Duly Noted

The Longfellow Lights Committee gathered Friday evening to put the finishing touches our awards and head out into our neighborhood to determine this year's quality light displays. All members of the committee were filled with cheer including the canines in the party. We took judging very seriously.  Considering all decisions with equal weight. Our first award, a snowman, immediately fell apart and an air of disappointment filled the crisp winter air. Fortunately, the judges took the collapsed award in stride and the evening proved to be a success. Highlights included: a police officer playing holiday music from his loud speaker so we could enjoy a coordinated music/light three house display presenting an award to a homeowner in person.  She was frightened, then overcome with holiday gratitude. an on-looker directing us toward a miracle on 34th street.  (see video included above).  The evening closed with food and spirits at our favorite

Quick films that will make you happy.  Well, they make me REALLY happy. My friend, Sara, linked me to this video knowingly aware of how much I love Christmas pageants.   My husband, with a deep appreciation for my sense of humor, led me to Marcel The Shell.    And...part two:

The following New York Times article caught my eye this morning: Out on the Town, Always Online by John Leland. ***It is probably crucial to note the the context from which I am reading and analyzing the article.  Currently, my tenth grade class is devouring (okay, I am devouring and eagerly promoting the relevance of the book to them) Orwell's classic, 1984.  I wish we had enough copies of M.T. Anderson's dystopian novel, Feed, to pair it with, but nonetheless, 1984 certainly stands alone in its creepy correlations with our present day.  In John Leland's article, smartphones are one step away from becoming an additional body part.  (For Feed non-readers , the characters in the novel have a computer chip in their brains that basically functions as a smartphone but they don't need to type; the chip can read their minds).  Please note the following quotes from the article: "Mr. Hunt and Ms. Beaudreault resumed their conversation seamlessly, as if the inte

Duly note the following: 1. two TWO cozy sweaters. 2. Duffy!  He's cute but I prefer my own bearded wonderboy. 3. bonne maman jam collection. 4. oversized straw market bag. 5. having a critical distance.  I wonder how a small Minnesota cabin would fare.  Thank Lucy Chadwick for your take on the good life.

Finally found my dream camel coat.

This race actually happened BEFORE the monster dash half marathon.  It was a really unique race for a number of reasons.  First off, the race was organized by a Macalester student (a Somali student who graduated from Minneapolis South High School) with support from American Refugee Committee (an organization I feel a special connection to thanks to my inspiring good friend who enacts her passion for refugee rights everyday at ARC). Appropriately, the race was a 5k run/walk to raise money for hunger relief in Somalia.  Local organizations and high schools were involved so I saw many a familiar face at the start line on the windy Sunday October morning. Joan and I decided to run a couple warm up miles over to the University of Minnesota flats on east river parkway.  The course was gorgeous; it covered trails and floating walkways along the river road that I had never run on before.  Judging from the relatively small number of racers (350 as compared to the thousands I am used to), Joan

This race actually happened BEFORE the monster dash half marathon.  It was a really unique race for a number of reasons.  First off, the race was organized by a Macalester student (a Somali student who graduated from Minneapolis South High School) with support from American Refugee Committee (an organization I feel a special connection to thanks to my inspiring good friend who enacts her passion for refugee rights everyday at ARC). Appropriately, the race was a 5k run/walk to raise money for hunger relief in Somalia.  Local organizations and high schools were involved so I saw many a familiar face at the start line on the windy Sunday October morning. Joan and I decided to run a couple warm up miles over to the University of Minnesota flats on east river parkway.  The course was gorgeous; it covered trails and floating walkways along the river road that I had never run on before.  Judging from the relatively small number of racers (350 as compared to the thousands I am used to),

These images spoke to me and I cut and pasted them into my scrapbook a few months ago.  I think its the forest green, the tableclothed picnic table, and the utility sink that sealed the deal for me.  I wonder how this cabin would hold up in Minnesota winters.  It would definitely need a wood burning stove and a giant pile of fire wood.  I think Mike would be pretty excited about an ax and a flannel.  Or at least I would be. http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/le-shack/

A reminder that beauty can happen anywhere.

