Hot For Teacher

The findings in this article, Do Good Looks Equal Good Evaluations? , really come as no surprise. It's one reason why I see teaching as being not all that far removed from any other public performance.

Exposure

It's really interesting to see the effect that communications and media technology have on language learning. My second year Japanese students have so much more outside, self-sought exposure to the language than I ever did (or could have). When I studied Japanese in Colorado I basically had what was in my textbooks for source text and a sprinkling of Japanese novels in translation in the library for cultural background. Someone once had a video tape of Japanese tv in my last year of school. I borrowed it and watched and the only thing I could make out was "yon-daburu-d", which through the context of the truck commerical I understood to mean 4 WD (4 wheel drive). I was thrilled.
These kids have sooo much more exposure through games, videos, cds, websites, dvds and manga. They bring so much more knowledge with them to the class than I ever had. It's very cool. It's not like they don't have a long way to go to being completely competent in the language, but they seem to be able to grasp the flow of things and not demand one to one English equivalents. Expressing yourself in Japanese is very different from expressing yourself in English. You need to be able to get beyond what the individual words mean and go for the overall meaning and effect you hope to acheive. That's basically easy to do in your native language and not so easy to do in an acquired one.

Fall Frenzy

Squirrels are all obsessed with gathering nuts this time of year. I'm obsessed with knitting and crocheting. Wonder if it's some deep genetic legacy that sends me in search of knitting needles once most of the leaves are off the trees. Right now I'm about 2/3 done with a big comfy chenille blanket for the living room couch and I'm starting on a winter hat for Rachel (she gets the prototype) and also looking to make a light blanket for her room with some leftover yarn I have from when I made her this pillow.
I found this blog,Sweater Project the other day and forget how I got there. It's by a guy in Austin, Texas who happens to be a damn good knitter. I'm dying to make something like his caper hats, but too proud to ask for directions to something that's got to be pretty simple to figure out on my own.

Girls Night Out

Went to Shooters Pub in Exeter last night to catch MondayMen opening for Heavens to Murgatroid. Shawn and Adam, who we met at our gig at the Muddy River the other week, make up two thirds of MondayMen. We also caught a few songs by the first band that played, Heroes Die aka The Roadies. Apparently the names are anagrams. (play around with the letters and you'll see what I mean) It was a night of high energy rock and it was totally worth the drive to Exeter.
Out of the three bands I think I'd have to say I enjoyed MondayMen the most (not just because we're planning on jamming with Adam and Shawn either). They were tight they rocked and had a sort of 80s new wave flavor with good hooks and the right amount of punchy-ness. They were also sporting a Devo/Convict look since it was a Halloween event. It seems like our musical styles would make a great blend and we're planning on getting together next weekend to initiate the experiment!
It was my first time at Shooters, my first time seeing any of those bands and the first time I ever saw SpongeBob wail on a Stratocaster. (Sponge Bob being Tim Theriault on guitar for Heavens to Murgatroid in a big Sponge Bob costume with bare legs, Sponge Bob boxers and Sponge Bob looking shoes!!!)

What the ?!#%@$^%???

It's been just about 6 months since I moved back to NH and I guess the honeymoon is over. Here it is, still OCTOBER and it's snowing. It's not sticking but it's still snowing!
I wore a raincoat today. The whole concept of snow at this point is not something I can easily accept. It does not fit my vision of how the world should be. I'll probably see someone more in denial than myself today at school wearing shorts.

Durham Post Office

Now that I've finally figured out where the Durham post office is I've been doing more of the auction mailings from there. It's right on my way home from school. Durham by no means provides the level of human entertainment value that the Dover PO does, but it does have a very interesting mural around the perimeter of the lobby. A plaque states it was a gift from the Durham Women's Club and Friends in 1959. The mural is a series of paintings with slogans on the bottom that I guess are supposed to exemplify the good character of the citizens of the area. It is definitely a product of the pre-PC era.One of the scenes shows a lone garrison-style house in the background and a loin-clothed native with a feather in his hair bearing a flaming torch and obviously casing the joint. On the bottom it says Cruel Adversity. Another one shows a winter morning scene and a couple dressed in their Sunday best (black suit and stovepipe hat for him, and a hoop skirt and bonnet for her) approaching a white steepled church. On the bottom it says Steadfast Faith. I imagined a cartoon dialogue bubble coming out of the guy's mouth saying "It's frikkin cold!"
I'll have to go back and take photos sometime (and leave my Sharpie marker at home). It's pretty frikkin cool.

Now A Part of Something Bigger

Well, Brian, that renowned Dover blogger of Kreblog, The Dover NH Post and the cover of last week's Dover Community News page fame, has aided and abetted the sydication of this blog on Seacoast Bloggers, a group of blogs by folks in the area. It feels good to be part of a community, especially a virtual local one (if that makes any sense).
I'm starting to feel a little more at home at UNH, too. My students are awesome and I can honestly say I look forward to going to work every day. Now if UNH just paid a little more and offered me benefits I'd having nothing to bitch about at all. At least as far as work goes...

Don't Let It Bring You Down

Stef and I practiced this evening. Just the two of us. It was as much talking as playing, which isn't an unheard of mix with us. Jammed out on some stuff that sounded slow and desert-y; although she was thinking cowboy and I was thinking Sahara. Spindly sounding music, sort of. Guess it all seems a little spindly without a drummer.
For various reasons, I wasted a good chunk of my day playing Jan Brady to Stephanie's Marsha. "Why is it always Marsha Marsha Marsha!?!" Being a jealous little sister sucks. I'm 38. I ought to get over it. I allow myself to wallow in it for an hour or two, until the ridiculousness of it all finally brings me back around. Rock on.