Matching Tracksuits

Month: January 2009

Puzzling Papa, Puzzling L

Tuesday 27 January 2009

Nana and Papa came over, ostensibly to visit the family, but everyone knows who the main attraction is.

First, Papa had to help L with her puzzle. The Girl can’t quite manage the puzzle by herself, but with some help, she can put it together in a few minutes. Then it’s always the same: “Try again!”

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Arranging

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Examining

Next, bubble time, and here’s where the fun really began. As is often the case, Nana and Papa came bearing a gift: a new Tinker Bell jacket, with a flashing lights the illuminate Tink’s pixie dust when pressed. We hung it in the closet so L could get to it, and every so often, she would run over and give Tink a press. Papa decided to play a little trick on the Girl. Every time she activated the lights, Papa blew some bubbles from the small buble maker.

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L almost caught him in the act a few times.

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Tricking her, though, is getting more and more difficult. And talking about her while she’s there is impossible: she understands just about everything now, and a quiet “Should we take her for a bath now?” can elicit loud protests: “No baff! No!”

New Lens

Monday 26 January 2009

We’ve had the wide end covered for some time now. I bought a Sigma 10-20mm before heading to Polska last year, and of course the camera came with a decent 18-70mm standard zoom. What we were lacking was a high power zoom.

It was never much of a priority, so I wasn’t looking to spend a lot of money. Sure, I’d love to have Nikon’s 80-200 2.8 lens, but at nearly a thousand dollars, it was well out of my budget. If I had no budget, I’d be ordering a

Having a budget that doesn’t quite make the approximately $13,000 necessary to buy that equipment, I looked back at SIgma, being very pleased with the 10-20. So for well under $200 I got a 70-300 4/5.6 zoom. Is it a great lens? For the money, yes.

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1/1600, f/5.3, 240 mm

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1/400, f/5.3, 220 mm

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1/250, f/5.6, 300 mm

The bokeh is particularly warm and deep, but that’s to be expected at this kind of focal length…

Lessons Learned

Sunday 25 January 2009

The first gentleman came in, measured some windows, and then started talking about how great his windows were. Fun little demonstrations of how effective his windows were at stopping heat and such. Finally, the price: for our 1,300 square foot house, 14 windows total, with one of them a large picture window: $10,000. I’m rounding up here — it was nine something. I thought, “Wow — quite a bit more than I was expecting.”

The next fellow came in. Same deal. Why in the world did I not stop him earlier? “I know you’re going to show me all these wonderful ways your windows are going to save us money, but I just need a price.” It would have been so easy. Finally, a quote. This one was going to be big — I knew it. In fact, before K went up to give L her bath, I muttered in Polish, “It will be the same price as the other guy, or higher.” The gentleman wrote it on a piece of paper and slide it over to me. It was difficult to maintain composure.

$20,000.

Twenty grand to change fourteen windows. “We could remodel our kitchen and get a good bit done in one of the bathrooms for that,” I thought.

Finally, some simple, honest contractors came in. We ended up paying less than 25% of the highest bid. The results: K insists on keeping all the blinds up now.

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An honest price.

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Good quality work.

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Guess who’ll get our business again?

Inauguration Among 13-year-olds

Tuesday 20 January 2009

At 11:45, we’re in fourth period. A young man, who is often, quite honestly, extremely disruptive, sits silently at the back of a bunch of desks crowded in front of the television. The invocation begins and the young man bows his head. He is soon wiping tears from his eyes. Other students look at him, smiles on their faces, but they say nothing. As the pastor begins reciting the Lord’s Prayer, the young man joins in. He says his “amen,” smiles at those around him, puts his head down on his hands, watches, and waits.

Fourth Period watches

Fourth period watches

As Obama begins to take the oath, the African American boys — and they are a majority in that class — sit rapt in attention. I don’t think I would be exaggerating to say that I see a certain spark of hope and self-confidence in their face as they watch someone who could look like an uncle or older cousin become the most powerful man on the planet.

While the speech, in their view, drags on (in my view: one of the most nuaunced speeches about our nation I’ve ever heard), the old habits return: the silliness, the talking, the 13-year-old-ness. In short, all the behaviors that make several of them “at risk” students, students who are “underachievers.”

Still, for that moment, it seemed they saw in themselves what I see: potential.

Today was a great day to be a teacher.

Georgia Aquarium, Redux

Monday 19 January 2009

About a year ago, when Dziadek was visiting, we went to the aquarium. The “we” consisted only of Dziadek and me, as the Girl was sick and K was exhausted.

Yesterday, we tried it again.

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“Big fish! Big fish!” the Girl chanted the whole day, excited from the moment she woke up.

The drive to Atlanta was excruciating for the Girl. “Big fish! Big fish!” The time spent in Ikea was torturous — “Big fish! Big fish!” — until we got to the children’s area. Heading out to the car was accompanied by — well, you can probably guess.

