Thursday, March 31, 2005
NYC Recalls Math Guide Riddled with Errors
Okay - now, you may think that I am going to talk about math errors, or about misprints in educational materials. And, yes, both of those topics are things that I deal with on a daily basis (obviously!) ... and yes, that is why the title of that article caught my eye. But the real reason that I'm blogging on this topic is the last paragraph of the article, which is a quote by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who says this: "It is a complex world, and every day you wake up in my job and say, 'They did what?' ... There are times when I'm halfway downtown on the subway after reading a few of the stories and I think maybe I should just get off at the next station, cross the platform and go back uptown." My question is ... Mayor Bloomberg REALLY rides the subway to work every morning?? Amazing!
Monday, March 28, 2005
A more serious side of Easter
Yes, my church, Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, VA did another Easter Pageant this year. I always love playing in the orchestra for these pageants. They never fail to remind me of the truth of the Resurrection, and what that means to me, personally. The main idea that was reinforced in my heart this year was this: Christ went to the cross willingly and for me. Willingly. And for Me. Amazing. There's not much more to say ... it's profound.
If you're interested, I have posted some pictures that I took at one of the dress rehearsals. There aren't many of the orchestra, sorry ... mostly just the choir/drama. :-)
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Holiday Humor
Some holiday humor for you. Thanks to Janet and Annie. :-)
Thursday, March 17, 2005
The North and The South
Last night I was talking with my friend Annie. She's from Mississippi. She's from southern Mississippi. Like only an hour from New Orleans. Anyway, I was telling her about an upcoming trip to the beach that some friends and I are planning. Her response to me was: "You're not going to some Yankee beach, are you?" (imagine a major Southern drawl when you imagine that question being asked). Now, to be fair, Annie and I have, on occasion, teased each other in the past about the North vs. the South thing. So her comment was all in fun. And it was taken that way. And ... to be fair ... I cannot think of any "Yankee" beaches ... unless you consider New Jersey .... but when I think of a nice vacation, I probably don't think about New Jersey.
Well, after I got done chuckling to myself all evening about being asked if I wasn't going to some "Yankee" beach, I started doing some reflecting about the North/South thing. I hope to complete this blog entry without offending anyone ... and without losing any friends. Here goes.
Growing up in upstate New York, we were immersed in a "Northern" culture. How? Well, for one example, I remember that when we were taught about the Civil War, we were always given the impression that we won ... that those Southern rebels were inferior ... that everything about our campaign was "right" and theirs was "wrong". The idea of the "Confederacy" was inane. There are other inaccurate biases that are carried around by many Northerners that I won't get into ... it's sufficient to say that I've needed to address many of those biases since moving to Virginia.
Which brings me to my experiences over the past nine years. When I got my job teaching in Arlington, VA, I moved to Northern Virginia. All of my friends back in Buffalo still say that I've moved to Washington, DC. They don't really ever say that "Lou Ann lives in Virginia now." It's all about Washington, DC. But ... there is definitely that sense that there's something wrong with me because I moved to "the South". I know that many Southerners don't consider the DC area (or even Virginia) the "true" South ... but to anyone from the "North", anything south of the Mason-Dixon line (the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland) is truly the "South".
Well, because Northern Virginia is actually just one big suburb of Washington, DC, there are people living here who are originally from ALL OVER the country and the world. I've got friends from all over the place, including many Southern states. And, as I've said, I had to do some re-thinking of my biases. Also, living here has made it easy for me to make "day trips" to places that are NOT suburbs of DC. Like Harper's Ferry. Harper's Ferry was probably my first day-trip when I moved here. Harper's Ferry is a town where Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia share a border. There is a lot of Southern history in that town, and there are also lots of wonderful little quaint shops to make for a great day of wandering the sights and shopping. Well ... that first time in Harper's Ferry, I happened to wander into one not-so-little shop and discovered that everything in the shop was some sort of Confederate memorabilia. I thought it was a joke at first - the stuff that made the "Dukes of Hazard" an amusing show. But as I looked around, I saw that everyone in that shop was very serious about their ties to the Confederacy. It was a real eye-opener for me. The Confederacy was NOT something to be ashamed of or amused by. It was something that many people are still proud of.
