Saturday, August 18, 2012

Memorable Moments of Motherhood

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 7:16pm ·


I had a lovely conversation with my older son David today.  It never fails that it prompts some memory of motherhood, sometimes outright comical.  I mentioned to him that a friend of mine had posted a comment about a film "Mozart's Sister."  So he was looking it up.  We often are both on our computers when we're talking so we look up things.  Needless to say the preview reminded him of the time I took the boys to the Goethe Institute here in Atlanta to see a film about Mozart.  The film was in b/w and in German with subtitles.  It was shown on a fairly small screen, not like in the movie theatres.  After about an hour and a half it was only half over and time for intermission.  We loved intermission as they had some of the finest German pastries and various desserts.  However, at this point we left.  It was probably the worst film ever made as it would play an entire symphony while Mozart was riding in a carriage.  For a very long time after that, even the mentioning of Mozart created anxiety in my children.  Fortunately, I did get them to go with me to see "Amadeus" that they loved.  It totally changed their view of Mozart, and David in particular came a big fan of Mozart's "Requiem."  So much for memories of Mozart and Motherhood on Mother's Day.  


Provencal Summer Vegetable Bake

Monday, July 9, 2012 at 10:19pm ·

I made this today as I just happened to have fresh tomatoes, squash and eggplant from the store last night. It sort of tastes like scalloped potatoes except you have this wonderful squash and eggplant.  I didn't have herbes de Provence (nor had I ever heard of it) so I used a little basil, salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash Italian spices. (I do have a dish towel though that my daughter-in-law brought back to me from Provence, France.)  I used black beans as I was out of cannellini beans.  I also had no goat cheese so I used some cheddar cheese.  I added the Panko Japanese bread crumbs as my own special touch.  Also I didn't have the patience to line up all the vegetables like they did so I just layered everything on top of the beans and onions with the cheese and Panko Japanese bread crumbs on top. Next time though I will heat the cheese a little less than 15 minutes unless I use goat cheese.  This was so good and I have several meals ready to eat.  Btw, I didn't peal th eggplant or squash.  I only used zucchini as that's what I had on hand.  I love this dish and I'm sure it will be a regular summer dish at my house.  It's too bad I don't have a garden!

Makes: 4  servings  Prep:   30 mins Bake:  1 hr  400°F Cook:   11 mins 
Ingredients
  • medium sweet onions
  • tablespoons olive oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • cloves garlic, chopped
  • 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • large eggplant (about 1 pound), ends trimmed, halved lengthwise
  • large summer squash (combination of zucchini and yellow squash), ends trimmed
  • 1/2 pound russet potatoes
  • plum tomatoes
  • ounces goat cheese
Directions
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees . Peel and halve onions; cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a largesaute pan over medium heat. Add onions and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in beans, 1/2 teaspoon of the herbes de Provence and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Pour mixture into bottom of a 9 x 13 oven-safe casserole.
2. Meanwhile, cut eggplant, squash, potatoes and tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices. (To speed things up, use afood processor fitted with a slicing blade or a mandoline.) Toss vegetables with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Arrange vegetables on top of onion-bean mixture in 1 layer; pack tightly.
3. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and crumble goat cheese on top. Bake 15 more minutes. Cool slightly and slice into 4 servings.
Tip:  Forget what you learned about salting eggplant.The theory is that it eliminates bitterness. But most varieties nowadays don't have that undesirable trait, so salting only serves to increase a dish's sodium level. Skip it.
Nutrition Facts  Servings Per Recipe 4
  • Amount Per Serving  Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
  • Calories 378
  • Protein(gm)15
  • Carbohydrate(gm)45
  • Fat, total(gm)17
  • Cholesterol(mg)13
  • Saturated fat(gm)6
  • Dietary Fiber, total(gm)12
  • Sodium(mg)701    
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Substituting for 2012-2013

Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 9:37pm 

Way to go Atlanta Public Schools . . . let's see now. I don't have enough earnings as a substitute for 2011-2012 school year for your requirement of $5000 for a 50 day minimum of $100 a day. Actually I'd have a little more earnings had you not docked my pay when I was late or couldn't sign in on time because the clock wouldn't take my i.d.  Also I was never paid for the extended day? I often had carpool or bus duty when I wasn't even supposed to be there. I guess I'll have to count up the days I worked and add another 30 minutes to each day I worked. If you had paid me for the extended day, I would have had more for your requirement. If you hadn't lowered the pay for certified teachers by $75 a day, I would have had even more.

