Wherein I Lose an Organ

So it turns out that that crazy "indigestion" problem I was having on Friday morning was my gall bladder freaking out. Ouch.

I woke up feeling a little, just weird, I drove to school and the feeling slowly intensified in the hour before school started. A few minutes into first period I stopped suddenly in the middle of what I was explaining about sciency things, looked down at the floor, then back at my students who are always 10 seconds away from crazy town and I could see that my pause had initiated a countdown, and it occured to me that this could only end badly. I hobbled over to my cabinet and pulled out a Planet Earth DVD (bless you BBC), negotiated with the technology and light switches, and sat down. My students seemed stunned but went with it. So their teacher's a bit weird, tell them something they don't know. I sat down, got back up--too painful, what in the world is wrong with me? Halfway through first period I was staring lovingly at the floor under my desk wondering if I could fit under it--the only thing I could think of is curling into a little ball. So I called the front desk and talked to the secretary:
Me: Somethings's wrong with me, I feel weird and sick all of the sudden.
Voice on the other end of the phone: Do you want me to call a sub?
Me: I just need my Mom or something.
Voice: I'll call the sub office.

I hope to never re-live that experience, which incidentally I guess I won't have to. Late Saturday night, after 36 uncomfortable hours, I finally dragged myself over to the ER and they admitted me and pulled that pesky little gall bladder right out. Ugh. But now I have to recover from the stab wounds.

It makes me miss the little guy.
 

Diagramming Forces

One of the perks of being a middle school teacher is that 7th graders offer no end of humorous anecdotes. I don’t know what class they’re writing all the notes in because I’m not finding very many lately but I did discover a couple of girls playing M.A.S.H. in their science journals on Thursday when they were supposed to be making plans for our lab. Instead they were making plans for their futures. Which, according to M.A.S.H., will be marriage to Henry and driving a green pick-up truck.

Come on kids! Stay on task.

The lab investigation the rest of us were planning was pretty cool though. We built little fan powered cars and had some races. Mostly the cars crashed into each other but the builders of the winning car won a hundred grand candy bar. I did not win.

Then we got down to some science and calculated the cars' speed and acceleration and diagrammed the forces acting on them. Of course you can’t diagram the force of awesome but you can’t ignore it either when it’s running amuck and crashing into everything. Needless to say it was a logistics nightmare. But I tend to enjoy my job in spite of the crazy. Unhappily, there was far too much screaming and not all of it was from delight; getting your fingers caught in a fan car is not pleasant. Teaching middle school is not for the faint of heart…

Please recall this boring teacher training and the awesomeness that ensued. http://quoththewren.blogspot.com/2011/11/fan-car.html

One of my students was complaining the next day that I'd gotten into her head. Apparently she's starting to think about free body diagrams whenever she sees things moving. I make no apologies. Seeing the world through science can save your life.

I avoided killing a dear, myself and my friends because of free body diagrams.

I was driving the stretch of I-5 between Mount Vernon and Camano Island late at night and I saw a huge deer running straight at my car from the right, but due to my vigorous physics training I immediately saw the entire situation with force vectors and velocities. I instantly realized that if I moved one lane to the left and sped up, the deer would hit me instead of me hitting the deer. I was already moving before I fully realized that I was doing a science. Heh. And that deer SMACKED into my car. But so much better than if I had smacked into it. Physics is always the right answer kids.


Watch this to learn more about diagramming forces:

May the force be with you.

Star Gazing

Yesterday I pulled into the parking lot at school and looked up at the moon as I was sprinting into the building (because I was tardy) and stopped suddenly in delight because Jupiter was so bright and beautiful right next to the Moon. 

Since school was starting about 20 minutes later (I can't believe how tardy I was); I thought maybe there was a chance I could take my first period class on a field trip. Yes, a field trip STARGAZING! During school hours. And really, I knew this was my last chance because daylight savings ends this weekend. So it was a race against the sun and the ever cloudy skies over the fair city of Seattle. 

I didn't take this picture, but someone in India did a few hours later and posted it on one of my favorite Astronomy websites. Yeah, I have a favorite Astronomy website, quit acting so surprised. This is pretty much what I saw and what inspired the field trip plans:

And another one UP CLOSE:

So I grabbed the 7th graders in my first period class and we ran out to the soccer field the second after the bell rang and the heavens smiled on us. Most of us anyway. The kids with glasses probably didn't see much because the sky was getting pretty light. Poor blind kids. But the annoying cloud cover was gone and the skies were clear.

