| My Daily Tweets |
[Jul. 10th, 2008|12:11 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jul. 9th, 2008|12:13 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jul. 3rd, 2008|12:28 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|12:22 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jun. 29th, 2008|12:19 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|12:11 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jun. 16th, 2008|12:29 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jun. 15th, 2008|12:15 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jun. 12th, 2008|08:34 am] |
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| My Daily Tweets |
[Jun. 11th, 2008|08:30 am] |
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| My daily tweets |
[Jun. 9th, 2008|10:26 am] |
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[Jul. 23rd, 2007|11:50 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  okay | ] |
I miss you. |
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| So bored |
[Jun. 30th, 2006|01:23 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  bored | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Old 97s - Big Brown Eyes | ] |
Work is so slow today. No one is even here, including my boss, and we're just sitting here, having taken care of everything we can think of that needs attention. Not even the World Cup can relieve the doldrums, seeing as this Germany/Argentina game is just not very lively. I wish I could leave early. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) shimmersong and I were going to meet up for an early dinner and a movie but then I found out that I have to stay till 5. 5 seems so very long from now. |
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| 0-3? |
[Jun. 12th, 2006|01:59 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Gomez - How We Operate | ] |
How embarrassing. I hear the Czech Republic team are the surprise darlings this year, though. Either way, I'm dissappointed though not entirely surprised... |
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[May. 14th, 2006|12:34 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  calm | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Shimmer's Kitchenaid mixer as she makes cookies | ] |
After a month and a half in the city, this weekend is the first we've actually spent most of the time in the apartment. Yesterday was all about the cleaning but today has been blissfully mellow and quiet. So, at long last, I can present a much-abbreviated update. I can't possibly cover everything but I'll do my best to capture my impressions of the last few weeks.
In many ways, being back in New York is strange only in how normal it feels. I had worried before moving back that I would feel out of place after being away for so long, and there has been some of that (like when I tried to go to my former favorite brick-oven pizza place and discovered that it's unique charm had been replaced by garish mediocrity). For the most part, though, it's like I never left. I deeply miss some people that aren't here anymore and am thrown sometimes by the frightening pace of development (have you seen what they've done to the Bowery?!), but it's great to see so many familiar places and people every day that I could only see maybe once a year while I was away. It's weird how living in the Bay Area and in New Orleans has subtly changed my perspective of the City from how I saw it before, though. I think I can appreciate the City more now than I could before but also see its faults more clearly than I could when I went to school here.
I'm currently working at the Chapin School, the posh girls school on the upper East side. I'm definitely experiencing some culture shock--Chapin and her girls are a world away from Richmond high and the kids from Making Waves. For example shimmersong and I went to a meeting last week for people from several private schools in New York City that are coming together to help the Lusher school in New Orleans, which has recently been recommissioned as a charter school. It was weird being on the giving side and not the receiving side of the fund-raising paradigm. For the most part, the people seemed genuine in their desire to help but there was definitely an undercurrent of self-promotion and distrust of the very people they wanted to help--the chief organizer was adamant that the private schools would be raising money to buy hard items to give to Lusher; they would not give Lusher any money or pay for non-tangible services like staff development. One of the male students from another school was especially obnoxious in his utter lack of perspective and arrogance--even with the adults in the room. It was just so obvious that he had led this completely sheltered and privileged life and didn't just think but knew that he had the whole world at his disposal. On the other hand, I'm very glad that these schools are aware that people in New Orleans still have needs that have not been met and are doing something about it when the attention of the rest of the country seems to have moved on.
Overall, though, I like Chapin, its students, and the people who work there. The other members of the tech team are great and I really enjoy working with them. The only big drawback to my job is that my boss is tough to work with. He's disorganized and a poor communicator, which makes his tendency toward micromanagement especially hard to deal with. Nearly all of the aforementioned tech team members are leaving at the end of this term because they can't work with him. But he's also a very giving and kind human being and his dedication to the school and the girls is beyond reproach, which makes it easier for me to forgive him his managerial shortcomings. At the end of the day, I'm glad I took this job for the experience it's giving me but I'm also glad I'm moving on to Lawrence Woodmere Academy in the fall. I can't wait to start building my own tech program. I may have no one to blame but myself if something I plan doesn't turn out over there but at least I will be free to make my own mistakes.
My favorite thing about my daily routine is the fact that, every weekday, if I get the right seat on the bus, I can see the Temple of Dendur through the beautiful glass wall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as I pass through Central Park on my way to work. The bus ride, actually, is quite nice. There's something to be said for gazing out the window at something other than dark, graffiti-lined tunnel walls.
