So many of you blog stalkers may note that between last fall and Spring Break my blog posts were seriously lacking. During that time period, Jarred and I began working on our National Boards for work. In a nutshell, every eight years we need to re-certify as teachers. There are a number of options, National Boards is the most difficult as it's a National Certification program where we must document various aspects of our teaching. It is a content specific program and of all the shit we must wade through to receive certification, this program is the most valid and truly makes one examine their practices. The downside? It must be done by March 31- or within a year of signing up for the program. This means four 13 page papers written in an odd style I will never duplicate, two videos of me teaching my kids, an ass load of student work samples and an entire paper about my outside-of -teaching but teaching related accomplishments- basically a 13 page resume. Needless to say, any free time we had, ended late last fall. Being the busy people we are, we tried to maintain our active lifestyle, work and still work on National Boards. Tough life. We submitted our portfolios on March 31, still have a test to take and will find out if we are among the 40% of the applicants who actually pass. If we don't pass? The process starts over again the following year (or we just go get a job w/out any responsibility). The other depressing part of this process is that because of the Washington state budget (more specifically in part because Washingtonians won't pass a pop and candy tax) the compensation teachers receive for being Nationally Board certified was nixed this year. I realized it's above and beyond teacher salary's and in tough times, everyone has to sacrifice, but I believe this is a huge sacrifice. National Board certified teacher REALLY are good teachers and deserve compensation (to their already meager salaries) just like those bankers deserve compensation. While sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, we were able to take small breaks. Jarred's sister, Jenese, gave us a hoola-hoop for our birthdays and we had a lot of fun with that thing.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
More More Moab
We love our bikes! 
Porcupine Rim- this section was harder than it looks. Looks like I could ride this on a cruiser bike. 
Amasa Back- From left to right: Rob Kulp, Steve Swearigan, Marie Klemmer, me, Jarred. 
Sumo Man rides high on the way up to Porcupine Rim. 
We kick ass. More Moab
Marie and I showing off our Northwest whiteness. 
Sand Flats- should be called Windy Flats where sand blows into every orface of the body and bike. Left after a day for Goose Island campground which was by the Colorado River and not as windy. 
Delicate Arch and Jarred. 
Steve, Marie and I at Delicate Arch. 
Delicate Arch. Moab Spring 2011
Negro Bill Canyon. A great hike. 
Negro Bill Canyon 
Flat Pass- awesome technical ride 
Scary man- "strapped" and burping baby in Arlington, Or. These are the people who voted for GW Bush. 
The rig. Headed out of town. I've neglected the blog for the past few months as my life was mainly consumed by National Boards and figured no one wanted to hear about or see photos of me sitting in front of a computer debating whether to use the word focus or engaged. While I managed to maintain a fairly sane life during this process, I had significantly less free time and when I had free time didn't want to spend it in front of the computer being creative as my creativity was all used up after watching myself on video 15+ times and then trying to figure out how to describe myself as a bad ass teacher who knows what she's doing.
Conveniently we mailed off our National Board's entries the Tuesday before Spring Break. This meant that by the time Friday rolled around Jarred and I were all about a week on our bikes in the sun.
We spent Spring Break in Moab last year and loved the sun and great riding, so rallied some friends together for a trip down this year. Our friend Rob had a camper and offered it up so Jarred, Steve, Marie and I piled into Rob's Suburban (which should be called gas hog as it ate up the gas).
We intended to go to Fruita, Colorado and Moab but the weather in Fruita was less than desirable so we stayed in Moab the entire time which allowed for us to get in more rides and do some more exploring.
Highlights of the trip:
1. Porcupine Rim. We rode it twice. The first time Steve and I had five flats between the two of us. Lesson learned, I ditched the tubes and Steve changed his tires, the second time we rode the 20 miles in under two hours. FUN.
2. Watching large man taco his tire on Porcupine Rim. Kudos to those who have guts to jump but this guy didn't have enough guts. After watching Jarred, Steve and Rob hit a decent sized jump, he decided to try it for himself but with a little less gumption, hence the wheel that became a taco. I also enjoyed watching Rob and Steve stand on the guys wheel so he could ride the remaining 12 miles out to the road.
3. Flat Pass. Loved the challenging rock and the beauty.
4. Riding with Marie. Marie is a crazy climber but we're pretty evenly paced. I don't ride with too many girls and it's nice to find a girl who likes hard rides.
5. The sun. We've had nothing but rain here and nothing beats sticky rock and sun.
Now it's back to work and the real world. Only two more months until summer though and then the fun begins again! Lots more photos on facebook.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Exit Through the Gift Shop
It's winter and Jarred and I seem to be hooked on movies because it is dark all of the time and we seek a mental break from our school program. Over Christmas break we watched Exit Through the Gift Shop and were so confounded and impressed by the thought evoked in the movie, we recommended it to our friends who then watched it and made further comments on the movie which evoked further discussion, hence the blog.