Go Big.  It was the perfect morning for a PR- dad was visiting, the weather was cool and sunny, and I felt energized and capable.  Dad remarked how relaxed I seemed in comparison to other early morning pre-race preparations he'd witnessed.  Running a handful of marathons does tend to put other races into perspective.  That said, I hadn't really built up this race in terms of any consistent training plan.  My fall workout schedule was basically a few short/easy runs, a fast run with my high school runners, and a long run on the weekends.  My weekly mileage was around 30 miles on average.  This isn't very much for me.  Yet, I ran the TC 10 mile a few weekends before the Monster Dash and my time was only a couple minutes slower than last year.  So, I knew I could PR if I was ready to accept a little pain at the end.  I also knew that it was my last chance before snowfall to hit a half marathon PR.  So...why not, right? Miles 1-3 Mike cheering for me in front of our alma mater!

Go Big.  It was the perfect morning for a PR- dad was visiting, the weather was cool and sunny, and I felt energized and capable.  Dad remarked how relaxed I seemed in comparison to other early morning pre-race preparations he'd witnessed.  Running a handful of marathons does tend to put other races into perspective.  That said, I hadn't really built up this race in terms of any consistent training plan.  My fall workout schedule was basically a few short/easy runs, a fast run with my high school runners, and a long run on the weekends.  My weekly mileage was around 30 miles on average.  This isn't very much for me.  Yet, I ran the TC 10 mile a few weekends before the Monster Dash and my time was only a couple minutes slower than last year.  So, I knew I could PR if I was ready to accept a little pain at the end.  I also knew that it was my last chance before snowfall to hit a half marathon PR.  So...why not, right? Miles 1-3 Mike cheering for me in front of our alma m

Dad and I visited the Walker Art Museum   before he left town today.  After doing our best to appreciate some of the more controversial exhibitions (namely, Midnight Party (an investigation of our dreams and nightmares through art), we were about to make a break for the gift shop when a gallery on graphics caught our eye.  We decided we better check it out as we both like graphic art and I recently learned that "op" (as in op-art) is a word all by itself (thank you scrabble).  The exhibition was hands-on, relevant, and a reminder of all the inventive art that digital media has exposed to audiences.  So cool!  I jotted down a bunch of ideas for my classroom.   Here is one video that I've seen before but could always see again: I also really liked Doyle's Identity Guidelines.  He created a standard self.  Here, he is showing two variations on his standard outfit.  As a ninth grade English teacher, we talk a

I now have a triathlon under my belt and I am ready for another! Tomorrow! (No need for concern, I don't actually have another triathlon tomorrow, but I would totally do one if I did.) Here's how it went (Skip ahead to the last paragraph if you don't want the nitty gritty details): I woke up at 5am, hit snooze, and then rolled out of bed five minutes later. I had my race breakfast- coffee, oatmeal, banana. I prepped all my stuff Saturday night so I didn't really have much to worry about in the morning. I checked the weather- high of 80 but not until later in the afternoon. Perfect. I drove myself to Lake Nokomis, biked over to the transition area, pumped my tires and set up my gear in my assigned transition spot. Luckily, my transition area was easy to identify and I was there early enough to get a prime location. My gear included a small towel to place my stuff on, running shoes, tri shorts (with gummies and a mini cliff in the pockets), tank top with number

I now have a triathlon under my belt and I am ready for another! Tomorrow! (No need for concern, I don't actually have another triathlon tomorrow, but I would totally do one if I did.) Here's how it went (Skip ahead to the last paragraph if you don't want the nitty gritty details): I woke up at 5am, hit snooze, and then rolled out of bed five minutes later. I had my race breakfast- coffee, oatmeal, banana. I prepped all my stuff Saturday night so I didn't really have much to worry about in the morning. I checked the weather- high of 80 but not until later in the afternoon. Perfect. I drove myself to Lake Nokomis, biked over to the transition area, pumped my tires and set up my gear in my assigned transition spot. Luckily, my transition area was easy to identify and I was there early enough to get a prime location. My gear included a small towel to place my stuff on, running shoes, tri shorts (with gummies and a mini cliff in the pockets), tank