Extra bonus, Venus was trying to outshine Jupiter in the East. 

The kids were amazed by both and even more amazed that they were looking at planets, not stars. 

But when some of the kids started running around with the soccer cones on their heads I herded those cats back into the school.

Crack-O-Lantern

It's the end of the quarter and grades are due and so are all my students' projects, which means one thing: grading! Which is not my favorite thing. My favorite thing is procrastinating.

Also, it's Halloween and no one should have to work on a holiday, right? Which is why I’m doing Crack-os instead.

 10-3+1=20-12 

 We can call it a special edition crack-o-lantern!

Existentialism Leads to Extinction

Something to enjoy. A pumpkin comes into existence only to find loneliness. In an effort to make a new friend he creates a nightmare. A scary story just in time for Halloween. (Repost from October 2008)

An Apology and A Gift Card

A confiscated note!

Dear [girl],
I am sorry that I wasn't there for you when I was your boyfriend. I hope your having fun with your new boy friend. He must be really nice. Here is a $15 best buy gift card you can use it to buy you a phone. The one right across the street from Northgate sells them for $9.09.
Hope your happy. Sorry for my mistakes.
Your friend, or non-friend
[boy]


I received some ardent apologies from a past relationship of my own this week. But no gift cards, so you have to wonder how heartfelt it really was. Just saying.

Is there anything more demoralizing for a 36 year old woman than when her love life echos the 8th graders...

Sigh.

The answer is yes.

This is more demoralizing: I have an deep, deep affection for Carley Rae Jensen's song "Call Me Maybe". Fact.

Earlier this week I was driving to work and my CD was skipping around (I ruin CDs; NEVER loan me one of yours) so I switched to radio power and had to pump it UP because Carley Rae's sweet, sweet vocals were on the airways.

The first time I endured this song I rolled my eyes a little more than I'm willing to admit now that I'm a mega fan. But soon after hearing it, America's darlings on the U.S. Olympic swim team made a video, I fell in love with it, and it all went downhill from there. Now I'm hooked. I love it so bad. I love it so, so bad.

Is there a more adorable girl on this planet than Missy Franklin [minute 1:36]? There really isn't.

Also this:

And finally this:

You're* welcome.


I promise I'm not an 8th grader contrary to all offered evidence.


*evidence that supports my claim of not being an 8th grader: I know the correct usage of your/you're.

Just One More

Oh internet, I love you. Let's be BFFs 4ever. LOL.
_

Cape Alava

I'm pretty wimpy. I've never been that interested in developing athletic prowess or even adequate upper body strength. I am, to be pithy, an easy target for zombies.

But once in a while I find myself in an entirely self-inflicted physically grueling situation. One where stamina and indefatigability are requirements for survival. I try to be graceful at such times but it's never a complete success and I tend to dip a little too far into the whiney-pants end of the spectrum. This summer I found myself in exactly such a mess and I made it out alive. High five!

I went backpacking out at Cape Alava on the northern Washington coast in the Olympic National Park.  My pack was ridiculously heavy. Why does anyone need that much stuff for two nights? I didn’t even haul a tent, which turned out to be an important detail . . .

But the experience was incredible. I’m glad I did it and look how pretty the campsite was.

Where Are All the Notes?

Dear loyal blog reader,

Have you wondered what ever happened to me posting confiscated student notes? Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to start posting more soon. Last year I was teaching honors classes and the thing about honors students is they are smart (translate to sneaky). Either that or they aren't very interested in advancing their social agenda. Either way, I didn't find any discarded notes lying about and I rarely saw a kiddo writing a note. I usually at least warn them before taking their notes, a practice for which I apologize to you, dear blog reader. This school year, which starts in just a week (!), promises to be a better haul. I am only teaching 2 honors classes, the other three are just regular 8th grade science classes. Eighth grader's notes are usually better anyway, let's be honest. More drama and angst.

I will try to show at least one super boring science video during September and lurk in the back waiting for some good stuff to come rolling in. Videos are great for note collecting because the kids try to counter extreme disinterest with socializing.

Until then, consider rereading some of your favorites from the past.

