Get This

It's Academic Showcase Day at Hastings College. I'm presenting a paper--a literary anaylsis of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. I've never really presented a paper before so I'm a little nervous, but it's a good paper, I put together a decent power point to go with it; it will be fine. And becaue it is ASD there are no classes today. That's nice.

I just checked my email and there was a deal from Planet Bluegrass--which puts on the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival and The Song School (for which I got my grant). Get this:
1. Nanci Griffith is in the line up for the festival.
2. Josh Ritter is in the line up for the festival and will be an instructor at song school.
How freakin' cool is that?!

Fully Funded!

Narrative

There are two things I have always dreamed of being: a rock star and an English teacher. They are not as dissimilar as they immediately seem. Both entail standing before a group of people, forging a connection, and sharing knowledge and ideas, be they academic, creative or emotional.
Six years ago I took my first steps toward my dream of rock stardom by buying a guitar and taking lessons. As a twenty-seven-year-old pastor's wife and stay-at-home-mom of three, the dream, not surprisingly, took on a new form from that of my youth. I quickly became aware that my joy didn't lie necessarily in performance or the hope of fame, but in creation. I began to study the craft of songwriting. I now perform regularly in Hastings and nearby communities and in 2006, I won a statewide songwriting contest. The process of turning a daydream into a reality has been exciting, empowering and inspiring.

This fall I started working toward my second dream of being a teacher. I am pursing my Masters of Arts in Teaching with an endorsement in secondary English. I work as a graduate assistant in the Learning Center where I edit student papers, give general study help, and teach Learning Labs to students in the Excel program for academically at-risk freshmen. Much of my work is focused on writing, be it informal instruction to drop-in students or formal lessons in the Lab.

An Imagine Grant can help me combine my two dreams by attending The Song School at Planet Bluegrass. For the past twelve years Planet Bluegrass in Lyons, Colorado has hosted an intensive four-day songwriting workshop. The Song School is self-described as an event “which brings songwriting and creativity together in a community based on shared love of music and support for each participant.” Each August, songwriters from around the country and the globe join together to explore the writing process and create, hone and share their songs. The Song School provides a nurturing environment in which participants can stretch and grow in their creative endeavors. The faculty is made up of internationally known songwriters, actors, music professionals, and songwriting peers.

Attending The Song School will help me in my personal artistic journey and give me the tools to help others. My confidence, sense of personal creative fulfillment and my art itself will be impacted from the instruction, support and mentoring I receive. Also, I will have the opportunity to observe how to construct an open, creative learning environment, observe how instructors nurture their students’ creativity, and discover techniques for “out of the box” writing instruction which can be directly applied to my classroom teaching. The Song School’s model of mentoring relationships, supportive critiques, and a framework for collaboration are all things I can reproduce in my classroom both now and in the future.

However, I do not want to wait until I have completed my course of study here at Hastings College to put what I learn at The Song School to use. In the fall of 2008, I would like to host a grant-funded songwriting workshop for local high school students. The workshop will be free and open to any interested Hastings-area young writer. Using current and forging new contacts with private and school-based music teachers, I will distribute informational flyers inviting young writers to participate. Ideally, the workshop will be on a Saturday in September or October on the Hastings College campus. We will meet 9 AM to 5 PM, students to bring a brown bag lunch, drinks and snacks provided. I will design a curriculum and activities based on what I learned at The Song School, modified for the time frame, age group and number of participants.
In this direct way, I can pass on what I have learned from The Song School.

Hopefully, attending the songwriting workshop will help young writers find joy in self-expression and fulfillment through music, which they can, in turn, pass on. In the long term, as a classroom English teacher, I can use these same techniques to inspire my students, and fuel their dreams--even a dream as unlikely as being an English teacher and a rock star.

Budget
The Song School tuition/camping fee: $450.00

Meals (three per day @ $10/ six days): $180.00

Mileage (423 miles one way x2 @ $.048/mile) $406.08

Fall Songwriting Workshop (publicity, materials, refreshments, etc.) $100.00

Total: $1,136.08

Good Friday

Today, Good Friday, was sunny and clear. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and cold. Upon hearing the weather forecast Phoebe said, and I quote: "It's too bad tomorrow isn't Good Friday. The weather would really reflect the religious goings on."

