Evolution of Food

One of the kids asked me the other day what Cristina and I ate when we were first married. It got me thinking about how our cooking and eating has evolved over the past 18 years. Since I'm trying to blog more, I decided I'd blog about it. Might be boring to some, but at least it will be documented. One of these days I'm going to get around to turning my blog into an actual book. Nice keepsake for the kids.

It's important to remember that Cristina and I met when we were barely out of high school. We were both 19, in fact. I turned 20 a week after we met. Still kids.

Directly out of high school, I lived in a dorm, Trusler Hall, with Burton Meahl. We had food cards which our parents put money on. They could be used at any of the eating places on campus (this was before there was a proliferation of fast food places on campus...the Reitz Union actually had a cafeteria!) Burt and I almost always ate breakfast in our dorm room (cold cereal, coffee, juice, that sort of thing) and we'd eat lunch and dinner out: burgers or tuna melts from the little restaurant in neighboring Graham Hall, or sandwiches from the Orange and Brew, a cool little bistro at the Reitz Union that used to sell beer (thus the name) before the campus went dry. At the Orange and Brew, you gave your name when you ordered, and when the food was ready, they'd call your name out. We ate there so often that to make things fun, we'd give fake names just to get a laugh out of hearing them called out. "Order for Elmo!"

My parents moved to Gainesville not long after I started college, so I would eat dinner with them sometimes too.

During my second semester, I was feeling the need for some spending money (not to mention I'd blown through my food card too fast) so I got a job at the AMC Theatres in the Oaks Mall. Now popcorn and soda became a significant part of my diet. I spent the summer of 1991 working at the theater (funny to think that I may have sold Cristina some popcorn or torn her ticket during the summer before she moved to Atlanta).



I lived with my parents during summer of 1991. Worked a lot and spent most of my time with new AMC friends. At the theater, the managers would sometimes trade out with nearby restaurants: swap movie passes for food. So during my years at AMC, I ate many meals from Bono's BBQ, The Mill, and an Italian place in the mall that is no longer there.

Fall of 91, Dominick Cecere and I shared an off-campus apartment at Park Place. We fancied ourselves a bit more civilized, more mature, so we cooked more at home. There was still plenty of pizza and eating out, but this was the year I remember grocery shopping for actual meals, albeit highly-processed ones like Banquet frozen entrees and Hamburger Helper. Iceberg lettuce with green olives was a side salad staple. And lots of ramen noodles. Occasionally we'd buy a big bag of frozen chicken wings and fry up our own hot wings.


Summer of 92 was when I met Cristina. One of the first meals I cooked for her was Polish sausage (not that you really cook Polish sausage...you just heat it up). She was just starting her vegetarian period, so it was an odd choice for a meal. As we got closer and closer to marrying, we would cook meals together. I remember lots of packets of flavored rice or pasta, cans of black beans, and boxed frozen veggies, like peas-carrots or broccoli-cauliflower. If we ate out, it was usually Gumby's pizza or Hungry Howie's. We ate a lot at her parents' house, at least once a week. Her dad almost always grilled steaks, so I could get my meat fix.

After the wedding, we lived in Corry Village. Cristina still worked at the Health Department while I started my senior year of college. Food was still mostly vegetarian, still highly-processed. I think she may have eaten Tuna. I vaguely remember Tuna Helper being fairly common. I also don't remember when we got our first rice cooker, but it was probably around this period. Once we got a rice cooker, we cooked more rice from scratch instead of the flavored rice packets and rice-a-roni kind of stuff.

Summer of 94: our first trip to Costa Rica together. It was challenging for Cristina to be a lactose-intolerant vegetarian...but not too challenging. I remember going to a vegetarian restaurant once with her dad, brother, and sister. Elena and Ramon complained about the quality of the food.

Over the years of our marriage, especially when the first pregnancy came along, we tried to eat healthier. I can't pinpoint a specific event that made us try to eat a more whole foods diet. Part of it was spending time with my sister Lynn and longing to emulate her attempts at healthy eating. Part of it was influenced by the circle of friends Cristina made in the natural childbirth/breastfeeding world. I know when we got pregnant with Sofia, we made our first conscientiously-planned weekly menu. We planned breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, with an effort to have a certain number of yellow and orange vegetables every week, the right balance of protein and carbs, etc. Since Cristina was a vegetarian, we paid extra care to getting a balanced diet while pregnant. Carnation Instant Breakfast was a staple.

When Cristina was pregnant with Alex, she had cravings for Thanksgiving turkey, and that was the beginning of the end of her vegetarianism. She still doesn't eat much red meat or pork, but we eat plenty of chicken and turkey.

We had a bread-maker for several years, but it's been a while since Cristina made homemade bread.

Soon after Alex was born, an event that had a big influence on our diet was joining a CSA (community-supported agriculture). We received so much organic produce every week that we had to eat more produce than we ever had before just to keep up with it. Plus, we tried new things that we'd never tried before, like arugula and swiss chard. We gave it up the CSA when we moved to Phoenix, but we would love to get back into a CSA when we can afford it.



In the past few years, menus have come and gone for various reasons of health and budget. A handful of cookbooks have been influential in my own cooking, including my favorite, America's Test Kitchen. I first butterflied and brined a turkey back in 2001 (I think) and I haven't cooked a turkey any other way since. I got my own grill in 2007 and I cook a pretty good steak. But the majority of our meals today are the old standbys: rice and beans, pasta with maranara, homemade quiche, and such. The biggest difference now is that we use fresher ingredients, organic sometimes, but not as often as we'd like. We eat brown rice more, which I prefer to cook in a real pot instead of a rice cooker, and I make my own maranara sauce, with multi-grain pasta.

We're not super-healthy in our eating, but we've come a long way since the packets of Lipton pasta and canned peas. And I think the stuff we make now is not only healthier but a lot tastier.

And what is Alex and Bella's favorite thing to eat? Ramen noodles. Go figure.

Update

Wow. Was July really the last time I blogged? Dreadful. Not that my blog-writing friends and family have done much better (except for Helena!). But I can't let that be an excuse. I will try to be a leader, not a follower. Maybe if I start blogging again on a regular basis, it will encourage others to follow.

I hate when my yearbook staff gives me excuses for not getting their work done. But I spend a lot of time with them, and they rub off on me, so I'm going to join the excuse club for a paragraph or two. Facebook. I blame my lack of blogging on Facebook. Sometimes I'll make an interesting observation or an astute realization, but instead of writing a blog post about it, like I maybe would have done pre-Facebook, it's easier and faster to condense it into a status update.

I can also blame the energy-sapping yearbook, but this year has been a lot easier, so that excuse is growing whiskers.


Long posts of text can be boring, so I'll throw in a random photo of something cute. Bella will appreciate it, if nothing else.

So when you haven't blogged for 6 months, what do you write about to dip your toe back in the frigid waters of Lake Blog? An update, that's what.

