It's been many many many moons since I blogged last and now I am thinking it might be time to start again.
So what I have been doing lately is getting recipes off websites and trying a new one a week. So tune in for some of those!

Ok, I know I haven't blogged in a while but... I needed to rant about this.
Has anyone paid attention to the leapfrog tag learner commercial??? Maybe because I am a teacher does this commercial irk me.
Basically the product advertised is supposed to help kids learn to read and instill in them a love for reading...but I have two issues with this....
#1 Do people not read to their children anymore?
I understand that some people don't have time to sit, etc.... but I also have an issue #2.
The commercial spurns a "scientific book" or "boring book" for the one that talks... and then a kid then rejects a the book saying that it doesn't talk. How does this encourage reading????

The blog is back!!!

I don't know why, I went on haitus for awhile. I think it is because of the addiction to facebook...but now, I am blogging again!

So I went to stop off in school today and went up to my room and what do I see? BUNNIES!!!!
So I go to the office and I ask the admin and they say "Bunnies? what bunnies?"

Apparently no one but the security guard knew they were storing the bunnies from the lower school in my room while they work on the lower school!

Some artwork from my students this year....



Some artwork from my students this year....

You all know my little obsession with taking pictures as I walk through the park in the morning/afternoon. This time I was struck with the beauty of leaves on a certain tree and they lost their chlorophyll and turned the most brilliant reddish color.

I just would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Some more POST IT ART - Gnomie turns to Shev and asks "Do you ever just think up hypothetical scenarios in your head?" Shev turns to Gnomie and introduces herself.

Some more random pictures from my walks....

This is for those of you who have been bugging me to update my blog. I really don't have anything interesting going on. Last night I got back from work, ate some dinner, and ended up walking about 9 miles. I do have a tendency to take pictures at random moments though. For example I walk through Central Park every morning to go to school. My rationalization is that since I save $4 every day in bus fare by walking, that I can spend $4 on Starbucks (yes, my Starbucks ban is over, I have caved once again). So I have been taking pictures of Belvedare Castle in different seasons and different times of day. This is my picture from this morning. It was actually pouring this morning, but I had an umbrella, hat, coat, scarf, boots and I despise stuffing like a sardine onto the crosstown bus on rainy days when people allow their umbrellas to drip down your leg.

I call it self-portrait on a post it. I love GNOMIE and S the Fowl Fouler!

Only in New York do you walk home, hear music, and look up and see a guy sitting on the fire escape with his guitar singing along to his playing. It's great. I wish I could have captured that moment.

Some pictures I took of my walk back from work every day....

There is a graphic T shirt website called Threadless that I am now addicted to. It's awesome, I want to design something on there one of these days. Here is the what I found today:

So does anyone have that experience where are you are doing something to truly help a friend but that same friend who you helped and you know you did the right thing by, you lose that friend by helping them and feel lost because you know now that there is nothing you can do and if you did everything over again you would probably do the same exact thing? That is it.

It Was There...Now It's Gone

You think you can
Depend on tails.
You don't expect tails
To go wrong.
The last time I looked
It was right there.
Now when I look there,
It's gone.

It was always
Just behind me,
Always tagging along.
A little something
at the back...
I thought it was there,
And it's gone.

I assumed it was
Attached to me,
That it actually
Hung true.
I'd hoped it was stuck
Very firmly on.
Maybe we needed
Some glue.

It used to trail
Right behind me,
Always tailing along.
My little extra
At the back...
I thought it was there,
Now it's gone.

from "Lessons from the Hundred-Acre Wood" by Hallie Marshall

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Brain hurt...must go sleep...why still awake????

If my ramblings do not make sense, please forgive me, they are the reflections of an insomniac. I just can't seem to sleep today because for the past three days it seems that most of all I did was sleep. I did some reading, I got hooked on a new TV show that won't be out with new episodes till 2008, I made some calls. I did not check my email or whatnot for three days. I ended up with around 61 messages, some junk, some fun, and some friends who were wondering where I disappeared to for 3 days. I was home, computer-less, in the not so wilds of Queens. DUDES YOU HAVE MY NUMBER!!! Anyways, I realize now that my free summer, well, not so free summer, (yes for those who doubt me, I actually DID WORK) comes to a close. I think I am trying to cram as much as I can in in the next two "free" days as I can. Tomorrow I am actually going to school to be responsible and get stuff done, but I am also planning to stay up to see the eclipse. Anyone staying up with me???? Tuesday is for sleep, laundry, and a concert at night...(I mentioned it in a previous post, it's at the knitting factory..) and I am sure plans will change. I do have to say while I did not do anything grand this summer, I still did some city wandering, I saw friends, I spent time in the park. I actually relaxed, which I think is the point. I think this summer was filled with little things, like shabbos picnics, coffee breaks, etc. Some guy stopped me on the street, pointed to a place on his map (which the place he pointed at happened to be where we were) and said to me "I am French" as though his being French explained that he needed directions for a place that he was actually in. Imagine yourself lost in the middle of Paris, stopping someone and saying, " I am American" I have never been to France (anyone want to take me) but I imagine there would be a different reaction than someone like me gesturing directions with my hands.
Have I lost you yet in my confusion?
A friend told me today that they will be away for two months and where they will be going. I feel like I am the only one who isnt traveling or haven't traveled recently. My friends collectively have been or will be going to Israel, England, Spain, China, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Germany, Spain, Italy, ...should I go on. I have gotten postcards from a few of those countries in the past month, thinking, wow, if only. Is that sad, I have to live vicariously through their pictures and postcards. I love postcards, if you are reading this and have just figured that out that means you should send me one no matter where you are. Postcards are unique. While I prefer mail to email in general (yes I know I am weird but there is some satisfaction to writing and posting a letter) postcards are somehow still the best. It shows that no matter where someone is at any given moment in time they took out a minute out of their day to scribble some words and think of you. It doesnt matter where the postcard is from and how long the message is, it is the physical act of sending it that matters. Weird, I know, but thats what I think. People usually roll their eyes at me when I tell them to send me a postcard, but really I am serious.
Still reading??? Hmmmm ...... I may post some pictures I took in Central Park...so tune in, I am back.