Creative Machine

Today was a busy day, creatively speaking. Each year I make JT a card for his birthday and I got that completed this afternoon. I always enjoy making that card and writing him a note. I hope that the cards and the notes will be a nice memory for him when he grows up.

This evening, he and I got started on the birthday cupcakes (chocolate, of course) that he will bring to school share with his classmates on Friday. We made a lot.......because if you bring extras to the other teachers in the lower school, you get treats from them. So JT has cupcakes for all of the second grade and then some. They went into the freezer tonight and on Thursday, when Grandma comes to town, we'll frost and decorate them.

The Shape of Things

JT and I finished the geometric shapes for his school project. I had been annoyed with his other mother for not getting this done when the assignment came her way.....though not surprised that she dropped the parallelogram (as it were). But he and I had great fun finishing up the project, which he regarded as something magical. As the flat cut-out paper shapes were folded and taped and made three dimensional, he was delighted.

When we finished, I took this picture of the boy and his shapes. And when I saw that smile, I was happy that this assignment was mine.
Update, Sunday evening: Thanks to everyone for their kind comments. I'm just checking in tonight and saw all of your comments at once. Wow, do I have some terrific friends......it felt like a cavalry of very powerful women riding to my rescue. So thank you for the able rescue. That made me smile.

Card Play

Between the upcoming Valentine's Day and JT's 8th birthday, there is a great demand for homemade cards around my house. So I got started on some this afternoon and I expect to be in heavy production mode all weekend long.

Tortured by Tunes

A few weeks ago, I heard an NPR story that has stuck in my mind. It was a story about people who have a neurological disorder such that they hear music in their brains all of the time. I occasionally get a song or tune stuck in my head (I call it being tortured by tunes) but I cannot imagine hearing music all of the time. It would be your own hellish soundtrack.

I thought of that story this morning as I attended a teacher's workshop held in a large lecture hall at a local university. The speakers were using a microphone that was picking up a radio station. The music was faint but persistent. The first song I could make out was Guns and Roses singing "Sweet Child of Mine." But here was the weird part: no one else at my table acknowledged the music. We just sat there listening to the Dean of Something ramble on while Axl Rose quietly crooned.

This late in the day, I really have no idea what the speakers said. All I can hear is Guns and Roses.

Geometry

My second grader has just started a math unit on shapes and fractions. To get the children thinking spatially about shapes, they were asked to cut out some paper patterns and put the shapes together. Since the instructions specifically told us the children would need our help completing the assignment, I knew the task would be a challenge.

The assignment came home yesterday, the day that JT sees his other mom, and so I sent it off with the two of them hopeful that she would get the project started. Not surprisingly, that was a futile act of hope.

So tonight, we got started. Honestly, though I feared that it would be unpleasant it turned out to be fun. First we looked at the pattern.
Then we put our little cone shape together. We've got four more shapes to make before the project is due on Monday. Expect final pictures later this week.

Bulletin Board

I'm a history and government teacher and, like most teachers, my classroom has some posters and displays. I've a poster of presidents, some bumper stickers for presidential candidates, and loads of maps. Behind my desk I have some of my seven year old's artwork and some pictures.

To the left of my desk is a bookcase with a nice flat panel on the side. Only the person sitting at my desk can see it and so that's my space. Last week I got some floral magnets and today I put some things up that I want to look at ---- a picture of JT and me, a postcard from blackapple at etsy, and some pretty scraps of paper. I plan to change the display every week this month and it's fun for me to think about the other things I will place up there.

Thinking About Voting

I live in a Super Tuesday state and for months I have been preparing to go the polls and cast my Democratic primary ballot for John Edwards. I'm a liberal Democrat, a single mama, well-educated and gay......not exactly Edwards' core demographic, so I guess my choice of him as my candidate was surprising.

In fact, for a woman whose formative teenage political experience was the selection of Geraldine Ferraro as Walter Mondale's 1984 running mate; who attended a Jesse Jackson Rainbow Coalition rally in 1988, you'd think that I'd be a firm supporter of either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. In fact, I like them both a great deal and I'd be proud to call either one of them my party's nominee.

And yet, I wanted to be an Edwards voter tomorrow. Though I'm a California native and currently live on the east coast, I lived in Nashville, Tennessee for five years and that time convinced me that Southerners understand race and poverty and the intersection of the two in the United States. I guess that people who live elsewhere understand them as well, but not as innately as Southerners. And so I liked Edwards because of his advocacy for the poor, his interest in the left-behind in American society, and his track record at the two. His healthcare policy was the most flushed out of all the Democratic candidates. He understood that a jobs program is a complicated and necessary thing for those left behind by a modernizing economy. He was articulate and thoughtful; I figured he could pull along a southern state or two come the general election. He was my first choice. But it was a luxurious choice, confident with the knowledge that my back ups were also excellent candidates.

And now we come to election day and it's time for me to select a back up candidate. Public opinion data collected by the Pew research Center suggests that Edwards supports have mostly gone over the Obama camp, so I'll start there. I've been a fan of Obama since he first ran for the Illinois Senate seat he currently holds. For the last few years, I've played his 2004 speech to the Democratic National Convention in my political sciences classes. I played it as a sample of powerful political rhetoric and the appeal of new ideas. I like what Obama says; I like his political track record; I like his promise of a new way of conducting politics in Washington; I like the way he inspires young voters. I like the idea that my seven year old son may come of political age while an African-American occupies the White House. I think that Obama is easily electable; in fact, I think that he matches up best against John McCain, the likely Republican nominee.