My Second Year Back at GHS
This year has gone well. I got my room more situated, to my liking. Got my IKEA lamps set up, so I can keep the big florescents off. Got blinds installed so I can make it nice and dark for my SMART board. I got an extra dry-erase board installed, and bought a full-size refrigerator for lunch and snack storage. And we are so much further ahead on the yearbook than we were last year. It takes a lot of the pressure off. As usual, I have one very challenging English class, the kind of class that makes me daydream about quitting and driving a UPS truck, but I've summoned enough patience over the years to not let a class like that get to me too much. One of the things I love about teaching is the cyclical nature of the job. Every year has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A dying and a rebirth. Inhalation and exhalation. This annoying class will eventually move on. And next year there will be another. Surfers perpetually hunt for the perfect wave. Teachers wait for the perfect year, when all their classes are like a dream. I laugh when I hear fellow teachers who teach all AP classes, or all IB classes, complain about their jobs. They usually complain about having so many papers to grade. They've forgotten--if they've ever experienced it all--what it's like to have a class of low-income, neglected-at-home, street-hardened kids who have no interest in being in school, are on a fast-track to dropping out, and may or may not make it to your class depending on whether they have a court appearance. "My kids are struggling with Antigone," they whine. "They were supposed to read the last 50 pages last night and almost half of them didn't do it!" Whatever.

Random explosion

Cristina
For the past 4 years or so, Cristina has worked part-time in a Waldorf Kindergarten classroom. She loves Waldorf education, and she loves being a mother, but she does not love working with small children as a paid job, day in and day out. So when she discovered that Florida requires a "license to touch" to practice Jin Shin Jyutsu, she decided to go the massage school. Not the cheapest route, but a versatile choice. And we have one of the nation's best massage schools right here in Gainesville. She's about halfway through the 6-month program right now and doing well. We'll be buying a professional massage table this week, which she plans to take to NC during Christmas break to get some of her required extra-curricular massages done. I remember when my sister Bonnie went through massage school and gave massages to family members during a family get-together. In fact, I think that was my first massage.

Sofia
Sofia's second year of high school has gone smoothly. Classes are fine, but for the past 3 months, it's all been about band. Her marching band season ended a couple of weeks ago with a state championship, so no matter what happens in her last 2 years, she will always know what it feels like to be a part of championship performance. The show was incredible. Here's an article from the school board website, and an article from the Gainesville Sun. I'm always amazed at how this group of kids--and when you see them during down-time they really are just a bunch of kids--can work so hard with such concentration and dedication to pull off something so complex and beautiful on so many levels. That transformation from kids-to-professionals is the coolest part for me. I admire the craftsmanship that they display. I'm so proud of Sofia!

Alex
As a 5th-grader, Alex has had the honor of being a safety patrol. Unfortunately, one incident of tomfoolery caused his day-glo belt to be taken away, but he's confident that he'll earn it back. In addition to learning specific responsibilities, safety patrols also get to go to Washington, DC at the end of the year. Not sure how we'll pay for that yet, but we'll figure something out. Alex's reading has continued to improve. He's reading at grade level, if not above. He reads every night before going to bed, and he completes novels with comforting regularity. He's not quite at Sofia's level of reading addiction, but that can be a bonus. He still expends, as he should, a good bit of energy on the trampoline or throwing the football. He's looking forward to another round of Upward flag football in the spring. He played Upward soccer this fall, but he'd like to try regular 11-man soccer, with full-sized goals and actual goalies. Stay tuned on that. Some of his school artwork is on display at the Thomas Center over the next few weeks.

Bella
Bella's reading has also grown by leaps and bounds. She is a much different reader than she was last summer when she still sounded out most of her words. She reads books on her grade level smoothly, often sounding out unfamiliar words, trying different sounds until she gets something that makes sense. Basically, what readers do. She enjoys Expressions Learning Arts Academy and loves her teacher, Ms. K (Sofia's kindergarden teacher). Ms. K is an avid birder, so Bella has learned a lot about birds. Her favorites are the tufted titmouse and the yellow-breasted blackbird (I think). She draws birds, she talks birds, she recognizes birds when we're oput and about. It's pretty cool. I've never had much interest in birds, or flowers, or knowing names and info about the natural world, but I'm glad she enjoys it. She has good friends in her class, and last weekend went on her first sleepover birthday party. Her improvement in reading is making it harder for us to spell things that we don't want her to know about.

Obviously, a lot more has happened than what I've written here. My Subaru is dying, if it's not dead already. I sold my motorcycle to help pay for massage school. I've been tutoring a couple of 8th grade boys on the weekends for extra money. But this post gives everyone a little taste of what's been going on, and more importantly, gets me blogging again.

Next time I think of something that would make a decent blog post, I'll try not to cop-out to Facebook.

Road Trip

I don't like driving. I don't dislike it, but I don't get pleasure from being behind the wheel. Driving is just a necessary way of getting somewhere. It's like if someone asked you if you like walking from the living room to the bathroom, you'd think it was a crazy question. Of course you don't "like" it, you just do it. Same with driving.

I do, however, love to travel. And I like road trips.

I like the anticipation. Cleaning/vacuuming the van so we're starting fresh is important to me. I dislike packing (or more accurately, waiting for Cristina to pack most of the stuff) but I enjoy getting everything into the van and (our wisest investment ever) our Yakima cargo carrier.

I like leaving our house, unless we leave it dirty. I remember one trip where we were so frantic getting everything packed in time that we left dirty dishes in the sink. That's bad. But there's something about prepping the house for departure--cleaning out the fridge, arranging for someone to pick up the mail, etc.--that sparks those exciting feelings of travel.

I like the splurges that are allowed on road trips: the big Coke from the gas station that I justify as "keeping me awake." The bag of Oreos or stash of chocolate candies that would never accompany a routine drive to, say, the post office. Then there are the roadside treats that are a requirement for road trips in the south. Boiled peanuts. Fresh peaches so juicy you have to lay a bunch of napkins in your lap.

We've had plenty of road trips where we pre-made sandwiches to eat on the road as a means of saving money. As our family has grown, we're less inclined to do that for two reasons. First, everyone needs a break from being cooped up in the car, and a meal stop is a good excuse for a stretch and a break. Second, it's a chance to experience one of the best parts of travel: the cultural idiosyncrasies of what we call the "little mom-and-pop joint."

Some families rely on the comfort and familiarity of fast food chains while traveling. We're the opposite. We'll go out of our way to eat somewhere that we've never heard of, and likely will never eat at again. It's hit-or-miss. Sometimes the choice is weak. I'm thinking of a country cookin' type place whose buffet consisted of already-overcooked canned vegetables and mysterious meats cloaked in thick white gravy that had been sitting under a heat lamp way too long...two tips learned from that experience: if there are few cars/customers, keep looking. And as much as I'm into diversity, when a Southern country-type establishment is run by Asians, or Middle Easterns, that might be a red flag. Just sayin'.

