Survey Says!

I can't get over how tired I am or how much standing in front of students for an entire day feels like the Dementors sucking my soul. It's not nearly as dramatic as that, I'm just beat is all. I was sick all weekend. My mom says that I'm an old woman and my best-good friend Scott says that it's just bad genetics. I don't know what it is, my brain just hurts.

The highlight of the weekend was my second photo shoot ever with the beautiful charmer Samantha. This girl is going to break some hearts when she gets older. I'm still playing with the pictures, to be honest it's all I want to do right now, but I'll post them as soon as I get the go ahead from her 'rents. In the meantime here's a little sampling because I want to share at least something: And because I had a rough day and I still can't see the bottom of my Crap-To-Do pile, I'm going t post a little survey I found on this website and thought I'd post here because, why not?

What is your name, location and website?
Elaine Palladino, Miami, FL, elainepalladino.com

3 random things/quirks about yourself
1. I've got a budding collection of Star Wars themed Mr. Potato Heads (Darth Tater and Princess Tater). My next purchase will be Yam Solo.

2. I like to randomly sing songs out load for no good reason. My husband says it’s a tick.

3. I still giggle at the McDonald’s fillet o’ fish song even though I’ve seen it 100 times.

What is your favorite time of the year and why?
I love the fall. Every now and then we get a little cold front in Miami but we never get the fall. It’s one of those things that I just long for every year.

3 favorite things to wear.
Jeans
My wedding ring
Shins t-shirts

3 favorite smells
Roasted peanuts on a cold day in the city
Apple pie
My mom

3 favorite places in the world
My parent’s house
New York
Mirror Lake in New Hampshire

Your final meal on earth would be…
Anything my mom makes

3 favorite sounds
My husband’s laughter
My sister’s laughter
The sound of a good song

3 living things you treasure
My family
My dog
My friends

Top 3 events in your life so far
The day I moved to NY
The day I got married
The day I decided to become a teacher

What do you wear to go to sleep?
Anything that’s comfortable. I’m all about comfort.

3 favorite movies
Say Anything
Amelie
Signs (This dude makes the movie...)

3 favorite books
The Harry Potter Series (Because the entire collection is just awesome)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Because he made me want to be a better writer)
High Fidelity (Because it’s the book that made me a reader)

Your favorite quote/motto is…
“Don’t be an asshole.”

3 small ways someone has made your day lately…
-When my cousin commented on this blog
-When my husband packed my lunch
-When someone complemented my photography

What about you? Feel free to cut and paste your answers to this survey in the comments. AND I haven't forgotten about the pending book review...all systems are go for tomorrow.

A Case of the Sads…

(Winter is kind of a bummer, depending on how you look at it.)

I recently came to the conclusion that I like a lot of sad songs. I have no idea why. It’s like that Dave song “Funny the Way It Is” when he says, “someone’s broken heart becomes your favorite song.” I live my life to the tune of other’s misfortunes. Saying that sounds awful but what am I going to do? I like sad songs. Sue me. Here, in no particular order, is a sampling of my favorite. This could become rather lengthy so I’ll just keep it to a small taste. It’s list day, ladies and gents!

Sufjan Stevens ~ “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”

This song is actually more sick than sad. It’s about John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer from Chicago. The entire album, Come On Feel the Illinoise!, references people and places related to the state of Illinois. The fact that I like this song can be a case for psychoanalysis, but I think it’s the juxtaposition of the lyrics with the music that keep me entranced.

The Cure ~ “A Letter to Elise”

This is one of my favorite songs of all time. No one does sad like The Cure. This is a song that I play loud in my car and sing from the top of my lungs.

Adele ~ “Hometown Glory”

This isn’t so much a sad song but one that makes me nostalgic. I don’t know, maybe it’s the piano and the sweeping violins. This girl’s voice is something else.

Azure Ray ~ “These White Lights Will Bend to Make New”

This is a new artist that I actually discovered thanks to Kate from lost (what the flip is her real name?!) She included Azure in her celebrity playlist and then I found this song. Her voice is pretty and again with the violins—the best sad-song instrument aside from the Cello. It's very haunting.

