Holding on

I'm on a bit of a Thomas Newkirk kick, University of New Hampshire, and dig his writing style. He's put forth a few excellent books on teaching: Teaching the Neglected "R" for example. I've been reading his work on why boys tend to not achieve as well with reading and writing. He has an excellent writing style.

I found this video of him on YouTube, of course, and hearing my textual heroes is as good as reading them. Perhaps I should read Holding on to Good Ideas in the Time of Bad Ones (2009) that just came out. He's tenured. This allows for him to be a bit more honest, no?

and a return

To say I'm exhausted is an understatement. Elizabeth, my Syracuse NRC Doctoral buddy, and I left at 7 a.m. and got to Syracuse about 9 p.m.. The flight was uneventful accept I filled many napkins with nose crud while she graded her students' assignments. I think the best part about yesterday was that my mom and dad brought me chicken parmesan and that's what I was able to have for dinner. I was famished and ate it quickly. Five days out west with little sleep has left me worn out. I will need today to recoup.

Old Town Holiday

As the National Reading Conference comes to a close for me, a few of us went to the Old Town for a Spanish Christmas celebration. The streets were lined with Mariachi bands playing spanish Holiday music and it was a wonderful treat for a brain-heavy week (the tacos were also good), I will spend all of today returning from another intellectual, quirky experience, but I can honestly say it has all been a true pleasure and a total thumbs-up experience. Our America is amazing with its opportunities.

peppers

To celebrate our presentation on Using Oral Narratives to tell Life Stories at the National Reading Conference, Norm Stahl from Northern Illinois University took me, David Mwambari, Elizabeth Stevens, and Dr. Kristiina Montero to dinner. Ardyth, who couldn't make it, suggest a New Mexican restaurant called SADIE's. It was spicy, but delicious - a true treat for this ghost down and a nice place to drink margaritas and unwind our brains. Our team worked together from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., enjoying the company and having a grand time. This day will go down as very memorable in my chapter book of experiences. We're exhausted, but it was a great day. David suggested I take this picture and I did. It is symbolic, of course.

ghost towns

I picked up David, my friend from Rwanda, at the airport and he wanted to eat so we toured Albuquerque in search of food. He kept repeating with his thick accident, "This is a strange town. This is a strange town."

It is a city, actually, and there are lights that look like a city, but everything is dead and empty. Even the large, expensive hotels stand against the mountains, but people don't enter or exit them. The lady at our front desk said, "You are the only guest," last night when I checked in. There are over a hundred and forty empty rooms.

I feel like I'm in a ghost town like you'd see in the ol' Warner Bros. cartoons with Yosemati Sam, expect the dust hasn't settled and there's still a trace that a lively, vibrant city once existed here. It is eerie, actually.

This is a strange town. This is a strange town.

Elbow Quirky, Number 2

I thought it would be good to post a video advertising Albuquerque and all the things I won't have time for.

And I have a complaint. Now that airlines charge to check baggage, no one checks baggage. This results in stuffed overheads, so much so that I wasn't able to store my coat. Then, upon arrival, there is a mad scramble for people to jockey for their belongings that have been stored all over the plane, and rarely are they stashed above where they are seated. With the onslaught of Blackberries and IPhones, the arrival is worse than the cattle metaphor waiting for slaughter. These people aren't going to die...they are going on with their lives. The whole ordeal perplexed me. Individuals are pushing each other, texting, reaching for their belongings and trying to get out. Then, of course, they also scream at each other. I'm not sure if this is a good thing.

Oi Vay. Change is inevitable.

Elbow Quirky

At the time you read this, I will be on my way to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the National Reading Conference (soon to be National Literacy Conference). I present on Thursday afternoon and host a session on Friday. There is a part of me that wants to drive up to Santa Fe and visit the area that was kind to me a few summers ago (when I had to jump Levi Romero's and Sandra Cisneros's truck).

I doubt I will get to do much sight seeing while there, but I do hope to get some good, spicy food like I tasted during Bread Loaf.

Oh, do you get my picture? It's an "elbow" on "Quirky". Elbow Quirky, New Mexico. I'm brilliantly funny. I don't know why I'm not on Saturday Night Live (Maybe because I'm old).