All in One

Not that the holiday has to be done without gifts- I have no problem with the ritual of gift giving. I think it is an important part of the spirit of the holiday. If we buy a gift that truly fits a person, we are in a way showing how well we know them and how much we care- it’s a symbol of that relationship- the abstract is made a bit more concrete in a very meaningful way. But if we are directed (and direct others) aren’t we taking that connection and symbol away?

Never Noticed That Before

We would like to thank Mike for ALWAYS being there for us.

Cosmic Pigs

I am glad that people are in line with Pass the Pigs, (I think I have explained the game three times in the last two weeks alone) but I have rediscovered another dice game of greed and chance from my high school daze. This one a bit less innocent than those charming pigs. Cosmic Wimpout is the name of the game. As that name may suggest, it was a game made up by smelly hippies (in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest) and then followed as closely as the Grateful Dead. The good news is that the game is really innocent and fun and there is no requirement of wearing tie-dyed shirts or twirling. The game is a bit more complex than the pigs and therefore I think, more fun. There are a freakish amount of rules as well as loads of ridiculous lingo to go along with it.

You will be asked to clear your flash.
You will experience train wrecks.
You will wonder why your freight train landed you out of the game.
You will be offered Last Licks.
And you may not understand why “you may not want to but you must”.

From my description alone you may hate this game already. It is much less annoying than it sounds. And know that I am going to harass all of you into playing it this Christmas season. So get on board now.

There is a really good downloadable version of the game that if you like will lower your productivity almost as much as Snood. I would recommend reading the official rules of the game in order to make any sense out of what is going on. If all else fails, wait for a personal explanation or go back to the pigs.

Tired of Living Online

Blog postings are short
Amazon wish list is down

The real world is nice

How Strange

They were on the inside ordering every dessert on the menu. We were outside freezing and talking. This is what came of it- the creepiest and funniest camera phone picture to date. Shot from Willow looking down Archie’s.

Yes

Happy Thanksgiving

This is worth reading. Pay attention to the world around you. More to come.

The Quest is On

Easy.

XBOX 3Stupid

Man, I don’t know why I never pre-order these items I know are going to be hot and peddle them on ebay. Premium systems are well above $1000. Not bad for a $400 investment.

According to CNN Money today:
By mid-morning...one premium system sold for $3,050, with well over a dozen following suit, coming in between $3,000 and $4,000. By mid-afternoon, one buyer was so eager to own one of the new systems paid $5,100 for a hard-drive enabled machine and a copy of "Need for Speed: Most Wanted"

Now I didn’t see that happen, but man alive I want to be on the smart end of that auction. Even if you only clear a few hundo, it’s still worth the trip to Circuit City. I am all over the PS3 pre-order.
Also, check out these freaks.

Tardy Teacher

So for the first time in my professional history I REALLY overslept. I woke up today at 7:26, which is about 26 minutes after I normally get to work. I live 35 minutes away. Nothing makes you feel like an irresponsible punk kid like being tardy to school. And I'm the teacher. It wasn’t enough that I felt bad though, my colleagues and students had to rub it in. By second period all seemed to be forgotten or forgiven.

Throughout my life, I have had trouble waking up in the morning.
This time around I know that I’m not just lazy. I started running a few miles every afternoon and I have not figured out that I need to go to bed earlier in order to wake up when I need to. This is all well and good, I can fix this, but I can’t explain this to everyone.

Or can I?
Let me go over my history of sleep struggle.

Elementary School- I liked to watch television or read into the wee hours of the night, which made my arrival into the waking world problematic, but as I had no say in the situation, I got up.

Middle School- I liked to listen to music or read into the wee hours of the night, which made my arrival into the waking world problematic, but as I had no say in the situation, I got up.

High School- I liked to [Edited for content] into the wee hours of the night, which made my arrival into the waking world an epic struggle.

College- Freshmen year I had trouble waking up for 8:15 am Latin- By senior year I had trouble waking up for 2:00 pm British Novels of the 19th Century. I even made a student film about sleeping all day.

Grad School-
Internship – I missed a few days due to oversleeping, but always called in on time. Once they gave me my own classes to teach (and allowed me to come in at 10:30) I never missed a day.
Student teaching- I never missed a day due to oversleeping, but there were times I found myself in front of 24 ninth graders only ten minutes after waking. That wasn’t fun.

Professional Life- A few close calls- always made it in before 1st period. Until today- I didn’t miss school, but I did miss first period. My students did get the work they needed, but I lost my perfect record.

Friends' Thanksgiving

Pictured left (from foreground): sausage stuffing, yellow turnip mash with crispy shallots, sweet potatoes, broccoli with cashews.
Pictured right: jello thing, green bean casserole, canned cranberry sauce, ramen mashed potatoes.

