Upcoming Goings Ons (Miranda)

Hi all,
you are all very beautiful. Meet friends in your neighborhood.

I thought I'd start off by pretending to be a SPAM mail because it amuses me.  In other news, I have been working a lot.  I love it, it's just a lot right now since it's the beginning of the school year.  I'm not in my house much because I've been engaged in a lot of extracurriculars, so today I decided I'd hang around my room which has been a strange feeling.  I watched the season premier of Eastwick, the television version of the movie with Jack Nicholson BECAUSE (and there is a because) my ex-classmate is going to have a role on the show starting October 7th, and on that I congratulate him.  I found out because my friend told me over the phone and then I IMDB'd him and found out it was true.  Anyway, so far the show is a lot like the movie except with less famous/ talented actors (SO FAR) and the guy who plays Jack Nicholson's character is doing an exact imitation of how Jack played the role.  I can't tell whether I should be impressed or unenthused YET.

This same ex-classmate also created and starred in Harry Potter the Musical, which I recommend to all of you-- it is hilarious and completely up on Youtube, and I wouldn't say that if I didn't believe it.  Following this guy's career  made me think of something that probably isn't original, but I arrived at it on my own, so there: success inspires success.  

Seeing other people succeed makes me feel that anything is possible-- preachy, I know, but I think it's true.  I was helping this girl write her college essay, and she said she thought that the Bush Man (this dude who sits by the piers and frightens people with a frond of leaves) was successful and forced her to think of success in a new light.  She said she thought he was successful because he had created a name for himself and made people's days more fun.  I guess I agree, although I wonder whether he thinks he's doing well...

I'll say one more thing about this-- I think all of us are on a great track-- I don't see any of my friends sitting around, not caring about what happens to themselves or the world, and that makes me feel really really happy and good about the future.

ALSO, the Where the Wild Things Are SF benefit screening is coming up on Wednesday.  I got a great dress from the truly sweet ladies at Metier, and I am so excited.  I didn't think I would be so excited.  Spike Jonze will be there for Q and A and the kid who plays Max is supposed to show up, too. And there will be a puppet show from the folks at Paxsons Gate (taxidermy shop next door)!  If you want to support a great cause and see this wonderful movie weeks in advance (at a city near you: SF, LA, Chicago, NYC, Seattle, Boston, Ann Arbor) buy a ticket, and enjoy it.

What else?  A Very Happy Birthday to Miss Sakura Yagi!

I've also added Kate's Nicaragua blog to the sidebar, and since she's been traveling around advocating for repressed Hondurans, it's an informative read.  I have also been working on my "novel" and reading Slaughterhouse Five.  That's all for now.

Teaching on the Rez (Ruby)

Hey oooooo lovely Midd friends!

So, where to begin? Two weeks after graduating, I started my epic journey with Teach For America. One week in New Mexico, five grueling weeks in Phoenix for institute where I taught kindergarten whilst learning how to teach, another week in New Mexico, one week off to "chill" in Colorado before returning to New Mexico for good (aka two years).

Life is absurd. I don't even know where to begin, so let's proceed with bullet form fashion, shall we?

• I live on the Navajo Reservation in the town of Pueblo Pintado, NM. Oh, Pueblo Pintado. This booming metropolis boasts 23.5 people every square mile, one federal K-8 school where yours truly works and lives, one high school 1.5 miles down the road, one gas station a mile in the other direction, a laundromat 5 miles away, and one Navajo chapter house. Throw in some wild horses, coyotes, rez dogs, jackrabbits, rattlesnakes, cows, sheep, dead horses in the ditch and that's home!

• May I reitterate that I truly live in the middle of nowhere? Even groceries are a full hour drive away. I should add that good ol' Durango, Colorado--home, sweet home--is but a mere 2 hour drive, which is SO good for my sanity. Booze is illegal on the rez but Durango has a beer festival every month or so, so I survive.
  

