The Inspiration
Preparations for a more modest structure
Construction
Ice Castle!
Ice Castle
All posts by Andrew
Two Plates
In the interest of science, I present the following two exhibits.
Exhibit One
February 15, 2014 photo of Maggie’s place setting after her breakfast. Rather than looking at the cute heart plate, observe the clean black tablecloth around the edge. Maggie is 21 months old.
Exhibit Two
February 15, 2014 photo of Griffin’s place setting after his breakfast. Note the tablecloth. Griffin is 4 years, 10 months old.
Additional Data
- The photo of Griffin’s spot was taken after he had already attempted to clean up his area.
- Breakfast menu was identical (strawberry shortcake with crumbly biscuits) except that Maggie declined the strawberries and requested a poached egg. (To my eye, the strawberries and egg had similar properties — slipperiness, difficulty of fork stabbing, etc. — so these data are still valid.)
- Both ate with forks and occasional fingers.
- Both had similar napkins.
- Neither had substantial adult intervention.
- This situation is not an anomaly. Maggie’s area is typically significantly cleaner than Griffin’s, although she has notably inferior control of her fork and other eating tools.
Hypotheses
Competing explanations:
- Developmental stages. When Maggie is four, she will be just as messy. Was Griffin more fastidious when he was one? Memories are fuzzy and unreliable, but I don’t think so. We can test this in a few years with another set of pictures. (Strawberry shortcake for breakfast, February 15, 2017!) Update: See Two Plates, Revisited for the 2017 results.
- Core personalities. Griffin’s gene mix is less inclined toward maintaining a clean environment. (There is some evidence to support this from other arenas.)
- Parenting. Our methods of teaching Griffin and Maggie were somehow different, leading to these divergent results.
- Gender. I’m often skeptical of this, but perhaps there is a gender component.
- As a nod to my years in California, I shouldn’t omit the possibility of planetary influences… Aries vs. Taurus, anyone?
- Or, the Chinese lunar calendar was big in my family, so maybe it’s an Ox vs. Dragon thing!
Mississippi Whalesongs
At about 4:00 AM this morning Sarah and I awoke to the songs of a passing pod of whales. Truly, it sounded like distorted whalesongs, or  a family of giants groaning in their sleep, or some 100-foot tall shutters creaking in the wind. We lay there, bemused, wondering what it could be. We didn’t have any good guesses. Our most realistic hypotheses didn’t make much sense: the crane at Macalester creaking in the cold? Distant wolves howling in the suburbs? Turns out, we weren’t the only people awakened by it. Local news sites ran headlines like these:
Strange howling sound awakens St. Paul
Whales? Organ music? St. Paul residents try to place eerie early-morning noise
MYSTERY HOWL: What caused haunting St. Paul sounds?
Nobody is sure what the sound was, but after eliminating a number of possibilities (including checking to make sure there were no train accidents in the vicinity) the best guess of the Army Corps of Engineers is that it was shifting ice in high winds on the Mississippi.
Check it out for yourself (works best at high volume with no other background noise):
Winterupt 2014
On February 7, 2014, the 8th grade at my school completed their first two week “Winterupt†experience. We pushed hard for the opportunity to do this—basically taking two weeks off from regular classes to do school differently (and better!). It has been a ton of work over the last year, but thanks to my incredible colleagues, we pulled it off successfully. (Despite school closures throwing all our plans into disarray.)
During the first week students were immersed in their foreign language. (I don’t have any media here to illustrate that week yet because while they were doing that, I was with the design thinking team madly working out our plans for the second week. I’m hoping to dig something up from the language team.) During the second week, students engaged in a design thinking challenge where they re-imagined the playground space outside the middle school. The short movie below was thrown together by a colleague from some photos during the first few days of the project. The slide show includes a picture of each model (built from start to finish in two days!) along with the team’s mission statement.
The design process:
The final models/prototypes:
January 2014
It’s been a very busy month around here so the blog has been neglected. Here are some of the highlights:
- Sarah’s birthday!
- Unbelievably cold weather. I wrote a post about the cold in December, but that was nothing. On January 6, the Governor officially closed all the schools in the state due to the cold for the first time since 1997. That was the first of a string of ultra-cold days. Local public schools have missed five days already this month due to dangerously cold temperatures; these were not snow days. At SPA (my school) we missed only 4 ½ days because we reopened at noon on one of the days. This many lost days is unprecedented in the memories of my veteran colleagues.  We’ve had multiple days where the high temperature was below zero, and wind chills in the Twin Cities have dipped into the -40s. Crazy! With that said, I’m pleased to note that my cold weather gear is handling it marvelously — those ski goggles are getting far more use than usual!
