Slice of Life March 28th, 2013 #slice2013

Isn’t it amazing how certain songs can remind you of people or take you back to a part of your life?  I’ve been reminded of that twice in the past 24 hours.  Chris and I sat down to watch Les Miserables today and I kept thinking of my friend Aileen, who first introduced me to Broadway musicals way back in elementary school.  Thanks to her I fell in love with Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Annie, Cats, and pretty much every Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

I was also reminded of the power of music at last night’s Taylor Swift concert.  I was already out of college (*sob* I am old) when Taylor Swift released her first single, but her music always makes me think of my teen and college years.  She writes the soundtrack for many people’s lives, I think.

Then there are the songs that make me think of Chris and our life together.  Avril Lavigne, Ingrid Michaelson, Michael Buble, and so many others.  I can be transported to a mood, a time, a place, or a feeling when certain songs come on.

Music fascinates me because it is inherently tied to our emotions.  I’m not a musician, but I love music and the soundtrack it provides.

Slice of Life March 27th, 2013 #slice2013

Tonight I took my little sister to see Taylor Swift.  Ok, she was a convenient excuse for me to go see Taylor Swift.

I’ve loved Taylor Swift ever since I first heard “Tim McGraw” back in 2006.  Even though she is younger than me, her songs provide a soundtrack for my teen and college years.  Her songs are like little YA novels set to music, and her albums are all awesome.  I’m partial to her more country-esque albums, but I own them all.

Tonight, I almost went deaf at her Red Tour.  I’ve never seen so many light-up signs or heard so much high-pitched screaming.  But it was awesome to watch all these young girls and teens (and twenty-somethings!) sing along to “Mean” and nod along as Taylor told them to ignore the people who try to bring them down.  They also sang along, even louder, to “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and I laughed as Taylor Swift told the audience they shouldn’t get back with their evil ex-boyfriends just to be with someone.

It was a great night and a great time with my sister.  :) And now it’s after midnight and I need some sleep!

Slice of Life March 26th, 2013 #slice2013

Today I am grateful.  Chris is home, in his own bed, and everything is as it should be.  He has a few weeks of recovery ahead of him, but it’s so good to be out of the hospital.  Tonight he can sleep without a stranger in the room, without the woman in the next room screaming, and without being woken up for vitals every 4 hours.  He doesn’t have an easy few weeks ahead of him, but every day will be an improvement on the last one.  And it’s getting better every hour.

Now if only I could convince the cat to leave him alone…….The dogs are easy- a gate stops them.  The cat, not so much!

Slice of Life March 25th, 2013 #slice2013

Today Chris and I discovered that the hospital wireless is decent enough to let patients stream from Netflix.  After browsing the recently added TV shows and movies, Chris said he wanted to give Dr. Who a try and I agreed.

Most of my friends are big Who fans.  Many, many, many of my students are huge Who fans.  (Is there a name for the Who fandom?)  Some of my students have been begging, or really demanding, me to give the show a try. I always have it on my list but we rarely have time to binge watch anything besides Downton Abbey, which  is in a class all its own.

So we decided today, in the hospital, would be the perfect excuse to sit down and give it a shot.  We browsed the many, many, many seasons and tried to decide where to start.  We quickly made the decision to skip the 60′s version and start with the 2005 Season 1 reboot.  We watched one episode with Rose and Nine (look at me, using the right terminology already!) and it was enjoyable.  But I wasn’t very attached to the Doctor.  We laughed at the episode and enjoyed it, but something was missing.  I asked Chris if he minded skipping to the second season, which starred David Tennant. I wanted to see if that hooked me a little more.  He didn’t mind, so we tried the first episode of Ten’s season.

Well, Ten is my Dr. Who.  Yup. Definitely.  David Tennant, who I know from Hamlet  and Harry Potter, is a force of

The Doctor has changed appearance ten distinct times. These are the eleven faces of the Doctor. (Top) L-R: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker (Middle) L-R: Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann (Bottom) L-R: Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

nature.  What an amazing actor!  We flew through his first episode and now I plan to binge watch as many seasons as possible! Chris will be coming home at some point this week (trying not to jinx it!) and I am on spring break.  He has a few weeks of recovery ahead of him and we are looking forward to lots of time spent watching new TV shows and movies, and Dr. Who will definitely be at the top of the list.  Finally!

Slice of Life March 24th, 2013 #slice2013

I don’t think this even counts as a Slice of Life.  But I can’t come up with anything else.

Today’s theme is exhaustion.  Mental and physical and emotional.  Just exhaustion.

Weekly Diigo Posts (weekly)

• Achebe Essay/Shakespeare Essay

  tags: chinuaachebe chinua achebe things fall apart thingsfallapart shakespeare

• Chinua Achebe Examined Colonialism and Masculinity – NYTimes.com

  tags: things fall apart thingsfallapart chinuaachebe colonialism

• Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Writer, Dies at 82 – NYTimes.com

  tags: things fall apart thingsfallapart chinuaachebe

• The Stories That Bind Us via – great piece to sho

  The Stories That Bind Us via @NYTimes – great piece to show value of #Storytelling http://t.co/jyQ3DNKpL0 #engchat

  tags: Storytelling engchat twitter

• Kakenya Ntaiya: A girl who demanded school | Video on TED.com

  “A Girl Who Demanded School” For older students, pair up this powerful speech with “Claiming an Education.” http://t.co/gNi9SGDF80 #TED

  tags: TED twitter

• Alice in WonderTech: Evernote is a Must-Have for Educators

  @thereadingzone Evernote is great. Here are some ways I use it as a teacher http://t.co/RlVkNdF0vz #engchat

  tags: engchat twitter

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Slice of Life March 23rd, 2013 #slice2013

Just a quick slice tonight.

I spent the day at the hospital with Chris, and my in-laws took a break and watched the dogs for most of the day.  My mother-in-law, who has two cocker spaniels, always teases the dogs by saying that one of them will win “Dog of the day” for being the best behaved.  It’s a very important prize.

Today they had their two Cocker Spaniels plus the two Aussies.  This is the first time Bailey has stayed with them and I forgot to mention that since St. Patrick’s Day she has been on a counter-surfing kick.  I need to deal with it but just haven’t had the time (clearly).  Well, my mother-in-law bought a hoagie today and left it on the table for a minute while she finished getting lunch.

I’m sure you can see where this is going.

Bailey ate the hoagie.  The whole half.  In one bite.  With no chewing. And she was quite proud of herself.

Needless to say, she did not win Dog of the Day.

And I think she’s ok with that.  Because the hoagie was delicious!