my dad told me a second time over the phone that he loves me! =) awww~

so i finally decided to make use of my medical insurance and got glasses. kinda funky, makes me look really different, but i do like it. =) i'm kinda scared about my right eye, though. the optometrist found a bump/growth on my iris. he couldn't see behind it in any of the examinating mechanisms, so i have to get an ultrasound on it. he says he doesn't think it's cancerous, but that word scares me a lot... especially knowing an individual who is battling it all out now. it might explain, however, why i see color differently from my left and right eyes. things are darker on my right eye, and it might be because of that bump on my iris, so it's not letting in as much light? that's just my guess. the optometrist just said that most people have one eye that is dominant, and so color is stronger on that eye. he also said that the bump is probably just a birth abnormality rather than cancerous, but just in case...

it's weird meeting and knowing people who write for publications or have published well-known books. the past few years in the world of progressive/radical education (not just "liberal" "oh let's help the poor, help them get to college because it should be their goal"), i've met some famous heads, and they're so down. =) gloria ladson-billings (culturally responsive pedagogy), michael apple (theory, culture and power), carl grant (multicultural ed), wayne au (Rethinking Schools), debbie wei (Women of Hope series), and now, i'm in a class with peter mclaren! talk about critical theory and transformative pedagogy. being in a class with real grad school students (phD) who give a damn about urban education and have the real political consciousness (rather that being phased by lofty ideals) is definitely what i need. auditing this class is hard in terms of scheduling, assignments, etc. but well worth it to supplement my practice in the classroom.

oh yes. in wanting my students to understand why we had last monday off, we did a brief study (1 week) on MLK, jr. and wrote letters to him. one of my students wrote one of the most moving things at the end of her letter: "I hope you are safe and free at last. Love, Jocelyne". O_O coming from a first grader!! my kids kick ass. =) and a lot of them remembered little details, like that he walked for 381 days to boycott the buses, that his house got bombed, the name of his killer... oh which reminds me! when we were playing jeopardy last week, African-Americans for 500 points was to name 3 things about Ruby Bridges. so the answering team goes: "She was 6 years old.... She was African-American (had to accept it).... and.... she wore a white dress." hahhaa.. i had to laugh. i told them it was true, a nice try and all, but to give me a more substantial answer. they changed it to the main reason for why she is most well known for today. =) crazy kids.

talk about bad taste. in some serious lack of judgment, Hot 97 radio station decided to make up and put out a song of their own called "The Tsunami Song" (be forewarned, it's fucked up shit):

----------------------
There was a time when the sun was shining bright
So I went down to the beach to catch me a tan
Then the next thing I knew, a wave twenty feet high
Came and washed your country away

And all at once you could hear the screaming chinks
And no one was safe from the wave
There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away You could hear
God
laughing, "Swim, you bitches, swim!"

So now you're screwed, it's the tsunami
You better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head
and now your children will be sold to child slavery (2X)
----------------------
i don't know what idiot assholes would even conjure up such insensitive shit. don't have nuthin more to say...

people need to stop getting engaged and married around me. just found out one of my UCLA cohort buddies got engaged over the break, at the eiffel tower no less! and then there are my old SD buddies jason and ann who are getting married this may. O_O craziness. who's next...

this past weekend was the first time i took my car to the mountains. ah yes, where an SUV belongs. although, when i stopped by an auto store in bishop (about half an hour away from mammoth), i told the dood i wanted to buy some chains for my highlander. he said that i probably won't be needing them as long as i have a 4x4, to which i responded that mine is a 2-wheel drive. to which HE responded with, "oh, u only have a 2-wheel drive?" then with a sad face i replied, "... yes, it's ONLY a 2-wheel drive..." i'm so ashamed, but i'm a city girl! what do i need a 4WD for? these boarding trips will be short and limited.

happy stories: i practiced riding fakie/switch! =) i can do it! not for toooo long cuz i really scared that i'll catch an edge and fall on my butt. then my pride would be hurt. but i got myself to practice, so i think if i go a few more times i'll be able to get more comfortable. then i'll be a more versatile rider and do cooler tricks! whee! speaking of cool tricks, i successfully landed two backside 180s. =) i'm getting more comfy with that jump. halfpipe is still a sad story. i don't know how many more times i'll be able to go this season. this may very be my only trip this season... =/ ooh! i got away twice with being 6 years younger than i really am! youth rate is up to 18 yrs of age. =) i wonder how long i'll look 18 for...

my dad told me for the first time last nite, over the phone, that he loves me. it was really funny how he said it, using elongated words and a joking sorta tone. he said it cuz my mom told him to tell me that she loves me, and then he asked if she said that often to me, and i said yeah. and he was pleasantly surprised, and said that his parents never said it to him so he doesn't know how to say it to his children. but then when we ended our conversation, that's when he said it. so funny. =) of course i told him i loved him back. =)

mammoth this weekend i believe... my first time hitting the slopes this season! it'll be great this weekend cuz of the recent dumpage of snow, and sunny conditions that are expected. yay! speaking of which, this storm thing in l.a. is unreal.