Sometimes the choice is delightful. We ate at a place near Nantahala that didn't have a license to sell food, so they had a big sign with some kind of legal loophole that you had to agree to (I think you agreed to buy the paper plate and the food was free, or something silly like that.) It was cash-only too (big surprise). But they had one of the best burgers I've ever eaten in my life. I wonder if that place still exists...

Yes, we occasionally do fast food. Sometimes that's the only option. But that holds no joy for me. No surprise.

I love that website that sells restaurant coupons (I'm purposefully not listing the address to prevent spam comments) because I can plan ahead and find a place that's on our path and fits our goal. Case in point, I just bought a gift certificate for Joe Bear's & Sons Texas Style BBQ in Macon, Georgia. Why would I want to eat Texas BBQ in Georgia? Because it sounds fun. It's different. I've never heard of them before. And their motto is "You Don't Need No Teeth to Eat Joe Bear's BBQ." YES! I'm there!

I love how they appear to have bars in the windows, though I think they're actually vertical blinds.

So we leave tomorrow for North Carolina. We'll leave Gainesville as soon as I'm done teaching summer school (around noon). We'll head up to Atlanta (after dinner in Macon, of course) and spend the night with Lisa. Friday, we'll get to my parents' house before dinner.

I'm looking forward to spending time in the mountains with my family, but I'm also looking forward to the drive up. And that says a lot for a guy who doesn't like to drive.

Bella Jams with Michael

Today, Michael Derry stopped by to take Alex for a play-date with John, and had an impromptu jam session with Bella. They rocked a little "Red River Valley." Warning: the song will get in your head and you will be humming it for the rest of the day. You have been warned!

https://youtu.be/Bn1E2UyzwrY

Father's Day Gift Idea

Yearbook Memories Part 4 - Damian

The Ca-zap-ka Kid, Damian Czapka, is a bit of an enigma, even today. I count him as one of my best childhood friends, but he's the least connected. He can be a bit of an apparition. Always there, but not always with us. Burt has lived in the same city as Damian for years and has seen him about as often as I have. The running joke is how Damian almost never emails, or responds to email. When he does chime in, we make a big deal about it, because, well, it IS a big deal! But we all know where he lives, and we can get together with him whenever we want. If any of us embodies the word steadfast, it is Dame.

Random memories:

About a week or so after moving to Florida in 1982, I ran into Damian at the movie theater (I think we were seeing Tron, or Poltergeist). I remember going to the bathroom and trying to remember if his name was Damian or Dominick. I had just met them both and got the "D" names mixed up.

In middle school, Damian got hit by a pest control truck. We visited him in the hospital. His broken leg had a pin through it and I almost passed out.

Damian loved guns and once took me into the woods to shoot a 12-gauge shotgun, which was scary.

Damian and his wife Lisa came to Costa Rica in 1998 while Cristina, Sofia, and I were there.

It's a bit sparse, but here's how Damian signed my yearbooks over the years:


5th grade:

Your friend, Damian Czapka



6th grade:

Did not sign.



7th grade:

Did not sign.



8th grade:

Did not sign.



9th grade:

Wayne,

What a year it has been. I am the last one to sign your yearbook. It has been fun being in the same class with you. You are so funny it kills me. I hope we are in the same class next year. We will probably will be. Hope you have a fun summer at the beach. Do not hurt your eyes at the beach by looking at all the girls. '90 rules.

friend, Damian



10th grade:

Wayne,

What's is going down man? Well Wayne, your life has completely changed since the beginning of year. Like, you've aged 60 years for about 3 days. But you are still able to flirt with all the girls when you were old. Shit! My pen just ran out of ink. Thats fucking great! Now my writing is going to look dumb. Alright, let me say that this has been a great year. I'm glad you are in two of classes. You are really funny and hope to God you are in at least one of my classes next year. There is not much more to say. Here comes the teacher. OH NO. I'm going to try to have you over during the summer. Most like both Dom and you. That will be alright with you won't it. I thought so! I think it is time for me to sign off. I'll see you over teh summer. Just remember this saying--Just Say WOH!

your friend (pal), Damian



11th grade:

Did not sign.



12th grade:

Did not sign.

Yearbook Memories Part 3 - Burt

Burt. He's the only one of my friends who holds the distinction of having fought me on the playground (always the pushing/tackling type of fighting, never fists). Regardless of our violent past, he is still one of my best friends. We worked at two movie theaters together, we roomed in a dorm together at UF, I went to grad school with his wife, and Burt and I both share a love of writing (which neither one of us gets to explore as much as we'd like). Today we'll look at the evolution of how Burton Meahl signed my yearbook.


5th grade:

Wayne,

You're a nice friend to be with but you've got to shape up. Good luck with grade 6.

Your friend, Burton Meahl



6th grade:

Wayne,

You've been a real good friend. You've also helped me in places I thought were impossible. Thanks!

Your friend, Burton Meahl



7th grade:

Wayne,

Good luck next year in the 8th grade. Matt wrote in my yearbook, "I hope you're in Wayne's homeroom again!" It really hasn't been that bad being in all of your classes this year and years before. Because you really are a good guy!

Your friend, Burton



8th grade:

Wayne,

Hey good buddy! this is Burton writing this! This was a great year! (only because I'm looking forward to getting away from this #!@?+ school! (bad language). The CHS is getting nearer and nearer isn't it? That really sounds neat, doesn't it? "The class of "90" enters the Citrus High School!" This may sound ordinary but I'll say it anyway. "Have a great summer and good luck in the 9th grade!" Oh, by the way, I'm going for the N.C. Tarheels next year! If you see me during the summer, you can pretend to punch me and I'll fall backwards! (But not at the WP Pool!)(even though you may be in NC!) Well, I've taken up enough room by now, don't you think! Well, I'll see ya later!

Your friend and good buddy, Burton (watch out CHS, here we come!)

P.S. Wouldn't that be neat if we were in the same homeroom again next year! I guess it's impossible so, goodbye!



9th grade:

Did not sign.



10th grade:

Grandma, uh I mean Grandpa,

You know, none of your jokes really hit my funny bone this year. You've really been a bore and I hope you have a lousy summer. I hope you fail and become a second year sophomore! (Just joshing w/ya!) <--(Scooter's famous words!) Naah, you've been a great friend through everything. Your jokes have definitely improved and your "grandpa" voice rules. Well Tig, it's also been fun playing darts at your house and trying to get together for making a newspaper to pass "honors" English. (By the way, don't let anyone tell you different, but your computer is awesome!) Well...I hate the word "well." It's so yearbookish! Anyway, (new word) Anyway, have a summer full of violence and sex. (<--a "Steve saying")

Oh, by the way, hope you get your driver's license w/out a problem. It ought to be easy, I hope. Well, I guess I'd better quit writing all this bull shit (<--you told me to!) and wrap this story up. Have a great summer and stay cool!