Blue October and Imogen Heap ~ “Congratulations”

You can just take your pick with this band because they’ve got a lot of bummer songs. This one is heartbreaking. Dude comes to his former girl’s wedding. “I came to see the light in my best friend/you seem as happy as you’ve ever been.” What? Anyway, the video link is to a Jim/Pam (from The Office) fan video from back before they finally (finally!) got back together. Those two used to kill me but now they are getting married!

Dave Matthews ~ “Stay or Leave”

I can’ really talk about this song because…well, I just can’t. But I couldn’t do a mix like this without including it. Listen to the lyrics, hear the music and shed a tear. I’m including the version of Dave and his bestie Tim Reynolds.

Counting Crows ~ “It’s Raining in Baltimore”

I don’t know if it’s this guy’s voice or what. Maybe it’s the solo piano or the line “I need a phone call…” Either way, it’s a great sad-song. Good for when you're having a poopy day and want to wallow in it.

Citizen Cope ~ “Sideways”

My best-good-friend Scott introduced me to this band. I love this song. It’s very simple, almost pleading.

The Decemberists -“Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect”

I made this song into my ringtone for when Mike calls me. We like to sing this one. I don’t know if it’s so much sad as it is mellow but I’ll include in this playlist.

Happy Times

I like making lists of things, particularly lists where I can scratch stuff off. My awesome friend Lissette made her list of 10 things that make her terribly happy. She got this idea from the Rockstar Diaries blog where the proprietors (gotta love the vocabulary!) are working on this thing call the Here's to Happiness Project where people send in their lists. Either way, here I am stealing this idea to post my super cheesy list.

Top Ten Things That Make Elaine Happy

1. The feel of grass between my toes.
2. The sound of the door when my husband gets home.
3. Being in the middle of a book I can’t put down.
4. Reading a great sentence and realizing that I wrote it.
5. My sister’s laughter.
6. When I hug my mom.
7. The sound of my grandmother’s sewing machine.
8. Witty names for things.
9. Taking pictures.
10. Being with this guy:

Oh, Brother.

My first day of school was today. Gah. My legs feel like spaghetti and I spent the afternoon watching tv for the first time in what seems like ages. The kids seem cool enough, I guess we'll see. I'm working on a music post for tomorrow and I've got another book review coming up. In the meantime here are a few pictures I was playing with today.

My baby cousin's baby feet:

The sunrise over the bay this weekend:

Me and the b-friend, Giselle, Saturday afternoon:

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Yan.

It’s been brought to my attention that I mention my sister quite a bit on this here website. So I figured I’d introduce you to the one and only Yanelle. Here we are on the left when we were kiddies. I’m the one in the background looking scandalous with my tummy out. My partner in crime growing up and even now, when we’re together we’re either laughing, arguing, or geeking out over some random thing. She thinks I’m a moron half the time, but then I guess I can be.

The truth is, I don’t give my sister enough credit for being a vital part of what holds our family together. I might not always like it, particularly when her wrath is aimed at me, but my sister’s fierceness is one of the things that I most admire about her. This one time, she was going home on the bus after water polo practice. I stayed behind to practice with the club team. There was some drama going on with the team and I guess someone was talking crap about me in the back of the bus without realizing that Yani was there. That poor girl didn’t stand a chance. That’s the thing about us, we might not always see eye-to-eye and we definitely have different ways of expressing ourselves, but if anyone messes with either one of us, we pounce on them like damn pumas.

It’s easier to list the reasons why my sister is one of my favorite people in the world, so I will:

· She hates it when I call her by her full name.

· When closing emails, she’ll exchange the first letter of a celebrity’s name with the letter Y such as Yanakin Skywalker or Yob Saget.

·She’s more sensitive than me but rarely shows it.

· She giggles uncontrollably when we go to the movies and I do the trick where I quickly grab one kernel of popcorn with my tongue like an anteater.

· She remembers all the things that I don’t.

· She’s a hustler.

· Sometimes when she sees me and it’s been a month since I waxed my eyebrows, she’ll circle her hand in front of my face while asking “what is going on with this situation?”

· She’s the one that keeps me grounded.

· According to the Wii, she’s horribly unbalanced.

· Anytime there was an occasion for presents, she’d ask for Lee Press On nails. Every. Time.

· When I finally got my own room, she helped me drag my mattress into her room when neither one of us could sleep alone.

· She constantly asks me for book recommendations.

· She’s the fastest reader I know.