- Sandy’s shoulder surgery. My mom, Sandy, (usually known as “Grummy” around here) had shoulder surgery at the beginning of the month. Recovery looked very good for 24 hours, then very bad for another 24, and a slow but steady recovery since then. I flew out for MLK weekend and had a wonderful visit despite the struggles.
- “Winterupt.” At SPA we’ve launched a new two-week program for 8th graders called Winterupt. (See the announcement letter I wrote to 8th grade families if you’d like more info; it’s a bit PR sounding, but it gives a good overview.) It’s been a ton of work and we’re only half-way through, but the first week has been outstanding. I feel lucky to work with an amazing team of educators who make this whole thing come alive. Today I simply had a blast doing my job. In the course of a few hours this afternoon I got to play with legos, tromp around in the snow with 80 kids (taking measurements and trying to locate hidden rubber ducks), assist students in creating accurate scale sketches of our playground, blast great music, and try to get a cookie from my forehead to my mouth without using my hands (I succeeded, but then had to spit the cookie out because I’m not eating sugar and flour right now, see below).
- Whole30. Sarah and I are almost done with our second Whole30 program. It’s basically 30-days where you don’t eat or drink sugar, grains, dairy or legumes. This is, obviously, a royal pain in the ass, but it’s worth it. We’ve both experienced it a bit differently this time around. Sarah has been less excited about it this year, and is definitely ready for day 30 (next week). I, too, am a bit fatigued by it (I had to spit out an oreo, grrr) but have mostly found it to be far easier than last year. In particular I like how it resets my appetite, makes food more about sustenance than emotional satisfaction, and makes me pay more attention to what I’m eating.
- Escargot! The cafeteria today featured food from France and China (this connects to the language immersion component of Winterupt, and our cafeteria is awesome.) I had never had escargot before, and there it was for the taking. At first I was a bit leery, but then I saw some of my students heading back for seconds. If they could try something new, so could I. Overall impression… not bad. Loved the garlic sauce. Reminded me of shellfish or octopus—the chewy texture. Will definitely try it again some time. (Note that technically this broke some Whole30 rules because I think it was soaked in butter, but trying somewhat legendary cuisine trumped the fine print.)
Ooh Ice!
Griffin and I spent some time bonding today. Walked to the barbershop, the comic store, and then stopped by a local pub for lunch and some pinball.
At the pub we visited the men’s room. The urinal was full of ice. (Why? I don’t know. Maybe they dump their ice there since it will never melt if they dump it outside.) Before I have even registered the scene, Griffin says, “Ooh, ice!!!” and plunges his hands in. Yes, into the covered-with-pee ice in the bathroom at the bar.
At which point I screamed incoherently.
Review: Ancillary Justice
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A new sci-fi author to keep an eye on! Leckie is a world builder — the setting is broad in scope and lavishly depicted. Early on there was a bit too much exposition for my taste, but once I got into the setting I loved its richness. The characters and conflicts were compelling, including fresh takes on some genre tropes like artificial intelligence and cyborgs. Imagine a starship intelligence with a linked cyborg crew — every body shares the same overriding consciousness. Pretty cool, and deftly presented. There is plenty of moral ambiguity too; characters have complex motivations and don’t always make good choices. Thankfully, there are no obvious “good guys” and “bad guys,” except perhaps the main character / narrator, who is pretty easy to root for.
According to an interview with the author at the end of the book, this is the first of a planned trilogy. There is room for a whole pile of stories in this setting, and I’d like to see more of it. I’m looking forward to the next installment.
Hello cold!
Winter has arrived for real. Our first big winter storm just passed through at the head of a mass of arctic air. Lots of snow yesterday (more than three feet on the north shore, but much less in the cities) and now the temps are plummeting. My phone greeted me with this outlook this morning — yes, Fahrenheit. I walk to school before sunrise, so those lows are what I dress for. And the wind chills are much lower. Brrr!
Update: this is my standard costume for sub-zero temps. The only thing I’ve ever added to this are additional under layers and a second hat on the rare days when the air temp drops closer to -20.
Update 2: A bit colder than expected on Saturday, with a vicious wind chill, and this is after the sun has been up for a while. Geez.
Book Review: “Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven” edited by Dave Eggers
McSweeney’s Issue 45: Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven by Dave Eggers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is why we need to have vigorous bookstores and libraries in every neighborhood. I stopped by my local independent bookseller to look for a list of books I was interested in. This book was not on my list, but it leapt off the shelf — the cover picture and title were irresistible. After browsing through it for a few minutes, and despite the fact that there were no reviews on either Goodreads or Amazon (gasp!), I went for it. And how much fun I’ve had since then!
The title (used with Sherman Alexie’s blessing) reveals the origin of this collection. Over the past few years, Dave Eggers came across two out-of-print anthologies: Alfred Hitchcock’s 1965 Stories Not for the Nervous and Ray Bradbury’s 1952 Timeless Stories for Today & Tomorrow. He pulled the best from each collection and mixed them together with a few bonus contemporary pieces.