Yur good buddy, Burt (Ed, Alf, Mortimer, etc.)



11th grade:

Wayne,

Wow thankx for all this room so roomy to write in. Nevertheless I'm going to try to write what's on my mind weaving in and out only to express my thoughts. Well, Wayne, it has been great being your buddy since 5th grade. Wow. We have really known each other a long time, eh? The only thing is, every year hadn't been so awesome. But this year I kinda felt like I could tell you about everything. You've always had to remind me of the morals we're supposed to follow because I, as well as others, tend to forget them at times. Anyway, thankx a lot for attempting A's Christmas present. Maybe someday soon we can finish it + sum. It'll be great and then we can give it to her. She'll love it. Anyway, maybe you and me and Steve and Dom can get together this summer, eh? I'd like to be accepted into that group a bit more than in the past. I realize that's because I've kinda ignored ya'll--but that should change this summer 'cause I'm gonna need some good friends. You've always provided in the past and I know you will this summer and next year. Anyway, (shift) thankx for the good times. Your a real pal after all these years. Good luck and have fun this summer, okay?

Yur pal and good buddy, Burt



12th grade:

Well, Wayne, what am I supposed to write? I've known you for almost as long as I've lived here. As we've both probably written in every yearbook, we had our tough times in the early years. But we've become great friends and now look at us, we're UF-bound. That's pretty awesome if you think about it. Then Dom's gonna be there soon, so will Steph. Anyway, you're a real funny guy--and I've always looked up to you becuase you were probably the 1st person who inspired my creativity. Remember in 5th, you always wrote short stories for the fun of it? I began trying that and I liked it and have been enjoying drawing and writing ever since then. This senior year has been pretty wild. We definitely made like seniors. And I appreciate you humoring me in the early years when I had to hang around ya'll w/an effort. But maybe that happened for the best 'cause we're all "the posse" and can talk about anything. That's real friendship. Well--that's enough sentimentalism. Although I'll see ya next year probably about every day--good luck in all you do. Good luck w/the bass. I'll see you in G-ville.

Your pal, Burton
Go Gators

More photos of Alex

Yearbook Memories Part 2 - Steve

This is the guy who, today, lives the farthest away, yet I stay in touch with him more than anyone. We were in bands together, both in school (Breez) and outside of school (Skulk of Thieves, Chowderhead, B.A.F.M.). We still make music together today. Let's now look at Steve Malone's yearbook signings through the years. Enjoy!

5th grade:

Didn't sign. We weren't in the same homeroom in 5th grade. I didn't become good friends with Steve until 6th grade.



6th grade:

Wayne,

Hi. It's Steve.

(Something tells me he meant to write more but didn't get around to it. His is the only signing on the whole page)



7th grade:

Wayne,

Steve here. You've been a good friend this year. It's a pitty we didn't have any classes (except reach) together. Hopefully we'll have more next year. I won't be leaving until the end of June so we can call each other and maybe meet somewhere. Well, gota go. Good luck in 8th.

Your very good friend, Steve Malone

"90"
Class of

(I'm not sure, but the "90 Class of" might be a reference to a mistake he made on a rubber stamp we made in a typesetting class. Typesetting class? Hey, it was the 80's, when they still taught vocational skills.)



8th grade:

Hi Wayne.

You've been a great friend this year. I've got lots of room so I'll write a lot. It's 2 bad. We won't B in the same homerooms next year. (Sniff). I'll C'ya' in the French Club though. (Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.) I got a 71 on my algebra test! I'm in trouble. Well, have a great summer, my people can call your people and we'll get together.

Your good buddy, Steve

"90" rules!



9th grade:

Wayne,

Finally, a yearbook with a contents larger than the 2 covers put together. It's about damn time too. (Excuse my language) Well, thank god the year's over. We had some great times this year, such as...(1) Just kidding. Wow, I just saw Mr. Wilkinson smile! A 1st for me. By the way, I probably failed that quiz. Oh, well. Shit, the bell's about to ring. Are you doing anything this year? I won't be leaving until July. Well, I think this racketball thing on Friday's is a good idea. It sucks that we only had 3 classes together. At least we all had lunch together. Hopefully we'll have more together in 87-88. Doesn't black ink go well w/this page! When you're a senior you'll look back on this and say "What quiz." Well, I don't give a shit. You know Wayne, you have some great qualities. (1) You're cute (2) Your so smart. (3) You have great taste in clothes. No I'm just kidding. You're really an asshole. Well, I'll see over the summer a lot and I'll see you next year in school. Bye for now,

Yur good buddy, Steve





In the summer of 1987, Steve's family went back to Scotland, and due to some visa issues, were stuck there for most of our sophomore year. They finally made it back, greencards in hand, before the end of the school year.

10th grade:

Wayne, pal ol' buddy,

What be up? You know, writing in your yearbook makes me feel like I'm still in Scotland, writing you a letter! Ahh! That scares me. I'm back now though,...I am. Right, I'm gonna' try and fill up this whole page o.k. Normally right now I'd say something about how much it sucked this year because I wasn't here. Well, it did. At least we kept in touch though. (SNIFF) Next year will be great though. Of course first there's,...the Summer! We'll do lots this vacation. We could even play some,...dare I say,...racketball! (Leave some space on this page, o.k.) It's different this year, there aren't that many memories to reminice on but I'll squeeze these couple of months for all they're worth: Do you remember when I got back we talked on the phonr for ages, not having to worry about the costs of long distance calls? And remember when I went to your algebra class and we made an ass out of Cindy. Well, that's about it really. They'll be a lot more to remember next year though. We'd better get more classes together next year or I'll be totally mother fuckin' pissed off! I mean it. And I'd better get someone I know at lunch, preferably you guys. I couldn't stand sitting with Jimmy again! Well, I'm running out of space so I'd better go. (Typical excuse.) Talk to ya' later bud'.