· She’s the person to call if you need things done.

· She’s the one person who doesn’t need to tell me she loves me, her actions say it all.

This is us at my wedding. You can see in the background that the world was all but ending. She was one of the main reasons why our wedding was the best day of my life and why we managed to pull it off despite a tropical storm.

Photo taken by Chris Bickford

On Books and Why the Parking Lot App is the Coolest Thing Ever

Pardon for my lack of posting yesterday, I was bombarded with another round of books in the heavy variety. How my allergies haven't acted up, I don't know. What I do know is that my whole "fitness plan" has gone out the window at least until the weekend. Maybe. In my relaxed summer vacation haze, I'd forgotten how much the week before the first week of school (pardon my expression here guys) sucks balls. There's no other way to explain it. This was my room at two in the afternoon yesterday:

It was like a teacher supply store exploded. At least Yoda was up. I cried in the car on my way home mumbling something to the husband about take out. I had rolled around in dust and old student dirt all day; there was no way I was cooking. All is well today, though. We had a little bit a drama during the day so that kept things exciting. And I'm done. That's all that matters. I'm moved in, let the nightmare begin!

What I've realized throughout these two weeks (first of training, then of move-in hell) is that the iphone has to be one of the coolest things ever. I've always been an ipod junkie. At first I flirted with those little MP3 players until I relented and bought the second generation ipod. I still use it because it's rockstar. I've got over 4,500 songs on there filled with anything from The Killers to Burton Rafael reading Beowulf (What? We covered it in class last year.) I say this because a person like me is just who Apple targets for their iphone. No? But I just wasn't interested. Mike got one and, though it was cool, I still didn't want one. That was until the $200 phone bill that had me running to the bathroom crying. I promise that I don't cry all the time only when I'm stressed, really hungry or get out-of-control cell phone bills the same month my husband buys the motorcyle he's always wanted and I wonder which crevice I'm going to pull money out of today.

When the bill that will live in infamy came, I decided to change carriers and just go ahead and get the damn phone. Man, now I think that bill was fate stepping in because this contraption is awesome. It's got all kinds of stuff that I can play with. You know, there's a commercial every three seconds for the millions of apps you can get but the coolest thing by far is the Parking Lot game.

Here it is on the left. The basic premise is that you need to get
the yellow car through the exit. It looks simple enough but its not. I can zone out playing this for hours (ok, maybe not hours) but it does help pass the time whether you're on a plane or waiting at the doctor's office.

Another rockin' thing is that you can make your own ringtones by customizing songs that you already own. You can start and stop the song anywhere you want. The only downside is that you have to pay to download the edited ringtone. So, in a way, they charge you twice. I bought two ringtones, though, because I'm a sucker.

Probably the other reason why I like my phone so much is that the cover I bought looks like a Popple. Do you remember those things? It was a little animal that flipped inside out and became a ball...

This is a ramble post if I've ever seen one but that's how my brain has functioned for the past three days. A whole lot of mush in there with no other outlet other than my morning pages and this blog.

Anyone buy any cool gadgets lately? What's your favorite part of the iphone if you own one? Who's jealous? As always, leave your thoughts/rumblings in the comments.

Today's picture of the day is of my great friend Lissette. I don't know why but I love it:

Sweatin' Through the Oldies

I should be studying for a test that I can't fail or it'll cost me upwards of 170 bucks to retake, but today I'm going to talk about fitness.

See, I was at my cousin's house yesterday playing a little Wii Hula. That thing destroyed me. I looked like a complete fool. There is actual video footage complete with a laugh track courtesy of my sister. I was trying to beat my cousin's friend who got 314 spins in I don't know how many minutes. I almost made it but was out of gas after my third attempt. I mean, I was sweaty and getting side craps and just plain crapped out.

Then today while getting things ready for the opening of school, I moved somewhere along the lines of 600 text books. I didn't mistype--600 books. That's after moving boxes filled with all of my school crap from my sister's old bedroom in the second floor to the car then to my classroom. No joke, that's what today was. I'll tell you, I looked like a million bucks, too, what with the sweaty shirt and halo of frizz. I don't know how Mike keeps his hands off me.

