snow day

Snow bunny~ready to hit the slopes.  Or, at least the tubing hill.

Very fun outing with lots of spinning down the hillside.

field trippin'

All y'all know how I love a good field trip~and some of my favorite ones are the ones that I take myself on. As yesterday was a half-day, I scooted up to Baltimore to catch the Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibit before it left.  It was my first visit to the museum, so I enjoyed roaming around the rest of the galleries.

For some reason, Chagall makes me smile.

From 2012, but still pretty funny.

It's not quite my room of pennies that I loved in Austin, but this beaded curtain was lots of fun to click-clack through.  Wonder if the guard standing next to it can hear beads clicking on his days off? 

Random copper box~thought it was cool to see reflections in it.

This was an ugly sculpture from the outside, but once you stood inside and twirled, it was like being inside a kaleidoscope~definitely will go back to this.

Couldn't get the focus to work because of the glass glare, but this was made by rubbing a basketball in street grime in Harlem and then bouncing it on the canvas.  You could see the ball seams~rather interesting.  A little drab to hang in one's living room, though.

Hard to see, but this is a carved painting. 

Always take a shot of any Rothko for my friend, Angela.

This was the coolest thing~impossible to see via a photo.  This was an air shaft/cut away between floors and they angled mirrors so that you were never quite sure where/what you were seeing.  If I leaned one way, I could see myself, another direction and I would another floor.  This particular shot was of a visitor on the floor below. 

Shower curtain of Dave Eggers prose.

And finally, some delish pizza at Joe Squared.  A lovely city outing.

respite

Whee~it's Long Winter Weekend and I am hitting the road and shaking the dust of this village life.  Going to my favorite waffle joint in DC to celebrate my favorite niece's second birthday.

Thirty years ago,

our President told a world leader to tear down a wall.  Today, I read that our current leader is signing orders to build one.  As I sat in our Lunar New Year celebration, my head could not absorb this fact.

it's raining, it's pouring

Hard to see in this photo, but my classroom windows were waterfalls throughout first and second periods today. 

With the dismal weather and even more dismal political swirl of a Monday, it was great to have another small community baking project. 

By the end of the evening, all 8 girls were in my itty-bitty kitchen.  Not sure why, when I have a lovely living room.

Our gifts to all the local law/emergency personal~most of whom we keep in business!

holding up the sky

Springfield Metro Station, VA

Am sure that later I will be more articulate about participating in a global phenomenon, but wanted to write about participating in my first protest march while things are still fresh in my mind.  Our school group left the wilds of Virginia around 7:30 a.m.  By the time we got to the nearest Metro station, the lines were already a HOUR in length.  We parked and joined them. 

There were Metro employees at every single ticket kiosk to help people buy their tickets. Despite the very long wait in cool/damp conditions, people were unfailingly polite and patient and jovial.

We finally squashed into a very full car and were on our way.  The mood was exuberant and yet full of unexpected choking up of tears.  To feel, to see~this many people of all ages/ethnicities/view points all united in this outing was overwhelming.  One woman was passing out a huge bag full of home-made pink hats for anyone who didn't have them.  By the time, we finally got to a station that would let us out (there were a few that were closed because there were TOO many people for us to even climb the stairs to exit), everyone in the car was wearing pink.

Some of my students riding the escalator.

It took us another couple of hours to even get out of the Metro station and work our way to the streets where we could hear:  Angela David, Ashley Judd, Amy Schumer introduce Madonna, Alicia Keys.  I was bummed that we were too late to hear Gloria Steinam. 

We were wedged on 9th and Jefferson, in front of the Smithsonian Castle for a couple of hours~there was far too many people to do the actual march. 

 My students did me proud~not a peep of complaint during an intense 14-hour field trip.

Looking at the Washington Monument through the mists.

Standing amidst so many people kept us all warm.

I am realizing~to my chagrin~how complacent I have been with my civic engagement. Despite the economic reality of being a musician by trade, my life has been very privileged. 

I had numerous conversations with strangers from all over the country~from life-time locals to people who flew/drove here to the very few police I saw & also with some students that I hadn't really talked to before this trip.  It was just a gorgeous day on all levels.

Incredibly tired, yet energized by what I just witnessed and participated in.  (Our Spanish teacher knitted hats for all of us to wear.) 

The Metro station on the way homewards.  I still don't have words as to what it felt like to stand with half a MILLION (mainly) women in a peaceful, exuberant, and resolute group and say "NO THANK YOU" to the imbecile who has taken power in the past few days.

I hope this energy will galvanize us to real action tomorrow.  And the next day.  And the next.

Let us continue to stand with her and her ideals.

As Ms. Scarlett said,

"Tomorrow is another day."  And that is the only thing that carried me through today.  Well, that and a lot of music making!

It was hard to narrow down slogans (especially after it was pointed out to me that I had to set an elegant example for the students~ahem), but I went with these.  And the Spanish teacher somehow managed to find time to knit kitty caps for all of us!  

Am looking forward to this experience. this article helps articulate why I feel like this Woman's March is something vital in which to participate. Stay tuned for an incredible blog post to come.

(I don't know why my hyperlink isn't working, so here's the url:  http://www.onbeing.org/blog/courtney-martin-five-reasons-why-taking-to-the-streets-still-matters)

if winter comes

quietly the hope

bury me under the snow

and still I will grow

Just in case you need some new sources of protein

meeting face

Am glad that fun and happy moments are happening in the classroom/rehearsal as this week has seemed to hold a disproportionate amount of asinine meetings.

(And I don't know why Blogger is posting two of my comments now.)

and 5, 6, 7, 8

I can only dream of having a gorgeous little studio like this

As I type, I've now choreographed three of the eight songs for our upcoming show.  First time ever trying to organize a room full of kids how to do 60s dances.  Or any kind of dance beyond my jazz final of the past couple of years.   We're having fun (once it gets going) and the rehearsal is always over before we're ready for it to end.

And that moment?  Is the joy of teaching~when you have to shove your kids out the door to their next appointment.

Now to build and paint sets and backdrops and craft an enormous can of hairspray for the lead to fit inside. And costumes.  And wigs.  And make-up.  And lighting.  And sound technicians.

If you don't hear from me, it could be because I am driving to the Florida Keys to set up life in a fishing shack...

yes

I wish I were a glow worm

Continuing with the childishlike theme of the weekend, I finally tried pouring a glow stick into bubbles.

I wasn't able to blow bubbles and capture them on camera, but it was a very fun experiment~look forward to trying it out with my Littles.  Outside, of course.