Writing: From the Vault

The Lackawanna Valley (name of the painting)

Industry, sitting on the face of nature.

You ravage her, rape her, deface her.

Industry, you blow your steam on nature.

And when you do, you hurt her. You poison her air.

A child, watching you chug-chug-chug along

Smiles on the dawning of a new era.

Industry, you look so glorious

But behind your mask, you are just a corporate patron

You ravage and rape and deface her for money.

A hit man, a gangster, a terrorist doing only as your told.

Summer in Jest.

Well, summer is here!

Wait, didn't it just snow a foot of snow like, say, 4 days ago? And, hey, what happened to spring?!

Hmmm - well - as I told my students, we get to have spring between 5:30 - 8:30 am, and then we have summer. That is good enough, right?

I think the best part of skipping spring and going straight to summer is the 50+ jump in Fahrenheit degrees. One day it's 20, the next days it's 77. I mean, without any time to adjust (and let our blood thaw) it feels very tropical and incredibly hot.

We went for a 3 mile hike yesterday, and we all about drowned in heat and sweat. It was only 70 degrees. It's almost unfathomable to think we could actually get so warm wearing so little, when all winter we spend our days piling on more layers only ever to still feel cold....

Even the trees are in shock. Nothing is budding, and people are still walking around with jackets in hand - just so sure that winter is hiding behind a corner, waiting to smack them in the face one or two more times before real summer comes.

Looking at the forecast right now, I can tell you this little secret: there is snow coming on Thursday.
The joke is always on us. 

Updating the List of Champions

So, I set some New Year's goals, ya know? And - in an effort to keep myself accountable - I feel like it's best to keep everyone updated on my progress. So, here it is. The list of champions update:

Goal number one was to...1. Read (at least) 36 novels this year. *Some of you reading this are probably freaking out. This is an average of 3 books a month. 
So far, 3 months in, I've read the entire Harry Potter series (7 books), My Name is Not Easy, The Clay Marble and I'm half way through Brave New World. Over spring break, I plan on reading Life of Pi, An Invisible Thread and 2 other not yet decided novels. 

2. Travel outside of the country once this year. This goal is to appease my insatiable appetite for travel and my secret desire to be a runaway. 
I'm going to Hawaii for spring break, but that's still technically US soil. I'll count this as "outside of the country" because it require international flight preparation and travel time, but I would still very much like to put these feet in a place where, perhaps they only speak Spanish. And stay there a few weeks to perfect my own Spanish speaking.

3. Try 2 new things that I'd otherwise be afraid to try *like parasailing, hiking a volcano, speaking my mind at a staff meeting, travelling alone or speaking Spanish to a native speaker.

Well, I will be travelling alone on my way to Hawaii. Planes really freak me out, so this could work. But I'm hoping to do something more meaningfully frightening.

4. Find ways to be more social. So far, I'm failing at this goal.

I have been doing an okay job with this. I've been trying to make more time to keep up with friends who are in other parts of the world, and I've also gone out and done a few things with one of my coworkers and his friends (I mean, I even went to a Super Bowl Party)...

5. Write in my journal at least once a month. I stole this goal from a friend. It is pretty good.

I failed at this for February. But, that doesn't mean I can't keep trying!

6. Live in the moment. I get easily overwhelmed by my anxieties over every.little.thing. I think keeping my nose stuck in a book at every moment of the day instead will help to keep me distracted. 

I'm not exactly sure of how to gauge this...but I think I'm doing it? Haha. I've really been trying hard to shed my "I'm worried about what other's think of me" skin. I am trying really hard to just accept me, because if I accept myself - then others will be more inclined to accept those parts of myself as well. So, I've been reading more books, watching more futbol, and going to more performances! 7. Create something beautiful. A piece of art, music, etc.

This definitely hasn't happened yet. I'm not exactly good at things like this. :)

8. Help someone or something in a meaningful way (human, animal or environmental).

I have a student who I bought a coat for just before Christmas. This week, at the book fair, I gave him my "free book for a teacher" credit, and let him pick out some things instead. He picked a book, a poster and a checkered, rubber bracelet. He was so happy, and it was such an easy thing to do. 

9. Tell people what I really think about them instead of just saying it behind their backs. If it's important enough for me to say it, I might as well say it to your face.

I have to encounter this this week as I approach a coworker about an uncomfortable occurrence. Wish me luck.10. Become less afraid of doorknobs and telephones. You may laugh - but I have serious issues with both. 

Nope. I'm definitely failing at this. But it's not too late!

When You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

My students are 12 - 13 years old. They're on the threshold - you know, still watching iCarly, playing make believe and sleeping with cartoon themed sheets and pillow cases - but toeing the line. They're starting to wear make up and curling their hair, experiencing life at such a heightened state that everything is something that could possibly end their very existence.

It's cute.

I like that they are on the threshold. They aren't afraid to be good at school. It's not too cool to be smart, yet. They don't ignore you if they see you on the street, and they openly admit their need for help, love and affirmation.

