I really forgot how much I like to read, write and spend time doing things that make me, me. The past two years have been so exceptional. I know I only have four followers and that is ok! The point is, my writing is engraving itself somewhere out there in the universe of multimedia, technology and energy. My words will be documented, even if they are not bestsellers, on an infinite database. Two years have passed and so much has occurred. I mean...I have an iPhone 4 now. Does this mean I have upgraded to a real status? I don't know.
The last we left off, I had visitors, my cousin Eva and her friend Christine. I was about to begin my Master's in Curriculum and Instruction and ESL at Concordia University Chicago. I had one chinchilla named Emma. I worked at Gap, Barnes and Noble and Chicago Lyric Opera. I had never been to Milwaukee, New York, San Diego, Fresno, Merced, Toledo, Monterrey, San Jose, San Simeon, San Luis Obispo, Bloomington and a few other places. I was reading a book. I had just been invited for Round 2 of interviews at Homewood School District #153. My favorite Conservatory, Garfield Park, was in one piece. I hadn't ever heard of the Paleo Diet. I had never run a 5K. I had never taught fourth and fifth grade. The list goes on and on and on.
Here are some things that are quirky and interesting about the past two years. These are the insubstantial, but fun facts of all that has occurred.
Broadway plays...
Billy Elliot
Spring Awakening
Shrek
Mary Poppins
Promises, Promises
Me with Sean Hayes (Jube's friend/college roommate and star of Will & Grace) after Promises, Promises
Kristin Chenoweth after Promises, Promises
West Side Story
Book of Mormon
This is me with Andrew Rannells from The Book of Mormon
Anything Goes
How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (Daniel Radcliffe :))
Daniel Radcliffe after How to Succeed...
Addams Family
Chicago
Spiderman Turn off the Dark
The Lion King
Avenue Q
Hair
Next to Normal
Memphis
Les Miserables
9 to 5
Phantom of the Opera
Operas:
Boris Godunov
Ariadne auf Naxos
Aida
The Magic Flute
Met a couple of celebrities:
Sean Hayes
Kristen Chenoweth
John Laroquette
(saw Daniel Radcliffe within 2 feet)
Traveling: Made possible by Joy Notoma and Matt Thomas
New York...went three times. Loved every minute because Joy showed me everything there was to see. My favorite parts were seeing Ellis Island, her picnic in Prospect Park just for me, Broadway musicals, seeing Harry Potter, my hero, Daniel Radcliffe, on stage, spending 4th of July on the harbor, eating pizza and mingling with the masses...and randomly running into a South Carolinian. Joy makes me feel like Manhattan and Brooklyn could be my home one day. It excites me. I plan on going back to see friends there soon. My friend Nick, who was in Billy Elliot, also lives there. That was a random friendship.
Joy in Times Square
California: Made possible by Matthew Thomas.
Wow. What can I say? The hospitality was amazing. I am part of the Thomas family. They make me complete. I now have adopted parents, two new brothers (one Matt would question), a new dog, Leia...she's a princess...and some tortoises. Matt took me to San Diego...saw the zoo. WHOA. Balboa Park...WHOA. Monterrey...Aquarium. San Luis Obispo to see his grad school Cal Poly and his awesome advisor, MaryKay and her wonderful get together where we sat around drinking and I gave informal voice lessons. San Simeon to see Hearst Castle...the Biltmore of the West Coast. Morro Bay to see Morro Rock. Fresno to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (oh so sad that's over). YOSEMITE. SPEECHLESS. I cannot even begin to cover it. Merced for hooker hunting with Matt's mom where we all get pulled over by the cops because we are chasing hookers and Crystal Meth (a town local). We searched for Ruby, the main attraction, paparazzi style. The list never ends at all.
Half Dome in Yosemite at sunset.
Monterrey Bay, California
Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California
The Thomas Family, Merced, California
Milwaukee...really loved it. Had a blast. Such a BEAUTIFUL city.
Bloomington, Indiana...had to see my good friend, John!
South Carolina and North Carolina were also trips made over the past couple of years.
I had layovers (hellish ones) in Philadelphia, Detroit, Minneapolis and Phoenix.
I have developed a newfound...even though it was already there...fascination for opera. Don't get me started. I own about 50 on DVD and about 130 on CD. I listen to it all the time.
I have finally viewed Starry Night by Van Gogh in person at MOMA in NYC.
Harry Potter ended in my hiatus. The books and the movies are finished. JK Rowling left a stamp on my heart. She is the reason I like to read and write. Although I am sad the series is over in both forms, I am happy she only stuck to seven books so as to not ruin the flow and authenticity of the story.
I will always be a Harry Potter fan...thank you JK Rowling for making reading fun!