More Vid Fun, This Time from The Onion

In The Know: Is The Government Spying On Paranoid Schizophrenics Enough?

Just in Time for Holy Week

This is one of those things that makes me think to myself "I probably shouldn't think this is so funny." But, after watching it 20 times on youtube and laughing myself silly, the honest thing to do is admit that I think it is REALLY REALLY funny and share it with you. Watch for this: "there's that. there's that."--that's the part that gets me.

Poems

If you should happen
to turn your hair platinum
you'll never need to get
a helmet

* * * * * * * *
Said Fido to his owner Jack
"Let us try a different tack
I throw the stick, you bring it back."

* * * * * * * *
I saw a storm come rollin' in
upon a wagon wheel.
I saw a strom a'brewin'
seafood stew with eels.
I saw a storm a'ragin',
yelled with all he had.
And then the storm dropped great big tears.
How sad.

Because It's Fun

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car):

Sambo Odyssey
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe):

Bunny Tracks Chucks
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal):

Brown Greyhound
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born):

Elizabeth St. Louis
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first three letters of your last name, first two of your first name):

Dunem
6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink):

Orange Snowflake
7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers):

Orville Harry
8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy):

Shi Whachamacallit

(uh, not so much on this one)

Second Place: Downy Whachamacallit

(I'm not sure why it's gross but...gross!)
9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your fifth grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter):

Ogles Orlando
10. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, flower):

Summer Gerbera
11. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now):

Apple Socks
12. HIPPIE NAME (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):

Muffin Willow

Thanks to Jill from whom I stole this list.

I Baracked The Vote @ The First Ever Nebraska Democratic Caucus

The Nebraska Democratic Caucas was Saturday night and I still can't get over it. It was a fabulous experience. Hopi versed me on the Iowa Caucus, so I had an idea of what it would entail, but I wasn't prepared for just how exciting it would be.

I drove out to the Adams County Fairgrounds at 5:30. The place was already hopping. I read that they were hoping for 200-250 people. There were well over 100 when I arrived. I filled out a little blue half-sheet caucas registration form at the door. There were folks handing out stickers as we walked in and I took an Obama sticker from a city councilwoman. Until that point I was still feeling 85% Obama, 15% Clinton, but it was time to make the leap. Kathy smacked that Obama sticker on.

I took my little blue sheet around a partition to the registration tables that were arranged alphabetically. My academic advisor registered me (I knew probably 7 of the 10 volunteers at the tables), gave me a name tag with my precinct on it and directed me toward my precinct (3C) table. Each Adam's county precinct had its own round table, with folding chairs around it and posters & such for each candidate strewn about it.

I met my neighbors. There was no one yet at the table whom I knew, but since the precincts are geographical, they all live near me. We made introductions and chit chat as we watched the room fill up. It was just amazing. More and more people kept coming! I saw all my professors (two of whom it turned out are in my precinct, husband and wife, split on candidates) and everybody who I hoped would appear two hours later at the Listening Room Show--about 75% of our audience was there! I saw friends from school and a few from church. It was like a Who's Who of fun people in Hastings.

Those of you readers who live in Metropolitan areas probably can't imagine how crazy this was for us. Nebraska is such a red state that in the last presidential election I wondered if there was even a point to voting. Did my one Democratic vote count in the sea of Republicans? In the last presidential election I did not see a SINGLE tv ad for a candidate. Neither Kerry nor Bush wasted their money campaigning here when it was a given that Nebraska would go red. It made me feel sort of useless and isolated. This time Obama is running tv ads here. I got calls from both Obama and Clinton's campaigns--and I mean actual people on the phone, not recordings. They want MY vote. I count. God bless America.

And then to have over 500 people come to the fairgrounds to caucas....it was like a coming out party. No more closets for the Democrats! We all marveled and said "it's not just me! look at us all!" An announcement was made that they were running out of registration sheets and the place went nuts with applauding and cheering. An announcement was made that there was a red BMW in the parking lot with its lights on, followed by "I didn't think there were any Republicans here" and we all giggled and clapped.

At about 6:15 it was time to get down to business. Our temporary chairman said we needed to elect a permanent chairman (we picked him because he clearly knew what he was doing) and a secretary (easily done). We counted off to verify how many of us there were in precint 3C (there were 18). Then by show of hands we voted Clinton, Obama or Uncommitted. It came out 11 Clinton, 7 Obama, 0 Uncommitted. We arranged ourselves into groups.