I hope this works for you APS as I know many a time I got last minute calls from staff, including principals, desperately trying to find a qualified substitute teacher or any sub at all. Sometimes I'd get a dozen calls in one morning. This will be one less teacher on your roster. Btw, do I still have to pay my school taxes which are more than I earned substituting, especially now that I can't work for APS. School starts next week for teachers; you gave me one days notice. That's right, I just opened Saturday's mail. I can think of at least a half dozen retired teachers, some of the best, who would be substituting except for your rules. That's just from one school. It seems like you have other worries besides making substitutes work 50 days a school year, like having classes with no substitute at all.

Exactly. I know so many retired teachers that are in this same position. That's right. It's unbelievable. I can teach the Spanish, the music, as well as I'm certified in primary and middle grades. My schedule last year wasn't as compatible with substituting all the time, but I did get at least 43 days instead of 50. This is the address of the oped editor at AJC. tsabulis@ajc.com. I sent him a copy of this post. We should all write him about this. I am so sorry you can't sub for her as you would be perfect having just taught with her last school year. So so sad for the kids. Remember, this was at one of the best schools. Can you imagine schools where no one wants to go?
    • That's terrible. You've taught there so many years. How much they will miss you. July 29 at 10:33pm
    • Maybe I'll practice and come play for your kids sometime.July 29 at 10:45pm·
    •  it is such a loss for the kids that Aps is so inflexible with subs. We are a dayplayer, after all. July 30 at 1:50am
    • This situation needs to be rectified as I don't think APS is in a place to end up putting classes together or putting a para in the classroom because they can't get a sub, much less a certified teacher familiar with the curriculum.

Meeting a Veteran

Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 1:14am
I don’t suppose it’s unusual to meet a veteran except I met this veteran at the grocery store. I kept seeing him on nearby aisles and sometimes the same aisle. I noticed him in the section near the cheese and eggs, and he was eating pieces of a candy bar. I decided he was homeless, but it did appear that he had an unusually nice silky fabric handkerchief in his coat pocket. He was wearing a suit coat that didn’t match his pants and was probably two sizes too large. He seemed quite old until I got closer, and then I realized this was the oldest man I’d seen in a while. His hands were red and completely wrinkled like a prune with long fingernails, more from neglect than attempting to have long nails. He seemed to have hair everywhere, the face and scalp. But then he started talking to me.

I hardly knew whether to run or speak or ignore him or what. There’s a large part of me that is fearful of strangers even in a grocery store, especially if they appear homeless or like they don’t belong there. I wish I weren’t that way and that I could just speak to everyone, but it can be a dangerous world out there.

He begins talking to me, “I’m a veteran.” Then in quite articulate speech he begins telling me stories of who he fought with and where. My history of the various wars is limited, but it was sounding like he was in Russia. It seemed like no one from WW I would still be living so I wasn’t quite sure. I had this very quick history lesson though I couldn’t recall a thing. I was so stunned I just stood there sort of speechless. Fiinally, I said my daddy fought in WWII in Africa. He then added that my dad would have known of this and that person if he were in North Africa. So we stood there talking in front of the frozen vegetables.