Confiscated Notes

Dating and Fashion Advice

do u want 2 d8 me?

Dream

Last night I had a dream that I was drumming on a drum kit and I was confused because no matter how hard I pounded on the drum I couldn't hear it. Then the thought occurred to me that I must be in space. So I looked around me and I was in space. If only.

And this, because it's Friday. Enjoy.

Nanometers

I attend a Sunday School class each week that has a tradition of having everyone introduce themselves before the lesson starts. Usually the teacher will set the parameters of the introduction routine by asking everyone to state their name and something about themselves within a certain topic. As an adult when someone asks me to say my name and my favorite color I roll my eyes a little. Do adults have favorite colors? But I can tell you that little Karen loved yellow with all her heart so I whipped out my little internet device did some quick research to consult the following diagram:

Then announced to the class that my favorite color is the wavelength at 600 nanometers. It would have been more appropriate to state that my favorite color was within in a range of 570 to 589 nanometers because 600 is getting more into the orange light range but I didn't want to sound like a nerd.

Black Dot

Flowers? Whaaa???!

*Disclaimer: Adult content

Today I told my students that daffosils reproduce sexually. They were disturbed by this announcement.

*Disclaimer: Adult content is over.

What could I possibly have to say after this shocking announcement? How about one of my favorite poems? I don't remember when I first read this poem but I think it was in Mrs. Low's English class my Junior year of High School. She was an incredible teacher. So even if it wasn't her, she introduced my heart to poetry

This poem continues to be one of my favorite.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

Growing up in Puyallup, Washington led to my gaining an early appreciation of daffodils. The daffodil parade, daffodil fields, my mom loved both of these things. You can click on that link to read a poem I wrote about her. I should add a disclaimer that I'm no William Wordsworth.

Love Is the Coal That Makes This Train Roll

Last summer I took as many of my nieces as my car had seat belts for to the donut store for a field trip. Of course the Black Keys were playing on my car's woefully inadequate sound system.

My niece Callie was especially enamoured with the song Howling for You. If you're my niece, seriously, I'm gonna love you no matter what, but love was streaming right out of my heart as she was singing da da da da da, da da da da da . . .
So last night I was thinking "I wish Callie was here, she would love this!" while I was enjoying the magical moment of the boys singing it live.

Then I thought what kind of grown-up would bring a child to a rock concert?! There's a dude smoking pot (a couple of dudes) and the music is so loud that my pants are actually moving from the sound waves. Nevertheless what might not constitute a healthy environment for a kid at 10 o'clock on a school night was a pretty awesome time for the rest of us.


I can't express to you the coolness of this giant mirror ball. Last time I saw them it came out of a giant box, so when I didn't see the box I felt, I'm not gonna lie, a little disappointed. But the rest of the show was so great that I was willing to forgive and forget. But no, forgiveness was not required, the magical mirror ball of your dreams was lowered down from the ceiling and none of my hopes were dashed.

None.

All the hopes were realized.

Spring Break

I have very little motivation to get my chores done today. I have an entire list of things that I've been putting off until spring break, but now it's Friday and I still haven't done any of them. The dilemma before me now is should I get started on the chores or bum around all day? Both activities have a certain appeal. The default is to do nothing; such an attractive plan. But then I wonder when am I going to do laundry, get my oil changed, grade science fair projects, get a new cell phone, clean out the fridge . . . ? Maybe spring break 2013?

But it's Friday so it's time for the next segment of the ever popular Low Calorie Friday Treat.

Swing of Change from Swing of Change on Vimeo.

Happy Friday!

* * * update * * *

Accomplishments so far:

Changed out of my pajama bottoms.

Got a new cell phone.

Experimented with a new recipe for whole wheat waffles. Had to peel it out of the waffle maker but the taste was phenomenal.

Thought about doing a little laundry.

Yay me!

Crackling Is What's Happening

I was watching conference in the Stake center on Saturday afternoon and making so much noise with the pop rocks I brought to snack on that I had to move away from all the other people to an isolated area in the last row so no one starts wondering, who's the jerk eating pop rocks?

I can't lie about this, I love pop rocks, I adore them.

Ben and Jerry's used to have a flavor of ice cream called Kaberry Kabam, it had pop rocks in it. I wish they still made it.