And yet, I'm not sure. Because the fact is that I like Hillary Clinton as well. She's got a proven track record of legislative accomplishment, especially on issues related to children. She's whip smart and she understands the political system. She's a woman in a nation in which 52% of us are women though we have never elected a woman president. I worry that a certain portion of the nation excoriates Clinton for no good reason ----- that proportion of the electorate whom I would call the "anyone but Hillary" group.

I think that Hillary Clinton has received astoundingly poor treatment by the national media and I think it's because of her gender. In 1992, when her husband ran for the presidency she was seen a first lady who would be too powerful; too influential. When her husband had a very public affair with a much younger woman, she was hectored for staying married to the man who was the father of her child. Now, as a successful and powerful elected official in her own right, the media asks if electing Hillary is just going to get us another eight years of a Bill Clinton White House.

Enough.

I am reminded of the fact that women don't serve in elected office at anything close to the same rate as men. Women make 75 cents to every dollar earned by an American man. Women and their children are more likely to be poor then men. Women care for the nation's children and the nation's elderly. Yet American women are not as interested or as engaged in politics as men. A 2006 study conducted by the University of Michigan revealed that while 42% of men characterized themselves as "very interested" in government and public affairs, only 34% of women said the same. Men are demonstrably more knowledgeable about politics than women and that bothers me.

I know that the one sure way to get women more interested in their government and its policies is to elect more women to political office. In states like California, Maine, and Washington where both of their members of the U.S. Senate are women, women are more engaged in the political process. They are more interested and more knowledgeable; they are more politically effective. When girls and women see a government that includes and respects them, they expect to participate and be included.

I can't lose tomorrow: either of the Democratic candidates is an historical first for my nation and my party. Both of them will show my son that any child in America can grow up to be the president. Both of them are ready to lead and serve my nation and my world.

But in the name of sisterhood and solidarity I will cast my ballot for Hillary Clinton.

Creative Cooking

It's Sunday and I'm on a mission to be creative. Taking the afternoon to cook is one of my favorite ways to be creative. I find it relaxing and I enjoy the end product: a good meal for the people sitting at my table. Mexican food is on today's menu. I'm making refritos frijoles (refried beans), chicken tacos, and guacamole.

The chicken that I'll make for this evening's tacos is a basic chicken that I use as a base for any Mexican dish ----- tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, or taquitos can all be prepared with this chicken. Preparing it is easy, but it does take time and that makes it the perfect task for a Sunday afternoon. I begin by simmering the chicken breasts in chicken broth with some fresh ground pepper. I simmer the chicken in a saucepan for nearly an hour, then remove the chicken to cool, reserving the broth.
When the chicken has cooled, I shred it and then cook it again, this time in skillet with the reserved broth, some more black pepper, finely chopped onions, and chopped jalapeno peppers. The goal here is to simmer the shredded chicken until is absorbs the broth. This creates juicy, moist chicken and the jalapeno gives it a little heat.
For tacos, I fry up corn tortillas, and set out the tortillas with the fixings for tacos and tostadas: the chicken, of course; refried beans; shredded lettuce; salsa; shredded monterey jack cheese; and guacamole. Creativity that tastes good.

Creativity

One of the things that I most appreciate at my school is the way that the students are encouraged to be creative. From pre-K all the way until the 12th grade, the students have the opportunity to take art, music, and other classes that indulge the creative sides of their brain. My 7 year old often relaxes at the end of the day by making pictures. I love that he does that so easily. Sometimes I'm a little envious.

I don't think of myself as particularly creative, though in the last few years I have worked harder to add some creativity in my world. It's been a gradual process, and I've used a lot of different outlets (making cards, writing, arranging things in my home, gardening, cooking, taking pictures). So joining the folks over at Thing-a-Day feels exciting and a bit risky, but like a natural evolution in the process.

The goal is to spend at least 30 minutes a day being creative and then posting the results of the day's product over at thing-a-day; my creative product will also be post on my blog. I will indulge in some newly creative activities, as well as some familiar forms of creativity. As has been my habit, I will broadly define creativity.

Today's posting is today's creative act: actually thinking about creativity in my life, and organizing a plan for the projects that I will complete this month. Spontaneity is not my strong suit and, in fact, sometimes makes me uncomfortable, so my creativity this month will largely be planned. I hope to find some spontaneity as I create, but we'll just have to see what happens. Mostly, I want to take some time this month to be mindful about creativity.

February 1: The Tree

I wouldn't say that we've had a mild winter, because we have had some very cold days and nights. But as of February 1st, we haven't had any serious snow in my part of New Jersey. There have been a few days with a dusting and one day it seemed we might get some ice, but so far there hasn't been a big snow.

No sledding, no snowmen, no snow forts in the backyard. It's only February, so we're not out of the cold yet. And when I took a picture of my tree this morning, the sky looked like snow might come our way. The clouds felt close, and heavy; the air was cold. A few hours later, a cold rain began. But at 34 degrees, the rain won't turn into snow.

The big tree looks stalwart in the cold. Still and silent the tall limbs are just marking time, waiting for some snow to drift down upon it. Or maybe, it's just waiting for the start of spring.