Wordle

I not sure if anyone else knows about this website, but I heard about it at an inservice yesterday. It's called Wordle, and it allows you to make "word clouds"- basically, a big image using words. The more times a word is used, the bigger it shows up in the image.

In my inservice yesterday we brainstormed words that fit our values and beliefs about teaching writing. We were in five groups. Our leader typed all the words into Wordle. The words that were the biggest in the final image were the words used most in the five groups, and therefore probably the values and beliefs most of the people in the whole group shared. NEATO!

I happen to be purchasing VitaMuffin tops in another window right now, so I just copied and pasted a paragraph on the corn muffin tops into the Wordle. Here's what I got!

The website specifically says you can use their images for profit, and on t-shirts or anything else. I can see my students loving it. It is fun and practical. WAHOO!

Thoughts On Cake

Justin and I will sometimes say to each other "I love you like a fat kid loves cake." We stole this from some movie or show or something- I'm not sure what. It's funny and quick, and despite having the word "cake" in it, not too sweet of a way of sharing our love with each other.

I bought a small cake tonight. Like, half of it is my serving, and half of it is Justin's serving. But it has been a really long week. 4 out of 5 days had inservice, and I lead 2 of those days. The lunches were gross, and I'm tired and in need of a treat. Because of all this, I am hoping that Justin does not want his half of the cake. I could eat a piece now at 7pm, and know it's not the last piece. I could savor it, and it wouldn't totally gone. I could eat the other piece at 9pm. Pretty literally, I would be having my cake and eating it too.

I have never understood why there was an expression "caked on". It is usually referring to something foul, and cake itself is such a lovely thing. There is a Dawn dish detergent add about caked-on grease, or when a dog or cat rolls in something gross, it gets really caked-in their hair. This phrase is really a disservice to cakedom everywhere.

Summer Is Over

Tomorrow is the first whole-school inservice day. That means my summer is over. Fittingly, today was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees and sunny. A nice end to freedom. Still, I am always so conflicted at this time of year!

I love the fall and I love school. Pumpkins and mums and crisp nights and cool days are wonderful! I got married in the fall because it is my favorite season. And I get excited every September for school to start back up. I enjoyed school as a student, and I enjoy it as a teacher.

But there is a sadness to nature as the leaves fall off the trees. I have to wear socks again as the weather gets cold, and I love being barefoot. And school is my job. Let's face it, jobs are a drag. I work to make money; if I didn't have bills, I wouldn't teach. I don't love it THAT much.

So the end of August and the beginning of September are kind of a no-man's-land for me. Very transitional. I guess I don't know how I feel right now, other than anticipatory.

Apprentice Foodies

Justin and I made this delicious summer tart for supper last night. It features a phyllo base with mixed greens, red grapes, and red onions as topping. Asiago cheese finishes it off. It was just wonderful.

We have been trying to do three things lately that seem mutually exclusive: eat cheaply, eat locally, and eat well. I think last night we succeeded. The cheese is from Vermont, and the salad we had on the side featured veggies all from our garden or the local CSA. The grapes were on sale at the grocery store, and the meal was superb!

The recipe is from Lynne Rossetto Kasper's "The Splendid Table" which is on NPR every Saturday. We got her cookbook for Christmas from my brother-in-law, and every meal we've made from it has been very tasty. Not all of them have been cheap, though. We're doing a chicken with leeks recipe tonight from her book. The leeks are from our garden and the chicken was raised locally, organically, and free-range. I think every little bit helps.

Mental Illness

This post will be short, and it's not autobiographical. I just think mental illness is by far the most unfair affliction visited on the human race. If your leg is infected, the worst case scenario is that you cut it off. What happens when the diseased part of your body is *YOU*?! It is hard to separate one's personality and essence from an illness that destroys exactly that part of a person.

Mental illness is scary. It is pervasive. It is misunderstood. Most of all, it just seems so deperately unfair.

Peppermint Foot Balm and Budgeting

Justin and I are going hardcore onto a budget this year. It is time to build an emergency fund, start paying off credit card debt, and know where our money goes. In an effort to not spend anything unnecessarily, I have been going through my "stinky shit" as my brother Marc calls it, to find and use what I already have.

It turns out that I have a LOT of stinky shit. I have 6 kinds of lotions, and 4 of them have matching body mists. I have 2 other body mists that are on their own. I have peppermint foot scrub, peppermint food balm, and peppermint reviving leg gel. I have special cloth gloves to put my hands in after using an avocado scrub, and an avocado renewing cream. I have 2 shower gels in the shower currently, and two that I have rotated out that are more winter-smelling. 2 of these have lotions with them. I have a lip scrub. I have various hotel samples of body wash/shampoo/conditioner/lotion. I have a mint julep facial mask. THERE IS MORE! I'm just not done sorting yet.

I remember reading that rotating toys for young children or dogs is a great idea, because if they have only 5 or 8 toys they will play and keep track of each, but more than that and the child or dog gets bored and can't appreciate them all. If you pull "new" toys out of a closet every few weeks and rotate the old ones out, without spending any money your child/dog will be continually delighted.

I am trying the same thing out on myself. Sniff me every fortnight and see what you get!

Julie and Julia, Duck and Carbs

Justin and I had a great date night last night. I had a gift certificate to Leunig's Bistro on Church Street, so we went there and lingered for over an hour on a great meal: duck pate as an appetizer, braised pork shanks as my main meal, and Justin had half a duck. The food was just superb, and my "French 75" (champagne, muddle lemon, sugar, and a cognac topper) was delicious! Justin had no complaints about his two martinis either.

After the meal, we went to Julie and Julia at the Roxy. The move was just over two hours long, but it went by so quickly! We just loved the film. It was sweet and funny and the acting was really excellent. It was nice to see a movie that made marriage seem like a GOOD thing. And, it was also very wise to eat a full, wonderful meal before we went. The food in the film looked gorgeous and delicious!

On a note that Julia Child would NOT approve of- I have to hit SBD again hardcore starting tomorrow. It was a pretty impossible week for me to be successful, but I need to gather myself again and launch back into it. It occured to me today that in the summer of 2010 I have both Justin's family reunion (think about 200 people) and my 10 year high school reunion. I need to get crack-a-lackin' and be drool-worthy by then. It seems like a lot of time, but I know weight loss, and a year ain't nothin'.