For the past year of so I've been reading about, cooking, and slowly changing the way I think and eat food. Primarily I've been reading about vegetarian and raw food cooking. I'm not quite ready to completly give up on meat, however I have been slowly changing my diet to include more veggie-type recipes and less meat heavy dishes. Anyway, I got this book for Christmas called Student's Vegetarian Cookbook and was impressed with it's quick and easy recipes and good information on why eating and living vegetarian is a more sustainable and widely accepted lifestyle than most people think.

Here's two things I found interesting about the sustainability of vegetarian lifestyles:
one acre of land can produce:
30,000 lbs of apples,
40,000 lbs of potatoes,
50,000 lbs of tomatoes,
or 250 lbs of beef

Livestock consume 70 percent of the US grain production. 20million people die each year from malnutrition and starvation. Americans could feed 100,000,000 people by reducing their meat intake by just 10 percent

Okay, so I'm not gonna be one of those radical people who are insisting that all the world's problems could be solved by becoming vegetarians..but it really makes you think

twitter

So everyone should now go and sign up for Twitter. I did, and that makes it cool.

Still blogging and becoming Militant

Despite the fact that I don't think anyone (besides Elissa) actually reads my blog, I still enjoy writing on it. It's the part of me that really wants to keep a journal, but is way too lazy...or the fact that I'd love to pick up the phone and talk to my friends far away, but, again, I'm too lazy. Have I mentioned my hate of telephones yet?



So, this week began my reign as the militant and negative music teacher. On Monday I ditched the school staff meeting because they were talking about PLC's (professional Learning Communites) and trying to convince us that it's a good thing and not a waste of time. Then on Wed and Thurs we were supposed to work on our PLC goals with our "team". Again, I choose to stay in my room and do some actual work. Then I found myself at a Union meeting on Thursday after school!! Who'd of thought I'd be an active Union member. Whoa, it's kinda scary.

Cool Little Mac app

I am a very visual person. In fact my computer desktop is completly free of any icons or toolbars except for the one or two files that I work on every day that I need to keep at my fingertips. I use my computer daily and I have been looking for a way to put notes on my desktop. I could use the stickies, but this is a fun little program that lets me type and draw on my desktop. Check it out: Desktastic

It was almost Christmas

I was so excited this morning when I logged in to the internet and discovered that I was able to view YouTube videos and watch my Homestarrunner.com cartoons. I thought Christmas had come early. When I tried again just now, I was once more thrown the A-H website Access Denied page instead of my beloved content. I was as disappointed as a kid who get's a Comodore 64 instead of a Nintentdo Wii on Xmas morning. Damn Acceptable use policy. It's not like I"m looking at p* (gotta do that or the filter will filter out my blog). Sheesh. Guess big brother was taking a nap.

makes me wanna...almost

OMG how cute is this? Teen Girl Squad baby clothes!! This makes me wanna have a kid right now...well, almost right now. 750 little buggers a week is really good birth control

PR for Music ministry

Way funny...and true

The Proposal Story (abridged)

Why wait for a special occasion? Meet your friends tonight at the Tally-ho!
We are a classic Supper Club style restaurant right out of the forties, complete with the relish tray and crackers to start your dining experience.

Thus proclaims that website of the restaurant where I proposed to Elissa. Yes, it is a supper club style restaurant right out of the forties proven by the WWII surplus crackers on the table. On the website you'll see a picture of our illustrious hosts: Betsy and Tom. On the big night, Betsy dragged me into the kitchen to discuss the plan for how I was going to propose. We decided on me getting champagne from the bar when I was ready. Well, let's just say that Tom beat me to the punch on the champagne and on the proposal when he decided to congratulate us on our engagement...this was BEFORE I asked Elissa. Oops. Elissa and I have been laughing about this ever since it happened. They were SOOO excited that we choose their restaurant to do this, that they were practically falling over themselves to make it special. Kudos to them for providing us with a terrific story to tell. My review is that the food is so-so, but the floor show is not to miss. Thanks Betsy and Tom

All's quiet on the blogging front

So I've noticed lately that my friend's blogs have been unusually quiet. I know that it was probably just a phase that we went through, trying to keep in touch via an online journal. But, I thought it was fun. I look forward to checking the blog posts everyday and I felt like it gave me insight into my the lives of my friends who are too far away to see every day. (sigh) I suppose all good things must come to an end. But not to fear. I will be here to help keep our spirits up! Even if its just a dumb post like this about how I miss everyone. I will endure as the blogger that unites! Perhaps I will even change my blog title...no, wait, that's dumb. I'll keep Ramblings... But cmon folks, at least throw me a comment once in a while to keep me satiated. That's all I got. Have a good tuesday everyone!

love and kisses!

Slide Show

Does anyone still use the Wassup Bitches Site? Here's a slideshow from all the pics uploaded there:

The bible is funny...the story of Job

It's about time

Wow, so no post in about 2 weeks and now you get 2 in one day. But this is big news so I thought I should post it after the one about the worlds strangest fountain. For those of you who have not heard yet, last weekend I proposed to Elissa. It's a crazy story that I will relate via a video someday soon. But, I'll tease you with this tidbit: Talley Ho Supper club, rotten veggies, luxurious B&B, and crumpets all figure in to the story. Now, you HAVE to come back for the story. Much love to you all!

Worlds Strangest Fountain

Here it is. The worlds stragest fountain. Yes, it moves too. Check out the movies of the fountain in action. Here's the website

This month in the American Educator Magazine the cover story is all about "Why Music is an Essential Liberal Art". It's a fantastic article about why music is improtant in EVERY child's education and how it's being neglected in the educational system. I urge all of you to read this article!

Here is a small exerpt from the article:
"Why should young people study music? One answer presents itself on the basis of what I have said so far: Music has a central place in the lives of young people. For many, music is their life. Teaching music to the young is therefore much more than conveying historical information and technical facts, or helping students develop their musical talent. It is more than the effort to make them competent and aesthetically refined. In getting young people to engage in a serious study of music, we are giving them an opportunity to know themselves better by becoming more precisely aware of the amazing power that music has over them. Also, as we shall see, we are giving them an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the natural world—and of our connection to it—by becoming more aware of the mathematical order that underlies music."

