2003

2003

Springfield, PA

My age: 47- 48

School -now I am only taking adult courses at Main Line Night School.

Home- I love my home. It's less than a mile from my job and it is on a busy street with no sidewalks.  So I am afforded a lot of privacy.  I love my garden and all the butterflies and birds that hang there with me. I  have a lot that is 70' by 300'.  Most of the yard is dense forest.

Work - Principal- Springfield High School, Springfield, PA

• I have 1200 students in grades 9-12. The students are 80% white and 20% of mixed ethnic/races.
• This year, we held our first Dance Marathon to raise money for cancer research.  My students raised $12,000 in one evening.  I was so damn proud of them.

Music

• I looked at the top 100 songs of the year and did not recognize one song or most of the artists.
• I listened mostly to world music at this time.
• I would go to Border's Book store on a regular basis and just walk around the store and listen to world music.
• I gutted a closet in my bedroom and made that area my music center.  I would sit in there and just listen to multiple CDs throughout the evening.  I liked to examine the album cover, read the lyrics and discover the contributing musicians.

Movies

• 101 Dalmatians- I loved this movie and Cruella DeVil scared the hell out of me.
• Big Fish- I don't think I watched this movie in the theatre.  I got a copy of the DVD in the cheap bin at Walmart and I loved it.
• Bruce Almighty- a fun, mindless movie.
• Cheaper By The Dozen- a stupid movie.  The original was much funnier.
• Coffee and Cigarettes- another DVD from the cheap bin at Walmart.  It took three tries for me to get passed the first 15 minutes of this weird film.  But then I liked it.
• The Cooler- this movie gave me the creeps.
• Elf- I liked it but today, I only want to watch snippets of the movie.
• The Fog of War- this movie and its ugly reality depress me.
• Holes- a fun, family movie.
• House of Sand and Fog- I liked it.
• Lost in Translation- I walked out on this movie.
• A Mighty Wind- this movie was good but it is not as funny as Best in Show.
• Pirates of the Caribbean- of course I saw this movie; Johnny Depp is in it.
• Sea biscuit- an American hero.
• The Station Agent- I liked this movie.
• Under the Tuscan Sun- the book was better
• Veronica Guerin- a tough story of courage.

Books - I read a lot of books about travel.  I was constantly dreaming of getting away.

• Embers- Sandor Marian
• Tumble Home- Amy Henpal
• The River's Tale- Edward Gargan-  a good book.
• The Book of Celtic Wisdom- Michael Scott\Family Life- Russell Banks
• The Debt of Pleasure- John Lanchester
• There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled- Doug Lansky
• Tales of a Female Nomad- This books was very interesting.  I gave it to a friend to read who passed it on to someone else.  Therefore, I do not have the author's name.
• A Woman Alone- Faith Corlon
• The Great Adventure- Peace Corps
• The Lily Theatre- LuLu Wang
• There is Sand in My Bra- an easy read.
• Lone Traveller- Ann Must
• One for the Road- Tony Horowitz- I like this author.  I've read a few things from him.
• Travels- Michael Crichton
• Blue Poppies- Jonathan Pella
• Lobster Chronicles- I've read three books by this author.  She tells a good story.
• Birds of Sri Lanka
• Buddhism- A Brief Guide
• Give Me The World- Leila Hadley
• The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Kidd- I liked the book and the movie.
• After The Quake- Murakami- one of my favorite Japanese authors.
• The Snow Geese
• The Death of Vishnu- Manil Sun- I love stories about India.
• On the Water- Nathaniel Strong- this book was inspiring.
• American Moments- Charles Kurat- I loved listening to his stories.

Travels

• South Carolina- I did not like Myrtle Beach.  I thought it was sleazy.
• India- I went to see the Taj Mahal and it was magnificent.
• Maldives Island- these islands are in the middle of nowhere.
• Sri Lanka- I climbed Sigiriya, a 1200 step climb up to a fortress in the sky.
• Belize- this is a beautiful country.

News events

• The department of Homeland Security is established and travel by flight now becomes a stupid burden.
• We invade Iraq under the false pretense that they have Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
• Saddam Hussein is captured and we all celebrate.
• Lance Armstrong won his 5th Tour De France and the whole world celebrated this "good guy".  It is years later that we discover he had been using drug enhancements and we are all angry at him and so disappointed.
• The space shuttle Columbia exploded and we lose all of the crew members and begin to question if this space exploration is worth it.

Family

I watched the TV special Living With Michael Jackson with my 10 year old niece.  When it is all over, she tells me, "I am going to pray for him tonight."