Not pictured Highs: Pumpkin Pie, Turkey, Celery Leek Soup, Toast Points, Cranberry Hot-Toddy
Not Pictured Lows: Toaster Shrimp things

Our first (of hopefully many) Friends' Thanksgiving was a success. The theme was High-Low, so everyone had to supply a dish that they considered either fancy or trashy. After eating all of the above it turned out that we were all horizontal and therefore low for about an hour.

And then we tossed pigs for money, which somehow was high

In Celebration of Matt’s New Job

Everyone always said that toys like Legos and Erector sets would shape children into engineers. And I guess they're right because it worked for my uncle Bill and my brother. As computers are becoming necessary in all aspects of life, the toys of the past are no longer enough. We now have children building with virtual Legos in CAD programs. I tried for an hour to learn the controls and build a decent robot, but I couldn’t do it (as you can see, I didn't get past the legs.) I’ll leave it to the 10 year olds.

See what you can do.
Oh, and some of these kids are selling their designs back to Lego

I started to research home coffee growing and roasting. It seems that it would be fairly easy to grow a small coffee tree in one’s home and with a relatively cheap roaster, really make their own coffee.

I think my interest started with those new pod-style coffee makers that take the process out of the hands of the consumer.

In the new millennium meals may not come in pill form, but coffee comes in pods.

I don’t know why, but as things are made easier- I want to understand and do them the hard way.

How Sad.

The eggplant is weeping for an hour. I hope it is thinking about what it did.

Portion Control

Although The Food Network can be a great resource for recipes, some things there just don’t apply to our group of friends.

• Count on 3 drinks per guest.
• Provide guests with non-alcoholic drink choices.
• Assume some of your guests will be vegetarians.
• A portion of meat per person is 1/4 pound.

Eat Drink and Be Merry

Thanks for Nothing Wall-Mart

What is anyone doing on Black Friday?

Check this out.

A Casualty of Married Life

Phone Post: Vader has been exiled.

Additional Post: Ten minutes later.

Apparently there is no place in our married life for Darth Vader. Which I guess is a good thing. He now resides in my classroom, which I think is great because you’d expect an English teacher to have a bust of Dante or Shakespeare. And even if it is a loss for me, it is a win for the students who really seem to like it.

Although, I do wonder if this is a slippery slope that I find myself on. I already hear talk of that black leather chair being replaced. I have a feeling that sooner or later my classroom will look like my old apartment.

At least the banana tree has a home on top of the fridge. But for how long?
Also, that might be a win for Malcolm or, for all I know, Jillian.

#!*&?

Grades are due.

I think I fixed It

For those of you that had trouble posting comments, you no longer need to sign up for a blogger account.I may add word verification if spam becomes a problem. Give it a shot and at least leave your first name if you post.

Happy Birthday Elise Belknap

Cashed-Out Cousins

Cousins.

Saturday Clubhouse

Phone Post: Welcome, this is our clubhouse.

Additional Post: 5:01 PM

Excuse the Phish reference. I thought it was particularly fitting as Mike Moller is taking on Mike Gordon characteristics (in appearance anyway.) Take a look at the snapfish album of the progress on the clubhouse at the Franciscan property in Meriden. This dedicated group has been working on converting a hundred year old structure into a clubhouse for children at the summer camp.

Blue Dragons and Independent Press

Anyone from, living in, or at all interested in New Haven (or just what a local blog could be) will enjoy New Haven Independent. Not as much content as the New Haven Advocate in either print or digital form, but interesting in that it is
1) a Paul Bass project (former editor and writer at the Advocate)
2) partially based on contributions from the community,
3) part of the Online Journalism Project,
4) searchable by sections and neighborhoods.

Oh and if you correct their grammar, you get a free coffee mug.


And…
there’s a new mayor in town. Not in New Haven, DeStefano was safe and has set up his run for governor - rather in Middletown- where my livelihood is made and where I cannot vote.

Teachers feel that this will cause a delay in the building of the new high school. And it most likely will, but the mess that had been made in the bidding and the budget (15 million over) can be cleaned up. Now, I am still new to Middletown and their rag of a paper hasn’t taught me much about local politics. But I do know that if something is worth doing…

So does it suck that the project will most likely be delayed again? - Yes and no.

I would like a fortress of a building with digital projectors, smartboards (like a giant PDA that is actually useful) and hallways that can accommodate the amount of students that need to walk down them.

But, I like my classroom just fine. I like standing outside my classroom and actually being outside (I teach in what they call a “relocatable classroom” and what we young teachers that work in them lovingly call the “trailer park”.) I like having everything I need in one place, not that I am one of those hermit teachers that you would imagine lives in his classroom.

