a boy, etc.

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A boy, a girl, and a dancing cat

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I've been to Vidal Sassoon

So, I've been trying to title these blog entries with relevant song lyrics/movie quotes, etc, so that you can play along by trying to identify where these lyrics/quotes are from. It's something to do, you know? So I haven't really been to Vidal Sassoon. But I have had a hair cut. And while it appeared that the stylist was looking at the picture I brought in as an example, I think she might have been examining the laminate on her countertop because the picture I brought in looks nothing like the haircut I left with, but whatever. It's shorter than I meant for it to be, but hey, that means I can save money by going longer between haircuts!

The evidence:
I like the tint on that. It makes me feel like I'm in a Hitchcock movie or something. Since as far as I know he never shot in blue tint, I don't know why I feel this way, but whatever. And if I look shocked, it's because my hair is like 3 inches shorter than I intended.

I've been feeling really badly lately. So tired I can hardly move, headaches the size of the state I'm living in, can't think clearly, tingling hands and feet, etc., etc., Same story, different day. The acupuncturist said my liver pulse is low, which translates to lack of blood, the chiropractor said I have "no blood", all this translates to anemia. I am trying to get in to see a Doctor (of the western sort), but it will be awhile. In the meantime, I'm taking liquid iron and trying to eat piles of greens and beans. But really. I'm over it already. Do I look pale to you?

(anemia anyone?)

That profile is my good side. I definitely have a good side. You? It also shows not only that my skin is nearly translucent, but that my hair is pretty darn short.

I took a few more pictures at school on Friday when we went on our Friday hike. The kids have named all the places we hike to, so this place is called Pecan Palace because there are three pecan trees between the abandoned hospital:
and the old State School building:

They like to play around these buildings. The Dia de Los Muertos celebration was held at The Three Trees of Alfalfa, for anyone keeping track.

Cheers.

Make the change, I'll meet you here tomorrow, Independence Day

So, I celebrated my right to vote this morning. My voter registration just came in TODAY, so no early voting for me. I had to be at work at 7:30ish and the polls opened at 7 here, so I rolled out of bed at 5 and was there at 6. The images of South Africans waiting in polling lines for TWO DAYS kept playing in my mind, so I figured I 'd better at least be an hour early if I wanted to vote. Two days, dying in the African sun, one hour at 65 degrees, I'll make the sacrifice. I expected to pull into the parking lot and be greeted with a 3 hour wait, at which point, I had planned to call work and explain that I would be late because my right to vote was just this important and Susan B. Anthony and Nelson Mandela and GOD all wanted me to vote. You don't want to get in the way of that triumverate. But, as it was, I pulled up, walked up to the doors where some ladies were pulling signs out of a white church van. Had my polling place been changed? Were they preparing for a potluck?

6am.
Me: Is there a line?
Church lady: Are you here to watch the polls or to vote?
Me: To vote.
C.L.: You know we don't start for another hour, right?
Me: Yeah, I just didn't know if there would be a line.
C.L.: Nope, no line.
Me: Can I start one?
C.L.: Sure.

I was really surprised. I waited for THREE hours to vote for Kerry, and in that election, I didn't even really like Kerry. I just didn't like Bush.

Austin is an interesting place. An example of how a pocket of like-minded individuals can become even MORE extreme in their views if they are surrounded by people that think differently than they do. I've actually spent a lot of time talking to my students about how just because you're a republican doesn't mean that you: hate poor people/love war/want to spread pollution all over the planet. And that even republicans can: go crazy over baby animals/eat organic food/need love too. These kids want to end the war in Iraq, clean up the environment, make sure people have healthcare, allow gay marriage.
What a paradigm shift. I never really thought I would have this conversation:

Kid: (after flipping a coin and having it land on heads for John McCain) Oh no! I'm evil! I'm evil!
Me: There, there, Johnny. We've talked about this. Just because you're a republican, does that mean you are evil? Can you be a republican and be a nice person?
Kid: Yeah, yeah, but I'M EVIL!

I've never seen a more progressive place. And I've seen a few.
I spent a long time today telling kids to Pay Attention. Stay up Late. My co-worker told them to Please Pay Attention. Make Your Future Selves Happy. This is Important.

So anyway, voting was fairly anticlimactic. Well, I'll say that waiting in line was pretty anticlimactic. Going in the voting booth and casting my vote (even knowing that I was in a red state, even knowing that my one vote wouldn't matter as much this election as it might have in the past) was pretty historic. It even felt historic. I spent awhile looking at the presidential candidates' names on the ballot, taking it all in. Knowing that someday, I would want to be able to tell other people what that moment was like. Pretty Darn Good. That's what it was like.

And, I got to rock this sticker all day.
They asked me if I wanted a sticker. They didn't ask me if I wanted a sticker printed in English. But I love it. It's not only, hey, I did this, don't forget that you probably want to remember to do this, too, if you have time today.

My sticker says, Stand Up. Pay Attention. This is Important. Make Your Future Self Happy. Vote, yo.