Your best pal, Steve a.k.a. Skirty

11th grade:

Wayne,

God, I've got a rather large headache right now. I need some more sleep. But I digress. Ah yes, the yearbooks have arrived once more and the signing times have come. Wayne, buddy, we've broken some major barriers this year. Probably the most important were the concerts we went to, what a brake through. We'll definitely have to do that more. I remember that one day when we did something that was definitely "yearbook material." I'm talking of that day when we skipped almost a complete journalism field trip, and had a hell of a time doing it. You remember, I know you do. I think the biggest thing this year was our band though. That goes w/out saying. The Skulk shall live forever, (here, here.) We started out with one guitar and a piece of shit amp, zero experience and talent, just raw potential. And now look what we've grown to. Damn we're good. I'm trying to think of other big things that happened this year. I guess Prom was a pretty big deal, even though it was pure hell trying to get a date. I vow that next year will be different. I still had a great time though. Dana's party was cool too. Yes, our Junior year has been quite good and I greatly look forward to our Senior one. Hell, maybe you'll even have a job at the Crown! I think you will. Well, I'm going to try to sum up this year in a few words over on the margin there, so here goes. See you later pal,

Your best buddy, Steve

12th grade:

Bud',

I'd thought I'd sign horizontally, or vertically (I dunno', you know what I mean) for a change, break up the monotoness passages of script. Well, well, well, well, well, well, well. I just want you to know Wayne, now let me say this, I... I... --sob-- I just want to say that, ugh. Your a really good friend. I mean that. Seriously though, friends don't get much better than you man, even though you are an asshole sometimes, but not all the time. It seems that you and I have done everything together but sex! I think we'll stay away from that though. Hell, I just want to say fuck engineering and fuck University of Aberdeen and just become a fuckin' rock n' roll star, man. I can feel it in my blood. Unfortunately though in this shitty world that we live in we have to think realistically. Well, we'll have some fun in our new band, we'll finally record some things we can be proud of. It's about time. We're pretty good, damn it. Brian seems like the chance we've been waiting for, he's got--equipment--. Concerts this year were even better than last year; Tom, Paul, Margo, Stevie...Stevie B., and uh, well, Depeche Mode. That was funny when Mrs. Albritton told you today that you could go because you "weren't listening anyway." What a bitch, man. What a fucking cunt! God, what a total pain in the ass she was. Jesus! Calculus is over, almost, fuck it. Here comes summer. We'll finally have time to create, record, and maybe do some gigs. Oh yeah, how can I forget to mention externship at Ed's place. All I want to know is, where's our fucking checks for a hundred smackeroonies? I wanna' know. So long bud.

Steve "Sharky"

Yearbook Memories Part 1 - Dom

With one year under my belt as a yearbook advisor, I dug my own yearbooks out of the garage to look at them with a different eye. As I flipped through them, I wasn't very interested in the boring black-and-white photos and uninspired layout. What did catch my attention were all the signings from friends.

You can tell a lot about friendships, about things that were important at the time, about how we related to each other, from reading what people wrote in your yearbooks. It's the best, most memorable feature of a yearbook. I've had people come to me to see if they could buy an old yearbook because their's was destroyed or lost. The sad thing is they can never get those signings back.

So the lesson for the day is...sign those yearbooks! And get people to sign yours.

Yearbook signings are similar to letters (back in the day when people still wrote letters). Unless someone saves them, you forget what you wrote. I thought it would be fun to show how my closest friends' yearbook signings evolved and changed over the years.

Today I start with the friend who I eventually shared an apartment with during college, a person I've traveled across the country to visit, the guy who was the best man at my wedding. Admittedly, he was not the best yearbook signer, which makes some of his entries all the funnier. I debated whether to censor the entries or not, and I opted not to. So be warned, as we get into the high school years, the language can be, well, typical of a high school male talking amongst friends. I also opted to copy the punctuation and spelling mistakes exactly as they were written (I had to fight the urge to correct as I typed).

And now, from 1983-1990, the writings of Dominick Cecere:

5th grade (the italicized part is erased, but I can still read what it said):

Wayne,

Thanks for being a good friend this year, even though you didn't see Return of the Jedi. Your a great friend.

Your Buddy, Dominick Cecere

(includes a drawing of two hands holding lightsabers)






6th grade:

Wayne,

I'm not much at signing yearbooks, but I'll do my best. I've enjoyed all your jokes, sound effects, etc. You've been a great friend, pal, buddy, etc.

Dominick Cecere



7th grade:

Wayne,

We gotta get together this summer. We need to give Marvel a boost. Hope to have you in my 8th grade homeroom next year. As if you haven't guessed. Oh, by the way I loved your sound ef...., well, catch my drift? Well, I want to go now so...

Your pal, Dom

(I must have complained to him about the brevity of his signing, because on the side, in a different color pen, he continued:)

Ah, what the heck I'll keep writing. Hope we get together this summer and go swimming. About Keli's new house, maybe we could all spend the night there, with her supervision. We really gotta get the D.O.J. Fighters and F.O.E. Enemy Force some character sheets together. Also, go on some good adventures.



8th grade:

Wayne,

I don't like writing on the pages so I'm writing on the hard back part. Maybe if we get together this summer, I got Return of the Jedi on tape we'll watch it. REMEMBER THIS-> (drawing of two hands with lightsabers) Just kidding. And your sound effects suck. No really, we gotta get together this summer if you're not going to North Carolina. Hey this paper is Carolina Blue. Alright! Wow! Golly! Big deal! We've had a big "bad time" this year. But it is straightened out hopefully. You can have Amy. I mean if you want her. A girl for god's sake. How could a friendship get almost screwed up so easily? Well gotta go.

Your friend, Dom



9th grade:

Wayne,

I don't believe we did it, we put up with Burton for another year. (Jus' kiddin' Burt) Maybe we'll (what's after "we'll", Steve? Struggle? O.K.) struggle for another year. (Thanks Steve) We also lived through Steve's pickiness (No Offense, Steve) Thanks for putting up with Brenda. Why am I no good at signing yearbooks. Why? For GOD'S SAKE WHY? SOMEBODY HELP ME! HELP ME! PLEASE, HELP ME! If ya ever need...uh-umm..uh-well...uh...remember you can call on me. Hey what are friends for. This totally sucks. So you going up to N.C. this summer? Check out the guy down there. Remember: 1-D 2-B 3-B 4-C 5-TRUE 6-A 7-D for Lechler's test. I'm gonna quit waisting space.

Your Pal, Dominick

'90 the only way to have class. I'll sign something later.

P.S. Well, I'm back! You didn't have a scuzzy and strange girlfriend this year, that I could take away from you. So what do you expect me to write? Wayne, This year was pretty good. Especially the end. Good luck with Shawn.

Bye, Dominick



10th grade:

Did not sign.



11th grade:

Wanye, (REMEMBER!)

Well, this year kind of sucked cause Steve was here the whole year except those days he was sick because he was too tired to finish a report or project at the last minute, but Steve is Steve and I guess that's who he'll always be (No offense, Steve) because we're all friends. We started the band this school year. That was an experience. We got as far as a concert in the metropolis of Lecanto. You know I hate signing yearbooks, yet every year you beg for me to inscribe some bullshit friend crap among the pages. Some parts are funny and some aren't. When we look back on this year we can remember the rednecks in Ocala who inquired the fact of me being a "sissy bitch." I recall the Amy/Katya date and the absolute embarrassment felt when they yelled out infamous phrases such as "vaginal warts" and "rectal massage." The time when you honked the horn at 10 o'clock at night in Angie "big tit" Finegan's driveway. The encounter with her dad was embarrassing. The Christmas or rather New Year's Eve concert we gave my family late that December night. We really rocked with that classic "Auld Lang Syne." Yes, this was a good year, but of course next year will be better. I'm not going to babble on about being seniors, cause I know that really pisses you off. So I'll leave with saying that you're the yougest of us and you'll always be a step lower than me. Oh fuck it. See ya' later.