I realized while moving my 411th book that I need a fitness overhaul complete with core strengthening (You'll rue the day, Wii!) It was all going to start today but that didn't happen, see previous paragraph, so it's starting tomorrow. I write this in hopes that I can be held accountable by my three readers. What do I hope to accomplish, you ask? Simple. To not crap out playing a darn video game. No, I hope to get to the point where I'm exercising everyday and feeling healthy and energized.

Last year was a complete debacle. I didn't work out for almost the entire school year. Strangely enough, I managed to lose some weight but only because I was on the new-teacher-who-never-sits-down-and-eats-lean-cuisines-and-a-yogurt-for-lunch regimen. I don't want to sacrifice my well being and the shape of my thighs to the public school system.

To get me pumped, I figured I'd share my most kick-butt songs from my "Think of the Cellulite" workout mix. These are the songs that I play for that extra push when I'm in the middle of a tough mile on some ridiculous incline because I've convinced myself that what will really make a difference are more hills:

Bling (Confession Of A King) - The Killers: I swear that I am FloJo when I listen to this song. I hate myself afterwards when I can barely walk but for those four minutes and eight seconds, I'm the fastest woman on the planet.

The Archers Bows Have Broken - Brand New: I thank Mike for this song because it has helped me through many a work out. It's the perfect mix of anger and drums.

Live Your Life (feat. Rhianna) - T.I.: This is my new go-to song. I find that the key to a "keep you moving" song is a good back-beat that helps you keep your pace and speed it up if you have to. Also, it's the type of song that once it comes on, I automatically start giving myself the pep talk to get my ass in gear just as the song starts to pick up. Yes, I talk to myself on the treadmill.

Anna Molly - Incubus: This one's been with me a while. Ol' faithful, if you will. It never fails to getting me moving.

A Praise Chorus - Jimmy Eat World: I used to listen to this when I just moved home from New York and would run around my parent's neighborhood with my Discman (remember those?!)

Aww Naww - Nappy Roots: Have you ever wondered what song you would play right before your at-bat if you were a major league baseball player? This would be mine. It's also good if you need to get amped for a fight. Not that I've been in many of those.

I Caught Myself - Paramore: This is from the Twilight Soundtrack and it's a real gem. Songs filled with angst are truly the best kind.

So that's it. Though these aren't the only songs on my mix--I've got 96 songs on shuffle--they're the ones I go to when I need a swift kick in butt.

What songs gets your blood boiling whether it be in the gym or in the car? Leave your list in the comments!

~

I took today's picture of the day from the balcony of my old apartment.

Music is...

Music is love in search of a word. ~ Sidney Lanier

So Damn Lucky

Last night the husband and I went to see the Dave Matthews Band with a couple of friends. It was all kinds of awesome. The trip getting there was an adventure if I've ever been in one. Traveling from South Beach to West Palm Beach in the middle of rush hour is no joke. By the time we got to the parking lot, my head felt like it was going to explode. I just wanted to get the eff out of the car.

I couldn't bring my camera (oh, the pictures I could have taken!) but I did manage to take some pictures with my nifty phone. This is the view from the top of the lawn where we started the night. We had a debate about how many people were at the show. I looked it up and the place holds 18,900 people (there you go, Scooter!), but it wasn't sold out like tonight's show is. All I know is that there were a bunch of people there and a good 80% of them were high. Geez Louise, were they ever. Say no to drugs, my friends, they only make you look like an idiot.

We were PUMPED when they got on stage and started with "Funny The Way It Is," but it was a bit anti-climactic when we couldn't hear a darn thing. We could hear but not in the loud I-Can-Barely-Speak-My-Ears-Will-Be-Ringing-For-Days kind of way. It seemed that the speakers and the big screens that pointed to the lawn were broken. Of course, I called the venue because I'm THAT girl. All I got was a lively, "We're working on it," but they didn't work on it 'cause the darn things stayed broken.

Seven songs in, I couldn't take the peripheral converstations anymore so Mike and I moved up. Then, the concert really started for me. They played a kick ass version of "Burning Down the House" (one of the reasons why I will most def. buy the live trax of this concert). We stood behind people who were legit fans and the rest was an absolute pleasure.

This was one of the best concerts I've ever been to, though we stumbled off the blocks a bit. The band sounded amazing and they had a great mix of new and classic stuff. They played "#41," "Typical Situation," AND the song that I wrote about in a previous post "You & Me." They played a 20 minute version of "Dancing Nancies" that was insane. The new stuff was all the best songs off their new album.