And, like 70% of the time, they have such innocent senses of humor.

Recently, I expressed my undying love for Thor to the class. This week, I received several valentines from Thor...notes were taped to my computer that expressed my love for Thor, my smart board was tagged with Thor's name and hearts...

It makes me happy to know that this really trivial piece of information brings them so much joy.

I better come up with another one, fast. Next week, poor Thor will be old news.

----

Things I heard this week that made me happy:

- Ms. Hansen, can I schedule lunch with you next week? I really need to talk through some things, and you're the only adult in the building I trust.

- Thanks for making my first year at a new school so easy. I was really nervous, and your support and encouragement has been really helpful.

- It'd be really cool if you came on this summer trip with the organization I volunteer with. I wouldn't even get tired of having my teacher on my summer break because you're pretty cool.

- Can I hang out in your room? I'm having a really hard day. 

It's Just a Fantasy

So, we all have our little celebrity crushes. I mean, come on, we've all been faced with the question of "If such-and-such celebrity knocked on your door, would you run away with them?" And, generally, the answer is no.

And, I think, actually, that we're telling the truth when we say no.

But - here's the part we're not telling...

If this version - this character - of Brendon Urie appeared at my door and asked me to run away with him....? Yes. I'd go.

And it doesn't really matter because that's a fictional part of him so I can say yes without feeling guilty....(it's from this music video).

And if Chris Hemsworth came to my door? I'd slam it. I'd say, "Sure you're really cute but I'm just not interested, thanks." I would, however, be swept away by Thor. And ONLY this version of Thor. No other Thor will suffice.

The Day the Hansen-Johnson Family Went Vegan

I don't like to think of it as "eliminating more stuff from my diet." I like to think of it as...evolving.

There was a time in my life when I knew nothing about the way the body works. I didn't understand how our body broke down proteins vs. carbohydrates. I didn't understand the differences between sugars. I thought I needed milk to get calcium (you know, strong bones and all...). I thought lean meats were the only way to become lean myself. I also had no idea I has celiac, and so I also thought gluten was my friend.

Turns out, none of that is true.

Here's the quick and dirty facts list (and double/fact check me if you think I'm wrong, because I'll put money down that I'm not):

1. Our bodies are 100% herbivorous. We are not designed to eat animal products.

2. Animal products (all of them) make the blood acidic. If it stays acidic, we die. The only way our body can neutralize our blood is with the phosphate in our blood. The phosphate is attached to calcium.  We urinate out the calcium from our own bones...We drink milk, we get acidic blood, we lose calcium.

3. No other living creature on earth drinks milk after it's early stages of development. We are stealing milk from baby calves (which, by the way, get slaughtered almost immediately after birth. How dare they drink OUR milk!?).

4. The only good cholesterol is the kind our body makes itself. There is no cholesterol in plant products.

5. As soon as you eat an animal product, this is what happens to your blood. Yes. There is fat in your blood. This is how you get heart disease.

I don't want to go into the nitty gritty details, because I can't explain it half as well as the experts can, but if you really want to know the truth about your food (and even if you don't want to, you need to)...you should watch these two things:

Food That Kills and The Best Speech You Will Ever Hear

It's hard to change your diet when you've been indoctrinated to believe so many things about the food system. It's weird when your entire belief system comes crashing down around you. But, when the shackles of society fall off...you feel much more liberated.

Trust me. This makes more sense than anything I've ever experienced in my life.

2013 List of Champions

For whatever reason, I really hate the word "resolution." So here's a list of things I'm interested in accomplishing this year - but if for whatever reason I don't get around to any or all of them, I won't be a huge failure or anything like that.

1. Read (at least) 36 novels this year. *Some of you reading this are probably freaking out. This is an average of 3 books a month. For me, this is a piece of cake. I started this goal on Jan 1. It's Jan 8, and I'm already finished with my 3rd book. I've read over 1000 pages in the last week. I just rock that way.  

2. Travel outside of the country once this year. This goal is to appease my insatiable appetite for travel and my secret desire to be a runaway. 

3. Try 2 new things that I'd otherwise be afraid to try *like parasailing, hiking a volcano, speaking my mind at a staff meeting, travelling alone or speaking Spanish to a native speaker.

4. Find ways to be more social. So far, I'm failing at this goal.

5. Write in my journal at least once a month. I stole this goal from a friend. It is pretty good.

6. Live in the moment. I get easily overwhelmed by my anxieties over every.little.thing. I think keeping my nose stuck in a book at every moment of the day instead will help to keep me distracted. 

7. Create something beautiful. A piece of art, music, etc.

8. Help someone or something in a meaningful way (human, animal or environmental).

9. Tell people what I really think about them instead of just saying it behind their backs. If it's important enough for me to say it, I might as well say it to your face.

10. Become less afraid of doorknobs and telephones. You may laugh - but I have serious issues with both.