Arming Teachers? Wisconsin Legislator plans to intro bill to do just that

To protect our kids from harm, I plan to introduce legislation to allow, NOT REQUIRE, trained school personnel to carry weapons in Wisconsin. Other countries have done it successfully and made their schools more safe in the process. I truly believe that it can work in WI too.

PW Says: You've got to be kidding. How can anyone be this stupid?

read more | digg story

Ning: Build Your Own YouTube, Flickr or MySpace

Ning, the service that lets you build your own social websites, just launched three new sites that may take their offering to the mainstream. The first allows you to build a YouTube clone, the second lets you make your own photo-sharing site ala Flickr, and the third allows you to create a lightweight social network.

read more | digg story

New Ning Stuff

Hey folks -
On Wed. Ning rolled out 3 new applications: video, photos, and updated groups! I am so excited about what this company is doing. They are the only website with youtube and flickr like capabilities that are totally free and customizable (with a little HTML, PHP, CSS understanding). You really need to check them out. I have created a video app and a photos app as an example for you all. Go NOW and check it out and clone one for yourself.

Video Blog 2

Made this a few weeks ago, just never got around to posting it. Enjoy

Ouch

You wanna know something amazing? 
I just burned my mouth.  Okay that in itself is not amazing, however when you consider that the tea had been sitting in my thermos since 7:00 this morning I do consider that amazing.  Now I can happily sit here drinking my tea at conferences relaxing and trying to muster up some drive to accomplish something.  Perhaps its time for another video blog? 

The Virtual Tour

Okay everyone here's the virtual tour of my classroom.  Go to my classroom website and take a look.  Tell me what you think. 

First Video Blog

Okay, is this totally lame or what?

Hey We've got a social life

Last night Girl and I decided to be spontaneous and went to see a play at the new Guthrie theater.  WOW!  what an amazing building.  The new theater is huge and beautiful and has 3 stages.  We got to see a play at the McGuire Proscenium stage.  The play that we saw was "The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard and it was amazing.  Tom Stoppard is a very famous playwright who also wrote the screenplay for Shakespeare in Love.  It was a great play about how do you know if it's really love and infidelity, and marriage.  It was funny and witty and just a really good play...especially since we were sitting in $55 seats and only paid $15 for them!!  If you have not been to the new Guthrie, go now and see something, anything.  During intermission, Girl and I and the friends we went out with took our drinks out onto the patio that overlooks the river.  It was a beautiful night. 

A Moment of Insanity

I woke up on Sunday morning and was sitting around surfing the net when all of a sudden I realized that I had just placed an order for a new MacBook Pro! Well, maybe it wasn't an accident...but I'd like to claim that a moment of temporary insanity drove me to this wallet-altering decision. It was my goal to complete my Master's degree and the buy a new one, but recent 'hiccups' in my current system have led me to do this sooner. Plus I saw that as a teacher if I bought a new system for this school year I would get a free iPod. Who can pass up a deal like that? No amount of will power could resist a free iPod. So now I'm sitting here lovingly looking at my brand new 30GB video ipod and checking the tracking number on the fedex website for when my new computer will arrive. Now I'll finally be able to do other stuff with my computer besides just checking email and writing blogs. Garageband here I come! Video blogging...I'm so down with that!

oh, I'm done updating my new ipod...time to watch some Teen Girl Squad

Teacher Workshops

For the last 3 days I have been in a workshop with fellow music teachers in disctrict 11.  What a HUGE change from Orff Level II class last week.  There really isn't any way to possibly explain the experience of taking an Orff Schulwerk Level...but I will try.  Imagine spending an entire day with a group of your closest friends creating, dancing, improvising, sharing, and making music for 2 weeks.  It's an amazing, life changing expereince.  Then I come to the ISD 11 workshop on Monday.  Geeze what a change.  Whenever these music teachers get together all they do is complain and bitch about everything that is wrong.  I was getting pretty angry with these people.  We were supposed to be there to talk about 1st grade teaching techniques (led by a master teacher who has really inspired me to do great things in 1st grade)...but it always digressed into a bitch session.  One teacher was actually upset because her BRAND NEW MUSIC SPECIFIC CLASSROOM was not finished yet and she would have to move rooms twice this year!!  I'm sorry perhaps you would like to come and teach in my portable classroom with the huge cracks in the wall and hollow floor.  Sheesh. 

I'm finally home and done with all my stuff for the summer...actually have a whole week to myself.  Guess I'd better start planning my school year with my free time.  This really has been a great summer: 3 handbell workshops/festivals, trip to DC, Orff level 2, and 1st grade literacy through music.  Whew.  I think I'm gonna be glad to get back to school and have a set schedule. 

One more thing:
I have found an incredible new composer that everyone should go and listen to.  His name is Karl Jenkins I just listened to some of his CD Adiemus.  The music is a crazy mix of Arabic, African, and Celtic sounds.  Listen to the song Chorale IV + Cantus - Song of Aeolus.  It will change your life. 

I've tried to explain this...

...to so many people over the years. Now thanks to the Magic copyright infringing wonder of YouTube, I am able to share it with you. Every once in a while I get this song stuck in my head. Now I can share it with my friends and they will know that I am not crazy but yes, there is a folk hero called "running faggot" (and no it's not about a bassoon). Enjoy:

Yet Another New Browser

Okay, so today I was surfiing the net...me surf the net? Surley you are joking. And I ran across this excellent article on web browsers and mac's. In response to the article I have downloaded this new browser called Flock. What makes Flock different that all the others you ask? Well:

• a Kick-ass RSS interface
  
• flickr and del.icio.us intergration within the browser
• Cool blogging tools that you really need to see.
  
• quick page loading
  
• ability to add extensions and such

Keep in mind that Flock is still a beta program and it can only get better from here. Check it out. I think that it's availabe for PC's too, but why would anyone bother to buy a PC?

Blogged with Flock

Original Unaired Buffy Pilot

This one's for Marie...Willow is different and very strange

It's about Damn Time!

Demon Veggies!

a message of substance

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've actually written anything of substance on my blog here...but I'm sure you've been enjoying the videos and such. Not to worry, there will be more video blogs to come of me (raise a mighty huzzah).

