Month: March 2016

Dark Places Discussion!

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Originally posted on present perfect book club:
This week (or whenever you can join us!), we are discussing Dark Places by Gillian Flynn To participate: It’s very simple: share your ideas and responses in the comments section of this post!!! You can respond RIGHT NOW, or in 5 days if you’re busy, or even next month. It doesn’t really matter when, the goal is just to exchange ideas! You can respond to my questions, or go rogue and bring up your own topics of discussion: the world is our oyster here! To respond directly to a comment, make sure to hit the REPLY button at the top of the comment, rather than writing in the comments box…this will help ensure the person you’re commenting to will see your response! Check out this nifty guide if you want to add any special formatting (bold, italics, bullet points, block quotes, etc) to your comment. This month’s discussion moderated by Daniel aka PrillsofWisdom!! A MESSAGE FROM DANIEL Wow.  What a read, right? Don’t know about anybody else, but I tore through this…

lost and found

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This afternoon I finally finished reading Amy Poehler’s book Yes Please – my #SpringBreakRead no.3! She ends the book with a story about forgetting her laptop at a TSA checkpoint, losing with it about 50 or 60 pages of that very book saved on the hard drive. She spent a full day in complete despair until she received and email notifying her that her laptop had been recovered and she could pick it up at the LAX lost and found immediately! I realized I have an almost identical story, though it doesn’t involve losing months of writing or hundreds of dollars… You see, in April of last year I lost my bus pass. Now I know what you’re thinking: “Losing a €20 monthly bus pass doesn’t seem as devastating as losing a computer, Anne!” I know I know. Especially since spring vacation was coming up and I would hardly need to use the bus anyway… But I was still genuinely upset! My pass consisted of an identity card with a horrifying passport-style photo of me, bundled with a …

the gratte-frog

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The four of us piled into our Airbnb apartment in Montpellier, France. As my friends began to change into their pajamas and brush their teeth, I examined the bookshelves: A full set of hardback Harry Potter books; several shelves of paperbacks, their titles written upside-down as is the way with French publishers; a small CD collection and an unplugged stereo; three little wooden frogs, decreasing in size. I now know these small wooden figures are called Frog Rasps, or güiros, a type of Latin American percussion instrument. But at the time, I just thought they were funny. Because we are hilarious, Julia and I decided to play a prank on Hannah and Rachel, who were quietly reading in the bed they were sharing in the other room. We waited until it was absolutely. quiet. and then… brrrrrrr-ap! , brrrrrrr-ap! the sound of the mallet stroking the frog’s bumpy back. “What the hell was that?!” we heard from the other side of the curtain that separated the rooms. We had already dissolved into giggles. Because apparently we are 12. …

before that…

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I crunched another tortilla chip as I watched the sun set from my parents’ rooftop patio. Before that, I lugged three floor pillows to the top floor to make myself a cozy reading spot in the dying sunlight. Before that, I sat down at my dining room table, texting my friend, noticing the birds and squirrels playing in our yard beyond the glass doors. Before that, I walked with my mom to the car, pulling off my sweatshirt in the unexpected heat. Before that, I promised the janitor who wanted to lock up the building that we would be out in just 10 more minutes! Before that, I scrolled through my playlists on Spotify, looking for some fun background music. Before that, I decided on the Stracciatella, instead of the chocolate gelato. Before that, I snapped a picture of a funny sign from the Italian deli to send to my friends who live in Italy. Before that, I overheard my mom and her friend discuss work and blogging (and heard my name pop up a few times….!) from downstairs. Before …

put down your phone

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Working in a district that has a 1-to-1 technology initiative (all students 2nd-12th grade are given devices by the county), I am constantly wondering about the best ways to get children to use this technology responsibly. One major concern — which is often used in arguments against 1-to-1 technology programs — is that putting these devices into kids’ hands turns them into easily distractible zombies who are addicted to video games and don’t collaborate or talk to their friends anymore, consumed by their screens. I think there are a lot of things wrong with that assumption to start with (that is a post for another day…), but I also think that it then falls to us to model responsible use and to set limits on when devices should and should not be used. Some teachers I’ve spoken to have a policy that the technology should be used to create, not only to consume. I think this is a wonderful place to start! When I see kids in the halls playing mindless online games on their iPads, I usually ask …

google translate poetry

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I am friends with several people who do not live in the US, and/or who do not speak English as their native language. I love keeping up with them on Facebook, and luckily for me, Facebook even provides a simple way for me to translate their foreign-language status updates into English! Unfortunately for Facebook, their automatic translator is not always the most accurate, and has trouble with idiomatic expressions and slang. Luckily for all of us, many of these translations come out sounding like pieces of strange avant garde poetry. In honor of World Poetry Day, I have decided to share with you a poem I constructed out of my favorite lines: The dream year [year of dream] That’s going to give this new year? Anguish of the beginning of the year, which fall on me all of a sudden, like lightning.. It’s not laugh the seagulls.. Beautiful, isn’t it? ^^ I find myself almost as beautiful as a salmon En papillote. Look at the roots and wings, and falls on the Castle of Miolans On …