I think the best thing about having a new high school will be the effect it will have on the student body. A little morale boost goes a long way and self-image is important to teenagers. Will it really change anything? I’m not sure. Fancy buildings are great, but a good curriculum and dedicated teachers are the most important factor to a school’s success.

Note: There is no free mug for correcting my grammar. Maybe some extra credit points on the next vocabulary quiz.

The image above is a small section of a mural in our current 400/200 hallway connector. Go Blue Dragons!

TJ'S SHC

Original Post: Go get these. Now!

Additional Post: 8:39 PM

It is understandable that with camera to blog technology, you might expect:

1- me to try to upload many points of my day as a chronicle, some sort of narrative, or to make a comment about life.

2- at least that the pics might have some artistic value to them and not just have short, strange posts about what to listen to or eat.

3- them not to leave you thinking, “Dan, I’ve had sesame seeds- I’ve had honey- I’ve had cashews. You have nothing new to show me.”

Response:
#1- Well, as it turns out, my day, although exciting to me, does not make for good photojournalism. I see a lot of the same things and I think that teachers taking photos of students is and should be illegal.

#2- They will. But right now the only art I have time to think about is literature and teaching (yes it is an art).

#3- Not like this you haven’t.

We will see where this goes. More to come.

Wedding Picture Update

Hello to all you lovely people,
Great news! On Snapfish, via our website, over 300 of the professional photos taken on our wedding day are now available. As an added bonus, it has been divided into chapters that reflect each portion of that day. Adam and Ray, our photographers, did a fantastic job capturing the joy and beauty of the day. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as Dan and I did.

A Note on the Picture Share

As you may have been able to tell, I am now taking pictures from my mobile phone and uploading them directly to the blog. I like the idea of broadcasting (even if only to a small audience) what I see as I move through my day. I will usually include a short message (it’s hard to type on a phone) that may or may not be updated later. I will definitely update the title so that there are not a million posts called “A Picture Share!” This will be a one-month experiment as that is when the free month of PCS Vision expires. If I like it, I will continue. If not, it will die. As always, feel free to comment.

Use the Force Trey

Not so great. Sad really. More later.

A Picture Share!

From my phone to you. You see what i see.

The Imminent Implosion of a Hideous and Memorable Landmark

While getting my oil changed today, I spotted this giant metal figure that, until recently, adorned the parking garage of the New Haven Coliseum. If you remember, there was this rocker, a monster truck, a hockey player and probably some other uninspired monstrosity. I think I remember some news story about them being sold or given away, but I might be making that up. Anyway, when walking back from CVS with a magazine to pass the time, I looked up and noticed this figure standing proud and perpendicular to Dixwell Ave. Although I always hated them (partially because I could never tell if they were neon or if the color changed as you were driving by- I still don’t know for sure) I find it interesting that they will still be around even after the Coliseum is destroyed in January 2006. So if there are other sightings, let me know and I’ll give you a prize, or an email, or silent respect.

Oh… and
I think that we should pack a picnic or a pint and go down to witness the destruction. I’ve never seen a building fall to the ground. And I have many memories inside this one.

"It's time to make way for another view of optimism and possibility in the city"
-John DeStefano.

I’ll say.

Happy Birthday Jillian

Album

Happy Birthday Mike Walker

My New Haven

Maggie and I are thinking of buying a house or condo in the next year or so. With prices in New Haven being so high, and both of us wanting the most for our money, we may have to face the reality of leaving the town that we love so well.

We’re not sure where we’re going, but we know that when we go, we will miss this place something terrible.

It has gotten to the point where when we are out about town, I get a bit weepy. So in thinking about all New Haven has to offer I decided to post a list of my favorites over the years. Some of them don’t exist anymore, but are worth mentioning. I am only posting a few now. This will be an ongoing series (that may over time convince us to stay or just be a good list of things to come back to visit).
Enjoy

Edgerton Park -Frisbee golf, Shakespeare, Symphonies, greenhouse, public garden, fountain, local history, sledding

Rudy's- Frites, $2 pints, things scratched into walls, music, giant Yale Bowl picture, Simpson’s pinball

Atticus Bookstore- although I haven’t had a bowl of their black bean soup in years and I never liked looking for literature while on display to diners, I do love this place, but mostly for late-night bread take out. - The best bread in New Haven - Chabaso

That seems like a good start- Beer-Bread-Nature.

Daniel Raucci's Day Off

The bad news is…
I didn’t drive a borrowed Ferrari or pose as the Sausage King of Chicago.

The good news is…
I stayed in bed until noon and then drank tea.

That’s the reality of sick days as an adult.
“Celebrate your youth” – KW

My Work is Done for Me

I was going to post, but I think Jillian said it best-
Dropped In
Enjoy