Favorite Food Movies
Feb 28, 13
List of favorite food movies can come in handy when you want to screen a film that is fun for the family and will pass muster with multiple generations.
There is one list from Serious Eats that I like because in addition to the obvious, "Big Night" it also includes "Ratatouille".
I like this list from a blog Fork and Bottle because in addition to food titles it has wine titles like "Sideways" and also the less obvious "Scent of the Green Papaya" which is nothing short of sensuous visual poetry.
FILE UNDER: Things I didn't know that I didn't know
Oct 04, 12
Was searching for something I wrote on the internet and came up with this bit from my college newspaper the ECHO at CalLuCollege:
The 1984 Phonathon to Alumni and friends of the College raised a total of $41,280 in pledges thanks to the efforts of 28 CLC students. In 14 nights of calling 2155 calls were completed.
The top five callers and the amounts they raised were:
Vaughn Fredieu, $6115;
Michelle Speakman, $3805;
Diana Brittain, $3210;
Yvette Yasui, $3115; and
Terry Ash, $2705.
These five students together raised $18,950 or 46% of the dollars achieved.
Granted, it's not a large amount. And it does not make me wonder if I've missed my calling as a rainmaker.
Just an odd title I didn't know I had: A Top Five Phoneathoner, 1984...
Favorite Literary Character: boys edition
Sep 27, 12
Tomorrow is Dress-Up-As-Your-Favorite-Book-Character!
Want to be an archer, like Will in Ranger's Apprentice?
Yes!
OK, we need a cloak.
It's mottled grey-green.
Oh. OK.
Found this pattern. *
It turned out great! And the boy does not like to be stand out socially. He was only 1 of 2 kids in his class who dressed up. But he stayed in costume all day. Even if most everyone except Gared thought he was Robin Hood. Whood?
He especially loved his quiver. Which after I finished the cloak and went to bed, thought, "hey, boy needs a quiver" and got up to make one out of green and black vinyl which looks leather like.
Worth the effort, this will be his halloween costume after being a ninja for going on 4 years in a row!
Check out the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan.
* A big shout out to FleeceFun for the great pattern and her generosity for sharing it! I had never printed out a pattern before and she makes it very easy to do and gives step by step instructions that even the novice sewer like me could follow.
{List} Summer 2012
Aug 18, 12
This is it. We are in the thick of summer. The cicadas are vibrating the air which is thick with the possibility of a thunder storm which may end an impromptu swim at the pool. Or not.
Farmer's market, secret swimming hole, outdoor music, giant slip-n-slide. What is your summer like?
summer list:
This song
This shirt
This necklace
These dishes
This DIY
This simple meal
This pizza truck
These apple fritters
This film
What is the difference between Fluency and Comprehension?
Jun 18, 12
8 y.o. started taking a summer reading program class yesterday that was created by the Institute for Reading Development.
As decribed on the IRD's website, Fluency and Comprehension are not the same.
Fluency and Comprehension
Fluency means that the reading process is automatic, that the reader recognizes the overwhelming majority of words by sight and does very little conscious decoding. (Decoding refers to the process in which a reader consciously uses phonics and other related skills to figure out the pronunciation of a printed word.) Fluent readers read smoothly, linking words together into meaningful phrases rather than reading word by word. Because fluent readers recognize almost all words by sight, they focus on the meaning of the text, rather than lower order decoding processes.
Fluency is not the same as comprehension, but it is a precondition for comprehension. Pre-fluent or disfluent readers must use much of their conscious attention and cognitive ability to decode, i.e., to read the words in the text, and thus have less energy available to focus on meaning. While pre-fluent readers work to construct meaning from text on a basic level, it is not until they reach fluency that solid comprehension is possible.
Comprehension is not simply a matter of connecting meaning to individual words and phrases. A skilled reader with strong comprehension engages in a number of cognitive processes that are developed as a result of substantial independent reading as well as training. These include: following a sequence of action or thought, anticipating outcomes, visualizing, synthesizing and recognizing main events, and distinguishing main ideas from subordinate details. Most importantly, good comprehension is characterized by high level cognitive processes: in nonfiction this involves understanding a work's overarching message through comprehension of its various parts and their relationship to one another and to the work as a whole; in literature this involves participation in a story at the level of plot and meaning through identification and absorption.
