My class this quarter, Problem Solving for Middle School Math Teachers, has an assignment of 3 or 4 problems due every two weeks. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong! All this paper here is the figuring for ONE problem.
There was a feature in the Oregonian today about Oregon’s Poet Laureates. Edwin Markham was one from 1923-1940. He was born in Oregon, but lived in California after age five. I was delighted to reacquaint myself with his poem “Outwitted” which I’m sure was in some textbook I read in junior high or high school.
Outwitted
He drew a circle that shut me out–
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!
You can read a bit more about him in the Oregonian’s article “Oregon’s Poet Laureates: A sample of their work, a bit about their lives.” published May 10, 2010 and (for right now) available here.
We watched this with Mom as part of her Mother’s Day celebration. I learned that you have to pay for on-demand movies and also that high definition looks weird to me, sort of like soap opera lighting. It was still a funny movie.
I very rarely have problems getting out of bed in the morning. Most of the time, I wake up before my alarm and I get up and go about my day. Even on the weekends I don’t tend to linger in bed in the morning. But the afternoon? That’s an entirely different story. When not working, I tend to get sleepy after lunch and I lay down “for just a little bit.” Getting up after that “little bit” is a Herculean task and the bit sometimes stretches to a good two hours or so. I nap and read and generally do anything possible to avoid getting up. “Just five more minutes” I plead to myself.
In that ideal life, which I think I can find by locating the city on the hill, I would not need a nap. But in this life, I do.
The wealth in this movie was distracting* but the acting was superb. I found some of the “hi-lar–ious” situations a bit forced, but still amusing and I liked how everything ended up. Question: Is it his charisma or would John Krasinski be as magnetic if he wasn’t Jim from the Office?
*as in, “Hmmmm. I’m guessing that house must be worth at least two million dollars. Now clearly she owned it when she and her husband were married, so she probably got it in the divorce, but how could she afford the upkeep? Her bakery/coffee shop seemed to be very busy, but one location can’t possibly pull in that much, can it? Perhaps she has multiple locations? He is some sort of successful lawyer, but really do lawyers make that much? He has the swanky condo in the city and the fancy car, plus probably some sort of payments/loss of income due to the divorce, although that was more than a decade ago, so perhaps he has time to recover. And neither of them seem to work. And really, her already quite large kitchen isn’t big enough? It’s the size of my living room. If she’s so busy, as alluded to, when does she have time to do all this cooking? Also, the daughter and son-in-law’s home is huge! They are supposed to be in their 20s and this is California. How can they afford that? Are they lawyers too? Maybe there is a trust fund involved. Really, this all should be explained so I can concentrate on the story. Just a throwaway line like ‘grandpa’s cotton money provided all this’ would do. Geez.”
I really enjoyed this whimsical tale that combined the best of fantasy, good acting and excellent plot. The ghosts were a delightful addition as was Robert DeNiro as Captain Shakespeare. This was an incredibly fun way to spend 127 minutes.
Bechdel score: two women? Yes. Who talk to each other? Yes. About something besides a man? Yes. Although the topic of conversation happens to be killing another woman so that the women in question can regain their youth. Not necessarily what were looking for, but we will take it.
Also: Robert DeNiro seems to be having an incredibly fun time in his sixth decade. Many “fun” roles. Some that are actually funny, like this one, and others that are not, like in Meet the Parents.
Carl Sandburg
HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.
Having lived on the East Coast, where they think they are the be-all end-all of the country, I love the adolescent spit-in-your-face nature of this poem. There is a lot of swagger in this, which makes it fun to recite.
Argh! I’ve written none of these summaries. Usually I’ve done about half of them. What WAS I doing in April? I’m giving myself 12 minutes to write these, that’s one minute per post. Here goes.
Read:
Half the Sky
Kristof and WuDenn
Very hard to read in places, but with a hopeful message and also a handy four step action plan for you to do something constructive at the end.
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows
I never wondered how the residents of the island of Guernsey fared during World War II but I was very interested in reading about their plight. This was a great “letters back and forth” book and I’m sad that the woman who wrote it became too sick to finish this book, much less write another one, as this was delightful.
Water Woman
Lenore Hart
Well written, but depressing. Very. But you can tell from the first chapter, so you know what you are signing up for.
Her Fearful Symmetry
Audrey Niffenegger
So good! It has twins! And ghosts! And a cemetery! And is set in London! I wasn’t enthralled with the ending, but enjoyed the rest so much I recommend it.
Love’s Labor’s Lost
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare. Still boring to read, but much fun to see in the Shoebox theater.
Naturally Thin
Bethenny Frankel
A really cool bike columnist recommended this book as a very good “normal healthy eating” guide. It has a really awful title, but did I mention that the bike columnist is cool? Because of how cool she is, I ignored the lame title and got it from the library. When it arrived, I was disturbed to find out that a reality TV star wrote it. I hadn’t heard of her then, but now I see her everywhere. Aside from that, some good tips and her focus on real food was refreshing.
Strong Waters: a simple guide to making beer, wine, cider and other spirited beverages at home.
Scott Mansfield
Good, beginners guide though relies a lot on already bottled juices.
Started but did not finish:
Inside Secrets of Finding a Teaching Job
Jack Warner
Dated, but good, advice.
Knife Skills in the Kitchen
Charlie Trotter
Lots of pretty pictures.
The Sea is so Wide and My Boat is so Small
Marian Wright Edelman
I read the “for teachers” chapter and called it good.
Create an Oasis with Greywater
Art Ludwig
Someday this book will come in handy. Ludwig doesn’t mince words about bad ideas in greywater. He also tells you how to put the good ideas in place.
Growing Up: A Classic American Childhood
Marilyn vos Savant
Kind of dumb. A bunch of lists that every American child should do.
Hah! Five minutes left.
Who knew stop motion animation, and the Belgians, could be so funny? This is worth seeking out for its wacky storyline and hilarious dialogue. If your child understands French, or is a fast reader, they might be able to read the subtitles and enjoy this movie; if not, you will have to enjoy it yourself.
I love the Parade Magazine which comes in our Sunday paper as a supplement. It’s so insubstantial in its coverage, even when it is trying to be a weekend magazine of record. Every Sunday morning I read it while eating breakfast.
