Kokochi

At City College

Presented TypePad to teachers along with Facebook and Bing. Pics here are both to note the old-school-ness of the auditorium that we all marveled at, and to show how easy it is for anyone, including students, to blog.

Like Daddy, like Daughter

 

Indeed.

Sticker goof

Complete goofiness today. With stickers ON her eyes! I was laughing, but as she kept putting on stickers, if I got distracted, she reminded me, "laugh mama." Yep, not too hard to do that.

Little comedian, we have.

Happy Birthday to my brother Ian

Happy Birthday Ian!

I'm very lucky that you're my brother, and I miss having you all close by. Looking forward to your visit, and hopefully back to living closer.  See you soon!!

Love,

'Lil sis m

 

LCD Sound System

We went to see LCD Sound System last night at the Fillmore. Awesome show. Jeremy is a die-hard fan, and since lead singer James Murphy always wears white at the shows, Jeremy got us to wear white. Jack and Lisa joined too, so all 6 of us were in uniform.

If LCD Sound System ever comes to where you live, definitely try to go. Tickets sold out in 20 minutes so be quick!

Flying

Back from Strawberry, but we're having issues getting pictures from our camera so that'll come later. For now, enjoy these images of Tesla flying off the sofa one day after work/school. I just sat there giggling while she burned off some energy.

Ever since she got her hair cut, her personality seems a bit more spunky as if to accompany her new look.

One new thing about Strawberry, in addition to there being snow when we arrived which was a surprise, was that Tesla really wanted friends there. We've taken Tesla to many outdoor events, camping, and travels, and she's always been a good sport about everything. But now that she's older and has a sense of her own life, she clearly expressed sadness about not having her own friends to play with while camping. Us adults just weren't the same. There were kids around, but she wanted her own group, not to just join other kids playing.

I'm SO glad we figured this out at Strawberry since it is a fun kid festival, and wasn't that traumatic. We plan to take her to Burning Man this year, and I profoundly realized I didn't get her perspective. Now I can imagine her feeling stuck in a dusty weird environment, wanting to go home. Even though I plan to spend my time playing with her, what we really need to do is find a few other Burner families going with small children so they can play together. 

Know any families out there with 4 year olds going to Burning Man?

 

 

p.s. yes, that's a piece of blankie in her hand ; )

Strawberry

Off to Strawberry for the long weekend! Bye Bye!!

I rode a Public bike!

   

Mark is working at Public, and the office is right at South Park, so after lunch, Garth, Claire, and I took a bike for a spin. Mark gave me their smallest bike and still had to lower a seat, but once set, it totally fit. I loved the handle bars and gear change. A pretty nifty bike, and fun ride. Since Dav and I both need a city bike, we may check 'em out, but they are a bit spendy, and getting my bike stolen is a concern.

Public was just mentioned in Apartment Therapy, and will be in June's Vanity Fair.

The best part of the visit was this picture with Claire since she just left 6A, and was my total partner at work. Glad to have this picture together!

TED - Ken Robinson, on creativity in schools and the need for (radical) change

This is 20 mins. but worth it. Watch it when you can give it your attention.

At the end, in relation to how education should enable each child to find their unique talents and dreams (v.s. marching them through a cookie cutter style system for one version of "intelligence" and "success"), Robinson quoted the following poem by W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) titled, "He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven"

HAD I the heavens’ embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Robinson then said, "...And everyday, everywhere, our children spread their dreams beneath our feet. And we should tread softly."

Indeed. As Tesla blossoms into a spunky individual with great imagination and non-stop energy to explore and create, Robinson's quote is a good reminder to me to make sure I support her and give her confidence to pursue her passions. She's at such a wonderful age, and I sometimes get bogged down about schedules and must-do lists.

And I'm thinking a bit about myself where I had a great education but focused on grades, achieving what the system told me to, and building career-related skills. I let my creativity be channeled to the back burner, and at times, I have a hard time tapping into it. This TED talk reminded me that I want to be her #1 cheerleader to keep her awesome creativity at the forefront : )

Taliban or Tinkerbell

While driving the car listening to an interview on NPR about the Taliban and tribal warfare, Tesla, who was sitting in the back, overheard and asked, "Tinkerbell! Is this a Tinkerbell radio?"

Gosh, I wish.