And one more thing...

Just getting around to the text for this picture which by the way is an entry from Maira Kalman's blog awhile back. This photo reminds me of the song I keep singing along to while driving to and from the office these days. Something about holding the notes at the end of this song makes me happy every morning. I can't imagine how ridiculous it must look to other motorists but it brings me pleasure.(hmmm..thinking that the word "motorist" sounds like something from an olde English novel) Anyway, the song is a Rufus Wainwright song called "Little Sister" and it's tough to decipher the lyrics or make too much sense of the song but this is not deterring me either (-: the part I sing starts at around two minutes and thirty seconds into the song and the line begins..."and one more thing..."

Some Uptake

Owen was a few seats away from t.r.'s exploding battery in homeroom and we spent the rest of the morning with the good doctors and nurses in the ER as they tested his left eye, again and again. "Some uptake" that's how they described the amount absorbed. They "irrigate" the eye which is not like flushing or rinsing the eye... imagine a hose dripping into your open eye from above for about 45 minutes...a rough experience. Owen is well - ph normal and they say he should be fine...prayers of gratitude and thanks.

Nobody's Off the Hook

Rufus Wainwright viewed from the 4th row

Tomorrow's Conference at Bard

Attending an Arts Education Conference in the morning in this lovely building on the campus at Bard. Bard is where i wanted to go to school when i was 17. It will be nice to see the campus tomorrow. Here's some "stuff" from the day. This is what I do.

WORKSHOP/PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS

Greg McCaslin – Keynote Speaker
Connecting Students to the Curriculum and Each Other Through Arts Integration
Arts-integrated instruction supports a connectedness that allows for and encourages students to develop knowledge that merges subject area content across academic domains, allowing for its application. At the same time, arts integration rewards and enhances students’ social and emotional learning.

John Cimino – Keynote Speaker
The Big Picture and the Inner Work of Art: Four Concept Words for What We Strive For
When engaged by the arts, something happens to the quality of our attentiveness, the fine tuning of our senses, and the range and power of our imaginations. We focus, we perceive deeply and differently, and new configurations of reality begin to feel possible. In his talk, John Cimino visits the realms of neuroscience, metaphor and four overarching concept words for deepening intuition concerning the arts and learning (fantasia, consilience, apericolea & coeur). In so doing, he also explores what he calls "the inner work of art", the personal disciplines and mind processes which give birth to new visions, changes in perspective, creativity, learning and self-discovery.

Livia Vanaver, Vanaver Caravan – Model Partnership
Livia Vanaver of Vanaver Caravan will present an arts-integrated science lesson which studies forces of motion through contact improvisation, a dance form that uses the concepts of sharing weight and explores the qualities and properties of movement.

Julie Kabat and Susan Griss
Beyond Paper and Pencil: Bringing Literacy to Life through the Arts
Strategies from the performing arts can be engaging and powerful tools to help students develop reading comprehension skills and literacy. In this experiential workshop, participants will integrate music and creative movement into ELA curriculum. Participants will reflect on the activities and discuss the value of arts-integrated learning.

Darlene Forrest, Bard Institute of Thinking and Writing
Keeping the Eye on the Art Object
Too often when we look at pictorial images, we use them to go off on what E. M. Forster calls “alien visions.” In doing this, we rarely see what is in front of us, or we see only partially. In this workshop participants will use two different approaches to working with art objects. These approaches are available to all viewers regardless of their background or experience and will help students become better at seeing and better at interpreting what they see, as well as improve literacy skills.

Winter's Night at The Beekman Arms

I am in NY State tonight, in Rhinebeck, in an Inn that claims to be the oldest Inn in the US. I don't know about that. I think the Red Lion Inn might arm-wrestle them and win that honor.

This from their history..."A sturdy time and stone building originally built to withstand possible Indian attacks, the Bogardus Tavern served similar purposes - plus rum toddy - against the vicissitudes of waging war on the British Crown. George Washington, Philip Schuyler, Benedict Arnold and Alexander Hamilton slept here, and ate and drank and argued and laughed here during the Revolutionary War. The townsfolk took refuge in the inn while the British burned the state capital, Kingston, across the river."

A Favorite Christmas Card

One of my favorite Christmas cards arrived a few days after the holiday. Thanks, Rick...i love this card.

Party Planning

We sent out a formal invitation for leslie's upcoming party but i was thinking today - this picture of her receiving her first go-go boots would have made a funny invitation.

Happy New Year

Time to put away the party slippers and put on the sneakers. I am going to walk at least one mile a day in the New Year. Hope I can do it. I did it today.