Recipe tip: try strawberry pop rocks sprinkled on top of a bowl of strawberry ice cream, it's amazingly delightful.

I've also tried them in hot chocolate, but that takes a die hard pop rocks fan to appreciate, not for the masses; stick with the ice cream.

High Calorie Friday Treat

I just bit into the most heavenly maple cruller. It is making my day. Happy Friday!
Sorry, no picture. It's gone now.

Here's a low calorie Friday treat. Although I would advise you to get your hands on a high calorie Friday treat right away.



This is just so lovely, I'd like to see this in person someday.

Breaking Up

Oh winter. I'm not going to lie, I loved those snow days off from school, but it's over between us. It's not you it's me. I'm sure somewhere in the southern hemisphere someone is excitedly unpacking their sweaters and knitted caps but I love the sun and you are coming between us. I'm sorry it had to end like this.

Nucleosynthesis

One night this week over my sixth or seventh slice of pie (happy pi day) one of my friends asked me about some of the heavier elements in the periodic table---just a typical party conversation. Which led to a lively discussion of science topics. Some of the things I told her were true; mostly I make stuff up. Here's something true though, and as true as it is cool.

Inside a star when atoms get moving, I mean REALLY moving they can smash into each other with such incredible force that they create a new kind of atom, a bigger one with a bigger nucleus. And here's another cool thing: Even bigger atoms form when stars explode. The coolest thing of all is that every atom inside of that pie I was eating from the glucose molecule to the long-chain carboxylic acids in the flakey crust (fancy science words for sugar and butter; and kids, there was quite a lot of both in that pie) were formed INSIDE A STAR OR A SUPERNOVA! Oh man, it's incredible. I love pie.

I found this video recently, I'm mostly posting it for my youngest brothers who both have big crushes on Neil DeGrasse Tyson. As a long time fan myself, it warms my heart a little to share this with them. Watching things we love together reminds me of those Saturday mornings years ago when the three of us would watch cartoons together. I was 17, they were 9 and 6. I don't know why out of all the sound asleep teenagers in the house, they used to come wake me up or why I even got out of bed, but they carefully explained the characters and the back story of the X-men to their inadequately educated older sister as we huddled under blankets and ate bowls of cereal. Thanks to them I rediscovered the delight that is only found in eating bowls of cocoroos in front of the TV. And thanks to me they discovered science, Weezer, and Death Cab for Cutie.

But now we've moved past the cartoons and there's some amazing stuff out there. So get yourself a bowl of cocoroos, enjoy the show, and call my brothers if you feel inadequately educated and need an explanation or a back story.

A Joke I've Waited My Whole Life to Tell

Science fair season is upon us. It has us in its icy grips and the only way out is through it.

Several days this week I have hidden in my classroom during lunch because I don't want to be attacked by one of my students in the hallway telling me their dumb science fair idea. And I have to tell them something positive and encouraging and then help them brainstorm a much better idea. I've brainstormed about 120 projects. It's exhausting but also secretly I love it.

Crazy paradox.

Today I was explaining that everyone needed to turn their posters in on one date but that the science fair is actually a few weeks later---on my birthday! Seriously. How cool is that. And one of my students named Luke yells out that that is his Dad's birthday!

So I turn to him and say " Luke, I am your father."

Hah! HA!

I'm going to laugh about this forEVER.

God of Love

The great crooner that melts hearts while he throws darts . . .



I'd love to rest my head on somebody's shoulder.

I hate to grow older all by myself. :)

Love it.

Happy Valentine's day to everyone! May all your permanent romantic attachments to your love object last longer than 6 hours!

The Kid

I have a friend who, years ago, told me how much she liked the movie The Kid. It's about a man whose 8 year old version of himself suddenly appears in his life, they have some adventures, and he learns to stop hating himself.

For some reason I've been thinking about this and wondering what kind of advice I would give 8 year-old me. And what I'm even more curious about is what advice 8 year old me would give me.

Little K to Big K:

Don't ever be too full for dessert.

Chocolate flavored chapstick does not taste good when you eat the whole tube all at once.

God loves you.

Big K to Little K:

Credit cards are not your best friend.

Hug your family as much as you can.

You're going to be fine, just live.

P.S. Hey little K, here's a picture of us next to our space ship. Yep, you grew up to be an Astronaut. Cool, huh? Love, Big K

So what advice would you give your younger self?