For their encore, they played two of my favorites "Sister," a song that always makes me think of my sister, Yani, and gets me all emotional, and "Grey Street," that I heard the first time I went to see them (with Yani) and got me thinking of that great experience.

What I loved most is that I got to see them with Mike. We both love this band and their songs hold great memories for us. I discovered DMB around the same time that I discovered Mike so it was nice to finally see them with him. And it's the first concert we've been too where we both have been equally excited. Usually I drag him to see people I want to see.

What I will say, though, is that next time DMB is in town I'm just going to bite the bullet and pay for great seats. It's got to be out of this world to see this band up close. Next up, Metallica and The Killers in October and all in the same week.

OH! I forgot to mention just how cool Tim Reynolds is. The dude wore a Harry Potter Seeker shirt just like the one I own. I may be a dork because I'm a 27 year old who owns this shirt but I'm in good company because he's a guitar god. Check us out:


What about you, folks? What's your best/worst concert experience? Do you think that I'll get a refund if I make a big enough stink with Live Nation about the poor sound? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

~

My picture-of-the-day is the sky before the music...

In Defense of Morning Pages

My mother-in-law once leant me the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. In essence, the book is "a course in discovering and recovering your creative self." I must admit that I never got around to reading beyond the first two chapters. It's not that I didn't want to, mind you, it's just that I never finish books on writing. Oh, I'll buy them and come home all excited because I'm going to learn how to be a better writer. Writing, after all, is a craft that must be practiced and refined. It's just that mid-way through the first few pages I'd realize that I should spend less time reading about writing and more time, you know, writing.

The point, I promise I have one, is that I don't need to read the rest of Julia's book to "discover my creative self" (though I probably will because it's an excellent book), I did that by just sticking to one of the most essential tools she gives you--the morning pages. What are said pages? They are just a few pages (she suggests three) of longhand writing that you do in a journal, every morning upon waking up. It's completely stream-of-consciousness such as: "I've got to do laundry and take the car for an oil change and I can't believe that jackass the other night. I should have slapped him." In other words, Word Vomit. It's just you spewing out whatever is in your mind so that you can make room for all the creative stuff that's in there somewhere.

Now, I tried this a few years back but couldn't stick to it. Maybe it was the morning part of it. I had to wake up and write crap down before I got around to doing anything else. My life didn't work that way. This summer I vowed I'd give it another shot if only because I've got so much stuff going on in this brain, it's a wonder I can sleep at night. Seriously, the gerbil never sleeps. He just goes on and on spinning his little wheel. So on my first day of summer vaca. (big ups to being a teacher!), I got started. 65 days later, I do my morning pages religiously. Not only have I been able to get farther in my writing projects than ever before but (and I strongly believe this), I've been able to get better at photography.

So there. My suggestion is you give it a shot. It doesn't have to be three pages. It's all about getting whatever is in your brain on the paper so that it's not in your brain anymore. It's good even if you don't want to be creative and just want a little more room in the noggin'.

What about you? What do you do to help let loose your creativity? Are there other tools that you use that might be cool to know? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

~

Today's picture-of-the-day is brought to you by the letter M for Manny. He comes from my first batch of kids. This picture was a surprise and we both love it. If Manny's art could be painted on the walls of every building, the world would be a better place.

Where I'm From...

So I'm in the middle of a four-day training seminar for a new curriculum we'll be implementing this year. Sounds exciting, I know. My friend Gianni thinks four days is a little overkill (I couldn't agree more), but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting anything out of it. One of the poems that I'll be reading with my 10th grade classes is Where I'm From by George Ella Lyon. The students are then to create a poem using the same line-by-line format only with their own memories and experiences. We had to do this activity in the seminar. Here's my take:

I am from sunshine.
from a place I’ve never been but still calls my name.
I am from the palm trees that shade my backyard
(tall, regal, surviving).
I am from the sound of two languages that blend
seamlessly into one.

I’m from mi cielo, mi carino
from that r that rolls off your tongue.

I’m from the united
and the hand that won’t let go,
from the crowded hospital rooms
and the person who stays
(someone always stays).
I’m from laughter—always laughter—that
echoes into the empty driveway long after
the guests have gone.