Exit Through the Gift Shop was directed by Banksy. Banksy is one of the more popular street artists who has been able to keep his anonymity (and out of jail) for quite awhile despite having global popularity. Google him. I'm impressed with the thought he puts into his art. It seems that many street artists come up with one or two images and those images become their "face" but their work never goes beyond the basic images. I also like Banksy's street name. Seems that most street artists have pseudo-names to protect their identity- unless your parents named you Shephard Fairey- then you're covered- but some of the street names seem to transition into the rap world which, to me, is a world of superficial identities. Take Mr. Brainwash or Pursue or 123Krew or TATS CRU...really these guys are generally small white guys toting spray paint cans.
Back to Exit Through the Gift Shop....the documentary idea got rolling because Thierry Guetta decided he wanted to document street artists and his ultimate subject was Banksy. The weird thing about Thierry (who is also Mr. Brainwash...more later) is that he wasn't a documentary film maker nor did he ever intend to be. He calls himself an artist, once owned a clothing shop and likes to videotape any and everything, hence the documentation of street artists. After spending months following these artists around (no small feat in-itself), Guetta finally meets Banksy. Banksy trusts Guetta as Banksy had never allowed anyone to videotape him working and Banksy liked the idea of a documentary on street art. What Banksy soon learns is that Guetta never intends to make a documentary, he didn't care what happened to the thousands of hours of tape he made. But Banksy did, so Banksy gets ahold of Guetta's footage, tells Guetta to go off to LA and make some art, and begins creating the documentary. A few months later Guetta calls Banksy with news that he's making art and will soon have an art show. Banksy decides to flip the focus and begins to document Guetta's street work and other art as well as his shows. The results are surprising.
Street art intrigues me. I feel most good artists- not just amateur taggers- add beauty to the starkness of a wall or sidewalk. I wish more street artists would hit up the side of Wal-Mart or Target. I appreciate walking through an industrial area while being bombarded with colorful images but wouldn't Wal-Mart be much more enticing with a color ridden wall?
The idea of "what is art?" also intrigues me. When Banksy tells Mr. Braniwash to go off and make some art, the maniac does. But, to me, Mr. Brainwash doesn't make art, he uses images and ideas around him, combines them, re-colors them, and wha-la- art. No. Not in my book. Taking images of others has already been done (Andy Warhol), using animals to evoke message...been done (Banksy) using utilitarian objects in sculpture, done (Jim Dine). I'm no art critic nor do I know squat about art history, but Mr. Brainwash wasn't making art. I guess I'd call him a graphic designer, not an artist.
The funny thing about Mr. Brainwash? His shit sells. When Banksy documented Mr. Brainwash's first show, it was a hit. Nearly all his work sold, and there was a lot of work to be sold. Now Mr. Brainwash has his own (really well done) website: www.mrbrainswash.com and more shows where he sells more art.
Which brings me to my next point. Do Americans think? All these people came to Mr. Brainwash's show, they ranted and raved about his "art." When they ranted and raved, the rant caught on. Prior to this, no one had heard of Mr. Brainwash, but he had the thought and foresight and some bad-ass marketing gurus to make him instantly big. It was like American Idol for artists. At no point did anyone, besides Shephard Fairey or Banksy, question this guy's validity, the reason he did what he did or his originality...which of course leads to other questions.....
Who decides what art is worth?
Does being an artist mean one has to be original?
How do products become popular? Take Shephard Fairey's Hope image of Obama. Instant popularity. Good art or good marketing?
I love a good move that provokes thought and discussion.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A Doggone Christmas
Gretta
Bailey- the obsessive retriever
Shuksan
Bruno- Rosie the Border Collie in the backgroundJarred's sister, Jenese and I are suckers for dogs. I'll take a dog over a baby any day and Jenese is the first to admit that she will too, even though she has her own pink bundle of joy. Jenese has two BIG dogs- Bruno, a German Shephard and Bailey, a Newfoundland mix. Gretta spent some time with Bruno when Jenese and David first got him, as his social skills were less than desirable and Gretta will play with just about anyone. Jenese and I like to get the dogs toys at Christmas. This Christmas I found a big box of sturdy rope toys at Costco and Jenese brought an equally large bag of flavored bones. The bones were a hit but caused a bit of a ruckus as no one wanted to share their bone and most wanted to bury their bone for safe keeping. They rope toys were more of a hit and everyone except Bruno and Rosie spent some quality time attempting to destroy the toys. I think the 10 people and three kids were a bit much for Bruno and Rosie spent her day circling the living room making sure that we were all herded into the right location.
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