A Public Service Announcement

Public service announcement #437: Practice what you'll say when you hear a racist, homophobic, sexist, or insensitive comment. You'll need to pull out that little spiel when you least expect it.

I watched this video at a faculty workshop today. It's about 3 minutes long, concise, and pragmatic. It'll make you chuckle. It's called "How to Tell People They Sound Racist."

Also, here's another video that is worth a look. I'm increasingly concerned about anti-immigrant sentiments towards Latino/as and Muslim people. It's entitled "The Green War on Immigrants."

I also just read Zeitoun which I would love to loan to anyone looking for a good read. It's by David Eggers about one man's journey during and after Hurricane Katrina. It starts as the fulfillment of the American Dream, then suddenly shifts. Read it! Shawn and I both read it in just a few days. Let me know, and I'll lend you my copy.

I can't stop thinking about Japanese internment camps lately. Is that where we're headed? Decimation of Native Americans was grounded in (twisted) Christian theology. Slavery was also frequently justified using Bible passages. So, are all Christians terrorists too?

The dumbing down of American consciousness is stupifying, but don't let your incredulous reactions immobilize you. Why isn't there more uproar about Islamophobia and anti-immigration racism? Why isn't there more of an uproar? Maddening.

Blake!

I'm officially starting my new job at the Blake School tomorrow. However, I've been plugging away on several projects already. One of these projects is being the new adviser of the school newspaper. I went to a fabulous conference put on by the National Scholastic Press Association, and I learned how to post the paper. I'm going to link it here. I had nothing to do with this issue, but it will give you a sense of what I'll be working with this school year.Spectrum June 2010

I also just received a message from a woman who lived next door to me my first year at Gustavus. She also teaches at Blake, so it will be delightful to reconnect with her. I am seriously pinching myself because this gig seems too good to be true. I have a comically huge classroom, the curriculum is stellar, and the faculty are so positive, brilliant, and have such interesting life stories. I know it's going to be a mountain of work, but that's why someone is paying me. Cheers to tomorrow!

Hotdish from the Midwest with Love

 I love Adam Turman. His whimsical, edgy prints decorated my kitchen in Massachusetts. He connected me to my roots when I began to feel squelched by New England life. I have this one hanging in my kitchen. I'm on a quest to find one for my grandmother's kitchen in Anguilla.

After reading about the combination of white beans and collard greens on my sister's blog, I found this article and recipe. Click on this article, "How to Trash a Great Recipe" and feel the hotdish love!

August! Dog days? No way!

August. While August conjures images of green algae stagnating on too-warm lake water for some, August is a glorious month that I am sure to be warm, moist, and steamed like a perfect artichoke. Green, like the word "august" can be a fresh, grassy meadow or a canned, cold pea. So, like its greenish hue, August's connotations are many.

August means summer is starting to wind down. Summer projects have to be revved up if they are to be finished before school starts. Only a few more weekends to squeeze a weekend trip onto the mixed tape of Summer Road Trips of 2010.

The best flowers bloom in August: black-eyed susans, purple coneflowers, and sedum. These are hardy flowers, not afraid of hot, searing sun. The pansies have long since shriveled, dried up, and gone home. August means "marked by majestic dignity or grandeur " according to Webster's Dictionary. Well, of course! Only the robust, chest-thrust forward, dignified few can stand proudly with pitted-out arm pits and delirious heat headaches.Violets? Not-so-much. Shrinking.

And, the most robust expression of summer: tomatoes! Ah, at long last, the tomatoes! I'm catapulted back to a Sicilian patio after dusk with a hunk of crusty bread in my hand, dripping with olive oil and tomato innards that have been crushed into the spongy, holey bread.

Remember the sweat that's sitting on your upper lip as you wake up in the morning, as you wash dishes, as you exert yourself in the smallest of ways during the day. The sweaty back of your dress shirt, the healthy shine on the apples of children's cheeks. Remember this salty, sweaty month this winter. Once winter comes, I'll be shivering in five layers, with white fingers, flush faced from my niacin pills, and dreaming of this august day.
http://web.mac.com/peterhemberger/iWeb/august/photos_files/slideshow.html?slideIndex=73