I'm just back from Green Lake, WI where I had an amazing encounter with composer Michael Helman. From his picture I was excpecting him to be quite dull and a bit on the conservitive side...boy was I wrong! He was funnier than shit (at times quite flaming), and really an impressive conductor. Many times composers do NOT lead groups well and have not a clue as to how to produce a musical product. Michael is not of that camp. He was a very fine conductor and it was the first year that I actually felt like we accomplished some musicality. Besides him being a great conductor, he was cool with letting us know that he was gay (yeah, I know big surprise an organist/composer who is gay). He came up to our house many nights during the week, just to chat and have a little drink. Such a genuine person who really makes you feel good to be around.

I felt bad becuase some of the other clinicians did not include him or even talk to him. Keep in mind that the Orchestra director was from Northwestern College here in MN...no big suprise that he didn't want to associate with us. All in all it was a very good week and I'm glad to have gotten to know Michael Helman.

Look Ma, I'm on TV!

Jealous?!? part two

Not only did we get to go up in the tower and have a private tour, but we got to stay and listen as they performed a change ring (the minor bob, for thoes in the know). here's a short video of it. I wish we could have stayed longer, but the entire change takes 45 minutes.

Jealous yet!?!

Can you beleive we all got to go up in the tower of the National Cathedral and saw the carillon and they actually were performing a change ring with the tower bells and we got to see that too? Details to follow.

Jonathan Larson is Turning in his grave

It is finished....

I finally got around to putting the sink back in my bathroom upstairs. Not a bad job for a guy who had no idea what he was doing. I even put in a new light fixture and painted the whole place (lots of spackle was involved to repair holes left by former owners). I'm sure some of you are like "(yawn)...what's the big deal?" Well, let's just say that my second venture into home improvement involved much less swearing and must more success. All raise a mighty grunt for manhood!

Now for a message from our sponsors

Well, they actually don't sponsor me, but... I don't know if anyone else is using Firefox, but I think that everybody should.  It's an AMAZING browser.  Not only has it been rated one of the most secure browsers and it continually beats Internet Explorer, and Safari in all thoes fancy tests that computer companies do.  Firefox has the amazing ability to add themes and extenstions to it.  Themes change the look and extensions are fun program add-ons that do everything from make tabbed browsing easier to reading RSS feeds. For example, I have been using Sage to subscribe and read RSS feeds (such as friend's blogs, and news websites).  I love having all these things in one place and being able to read them everyday.  Firefox is available for both Mac and PC (why anyone would be using PC is beyond me however).  So this is my little plug for this great program.  It's an open source program meaning anyone can view the code that was used to create it, make improvments, and create new programs to operate with it.  Let me know what you think. 

Still my favorite Movie

So, I'm sitting here watching SInging in the Rain for the 10th time this week, and it just never gets boring.  I LOVE it!  It's just such a fun and feel-good movie...not to mention that I'm horribly jealous that I can't tap-dance.  Plus, Debbie Reynolds is a total hottie!

Here's a debate question for you all.  Who was the better dancer Gene Kelly or Donald O'Connor? Granted Gene Kelly has more dancing apearances in the picture, but when pitted together (such as the Moses Supposes song) who was the better more athletic of the two?  Talk amongst yourselves.

ahhhh, Debbie Reynolds (sigh)

Who is this guy?

Why do I find it funny? Do you find it funny or am I just losing my mind?

I just don't care

I've got it bad this year.  It has gotten to the point in all aspects of my life that I just don't care anymore.  School: Kids are really getting on my nerves and I just don't care about teaching them anything else (and frankly they don't care to learn more.  I dread the thought of one more week of this nonsense.
Church: Really having a hard time mustering up the energy to go and rehearse the bells every thursday.  It just seems so tedious to me. 
Life: I just want to sit on the couch and sleep all day. 

I'm really in a funk this week.  Wish I could get happy again.  Perhaps a trip to coldstone will do the trick tonight...yum!

Who's Idea was this?

Has anyone else vomited at the thought of eating this nefarious conconction?  How does someone come up with something this disgusting?  I can just hear the meeting now:

Jim Bob: "Everyone nowaday's has these Salads and "bowls", how can we do that with fried chicken?"

Tammy Joe: "Let's place it on top of mashed potatoes, add some cheese and then pour gravy over the entire thing!"

Jim bob: "we can't do that, people want to eat healthy food now"

Tammy Joe: "Well, we could put corn in it too."

Jim Bob:"Sold!"

I weep for the future of American Food.  Let's all raise a mighty Huzzah for the fattening up of America!

Should have worn shorts

It's strange becuase even after 5 years at this job (plus having tenure), I'm still uncomfortable wearing shorts to school.  It get's ungodly hot in this room in the summer time, so why do I feel bad about bearing my legs?  Hmmm.  I blame my parents who instilled in me the belief that you dress up to go to work, church, or anywhere you want to be looked at as respected, knowledgeable, and professional.  And I totally agree with this belief.  So why is it okay for me to walk around all day without shoes on but it's not okay to wear shorts?

I think I'm totally messed up...(sigh)

Now Justin, Rob, Paul go and sign up at Wassup Bitches? if you didn't get the invite, let me know and I'll send you another one. 

Tales of a church musician Part VII

As many of you know, I recently had the bells at my church refurbished by the wonderful Monica McGowan.  They look and work fabulously (Thank you Monica).  After rehearsal on Thursday night, the church treasurer comes up to me and asks if the refurbishment had been paid for.  To which I replied "not yet".  She then proceeded to infrom me that this church is flat broke.  Broke in the sense that the energy company has been out numerous times to shut the power off, bills are piling up with no hope of being paid, memorial money is being used for operational costs, and salarys may not be paid out next month. 

Yikes!

She then asks me not to say anything to Moncia.  Whoa! excuse me?  I guess the pastor of the church dosen't want ANYONE to know about the money troubles.  Let me think...that seems like a healthy way to run a church.  If he is trying to run it out of business.  He is the one who told me to go ahead and get the work done to the tune of $1200.  Now I feel like a schmuck who has taken advantage of a friend.   Tomorrw I get to ask the pastor when  he thinks this bill could be paid.  I may be looking for yet a 3rd church job in 5 years.  Sheesh.  It's hard to see God when there's so much crap going on around you.

