Beauty

I went and saw American Ballet Theater II on Wednesday. It was a beautiful performance.

From the website we read this about the company:

ABT II is a small classical company of fourteenth young dancers of outstanding potential. In its fourteenth season, ABT II prepares these dancers to enter American Ballet Theatre and provides opportunities for the emergence of new and established choreographers and composers. Through national performances, lecture-demonstrations and academic residencies, ABT II brings the excitement of close contact with a professional company into communities around the country. The dancers (ages 16-20) are handpicked from around the world by the artistic staff of American Ballet Theatre. ABT II dancers will train in the program before joining American Ballet Theatre’s main Company or other leading national and international professional companies.

One of the dancers trained at Washington School of Ballet. It's strange to think she's taken classes from my same teachers. She went to Kirov for awhile and now she's with ABT II (but remember she's only 18).

I haven't been to a professional ballet performance in a long time. I think this is due to the fact that every since not dancing anymore, watching other dancers gives me high anxiety. My body would tense up completely for the entire performance as I know exactly the exertion that their bodies are undergoing. I also think I felt a certain amount of depression, because I was so involved in that world and I'm sad that I don't feel the art and beauty that dance brings anymore and probably also sad because I know my body physically won't do what I had trained it to do anymore.

However, the bottom line was and is this: I was good, but I wasn't that good, and I also am happy to have the gospel in my life, which is almost an impossible thing to have in "that world." After stopping right before my senior year I went into full depression mode -- not knowing how to deal with the weight I was putting on. Freshman year at BYU I sprained one ankle to be followed a week later by the other (one ankle was in a ballet class, and the other was just outside - I probably didn't know how to deal with this new body I had which was much heavier, and the time off had made my ankles weak). I started dancing more (gradually) and BYU allowed me to take classes with the company without technically being in the company. Even after my mission I returned to occasionally take classes with the company and was actually really skinny at the time. And now here we are in 2008, and I haven't taken a class since probably early 2004. I work out all the time, and I know that my muscles could do a lot of what they used to, but will I eventually lose all of the ballet training I've had? I'm hoping not, because wouldn't that mean it was all a waste? Ballet is wonderful and beautiful, but also stressful and somewhat debilitating as you are never good enough. I think I missed out on a lot of my childhood because of it. Did all my parents' money go to waste?

Golden Lines

So, in this book, Dr. Cyndi Giorgis, and Dr. Nancy Johnson describe "when literature and literacy intersect" or in other words how to use quality literature to create good readers and writers, and it also addresses promoting inquiry. One of the authors is the professor I worked for last year when overseeing the manuscript review process for the Journal of Children's Literature. So, I actually had a hand in choosing some of the literature that is referenced in the new edition of The Wonder of it All.

So, in the book, the authors discuss a belief given by very well known Louise Rosenblatt that meaning is created through the interaction between reader and text. They suggest "teaching readers how to attend to the language, the format, the ideas, and even the phrasing and word choice an author uses." They suggest teaching students how to choose "golden lines" and emphasize it as a way to attend to author's craft. Some suggestions are given for choosing golden lines, and I'll include them here:

Select a passage, phrase, or sentence that:

• is very descriptive (helps you see, smell, feel, taste, hear something in the book/story)
• sounds poetic
• connects with your life
• connects with another book
• makes you wonder
• makes you laugh
• makes you sad or upset
• makes you stop and think
• is your favorite part

Don't forget to include the page number at the end of your selected passage (put it in parentheses)

Now, in saying all the above I would like to contend that we are hit with golden lines frequently in our lives, but we often don't slow down to really ponder them and absorb them.

And here's the golden line given to me by my good friend Loree awhile ago (I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile)... "Las Vegas is full of white trash Mormons."*

Now I don't want to be offensive, but this line is "golden" to me in many ways. For one thing, about a year to a year and a 1/2 into living in Vegas I was expressing to my good friend Elise (who is from middle of nowhere Nevada -- near Carson City) my complete confusion as to the people I was interacting with here in Vegas. And she says to me "Meredith, what did you expect? You moved to Nevada! Nevada is full of white trash!" So, Loree's line connected with something somebody else had said to me, it made me laugh, made me wonder, made me sad, made me stop and think, is descriptive, and it connects with my life.

I love golden lines. I love people who expose me to golden lines on a regular basis whether it be in print or oral language.

*Disclaimer: We ALL know that some Las Vegans are not white trash. Let's not speak in absolutes.

Highlights of my trip back east.