He was looking for peas and carrots. “They were 88 cents last week,” he said.  Finally he found them in the dollar section. We concurred that a dollar was still a little cheaper than the others for $1.49. I never did notice what all was in his grocery cart. I felt impolite in a way to look too closely to his cart or his face, yet I couldn’t help noticing his hands. They were by far the oldest hands I’ve ever seen in my life, all withered and red, like the hands of a worker, a laborer or someone who’d been exposed to the elements. It didn’t occur to me to take a picture, but now I wish I had pulled out my camera and asked him if I could take his photo. He had one of those faces and demeanors like you’d see in some photo collection of the aging.

All I could think is he’s a veteran. What can I say? I can’t stand here all night and talk to him when he told me he had so man stories to tell. So the best I could come up with is that he should write a book for all his stories, and I’d see him next time. Then as I walked off I felt sad that I was in a hurry to get away from him. I might be the only one he’d talked to in days. Then I reminded myself. It is the city, and a woman does have to be careful, even in the super market. However, I could have given him my 40 cents off coupon for frozen vegetables.

For my Mother Who Died Today

Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 9:52pm ·
356. Auguries of Innocence 
by William Blake (1757–1827)  

TO see a world in a grain of sand,   
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,  
And eternity in an hour.  
A robin redbreast in a cage         5
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro’ all its regions.
A dog starv’d at his master’s gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.         10
A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.
A skylark wounded in the wing,         15
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm’d for fight
Does the rising sun affright.  
Every wolf’s and lion’s howl
Raises from hell a human soul.         20
The wild deer, wand’ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus’d breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher’s knife.
The bat that flits at close of eve         25
  Has left the brain that won’t believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever’s fright.
He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov’d by men.         30
He who the ox to wrath has mov’d
Shall never be by woman lov’d.
The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider’s enmity.
He who torments the chafer’s sprite         35
Weaves a bower in endless night.
The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother’s grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgment draweth nigh.         40
  He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar’s dog and widow’s cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The gnat that sings his summer’s song         45
Poison gets from slander’s tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy’s foot.
The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist’s jealousy.         50  
The prince’s robes and beggar’s rags
Are toadstools on the miser’s bags.
A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;         55
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro’ the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.         60
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Throughout all these human lands
Tools were made, and born were hands,         65
  Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;
This is caught by females bright,
And return’d to its own delight.         70
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven’s shore.
The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar’s rags, fluttering in air,         75
Does to rags the heavens tear.
The soldier, arm’d with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer’s sun.
The poor man’s farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric’s shore.         80
One mite wrung from the lab’rer’s hands
Shall buy and sell the miser’s lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.
He who mocks the infant’s faith         85
Shall be mock’d in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne’er get out.
He who respects the infant’s faith
Triumphs over hell and death.         90
The child’s toys and the old man’s reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.
The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt         95
Doth put the light of knowledge out.
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar’s laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour’s iron brace.         100
When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket’s cry, Is to doubt a fit reply.
The emmet’s inch and eagle’s mile         105
  Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne’er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt,
They’d immediately go out.         110
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.
The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation’s fate.
The harlot’s cry from street to street         115
Shall weave old England’s winding-sheet.
The winner’s shout, the loser’s curse,
Dance before dead England’s hearse.
Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,         120
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
We are led to believe a lie         125
When we see not thro’ the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.
God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;         130
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.

http://www.bartleby.com/41/356.html

Friday, January 13, 2012

Bathrobe Day

From: "Ro
To: Be, Ju
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 2:00:00 PM
Subject: Bathrobe Day

I feel a bathrobe day coming on. It's now almost 3:00 pm and I'm still in my pjs. It's very cold in Atlanta today, 36 degrees and I don't know what the wind chill is, but it feels like maybe 10 below zero. So what do you girls think? Do I get dressed or make this one a 2 pajama days with clean ones at bedtime.

I did sleep well with CPAP last night, didn't awaken until 6:30 this morning when the neighbor's dog was barking. Only thing, I didn't get to sleep till after about 1:30 or 2:00 am. I did listen to some mighty fine music though on Youtube before I did finally go to sleep. Since they were pieces I had played, I'm afraid the effect was counterproductive for sleep as I found myself wanting to play them as soon as possible. Oh well, it's a start. I'm still hanging in there with the CPAP and music instead of Craig Ferguson.

