Halloween, MACA style

So, to raise funds for the kids going to New York in the Spring, we hosted the MACA Halloween party. This meant that I did most of the planning, but I was impressed by how much the kids did. Fun times were had by all! It was a really great turnout, we made lots of moolah, and we all got to see the principal play Guitar Hero.



















As a tech arts school, we of course had to do some techy things. We have a covered outdoor area, and we projected The Ring on one of its walls. I forgot how creepy that movie is. And yes, it's only PG-13! Also, we hooked a Wii up to one of the projectors in the Media Lab, and also had two PS2's playing with Karaoke and Guitar Hero. We did it arcade-style - 25 cents per turn. Also, we had purchased a fusball table the weekend before at the Rummage Sale (what a nightmare last week was - definitely not worth the $250 we got out of it), and we set up a Ping Pong table in there as well. In my classroom, the kids decked it out with two strobe lights (thank goodness no one had a seizure), four black lights, a lazer light, and some good dance music. We also sold homemade goodies (cookies and almond roca), soda, candy, and even had a smoothie station! We sold out of many items.
For legal reasons, I can't post pictures of some students, so to play it safe, I only included one. This is Tiffany, the Smoothie Guru.
































Andrea the dinosaur, and Liz the nerd. Liz and I drove all the way to Fry's on Wednesday evening, JUST to pick up the pocket protectors.



















Laurie (the Principal) also gave me a Walkie Talkie so we could be in constant communication.
Percentage of real communication: 22%. The rest was just playing. Felt like old times (NBHC), only I got one of those real heavy-duty industrial Walkies, so I felt even cooler.
It was a desperate hope of mine to be out of the building by 10:00 (party ended at 9). I was more than pleased that all the cleaning was done by 9:45! It was marvelous.

Here I go with the sensitive topics...

I've been having roughly the same conversation with different people for the last month or so, and I finally just decided to blog about it, because what better way is there for me to make my opinions publicly known without the risk of actual face-to-face conversation? Also, I can delete comments, which makes me feel like a wizard. So, that said...

I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I learned a lot of important lessons going to church, and that upbringing definitely had a great influence on who I am today. My parents, also, taught me that I should a) think for myself, and b) value education. They also taught me that I should be compassionate. So I went to BYU, and I read my scriptures, and I went to church, all the while fighting against some of the ignorance that is present when any ethical or religious group congregates. I could accept that - people are people, and entitled to their own opinions. And I was okay with the Church's position that homosexuality is morally wrong, but that it's not okay to persecute or insult or tell other people what to do or how to vote. I felt okay affiliating with it because the Church leaders themselves had always encouraged its members to "search, ponder, and pray" about what is right, and to act on that - instead of telling its members what to believe and leaving no room for personal meditation.

That changed a couple years ago, when the Church publicly - and from the pulpit - began getting political. It is now the practice of its leaders to tell its members how to vote on an issue, not that they should get involved in what they believe is right. And instead of choosing a side on, oh, really important, valid, and urgent issues like health care or poverty or mental health or child abuse or education - you know, things that affect every single person in this country - they choose an issue regarding the rights of a person to make a personal decision. A decision that has no impact on me or my family whatsoever. An issue that very nearly crosses the line from "morality" to simply "hate". Who cares if two men in Connecticut love each other enough to want to make a legally binding committment to each other? Really?

And I've heard the "preservation of family" argument as well - but you know what? Show me a perfect family. Show me any statistics at all the provide evidence that gay marriage a) adversely affects other families, or b) gay couples divorce more often, or c) children being raised by gay couples more often grow up to be totally messed up, or God forbid, homosexual themselves. Show me any evidence of that at all and I will agree to listen to your case. The "One-Man-One-Woman" argument also leaves out families with one parent, or step-parents, or grandparents raising kids, etc. etc. Um, Jesus had a stepdad. Who remembers that? There are all sorts of families in this world, and what makes one successful and another not is compassion, love, and patience, not who Daddy is attracted to. Studies show that if a child sees love and compassion between his parents (gay or not), that child will continue those positive habits (gay or not). There are plenty of problems between "traditional" families - why not start programs to improve those relationships? Oh, I dunno, improve healthcare so counseling is more available? Parenting lessons? Improving the welfare system to support one-parent families while not enabling those that take advantage of it?

Phew. That was difficult to write. And, I'm sure, difficult to read, for some that know me well but were not aware of my thoughts.

That being said, I present you with this list by Facebook's group: "Gay Marriage Killed the Dinosaurs"

Top 17 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong

17. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

16. Gay culture is a new fad created by the liberal media to undermine long-standing traditions. We know this is true because gay sex did not exist in ancient Greece and Rome.