Your pal, Dominick

P.S. You're sound effects keep getting better and better. I like the lazer one the best.


12th grade:
Did not sign.

Alex's touchdown

Alex's flag football team won again yesterday. We met a nice guy after the game who's a geography professor at UF. He had a really nice camera and had been snapping shots of our team. This morning he emailed us one of them. This is a picture of Alex's touchdown catch and run. He caught a short pass at midfield and ran through several defenders to the endzone. It was very exciting!

The Non-Crisis

There's a yucky phenomenon in public education. In Phoenix, it was called RIF (Reduction in Force). In Alachua County it's called Notice of Non-Renewal. No matter what you call it, it means the same thing. You're unemployed.

For those who don't know how most public school teacher contracts work, here's a quick lesson on how they work (at least up until this summer):

When a teacher first gets hired by a school district, the teacher is offered an annual contract. That's exactly how it sounds: the district has agreed to hire you for one school year and that's it. If things work out, you work well with others, you do your job and meet professional expectations, AND the school (i.e. the Principal) wants you back, then some time in the spring, you get offered another annual contract and you teach for another year. After a certain number of years of annual contracts, the teacher becomes eligible for what some call a continuing contract. Here, it's called a Professional Services Contract. But the colloquial term for it is tenure.

Tenure is controversial lately, because some people think it saddles schools with bad teachers. But that's another story. Several good reasons exist for tenure. The one I've always liked the best is that it provides a degree of job security for a job that is stressful, underpaid, and largely devoid of perks. One of the reasons I got into teaching is because I wanted job security as I raised a family.



The annual contracts essentially serve as a probationary period, and if the principal decides he likes the teacher, he can recommend them for tenure. This doesn't mean the teacher can slack off and show movies for the rest of their career, but it does mean they can focus their energies on teaching and becoming a better teacher, rather than constantly looking for the next job. A teacher with tenure can comfortably establish roots in their community instead of being a transitory human band-aid. Everyone should want a teacher who is vested in the community they strive to educate.

Because I had tenure in Alachua County before (I gave it up when we moved to Phoenix) my new "probationary" period is only 1 year. In other words, since I've returned to GHS, I am eligible for tenure (again) after just one year.

Last month, I had a meeting with my principal, who regretfully gave me a Notice of Non-Renewal. I got RIF'ed. Pink-slipped. Come June, I would be unemployed.

While this was troubling, it wasn't a complete surprise. In Phoenix, the annual contract teachers were RIF'ed with alarming regularity. Most of the time those teachers were rehired, if they hadn't gone elsewhere while waiting. That is the danger in RIF'ing good teachers. While a principal might be able to rehire the teacher once the "budgetary concerns" are figured out, the teacher may have already taken another job elsewhere. No matter how kindly it's done, it's a crappy way to deal with teachers. It's a morale-killer.

I wasn't planning on looking for another job. Dr. Dixon assured me that it was not something to lose sleep over, that he was confident he'd be able to rehire everyone who wanted to stay at GHS, and if things took a turn for the worse, if it looked like it was something I should lose sleep about, he'd immediately let me know. Dr. Dixon is a straight-shooter, so I took his word. I didn't lose any sleep.

Although it still caused a nagging, slight feeling of unease.

The worst part was the thought of having to go to another school, while Sofia is at GHS. I've gotten used to being at the same school as Sofia. We ride together. I know her teachers. She warms her lunch up in my room. The pride I have for the GHS band that she marches in is intertwined with the pride I have for MY school, and the school that my wife graduated from. It would feel wrong to be at a different school.

This morning I got an email from Dr. Dixon. He congratulated me that I had officially been reappointed, and he was recommending me for a Professional Services Contract.

The potential crisis is a non-crisis. Deep breath.

Remember how I said tenure was controversial right now? The Florida legislature and our current governor (who's never governed anything before) have passed a law that abolishes tenure for teachers. Starting July 1, 2011, no school district in Florida will be allowed to offer continuing contracts. Every teacher hired after July 1 can only be offered annual contracts. Yes, that rustling sound you hear is the sound of your child's teacher mailing stacks of resumes instead of teaching him how to read.



It's my understanding that teachers who have tenure before July 1 can choose to keep their continuing contract and not be eligible for performance-based pay (where bonuses are paid for certain student test-scores), or give up their tenure for PBP. I haven't given it much thought, because I honestly think the whole law is going to implode and be thrown out or amended. The State of Florida is already LAST in the country for per capita educational spending, and they just slashed the education budget even more. I don't think they'll have the money to pay for all the testing that will be required for PBP, which will be extremely expensive, nor will they have the money that will be required for the bonuses.

Here's an example using fictitious but plausible numbers. Let's say my salary is $30,000 a year. With PBP instituted, let's say a high-performing teacher earns a $10,000 bonus to their annual salary. Where's that money going to come from? The state just cut the budget, so it's obviously not coming from them. So to make the numbers work, the base salary for everyone gets lowered to, say, $24,000. Research has shown that merit pay (PBP) does not improve student achievement. In fact, not much that I do as a teacher in the few months I have my students is going to make or break the standardized test-scores of my students. Here's what research has proven: If I have students who grew up in homes where literacy was encouraged, those students will test fairly well. If I have students who come from homes where literacy was not encouraged, the students will test on the poor side. So something as arbitrary as my teaching assignment could determine whether my salary is $24,000 or $34,000. If you were a teacher and you knew that the classes you were asked to teach were probably not going to earn you a bonus, would you stay and adjust your personal budget to live off $24,000 or would you move to another state where the salary schedule was more reasonable? And yet, the legislature argues that this will improve the teaching profession and attract brighter, more effective teachers.

And what about the teachers who teach electives like driver's ed? Do they get a $10,000 bonus because most of their kids pass the end-of-the-year driver's ed test? Are you telling me that the driver's ed teacher is a more effective teacher than the English teacher who teaches remedial reading, and worthy of a higher salary, just because the driver's ed kids tested higher on road rules than the reading kids did on reading comprehension?

There are so many holes in this form of teacher pay that it's mind-boggling that it's now the law. I could write post after post about how the corporate-backed politicians are molding the school systems for their own greed, duping the uninformed populace with false pretenses of "encouraging student achievement." But this post is already too long, and since the only person probably still reading is my mother, I'll close things up soon.

The bottom line is things are crazy in Florida right now. And I don't just mean confused-crazy. I mean like axe-murderer crazy. But I'll be at GHS next year, doing my thing, turning kids on to books, giving them tools to be better writers, making a yearbook, trying my best to subversively ignore that 300-pound gorilla in the room, the F-CAT. And I'll be at the same school as Sofia. And that's all that matters for now.

