Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

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1. I have such respect for women that can pull off cool hats. I was in Starbucks the other day and an older woman walked in wearing a fedora or something and it looked so perfect. The only hat besides a baseball cap that could wear was a cute overized one that blew off in the middle of the Caribbean Ocean.

[seriously, how many people can pull that off? source]

2. I'm reading Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl and all I can say after fifty pages is that she's a huge, narcissistic, annoying pain in the ass. But I keep reading. 

3. I'm actually committing some uncharacteristic literary polygamy; earlier today I was reading Dunham's book, Ulysses, and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye (which I just finished). I'm generally a one book kind of girl, so this is definitely not my norm (nor do I intend on it becoming so.

4. Ulysses. Wow. I need a professor and a class to go to.

5. I went to Target on Sunday morning to get the basics, as I always do, admittedly knowing that the Lilly Pulitzer line was coming out. I snatched up a dress that I had spotted online and wanted just before the crazy women who intended to hoard the merchandise to sell on eBay came in. The cashier told me that one woman planned on going to Hawaii with her profits. 

[source]

6. This is my second week running and my second week in a FitBit weekly challenge. Yesterday I hit the illustrious 20,000 steps (about ten miles) in a day mark for the first time (I'm a little embarrassed about that, actually). Next week I'm going to scale down the cardio so I can fit in a few more PiYo sessions. You know, because I'm sure everyone is DYING to know my workout regimen. 

7. Why do nacho recipes need to exist?

[nothing that I make at home beats these, though; source]

8. I'm also confused about the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge. 

9. Is there an app or program that you can get to scrub your Twitter? I went private last year when some students found it and would like to turn it back public again, but as a clean slate that I can totally confident is appropriate. Not that I have any glaring violations, but I don't have time to go back through and read thousands of tweets. Help!

10. Ready to be shocked? On multiple levels? We always get Sawyer a book for holidays and I knew that we'd include one in his birthday present. I'm a little short on time right now, so I let my husband handle it. Yup. I gave up an opportunity to pick out a book. And control. He ordered BJ Novak's The Book With No Pictures, so he passed the test.

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

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1. My husband and I sometimes exchange small gifts for Easter and this year he got my the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer. I tried out this weekend and the first batch of vanilla with Peanut Butter Oreos was a success. If the process didn't take so long this would be very dangerous. I'm excited about all the possibilities, though.

2. I subscribe to Audible and am having trouble selecting books; each time I hesitate, thinking that I'd prefer to read the book instead. I tend to gravitate towards more nonfiction when it comes to listening, so if anyone has some suggestions I'll take them (I just finished Go Wild by John Ratey and David Perlmutter and just downloaded Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina).

3. Today we did SAT testing on site, as opposed to the normal Saturday option. I had the same group of kids, my first period, in my classroom from 7:30-12:30 and MAN were they troopers. The complaining didn't start until eleven and even then it was minimal. I also had perfect attendance- probably the only room.

4. I'm confused about where my makeup goes during the day. I even where primer. Like seriously- does it, like, evaporate? Do I rub my face THAT much? I'm not sweating. So where is it?

5. I finally got my glasses from Warby Parker and I lam very pleased. The process from ordering to receiving was exactly two weeks, and that included a slight delay that was caused by my doctor not including a measurement (I had to do it at home with a credit card, my webcam, and email; I felt like the McGyver of optometry there for a second). Pretty much all their styles are $95 and you can get five shipped, for free, ahead of time to try on at home. Glasses shopping for lazy people. I love them so much I took a picture (I hate the "s" word almost as much as I hate putting pictures of myself on the blog... but I really do love these glasses):

[I seriously took this picture on and off three times]

6. Next week, going back to the whole testing students thing, I'm doing SBAC Common Core testing in my room all day, every day. I know the first two days I'll be psyched to get things done, but by Thursday or Friday I'll be dying.

7. How many helium-filled balloons can you fit in a Honda CRV? Anyone? Guesses? This isn't a trick question, by the way.

8. I'm reading a review copy of  Phenomenal by Leigh Ann Henion right now and I'm a little disappointed. The premise, a woman that has all these awesome adventures to sort of reclaim her identity after having a kid, is something I can identify with, but the execution (at least so far; I'm about half way through) is falling a little short. I hate when that happens.

9. I'm running again! Sort of, anyway. For the first time in a few years I've started genuinely feeling like pounding the -errr- treadmill. I'd love to be the type of mom that loads the kid into the jogging stroller and takes on the neighborhood, but my area is super hilly and the weather has been a bit windy  lately. Plus, I really do prefer the ease of the treadmill. Sawyer will play in the room with me from 30-45 minutes, which is a good amount of time to get in a workout.

10. I met with three students today about their IB Extended Essays (4,000 word papers on whatever the want). I have "homework" now too- I'm rereading Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Beloved, and then reading Home for the first time. For another student I'm reread Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann  and then reading James Joyce' Ulysses. For the third student we're still ironing things out, but I'm sure I'll have a book or two there. This is all over the span of a few months, but I'm excited to read with a new purpose. We created a reading schedule so that we can read at the same time and then talk about the sections. Hopefully everyone, myself included, can keep up! 

 

Uysses or Bust

One of my students, a bright, articulate young man, has asked me to advise him on his IB Extended Essay (EE), a 4,000 word paper on the topic of the candidate's choice. After reading Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin he has decided to compare it to James Joyce's Ulysses. Ambitious, to say the least. He wants to focus on narrative structure and style, which, based on some quick Googling, seems like it may work. Given that I've never read Ulysses, I  can't give a definitive assurance, but I think it's an admirable endeavor even if he falls short (and if he doesn't? This will be awesome). The kid doesn't even intend on being an English major. Baffling.

I've always felt this nagging guilt about now tackling Ulysses, which is said to be one of the most important modern texts. I obviously haven't felt guilty enough, though, since up until a few days ago I didn't even own a copy. So not only am I reading this for myself, I'm reading it for my student, in case he has questions (because I'll be able to answer them? Ha!). It's a lot of literary responsibility.

Apprehensions aside, I'm excited to take on this challenge. I haven't really taken on any sort of heavy-lifting in this area for awhile, the last one being my quest to finish Don Delillos Underworld (which still confuses me). I met with the student the other day and here's the game plan (at least on my end):

Read the Book

I ordered the Gabler Edition, which is apparently the way to go. It's somewhere around seven hundred pages, which is pretty daunting. It's divided into eighteen sections, each after part of The Odyssey. I'm reading it on the same schedule as the student, as of right now we're trying to complete it by the end of the school year. 

Review The Odyssey

I've read this within the last few years, so just a little brush up will be needed (I read it for a Coursera class). I'll reread applicable summaries before each section so I can draw the appropriate parallels. The student isn't focusing on this, but the pairing is obviously unavoidable.

Use the Annotated Version

I am not Irish, nor have I (sadly) never been to Ireland. I bought Don Gifford's annotated version to helps navigate some of language and to provide some context. 

Reread Let the Great World Spin

This I'm basically excited about (I have mixed feelings about rereading, since I have so many books I haven't read). I haven't read this book for a few years and since it's the main point of comparison, I'll have to give it another go.

Do Some Research

I'm not planning on researching for the student, but I do want to make srue I'm handling his queries appropriately. 

A lot of people set out to read this book and fail. As long as my student perseveres, I will too.