Open Letter to NC Speaker of the House Tillis
Jun 13, 12
Speaker Tillis,
Have no fear, labouring women will not descend upon your home and give birth in your kitchen.
We most certainly would not deem to dictate to you how to care for your prostate. We respectfully ask that you not block this Bill H522/S662 "The Licensing of Professional Midwives" from coming up for a vote.
With all the medical breakthroughs and life saving technologies available to us in this modern world, men are not yet able to get pregnant, or carry a child, or birth that child into the world.
I believe that you are of the male gender and therefore, not able to conceive, carry or birth a child. Do not use your position as a representative of the people of the state of North Caroline, to block this bill. I am the people of North Carolina and I support the Licensing of Professional Midwives.
Thank you kindly,
Yvette Yasui
Durham, NC
Response to MoveOn.org call for letters to Speaker Tillis:
The Speaker of the House of Representatives of North Carolina, Thom Tillis, is refusing to allow Bill H522/S662 "The Licensing of Professional Midwives" to come up for a vote. The support is in place for us to get the bill passed, but this man has taken it upon himself to refuse to bring it up for a vote.
Obon Tutorial
Jun 11, 12
Summer is here and you know what that means, Obon!
If you live in Hawaii, you may know that between Memorial Day and Labor Day, there are community dances every weekend at the different temples all over the islands.
Some weekends will find 2 or 3 obon dances scheduled. One of the most popular is the Haleiwa Bon Dance on the North Shore of Oahu. At Haleiwa, they remember ancestors by setting floating lanters into the ocean, if you go early enough, you can purchase a lantern, write the name of your ancestor on it and set it afloat during the lantern ceremony.
Bon Dance is a summer festival to remember our ancestors. Since many japanese in Hawaii were far from their cultures and families in Japan, Obon became a popular summer festival.
I find that it is one of the few community events where people of all ages attend together for dance and sometimes good food and crafts. I like to call them Grandma crafts, but all are handmade and a good deal.
For those of you new to Bon, here are a couple of tutorials to get you started.
I'm sorry I don't have names of these songs/dances (if you do, please put them in the comments!)
These both are the most popular bon dances (in my experience, in Hawaii) so you can't go wrong learning these!
Grab your hapi coat and have fun! Or look for an Obon dance or festival this summer in your city.
Easy Tabouli Lentil Salad
Jun 11, 12
Sample from Trader Joe's today was a Tabouli Lentil Salad.
This is an easy, fresh mediterranean salad. It has protein from the lentils and the lemons and parsley gives it a light and bright flavor.
Ingredients:
1 package pre-cooked lentils (from produce section)
2 containers Tabouli Salad (ready made take away foods)
Juice of 1 lemon
Fresh chopped parsley
couple of drops of hot sauce
Sicilian Olive Oil
Fresh ground black pepper
5 Ways to Live a More Courageous Life
Jun 01, 12
Tony Robbins tells it like it is.
People who are courageous are scared to the core, they just make themselves go forward anyway; they make themselves take some kind of
{Queery} What is the different between a Question and a Queery?
Apr 21, 12
And how can questions be applied in the classroom use to stimulate the brain, how can queeries be applied in the classroom to promote responsibility?
I found this article Toward A Quaker Pedagogy thought provoking and relevant to use in any classroom.
{cook}Spanakopita & Potato Curry Soup
Apr 11, 12
Today's temperature was a 20 degree drop from yesterday's. Spring, my fickle mistress.
It was a day that yearned for soup. Hot and noursishing, comfort in a bowl. I wanted my favorite Potato Curry Soup from Nosh,
{Lesson} Successful Innovation
Apr 10, 12
I came upon a video today, that was the embodiment of the 21st century workplace described by Cathy Davidson in her new book "Now You See It".
Cathy talks about how the modern day American workplace and education system, was created in the 19th century for 20th century innovation, the factory line.
