days of naze

30 seconds to save $422 million
12:14 PM

Oregonians: call Senator Smith right now, toll free at 1-888-256-5387.

Ask him to vote no on the Federal Budget. It cuts $422 million in programs for vulnerable children and families in Oregon. And, of course, pours on the corporate welfare and the wealthy welfare.

I promise you he will be counting these calls and use them in his decision-making process. It matters. Do it.

[Update: The mightiest nation the earth has ever seen has little voice mail boxes for Senators. It is full. Call his Portland number 503.465.6750. I did. Smith will not have to live with his buddies in DC. His legacy is here in Oregon. Make him be a hero.]

April 24, 2005

on future plans
11:44 AM

Elizabeth [4 years old]: Me and Lilly [her best friend] are going to be sisters and mothers. But we aren't going to have any babies. We just want to have a good time.

April 23, 2005

fifth grade science paper doesn't stand up to peer review
10:54 AM

"Members of the three-person panel had many concerns about Nogroski's work, foremost among them their belief that the fifth-grader did not substantiate his thesis. Two panel members even suggested that Nogroski's thesis was erroneous.

'Otters are not interesting!' 10-year-old peer examiner Jonathan Glass said."

A must-read for anyone who has ever scored a work sample or for anyone with kids in school.

April 21, 2005

circle of life
11:15 PM

2005 12 christmas with grandma naze.jpg

This morning, on the second floor of the Bo Jackson Center at the Nike Campus I sat at a crowded table with elementary school teacher colleagues from around the district. Many schools in Portland have lost P.E. teachers and Nike runs a program called PE2GO to try and offset the loss a bit by training classroom teachers how to teach P.E.

I looked at my watch and whispered to my 4th grade partner, "My birthday begins in 15 minutes." The instructor led us upstairs. A few minutes later one of the training coordinators hands me a note: Your grandmother died.

[I later calculated that the probability of her dying precisely on my birthday hour is 1 in 8760.]

I went to a phone and tried to reach my dad but the line was busy. Stepping out onto the balcony overlooking a pristine soccer field, I took some deep breaths and quieted myself.

Five minutes later I knew what I needed to do: I left a note, walked back to my car and drove to Longview to be with my dad and stepmom.

Mabel Naze lived for 95 years. She was slight, but quietly tenacious. My grandmother lived by herself for 33 years in a little house on SE 84th and Insley in Portland, right next to Portland icon Tom Peterson's old store. In her purse she always carried a note that my Grandpa Naze wrote to her before he died in 1965:

"If you get home before I do, I am at Dr. Hills getting a check up. On my cold or what have you.

By By Dear

Your Papa Honey Bear"

I will always remember Grandma Naze for how much she loved my Grandpa, for always bringing Wint-o-Green LifeSavers when she came to visit us when we were kids, for giving me her 1964 Corvair when I needed a car in high school, for staying up late, for being really good at making conversation after we hadn't talked in a while, for calling ice cream sandwiches "ice cream slices", and for her little dog Timmy that she loved so dearly.

Farewell, Grandma Naze.

I love you.

April 17, 2005

follow-up on the job dealy-o
04:14 PM

The bad news: I'm being bumped from my job by a teacher with more seniority. It was very upsetting when I first realized the inevitability of this about 4 weeks ago.

I really fell in love with this school from the day I interviewed there in June 2003. I had arrived far too early to go in, so I took a short walk through the neighborhood in the summer heat, shaded by the abundant trees. Later I waited in the quirky school library with a loft, reading "100 Things You Don't Know About Cats".

The principal, my 4th grade colleague, and a parent of an incoming 4th grader interviewed me in the very classroom where I would teach. I had interviewed for 3 other positions in different school districts, but this was my first interview in the district I had student-taught in. I knocked it out of the ballpark.

It was the first interview where I walked out of there really wanting that job. I got a call from the principal that day with the job offer.

It's a small school with a staff that demonstrates a strong commitment to a complete education including music, visual arts, and technology. It is led by a wise and collegial man (the best boss I have ever had) who reminds me of an exceptionally good boss I had at my previous career.

This is easily the best job I've ever had.

[sigh]

The good news: I've been re-assigned to a new school not terribly far from my current one. This way I avoid having to wait through a whole round of hiring wondering where and if I will have a job. It happened very quickly. The new school is noted for it's innovation and for the quality of it's leadership. They are 90% sure I'll be teaching my current grade. (This is important for a newer teacher. Elementary curriculum has become quite complex -- switching grades, especially more than 1 grade, adds yet another level of work in developing new materials to what is already a very taxing and exhausting job.)

I prefer settling in and planting roots, but given the unpleasant situation, this is about the best scenario I could have hoped for.

get crackin'
03:43 PM

Remember: Only 4 more shopping days until my birthday!

April 10, 2005

riding the karma train
09:45 PM

Facing down some bad work news these past few weeks, I got some pretty good news on Friday. It won't be locked until Monday or Tuesday. I'll let you know how things come out.

April 09, 2005

nill illigitimi carborundum
12:21 PM

Translation:
Don't let the b a s t a r d s get you down.

April 05, 2005

who could have imagined it?
09:03 PM

President Bush's approval rating has plunged to the lowest level of any president since World War II at this point in his second term, the Gallup Organization reported today.

bang your monkey
07:34 PM

Lottery Director Dale Penn folded like a paper tent under pressure from the Oregon Restaurant Association. They didn't like the fact that Penn proposed that we (Oregon) should keep more of the profits from the new video slot machines for, oh, say funding education.

In a 2003 study, bars and taverns averaged $80,000 in commissions without employing more people or paying higher wages than those without Oregon Lottery games. Now they say that they won't accept lower commissions on the new games.

Uh, dude? You work for us. We'll find plenty of business for these puppies.

Governor Kulongoski can end this all by appointing a 5th commission member that remembers something quaint like serving the common good.

Call the Governor now at 503.378.4582 and leave him a message: make the Lottery Commission stand up to the fat cats.

a question
07:19 PM

Have you ever been in a job where a work site in your organization was closed and you were in danger of getting bumped from the workplace you love by someone more senior to you? Have you had someone from a closing work site senior to you stand in your hallway while you were working and check out your work site to see if they like it enough to bump you?

I have.

April 03, 2005

in the wee small hours of the morning
07:33 PM

Thump-thump-thump-thump. The door knob squeaks as it turns. A little face pokes in.

Elizabeth (4): Mom? Can I come in?
Cathy: (pause) If you pee first.
Elizabeth (4): Damn you!

sin city
07:29 PM

There are going to be plenty of people who will walk into Sin City not knowing what they're getting into. And if you're not up for an overdose of adrenaline, a kick in the gut, and a heartache for good measure, stay away.

Walking out, nerves ajangle, it struck me how rare the excellent R-rated movie has become.