Today is the perfect day for lounging. I started the day at Joe Van Gogh's...and somehow managed to pound out a week's worth of lesson plans. I'm starting a poetry unit tomorrow with my freshman- which is always interesting. My biggest struggle is choosing the right poems. I prefer to teach high interest poems that are engaging for at risk youth, but then I remember that my job as an educator is to be a whore to the absurd curriculum guidelines that require me to teach cheesy poems that some 70 year old conservative white person, who hasn't taught in years, reminisced on from their childhood days, while drinking prune juice and praying for a good solid shit... and so I do this mental listmaking thing where i weigh the pro's and cons of what to teach, and ultimately, I say screw the curriculum and teach what I think they'll want to learn. Because that's really what it should be about. Not some ridiculous standardized test and one size fits all approach... so I'm teaching alix olson, countee cullen, adrienne rich, langston hughes, audre lord, ani difranco, tupac shakur, stacey ann chin, william carlos williams and a few others... When I finished we were hungry so we tried to hit up the mellow mushroom but sadly they weren't open, so we retreated to our kitchen for some lunch...
We have a small kitchen. Very small. With the fridge and the oven, there's not much wiggle room, but since both are necessary accoutremonts for the kitchen and we don't wiggle in the kitchen all that often, we somehow manage. Today we had a stew with lima beans, corn, tomatoes, pinto beans, carrots, onions, garlic, tvp, and a delightful beer base. Cooking in the kitchen with Amy is a wee bit challenging, but thoroughly exhilirating. We become a well-oiled machine, moving in circles about each other; we each have our roles and places where we hunker down and chop, slice, simmer, mix, toss, and knead. We don't necessarily decide and divide these roles, it just sorta happens- without words. and I like it. a lot. My next kitchen adventure is going to be Peach Blueberry crostada. It's an open-faced pie, and well, we all know those are the best kind...
Now, we are engrossed in the middle of an iNSIDEoUT board meeting discussing dates and deadlines for our upcoming prom, benefit, lobby day and speakout. Working with queer youth is awesome, it just requires patience. Lots of patience.
We're settling in to our new place and learning to love all it's intricacies. Our first yard sale is behind us and I have shed numerous aspects of my former married life in the process which feels great. AND... we have a kick ass porch. It's the ideal porch, right on the corner of Buchanan and Green, and it feels like we're right in the middle of all the action. Our friends walk by daily and we feel so much more in touch with the outside world. It's amazing how half a block can make such a difference. And it's kinda fun living across from a church because we seize opportunities to alter the sign and let people know that "Dogs Love You"! Cause it shouldn't always be about god. It's a little longer of a walk to hit up The Federal but once the weather warms up and I don't have to fear pneumonia at every turn, it's on!
This summer is going to be amazing. There are only 161 says til Michfest, and I can hardly wait! While last summer goes down in history as the best summer ever (especially in the sense of Midtown Dickens' song- cause I lost a lot in a really good way- but man it was fuckin' worth it...) I predict that every summer going forward will be equally awesome. This summers major event will be Michfest, but you never know, we just might work in a trip to South America...
anyhow, that's enough rambling for today....
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