Let's put more on my plate

So this weekend I comitted to rejoining my other former "plaidmates" for a charity event at the Lyric Arts. It's fun to sing with them again, but last night we were scheduled to rehearse at 8pm and didn't get on the stage until almost 9pm. Yikes! I really want to get back into performing some where. Trouble is I haven't been able to find time or a show that I want to do. Most community theaters just aren't good. The Lyric Arts is an amazing community theater with great talent so I'd like to do something with them...just don't have the time right now.


anyway all this to say. Damn I'm tired today!

Jealosy and lack of sleep

Last night I ran home from class so that "girl" and I could get to the apple store before they closed.  She had decided to buy a new computer.  Now she is the proud owner of a brand spankin' new macbook pro!  Have I mentioned that I'm SOOOOOOO jealous?  Not that my computer is any slouch, but her's is so shiny and has about 2x the processing speed.  So we spent up until about 11:30pm last night playing with her new toy...which she is graciously allowing me to use as well.  The sadest part came when I sat upstairs and she was downstairs and we were Instant messaging each other 1 floor away.  We have reached a new level of geekdom.   I am happy for her and her VERY wise purchase (no more dealing with crabby Paul and his computer).  Be prepared folks, you may soon have yet another blog to read. 

Flames from the sides of my face

I HATE THIS MAN!    Click here to find out why.  I wonder how much hate mail he gets every day of his life. 

The world I don't understand

Today iTunes announced that it has added Fox TV shows to it's growing list of avaialable downloads.  Lo and behold what did I find when I clicked on the list marked "Fox Television Classics"? Our beloved Firefly!!!  Okay so if it is such a TV classic as Fox is calling it, why the hell did they pull it after not even a full season?  Sure, I'm glad that Firefly is getting recognition for the genius that it is, but too little too late on the part of Fox. 

So, now the question remains? Will Marie spend her next paycheck downloading all episodes of Buffy and Firefly to put onto her new video ipod?  My guess would be yes.  Anyone else want to wager on that?

Drunk Jenga?!?!

Why did nobody ever tell me the dangers of drinking and Jenga?

Me? An IT GUY?

So I just recieved a call from the Handbell Editor of Hope Publishing in Carol Stream, IL. He and I have known each other for many years and I jokingly said one day that I wanted to take over his job when he retires. Turns out he really has been thinking about just that. He has mentioned me to the heads of the company and really wants to groom me for his job.

Anyway, he called me tonight to let me know that and opening has come around in the IT department at Hope and he wanted to know if I was interested. Hmmm. I never really fancied myself an IT person. Yes, I'm geeky with computers, but not THAT geeky. Plus, I REALLY enjoy my job teaching right now. I probably will decline the offer. But it really got me thinking. Thoughts on this anyone?

A Great (funny?) movie

So, last night Girltm and I watched the movie Crash. It was amazing...and funny. Was is supposed to be funny? Perhaps ironic would be a better word, but Girl and I were laughing out loud a certian parts just at the sheer lunacy of the characters dialoge. For example 2 black men are walking down the street complaining about how everyone is stereotyping them and avoiding them becuase they think they are going to rob them. Then they pull out guns and carjack someone. Then continue to philosophise while they drive the stolen car and they run over a poor chinese man. Thus ensues a discussion about the chinaman under their car...so funny. Does it make me a bad person to laugh at this movie?

I'm soooooo Old!

It's official...I'm old. Just got an email today talking about my 10 year high school reunion!!! Holy cats, how did that happen? Marie and Cathy assured me that I am not old, but I still feel like ages have gone by since I left the confines of LHS. Feels like an out of body experience to think aboug going back and 10 years having passed.

Truly inspired

So I just got this in an email talking about what to do with our free time at the festival on Friday night.  

"we are a drinking group with a bell problem"  

 
Then check this link out

Nice Hole!

Here it is folks...Didn't get a chance to patch it up yet...I'll do that tomorrow.

The Joys of homeonwership

As many of you already know, we had a bit of drama in our bathroom last weekend. (well, what did you expect with me and a curtain). In a related Draino incident we discovered that we had quite a mold garden growing in our cabinet below the bathroom sink. This prompted a quick removal of said cabinet and an even quicker purchase of a new vanity and counter top.

However.

We failed to realize that the plumbing was in the wrong spot. To make a long story short $600 later we decided to have a custom vanity made to alleviate the need for moving piping inside walls...we realized this only after we had made a nice BIG hole in the wall to see what the situation was. So now we have to live "sinkless" for 3 weeks while they create this custom vanity and countertop. So much for that Tax Refund (sigh).

But, I'm still on spring break and loving the sunny and 70s that we are having here in MN. I'm off to Home Depot yet again to return items we don't need (damn I really wanted to keep that blowtorch...could have made some creme brulee).

bordem has set in

okay so I'm surfing the net via a little button in Firefox and this site came up. You REALLY have to see it to beleive it.

Grandparents day+PJ day+Spring break =

blahelslk l blubgberyd ddkguduggery dudeical bla ahblkahyaya yaya yaa ya ayaaaaya aya astirksier sdfffufnd dkdie ting aidng and athieidn the; s;aidfnasd lblblblblblblblblblbhhhtttttbbbbbbttttttt

Whoa nelly these kids are hyped up. Let's get some more sugar into them

A podcasting star

Okay so now that Dean and I are total podcasting stars (yes, insert chuckle here), I thought it was time to up our game a bit...hopefully Dean dosen't kill me for this one...I went out and purchased the Domain name Handbellpodcast.com.

Taa Daa!

Now that I've done that, I have NO IDEA what to do next. I've put up a temporary page which you can view right now But it's quite unimpressive. I want to create my own and then upload it. Apple has a new iweb program that has podcasting specific area, but I don't know what Dean will think of all this. Hmmmm. Oh Dean, where are you?

Did I mention that it's spring break for me next week? I'm sooo excited to sit and do nothing. My big project for the week is to get a celing fan installed in the bedroom. No, I will NOT be doing this myself. Vaulted ceiling + no existing wiring = a demolished house. That means that everyone needs to email me lots and lots!

Happy Friday all!

Coolest thing EVER!!

