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.