• I teach 2nd grade at a BIE (Bureau of Indian Education) school which is all sorts of interesting. The BIE is dripping with money yet I managed to inherit a classroom without books, pencils, and paper (or a reading curriculum-- hello, Ms. Bolster has no idea what she's doing). The school is a boarding school and my kids have recently discovered where I live. Tuesday one of them stalked me home because he didn't want to sleep at the dorm anymore. Yesterday one of them ding dong ditched me and left a stone turtle on my doorstep. (????)

• I love my 16 little tyrants and they love me but I'm pretty sure they were put on this earth to drive me crazy. For a good three-quarters of the day, I ask myself why I'm such a masochist to have accepted this position, but then my kids hug me at the end of the day and tell me they will miss me and I forgive them for their antics (mostly).

• "Ms. Bolster, are you ever not white?"

These ruins are literally my morning view. It's badass.

The school/dorm/teacher housing/"twin towers". You can even see my own little house on the far left! Hip hip hooray for cheap government housing ($192/month, no joke).

Anyway, that's the major stuff from me. I need to grade math test #4. Who'd have thought that teaching 5 + 6 = 11 would be so hard?

xoxo gossip girl
(just kidding, this season is already awful.)

xoxo for realz, Ruby/"Mizzzz Booooolssterrr!"

Colorado Update (Chris)

Here's the news from Colorado. Miranda, I'm sorry I didn't post something earlier, but I didn't feel like I had much to show for my job yet.

Well, I finally do have something for y'all to look at: www.voteyes1a.org, a website for the campaign I'm working on "The Yes on 1A - Energy Smart Campaign." It's not much, but dammit, it took a shit-ton of time to make (and to haggle with the Indian web help guy for the British web hosting company over) It probably didn't help that I have an unhealthy obsession with margins...not like those kind of things don't totally go out the window once the page goes online.

I'm scheduled to talk to the local electric utility, Holy Cross Energy today and get them on board. (no worries, no religious affiliation there, its just named after a mountain that has a giant snow cross on the front of it and was a pilgrimage site in the 1890s. John McWilliams actually gave a lecture all about it Junior year, I think. Did any of you go to that? Here's the famous photo by William Henry Jackson, which turned out to be doctored very slightly--the right side of the cross piece isn't actually that perfect...)

Oh tangents, a hazard of blogging I guess. Anyways, I need an endorsement and donation from them. It's a nice to be downvalley rather than up at the office in Aspen. I feel like I spent the entirety of yesterday responding/sending email-- I thought college was bad... Not as many inane club emails, but I actually have to respond to every message now in a timely manner.

Otherwise I've been up in the mountains most every weekend and the Colorado fall color is dawning upon us here. The fall color here is different than in Vermont. There is essentially only one type of deciduous tree in the mountains here: the Aspen. So instead of the fiery patchwork of color (or as some uncharitable Westerners might deem it, the cat food melánge) of Vermont, Colorado offers the glowing, unified, distilled sunshine of the Aspen leaf. It would be nearly impossible to say which fall color I like more.

We got our first good Vermont-grade dousing of rain in months here last night, and high on 12,953 ft. Mt. Sopris, the sentinel that stands south of Carbondale, that meant the first visible snow of the fall. For me it hasn't been the first snow of the season, but rather the fourth. The Wind River Mountains of Wyo. offered its first clobbering on Aug. 7th and then a full-on blizzard with knee high drifts on Aug 15th--which happened to be the day we needed to walk the ten miles out over a ~10,000 ft. pass. That was fun...

Anyways, the scenery has been refreshing, the weather unbelievable--I had kind of been inoculated to the misery that is Vermont weather--and the job is great. The only missing part is you all. Most of my high school friends either haven't made it through college in four years, are elsewhere, or just aren't that interesting to talk to--particularly when compared with the stunning pantheon of minds and states of inebriation that you all present.

Cheers,

Chris

Falafel

Not a post about falafel. just wanted your attention (i did eat one falafel today).  I'm glad you are using this blog.  it makes me smile and feel warm and sometimes I even spontaneously break into song and dance-- yes, musicals are real.