So I've just discovered the Mac's speech recognition software. Whoa is it cool. I can set it up to carry out commands at speech prompts. For example, now instead of lifting my hand and taking it all the way to the keyboard where I would laboriously have to press the F9 key to clear the desktop, I can now just say "Mac, desktop" and poof everything goes away. I gotta find a way now to type via my voice, then I can be completly lazy! Huzzah for the slackers.

Why am I such a slacker

yes, yes, I know I've already published something today...just be grateful that you have more to read now. Today is the end of the 3rd quarter (yay drinks all around). So I SHOULD be doing grades and such. But I just don't wanna. Is that wrong? Instead I'm surfing the internet for fun things. Here's what I found:

A really cool flash website that has a cartoon to go along with Coltrane's "Giant Steps"

and something that I'm totally geeked about (even thought I think Microsoft windows is craptastic): A movie of what the new Office 2007 will look like...VERY COOL! The interface looks suspiciusly like the "Aqua" interface of the Mac...HMMMM. It looks great, althought I think the name they came up with for their new toolbar needs to be changed "ladies and Gentlemen I present "THE RIBBON". What? That's dumb. It's a tabbed interface dufuses. "The Ribbon"? C'mon with all that geek power at Microsoft I expect something more creative. So, join me in slacking off!

My frustration is growing

This morning I get an email from one of my ringers saying that she will not be at rehearsal next week and begins complaining about the schedule of performances in the next coming months. I wonder if they all realize that we have not had a full choir rehearsal since before Xmas and that out of the entire year, so far we have had about 5 or 6 rehearsals with everyone in attendance. It drives me crazy. My frustration level right now is VERY high. Grrrrr! It's one of thoes days where you wake up with a headache and you just know that things are going ot be difficult. But the good news is that today is the end of the third quarter and there are only 9 more weeks left of school! Can you beleive that? 9 weeks! Let's hold on to that happy thought today.

Just couldn't resist

okay folks, I just couldn't resist putting this on my website. It's a 13 minute clip from a 1975 PBS pledge drive featuring an interview with Monty Python just as they had finished filming the Holy Grail...Enjoy:

Son of a Beach...day

Today in my little elementary school world, it is Beach day. Who
would have thought that the mere addition of a colorful shirt to a
childs wardrobe could cause such chaos? Well, take my word for it:
colorful shirts + small children = pandemonium. The kids are just out of control. Strike yet another blow for uniforms in schools. I'd be all for that. Studies have shown that kids are better behaved and achieve better scores in schools with uniforms. Can you imagine if this happened in the work place? Hey everybody, friday is pajamma day! Or C'mon and get your swimsuits on cuz friday is come nearly naked day! Well, that one could be fun :)

Happy friday everyone!

cast your vote now

Take a moment to vote on my life

Guess I'll say something...now

Hey kids! Not much is going on, but I know you have been on pins and needles waiting for the next post. So, here it is...

Ta Daaaa

Just got a paper back from my current class. All my citations were wrong. Gee, I don't know what happened I followed the guidelines that my last teacher gave us...oh wait, she didn't. When I got the final paper back from the class that was supposed to teach me how to write there weren't any comments on it. What the hell? So I figured I had done everything correctly. Wrong. I had done nothing correctly. Good thing is that I can re-do the paper for full credit.

So, today's topic of dicussion is: Should I change my school schedule next year so that I see the classes twice a week for 30 minutes or should I keep it at once a week for 60 minutes? I'm leaning towards the 30 minutes, although I like the pacing that the 60 minute classes allow. Thoughts?

Looks like We made it

The following was in the AGEHR e-notes sent out this week:

Handbell Podcast (No iPod Required)
In the last few weeks, we happened upon a delightful new forum for handbells. Dean Jensen and Paul Weller record a lively and informative handbell podcast. For those new to podcasting, Dean Paul tell us that podcasts are like radio shows that you download from the Internet for free. You can listen to the show on your computer at http://handbell.libsyn.com, burn it to a CD, or transfer it to an MP3 player like the iPod. You can also subscribe to the program using any podcast client (such as iTunes).
On their program, Dean and Paul discuss many different topics as they relate to handbells, handchimes, music, and ringing, and they interview different people in the handbell world. If you'd like to contact Dean Paul, you can email handbellpodcast@gmail.com.

Cool eh? Although the sound on this weeks edition is a bit wierd. Sounds a bit like Dean and I are drunk and sluring our words. href="http://handbell.libsyn.com it out for a giggle before Dean fixes it.

Tales of a church musician Part VI

Okay, so I'm looking at the most recent edition of the ARea VII clapper chatter newsletter and I was so excited to see my bio and picture in there that I completly missed the very large and prominent letter to the editior on the front page. It reads as follows:
"I'm wondering if anyone informed you that Paul Weller, pictured in the January Clapper Chatter, resigned his position at Salem Covenant last May or early June. Bev Scripter is the music minister and coordinator of handbell at Salem"

I'm sorry, I did what? I was fired and humiliated, and discriminated against...I did NOT resign. What the hell. I'm getting really tired of defending myself to churches and people who work in them. What a load of crap and who is this person who feels it's her duty to correct this mistake. I'll just say that it wasn't Bev who wrote in.

Do I write a letter as well or do I just let it go?

My sleepy girls...awww

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Bragging just a bit

okay, so we aren't Dawn and Drew...yet!  But the handbell podcast is averaging over 200 listeners per episode!  How cool is that?!?!  Someone out there really likes us!  So if you aren't already on the bandwagon...it's time to "get all up on's"

Bell fest-schmell fest

okay, so how does Bill Mathis get a HUGE write up in the Star Tribune about Bell Fest?  

I am quite insulted by this line of text from the article "most players wear cotton gloves.  A few wear funny hats, and they learn as they go along".   Funny hats?!!  What kind of shit is that.  This is a serious musical art people.  Not to mention that the word handbell is spelled hand (space) bell numerous times in the article.  And what the hell is "body English?"  and why do ringers need to use it to dodge an adjacent player? 

This is probably the thing that makes me most upset: "Bill Mathis...has never played bells himself, but he leads Bells ofo the Lakes, an accomplished group of 14 ringers..."  um, excuse me?  He's never rung bells?  That's like saying a Dance teacher has never learned how to dance!  