Since, we are now already into October, this post is long overdue (I was back east Aug. 7 - Aug. 24), but I still want to define these highlights:


1. Seeing Mamma Mia with Ann (I really did love this movie) and kind of want to be in it.

2. Going to Deep Creek...waterskiing, tubing, canoeing with the family, and having some time to catch up with my cousin Ariel (who is almost 40 has 7 kids and I don't know when I've had a real conversation with her, but we have some fundamental similarities in our personalities - we both danced/performed a lot when we were young, are teachers, love literature and the field of education and I think she understands what it's like to be "older" and single and a member of the church since she's talked to her sister who is in this position a good amount about it).

3. Catching up with Ann and Jenny at the Johnson's. It's always fun to get together with these girls, and to see Paige and Woody, and Mark and Justin. It really is kind of amazing to think about the fact that Paige and Woody have seen us grow up along with their children. They are great people, and it's meaningful to me to have them in my life. Woody exclaims, "Wow! It's just amazing how grown up you girls are! I mean you are really women now!" Yes, thanks, Woody.


4. Seeing my adorable neices and nephew. Steph and Aaron were still living with my parents at this time and waiting for the renovations on their new house to be done. We played on the trampoline pretending to do ninja and be gold medalists in the Olympics, made cookies, and just ran around the house. It was so fun to spend time with them, and I'm already anticipating seeing them again.

5. Going to my old school. It's always so fun to go see my old kids (who'll be in first grade next year!) and that they still remember me and want me to be their teacher. This boy is not one of my old students, but I just got to know him and his parents well which teaching there. They were in Vegas a couple months ago and we went to see the tigers and lions at the Mirage. He's adorable.

6. Running in the neighborhood. I love running in our neighborhood. It brings back so many memories of my childhood, and it helps that beautiful houses have now been built in the neighborhood, so it's such a picturesque run. I run by the new Johnson's home, and think of them; I run by the Dolls and think of babysitting the kids; I run by the Keating's old house and think of bus rides flirting with Chip (Frank Keating was considered as a VP pick for McCain); I run by the Scalia's and think of Meg and the last horribly embarrassing incident when I was in the Scalia's home (I'll blog about it soon...look for the title "Running Mishaps"); and I think of the Swintons as I run by their old mission president's home).

It was a good trip. And now I'm just back in Vegas for a two more month long-haul and then I'll be done and free.

Barack, and well, just all of them

So, I'm putting aside my grading to create a post, which I began formulating while rollarblading this morning.

I was forwarded an email this morning about some apparent quotes taken from the books Barack has written. I do hesitate to include this because I do doubt the authenticity; however, I'm only inserting it to discuss some issues to follow. My brother-in-law forwarded some more trustworthy data to be found at: http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_obama_write_that_he_would_stand.html

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

After all of that these are the thoughts and questions I have...

First this, I want to know what percentage of blacks are NOT voting for Obama.

Last weekend a black girl (I'd honestly say no more than 25 years old) arrives at my house asking if I'm registered to vote (I am, but in Virginia). She asks if I've decided who I'm voting for and I said I hadn't. She then asks me how I feel about the last 8 years or the price of oil. So, in response I say, "Well, I don't feel like I know enough about what's been going on to really make an informed opinion about how I feel about what's been going on the last eight years." And, my thought, as she is asking me this, "Is how in the hell do you have any idea what's been going on for the past 8 years. You were 17 years old 8 years ago, most likely worrying about what party you were going to that weekend. I also mentioned that maybe the problem isn't the cost of oil, but the fact that we use too much of it. It's only then that I see her huge truck parked on our street (I actually pointed to it, because I saw it, but only then realized it must be hers).

I actually feel incredibly fine about my life the last 8 years. Now, I realize I have huge advantages that some people haven't had. However, I also don't see how the economy, war, and etc., etc. really could be affecting this girl.

With that said, I've been reading Lies My Teacher Told Me (I have to), which takes a very liberal stance on pretty much everything (Columbus, American Revolution, Civil Rights, and more I haven't gotten to yet) and thinking a lot about racism in the United States. Blacks are angry, and I think they are rightfully so. The effects of racism are so incredibly hurtful and debilitating, and I don't think we've come far enough. I think there's a very high liklihood blacks will vote for Obama strictly because he is black. Maybe having a black President would help race relations and equality.

Now, I just finished watching the V.P. debates, and let me just say that I LIKE Sarah Palin. There I did it. I trust her and I trust her judgement. I don't think I trust Obama. He seems to propose drastic measures to improve the state of middle-class America, but once in office I don't believe he'll be able to do it. I also doubt his judgement on foreign policy and the war.

Okay, that's all I have to say.

Birthday shout outs!

September is birthday month. I'm taking a moment here to tell these people happy birthday and to let them know how much they mean to me.
My dad's birthday is in early September, but I don't have a single picture of my dad on my computer. So, he doesn't get one. I'm grateful for my dad. He has some amazing qualities, and he's definitely passed some of those on to my siblings.