In other precincts where there were uncommitted voters, each group selected a spokesman to speak on behalf of its candidate to try and persuade the uncommitted to join their side. I heard that in some precints, particularly the larger ones, this was done rather formally. We had a friendly discussion, except for one Clinton supporter who accused us of not thinking a woman could do the job (we booed) and then said "...and Obama's values are not what our country needs!!" at which point her own group told her that she was way off-base and was no longer representing their point of view. Then the rest of us went back to our friendly discussion: youth verses experience and electibility. We mostly all thought it was a shame to have to choose between the two. No one changed sides.

Meanwhile, our chairman had his caculator out to figure how many delegates we would send to the county caucas on June 2. There was a formula that decided the ratio of Clinton delegates to Obama delegates, but the delegates from each precint needed to be 50/50 male/female or as close to it as we could get. People volunteered. The secretary looked over the chairman's paperworked an signed off. And that was the Nebraska Democtratic Caucus in Adam's County.

I did an informal poll and my precinct was the only one I heard of that went to Clinton--totally anecdotal. The county and the state went Obama. Obama won by a lot in Lincoln and Omaha and by a much closer margin out in the third district (which includes Hastings and the western chunk of the state).

I read online and in the paper about what a mess there was in Omaha and Lincoln. The number of participants WAY exceeded expectation and things sort of fell apart. I was really very proud of how well ours went--even with twice the attendance hoped for. It also made me so glad to live in a smaller community. It felt like home to walk around and see so many people I know--and to know that the delegates are my classmates and neigbhors and professors--not just random people. The volunteers knew what they were doing, the chairpeople were well trained, even though it was the first time it was done, and everyone seemed pumped to be a part of the process. It was a big party. A big political party :)

Whoa.

Out of the Blue (I'm a star like Debbie Gibson!)

Acid Planet is a website where musicians can posts recordings of their songs. People log in, listen to music and write reviews of each other's work. There is some sort of chart system whereby people who get the most comments rise in the rankss. I joined in October of 2003 when I first figured out how to record on my pc. It was great fun, especially as a super newbie songwriter and performer, to hear comments from strangers on my music. Of course, the way the chart system is set up makes it sort of a mutual back-stratching society. I write a comment for you, you write a comment for me, we both rise in the charts. Frankly, I've never looked at the charts, but for a while I was sort of obsessed with Acid Planet. It was a way for my far away friends to hear what I was doing and for me to get some confidence boosts in the relative anonymity of cyberspace.

It's been two years since I've posted ANYTHING on Acid Planet. Maybe every six months I'll get an email that someone has reviewed a song and I think "OH! I forgot that was out there!" A couple days a go I got an email from Acid Planet saying congratulations, I had been included in an Acid Planet podcast. I thought hmf, whatever. And then I started getting review notice after review notice.

I just listened to the podcast. Okay, I listened until I heard myself (and thankfully, I'm the second song!). It was bizarro to hear the podcaster announce me like a dj and then play a song I posted two years ago and haven't even played since! And now, apparently people are listening to the podcast, then finding my Acid Planet page and listening to my music! Wierd! And a lot of it is old...and not so good!

If you want to hear the podcast click here. You can fast forward to about 5:50 to hear me. If you want to take a stroll down memory lane and listen to old Emily Dunbar "hits" (aka: mostly crappy home recordings but a few nice ones recorded by and with Jay Bayles--I recommend "did you not think of me") you can click here.

My New Hat

From Interweave Crochet Winter 2007:

a rose by any other name still rocks the 80's synthpop

In March The Listening Room is having its Artists in Residence concert featuring local songwriters including yours truly. Today I was working on a little bluegrass version of Bad Connection by Yaz that I'd like to play for the show. I love Yaz. Bad Connection. Don't Go. Only You. All fantastic British synth-pop gems which made a big impression on me in my youth. My sister had a copied cassette tape of Yaz's album Upstairs at Eric's. I listened to it over and over--I remember being in seventh or eigth grade when I first heard it, so 1987-88. I know 80s syth-pop doesn't seem to lend itself to bluegrass, but its gonna rock.