As for the biggies and starting with the biggest: I got the second interview with Homewood School District #153 and then a third shortly following. I was hired in 2010 to be the General Music Teacher and Choral Director for Millennium School. I have had two wonderful years at Millennium with some of the best staff I have ever worked with hands down. I am so thoroughly impressed with ALL of my coworkers. We are a solid school and a solid unit. I am proud to be a part of HSD. I taught at Churchill School, as well, last year. I had Fourth Grade Choir with the wonderful Margaret Caraher! She is a dream in the music world and any school would be lucky to have her. I have been teaching fifth and sixth grades at Millennium. I also have a block of reading each day. My students are amazing. Although some days have been trying, the majority are a lot of fun. My favorite part was when one was drawing boobs while I was teaching about Tubas. A friend on Facebook commented on that status saying "Did you teach them about Dolly's tubas?" Oh the fun of it all.
My amazing faculty from left to right...Jenna, Sara, Adrienne and Kim
With work wife, Jenna, in middle and Kim...lovely band directors!
I finished my Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with ESL from Concordia University Chicago. I graduated in December. This is a nice big turning point in my life because I am now certified to teach ESL K-4. Currently, I am back in school at Concordia for a new Master's. I am going for School Leadership so I can obtain my Type 75 for the state of Illinois and become an administrator. I am looking forward to what life holds in the future of my career.
Currently, I am on the Paleo Diet and love it. It has kept my eating in check. Over the past two years I have certainly not ballooned up in any way, but my eating could be healthier. I needed to make a change and it is all thanks to my friend Amy for helping me to do so. I am getting my 8 pack of abs back which is making me happy enough.
A source of a lot of my blogs, Garfield Park Conservatory, was devastated last June by a freak hail storm in Chicago. My roommate Dena...my old B&N manager...and I were caught up in this storm in Rogers Park. It was intense. Hail was the size of tennis balls. I actually saw someone's head bleeding...OY. The storm knocked 30,000 panes of glass out of the 100 year old conservatory and destroyed many plants that were so stable in that vast indoor ecosystem. I donated money to the conservatory and ended up having my comments posted to the website. It was really nice the amount of appreciation they presented. I am extremely happy to live somewhere that offers so many wonderful opportunities!
Now...the purpose of this blog in the first place was to talk about books I was reading in alphabetical order. I kind of failed. But, I am back. The blog will no longer be about reading in alphabetical order anymore. The blog will be geared towards everything artsy, cool, fun, incredible and adventuresome in my life. Part of March will be dedicated to my Spring Break in Ecuador and Peru. I am uber excited about that! :)
The reading I have done over the past two years has been quite substantial. I also bought a NOOK from Barnes and Noble which is pretty awesome! Here are some highlights of my hiatus:
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell- This was quite the epic tale of the South and all it holds. Set in Atlanta...for those of you that don't know Atlanta, it is commonly referred to as HOTlanta now. The desecration. I don't know who is crazier, Sherman burning Atlanta or some of the people who live there. The story is about Scarlett O'Hara who is tragically taken from her sweet, easy Southern existence to a swift, painful kick in the ass to adulthood as the Civil War raged on in the South. She is a lover of making schadenfreude amongst men and making people suffer. She meets Rhett Butler from Charleston, South Carolina and the rest is history...Frankly my dear, I just don't give a damn. Read it, watch it, learn it.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett- Take an EPIC tour of England in the Middle Ages. The center of the universe in this book is Prior Philip and Tom the Builder. Both take on building the largest cathedral in England. Warfare ensues with other religious counsel and the monarchy of England. The book reads like a dream and follows MANY characters over the course of I believe 38 or 48 years. It is fascinating, especially if you love reading anything relating to history. I love anything England, so I absorbed the book pretty quickly.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan- Amazing books. There are five total. All follow Percy Jackson, a demigod, and his quests to save the world. He is surrounded by the gods of Greek/Roman mythology. There are two other books, which I read, that are an extension of the series...they are The Heroes of Olympus books. They pick up after Percy Jackson and slowly integrate him back in. The concentration is more on other demigods other than Percy himself.
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan- These books follow the not-so-ordinary lives of the Carter and Sadie Kane who discover they ancient Egyptian pharaoh and magic blood.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett- The Help follows the lives of African American maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. It is a book within a book written by Skeeter Phelan who aspires to worker for Harper & Row Publishers in New York City. She recounts the lives of tragedy and laughter with the help. The book also documents everyone's troubles in a time of American change just before Civil Rights. Skeeter's ups and downs are also recorded within the book.
World War Z by Max Brooks- This book is kind of like a train wreck as some would say...so bad but you cannot stop watching. The thing about it is is that the book is actually great but not my style of normal reading. It is about the Zombie Apocalypse the world has gone through and about those who have survived all around the world and their stories. The book is fascinating and is like reading a war report. Very nicely thought through.
Currently, I am reading Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans. Michael Vey is an ordinary kid who has the abilities to conduct electricity when needed.
I also now have two lovely little chinchillas! Emma has a new brother who I adopted a couple of months ago! His name is Izzy! Short for Isabella...everyone that he was a girl but it's a boy! :)
Emma is on the left and Izzy is on the right!
So many good things the past couple of years. It can only look up from here, so happy reading! :)
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