Finally, we got to Big Fish Land:

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Beluga Whales

 

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Early exhibit

She was initially a little nervous about the whole prospect. It was MLK Day weekend, and the crowd was stifling. Add to it the intensity of the experience and the general darkness in all the exhibits, and it’s easy to see how a little girl might be a bit nervous at first.

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Tunnel vision


She found her bearings soon enough, though, and was soon found everything fascinating, especially the crocs:

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Finally, the croc book we read comes alive!
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Piranha tank

For some time, L was more interested in the stairs than anything else, much to the probable irritation of a number of people.

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The trip home was filled with excited stories about whom we saw. “I L fish, i Mama fish, i Tata fish!”

When we got home and set up L’s new easel, one might guess what she wanted to draw.

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Surprisingly fishfree

But that guess would be wrong.

More images at our Flickr Georgia Aquarium set.

Assessment

Friday 16 January 2009

Middle School Artillery
Middle School Artillery

A teacher workday can disappear faster than a sugar cube in hot water. I had all these plans for today: finalizing grades; re-organizing my room; extensive planning for the related arts class I’ll be teaching this third quarter; listening to Bach’s Mass in D Minor in its entirety. Only one thing got completed, and that was only because I had no other choice in the matter: grades for the first semester are now complete.

Much of this week was geared toward today’s end. It was, in other words, a week of assessment. And as much as I feel an odd sense of accomplishment watching kids take a test–perhaps it’s a perverse sense of accomplishment–I hate what I know is coming: grading. And that dreaded grading leads me to take the easy way out: Scantrons.

I can vaguely justify it with the understanding that all standardized testing requires filling in endless dots. “Kids have got to get used to it,” I hear, and I think, “If they haven’t by now, thanks to NCLB, they never will.”

I walked down the hall with a stack of Scantron sheets, and teachers I passed inevitably made firearm jokes. “Hope it doesn’t sound like a machine gun,” one said. The history teacher put it in perspective: “Storming the beaches of Normandy?”

It is an odd experience, though, listening to one’s test results. Whir whir whir grrr grr grr grr whir whir grr whir grr grr whir whir grr grr grr whir whir whir grr whir grr whir grr grr whir grr grr grr whir grr grr grr grr grr grr grr grr grr grr. “He did badly,” one thinks, hoping for better results with the next Scantron sheet

Opposing Views

Thursday 15 January 2009

Here’s a comment I posted at aid-gaza.net:

Comment from aid-gaza.net

Comment from aid-gaza.net

(Click on the image for a larger, more legible view.)

The comment, though, didn’t receive the blogger’s stamp of approval, as you can see if you click on through.

It’s hard to take someone seriously who is censors opposing viewpoints after inviting comment. I left another comment, saying just that.

Second comment from aid-gaza.net

Second comment from aid-gaza.net

Wonder if that will make it through?

Update

It did. Spam filtering problems. I suggest Spam Karma.

More Potentially Mutilating Presents

Sunday 11 January 2009

As I get older, I don’t put two and two together as well as I did in the past. My birthday is coming up next week; I never realized the reason the Folks were coming over for lunch was due to that. It was, after all, just Friday that I realized I’ll be 36 in less than a week, and I brushed it off with a smile.

All of that to say that entering the period at which mid-life crises sometimes crop up has not caused any hiccups. I’m getting older; hopefully I can add “wiser.”

Fatter would be more likely, with cakes like this:

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One candle for every six years

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Poppy seed and apple cake — no flour.

Afterward, it was gift time, and knowing Nana and Papa, that means more shop equipment. This time, a table saw,

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which almost broke my toe when a part slipped out while unpacking and landed on my poor, unprotected foot. Fortunately, K caught the moment.

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I couldn’t wait to take it downstairs, of course, and that was a bit of a mistake. It was tough getting it into the basement. Maybe we could have just left it in the living room — modern art.

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K bought me a couple of CDs, including Little Girl Blue, Nina Simone’s debut recording of 1957. Strong stuff: “I Loves You Porgy,” “Love Me or Leave Me,” opening with a great cover of Ellington’s “Mood Indigo.”

L gave me kisses and screams.

A good day over all.

K, L, Nana, Papa, thank you all.

The Children

Saturday 10 January 2009

Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic writes, addressing Israeli soldiers,

[W]hen you operate, operate with the children in mind. It’s a burden Hamas has placed on you — it’s no joy to fight an enemy who hides behind his children. But that’s what you’re facing. (Source)

Fore!

Friday 9 January 2009

The Girl is learning to golf.

School's In

1/60, f/5, 10 mm, flash off ceiling

The crocadile sits at the end of the rug, patiently awaiting its feeding, but the Girl is more interested in directing everyone else to shoot. And of course Baby gets pointers, too.