I don't know what my attraction to British synth-pop is, especially considering that I play acoustic guitar and now listen to mostly acoustic-based artists and bands. Those songs are just so catchy and I keep wanting to cover them. When I bought my accordion, the first song that I figured out how to play was Depeche Mode's song Just Can't Get Enough. Bad Connection and Just Can't Get Enough are two of my all time favorite songs.

I started wondering what happen to Yaz. I knew Yaz's singer was Alison Moyet because when the first Very Special Christmas album came out in 1987, she sang The Coventry Carol. I knew instantly who she was (though I didn't recognize her name on the cassette) because her voice is unmistakable. I heard nothing of Yaz until Only You made the finale of the BBC's The Office and showed up in Napolean Dynamite. I wanted to fill in the gaps so I went to Wikipedia.

Get this: Alison Moyet's partner in Yaz (know in Britain as Yazoo--who knew?!) was Vince Clarke. Vince Clarke started out in Depeche Mode. He WROTE Just Can't Get Enough (1981). Clarke quit Depeche Mode when they started getting big, formed Yaz and wrote Bad Connection, Only You, etc.! Yaz split in 1983. Clarke went on to start Erasure!

So, Vince Clarke is my new hero, my new 80's British synth-pop songwriting hero.

headlining ladies

I liked Hillary in the debate tonight. I hate having to qualify that was thoughts about "electibility."
I can't believe Britney got sent to the funny farm and was then let out again.

living up to my potential

With one semester under my belt, here in my seventeenth year of formal schooling, I have my first 4.0. I worked hard for it. I obsessed over it. And when my grades appeared on the Hastings College website I did a little nerd dance. I didn't obsess over the GPA itself, but over the individual A's. This is a new thing for me. I've always been sort of a slacker. I've always skated by with charm, humor and as little work as it would take to get me a 3.0. But a flip has been switched, my friends, and I love that 4.0.

In high school I knew I had to maintain the 3.0 for the sake of my parents (who would have preferred a 3.3 as that was the fabled cut-off GPA for the Tri Delts at Mizzou). But a 3.0 seemed right to me too--not stupid, not caring too much. I had no internal motivation to do any better and I carefully walked the line, balancing my C's in math and science with my A's in English and Spanish for a good solid B average. I had pom-pons and musicals to think about. I had boys to deal with with and spiritual crises. There was student council and zits and boobs out of proportion to the rest of my body. How could I really care about school?

In college I sort of floundered. It was hard to be away from home for the first time--figuring out how to do laundry, how to manage time, how to stay sane in a ridiculous sorority I never should have joined. I transferred after my freshman year and had to go through the adjustments all over again. I got by. I did fine. I just didn't really get it until, with two semesters left, I switched my major from Spanish to English and took almost nothing but literature courses until I graduated. My GPA shot up. I made a point to show up to class. I enjoyed writing papers. I got to know and like my professors. It was so great--and then it was over.

About a year ago, I was in a funk and had a hard time first identifying and then admitting what exactly it was I was feeling. Firstly, I was feeling unfocused. I spent my time doing a lot of worth-while and fulfilling things. I was raising my children, teaching Sunday School, leading book group, serving on the Library Board, working with the Listening Room and pursuing my hobby music career. All great things. But they were so scattered and varied and separate that they weren't building towards anything. That was becoming dissatisfying.

Secondly--this is the part that was hard to admit--I craved acknowledgement. Being a stay-at-home-Mom is the end-all, be-all of internal rewards. Of course it was rewarding! Of course Paul acknowledged my work and of course I could look at Phoebe, Mo & Ollie and see the fruits of my labor. Of course those things were true in a big-picture sense. But on a daily basis I could not measure and see if I was doing well. I got no paycheck that said "you're work is worth this much to our company and if you keep it up we'll give you more." And I know that all the volunteer work I have done is appreciated--I know I've made good contributions to organizations and enjoyed doing it and those who I served and served with think I've done a good job. But after eight years of stay-at-home/volunteering, I really needed a little external reward. I can only be so deep. I can only be so zen. I was ready to be complimented and petted and told that I'm great. I was ready for somebody to give me money! I was ready to have a clearly marked measuring stick and see how far up it I could reach.

So I am now grade-obsessed.

My hope is that this will fade. My goal, of course, is to learn, not just get good grades and I have learned a tremendous amount this semester. I really went in having no idea what the standards were or how my work would compare--I graduate from college twelve years ago! So I was anxious and eager to make sure I was up to snuff. It feels good to know that I am.

