Favorite Person of the Day: Micah

Why? Well, if I may steal a Lana-esque way of phrasing things:

Smallville.

Season premiere.

Pancakes.

Smallville is awesome. I love superhero shows, even shows with ridiculous continuity leaps like Jimmy Olsen being about the same age as Clark Kent. It helps when Jimmy Olsen is played by Iceman, who is just one of those all-around likeable types.

And this was the first time I've ever gotten to see a first-run Smallville season premiere on premiere night. I've usually had to wait several weeks. I've been advance-geeking-out about this for weeks, and now I'm post-geeking-out.

So thanks, Micah.

Most Horrifying Thing I've Ever Seen in a K&B Toy Store

Desperate Housewives: The Dirty Laundry Game

Thoughts on tutoring for ESL

I signed up for ESL tutoring for several reasons:

• I speak English
• I majored in communicating
• I thought, "Here is a service I can perform with my gifts"
• I have often feared both commitment and failure, and signing up for five months of ESL tutoring was signing up for ample helpings of both

That last one is really on the list. But I didn't realize it until after I signed up.

Pulling back into observer status, I find myself paranoid that I will (get this) single-handedly screw up this child forever. FOREVER! Me! Ohhhh, the power I wield!

Ha.... I am such a nerd....

As my dad says, this will be a good experience no matter what happens. I hereby choose to define this ESL "experiment" as a success--for me and for Hassan. He is 8 years old, and so he is still in the prime years for language acquisition. He'll pick English skills up quickly, and I will be there to help him when he needs to figure things out. It'll be a learning experience for both of us, in various ways.

*deep breath*

Okay. I'm ready to learn.

Random Acts of Acceptance

The link Brittany provided in the last comment section led me to a page in which a young man said that offering kindness took guts, and so he appreciated it when people (girls, particularly) responded with "thank you" instead of "no, I'm fine."

I was thinking about that today when I was at the home of the Somali refugees my church is helping. The mother doesn't speak English, but when I was standing in her living room she pulled out a chair for me. I resisted my initial impulse to offer the chair to her instead, said "Thank you," and sat down.

I was also thinking about offering and accepting kindness tonight when the man in front of me at the grocery store offered me his place in line. I said, "No, thanks, I'm okay standing in line," and I had to say it more than once. I don't think he was a native English speaker.

I was thinking of the latter incident on the way home when I decided to make a carpooling offer after all, even though I would rather drive solo to my destination tonight.

Thanks for the link, Brittany. It has made me think. :)

Chivalry

[More about ESL in another post or so, Jessie. I haven’t forgotten you.]

A lively discussion on chivalry broke out in the comment section of a recent blog post that my friend Brittany wrote. (I comment as Prin there, for the record, for reasons I choose not to reveal.) Someone had told her that chivalry was dead, and that any action interpreted as chivalry should really be interpreted as "that boy wants to date me."

Whether or not the person who made that comment really meant it seriously, it bothered me a lot. I only just realized why today.

Today's Revelation

I don't know what the word "chivalry" means to everyone. To me, it means looking out for the interests of others. I refuse to believe that the only reason someone of the opposite sex would look out for my interests is because he wants to date me. To me, that makes kindness a means to an end--"if I am gracious, generous, and civil to this person, I can get what I want from her." How horrifyingly demeaning.

I choose to believe that people of both sexes can be honestly concerned about others in such a way that they would potentially inconvenience themselves by taking action for other people.

Bear in mind that this is a reaction to a perceived use of the word "chivalry," not to anyone's stated personal definition of the word. Really, I dislike the word. It seems like a bumper-sticker version of an important concept. And like the word "romance," which is another word I have problems with, it seems to have acquired a thick layer of chicanery (a word with which I am still okay).

*shiver of excitement/fear*

Why the shiver, you ask?

I had ESL tutor training tonight. I'm going to be tutoring someone who just came from a refugee camp in Somalia. I've committed to this for the next 6 months. I don't know when my schedule will be. I don't know when I'll be doing the other things I have in my life, because I don't know what my schedule will be. I am wondering if my stated availability is actually untrue, based on other commitments I have made. My time is not my own. Which is a good reminder.

The training itself was exciting. I'm most excited about the most scary things: learning to plan lessons, to speak simply, to think on my feet, to interact with people from a very different culture. I'm afraid of failing--failing the child I will probably be working with, failing his family, failing the organization, failing life. Because that's what this is, now. Life. It isn't school anymore. There are no more top grades to be handed out. But there are no more failing grades, either.

I wonder what my life will look like in six months? I have this strange feeling that it could be much different than I expect right now.