15. There are plenty of straight families looking to adopt, and every unwanted child already has a loving family. This is why foster care does not exist.

14. Conservatives know best how to create strong families. That is why it is not true that Texas and Mississippi have the highest teen birthrates, and Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire have the lowest. This is a myth spread by the liberal media.

13. Marriage is a religious institution, defined by churches. This is why atheists do not marry. Christians also never get a divorce.

12. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why our society has no single parents.

11. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

10. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

9. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

8. Gay marriage should be decided by the people and their elected representatives, not the courts. The framers checked the courts, which represent mainstream public opinion, with legislatures created to protect the rights of minorities from the tyranny of the majority. Interference by courts in this matter is inappropriate, just as it has been every time the courts have tried to hold back legislatures pushing for civil rights.

7. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because "separate but equal" institutions are a good way to satisfy the demands of uppity minority groups.

5. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

4. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

3. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

2. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

1. METEORS and VOLCANOES.

Help!

As many of you know, I am planning a trip with 12ish students to New York City this upcoming Spring. I will be teaching an Art History and Appreciation class, and it's those students who will be coming with me to tour the Met, the American Museum of Natural History, Wall Street, Chinatown/Little Italy, NBC, Ellis Island, and other places in the city. Most of these students come from less-privileged families, and especially since the economic crisis has developed, these families have no funds to spare. So, we're doing a lot of fundraising. Some of the things we have in the works:
*Online silent auction of artwork. Right now, there are just photographs, but there will be student artwork in the coming weeks. Check it out!
*HUGE rummage sale, benefiting both the MSD After School Program and the New York City trip. We've got SO much good stuff so far! It will be the weekend of the 17th/18th at the MACA campus, if you're a local and want to check it out.
*Halloween party! Outdoor movie, video games, bake sale, costume contest, the whole works. Oct 24th for MACA and MHS students.
*Donations and sponsorships. If you or your company would like to become an official sponsor, drop me a line! We're begging for any and all donations. The Merri Artist in McMinnville became our first official sponsor on Friday, with a large donation of paint and canvases. Woot!

So, James and I headed up to Bremerton, Washington to attend his grandmother's memorial service. It was a beautiful service and I feel like I really got to know his grandmother, even though I'd only met her twice.

For those of you who don't know me well, I have few cousins. On my Mom's side, I have seven first cousins, all female. If I ran into them on the street I bet only four of them would recognize me. (I know this, because one of them actually introduced herself to me before. In college. I'm not naming names.) On my Dad's side I think I have two - again, both girls, but don't ask me names. I've never met them before, and I've only met my Uncle Dennis once. (I've heard it's probably better that way.) Anyway, since I only have female cousins that I hardly spend time with, the idea of male cousins seems foreign to me. A lot of James' cousins are guys, and a lot of them are around our age. I kept thinking, "which one of their wives is James' cousin?" Also, keep in mind that James doesn't look a lot like his family, so I can't rely on THAT comparison. So, I studied a cheat sheet in the car ride up, doing my best to remember names. I think I did pretty well!

Even though it was a sad occasion, I had a wonderful time getting to know many of his cousins and aunts and uncles that I previously hadn't met. I really enjoyed spending time with people who adore James almost as much as I do, and it's no wonder that he is as fond of his family as he is. Really, there's a lot of love in the Wright family... and it was so nice to feel like a part of that. His cousins and aunts and uncles embrace me as their own, but not in an awkward cultish kind of way - they are real people with genuine hearts, and I'm so grateful that I'm a part of that!

In other news, I've been spending some quality time watching CMT. That's "Country Music Television," for all them fancy folks out there. No, it's not because I've developed a strange obsession with Brad Paisley or something. Or even Kid Rock. (I am NOT making that up, Kid Rock has a video getting airtime on CMT. Parallel universe?) CMT now airs Nanny 911, a show where proper English nannies (one is Welsh, though) sweep in, spend a week with a horrifically disfunctional family, and try to minimize their problems. It's always the parent's fault, of course, and it raises my blood pressure every time I watch that show, but I can't turn away! And usually one of the parents does a really great job, and the other one is totally clueless and gives in to their kids' every whim, and all hell breaks loose. Then Nanny establishes rules and the parents are always SO SURPRISED when little Johnny responds to them. "Golly-gee, Molly Sue fell asleep when we turned the tv off in her room and made her sleep in her own bed! Imagine that!" It gives me hope that I'd be a good parent, 'cause I'm pretty sure this teaching gig is hammering in the basics.

I did get a request to post more pictures of Michelle and Samantha's wedding. Click here to go to my Flickr page, and browse away!

Please Vote!