400+ Years

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Jan Svab as Capulet
Jan Svab as Capulet

More than four hundred years separate us from Shakespeare’s time — four centuries’ worth of linguistic change. I was curious what might happen in the course of 24 eighth-graders’ first true encounter with Shakespeare.

We began Romeo and Juliet today, and students acted out the opening quarrel scene. After class, one student came up to me.

“You know how pirates say ‘argh’ and such?” he began, hesitantly.

“Yes,” I replied, wondering where this was leading.

“Well, when Lord Capulet was trying to get Lady Capulet to hand him the sword, was he just, like, saying something pirate-like, or was he degrading her?”

“No,” I answered, smiling. “No, he wasn’t degrading her. He was just being enthusiastic.”

The line in question, of course, is, “What noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho!”

Our Zoo

Monday 5 January 2009

I was always a pack-rat growing up. I think it’s genetic, or maybe not. I do know Nana saved a lot of my toys through the year, and the Girl has finally started playing with some of them. My old animal collection.

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1/60, f/5, 55 mm, flash off ceiling

She’s excited about being able to recognize animals — sometimes in Polish, sometimes in English — and she enjoys telling us what various animals say.

This is also a “sometimes in Polish, sometimes in English” thing, for Polish dogs say “how how” (spelled phonetically in English) whereas American dogs say “woof-woof.” Pigs here say “oink oink” whereas their Polish counterparts say “kwee kwee” (again, spelled phonetically in English). When we ask her, “Co mowi swinka?” she replies “kwee kwee!”; to “What does a pig say?” she’ll respond “oink oink.” That differentiation is a recent development, and it’s only one of many little linguistic markers she’s passing. She’s connected “kupic” (“buy”) and stores, so every time we pass a store, she says, in her wonderful mixed-up fashion, “Tata, mamma, kupi clementine.” Now she’s branching out: “Mama, kupi malinki i grapes.”

In short, she’s really coming to the understanding that she’s learning two languages. The other day, she said to K, “Mamma, bug!” K, not making out what she said, asked, “Co?” (“What”). “Pajak,” she replied, specifying not only animal but genus: spider.

Working Together

Sunday 4 January 2009

The last two weeks, I’ve been on Christmas break — one of the great advantages of being a teacher. Teaching a new course (English I Honors), I wasn’t planning on having much time to myself as I was planning to, well, plan. Starting Monday, I’ll be leading the class through Romeo and Juliet, and I’ve never taught that particular selection. I did Macbeth when I was student teaching, but “Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and caldron bubble.” with twelfth graders is a far cry from “What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?” with gifted eighth graders.

I had high hopes for a productive time, especially during the second week, with Christmas behind us. And then L got sick: a moist, lingering cough that kept her out of day care for a week. But one thing you learn having a two year old is that she can imitate anything, including Tata working.

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1/5, f/4, 18 mm, slow-sync flash off ceiling

Jack

Friday 2 January 2009

Jack

Very quickly, it became a favorite, though I’m not sure how. The name’s origin was simple enough: unable to say “jacket,” L turned it into a shorter “jack.” The rest, though, is mystery.

Jack came to be for L what blankets and teddies are for other toddlers: her grounding. She had to have it with her, and when she was not wearing it (which was rare, if she had her way, even in summer), she was carrying it. Getting to her to agree to hang it in the closet was a Herculean task, and we simply decided that there was no reason why it should hang in the closet if it caused much turmoil in her life.

One parting was inevitable, though, and it happened soon enough. She outgrew it, and we introduced a new jack. She liked the new jack just as much as the old one, and quickly developed the same bond. Red jack was stowed away and quickly forgotten.

Until K decided to do some rearranging and repacking. And then, this morning, L discovered red jack. The original jack, the mother of all jacks.

Fast as her little increasingly nimble fingers could manage, she unzipped the plastic storage back that held jack, pulled it out, and held it close and tight, crying, “Jack!” as if she’d encountered a friend she hadn’t seen since school days.

“Oh, no, sweetie,” I said. “This jack is entirely too small.”

The prospect of losing jack a second time — “I’ve been looking everywhere for you” her babbling seemed to say — was too much for her. L fell in the floor, distraught and screaming.

“But you have another jack,” I reminded her. “Do you want to get it?”

The fussing quickly subsided and she meekly answered, “Tak.”

That jack was held close for the rest of the morning.

I do this on a daily basis: in my teaching, with my interpersonal skills, in my parenting. The old seems to be so comfortable that, even when something new is working better, the old slips up and takes hold before I know it.

Perhaps L’s rediscovery of the original jack suggests a goal for the year: to be more conscious about slipping into old, comfortable habits.

Protest in Florida

Thursday 1 January 2009

Muslims in America generally are considered to be integrated and not suffering the same issues as European Muslims allegedly suffer (discrimination, bigotry, etc.). You aren’t supposed to see calls from American Muslims to wipe Israel off the map.

I guess “generally” “aren’t supposed to” are the key terms.