Exciting, in a scary way.

I'm a second cousin!

Who -- Landunn Walter Tagert (son of my cousin Heidi and her husband Nate)
When -- 9:09 p.m. this evening
What the stats are -- about 20 1/2 inches, and about 8 pounds and 1 oz. (surprisingly small considering his dad is more like 6'7" and proportionately large)
Why women care about these details -- I don't know

I don't call babies miracles, because they're produced by natural processes. But then, so is a really good sunset, or a beautiful starry night, or the laughter of a friend. We have a God that does the amazing EVERY DAY! So a new baby may be natural, but not one is common.

Here's to Landunn, who had at least two nicknames waiting for him before he was even born. He's the firstborn of the next generation in my family! I've never met him, but I love him already.

*claps hands excitedly*

Yay!

Tonight...

...I saw a kid I hadn't seen in years. He's not really a kid now. Actually, he's only a year or two younger than I am. But I knew him at college, when I was a few class years ahead of him, so "kid" was the first word that came to mind. I was his Spanish conversation group leader, and he was the slacker kid who didn't do his homework—as he himself was saying tonight. I had started to re-introduce myself, since we hadn't seen each other in at least five years, but he remembered me. He said he remembered one specific session in which I reacted to him with one of my sigh-and-shake-of-the-head-in-semi-despair moves (soon-to-be-patented).

...I met a friend's roommate, and she said she'd heard me spoken of very highly. We talked for a while and I saw why my friend had spoken of her so highly.

...I talked to a budding acquaintance. We exchanged a lot of amused looks and appreciative comments.

Something about being remembered, being praised, and being enjoyed makes me feel I can live up to everything involved in being a person who is treated this way.

...I am filled to overflowing.

Denver Adventures

The Airports

The TSA came through for me once again with a sign warning me that the "Bandara Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia does not maintain and administer effective aviation security measures."

I have to make a conscious effort to shut my brain off in an airport and on an airplane so that I don't think about the sheer volume of people before me who have used the same chairs, touched the same surfaces, and walked the same ground, with who knows what on their shoes. Another huge thing I don't want to think about: public restrooms. Possibly it wasn't a great idea to bring a Monk novel on this trip. But it was good to have a book to while away the extra hours I spent in the airport on the first day due to mechanical problems with the planes.

I was talking on the phone to Dad and wondering aloud why you could bring 4 oz. of contact lens solution in an opaque container onto the plane, but not 4 oz. of water in a clear container. Dad's response: "That's so you and your ten friends onboard can't flood the airplane."

The Cows

Kerri and I went to downtown Denver on Saturday and walked around. Here we are waiting for the light rail to take us downtown:



We saw many cows from the Cow Parade. Some of my favorites:

This one is called "It's Your Moove." I'm sure cows never get tired of that joke.

This cow was outside Barnes & Noble.

The Hikes

We went on a few easy hikes. I got to read Harry Potter books out loud on the way out and back. Ah, the joy of fellowship with a kindred spirit! ("Nymphadohhhra....")

Here we are at Alberta Falls:

(I got Kerri taking pictures of her feet by the end of this trip. The tradition lives on.)

And here is an acquaintance we met at Bear Lake:

We also spent time at Kerri's house, watching movies and being panted at and entertained by her golden retriever, Chester. He's a Red Wings fan, like Kerri is.

I thought this would seem like a nice long trip, but it turns out Kerri and I don't get sick of each other's company that quickly. Which is cool. The hiking was fun, and the movies were fun, but they were all better because I shared them with such an awesome friend. So here's to you, Kerri! Thanks for a great trip!

Denver in Digital: Random Pictures

The Denver baggage claim area features these Borg regeneration cubicle things. It is possible that much of their airline staff is really composed of partly or fully mechanical beings who regenerate during slow hours. Colorado residents such as my friend Kerri pose an alternate theory--the "they're for golf bags and skis" theory. When I told her I'd never seen such a thing before, she countered by saying most airports probably don't have as much of a need for them. Sounds about right.

That would be Combos.

I like taking pictures of signs. Especially signs that remind me of people. I think my friend Brittany needs the sign above.

Brittany's younger brother needs to be told not to vandalize trees in a national park. Even if they are short-lived aspens. It is still not cool.

"Huh"?

There were several signs referring to buffalo, as well as a few buffalo statues. When I took this picture, I didn't expect the bonus--the most prominent lettering on the T-shirt hanging in the window says "Dad." Awww! How appropriate!

For last year's Arizona trip companions.

Later: more on Denver. Now: sleep.