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Showing posts from September, 2014

Earthing

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There's this thing called Earthing .  It's basically this new-agey kinda thing where you stand on a patch of grass for 30 minutes to feel completely rejuvenated.  And if you can't get outside, they sell mats you can use to achieve the same thing.     You're basically soaking up electrons from the ground when you walk barefoot in the park, leaving you feeling... awesome. This morning I was feeling not so awesome.  Work-related stress was getting to me, and I crumbled under the self-induced pressure. Luckily I had a short field trip planned to our community garden plot that is only a block away from the school. And although I didn't walk barefoot through the park to get there, being out in the open cleansed my worries and provided an opportunity to decompress. The grade 11 students were fascinated with all the community garden.  Some people really go to town and create a beautiful edible getaway in such a tiny space. Our plot, although effective, does not fun

The Ultimate Date

Everything in my life right now is pointing me towards New York City.  I've become obsessed with this city, even though I've never even been. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, this 32 year old quasi-comedian has never been to one of the greatest cities in the world.  A mere 6 hours away, yet a lifetime apart. All that is about to change. It began around December last year.  I'd started mentioning to people how it would be nice to go and visit, if for no other reason than I've just never been.  I remember driving by it on a trip to Florida 7 years ago or so, and thinking it glimmered like Mecca off in the distance.  But I wasn't ready yet.  My mom got me a NYC Lonely Planet for Christmas that I only ever really started to study in August.  And since August, all signs are telling me it's a place I need to be. Things happen for a reason - my friend suggested we go to NYC for the Sketchfest, so she sent in an application, and lo and behold, Genius Gold

Betty Bang Bang

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I am my own makeover show.  With a really low budget.  15 bucks and a pair of rusty scissors, I tend to reinvent my look once or twice a year.  I don't mean to, it just kind of happens. It drives my students nuts.  They can't keep up and I think it causes a lot of confusion.  Some even get angry at me, ha. I suppose it started around 1995 when I became obsessed with Winona Ryder in Reality Bites.  I somehow computed that we have very similar features (we don't) and that short hair would look amazing on me.  A little while later, I chopped my hair off. I kept my locks short for most of high school, it was the 90s after all, and when it finally grew back, I got into bangs.  Bettie bangs, or baby bangs, like we called them back in the day.  Those were the style circa 2001, and I had this retro raver thing happening for a while.  A straight edge looking raver that hated dance music and listened to hardcore.  Whatevs, I owned it. However temporary, I've had a lot of

Big Fan

A few years ago a colleague generously lent me a fan for my office.  Little did he know I would take it home and leave it there for three years because it was adorable, vintage, and yellow.  I loved that fan, and when he announced his retirement this year I immediately thought about how I would handle those last moments with the fan, the last cool breezes it could offer me in the summer heat. During a move, a woman walking by my truck offered me $250 right then and there to purchase the fan - it was an original Hunter in pristine condition.  I told her it wasn't for sale but I tell you I hung on to her number just in case some day I might need 250 bucks more than I might need my professional dignity. I emailed him to ask what he would like to do, and even told him about this lady because I knew if I didn't it would eat away at me.  He's a Catholic priest, so somehow I suppose he'd be able to smell some guilt, even though I had nothing to feel guilty about other than

New Kid on the Block

I suppose I was lucky to never experience the "new kid" feeling growing up. Today I saw a lot of new faces at the elementary school I'm at on Tuesdays, a lot of eyes staring at the ground during recess.  One kid in particular caught my attention. Short, hands in his pockets, kicking the gravel around - the type of kid who is so shy he can't even look you in the eyes when you talk to him. I greeted him with my signature high five to say hello and break the ice.  I couldn't understand his name, only that it rhymed with Mickey Froto, or something along those lines.  He had no clue that in just a matter of days, he'd have friends before he knew it.  Day 1 must have felt like an eternity.  That first recess, those first, fresh fifteen minutes of freedom seemed all too much for him to handle. He struck me as someone who needs mucho time to warm up to you before he lets you in, and that probably applies to how he interacts with kids too.  Another adult tried