Hunter's birthday is on the 25th (along with my cousin, Emily!). He turned 25. I really am so grateful for Hunter. He is such a great brother, and sometimes I'm amazed I'm related to such a good person. This is Hunter driving the boat at Deep Creek in August. Paige O. is in the foreground!

Spencer's birthday is just the next day on the 26th. Spencer is a wonderful person. Basically everybody that knows him and meets him recognizes this. He is busy with his crazy family right now, and I know he's being a great dad.

And now we have Sierra! Sierra's birthday is on the 27th. She turned 28 this year. My birthday is in July, so I always hit the new age just right before her. I remember talking to Sierra on my 20th birthday and we both admitted to each other that we had been telling people we were 20 for the last couple months. Sometimes it's just easier to lie. I was doing this with my last birthday too. 28 just seems like an age that makes more sense to be than 27 (maybe it's the odd number that throws me off??). So, last night I was talking to Sierra and she tells me what a friend of Alli's (Sierra's daughter) says to her mom (Sierra's friend). Daughter says to mother: "Alli's mom thinks Alli is four, but Alli knows she is five." Alli has convinced her friends that she is 5 and apparently has inherited this tendency to lie about her age since she doesn't turn five until January.

This is a bad picture of Sierra and I, but it's the only one I've got. Sierra has been one of my closest friends for 10 years. I am so grateful for her and feel we could be sisters!

This is a picture of Alli. The girl is hilarious. I love talking to her. Her language abilities are amazing! I remember having full conversations with the girl when she was two. She was speaking in complete sentences at two! She's such a fun girl and so smart and inquisitive.

Happy Birthday to all of you! Hope you all had a great day full of festivities.

I heart blogging

I LOVE blogging. These are the things I love about it:

1. I love writing as it really is the art of expression

AND

2. I find that through blogging I am able to keep in touch with people and know about the everyday happenings of their lives. These are people I really care about, but there's just not time to have phone conversations with all of them.

I guess that's it.

But let me just tell you that if you don't blog, you should. People want you to. And it's kind of your moral responsibility.

And now, we come to this question ... If I really love blogging as much as I say that I do, why does it sometimes feel like a chore to blog?

I've come to this conclusion. I'm a lazy person. Well, I'm actually not lazy at all, but sometimes with everything I have going on in my life (reading, reading, reading, work out, eat, zone out occasionally in the front of the t.v. so that I don't go crazy before I have to go back to reading) I can't or won't do it. So, there's my explanation for not blogging. I've realized that I've had a consistent head ache for like the last two weeks and I was thinking that I really may be just taking in too much information. Is that ridiculous?

Love you all.

P.S. I've discovered Google Reader only recently, but I find how great a tool it is to keep all the blogs I read in one convenient location. Wonderful. If you haven't, try it out.

3rd Grade

I taught 3rd grade this summer. It was really wonderful. Third grade is just a great grade to teach. The kids are still cute and enthusiastic learners. One of my girls would give me a new name every morning based on the outfit I had on that day. She was so cute and creative. I loved hearing what she would come up with. A couple of my names were Ms. Sailboat (I was wearing blue and white -- it's really pretty amazing that she would pick up on this since her exposure to a sailboat I can almost gaurantee is null), Ms. Funeral (I was wearing black and dark purple), and I really wish I could remember more. This same girl was an incredible writer. I loved reading her work. This is a picture of Sierra hugging Lance. Lance probably reads at an 8th grade level. I told Sierra on the first day that one of my best friend's names is Sierra. She loved it.
The kids -- running on the second to last day of school bounce off the wall energy.
After my students "tracked out" (most schools in Vegas are year round schools, so they have different "tracks") I had to go into another 3rd grade class just to hang out, basically. There was another teacher still in there. This is a picture of me and John who is the son of the teacher whose class I was in. John is in 5th grade and is the class President. His fro is AMAZING.

I think Marshawn was absent on this day. Marshawn is a 4th grader I tutored in reading over the winter and spring. Marshawn and I would plan to have matching Transformer tatoos on some days.

While I don't plan on teaching in the traditional school setting, I am really grateful for the experience and training I've received in this area. The education system is such a difficult one to be in - especially at this time. While I know all school systems have the same problems, I think Vegas sees these difficulties at a heightened degree. It's just not a place that values education and for this reason any educated people who end up here realize relatively soon that they need to leave; so it's a transient place with high teacher turn-over. It's unfortunate that this is the case, because, of course, there needs to be good teachers here and everywhere.

I love kids and I love learning. I love being in this field. And with that, I'm off to read John Dewey's Experience and Education or my Educational Research text, or Schooling Around the World. Does the reading never end?? It really doesn't. I have SO much I have to read, but also so much I want to read. I wish I could take off a whole summer to read, or something.