I do need to get dressed though. Funny thing how around here the grocery stores prefer customers to show up dressed. I guess in my pjs I could pass for a drag queen today though. (Our neighborhood Kroger is known as the gay Kroger whereas others may be known as the Jewish Kroger, the hippie Kroger, etc.) I also need to get my smoke detectors. I didn't order them from Amazon because I wanted them sooner. That was a week or two ago. They would be here by now and much cheaper, free shipping and no tax.

So Sister, get on it right away. You need to write songs about the birth of your children Ke and Ju as Jay-C did for Blue Ivy. You're a little late, but that just gives you more information to work with, right. How could you have know Ju would be a singer with three children or Ke a firefighter with four children? Besides, you can then have Ju sing it. How cool is that, Julie?

See you guys. Love from Siberia.
Ro

Thursday, January 12, 2012

What's a Teacher to Do

I remember several years ago I had gone on tour with a young hip-hop r&b singer along with his all black entourage. I was in the minority as I joined them all in the Bahamas. Our first evening of school having just met my young student, he wanted to work on social studies. Needless to say, the unit was slavery. So here I am in a swank hotel in the Bahamas with my new student, and the subject is an in-depth study of slavery at the 7th grade level. The best I could do at the moment was suggest maybe we work on reading his literature that evening, knowing I'd have to give the subject of slavery some thought. It's a sensitive subject to teach, especially when you're a white teacher teaching a black child, or when many of the kids' parents don't remember the days before civil rights, much less slavery. They never knew separate hospitals, restrooms and water fountains for blacks, no blacks in white restaurants, movie theatres or hotels. It was a different world that my generation grew up in. It is appalling to think a person in the days of slavery would be beaten or deprived basic human rights. But in more modern times "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" was scandalous to many at the time it premiered in the theatres. That was a time you did not consider dating a black person if you were white. Even churches were segregated, or maybe I should say especially churches.

I recall a minister in rural GA within the last 20 years who was fired because he had given a black family a ride in his car to church. There was much ado about his wife who was a teacher talking to all the black kids at a football game and sitting with them. A Korean artist friend of mine when she first moved to Atlanta back in the 70s recalled her first impression of GA was a huge Klan ralley in South Atlanta. My first trip to Atlanta in 1961 and to the Fox Theatre did not allow blacks to sit anywhere but the top blacony.

I don't know what to say about the current big controversy in Gwinnett about a few test questions a teacher made up to coordinate the social studies lesson on slavery with math. But then is the reenactment of the immigration into NYC back at the turn of the century also questionable. Does that mean a teaacher would be discriminating if she calls to mind the way so many immigrants were discriminated against? Why I recall just a few short years ago, maybe in the mid-90s I heard on a filmset in my own classroom a very dark skinned ten year old child tell a light skinned African American girl of the same age that she would go far, because she was light. Sure enough the light skinned girl has done well in Hollywood. Back then we talked about it a few minutes and how many other things are more important than skin color.

I'm glad I'm not a young teacher beginning my career. I would be afraid to say anything in the classroom. In that I'm sort of obsessive by nature in the first place, I would be so busy making sure everything was politically correct that I would be afraid to say anything except what is in the book. What if I taught my African American unit of poetry as I used to teach and I mentioned the black-faced minstrels? What if I mentioned that Stephen Foster's songs were more accepted because he was white? What if I mentioned remembering eatting at Aunt Fanny's Cabin in Atlanta and young boys buck danced, then came around with jars for tips. What about Mammy's Shanty who had only black waiters but no black customers. What if I mentioned Lester Maddox putting a coffin in front of his restaurant like it was the death of his restaurant if he had to integrate his restaurant, and he went on to be one of our governors. What if I mentioned the black kids on my grandparents' farm back in the 40s who helped their parents pick cotton.

Guess it's good I'm nearing 70, and I won't be have to obsess over every single word.