or IMHO…

I rock at presentations.

Specifically, I’m thinking of Remembrence Days past.  (I’ve kind of felt like Director/Producer of our school’s last three).  You know, presentation media.  I also made a cook book promotional video for our school… which I’d bet people would watch in their spare time just for mere enjoyment.  I won’t even mention the Provincial Achievement Test analysis video I made using Celine Dion/Il Divo as a soundtrack.

WHICH IS WHY:

I think I’m ready to take on my Mac and make something for this blog that goes beyond the text.

You heard it here first, folks.  I’m ready to bust into the iMovie/podcasting soon.  It’s like a 21st Century version of sitting with my little brown Fisher-Price Cassette Player/Recorder making some sort of crazy project.

…only for the world to see.

How’s that for Web 2.0?

Now… I have some research to do, on how this is all possible!  😉

…on Twitter.

(and *ouch*, I’m not off to a great start):

I wrote in a blog entry on March 9, 2005 the following:

ten things i’ve always really liked and very likely always will:
1. manilla tag
2. khakis
3. realemon
4. late night dine-outs
5. discussing politics
6. hoodies and shorts
7. travelling
8. dipable foods
9. public service announcements
10.  laughing so hard you worry

One of these points is ALREADY irrelevant (and you can probably guess by my not-so-subtle nudging).

I have not had a late night diner experience in ages.

I’m getting old.

I’m getting old.

Ug.

I’m getting old.

In thirty-one sleeps I will be in New York City with the usual suspects.

I’ve never been, and I am SO EXCITED.  (and not just for the obvious light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel aspect during Report Card and Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences).

In yoga and meditation you always begin by setting the intention for that day’s practice.  The same is probably helpful with excusrsions and with this trip, I don’t yet have an intention as there’s no obvious language to begin learning, or jackpot to win, or mountains to ride without super long line ups.

So on the backburner of my brain today as I teach will be just that: setting an intention for my New York City adventure.

This is a city I basically know nothing about, but one that people seem to inevitably fall in love with.  I think everyone knows I could maybe use a new city to fall in love with, as I’ve kind of been ‘on repeat’ lately.

Three sleeps after arriving back in The Heart of the New West (Calgary) I find out if I get into Graduate School.  So far my only real intention, is not avoiding that thought the entire trip and authentically enjoying myself.

This year’s convention has come and gone. …and it didn’t disappoint.

I would go to convention every day of the school year if that was (were?) an option.  There are so many best parts: hearing speakers I normally couldn’t afford to hear on my own, seeing people from each of the schools I’ve worked at and went to university with, relaxing with my own school’s colleagues, just being downtown and feeling important, overindulging, and taking some time to reflect on my work (and life).

After the second day, I stopped for my most familiar session, a session I had been to for at least the last fifteen years.

I went to The Bay, stopping for a Valentine’s Day errand.  The displays, the smells, the downtown-busyness were all very familiar and made me smile.  This is where I’d met my Mom (alongside the rest of my family), also a teacher, for convention year after year and heard about the entire event.

Full circle, another convention done with The Bay yet again serving as Closing Ceremonies.

As if that weren’t enough of a recharge, the rest of the Family Day Long Weekend was spent in the Rocky Mountains as a cabin retreat.  No wonder, today on the first day back…

…I feel like a brand new teacher.  …and person.

Last night I went to the University with the S.O.  We were there for a Science Café, separating this Tuesday from pretty much any other Tuesday I’ve ever experienced; I had not really experienced any of the the Science Café circuit previously .  The event was centred around Charles Darwin’s 200th Birthday and was comprised of students (from junior high to undergrad) and mentors (from both the working field to graduate and post graduate students).  The format was: lecture, questions, introduce, mingle.

Did I enjoy myself?  Yes.

Did a large portion of the information go well beyond my ability (or interest) to understand?  Yes.

Towards the end of the evening, I get my money’s worth (I paid nothing… so really, I guess I get my time’s worth).  Everyone on the mentorship side of the spectrum stands up and introduces themselves and mentions one ‘cool thing’ about their lives.  Each mentor in their own words tries their best to describe why they love throwing themselves into work they believe in while trying their best to navigate the direction that “throwing” of themselves will take.

Do I have the right type or amount of intelligence to take on a graduate science degree?  No, I don’t even have all three high school sciences.

Do I feel nearly ready to take on a graduate education degree, if not (for whatever reason) this summer… a summer very soon?  Yes, for sure I do!  …and after last night, for all the right reasons.

I’m ready for learning I want to do all day.  I’m ready to take on something I barely think I can.  I’m ready for, as one mentor describes, the licence to investigate anything I want to.  I won’t be looking too closely at ATP Formation at a Cellular Level nor Organic History.  I love teaching and now, after some time here in Calgary, I’m well-aware that I love learning.  I have unique abilities that I’m ready to crack open and explore more fully, and am actively looking for opportunities to do just that.

So.

Whether French, or Drama, or Chemical Biology: lately, my learning experiences have created a strong desire for more.

(Nothing new realized, just a realization made stronger).  (All, at a very unlikely place).

So what if I buy my deodorant at Lush?  I’m not embarrassed by that.  It’s neutral smelling, has less packaging, and doesn’t fall all to poo when you’re not even that close to being done.

Today I drove to Market Mall after work to buy some.  (Which, yes, added even more to the not surprising gross expense).

…and I had a slightly strange exchange with the girl working there.

her:  can I ask you a question?
me: sure.
her: i use the same stuff.  (again, to you, not her: so what??  I’m not embarrassed.   it’s neutral smelling.)
me: ya.
her: when it dries all up on the outside, what do you use to scrape it off?
me: what?
her: you know how you have to scrape off the parts that have dried up every day?  what do you use for that?  how do you do that?
me: i put it in a ziploc sandwich bag and it doesn’t dry up.
her: oh.  now i’m glad i asked.   that’s really easy.
me: that’s fine.  i don’t need the receipt.

Now, as the day winds down… all I can think is how did she stay so loyal to a product she had to keep switching tools (presumably butter knives and potato peelers) to continue using.

She must really like the scent.

The neutral, ecological one.  I feel like I just provided her with a true paradigm shift, and I’m glad I could help.

I’m doing an online book study.  It’s being hosted by our school board’s Leadership Centre.

More details would bore you.

However, out of hundreds of posts a few are being placed in the “Interesting Posts” forum, a forum locked and chosen by book study moderators.

Four posts are currently in there.

You may see where this foreshadowing is headed.  …and you’re right.

A post by Travis Robertson is in there folks!  Travis Robertson of TravisJohnRobertson.com has just been deemed interesting.  Oh, mine is an ego so easily boosted.

Let’s not kid ourselves: had this happened before my Grad School Applications were done, this SO would be getting a mention.