Single-time-oriented-tasks; top-down-hierachies; sit/stand-in-place; work-on-your-own are all ways to create the perfect factory worker. It is reflected in schoolrooms, where children sit at desks, do one subject at a time and listen to one source of knowledge - the teacher.
In the workplace, the same set-up is replicated with cubicles, departments, and bosses. So although our modern workplace may not look like a factory, they operate on the same guiding principles as a factory.
Enter IDEO a company that has created a 21st century workplace. Where people work in teams, creativity is nurtured, failure is encouraged and results are anything but dull.
When you watch who and how the IDEO team works, you will see that diversity is key to their success.
{cook} Tempeh Green Bean Curry, Easy Style
Apr 10, 12
Sometimes dinner is from Trader Joes. Grilled Tempeh, fresh green beans, and Curry Simmer Sauce.
Salad was the TJ's recipe demo for the day, first time I really like the sample enough to make it at home. Tabouli and lentil salad. Use TJ's tabouli salad, pre-cooked lentils, olive oil, fresh lemon, kosher salt and cracked pepper.
Fresh cilantro on the curry and Tandoori Naan rounded out the meal.
Cheat: 7 y.o. had the Chicken Tika Masala meal with green beans, tabouli/lentil salad and naan.
Manhattan Beach is not in New York
Apr 08, 12
We arrived to a sunny and lovely southern california week. The air is cool and the sun is warm. Perfection.
{Things the French Do Better Than We Do} Soap
Feb 24, 12
When I was a quite young, at my very first real NYC job after college, my boss and his boyfriend were taking a trip to Paris. They asked me if I wanted anything. I thought for a moment and said, "Maybe some soap?"
{livres} pour enfants
Jan 30, 12
Archer's Quest by Linda Sue Park is a chapter book that we recently listened to the audio version of while driving to and from school.
We have read and loved Keeping Score also by Linda Sue Park, so when we spied Archer's Quest on the audio book shelf at the local library, we immediately knew we'd get it.
"TWELVE-YEAR-OLD KEVIN, A Korean American boy, is shocked beyond belief when a young man, complete with bow and arrows, crash lands in his bedroom. And that's just the beginning. The man, called Skillful Archer, claims to be a legendary ruler from ancient Korea. While Kevin tries explaining contemporary life to the man he nicknames Archie, the young ruler teaches Kevin about focusing his thoughts in an attempt to help him return to his kingdom. There's not a moment to lose as Kevin uses Korean history and folktales, math, and the Chinese Zodiac to help his friend travel back through time before the Year of the Tiger ends. If Archie can't get home, history will be forever changed."
‎{Audio} We just finished listening to "Archer's Quest" by Linda Sue Park and loved it! We were playing the end of the book coming from N's archery class, on the day before Lunar New Year, on our way to eat Korean BBQ.
Confluence.
Rethinking the role of praise in student learning
Jan 28, 12
Perusing the Durham Magnet Schools new blog, I came upon this reference to praising children sighting two interesting articles:
From the Washington Post In schools, self-esteem boosting is losing favor to rigor, finer-tuned praise.
And, from the Wall Street Journal The Praise a Child Should Never Hear.
What is it about a hotel . . .
Dec 03, 11
"That, too, is something I’ve come to value about hotel stays: how in the accustomed rituals and formalities of arrival and departure, each visit mimics a larger journey. We arrive and go to our rooms and feel relief when the key works and the lock clicks tight so that we can unpack and greet our identities again. We unfold the clothes that we prepared for a temporary imagined future. And in that transition, the span between check-in and check-out, we are liberated from the uncomfortable truth that, sooner than anyone likes to imagine, the trip has ended and the time has come to pay the bill."
My Life in Hotels
GUY TREBAY, NYT
Choosers can be beggars...
Nov 01, 11
Zombie Bash t Motorco Saturday night. Chattting with Flip who was the reason I was there. Flip makes the best taste that my mouth can eat from a food truck in all of Durham and I'd hazard to guess, all of everywhere.
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5 Steps: To Finding A Yoga Class That Is Right For You
Sep 04, 11
There are so many kinds of yoga classes nowadays, it can seem daunting to find a teacher or a class that is right for you.
Are you an athlete, blogger, professional,