An appreciation for mothers

My day.

6:15
I wake up to the strong scent of dog poop. Bleary-eyed, I investigate to find that Vivien pooped and peed in her crate in the middle of the night and is covered in it. Even worse, Alex let her out of the crate, as he has been instructed to do when he's the first one up. She has tracked poop all over the dining room floor, and who knows where else. The stench is stifling. I lock Vivien on the back porch, put the dirty crate in the front yard, and mop the dining room floor. All this before coffee, shower, or breakfast.

7:15
I drive Alex to school, much earlier than usual, because he thinks he might have safety patrol duty. Back at home, no lunches were prepared the night before, so I throw together some quick sandwich fixings for Sofia and me. I leave Vivien on the back porch, but the high today is going to be 90 (32 C), and Frenchies can't handle too much heat. So I set up an oscillating fan for her and put her water on the porch. I barely have time for a bagel and coffee before finally getting Sofia in the car. I get to school after 8 am, about 20 mins later than my preferred time.

2:45
School ends. My yearbook editor made me a key lime pie. I get it out of my fridge to take home, but set it down to log off my computer and accidentally leave it in my classroom.

3:00
I drop Sofia off at home, pick up Alex and head to Publix. We buy stuff for dinner. I run into a GHS teacher-friend, Eddy Moore, in the frozen section who jokingly directs me to where the ice cream is. Funny thing is that Cristina had texted me her one and only suggestion for what to get: chocolate ice cream. I hadn't checked my phone so I didn't get her text or the ice cream.

3:30
At home, I clean the dog crate and then start cooking dinner. I'm trying a new meal idea: pork tenderloin, pan-roasted in a skillet, with Carribean jerk marinade.

4:30
Dinner prep continues. Vivien is watching me through the glass-sliding door, panting heavily despite the fan. I just can't deal with poopified dog right now. She'll survive a little longer.

6:00
We finally eat. Dinner took longer than I anticipated, but it turned out great: the pork was tender and flavorful, complemented nicely by Israeli couscous, corn on the cob, and a green leafy salad.

6:15
I drive Alex to football practice. Cristina has a band booster meeting at 7, so I ask the coach if he can give Alex a ride home after practice. He can. I stop at Publix on the way home and buy chocolate ice cream. And 4 or 5 other things. Always the way it works.

7:00
Cristina leaves for her meeting, and I get Bella in the bath. I play some guitar and ukulele in the bathroom while she plays in the tub. We sing Norwegian Wood and In My Life together. After about 30 minutes, I realize I'm dripping with sweat, from the warm humidity of the bathroom. I gotta get out of there. I clean up the kitchen a little and get clothes out of the drier.

8:00
Bella's out of the tub. I carry Vivien in and put her in the cooled off bathwater, give her a good scrubbing. Dog is clean. Crate is clean.

8:15
Alex finally gets home. I get him in the shower while I put Bella in bed.

8:30
Alex and Bella are clean and in bed. Sofia is on the computer, hopefully doing homework, but I suspect a certain amount of facebooking as well.

9:30
I tell Sofia to get in the shower. I prepare crockpot oatmeal for tomorrow's breakfast. Since we finished the couscous, I make a small pot of rice so we can have lunches for tomorrow.

10:00-ish
Cristina gets home. I make a jug of iced tea. I would love a cup of coffee or tea but I know it would keep me up. We are in bed by 11. Much to our chagrin, Sofia is still doing homework, and we vow to create and enforce a new after-school schedule for her to follow. We want her doing homework (with no reading, cell phone, facebook, email, goodreads, etc.) after dinner, shower by 9, lights out at 10. That gives her some down time away from academics directly after school (do your reading and FB'ing then, Sofia) and gives her 8 1/2 hours of sleep per night. The doing-homework-till-midnight-because-she-read-all-evening has to stop! If she can't follow that reasonable request, we'll get drastic (confiscate phone, flip circuit breakers off to her room at 10, etc.).

11:30
Cristina falls asleep quickly, but I toss and turn until midnight. I reflect on my day and how busy it was. I think about all the tasks and decisions (apart from the typical work-related ones) that occurred. It's mind-boggling. I am proud of myself for being fairly productive. But then it hits me that for many mothers (and fathers), my day was not extraordinary. Many mothers have days like mine every day, especially the single-parents out there. Given that yesterday was Mother's Day, I chalk up one more appreciation for all the hard-working mothers in the world. And finally I fall asleep.

Update

Some miscellaneous thoughts...

We had a visit from two of my nephews a few weeks ago, Hunter and Chase. They drove down during their Spring Break and spent about 4 days with us. Here's the rundown. They saw Alex's first football game (which he won), then went to the Orange and Blue game with us (Gator spring scrimmage). Back at home, they went for a walk with the kids and looked for shark teeth in the creek near our house. I grilled steaks for dinner. After Alex and Bella went to bed, we popped popcorn and watched a Netflix movie, The Hot Chick. Sunday we slept in, ate pancakes, and went to the beach for the day (Anastasia State Park). Monday they slept in while we went to work and school. That night Sofia babysat for some friends while Cristina went to a school fundraiser. Hunter and Chase went over to the house Sofia was babysitting at and played cards with her. Hunter and Chase headed back to Asheville Tuesday while we were at work/school. Overall, it was a great weekend and we all loved hanging out with them. Looking forward to doing it again some time.

Alex's team, the Saints, has played two flag football games. He's playing in the local Upward league, which is a Christian-based sports league. We like that the focus is on fair playing time and promoting positive sportsmanship, rather than ultra-competitive winning-is-everything attitude. He's been begging to play an organized sport for a while now, and this seemed like a good way to go. The fact that they have a spiritual lesson/Bible verse reflection in the middle of every practice doesn't bother us. The coach knows we're Baha'is. He told me a couple of nights ago that he googled "Baha'i" and read about it. "That sounds pretty cool!" he said. "I'm good with that." (Which is a much better response than "I'll pray for your lost souls, you wayward heathens.") He graduated from Appalachian State, which is a nice connection. (Anyway, I'm trying to keep these update points to one paragraph, and I'm straying off topic.) So they won their first game. Alex caught an extra point (no kicking in Upward football...after a touchdown, the team can go for one or two points by running or throwing). In the second game, Alex caught a touchdown pass, but the team lost in the last second by 1 point. After a week off for Easter, his 3rd game is this Saturday. Go Saints!

Cub Scouts has taken a backseat to football the last few months, but we're doing a biking hike with his den this Saturday after the football game.

