2007

2007
Springfield, PA and

Carpenter’s Point, MD

My age: 51- 52

My home: I love my house and garden.  I spend hours gardening but my yard is too big for me to maintain. I am working on just planting perennials so I do not spend all of my time replanting every year. And really, I have tow gardens and I am not spending enough time with either garden.

Work Principal- Springfield High School Springfield High School, Springfield, PA.

• There are 1200 students and 100 staff members.  
• We received a $600,000 grant and started a laptop program in the school.  We started with the freshmen and every student got a laptop for their academic work.
• I started a yearlong sabbatical in July, 2007.

Music- I am no longer current with the songs on the Top 40 Chart and I am not listening to Rap or Hip Hop.  So I am really out of the loop of pop culture.  I am listening to old stand-by released albums this year:

• Joni Mitchell
• Neil young
• John Mellencamp
• Ben Harper
• Van Morrison
• Eddie Vender
• Macy Gray
• Annie Lenox
• Joseph Arthur
• Tori Amos
• Bruce Springsteen
• Paul McCartney
• Crowded House
• REM

Movies- I love going to the movies.

• Ratatouille- Yes, I enjoyed a movie about rats.
• In To The Wild- The book was great and so was this movie.
• Atonement- This movie was overrated.
• Pirates of the Caribbean- I love Johnny Depp.
• National Treasure- I think I saw this after it was in the movies.  I usually don't like thrillers.
• Harry Potter- I've seen all of the Harry Potter movies.  I haven read any father books but I've seen all of the movies.
• August Rush- this movie was so sappy and boring.
• Charlie Wilson's War- I left angry with Charlie Wilson.  It seems like he dropped the ball in following up on this serious problem.
• The Bucket List- this movie was entertaining and it caused me to make bucket lists for myself.
• I'm Not There- a very strange movie.
• Sicko- Michael Moore speaks for me on issues in his movies.
• Miss Potter- a pleasant movie
• Stomp The Yard- I love the theatrical show Stomp and I loved this movie version of it.
• The Painted Veil- I liked this movie.
• Waitress- I liked this movie.
• Becoming Jane- I liked this movie.
• The Jane Austin Book Club- I don't get why so many people love Jane Austin.
• Darjeeling Limited- I've seen this movie about 6 or 7 times.  I love it and I love all of Wes Anderson's movies.
• Kite Runner- I loved the book and this movie represented it well.  This was a tough story.

Books- I see a pattern on my book selections this year: most of them write about extreme escapes from the rest of the world.

• No Shortcut to the Top- Ed Viesturs- why do people risk everything to climb Everest?
• Alone At Sea- Ann Spencer
• The Places In Between- Rory Stewart- I want to go to Afghanistan.
• The Big Year- this was a very funny book and a shitty remake as a movie.
• North to the Night- Alval Simon- "Christ, Buddha, Mohammad, Krishna, Yahweh, the Great White Buffalo, must I chose between them? Who am I to define the divine- say it is this and nothing more.  On this day, alone here in the dark, can I just take to heart their similar messages concerning peace on Earth and goodwill towards all men and women?  And can I add to that list the creatures of the forest and the deep, the flowers and the trees, the wind and the sun, the snow and the rain?"
• Alvin's Laws- this man with no arms is an inspiration.  I also saw him give a talk as well.
• Mountain Beyond Mountains- Tracy Kidder- "We miss you as the dry, cracked earth misses the rain."
• Four Quarters of Light- Brian Keenen
• Cross Country- Robert Sullivan- "When I have a chance to sit with my journal for this day, I will note that, as i often am... I am pleased that we have not all died."
• Three Weeks With My Brother- Nicholos Sparks- a sappy book.
• To The Summit- Margo Chisholm- "I am not the same person I was this morning."
• The Last River- Todd Belf
• Three Cups of Tea-a great book; too bad it was all a sham.
• Swimming to Antartica- Lynne Cox- who does these dangerous activities?
• Good Birders Don't Wear White- Peter Dunne
• Crossing Antarctica- Will Steger
• The Last Season- Eric Bhelm- "I cant decide whether I want to spend my next life as a little alpine bird or as a parrot.  We should be careful before concluding that either of these would be  stepping down."
• The Solitude of Open Space
• Ben Franklin
• Hell or High Water- a travel journal from a kindred spirit.

Travels- I took a sabbatical for the 2007-08 school year.  That allowed me to travel extensively during this time.

• o   Antartica
• o   Aregentiana
• o   the last road in North America along the Hudson Bay
• o   Wapoos, Canada
• o   Poland
• o   Czech Republic

News Events

• There is a shooting at Virginia Tech.  The president of the student body stood up on national television and talked about healing.  His speech was moving.
• The Iphones are introduced and I am content with my simple Nextel phone which is good enough for me.
• The final Harry Potter book, Deadly Hallows, is published and we all felt the end of this literary era.
• Tony Blair leaves office in England. He was a strong ally to the USA and that was his downfall.
• International and national terrorism plagues our world and our country.  I felt helpless as one awful story after another aired on our news waves.

Family

• My niece has her first child, Rocco James Monteleone.  I am a great aunt.  When I was born, there were three generations ahead of me.  Now there are two generations behind me.
• My niece, Heather, is living in South Korea where she is teaching English as a second language.