Burning Man 2008

Check out pics from this year's festival at Camp Montage.

My favorite overheard quote from BRC:
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"How many glow sticks are in your outfit?"
"Umm, I'm not sure. Around 500."
"Cool."

Buffalo in Yellowstone

Confratute

Greetings from UCONN! Mr. Connolly, Ms. Lewis, Ms. Stupart, and I are attending a week-long summer institute at the University of Connecticut called Confratute (conference + fraternity + institute). The conference's goal is to offer enrichment activities to teachers, so teachers can make class more fun and interesting for students. I'm taking two classes this week: one on bookmaking and the other on modular origami.

In my bookmaking class today, I learned about a v interesting book called Spoiled: The Refrigerators of New Orleans by Tom Varisco. Varisco photographed the spoiled refrigerators during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. These Katrina Refrigerators became a mode of self-expression during the aftermath of Katrina's destruction -- residents used spray cans and garbage to create graffiti with humorous, satirical, and/or political messages.


As you can see, creativity comes in a multitude of unexpected forms...For example, at lunch today, Mr. Connolly inverted a coffee cup lid to use as a ketchup container. I've also seen him use the gulf of space between a 4-cup cupholder. Creative, but honestly, also a bit depressing. The man, clearly, likes his ketchup.

A Summer Vacation Spiel

So it's summer vacation -- time to take a break from learning, right? WRONG! Learning happens all the time, not just in my classroom (stop laughing -- admit it, you learned something in there). Turn off the television, computer, video game, and cell phone, get off your behind, and learn by DOING!

My summer is going to be awesome because it's going to be jam packed with learning. I'm going to an educators' workshop in Connecticut next week so I can beef up my teaching chops. Then I'm off to Southeast Asia -- Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand -- so I can absorb the culture and food :) on the other side of the world. Then I'm flying back into California so I can help take care of my grandmother while my aunt recovers from shoulder surgery, and hopefully learn more about my late mother and her extended family. Finally, I hope to take a road trip up from LA to Vancouver with some friends, so I can soak in some sun, a few National Parks, and good people. Sounds like a great summer, right? The funny thing is, I'm most looking forward to the 20+ hour airplane ride to and from Asia. Just so I can buckle down and read some books I've been dying to get to all year.

Not going to CTY this summer? Don't have the $$$$ required to travel 'round the globe? Doesn't matter. Learning can take place in any setting -- you just have to have the proper mindset. Now's the time to pick up activities that interest YOU. Set some (achievable) goals for yourself, find out how to accomplish them, and get started! I expect a full report the next time we meet.

So have fun this summer, relax, learn a little, and be safe!

The Evolution Store

One of my favorite stores in the city is The Evolution Store found in the unlikeliest of neighborhoods, uppity-buppity SoHo. Even though you don't need to be a science geek to enjoy visiting this store, it sure helps. The first time I visited, I felt like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory: so many things to see, so many things to play with, so little time! I walked away with one of my prized possessions, a Venus fly trap (which, sadly, died from owner neglect).

Like many shoppers, I was amazed by the gamut of biological artifacts found there -- when NY Magazine visited the story, they found that it was "packed to the rafters (which are hung with snakes, anatomical charts, and prehistoric shark jaws) with softball-size ostrich eggs, Venus flytraps, and the skulls of skunks, minks, and muskrats." As one online reviewer stated, "Their stock is enough to make you want to start a collection of dead things in vials." Yup, totally sweet.

And reviewer Megan C. perhaps put it best when she said,

Going to Evolution is sort of like spying on your cool older brother while he makes out with his super-pretty girlfriend, except that in this case your older brother is time and his girlfriend is nature.
You can get disgustingly cheap fossils at Evolution. I'm not sure what the monetary value of a genuine fossil of some snail-thing from 30 million years ago ought to be, but I feel certain that it should be more than six dollars. Plus, this is the only place I know of where I can buy a complete set of models of the skulls of all the "found links" between a monkey and myself.

Intrigued? The Evolution Store is located at 120 Spring St. near Mercer St. Take the 6, E, or C to Spring St. It is open 7 days a week, from 11 am to 7 pm.

Harriman State Park

For the last two weekends in a row, I've headed to Harriman State Park.

The first week, I went there with my brother Jeff, my friend Danielle, and my dog Cheaper. After a few hours of hiking uphill without a trail, we looked like a motley crew: our clothing was drenched in sweat, our sneakers were soaked from treading through nasty mud, our legs were cut and bleeding from hiking through brush, and our mouths were parched because we had forgotten to bring water. However, we did find a few wild blueberries to munch on. The hard work was worth it though, because we made it to the top of a beautiful vista overlooking nothing but rolling hills covered in lush green trees. I yelled at the top of my lungs and heard my voice echo in the valleys below. It was one of the best feelings in the world!

After we got back to our parked car, we decided to jump in a lake to cool down. As soon as we approached the water, a pair of geese swam over, started flapping their wings aggressively, and honking obnoxiously loud at us. Just the other day, I learned that male and female geese are monogamous partners for life. I assume that this pair was trying to protect its terrority (and perhaps its young ones). Still, that didn't stop my brother and me from jumping in to the lake. As soon as my brother hit the water, the geese lunged. My dog Cheaper instinctively dove into the lake to protect my brother, even though she is terrified of water. Needless to say, the geese were intimidated by the mighty trio (my brother, myself, and my dog) and kept a safe distance away.

I've heard a few people say that the views in Nyack are worth checking out, so I'm probably going to ride my bike there next week.

Thanks for the pics Danielle.