Fellow bell geeks give me your reactions to this article.  

handbell Traveler

Dean and I have been getting emails from this guy Danny Lyons who is traveling around Europe as a solo handbell ringer.  As he travels, he listens to our podcasts and sends us emails from wherever he is.  It's pretty amazing. 
Check out his website: Handbell Traveler

On a diferent note...the plague has hit my school.  EVERYONE is out sick and it's gotten so bad that the Nurse has issued a letter warning parents about it and advising them on keeping their kids home if they feel sick.  ahem (cough), I'm feeling a bit sick myself (sniff).  :)

Also Podcast #5 is up and posted! Y'all check it out now or face the consequences from the "revered Mr. Weller"

for thoes dying to know

Okay, so some of you have already emailed and really want to know what happened at church on Sunday.  So, here's how it went down:  

Got to church, rehearsed with my group and things were great.  I was sitting there during the service singing a hymn when all of a sudden, somone taps me on the shoulder.  It was Cindy.  She is crying and says I've ruined her life and that she is leaving the church.  I tell her that this is not the time or the place for this.  She begins to scream, all eyes focus on us and the organist stops playing.  Two ushers rush down the aisle and wrap her in a jacket and drag her literally kicking and screaming obscenities out of the sanctuary.  Then her husband comes up and clocks me right in the jaw.  The police are called, the bells played without a director as I filed a report.  and I'm totally kidding.  I did not even see Cindy and had a wonderful morning.  The bells played beautifully and elicited thuderous applause from the congregation.  It was a good day.  Still waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I'll keep y'all posted. 

missing elements

Sorry, did carrots  instead of paren's so some of the text didn't show up.  Here's what you missed:

After Cindy said she wanted to bring someone she started yelling at her husband to come with her.  And thus escalting her anger. 

The very last line, was Cindy screaming incoherently into the phone at me.  

Fun times eh?

Tales of a church musician part-V

"why do we need a 3rd person at this meeting?"-cindy

"becasue I would feel more comfortable with an impartial person there to help" -paul

"Fine, then I'm bringing someone too.  "-cindy

"I really don't think your husband would be an impartial party" -paul

""-cindy

Paul Hangs up phone.  Thus went the phone conversation with Cindy.  Anyone want a church job directing a great handbell choir?  The choir is great and amazing, but this lady is making me afraid for my safety.  Anyone who wants to show up on Sunday to be a part of my entourage to help keep me safe...just let me know.  

Happy Friday Everyone...let's drink!

Tales of a church musician - Part IV

Today I get an email from one of my ringers stating that she is having trouble finding a sub (gee what else in new) and has asked Cindy to sub next week . For thoes who don't know, Cindy quit the bell choir soon after I took over. She quit rather loudly in the middle of the church one SUnday and yelled at me saying that I was treating her like a child...at which point she turned and stomped off refusing to let me say anything in my defense. In response to this ringers email I said that I would prefer she did NOT call Cindy ever and that I would rather have the position unfilled. Obviously my ringer then told Cindy about this because guess who called me tonight? Yup Cindy!

She again accused me of be vengeful towards her and that she was "only trying to help out a friend by subbing". I tried to tell her that i didn't think she would want to sub and that after things ended I didn't think ti would be a good idea for her to come...she just didn't understand. She kept on insisting that I had it out for her and was treating her unfairly. I REALLY DON"T LIKE THIS WOMAN!!!! ARGGGGGHHH!! I can't wait until I don't have to work at churches anymore. The word HATE comes to mind.

Let's just say that the choir has been drastically different since she left. It has been much BETTER than when she was there. Less stressful and more productive and more musical.

A Teacher's Influence & Cheesy Bay Biscuts

So this morning I got this email from the lawyer who taught my last class at St. Mary's: 

Paul;
My wife and I took our granddaughter to dinner last evening. I asked her if she did anything fun at school this week. She excitedly explained that she learned a new song from Mr. Weller. She then began singing something about drinking water from a gourd. The patrons of Red Lobster seated at the surrounding tables would probably agree that Madisun is not the next American Idol, but my wife and I were pleased to see her excited about school.

I am assuming that you are the revered Mr.Weller?

Wow, so now I'm the "Revered Mr. Weller"? Now you all must call me that whenever you address me. All my minions shall unite under me as I am most revered.

AGEHR

Last night I recieved a draft of next month's clapper chatter (Area VII newsletter).  I was anxious to see how my bio turned out and how it compared to my competition.  After paging though to the 5th page, I finally found the bios for the candidates for Chair-elect.  I had kept mine short because I knew that space was an issue.  THe other candidate's bio takes up 3/4's of the page leaving me with a paltry quarter page.  Is that fair?  I suppose I could write back and add to my bio to make it longer, but that would really mess up the layout.  Plus, I feel that I have said all I wanted to say.  It's short, concise and hopefully people will identify with that.  If not, I'll just have more free time on my hands.  
But now that I've seen it in print, I REALLY REALLY want to be chair of Area VII.  

Anyone have any thoughts on this?  What should I do?  I have to say something TODAY if I want it changed in any way.  I could say more about myself and what I want to accomplish as Chair, but is that nessesary.  Here is the bio I posted.  Someone give me some feedback:

PAUL WELLER has been
involved in handbells for over 20 years on both sides of the table. He earned a B.A. in Instrumental Music Education from St. Olaf College and is a certified Orff instructor from the
University of St. Thomas. He is excited and humbled to
be nominated for Chair-Elect of Area VII and hopes to use this position to involve more young adults in the AGEHR organization. Paul is a strong believer in the mission and purpose of AGEHR and wants to keep that legacy strong for
future generations.
Highlights of Paul’s handbell accomplishments
include:
♦ Rang with Twin Cities Bronze for three years
and developed classes for their unique workshop
“Insights Into Artistry”;
♦ Chair of the Area VII Young Ringers Festival for
two years;
♦ Currently directs three handbell choirs at Abiding
Savior Lutheran Church in Moundsview, Minn.;
♦ Established the first handbell podcast dealing
with education and research in handbells.
Paul is a passionate and energetic conductor and
has led numerous workshops around Area VII. In
addition to his many handbell activities, Paul teaches
general music at Jefferson Elementary School in
Blaine, Minnesota, and is earning his Master’s
Degree in Education from St. Mary’s University.

test post from school

okay folks I'm trying to post this via a dashboard widget.  I know that I can be sneaky and blog from school using email, but I am just cuirous if this widget will work too.  here goes.  Happy friday everyone.  