greetings from philly! today, i had my very first genuine philly cheese steak. only, of course, around here they just call it a cheese steak. that always throws me off. i forgot that here in philly, there would be no reason to call it a philadelphia cheese steak, cuz obviously i'm here. same thing happened to me in france, when i was searching the menu for french onion soup. hello, janet.... it's right there. they call it onion soup. =p

the days we've been here thus far have been cloudy and sprinkly. tomorrow is supposed to clear up more. so far i've been to northwest philly, north, west, through center city, and am currently in south philly. we've eaten korean food, vietnamese food, chinese (semi-fake lunch special), cheese steak. benji and i conducted our teacher training at SEAMAAC for the English teachers of recent immigrants, facilitating discussions on critical pedagogy and linking theory to practice. we went to a house get-together in our honor, pretty much. most of the folks were korean americans involved in the korean drum group Sori Mori (www.sorimori.org). then we went to visit benji's comrade who works at the philly department of education as a curriculum specialist. she filled us in on some tings about the school system out here, the communities, and the charter school that she is helping to open up (as well as all the political b.s. around it). AAU (asian americans united) is the organization that is basically opening up this school in the heart of chinatown. very awesome proposal. i only hope it gets approved despite all the political crap. we also visited the AAU office, met the full-time staff, and now we are here in south philly at the home of a well-respected writer, educator, and activist. we've met her whole family and it's been such a pleasant experience just seeing the daily life of such a person, as well as getting to know her personally. =) tomorrow we've got more folks to meet and places to hit up. lots of good work and good people out here in philly.

family road trip to canada... i sensed it would be a very interesting experience. lotsa family stuff came up during this trip, which i suppose was bound to happen being that the 4 of us would be together 24 hours straight for 7 days. not always a perfect equation, but good times nonetheless! we enjoyed great views and scenic drives, good sightseeing, long drives, and very cold weather. i think my parents' favorite was the capilano suspension bridge in vancouver, canada. in seattle, washington, our family enjoyed fresh, reasonably-priced seafood from pike marketplace. mmm... oh, and the columbia river bordering oregon and washington was also very spectacular, with the awesome multnomah falls in the columbia gorge. i think those were the toppers. oh yes, and in oregon, we took advantage of the no tax on goods and went on a shopping spree at the outlets. they were having a sale, AND we got several additional discount coupons and came home with lotsa goodies. i personally came back with a new pair of walking shoes, running shoes, adidas jacket and warmup pants, wool socks (for my philly trip *shiver*), silk thermals, a load of new multicultural books for my students (mostly hardcover!), and some other small things. =) i was the designated photographer (being that i'm the only one who owns a camera) for the trip. i've already put in the order for my prints at costco, and as a gift to my parents i'm going to compile a scrapbook of our trip. already bought the scrapbook.

coming home to la, i realized that a storm indeed must have occurred. on most of the streets i drove on, there were countless potholes. i was trying to dodge them left and right, particularly the big ones (obviously), because a couple years ago i drove over a big ol' pothole and it actually took out my tire. i also had a full carload, so i'm sure that helped to flatten my tire. ah yes, and of course i was reminded of the friendliness of la folks. this dood pulling out of a driveway decided to cut me off, so i brake and motion WTF??, then i proceed to turn into the driveway and flicked him off while i was pulling in. then i parked and started to walk down the parking lot, only to see that this dood had driven around the corner and back IN to the very parking lot he tried so hard to get out of. so i see him coming down and can't believe he has such time, which i actually found to be pretty comical. so upon seeing his car coming towards me, i don't make eye contact at all, and pretend to forget to arm my car. so i turn around, walk a little ways to my car, disarm/arm it, then walk through the parked cars over to the next aisle. then i continue walking towards the store and the dood stops even with me (but over in the next aisle), kinda hesitates, then goes "hey.. fuck you..." kind of dispassionately, if u ask me, but i ignore him and keep going. must have been very climactic for him.

anyhoo, i rang in the new year in a random hotel room in a small oregonian town called rice hill. didn't feel too celebratory. i felt too lucky and comfortable knowing what had happened in southeast asia. i didn't feel it was appropriate the way some countries carried on in all their glory, while other respectful countries decided to tone it down or cancel celebrations altogether. i still can't believe the sunbathers who continued their tourist ways on the beach admist the disaster and corpses. that disgusts me. and above it all, FOX news telling the people to "stop the bush bashing" and stop calling him stingy?? how can you contribute only $35 mil in relief aid, and be content? obviously he knew he was being stingy, because shortly after he upped that sucker 10 times to $350 mil! he doesn't have to admit with words that he was wrong, cuz his actions certainly spoke them. and even more disgusting, in the next few years, america is planning to build like 6 more stadiums in different states, which will cost $350 million right there. so america is willing to spend a whole lotta dough on recreational sports, but not to truly aid the countries that they claim to help (but in fact, fuck up even more)? stop the bush bashing, you say?