I loved most of the pieces in here, and found myself sharing highlights with anyone who would listen. There are classic science fiction pieces like Roald Dahl’s “The Sound Machine,” where a guy invents a machine that can hear the language of plants, Ray Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian,” about a world where people never stop watching TV, and Julian May’s “Dune Roller,” about a spooky meteor in Lake Michigan. Then there’s Jack Ritchie’s hilarious “For All the Rude People,” where Emily Post hooks up with Rambo. The opening of that story is so darkly delicious, I’ll share it here:
"How old are you?" I asked.
His eyes were on the revolver I was holding. "Look,
mister, there’s not much in the cash register, but take
it all. I won’t make no trouble."
"I am not interested in your filthy money. How old
are you?"
He was puzzled. "Forty-two."
I clicked my tongue. "What a pity. From your point
of view, at least. You might have lived another twenty
or thirty years if you had just taken the slight pains to
be polite."
He didn’t understand.
"I am going to kill you," I said, "because of the
four-cent stamp and because of the cherry candy."
He did not know what I meant by the cherry candy,
but he did know about the stamp.
Panic raced into his face. "You must be crazy. You
can’t kill me just because of that."
"But I can."
And I did.
The longest piece in the book is “Sorry, Wrong Number,” an expanded version of a famous Lucille Fletcher radio play about a bed-ridden woman making repeated phone calls to try and locate her missing husband. Although it had a bit too much exposition at times, I loved the premise and the ever-rising tension which, Bolero-like, sucked me into her mounting hysteria.
There are some unexpected names in here, too. Kafka’s got a spot (dark, ornate, but also funny at times), along with Cheever (classic sci-fi thought piece), and a bizarre Steinbeck gem, “Saint Katy the Virgin,” about a holy pig. High hilarity. Finally, there were the contemporary pieces by China Miéville, Brian Evenson, Benjamin Percy, and E. Lily Yu. My favorite was Miéville’s “The Design,” which grapples with one of the coolest ideas I’ve seen in a story in a long time. I can say no more without spoiling it.
Although this collection was all over the place, it felt coherent. Eggers does a great job in the brief introduction of explaining the guiding theme, and the book stayed true to it throughout. He also sets the reader up to anticipate the final story, describing it as “one of the creepiest things” he’s read. Then he admonishes us not to jump ahead, “Whatever you do, make sure you read ‘Don’t Look Behind You’ last.” Throughout the book, I looked forward to the finale, savoring the promised creepiness. It was worth the wait.
Book Review: “Eleanor & Park” by Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I first learned about this wonderful book after hearing that one of our local school districts (Anoka-Hennepin, somewhat infamous around here) was embroiled in a controversy over whether this book was appropriate for youth. In short, the book had been selected by district librarians for an optional high-school summer reading program. A parent noticed some f-bombs and things spiraled from there. Rainbow Rowell’s speaking engagement was canceled and the district is still embroiled in a formal book-review process. Luckily, Rainbow Rowell came to Minnesota anyway and spoke at a number of engagements, one of which I attended. She was smart, funny, and charming, delivering a passionate and persuasive defense of the core message of her book.
Having now read the book, I am flabbergasted that anyone could call it profane. Yes, there is a fair amount of profanity. (A crazy Anoka-Hennepin parent actually counted “227 instances of profanity.”) But since when is this unusual in realistic fiction about teenagers? Are these parents unaware of how typical teenagers talk? But more importantly, the book’s protagonists are clearly making choices to rise above the shallow trashiness of their peers. And when it comes to sexuality, there’s no rational basis for criticism. I remember poring over far racier (and more explicit) material with my sixth grade friends a million years ago; from a high school perspective this is utterly tame. The most intense “sex scene” in this book is of the two kids holding hands! (And it is sublime!) The book is certainly sexually charged, but I’ve read religious parables that are more pornographic.
This book is a gorgeous story of two teenagers finding their first love. Rowell makes school feel real, with all the social nastiness that usually goes along with kids growing up. She focuses tightly on the title characters, but the supporting cast feels rich and believable. (And I think I went to school with some of them.) Eleanor and Park are both complex, confused, and extraordinary. I laughed constantly as I got to know them, and later I cried through entire chapters. (Love a book that has plenty of both.) I won’t spoil anything by talking about the plot, but here are some key highlights for me:
– I love it that Park was a good guy.
– I love it that they get to know each other through comic books and music.
– I love it that the book is set in the ’80s.
– I love it that Rowell touches on a lot of complex YA issues without neatly tying them up with moralistic bows (body image, gender identity, race, bullying, to name a few).
In short, I loved the book and look forward to the time when my children can read it too.