And we'll grow kindness in our hearts for all the strangers among us til there are no strangers anymore

So, I've made mention of my school. For any Lost fans, comparing it to The Dharma Initiative would not be inappropriate. It's the site of a former state school (read: rehabilitation/psychiatric/assisted living/orphanage facility) and consists of about 68 buildings. Our school occupies three of them, and about 5 more are occupied by other organizations. The other 60 are empty and include a hospital, a fire station, dormitories, office buildings, a paint shop, etc., etc. The state school was a completely self-sufficient community and had all the buildings/resources that such a place would need. During the Reagan administration, the school was shut down and it seems that people just walked out into the street leaving everything behind. The maintenance man/artist/ghost, Edward, took me on a tour of the hospital and showed me towels, clothing, etc., that was left behind. Hollywood loved the creepiness factor of the property and filmed parts of The Life of David Gale and The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in some of the abandoned buildings. Of course, when working in buildings that used to house very troubled individuals (many of whom are buried in the property's cemetery), people will say they've heard things, seen things, etc. Whether or not you believe in the supernatural, the fact that our school is on a hill overlooking a prison and that people have reported seeing wild boar on the property means that I don't like being the last one leaving at night.
This has a sign that says, "Maintenance Shop." You can see another abandoned building in the background.
I think the fact that no one bothered to change anything about the property (except for our school and a few other buildings) makes it really creepy to me. It's like people just walked away.

At any rate, the property made for a very beautiful and moving experience on Friday when we celebrated Dia de los Muertos. The students (about 300 of them) walked in complete silence from the school to the cemetery. On the way to the cemetery field, I saw Edward, in a sombrero, (see maintenance guy/artist/ghost above) sitting behind one of the old buildings, watching the line of kids. He was responsible for a lot of the "art" at our celebration and even though he didn't participate, it was cool to watch him watching us as we looked at his art (pictures following). The school's music teacher played a single drum beat as the students walked through the doorway, across the field, and settled in their spots. Most of the kids dressed as skeletons or in traditional Mexican clothing. After everyone was settled, the kids sang two songs and danced. Some of the teachers accompanied them:
Afterwards, we walked back to the school. (You can see the line of kids in the picture above). Overall, it was incredibly moving and beautiful. Having children singing and dancing in the shadow of a children's cemetery seemed very appropriate. Plus, Edward made these amazing shrines which were all over the field. It's amazing how well-staged found objects can carry so much meaning when staged in the right way and viewed with reverence (hey, wait, didn't I write my thesis about that?). Scissors aren't just scissors, they're scissors. And with 60 abandoned buildings at his disposal, he found a lot of objects to inject with meaning.Pictures to make my point:

The "shrine" at the doorway to the celebration. Edward painted this family portrait of skeletons and found a birdbath and the grill for a truck, and voila.
They aren't just phones, they're phones.

These paintings were in cell-like structures:

Even skeletons can rock out, albeit morosely. I think she's emo.
The doorway as you left the celebration. A chalkboard, some pieces of metal, some scissors, some dying plants:
Don't ask me where he found this, or what it is. Some people guessed a giant carrot? I'm not sure, but when I saw it framed by some branches, lying in the field, I thought it must be very important.
And this, a door, with some branches, and a tissue paper flower:
The main shrine, with the cemetery behind it:

And my personal favorite:
Yep, those are sinks taken from the buildings, and a bird cage with some paper flowers. They left up most of the stuff so we can see it when we take hikes.
And, just when you thought zombies weren't cat people, don't you worry about a thing:

Taste this, I think it's gone bad

A few weekends ago, on our quest to Discover Austin, we went to McKinney State Falls. I give it two thumbs down. We should have guessed when we passed a sign on the way in that said, "Water levels low, no refunds" that our trip to "see the falls" might come up short. However, I cling unflinchingly to a commitment to miss the obvious, so it should come as no surprise that I missed that, too. We saw many parched cacti:
This particular type reminds me of ping pong paddles. I have yet to see the sort of cactus that you imagine when you think of drawings you've seen of cacti (the kind that looks like a man with his arms raised), but I've seen plenty of this. And as someone who's touched them, I can tell you that yes, the spines are actually sharp (and if by touching you mean I can't feel this at all. It's really not that sharp, I mean even when I touch it like this it doesn't hurt. I can't feel a thing, see? AAAHHH! I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! My finger is stuck on it!, then yes, I've touched one).

Speaking of cacti, that white tuna I posted about? We bought one to try it out and after an internet search, determined that it is a member of the prickly pear family. To enjoy it, cut off the tough skin and eat the inside. Rumor has it that it tastes like watermelon and that you just swallow the seeds. I guess it tasted like watermelon, but it's too labor intensive to eat because that thing was nothing BUT seeds. So there's that.

Instead of falls at McKinney State Falls, we saw many of these pools of water, nestled in pockets of limestone.
Pretty cool, actually. Our summary of the falls that day was that it was kind of like walking across the surface of the moon, if the moon were made of limestone and was very close to the sun.

Rumor has it that our class trip in May will take me here, a prospect which James and I are quite excited about.