Dunbar vs. Martha Stewart Omnimedia

It's on, Martha Stewart! You snagged my idea. You're goin' down.

Emily's T-Shirt Bag

Marth's T-Shirt Bag

Notice my post is is dated Aug. 5 and Martha's is dated Oct. 5.

jackpot

In September I wrote my first-ever grant proposal on behalf of The Listening Room. Today I received a check for $5,000. O.MY.GOLLY.

wonders never cease

It occasionally seems like this world has been entirely discovered. There is nothing new here. Every last inch of earth has been put under the microscope, poked, prodded, categorized and summed up on wikipedia and then...from the depths of the Pacific Ocean comes the Yeti Crab. I love this thing. I can hardly believe that it is real. I want one--because they so freaking cool--and because they prove that wonders never cease.

guilty, not guilty

Today we found a man guilty of making terroristic threats and not guilty of third degree manslaughter. I got to be the presiding juror, which used to be, I think, the foreman. How cool is that?

After we had heard all the evidence and the closing statements, the judge read us our instructions. This took twenty minutes. Twenty minutes! They were very detailed instructions full of definitions of the law and what we could and could not consider during deliberation. We went into deliberation and were supposed to pick a presiding juror straightaway, but we didn't. We started discussing the case. Because for the whole two days we were unable to say anything at all about the trial to anyone, not even each other. So everyone just started gabbing. We needed to debrief. And laugh.

But then opinions began to take shape. And people were taking all kinds of things into consideration that were not specified in the instructions. This is how I came to be presiding juror; I was adamant that we stick to the rules. It didn't matter that this guy seemed like a jerk, or that guy was annoying. We had to stick to the evidence.

The events we were to consider took place on Aug 8. Apparently there was a similar incident on Aug 7 that was alluded to and discussed in part, though most testimony regarding it was stricken (struck?) from the record and we were told to disregard it. Of course we all wanted to know what happened that night. Of course it would have shed light on the events the next morning, but we were explicitly instructed not to take the night of Aug 7. into consideration. But that's what everyone wanted to talk about.

I kept referring back to our instruction booklet and reading the pertinent parts aloud (there were multiple copies, but not one for everybody). And then I went to the bathroom. And when I returned I was informed that I was the presiding juror.

We all decided pretty quickly that the defendant was guilty of terrorizing threats. The evidence was overwhelming. But assault? We went back and forth and back and forth. I was convinced one way and then completely changed my opinion. Round and round we went. Everyone was leaning toward guilty, but there was still doubt.

The definition of assault was to intentionally cause bodily harm OR threaten in a menacing manner. We sent a note to the judge asking for clarification of what "threatening in a menacing manner" meant. In the terrorizing threat charge, it did not matter if the victim actually felt scared or terrorized, only that the defendant intended for him to so feel. Our question was, in the assault charge, did it matter if the victim felt threatened?

Two guys have a fight. Evidence does not show that one or the other started it--it seems pretty mutual. The defendant runs inside and grabs a knife. When he comes back out the victim is getting on his bike and riding away. The defendant chases him down the street with the knife. In the victim's testimony, he does not mention the knife at all--he did not know the defendant (behind him while he was pedaling away) had a knife. Witnesses saw him with it. The defendant stated he had it. So was the victim just fleeing or was he fleeing because he was threatened in a menacing manner?

We wrote our question, knocked on the door, handed the note to the bailiff who took it to the judge. The judge read the note, conferred with the lawyers. We all convened back in the courtroom. She read us her reply. Gave us a written copy of it and we went back into deliberation. This took almost a half an hour.

The judge stated that to be threatened in a menacing manner meant to cause a rational person to be apprehensive of being harmed. After a little more discussion none of us felt that the state proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant intended to harm the victim or that he threatened him in a menacing manner, therefore we could not find him guilty of assault.

I had to fill out the form and sign it. I was the last to enter the court room. The judge asked me to stand and asked "Has the jury reached a decision?" I got to answer all her questions--yes we reached a decision, yes it was unanimous, etc. She read our decision and I verified that that was our decision. She asked the public defender if he wanted to poll the jury to ensure we were unanimous but he declined. And we were adjourned. The end.

The trail itself was fairly tedious and boring, but the deliberation process was fascinating. And that is probably more than you ever wanted to know about jury duty.