Podcast #3 is up

Hey all you handbell junkies podcast #3 is up and is quite good if I do say so myself. So I expect EVERYONE TO LISTEN TO IT. There will be a test later so y'all better be ready. More exciting stuff coming tomorrow from blogland...but for now I must get some sleep. Sitting in meetings all day and then sitting in class all night is quite tiresome.

Blue pictures

So, I forgot to include this story in with my V-day post.  Some brilliant person thought that Valentines day would be a great time to have school pictures taken.  Yes, let’s get the kids all sugared up and then try to get them to sit still or keep their clothes nice.  As I’m walking by a 1st grade room in the afternoon I see that they are having their v-day party.  It is then that I hear a teacher yell:
“nobody eat anything blue we have pictures in 5 minutes”

Mmmmmmmmm.....blue candy.  

A Great V-day

All I can say is it was wonderful...

Cathy said it best It was a big kid craft fair;

And yes, we did have to drag her away from the Fondue table.  

A new guitar

In the theft last weekend, the thieves stole a guitar that was sitting in my classroom.  They took this guitar out to the playground and performed a great impression of Eddie Vedder (rock guitar legend who was famous for smashing his guitar during performances).  Yesterday the kids found it when they went out and brought it in to me in pieces.  It was very sad.  This morning one of my dear 5th grade girls wrapped up her old guitar and gave it to me to replace the one that was broken.  How wonderful.  The kids at this school really are amazing and caring.  I almost got choked up when she brought it in.  Even with all the bad in the world, it is so heart warming to know that there truly is good trying to beat out the evil.  Happy Valentines day everyone.  I hope this little story warmed your hearts as much as it did mine.  

Much love to you all!

A sad and scary day

Yesterday I got a call from the custodian at school saying that someone had broken in to the music room.  They didn’t take much but when you get there on Monday see what is missing.  So today I walk in and see the disaster that was left for me.  Everything that was on a shelf or in a drawer was taken down and thrown onto the floor.  They took the stereo (but not the speakers), broke the computer and took the keyboard and mouse, took a DVD player, a few recorders, and worst of all they took all of my Koosh Balls!!!!  I know that seems funny, but they don’t make Koosh balls anymore...especially the nice big ones like I had :(  They were $10 a piece and I had 6 of them.  

It’s creepy because they broke in through the window and then knew where the band-aids were in my desk and left bloody fingerprints on the drawer.  I’m really hoping that none of my students did this.  I would be very sad if I found that out.  

I’m very upset by this because the alarm was not turned on because the alarm company had not finished fixing it yet.  What the hell is up with that??!?!?!  I”m sorry but I have thousands of dollars of equipment in here and they think that just because it’s the music room that no one will steal it?!?!? What the hell man.  

More on this later

Calling All Firefly Junkies!

You need to check this site out NOW:

http://www.donetheimpossible.com/index.php

Tell me what you think. Everytime I turn around I see another posting on some blog somewhere about a Firefly project. I think it's great...although some of them are a bit ambitious and hard to beleive. THis one is actually already done and has been shown and will be available for sale soon.

Flat cookies...hot!

a sweet gesture

so, I did a favor for a teacher at school and she promised me cookies in return. Great! I'll do anything for cookies right? So she comes up to m e today apologizing saying that the cookies still taste good but they look wierd. "that's fine" I say, "as long as they still taste good". She is such a nice lady, although a little scatterbrained. So I go back to my room and open up the box of homemade chocolate chip cookies. They were flat and trasparent. Being the cooking snob that I am I immediatly knew that she had forgotten to add the flour to the dough. So while the cookies were quite good it was chocolate chips joined together by butter and sugar. Yum! Pictures to come.

A big day for me

Well everybody I made two VERY HUGE decisions today so be ready to applaud my tenacity (is that the right word?). Not only did I accept the nomination to be the chair-elect of Area VII AGEHR but I also now have HIGH SPEED CABLE INTERNET ACCESS and no longer need to swipe it from neighbors.

Thank you everyone This is such a big day for me I'd like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to get here today...all the little people who I stepped on... DEFAULT wireless router I'd like to thank you the most. If it wasn't for you I would never have known the joys of non-dialup access

See you all in high speed soon!

podcast update

You can now search for the handbell podcast on iTunes! Happy listening everyone...there will be a test later.

HANDBELL PODCAST!!!!!

It's here! It's here everybody!!! The world's first handbell podcast!!!!!!! I know you all are excited and have been waiting on the edges of your chairs with anticipation for this day. Now it's finally here. Dean and I have started our own podcast. We just posted our first one today. Unfortuatly it's not available through iTunes yet, but you can still listen and subscribe by doing any of the following:

1. go to www.handbell.libsyn.com and listen right on the site
2. in iTunes click "advanced" and then "subscribe to podcast" then type in http://www.handbell.libsyn.com/rss and then it will show up in your podcast directory.

I expect all of you to subscribe and listen to Dean and I make fools of ourselves. I promise that they will get better than this first one.

kids at recess

Looking out my classroom window just now, I am watching a 2nd grader drag his already soaked scarf through a huge puddle, kneel down in the puddle, pick up a chunk of dirty ice and stick it in his mouth. It's no wonder I'm sick all the time. Yuck! Boys are gross.

Cleaning Frenzy

Thoes of you who know me, know that I am just a little bit of a neat freak. Due to my being sick for the past 2 weeks, our house has not been cleaned. In fact it hasn't been "cleaned" since before Xmas. So, last night something snapped as I was standing in the bathroom trying to brush my teeth while looking into a disgusting hair and dirt filled sink at 10pm, and I spent the next hour and a half cleaning. I scrubbed the upstairs bathroom top to bottom, including the floor by hand, emptied the dishwasher, put new dishes in, dusted the living room (after putting everything away), dusted the bedroom, and began to clean counters in the kitchen when I noticed it was 11:30pm. What's wrong with me? Tonight I'll probably finish the job by cleaning the other 2 bathrooms and doing a little vacuuming. I'm so strange...it was like a panic attack last night. All of a sudden I felt very claustraphobic and couldn't breathe and I just HAD to do something about the filth I was living in. Am I the only person who expereinces this? Even now as I sit in my office I have calming thoughts of the work day on friday which will finally give me a chance to clean my room and scrub the germs off of instruments and things. Sheesh, someone call the nice men with the white coats and big butterfly nets.