What do you think they'd want to tell you?

Fish Tacos

I heart fish tacos. I want to love them every time I eat them. And I want to eat them all the time. That's a lot of love. Sadly though, nay, tragically, Saturday afternoon I ordered them from one of my favorite restaurants and was so offended by what they brought me that I can hardly call it a fish taco. I definitely can't call it delicious. There was fish, there was a tortilla but not much else except a little bit of pineapple(?!) salsa. Gross. It was more like crushed pineapple than salsa. My heart is crying a little thinking about it right now. The fish was tough and flavorless. It's painful to remember, let's move on to another topic.

Snow days.

I heart snow days much more than gross fish tacos. Here in the Puget Sound area a little bit of snow can shut the whole place down. Because the whole place is riddled with crazy hills from the glaciers that carved this region out thousands of years ago (those were the craziest snow days ever), cars slip all over the place and into each other and run into mail boxes and fall off cliffs. It's a crazy scenario. Photographic evidence of the craziness:

(Seattle, December 2008)

But tomorrow I get to go to work 2 hours late because of the snow that fell yesterday. Not today. Yes, 36 hours ago. But I'm not complaining. In fact, I've got my fingers crossed that a little more of the stuff will fall before then.

I can't complain too much though, as I had the day off from school today due to the holiday celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.

I woke up on the couch this morning after falling asleep here last night, yes "here", I'm still on the couch. After waking up, I changed into my PJ pants (after I woke up), since I fell asleep in my jeans last night. Then I spent the rest of the day camping out in my living room with my laptop. I don't think I really celebrated the day appropriately . . .

So I will share this video to make up for that. I really love this cover because it the best portion of the song. The rest of it gets weird and loses me. But this part always makes me remember to not only be compassionate and patient but to be a better teacher and to love the middle schoolers. Even when they are punks.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”― Martin Luther King Jr

“There is nothing more majestic than the determined courage of individuals willing to suffer and sacrifice for their freedom and dignity.”― Martin Luther King Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Without love, there is no reason to know anyone, for love will in the end connect us to our neighbors, our children and our hearts.”― Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy MLK day. Do good.

Here's a pic of some of my family from Saturday at the favorite restaurant. It was taken from a cell phone, so not the highest quality, but there's a lot of love here. I wish everyone could have been there, but Amber, Siri, Roger, and Ryan were missing. 5 out of 9 of my siblings is a nice percentage though.

Also, some of the short ones are promoting brand names. Super cute models. You may be surprised to see that Quinn is so tall. We are shocked at his growth spurt. It was fueled almost entirely by Danimals.

2012; A Year in Review

It's true that we're only a few days in, but what better time than this to pause and reflect on how great 2012 has been so far?

The first few moments of the year were spent huddled under a giant pile of blankets with a few of my favorites on the roof of an apartment building watching a glorious fireworks display. Seattle, you really know how to put on a show. They blast those babies right off the side of the Space Needle. Nice.

The nicest part was that we were only a few blocks away. In the spirit of sharing, we might not have had actual permission to be up on that roof and we might have had to creep through an attic space and climb onto a crate and then crawl out a window, but we had the code to the padlock (somewhat shady story that I won't disclose here) and we managed to bring 8 blankets and quilts and a large pizza up there with us without anyone becoming too alarmed so we think we're going to make it a new tradition.

I'm not going to lie to you, it was a magical kind of night.

Here's a snapshot from my roommate's cellphone. It really was a lot bigger and closer in real life.

We contemplated staying up there all night and watching the sun rise on the first morning of 2012 but after another 2 hours of shivering and the subsequent arrival of a light drizzly rain, we decided to call it a night.

Then a few days later, after 2 weeks of sleeping in and eating a diet consisting almost entirely of holiday baked goods, my first day back to school on Tuesday morning came early and hit hard.

It's good to be back into the swing of things but I miss the skipping-sleep-and-reading-instead kind of nights I enjoyed during Christmas break. One night I went to bed at 5:30 a.m. (a.m. folks)

But those days are behind me for now. Summer break is a far distant, glorious dream that I try not to think about too much. Eye of the tiger. And 2012 looms ahead with all its promise.

2012 day 2. Morning hike at Discovery Park. Ignore that weird bulge on my back pocket. I was carrying my car keys and a map back there.