2002

2002

Springfield, PA

My age: 46-47

School- now I am only taking adult courses at Main Line Night School. I am taking a course on the hand drums and to be honest, I suck.

Work-  I am the Principal at Springfield High School in Springfield, PA.  There are 1200 students and 100 staff members.

•  In June, one of our most popular teachers died after a short battle with cancer.  This teacher taught two generations of kids and was loved by all his students. In his honor, the students organized a dance marathon to raise money to combat childhood cancer. The dance is held annually and to date, they have raised over $1,500,000 in his name.
•   In October, a student hung himself and our students were devastated.  Then, five weeks later, a kid overdosed and lingered for a week and then died right before Christmas.  Our community struggled with these two horrible loses.

Music

•    Travelogue by Joni Mitchell. This woman just continues to produce more and more music.  I don’t like everything she creates but I buy everything she releases.
• The Wide World Over by the Chieftains. I’ve seen this group several times and I never grow tired of them because they constantly reinvent themselves.  They play with musicians from all over the global and their music reflects this diversity.
•  I am listening mostly to world music at this time.  I go to Border’s Book store and wander over to the music section and listen to one unknown artist after another.  Mostly I listen to African drum music. 

Movies- I love going to the movies.

•     The Pianist- as with so many Holocaust movies, this was hard to watch and comprehend.
•     Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- I loved the first movie and I thought it took too long to release the follow up movies.
•     Road to Perdition- there was a very clear message to this movie but it was too violent for my taste.
•     About Schmidt- I think Jack Nicholson plays himself in a lot of his movies.
•     Signs- boring, boring, boring
•     The Hours- of course, I liked the book better bit this movie wasn’t bad.
•     Adaption- this was a terrible adaption of the book Orchid Thief.

Books- I read a lot this year.  Every night, I would religious read between 10PM and 11PM.  I worked with lots of other readers and we shared books which served to motivate me to read every day. Here are a few of my favorites:

•     Looking for Alaska- what a brutal lifestyle.
•     Out West- exploring the route of Lewis and Clark. I just want to jump in my car and explore the world after I read a book like this.
•     Memories of a Geisha- I loved this book and I loved the movie.
•     The Hours- the intertwining of the three generations intrigued me.
•     Cry of the Kalahari- I love Africa.
•     The Way Forward Is with A Broken Heart- Alice Walker is one of my favorite authors
•     The Awakening
•     Den of Lions- Terry Anderson.'s diary of his captivity
•     The Piano Shop on the Left Bank- I want to find a place where I can just go there and hang with everyone.
•     The Bonesetter’s Daughter- I have read everything Amy Tan has written.
•     The Ice Master
•     A Confederacy of Dunce- I loved every sentence in this book.  When I was midway through the book, I mentioned to my nephew that I was reading a great book and recommended it.  He asked me, “Is it A Confederacy of Dunces? I’m reading that book now, too. And I was going to recommend it to you. You remind me of the guy a little bit.”
•     Girl in the Hyacinth Blue-well written. 
•     An Underachiever’s Diary- funny, funny, funny.
•     Best American Travel Writing 2002- this book fueled my wanderlust.
•     Into the Wild- riveting
•     Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress- this was a sweet coming of age story.

Travels

•     April- Oregon- spring break
•     June-Italy- I went with 5 nieces and the trip was dreadful.
•     July- Peru (The Amazon River)- I hated my trip to Italy so much that I came home and booked this trip as a consolation prize.  I started in a hut with no electricity and running water.
•     August- Maine (Windjammer Cruise),
•     December- Ecuador (Galapagos Islands- winter break)- OMG, I loved this trip.

News Events

• War in Iraq- We are going to war in another country.  How many wars can we fight at one time?
•  Sniper attacks are causing us to become so fearful that we are moving towards immobility.
• Terror reigns and takes up too much of our thoughts.
• War in Afghanistan- It doesn’t seem as if we are making any progress.
• Catholic sex scandal- The Catholic bishops’ despicable behaviors have been discovered and called out on their irresponsibility. They have been harboring pedophiles for years and years.
• Homeland security- all sorts of new regulations are popping up every day which impede our freedoms.  Fear rules us now.
• 9/11 anniversary- It’s been a long year.  We are still stunned that such a horrific act could have been committed against us.

 Family- Clay Andrew Kelly, my nephew, Brian’s youngest child was born. That brings a total of 16 nieces and nephews for me.