We've been social butterflies these past weeks, going to some great culteral event or get-together with friends whenever there's been free moment (and sometimes when there wasn't). Highlights include the Cherry Blossom festival at the Brooklyn Botanic garden (except for the Japanese imperial court music performance *shudders*), seeing Brick (which was not only excellent but also contained a shoutout to Ms. Kasprzyk, which made my week), and showing Shimmer's mom around the City. We even got to see David Blaine in his bubble. Yessir, I'd say we haven't wasted any of our New York Experience opportunities. Today, though, it's nice to catch up on LJ, read the latest New Yorker and take the time to pause and appreciate just how far we've come since that troubled moment in Canton, TX when we realized that we couldn't go home. Things may not be perfect but, at this moment, I feel pretty good. |
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| Sort of a weird way to revisit your alma mater |
[Apr. 24th, 2006|10:05 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  surprised | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Tool - Right in Two | ] |
Have you guys heard about this movie, Brick? Well it takes place in San Clemente and they seemed to have filmed a good amount of it on the SCHS campus. Pretty surreal. It looks really good, too.
Real update soon, I promise... |
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| "All things go, all things go" |
[Mar. 26th, 2006|12:09 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | excited | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Sufjan Stevens - Chicago | ] |
So much has happened since last I graced these internet pages that I'm not sure I can do it justice. whiteotter and shimmersong have done a better job of updating so a lot of it has been covered for those of you who are following along on this crazy joint venture of ours.
What hasn't been said yet is that I have landed two jobs, both with independant schools! The first, a five-month contract position, is with Chapin, the posh girls school in Manhattan I told y'all about last time. It's mainly a help desk support thing but with the possibility of advancement to one of two permanent positions in the fall. Best of all, it pays well enough for us to get into the City. That news, coupled with Shimmer's acceptence to Columbia and landing of a job with the Fortune Society is what sent us into town last week searching for apartments.
The second job is as the Director of Information Technology for Lawrence Woodmere Academy and it starts in the fall. It's a position in the school's administration and is huge advance in my career. I will be building their technology program pretty much from the ground up, which is both exciting and terrifying. They offered me the position on Friday (at a hefty salary, btw--time to pay down those student loans!) and gave me the weekend to think about it. I'm definitely going to take it but I'm a little nervous about telling the folks at Chapin. I'm worried that it will cause some awkwardness once they realize that I'm no longer considering staying on. I hope they understand, though, I can't pass up the opportunity to run my own show. I'm very grateful to Chapin and am looking forward to working in a school with an established, successful technology plan. And while I'm there, I plan to give them 100%. I just hope that there's no weirdness.
So keep your fingers crossed for me that things go smoothly, both with the job stuff and with the apartment, which we should hear back on tomorrow.
Wheeee! |
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| Job search update |
[Mar. 8th, 2006|11:18 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | optimistic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon - Jackson | ] |
So the job search appears to be going quite well. Last week, Jen and I drove up to Boston so that I could attend a hiring conference for Carney Sandoe and Associates, a head hunter that serves independent schools. I applied and was accepted as a candidate with CS &A after the Lafayette job fell through in 2003 and then renewed my profile in September. Periodically, they refer me to different schools around the country as a technology instructor and support person. Up until recently, they hadn't found much for me but I thought I'd give the conference a shot since it seemed like a great opportunity to meet with a bunch of schools and see if I really could return to working with youth and technology.
The conference was strange but very successful. ( Click to read about the conference and my possible job leads in much detail: feel free to skip. )
Boston was really nice, though I didn't get to see as much as Jen because I was working. We stayed with my extended family who live there. It's always such a treat seeing them. My great aunt is just the sweetest thing ever, the very picture of an Italian grandma, and she took great care of us. Jen absolutely adored Boston--so much so, that I was worried I might not be able to get her to come back with me to New York :) It was a really nice trip.
So next week is going to be very busy for me. Otter comes into Newark on Tuesday (yay!), I'm visiting two schools in the NYC area on Wednesday and Thursday and then we're all going in for St. Patrick's day on Friday. I'm wondering if I should stay in the city a couple of nights just to cut down on the back and forth. |
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| Long overdue update |
[Feb. 16th, 2006|10:03 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  mellow | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Veronica Mars on DVD in the background | ] |
Hello from beautiful Ulster County, NY, at the foot of the Catskill mountains!
( The journey North--cut for extreme length )
So we're just about moved in. Kitties are adjusting slowly. They're pretty scared of the dog (even though Kit is as sweet as they come) and there are periodic squabbles with the other two cats but, little by little, they're integrating into the house. The same goes for their owners (the integrating part that is, not the squabble part ;)). And worked started on the Condo in New Orleans yesterday (finally!). Things are looking up for the first time in a long time. We're both searching for jobs and are looking forward to a trip into the City sometime in the next week so we'll let you folks down there know when we'll be in town.
Jen seems to have caught my flu, the poor thing, so today we're resting and watching Veronica Mars DVDs.
I'll keep you posted.
Finally, because I'm a sheep: My johari window
...and a masochist: My nohari window |
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| I love my mom |
[Dec. 22nd, 2005|02:19 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Decemberists - The Engine Driver | ] |
I just recieved this email from her:
Subject: Veronica mars Day
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Wrapping Christmas presents and watching "our girl" and missing YOU!!! Love Mommy
We got her the DVDs for Christmas :D |
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