Northern-European descent and therefore not seen as 'multicultural'. Teach them everything that you can about the country that they belong to because this is our common history. We are all the same in this regard and we all share this past. These people are our people. There is no color line, there is only a national story. Maybe the customs that we each take part in are different and, by all means, share customs and family traditions with each other, but don't ever begin to cut out parts of a shared history because you don't think a student can relate to that historical event or figure due to an assumption you make based on skin color, religion, or ethnic background. That's demeaning to a student's intelligence as well as to the history of a country.

And as a future librarian and past history major: I won't teach children a history lesson nor will I recommend historical fiction based on what figures most closely resemble the child's skin color, so don't even ask me to,  because that conversation will not end well.

/end rant.

Hello world!

For the first time in months, I've actually come out of the tunnel vision I've had regarding life and graduation. Comps last week the beginning of the end (hopefully) and as soon as I had submitted them I wandered around my house for the first time and actually saw what a mess things were in. I knew life had gotten out of hand because of the overdue notices in my email, etc. But, for instance, I don't know how long cat vomit had been on the floor of the dining room, but it was like trying to remove cement. My laundry pile is so expansive that I had to kneel and shove it away from the furnace vent so I could at least get a little warmth on the night that it got below freezing. I still have no time for actually doing the laundry despite the fact that I have no pairs of socks left. I'm wearing mis-matched single socks that are leftover when the dryer eats one, you know? Yeah. They're still socks and with boots nobody else knows...until I publish it on the internet, that is. So yes. If you see me, I am wearing mis-matched novelty socks. It adds to the novelty?

I find out whether I passed comps on Friday afternoon. If I passed, I really will be able to feel a weight off my shoulders and can focus on trying to get my life back together outside of school and work. (Is there life outside, still?)

Last night I decided to indulge the trick-or-treating thing. I wasn't sure whether I would or not, but I did. And I had only 3 trick-or-treaters. All little ones, which is what I like. As I've mentioned previously: I don't like giving candy to teenagers who don't try to dress up. I got a little boy in the Scream killer mask (I'm surprised they still have those), a little clown with a red runny nose, and a little princess. I didn't give them as much candy as I would have had I know that there was just going to be three all night. I ventured out around 7:30 to look around and saw that I was the only one on the block with the porch light on, so I just turned mine off and watched the Halloween version of Dancing With the Stars. It was kind of a let down except for the team dance... Even those who are really good weren't fantastic this week. Anyway, I have a lot of Reese's peanut butter cups left. Yum.

Also, if you hadn't heard:

THE CARDINALS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!

I was amazed. (I still am.) It was unbelievable. I don't think I'll ever be able to see another World Series and not compare it to this 2011 World Series...and probably find future ones lacking. The only d'oh! I had was that I went to sleep after the 8th inning of game six, also known as the most amazing comeback victory ever?The cards won the game after scoring on their last out of the game. Twice. In 11 innings. I went to sleep, not wanting to hear them lose to the Rangers. I do have to say that the Texas Rangers made a fan out of me during this series. I never paid much attention to them, but watching their team and their manager over the course of the 7 games made me respect them a lot. Their manager seems awesome and totally behind his players 100%. They are a fantastic team and the level of competition between the Cards and the Rangers are what made the series so memorable and exciting to watch. Each game was intense and you never really knew who was going to win. That's what really made the series so fantastic, aside from the run the Cards went on. The Rangers players and manager seem like very kind and respectable guys who are fantastic baseball players. It was sad to see them lose when they were so close to winning their first ever series. (And to feel sadness in the middle of celebrating that kind of a win for my team says something about the way I had come to like the Rangers.) If the Rangers end up in the World Series again next year (against any team but the Cards), I will cheer for them. Nolan Ryan was my favorite baseball player as a kid and I would like to see him celebrate a world series win as an owner of the Rangers. Still, for the Cardinals: this was beyond anything I ever imagined this team would accomplish this year. So proud! Go Redbirds! Now La Russa is retiring and probably other members of his staff will leave, too. But, what better way to leave? It really doesn't get any better than this. And now maybe they can use some of the money they would have paid the staff to keep Pujols on the team? Yes? Maybe? I hope so. Anyway, it's still nice to bask in the glory of this World Series win.

*bask*