I need some feedback, so please vote on which picture either: sucks the least, or that you like best. The poll is on the right-hand side. And please, give some constructive criticism (you may comment anonymously!). (I do sometimes adjust lighting/color in Photoshop so if you'd like any of that to change, please say so!

Wow! Someone from Dubai visited my blog today.

Welcome! Welcome to my blog!

You probably just did a Google search on skunk+picture+alive, searching for a picture of a live skunk instead of a dead one.

Try it. You'll see.

I also thought maybe they looked up "chill out" (since it was in the previous post) and "skunk" (since it's in half of all others) and I was shocked by what Google turned up. A type of bud specifically designed for... well, maybe you don't want to know. It's not PG.

In other news, I love love love melatonin. Love it. I've been taking it for about 10 days now, and I'm sleeping so much better, having/remembering some crazy dreams, and I'm virtually stress-free. Ask James: I'm in a much better mood and I'm not so tired during the day. If you click on the melatonin link, pay special attention to the "Immune System" and "Dreaming" sections. Very interesting. I heart you, melatonin!

...and so it begins again

First week of Year Two: awesome.

Total amount of time in the past week feeling stressed out: ~3 minutes.

Total number of requests for basic school supplies because they forgot theirs: 1.

Total number of screw-ups I've made: 0?

Percentage of classes voting to have "Chill Out!" be an official class rule: 33%.

A Day in the Life of Two Skunks

Usually the skunks sleep with us at night. Aroma is especially cuddlesome. (Is that a word? It is now.) Then, after they hang out with us in the morning, they go back to sleep... either under the bathroom sink or wedged on top of each other between the toilet and the shower. Maybe it's cooler back there? I dunno, but they love it. Note the sock in the lower left corner, stolen from James. There's also a shirt under there somewhere.









As soon as James and I aren't looking/leave the house, they go about their normal business of destroying/getting around whatever security measures or childlocks we've put up to prevent them from getting onto the kitchen counter. We've had Toby 2.5 years and we still haven't figured something out. And once a skunk gets it into his head that he wants to do something, nothing stops him.










Then, of course, after we've punished them for misbehavior and fed them, we all come back for some quality snuggles. This picture is of Aroma - I was at my computer and she wanted so badly to snuggle, and once I showed her how she could burrow into my shirt, she loved it!














Notice the nose protruding from sleeve:









When one skunk is doing something, the other skunk usually follows. Soon, both skunkies demand attention.










Mmm, snuggles!

Weekend in Seattle

This weekend I had the immense fortune to attend Michelle's wedding in Seattle. James and I carpooled with Paul, and we all picked Emily up from Sea-Tac. It was the perfect end to a great summer, and a terrific reunion of old friends.






















There was great food, fresh air, and stimulating conversation.










The brides were so beautiful. Michelle was glowing the whole time, and even though this was only the second time I've met Samantha, she is so easy to get to know and love.












They got married in a breathtaking park north of downtown and overlooking the city and the water. Of course, I was having too much fun with my camera. :)
I must also add what a beautiful ceremony it was. A concentration of good friends, lousy weather, and (not to sound too cheesy, but there isn't another word for it) love made everything perfect. I even liked the rain, and how it stopped the second the ceremony was over. Hallelujah!













































Fun times were had all around. The reception was held at the World Trade Center, also overlooking the water.









Thank you thank you thank you Pat and Libby for letting us stay with you! It was unfortunate that we really only had one night to talk. James and I both loved your house and we are so thankful we got to spend time with you both.









*Many many more pictures to come (I took almost 600! No sign of running out of room on my memory card!). I will be upgrading my Flickr account so I can add endless amounts of pictures. Some things to look forward to: Emily dancing, Paul as Silent Bob, and James and I singing Karaoke . Any guesses as to what song we would have sung? Also, that was a horrific moment for me.

More pictures

Not sure why I love my macro as much as I do, but I am sure having fun with it. Only the ivy and the rose was shot with the macro filter, but man, I would NOT have been able to do that with my old camera, as nice as it was. Woot! Don't you just love the light in the second ivy picture? I got lucky today. :)

New Hotness

I've jumped on the SLR bandwagon and splurged on a NikonD40. Today was my first day trying out my new scary and complicated camera. I have much to learn.


These are my first pictures. The slugs were taken with a high-power zoom lens with a Macro filter. The depth of focus is extremely narrow, and I was laying on the ground with my head in a shrub and not able to see through the viewfinder, so if you take a look at the full-size image you'll notice they aren't 100% in focus, which annoys me, but I guess that's okay because I was manually focusing anyway. But then, you can see the veins in this slug, and that's pretty awesome.


