Another, less weighty, incident happened only about three or four years ago. The movie "Sweet Home Alabama" (one of my favorites!!) had just come out. Two of my colleagues and I went to see it. Janet is from North Carolina and Kate is from Long Island. The movie, if you're not familiar with it, is about a girl from Alabama currently living in NYC returns to her home town to take care of some legal paperwork. The entire movie pokes fun at the differences between the North and the South, and is mostly set in Alabama. Several times throughout the movie, Kate and I had to ask Janet to "translate" for us. We had an especially difficult time with "put on the dog", which is a phrase that still baffles me.
Well, after having lived here for nine years, I have fallen in love with my friends' Southern accents, have learned an appreciation for others' love of their home towns, have started eating okra and greens and grits, and have decided that the biases that I learned being raised in the North are just plain wrong.
And - no, Annie, we are not going to some "Yankee" beach. We're going to the Outer Banks of NC. And, maybe next year, I'll drive the Natchez Trace and visit a dear friend from Buffalo who recently moved to Jackson, MS. :-)
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Princess of the Lake
Well, if you know anything about me at all, you know that it takes me a LONGGGGG time to decide on something that will be decorative for my house. I've been in my condo for five years, and I have only a few "new" pieces of furniture, and very few things on the walls (and only ONE room painted).
Well, as you also know, I am really very involved in a photography portfolio website, where most of the photographers are a LOT better than I am. One of my favorite photographers, Darrin James, recently put a notice on his portfolio that any profit made from the sale of certain of his images would be donated to a particular tsunami relief organization. Many of his photos are from trips to Southeast Asia. (He lives in London.)
Well, this image that has been a favorite of mine since I started my portfolio on that site a couple of years ago happened to be one of the images in question. So, I contacted Darrin via e-mail, he and I used PayPal for me to pay him (it's amazing how easy it is to pay someone in British pounds as PayPal easily converts the U.S. dollar!!), and I received the photo a couple of weeks ago. I had it professionally framed, and it is now hanging on my livingroom wall. AND I LOVE IT!!!! :-)
Friday, March 04, 2005
Diary of a Mad Black Woman
If you can believe it, I have been working on typing this post since Tuesday morning. THAT's what kind of week it's been. BUSY!!! BUT, I really wanted to put this up here, so ... here goes:
First of all, I'll start by saying that I haven't even seen the movie yet. But I am TOTALLY going to go ... as soon as my schedule will allow! I want to hear from any of you about the latest that you've heard or seen of Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It was #1 in the theaters last weekend.
Now, with that potential misconception put out there at the very beginning of this blog, let me tell you that Tyler Perry ROCKS!! I saw Madea's Family Reuniona few weeks ago. That was my first Tyler Perry experience.
I have to tell you this. When I saw the DVD cover for Madea's Family Reunion back a few weeks ago, I was CONVINCED that I would HATE the movie. I tell you this because you may be looking at the previews for Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and you might be thinking that it's just NOT your type of movie. Please give it a chance!!
I loved (LOVED!) Madea's Family Reunion. So, I borrowed the DVD for Madea's Class Reunion and finally had a chance to watch it on Monday (our snow day off of school) evening. I liked the Class Reunion even a little bit better than Family Reunion, because he does more impressions of scenes from The Color Purple, one of my all-time favorite, I-could-watch-it-again-and-again movies!!
Just so that you know, the character named Madea IS Tyler Perry. He often plays two or three characters in a show. Madea is this 60-something grandmother person who has QUITE a personality. She's SOOO funny!! This is a picture of Tyler in costume as Madea.
Now, the only thing that I am wondering about is this: All of the Tyler Perry DVD's that are out are actually videos made from stage plays that he has produced and taken on tour. This man does improv like most of us breathe. When he is on stage, he frequently takes the entire story in a different direction by changing his lines and going off on some wild tangent (refer back to my Color Purple comment ... he often starts with a Celie or Sophia quote and goes from there!) You can often tell that the other actors on the stage with him are at a loss as to what to say next because he has eliminated the appropriateness of their next line. They often have a difficult time holding in their laughter!! Well ... in the movie version of Diary of a Mad Black Woman, I can't imagine that aspect of his work to be so obvious. I'll have to wait and see.
So - all this to say that I can't WAIT to go see Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and I can already tell you that I recommend it to you, too!!