I just wanted to say that I'm writing a novel ( i guess falafel kind of sounds like "a novel," same vowel sounds..?), and you should, too.  You know why?  Because November is National Novel Writing Month and I never thought I could write a novel, but I just started and it's going alright.  The NaNoWriMo (a lame attempt at shortening the name) people want your novel to be a hundred and seventy-five pages, but I think an exception for poets shall be proclaimed (by me) and my novel will be at least 100 pages.  Yes, longer than my thesis, longer than any paper I have ever written.  So far it's about a dude whose grandfather was a mime.  TRUST ME.  IT'S GOOD.

Okay, so that's all I'll say for now except that I'm teaching the very first session of my newspaper-writing workshop tomorrow evening!  Hurrah!  to little kids!  yay!  Also I think I found the cutest cafe near work where I can do my writing before work.  Also, today dave walked into the room and I swear a girl swooned.  ha ha.  what a strange place this is sometimes.

I hope you people who have not posted here will consider doing so.  It's Quite the thrill.

Hugs and kisses,
Miranda

Urban Farming/Gardening (Blakely)

To Josh, greenthumbers, and urban biddies:

I was reading the Washington Post this morning and my eyes momentarily strayed from my preferred safe-haven of the International section to a Style piece on rooftop agriculture in urban areas. For those not already in the know, rooftop farming seems to be the new big thing in agriculture as it makes use of urban space that is otherwise wasted, has access to direct sunlight (something that is difficult to find in large cities), and significantly reduces the distance (and the associated carbon footprint) that produce must travel from the farm to our plate.

Anyway, if you want to learn more about this trend give the Post's article a read. And if you are Josh you might look into the movement as a potential source for opportunities (employment or otherwise) as it appears to have considerable growth potential and is centered in New York.

Peace, love, and Barbecue

Blakely

Update from the Southeast (Katie)

At the beginning of June, Duston and I moved with our new pup Linguini to the quaint town of Carrboro, North Carolina. Also known as “The Paris of North Carolina,” or “The Graduate Student Ghetto” for UNC Chapel Hill, the town is an odd combination of 20-somethings with dreadlocks and young families with dogs and babies. Linguini fits right in. On Thursday nights, Weaver Street Market, the food co-op, hosts reggae and bluegrass bands on its front lawn, which fills quickly with kids and families. And middle-aged hula-hoopers. Since town ordinances allow you to drink outside the co-op, as long as you buy either a single bottles of beer or wine, it’s a pretty fun place to spend a Thursday.

The town also boasts one of the highest-ranking farmer’s markets in the nation. We pull ourselves up every Saturday morning to buy our week’s worth of fresh produce. We actually have a pretty good system; twenty dollars cash gets us everything we need. Getting used to eating seasonally has been interesting – it reminds me of your blog, Josh. There’s something incredibly satisfying about knowing that we’re right in the heights of eggplant season, and that okra’s just around the corner. Or that tomatoes and sweet corn have lasted throughout the summer, but as September gets chillier, those vegetables are waning away for butternut squash and kale. I wore a Midd shirt to the market once, and actually got a lot of comments. One farmer (with the best green peppers) told me he used to live up around there, but he and his wife were driving from the northeast to Florida and their car broke down in Carrboro. They decided to stay.

As far as school goes, I just got my placement for student teaching. My school is right around the corner (literally), so I’m always just ten minutes away. Anna O’Connell, my mentor teacher, teaches ninth grade along with remedial reading classes. She is incredibly kind, and I cannot wait to dive into working with her. UNC is large, overwhelmingly so at times, and completely different than Middlebury. But I love it for that; I don’t think I could have come to a replacement-Midd. Oddly enough, one of my friends in the program was Eddie’s high school girlfriend. Small world! My classes attempt to cover every angle of secondary education in a semester, so I'm taking Contexts of Education (a sociology class), Adolescent Pyschology, Young Adult Literature, etc. It's a lot of work, but everything I'm doing is relevant to the work I'll be doing as a teacher, so it's easy to motivate. The professors are also such caring and inspiring people.

If anyone is anywhere in the Southeast anytime soon, let me know! Our couch is always open to those passing through. I cannot believe graduation was months away; it’s been such a whirlwind. Speaking of craziness, wedding plans are starting to get exciting, and I’ll want addresses soon to send out save-the-dates for those of you who want to attend the big event next summer!