I’m from the voice at the end of the phone line
whose words always ring true.
From the strength of walking away,
the letting go.

In a concrete island
I dreamt of salt water in my hair
and the sing-song voices carried to me by the breeze.
I am from these moments—from distance
but not from seperation.

~

And with that, my picture-of-the-day:
Suffice it to say, that s’more was a little crispy.

Kitchen Sink Post

I'm throwing all sorts of stuff your way because I'm just that kinda girl. Today marks my first official day of work though the kids don't report back unitl the 24th. These two weeks are my Reality Dress Rehearsals, because God knows I need to practice getting up early again. I'm rockin' an awesome face rash thanks to an eyebrow waxing gone wrong and so will be loopy for the next two days thanks to the benadryl I'll need to take.

So I'm obsessed with this blog: The Beholder. It's funny, cute and filled with good tips. While going through some of her archived posts, I stumbled across a great one where she answered the questions that James Lipton asks everyone he interviews on Inside the Actor's Studio. So now, of course, I'm totally going to bite her idea and post my answers to the questions:

1. What is your favorite word? Poop. I don’t know what it is about this word that makes me laugh. Just typing it makes me giggle. Poop.

2. What is your least favorite word? Über. In one interview Megan Fox used this word in every other sentence. She sounded like a douche. Saying it once is one time too many.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Excitement. I love it when people drop their guards and get really excited about something. I love how their whole face lights up and they could burst they can’t contain it all.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Inconsideration. My life motto is “Don’t be an asshole.” I live every day according to that creed and it bothers me that a lot of people don’t.

5. What sound or noise do you love? I love the sound of laughter; particularly when I hear Mike and my sister, Yani, laugh.

6. What sound or noise do you hate? The sound of a lawnmower. I don’t know if it’s because during my freshman year of college, the lawn crew would cut the grass at 6 AM every Sunday morning right outside my dorm window.

7. What is your favorite curse word? Fuck. I curse, a lot, and so use it all the time to describe all sorts of things. I love its versatility. This explains it all:



8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I’m stuck on two. I’ve always wanted to be a novelist and see my books published. I think if I was browsing through Barnes & Noble and found a book I wrote on the shelf, I’d simultaneously squeal and pee my pants. Now, though, I’m really into photography and am considering it as something that I could maybe do as more than a hobby some day.

9. What profession would you not like to do? Waitress. I would get fired in a second. Anyone who gives me shit will end up with a hot plate of food on their lap.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? “Hey, welcome to the party. All your peeps are here.”

Feel free to copy and paste the questions and leave them in the comments if you want to share your answers with the two people who read this thing.

Also, (because what's a little more self-promotion?) I'm going to try posting a picture-of-the-day to go along with my posts. Here is my first entry:

That's something straight out of War of the Worlds right there.

Look at those hands...

I spent the day rockin' it with the old folks. My mom comissioned me to take pictures of the residents from the nursing home where she works. The ladies were having a spa day. The pictures weren't quite what I wanted but I did manage a few nice shots that I'll be adding to my portfolio. I hope that they're what my mom imagined. She wants to sell these pictures to the families to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Walk they have every year.

This is a picture of Dulce, the sweetest person in the world--just like her name says. It's not everyday that you can make a person's face light up when you see them but somehow she likes it when I come around.

This shoot was a definate change of pace from Saturday's but brilliant in its own way.

Inspiration

Had my very first photoshoot today. I about peed my pants I was so excited and nervous. The pictures came out better than I could have planned. It's almost 2:30 in the morning, I just got back from watching a very disappointing UFC fight and I can stay up all night playing with these pictures. Here's a little sampling:

DMB and their Songs...

One of the things that you'll learn about me is that the hottie to the left is the subject of many of my pictures. Maybe it's because we're always together. Maybe I'm obsessed. Can you be obsessed with the person you married? God, I hope not. I could do a gallery called Mike: A Restrospective. But I won't (for those of you already gagging).