Let's keep our fingers crossed

So I think, after two weeks of feeling like crap, I am finally on the mend. But let's not speak too soon or jinx my better health. Something has got to be done about my craptastic immune system. In the meantime I can get back to my ever-growing "To-Do" list and perhaps catch up on my blogging (because I'm sure you've anxiously sat by your computer breathlessly awaiting my next post). So here it is...exciting...isn't it?

On Friday Elissa and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary together. Wow! It was an action packed evening with dining, walking the aliases of the Wedge, and then passing out on the couch. I swear sometimes we are 60 years old stuck in the bodies of 20-somethings. But I had fun and I think "girl" did too. It wasn't nearly as romantic or as fun as Marie's weekend but what is my poor "girl" to do with a boyfriend who can only lie on the couch and use endless amounts of Kleenex? Perhaps someday we too will go ice skating and see a kite festival...dare to dream Weller, dare to dream.

Oh, and happy baptism to Annika. I wish I could have been there Dean.

Choir Applications pt. 2

I just had to share this one. This 4th grader is a man of few words:

I would like to become a member of the Jefferson Choir because:
I like music

I would be a good member of the choir becasue of these skills or characteristics:
I have skill

What is this skill he speaks of? I have known him for 4 years and I cannot in good conscience list singing as his "skill". Hmmm. This mystery shall haunt me for all time. Now for thoes of you who really want to waste time, you can tune in to my new blog all about the goings on at school. It's really meant for the parents and students to use, so please no profanity or inuendo and I will try to do the same :)

Woes of a church musician - pt. 3

Let me vent for a moment:
On January 1st I placed an order with a handbell music place in preparation for my first rehearsal of the new year. I had kind of figured that the music would not be ready for the first reherasal, but it would surely be there for the next. So I called up today to ask when the order had been shipped. IT HADN'T!!!! For some reason it was just sitting on the desk in some office somehwere. To that I say: What the hell?

God Bless Greenday

On friday I sent home applications for the school choir. On this application I ask 2 simple questions:
1. Why do you want to become part of the Choir
2. Why do you feel that you would be a good member of the choir (list skills and ccharacteristics).

Many of the answers are very simple: I love to sing, I sing at church, my mom can help me learn the songs, etc. But this one I thought took the cake (so far):

To the first question the child answered: I think I can sing very good. I also have very good memory becuase I memorized "Holiday" "St. Jimmy", and "Homecoming" by Greenday.

I give this child props not only for not listening to rap or some other crap that I hear from the kids every day, but for correctly using quotation marks and sentance structure. Even though "rock music is easiest for [him] to memorize" I think he will be a good addition to the choir.

Another application response I found particularly entertaining was turned in by a student who is constantly talking, disrupting, and generally off task. TO the second question he answered: " I can tune out distractions. I try to be quiet and I try to use my best singing voice". I'll beleive it when I see it.

Happy Monday all!

Santa is the Godfather?!

One of my favorite new podcasts is The Seanachai . The name of the podcast refers to Irish storytellers who would travel the countryside regaling the pub-goers with all manner of tall tales. Recently this podcast did a 4 part series on the podcaster's "war with Santa". In this series of very intelligent short stories it detailed Santa as a Godfather type character trying to destroy the Seanachai podcaster before he posted his Christmas podcast. If you have never listened to a podcast before this is a good way to start. These are short very well produced stories. In fact I am listening to the very last episode right now...wait, did he just say that this is the last episode of the Seanachai??!?!? Yes he did! Crap. I just told you all about it and now there won't be any new episodes. But there is a bright side: another one of his small series on the seanachai podcast was "How to succeed in evil" and he is making that into a standalone podcast. I'll have to check this one out and let you know how it is. For now, listen to the Seanachai as it is hilarious and I will check out the new one.

Fun with Facial hair

IMG_2836.JPG
Originally uploaded by pkweller.

okay, so far I have underwhelming support for the growth of hair on my face (not to mention that this picture really is terrible...what is with my hair?). All day long I hear kids saying that I don't look good and that I should shave. Does wonders for the old self-esteem. So, let's have a vote...whaddyall think?

My Schedule & Woes of a church Musician Pt. 2

IMG_2841.JPG
Originally uploaded by pkweller.

Ever wonder why I don't email all day? Well folks here's my dirty secret. I know I complain a lot about my schedule being hellish but it's really not that bad (except for day 4 where I go almost straight from noon to 4). So right now today, it's Day 2 and I am in the middle of the biggest prep time I have all week: one whole hour attached to my lunch of 30 minutes! I figure that I'm justified for taking this time for myslef since I came in early and wrote a couple of lesson plans and then found out these classes were behind a lesson due to programs before xmas time. So, basically I came in early for no reason. On the bright side, I'm being entertained by emails from Marie and her...um...coworker (wink wink).

Now, who can tell me what to do at bell tonight? Monday night I finally got an email from the Pastor at my church saying that I was only allowed to spend $300 on music. I had quoted him $700 for the rest of the year. So I placed my meager order for 2 songs for each of the choirs and had a good cry. Not only do I not have enough music for the year, but I don't have it at all for reherasals tonight!!! How can I be expected to play once a month in church with such a small library of songs. There is no way that this is going to happen. So until I get the rest of the allotment approved I am going to have to plan to play once every other month. Plus, he told me that all funding should be brought to the music committee. This seems rather confusing as he told me when I started that all funding requests need to be approved by him. So now what?!

Am I still here?

So I came in early this morning with every intention of getting things organized and ready to go. I am so scatterbrained this mroning that I can barely function. Plus I have an enormous headache that has plagued me since I woke up this morning. Perhaps it's a delayed hangover from the crazy weekend I had.

I hate days like this...where I feel that the lessons I have written are total crap and have no academic value or musical relevence to my scope and sequence. It just makes me feel so disorganzied and unprepared.

Ug...hopefully once the kids shwo up, I will be a bit more alive.

Pearhaps then too, Iw ill be ablet o form cohereent blog enteries and not ramble on like an idiot.

Happy New year!

Happy new year...it was for us