I miss all of you, but I feel like you are all kind of with me all the time, or at least when I watch Top Chef, or do Turbo Jam! I hope our paths cross soon!

Love, Katie

to all the ladies in the place with style and grace... (Jen)

Labor Day has arrived, and it is a very fitting break between my summer and fall. I have spent the summer doing a number of things, none of them particularly interesting, but I'll tell you all anyway...

I did my first really spontaneous thing ever - a week or so after graduation I bought a plane ticket to Chile and three days later I was on my way to Valpo. It was a terrific trip. I met my friend Valentina's fat (and very beautiful) five-month-old son, Leon, I bought late-night empanadas with some Midd Kids, spent time with the angelic (demonic) children at Colegio Jorge Williams, and made it back to eveyone's favorite sketch-tastic bar, el Proa.


After a few days of recovering from my adventure I began my month-long stint as a camp counselor. We hosted about one hundred international high schoolers and did just about every free activity that Boston has to offer. Highlights: my first visit to the ICA (Shepard Fairey exhibit was great) and the Beach Boys concert. Not-highlights: 3 students getting caught shoplifting at the mall, chicken nuggets for every meal, the camp director.

During August I temped at the Center For Family Connections - a non-profit organization founded by my aunt that provides therapy, training, education, and advocacy to children, families, and professionals touched by adoption, foster care, and other complex blended families. It's an awesome place to work, but I was doing excrutiating things, like scanning bazillions of articles and cataloging old conference videos on VHS.

Tomorrow I start my job at Tenacity, a non-profit that provides "academic, athletic and life skills development programs to Boston youth." I will be an AmeriCorps member, and I will primarily be working with the After School Excellence Program, which focuses on literacy and mentoring, and tennis! (Luckily, it is not likely that I will ever actually have to play tennis, but I may try sometime and use it as a learning experience.) There are a total of 18 AmeriCorps members working for Tenacity, so I'm excited to get to know a good group of people. After this week we are assigned a site (one of five) around Boston where the programs actually take place. We will work with kids from two or three different middle schools at each site. This is about as much as I actually know right now, so I'll save the rest for later.

If any of you are in Boston, please let me know. I am in need of some new faces!


love, Jen

Jello shots and dancing witches in bikinis (Josh)

Sarah and I found both those things on the A Train the other night. Unfortunately, it was late and we indulged in neither.

This blog is great because it’s like being together at a meal in Atwater: you’re all right there in front of me, but I can’t hear a word you’re saying. Hopefully as more people become settled in their new homes (or new states of unsettledness), The Little Telegraph will fill up with our brief dispatches from…wherever.

As for me, after taking the summer off to bum around, I recently moved to New York, at least for the month, to try to find a place to work and a place to live. I’ve been helping Sarah move in to a wonderful apartment uptown (come visit us!) while applying to jobs and meeting folks. Ideally, I’ll be working in some capacity with the food system, helping people find emergency food benefits, sourcing fresh food into the city or improving access to nutrition education. In conjunction, I’ve started to write (slowly) a blog about food, nutrition, science, environment, called The Garden Salvaged. It’s still a work in progress (are there blogs that aren’t?) so feel free to send questions, comments, ideas, complaints.

Ok, friendsies, I look forward to hearing more from all of you! Cheers.

Love, Josh

lately (Miranda)

After two-ish weeks of slightly infuriating Americorps training, I finally started work last week. Much of Americorps training just felt like a waste of time, to be perfectly honest. A full day of team bonding, really?? The government is paying for this... really? Dyad conversations every five minutes?? I decided I needed to try and relax during the retreat, so after the ropes course, swimming pool, talent show, and a rather large game of mafia, which I won by the way, I had my tarot cards read. Amanda, my roommate read them for me. Let's just say that I got a lot of major cards including the Wheel of Fortune, the Hierophant, and Death. Great. Don't tell my mother that I had my tarot cards read. I told her, in an off-hand way, that someone was reading tarot cards during the retreat, and she made me promise not to do it, and then kept saying that it was the work of the devil-- I swear my mom's not crazy though.