I'm just debating whether to go to the Dave Matthews Band concert or not so i've been listening to their new album on repeat and love the song, You and Me, more than any on the album. I can say that I acutally cried the first time I heard it but I think I might have been hormonal that day. Here is a sample of its fabulosity:

Wanna pack your bags, Something small
Take what you need and we disappear
Without a trace we'll be gone, gone
The moon and the stars can follow the car
and then when we get to the ocean
We gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world
 That, man. Dave sure knows how to write some music. I was on a plane on the way back from New Hampshire filled with that glow you get after being in nature for a week, surrounded by family and laughter. I looked over at him with the song swelling in my headphones and the waterworks started. Yeah, totally going to the concert now. Check it out:


Here is one of my all-time Mike favorites that I took during our New Hampshire vacation after he jumped in Hubbard Brook to get me rocks from the other side:

Book Review: Shiver

I read a lot of books. A lot. I also have the problem of talking about books no matter where I go. It can be annoying. The only other person that I know who reads as much as I do is my sister and she constantly asks for books to read. So this is my attempt to recommend books without annoying everyone to death. If you are one of the people who don't like to read, well, why the hell not? No, I'll be adult about it...just skip this entry.

Ok, my first recommendation is a book I finished last night called Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Don't let her last name confuse you, this is a great book.

I was at the Scholastic store in Soho during our New York trip scoping out the Harry Potter gear and ended up with a pair of HP glasses. (Coolest. Thing. Ever.) Because I can't go into a book store without buying one (or two or three), I ended up with Shiver. I won't lie, I picked it up because of the cover. It's gorgeous. Then I read the back and was intrigued, so I bought it.

Here is the summary from Amazon because I just want to get to the part where I tell you what's good about this book--let's leave the summary to the experts:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Now for those of you who read Twilight, this is not a copy-cat. For one, it's written beautifully. I mean, some of the prose reads like poetry--it's that good. As much as I liked Twilight and the rest of the books in the saga (and will wait in line to see the subsequent movies), one of the things that really drives me crazy is the writing. There is a difference between a great storyteller and a great writer. Stephanie Meyer is the former. Like Nicholas Sparks, she's a wonderfully gifted storyteller whose characters and plot grab you, but her writing is riddled with cliches and moments where you roll your eyes and think, "I just read that? Really?" Stiefvater...let's call her Maggie because I can't keep checking for the correct spelling of her last name, is my kind of writer: descriptive, surprising, character driven. She alternates the point of view with her two characters and writes descriptions that make me green, I so wish I wrote them. A sampling from the back of the book:

"And then I opened my eyes and it was just Grace and me--nothing anywhere but Grace and me--she pressing her lips together as though she were keeping my kiss inside her, me holding this moment that was as fragile as a bird in my hands."

Sigh. This leads me to reason No. 2 why this is a great read: the characters. Though it's a YA (Young Adult, get with it!) book, the characters seem so much older for their age. Sam is just wonderful. He is calm and sad and you just want to hug him. Grace reminds me of Bella in that she's independent and seems to be the adult in the family, but she's nowhere near as annoying. I felt what they felt. I wanted what they wanted. And isn't that the ultimate goal of every writer? For their readers to buy into the world they created and believe in the outcome? Maybe I'm just a sap (a future post will confirm this), but I'm a sucker for a love story especially one filled with people I can root for.

My truest test for whether a book I just read is good, is if I regret that it ended. When I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (My favorite book of all time. I'm such a dork), I all but went into mourning. When Dennis Lehane's Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro series came to an end, I wanted to start them all over from book one--and there are five books (So writing a review for these!) I closed Shiver with a twinge of regret because it was over and I was never going to read it again for the first time. I got excited to find out, though, that it's a series with the second one, Linger, coming out some time next year.

I could really go on all day about this book or any book, really. So I'll quit while I'm ahead. Get it--It's worth the $17.99 price tag. Or, if I know you, I'll just lend you the darn thing.

A quick note on my forthcoming book reviews: I'm going to try to mix it up with all sorts of stuff that I like. I read a little bit of everything so I'll keep it varied for the benefit of whoever (whomever? I can never get this rule) is reading this thing. I'm never going to write a summary because that's just boring but I will give you my opinion. I live to do that.

Yoda, you guys.

This poster is one of the many that will be gracing the walls of my classroom this year. In case you can't read the little writing, it says: READ and the force will be with you. You can't go wrong with a little Yoda wisdom in your life.

Tomorrow I've got my first official meeting of the 2009-2010 school year. The summer is winding down and I have to wrap my mind around the idea of going back to work. I'm not complaining. I think half of you would push me in front of a bus if I were. I'm just nervous is all.