I was really just thankful that I found the slowest-moving wildlife possible to practice on.
Also, I haven't been able to color/light correct these, as I don't have Photoshop anymore since my computer crashed. :( So these are all 100% un-retouched.


















































After going to the nature preserve, I went to Winco. Then there was a car on fire! I offered my camera services to the owner in case she wanted them for insurance or something, and I whipped my new baby out and pretended like I was a real photographer. It was a little scary, though, because at one point things were exploding in the engine. I was as far away as I could be with my zoom lens, but the images aren't 100% focused because I don't have an image stabilizer and no tri-pod, either. Pooh. And again with the manual focus.

Skunk Update

Aroma is fitting in very well in her new home. We think that Toby, actually, has had the hardest time adjusting - he sulked for a few days, then they had hidey-hole wars, and now they've reached a compromise and both share the prime hidey spot (under the bathroom sink). When it's time for bed, Toby takes his usual spot next to me, and Aroma usually climbs around the bed for a minute or two, unwilling to commit to snuggles - until last night, when she flopped down across my feet. Then, little by little, she wiggled her way up through the blankets until she was wedged between Toby and I, and promptly fell asleep. It was adorable. She follows us all around the house and steals Toby's food. This house definitely needed another female!

**Addendum:
Aroma slept with us last night, too. And again, she started at my feet, then wiggled her way up the blankets until she not only was wedged between Toby and I, but she smooshed her little head in between my cheek and the pillow. Not just a little bit, either - her whole head. Eventually, she kicked Toby out of his place under the covers, upside down, sprawled out and taking up as much room as possible.

I am pleased to announce that Hubby has posted. :)

For those of you looking for a new hobby....

Poll!

In the last two years, my hubby's blog has suffered great neglect. At first, it was happy and thankful to deliver a post every week or so. Then, it started dwindling to once a month. Now, it's almost once a year. Now, I may be the only one who cares that he hasn't posted (he's claiming as such; he says I say everything for the both of us - but really, we ARE two different people, and I definitely don't speak for the "family"), but that's why I'm taking a poll.

Please take a moment to vote! It's just in the right-hand column.

So, we're pretty much all moved in to Newberg. We still have a few things to wrap up at our old place (since we had paid through the month, that allowed the luxury of taking things a little more slowly), but I'm feeling pretty much at home. My initial reaction to Newberg:

*Totally small town. I'm feeling a little isolated.
*I really like Oregon's wine country (Newberg is considered its "capital"). It's gorgeous. Gas prices have limited our adventuring, though. But I bet I'd like it more if I actually drank wine, not just looked at the vines.
*My commute has been shortened to 20 minutes, versus 50 a'la Tualatin. Woot!
*I miss my Old Navy, Target, Best Buy, Carl's Jr, and Claim Jumper. There aren't many food choices here, unless you're a big wine bar fan. This place is crawling with them.

Grr.

This week, I've been attending the Coalition for Essential Schools (CES) conference here in PDX. I'm lucky, because it IS in PDX, but it's the national conference so I'm able to "network" with some big whopadeedahs on the national scene. Also, I've been able to take two students along with me (and Caan, the counselor, who is also attending with us). The conference has more than lived up to my expectations (which were admittedly low to begin with), what with the high level of professional dialogue occurring and also the fantastic food (thank you, Sheraton!)
But even though I've had this really fantastic week to be one representative of MACA on a national level, at a relatively small workshop, and learn some really intense things (think discussions on race, equity, social justice; one of my workshops was entitled "The Unexamined Whiteness of Teaching"), I've been distracted. Poor Hubby, I've neglected him for days. All I've been doing is reading the blasted Twilight series. I started the first book on Sunday afternoon, and dangit if I haven't just finished the second. And I'm thoroughly into the third. Harry Potter didn't even keep me reading for so many hours on end. I blame my in-laws for encouraging this.
On one level I'm a little embarassed that a teen romance about vampires has hooked me so intently. So, I tell myself that I'm reading so I can connect with my students. And I tell myself that it's a New York Times best-seller so I'm not the only adult who has appreciated it. And I tell myself that it has more than 500 pages so that counts as real grown-up reading. But I can't lie to myself any longer; I've finally found a non-Austin romance that I can let myself get carried away by.
*sigh*
And now I have to wait until August 2nd for the fourth book to come out.

My friend Laura posted these videos, and I just had to pass them along. She's got really terrific things on her blog, btw, and I highly recommend a browse. I imagine her sitting on YouTube for hours, finding all the old randomness it has to offer, then sharing with us. Kind of like a filter with holes only big enough for these little gems of delight to fall through.

Anyway, the first is the original "Space Oddity" video. Notice how young Bowie looks, and how low-budget it is.



I think this second video used even less money. Most of it, I imagine, went toward David's hair dye. I can picture the director saying, "Well, our budget went toward sequins and hair dye... let's get some shots of the soundboard and pretend it's in space!"