Things I Love Right Now

I love the new NPR blog Code Switch*, so timely considering I just started talking to my third graders about this concept when, for example, I correct their grammar or we edit their writing to change “u” to “you” and “cus” to “because”. I particularly love these two (one, two) introductory entries on the blog.

I love this standardized test about standardized tests created by an eighth grader. I even shared it with my principal!

I love (or plan to love in the future) the Digital Public Library of America which I read about here and here.

I love this book I started reading today *coughcough* after buying it on the way to the library *coughcough*. Time travel! Secret societies! Romance! What’s not to love.

I love this timeline for Shane Carruth’s movie Primer and this article about his new movie Upstream Color–a movie which makes Tree of Life look like a linear plot-driven mundane piece of filmmaking.

I love my bahn mi place even if they are starting to be so busy that I have to wait a lot longer for my sandwich. Now that my pizza joint (I MISS YOU CHILI MAC’S!) is gone, when I die my body will be 75% water and 25% bahn mi.

*I was shocked to find out several of my colleagues were unfamiliar with the term. I think it’s imperative for teachers to talk to students about code-switching, especially in reference to the language of power in this country!

Private car jokes, a.k.a. things Mr Erickson and I now find hilariously funny and no one else can understand why we’re laughing.

  • The time he thought I said fireflies needed “human error” [once enclosed in a jar w/ holes in its lid]. (I said “humid air”.) “WHY WOULD THEY NEED HUMAN ERROR?!?” has become a standard response to many, many things.
  • The time he told me Friday was a two paper day and I said “Why would you buy two papers?” thinking he meant two copies of the same paper.
  • Graupel. The hot new thing in precipitation. “Gee, the graupel is really comin’ down out there.” “We could be in for some graupel accumulation!”

When you ride to and fro every day with the same person, you start to be like an old married couple, in-jokes, irritations and all.