This year is going to be a doozy, I can feel it. I've got all tenth grade regular students. And it's the year that they have to pass the FCAT. I'm also the 10th grade team leader. All eyes will be on me to make sure that these kids past this test. I just want to get them to read. But I know that if I buy into it, they will, too.

I'm exicted to get back, I won't lie. I miss my students that graduated. My first batch. I didn't mess them up too badly, so there's hope for this group. And this is where Yoda comes in. When I want to pull my hair out, and we know there are going to be plenty of these moments, I'll just look over at his little fuzzy face and think of this line: "You will find only what you bring in."

Here's to getting back to it and hoping to stay sane in the process.

Folks, I'm a stalker...

I totally stalked this couple. But look at them, how could I not? We went all the way down to the MET Saturday but it was too nice a day to be stuck inside a museum. Instead, we walked down through the park to find a grassy noll in the shade (no need for sun when you live in it all year long). I was excited because I could sit and take pictures and Mike could draw and maybe I could write.

It was the perfect day. Really. I mean, not a cloud in the sky, the wind blowing through the trees just so, people's voices carrying over to us in the breeze. They were lying on a blanket under a tree. They looked like people I would like to know. So I took out the camera. Mind you, I used a 300 mm zoom lens that looks like a telescope with a shutter that sounds like a rifle. Not very inconspicuous.

My sister, Yani, has a good take on it. She said, "Those people definitely noticed... I mean, how can they not? I bet even if they couldn't 'see' you taking pics of them, they could 'feel' you creeping around....it's very National Geographic."

I wanted to go up to them and ask for their email so that I could send them the pictures but it would have just confirmed my creepiness. I think they finally noticed when I was taking pictures of a puppy that was rolling around in the grass. I caught them looking at me then at the camera.

Oh, well. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. All in the sake of art, right?

My Dog

These are the paws of our dog, Akira. She's 11 and awesome. Made from the best stuff on earth. Well, except her breath--that's pretty rank. As far as dogs go, you can't ask for anything better. I remember one time I was crying on the couch (sad movie? emotional breakdown?) and she just sat by me, ears back, waiting for things to get better. With her by my side, I knew they would.

But, she's getting old. And with that we're getting poop. Lots of poop, everywhere. She poops on the carpet in the living room or in the car when I'm driving her to the vet or in the lobby while we wait for the elevator. It sucks and it's smelly.

I remember one time I got really mad because I had had enough. I wanted to yell and bitch and relegate her to the balconey but I didn't. I stopped before I even opened my mouth when I saw her sitting there, staring up at me, ears back because she knew that what she did was wrong. She breaks my heart sometimes.

I'm writing about this because I'm thinking about age now. My sister asked me to write a press release on this lady who is going to celebrate her 103rd birthday. Can you imagine that? 103 years on this planet. She's lived through everything. And yet, according to my sister, she's zipping around the assisted living facility in her scooter, having a grand 'ol time.

So I look at my pup as I pick up her smelly poop and am happy that she's with us at all. I can't get mad that she poops in the house. I bet that she's probably embarrassed everytime it happens (my dog is very human-like). I can only celebrate every day that she's with us, warming our faces with her smelly breath, keeping us company with her silent presence. If only they had a scooter for dogs. I'd get her on that thing in a second.

And so it begins...

I'm starting this blog as a way to share my pictures and writings with my friends and family. I don't know what will come of it but it'll be a nice place to send people to if they want to know whatever it is that I do. I have no aspirations for this site other than to make things look pretty and share the occasional random thought.

The name of this site comes from what I call this collection of poems that I wrote while I was in college. They were all about being torn between two places. I’m not nearly that torn now—I’ve got other crap to worry about, but I do consider myself somewhere in the middle of this tropical home (the beach, the sun, the warmth) and this City home that will always be home in one way or another.

This is kind of serious sounding, isn't it? I'm not nearly like that so I'll just say that the next post is about how my dog craps in the house.

I’m an aspiring photographer and writer, current english teacher, obsessive reader, Miami native, New Yorker at heart, wife, friend.

I love taking pictures of things and writing about things; this is a place where I can do both.

Oh, and I'm married to the love of my life...