Work is nice. I have a desk and I have business cards with my name and occupation and email printed on them and everything. As I was setting up my desk, I almost dropped a printer, which was scary, but aside from that it was all pretty smooth. At the moment I'm having a guilty time asking the interns to do things for me, but they're so eager and great. I keep having to stop myself from saying-- I was an intern, too! all the time.  

Meanwhile, the weather has been schizophrenic.  The other day I went to the beach and tanned.  Last night I was stuck in some fog that was trying really hard to become rain.  I've begun writing again, which is great, and I've also taken up this thing called reading that I forgot about for the past few years. (I think the last book I read for fun was Everything is Illuminated) I'm reading The Bell Jar as of yesterday though I have the feeling it will be done by today. I think that's a book people read in high school.

I'm also finally getting around to reading more Dean Young, Charles Simic, and Phil Levine. Basically my poetry reading list at the moment is people I've met but never fully appreciated because I was lazy and didn't read much. I'm catching up now. Next on the list is Bukowski because I picked up a book of his at Green Apple and it intrigued me. I truly wish someone in my immediate family or friend circle had loved poetry while I was growing up because I feel completely new to everything and don't know where to begin. If anyone wants to recommend me their favorite poets/ poems or even ones you think are striking, I'd be eternally grateful. I'm a fan of Sharon Olds and Li-young Lee and Gary Snyder and William Bronk. I want to be a fan of many more people. 

Oh, can I also say that I'm psyched for Where the Wild Things Are?  In excitement, I'm reviving the yeah yeah yeahs on my itunes.

much love, Miranda

by the way, this is turning into my own blog. I'd love to hear from you.. or YOU.

The Peanut Butter Plan (Miranda)

The peanut butter and jelly solution (a video from The Quotidian who filmed PBP 2)

The Peanut Butter Plan or PBP is now in its fourth month.  I've barely involved myself in this effort to provide food/comfort/care to the hungry because I haven't really been around, but that doesn't mean it's not worth writing about.  Co-run by Jory John and Ryan Lewis, this program  (or community?) gets together once a month to make pb&j sandwiches, then distributes them around the city.  In my case, the city would be San Francisco, but PBPs exist around the country.  If you're interested, you can go on facebook to check out the group and join up with a nearby PBP or start your own in the area.

     PBP number 2, pictured here, was pretty fun, more like a calm party than a do-gooder event, in fact.  We sipped wine, socialized, heard some live music, and had this guy named Manny, a legitimate artist, draw pictures for us (mine was a picture of myself lounging on a gigantic peanut butter and jelly sandwich while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk).  And then, after feeling cozy and relaxed and privileged and comfy, we picked up a few breadbags of sandwiches, and headed out to the night cold and downtown near the TL (tenderloin district) where a lot of homeless people hang out.  We wandered around handing out sandwiches and getting a lot of thanks from the people.  One guy who rejected a sandwich was very apologetic. "sorry," he said, "but I can't eat that.  I just got out of jail.  guess what they serve us everyday in jail."  As great as PB and J can be, I don't think I'd want much of that after being forced to eat it for however long he was in jail.  

     Anyway, whether you think the PBP is a good idea or not, it's important to keep in mind one of the group's core ideas-- small actions have a large impact.  By giving a person a sandwich, we were definitely doing more than alleviating their hunger temporarily.  We could see the moods of the hungry people improve because someone, anyone was showing them a little attention, not acting like they had rabies or scurvy or were dangerous.  

A little action can make a big difference.  When I was younger, I used to say to myself I was going to do at least one nice thing everyday.  Sometimes it meant giving someone a quarter, other times it was helping old people on the bus or giving some really lost person directions (I'm not even kidding, I did these things).  Today a co-worker was telling me a story about seeing someone crying on BART all the way from the mission to Oakland.  She didn't know whether to ask what was wrong and try to help or to leave the girl her space.  We all thought about that and then one person said, "I would have offered her a tissue."  

I'll be blogging again soon because at this moment in time I feel like I have a lot to say.  I'm going to talk about my tarot card reading and unemployment and the beach, and maybe other stuff.  Less emo, I promise.