Our flea infestation continues. Frontline didn't work. I have Revolution now, but I can't tell if it's working or not because so many new fleas keep jumping on them, its hard to tell. We have to get the fleas in the carpets and in the yard under control before the Revolution will really be effective. To that end, I finally bought a big sack of diatomaceous earth (DE), which is not actually earth, but fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton called diatoms. It has the consistency of flour, and it causes damage to small insects when they crawl through it, because on a microscopic level, the diatoms are razor sharp. So DE doesn't hurt warm-blooded animals, but tiny things with exoskeletons get cut up and die. I haven't done a full treatment of the house and yard yet. A friend of ours said she didn't have luck with DE, but others I know (like our neighbors and my parents) say it works well. So I'm holding out hope.

Bella has her first loose tooth. She wants it out! It doesn't feel quite ready, but we keep telling her to wiggle it all she wants. It will eventually come out when it's time.

Sofia had her last band concert of the year last night, and the State competition is this Friday. Before you know it, summer band camp will be here and marching season will be cranking up again. I'm looking forward to it.

My first yearbook arrived last week. 618 books in 45 boxes weighing a total of 2700 pounds. We've been passing them out since last Friday. Still have about 100 to sell. I'm hoping to sell out, which is better than they did last year. We still have 80 books from last year.

That's all I can think of for now.

Cool Speeches

I'm doing a public speaking unit right now with my English classes, and tomorrow, some of my classes will be done with their first speech. I'm assembling a few cool speeches to show to those classes that have some time left. Hopefully, these speeches will serve as inspiration, but maybe my students will also listen to the content and learn something.

I'm assembling them in a blog post so they're easy to access during class.











And just for fun...

Masala Fail

I don't mean to sound cocky, but I am almost always successful in the kitchen.

I'm no gourmet, and I have no formal culinary training, but I've cooked enough over the years and picked up a tip or two that I produce crowd-pleasing favorites, at best, or average-but-acceptable fare, at worst.

Tonight, I had an epic fail in the kitchen, I am embarrassed to admit.

A few weeks ago, I bought a couple of cookbooks at Borders, which was going out of business and had everything marked down (Yes! Death to the big box bookstores! Long live independent bookstores!) I picked up a pressure cooker cookbook and a slow-cooker cookbook. I've made several things from the slow-cooker book already: pizza potatoes, orange-honey tilapia (yes, fish in a slow-cooker!) and beefy mac and cheese. All decent. No home runs, but for slow-cooker meals...decent.

After getting back from North Carolina last night, we had today to get ready for school and work. That meant unpacking and unloading our booty from Amazing Savings, Trader Joe's, and Costco. Cristina spent the better part of the day reorganizing our pantry. We made the menu for the week and I shopped for the week's groceries. I figured tonight was a good night to try out something from the pressure cooker book, so I chose chicken masala. It sounded fairly easy, different but not too off-the-wall, and tasty.

Once the lid was sealed, about halfway through the cooking, I detected a faint burning smell. I didn't have the heat that high, and I've never burned anything in the pressure cooker before, so I hoped that the burning smell was coming from Cristina's rice.

It wasn't.

The masala was so burned, it was completely ruined. I tried skimming off the top and not scraping the burned stuff on the bottom, but it was useless. One tiny bite left the aftertaste of smoke thick in your mouth. And it wasn't smoke you could deal with, like Liquid Smoke flavor you put on barbecue. It tasted like an ashtray smells. It was disgusting.

I know defeat when I see it, so I didn't force anyone to "take one for the team." I dumped it all in the trash. One little orange dollop landed on the edge of the trashcan lid. I left it there, a visual reminder of my defeat, for the rest of the evening.

Cristina's rice had not burned, so all was not lost. I quickly fried up some chicken cutlets, just a basic balsamic chicken thing I used to do often, and dinner was fine.

But I hate failing in the kitchen. And now I can't help but have a negative vibe towards that pressure cooker book. I followed the recipe to a tee yet it burned.

I'm not giving up yet. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. You have to read a crappy novel now and then to appreciate the good ones. And sometimes you gotta burn the hell out of your masala to make you step back and reevaluate your kitchen skills. My ingredients were fine. My prep was perfect. I doubt the recipe is to blame. It has to be an equipment issue. Either the stove was too hot, or my pressure cooker has other issues. I do have one suspicion.

I think I need a new gasket for my cooker. My current one seems stretched out, too big, and I think it's not sealing like it should. Once I get a new gasket, I'll try another recipe.

And then I'll make a judgment whether to keep the book or donate it to the Friends of the Library.

Okay, here we go

I'm going to be rusty, so bear with me.

It's been over 3 months since I've written a post of any significance. Probably longer than that. I'm going to ease back into this, so if this post rambles, if it drifts into incoherance, or it sounds like I'm talking to myself, chalk it up to PTSD from yearbook. Just plunge on.

I'm sitting in the small computer lab at Gainesville High School right now. It's 5:15. I'm teaching CROP English. I think CROP stands for Credit Retrieval Something Program. It's basically summer school, but all on the computer, and during the school year. It was a voluntary gig. I had way too much free time doing yearbook, so I signed on for a 3 hour after-school job every Wednesday. Okay, I'll admit it. I did it for the money.

It's an easy gig. I sign the students in. They work on various English classes that they're making up. I sit at my computer and grade papers, or work on yearbook, or write blog posts. Every once in a while, I check my screen that shows if anyone has submitted something for grading. If so, I grade it, then return to whatever I'm doing. The next day I turn in my attendance sheet to the office. Not really any teaching involved, but the computer-based lessons seem pretty good, actually. Maybe it's a sign of the future. Since lawmakers around the country seem to have it out for us overpaid teachers and our cushy tenured jobs, perhaps they'll replace us all with an expensive computer program and hire a babysitter for minimum wage to sign kids in and out. Sigh.


Speaking of yearbook, we submitted the final pages yesterday, a mere one day late. I think it will be a decent book. I'm not going to complain here about how much work it was, no woe-is-me pity parties. I accepted the job. I did the job. Next year will be better and I'm looking forward to doing it with a hand-picked staff, and a year of experience. It can only get better. Cristina doesn't want me to do it again, but after devoting so much time and energy into it, I don't want to dump it off on someone else who will have to start from scratch. If another teacher had yearbook experience and wanted the job, sure I'd let them take it. Shoot, even if they had no experience but really wanted the job, I'd probably give it up. But I don't think anyone like that will be stepping up to the plate.

Yearbook does have some plus sides. For one of my five classes, I get to play with photography and graphic design. I get to teach practical real-world things, like how to speak to professional adults, how to shake hands, how to handle money. I've formed a good relationship with the yearbook sales rep guy, who lives right here in Gainesville. He knows everything about yearbooks, so he's my personal Yoda, and he's just a text message away at all times. Making a yearbook, if you assemble the right staff, has a lot of the same creative teamwork qualities that video production has. After 6 years of teaching nothing but English, I'm enjoying that part of it.

Wow. The last CROP kid just left. I better get out of here and pick up Sofia from the library. More to come.