Frankenstorm

In addition to having various enthusiasms about the Civil War, The Great War (WWI), space exploration, etc., I am also a bit of a weather geek. This is one of my favorite weather blogs because of the fantastic radar imagery and various maps.

I'm sending good thoughts to the folks who are affected by this mighty storm.

Sandy Haiku

Prepare, hunker down
Flashlights, batteries and snacks
Afterwards, clean-up

P.S. Keeping with the metaphor of Endeavour being the City of LA's pet...I loved a certain student's reference to it being like Clifford, the Big Red Dog.

Procrastination

It's been a long time since I've posted! Have I been procrastinating? Well, yes and no.

This past weekend I worked very hard on this big teacher reflection project I'm doing, so that was five hours in the library on Saturday, and then I was in Murrietta all day on Sunday. I shared stuff I'd written and got feedback, and guess what? I still have work to do!

I'm glad to talk about procrastination though, because I know so many of you have a hard time getting started. I understand! I worked myself up into my big day at the library for several days before. Once I finally sat down and worked though, it felt really, really good. I got into that sort of trance you do when you're really get going at expressing your ideas and thoughts in response to some question, and I just wrote and wrote. When I got home I was done for the day, but felt so different - so satisfied! I slept super well Saturday night, too. It's no coincidence.

This video reminded me that sometimes I need to build up to focusing, however. On Saturday, I really wanted to work, so that helped. But often we have to show up - even as artists - when we don't want to, and that takes discipline.

For a week, make yourself stick to a schedule, and work for extended periods of time with no break. So maybe on day one, work for 20 minutes, take a five minute break, over a period of two hours. The next day, work for 1/2 hour at a time with five minute breaks, and go for up to three hours. The next day, work for 40 minutes, then a five minute break, and keep that up for three and half hours. See if you can stay at that level of concentration for the rest of the week.

Fast Endeavour

So many people took so many great photos of the Shuttle's journey- I wonder how many? What do you grab if there's a fire? The photo albums! Do people have photo albums any more?

Here's a super cool, time-lapse video of the Endeavour's 12 mile trip. I have come to think of it as our city's pet. We have to go to the Science Center to make sure it's getting enough attention, and has water.

Endeavour

A Haiku for my LA

hauling massive rock
on Wilshire; now space shuttle
on La Tijera

We're huge.

NexGen

What do you guess 'NexGen' stands for?  If you guessed yourself, you're correct.

It's the name the LACMA (and what is that an acronym for?) has given to its free museum membership program for people 17 and under. Find out how you can become a member (and get one adult in free with your membership) here.

This place has all kinds of art - not just giant rocks! It's basically on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax and it's open every day except Wednesday.

Last question: Why did they call this program 'NexGen' ?

New Fish and Cool Links

We have two new fish in the room. They need names. Richard now has friends.

Here's one:

THIS SATURDAY An orientation to be on the writing staff for LA Youth Monthly will happen at 11 a.m. Check out the other cool teen staffers and address and contact info of orientation here. This is not a paid position, but it will help you enormously with your writing and will be extreme fun.

WONDERFUL STORIES Here's where you can hear interviews that regular people do with their friends and loved ones. They are short and powerful, and we will be doing an interview project in our classes.

As always, feel free to email me with comments and questions.

Debate Night!

Turn on, tune in, and listen up! 6 p.m.-----the debate will be on a lot of channels, but I know for sure you can livestream it here.

Election Season

Say, there's kind of a big election happening Tuesday, November 6th.  There will be a president elected, members of congress elected, state and local legislators, and ballot propositions.  Do you know what a ballot proposition is? Proposition = "how about we address this problem this way."

By going here, you can find out who all the legislators are who represent you. Oh, what's a 'legislator?' Get out your vocabulary journal! 'legis' comes from the Latin word for 'law.'
If you know someone who might want to vote but needs to register to vote first, here is where you can do that. It's in many languages, too.

Wednesday night is the first of three presidential debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney.  It's from 9-10:30 Eastern Time so what time would that be here? The focus will be 'domestic policy.' More Latin!

Please watch at least 45 minutes of the debate, if at all possible, so we can discuss what you noticed! Whose ideas make the most sense? Did you talk about it with your family?

P.S. That 'chill' in the air from last week? Yeah, not so much. Oh well...a nice big moon, anyway.