Tomorrow I go back to class and work. I have two ten page papers to write in the next week or so and three finals to prepare for. Yikes.

as much as I'm allowed to say

Here is what, at the end of day one, I can tell you about jury duty:
The process was quite fascinating...until the trial actually started.
I'll be there from 9 to 5 tomorrow and possibly Wednesday morning.
CSI? Not so much. Keystone Cops? Much more like it.
As easy as it is to rag on serving, I feel pretty good about participating in democracy. I get very cynnical about patriotism at a time when I don't much care for my president, his administration or his war. I do, however, care for my country. So off I go in the morning to the district court to perform my civic duty.

and we're back

1. I brined my Thanksgiving turkey. It started out poorly, but after a little trial and error I had the turkey in a bag, the bag in a five gallon bucket and the bucket in the refrigerator. I used a recipe from Martha Stewart (of course!) which included some very salty water, a bottle of wine, and various herbs and spices. Supposedly soaking it over night in the salt makes it juicy. Osmosis or something. Was it delicious? Yes. Was it better than previous un-brined turkeys? Hard to say.

2. Today Moses called Paul a "despicable miscreant." It was awesome.

3. It's snowing.

4. A couple of weeks ago in one of my classes we were discussing the Columbine High School shootings. My professor asked, "Where were you guys when that happened? At what stage of life were you then?" The general consensus: sixth grade. Yikes.

5. I have two 10-page papers yet to write this semester.

6. After receiving the same alarming email about five times regarding The Golden Compass and how it is the anti-Narnia and about "killing god" I really, really wanted it read it. So, I did. And I really, really liked it. It's very unsuspecting until the end, when it gets rather heretical--maybe sin is good. The church says sin is bad, but the church is bad, so why should we believe the church? Only, here's the thing--it's all happening in an alternate universe. The alternate universe is very much like our universe, but it is not our universe. The church has some similarities to our church, but it is not our church. And there is a quote from "the Bible" which is similar to our Bible...you get the picture. So, I understand the desire to be cautious. It would all be a little over my kids' heads at this point anyway. But, if they want to read it later (and they've seen previews and TOTALLY want to see the movie, but we have a solid rule about reading the book first) I might allow it, if we are reading it together and are able to discuss what it all means. I'm not so much for ruling a book out completely, but this book certainly would raise some deep theological questions in a thinking twelve-year-old reader, which could be good, could be bad. I'll probably take up the next book in the series over Christmas break.

7. Phoebe is reading Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban on her own. Constantly. It is so fun to see her hooked.

8. We are all listening to a book on CD called The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread. I LOVE it.

9. While we're on books, I really want a Kindle. Maybe. It was this quote from the Newsweek article by Steven Levy this week that really got me:

Microsoft's Bill Hill has a riff where he runs through the energy-wasting,
resource-draining process of how we make books now. We chop down trees,
transport them to plants, mash them into pulp, move the pulp to another
factory to press into sheets, ship the sheets to a plant to put dirty marks
on them,then cut the sheets and bind them and ship the thing around the
world. "Do you really believe that we'll be doing that in 50 years?" he asks.

10. I checked out a laptop from the library at Hastings College over Thanksgiving break. I think it's funny that I am able to do that. I sat at the Blue Moon and did research and wrote a paper. I still marvel at such technology: wireless, flash drives. It really changes the way school works. I bet all those punks who were in sixth grade in 1999 don't marvel at wireless and flash drives. They are too busy texting to marvel.

11. I went to McCook last week and played the opening set for a Tom Kimmel show at the Bieroc Cafe. I love going there. I hadn't seen most of the Bieroc crew since the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. Good times.

12. As part of an assignment, I went to the HPS School Board meeting last Monday. It had all the usual board meeting blah blah blah which I'm very used to from being on the library board. However, it was a great night for future English teachers. The middle school english/language arts teachers were there in force and riled up becuase eigth grade reading has been taken out of the curriculum. As I understand it, there is currently specified reading instruction for all seventh graders and for some eigth graders. The proposed curriculum has eliminated it for all eigth graders, and these teachers want it, instead, for ALL eigth graders. My friend Deanna, seventh grade reading teacher, was first to speak (I had no idea this was going to be happening) and two other teachers followed. It was like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. They rocked. I want to be an English teacher!