Happy Christmas

Beautiful tree in Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This Principal Is a Mensch

He told his teachers that getting to school Friday shouldn’t be a priority.

He told them the official starting time was 10:00 AM, but those coming in should get there whenever they could.

He told them to bring their children.

He held a short meeting and then sent them to “lunch” and told the new ones to ask the veteran ones what that meant.

 

I just met a woman who visited the school at 1:00.  She said it was a ghost town.

 

The school system needs more Principals like this one.

 

Geodome

Ghost Buster buildings behind Central Park.  View from roof of Met.

Central Park

Central Park

The giant crane causing all problems on 57th St.

Greek head--Posterized with Photoshop

 Friday I took advantage of free subway and bus rides to visit the Met.  I am grateful transportation was up and running but the 30 minute trip took 2 hours and the line getting on the train going home wrapped around 63rd St.  Smart me thought of taking the express bus and got home in no time.  Anyway, I think I will avoid Manhattan for until things are back to normal.  I did get to see the Geodome exhibit, which closed Sunday so it was all good.  Above are a few pictures.   

Still no Internet at home, but with the losses others have suffered, this is nothing.  Right now, I am at work on a school computer.  

Hope everyone is safe.

Save Big Bird, Big Bird Helps Kids Learn



Parenthood overwhelmed me.  My two kids, 19 months apart exhausted me.  Both were early risers.  To say my son was active, would be an understatement.  The one thing that kept my sanity was his love of Sesame Street.  He would watch it at 7, 8 and 9 and on days when we were stuck in the house, he watched tapes.  (It was the only way I could get anything done or go to the bathroom in peace.  He grew up fine, in spite of, or maybe because of all this television.)  He especially loved the movie where the whole gang got locked in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and met the little Egyptian boy who wanted to be a star to join his parents.

I remember taking both kids to the museum, my son was just about two at the time.  As soon as we walked into the Egyptian exhibit, he ran from me screaming, "Mommy, mommy, there is the Temple of Dendur."  An elderly woman looked at him, clearly impressed with the words come out of my little boy.  She said, he must be a child prodigy. (Those who know him know this is not true.)  When he had his fill of this, we walked around other parts of the museum where he continued to amaze bystanders with his knowledge.

Romney claims to care about education but he is cutting funding to PBS, a valuable source of learning for many children.  At less than a year, my daughter knew all her numbers and letters.  Before she could walk, she was crawling up and down the block reading license plates.  While I read to her, I never sat and taught her the alphabet.  She knew enough to stay in bed until the clock read  "7 0 0" and diligently repeated all the digits on it until the right ones arrived.  Again, Sesame Street was her teacher.  And again, my son wowed his hospital room when, at 18 months, he made us spell every word he heard.  His love of letters came from that show.

Money is all that matters to Romney and his crew and PBS is not a money maker for them.  My kids came from a home where education was stressed and they still needed Sesame Street.  And now he wants to deprive others of this wonderful, fun learning experience.  He should be ashamed.

I know there are more important issues in this country than saving PBS, but that doesn't negate the valuable service it provides.

(I just read an article about how TLC was started by NASA as a non-profit.  Now, shows like Honey Boo Boo are its biggest attraction.  TLC has become the trashiest network one can watch.)

Enjoying NYC

I met my daughter at Penn Station and we walked uptown, through a street fair, to Central Park and then to a few museums. Beautiful day for a carriage ride in Central Park, something I have never done. I always wondered if the horses were being treated well.
Guitarist serenading himself by the pond.
The Dairy
Remote control boats in Central Park pond. At $10 a half hour, the owner of this concession was cleaning up today.

Ped bikes--I always feel sorry for these guys. At least today was not too hot.
"I Want To Believe" is an unbelievable exhibit at the Guggenheim by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Pictured above is one of a series of cars that he placed at various heights and various stages of a car bomb explosion. Cai has received global recognition as a bold originator of new art forms whose basic material is gun powder. Videos show exactly how this art is produced. They are fascinating. My favorite part of the exhibit was the 108 life size sculptures depicting the hardships of Chinese life in the 1900's. The pain these people felt reached through the clay and into the hearts of the viewers. I recommend seeing this exhibit. It is well worth the $18 it costs to get in. Hurry, the exhibit closes May 28.

The Super Hero exhibit in the fashion institute of the Met was super! The outfits those guys (and girls) wore were great! Of course, you needed the perfect body to get into them, especially the women. Female super heroes are so exploited for their sexuality, but it is still fun to view those costumes and see the fashions they inspired.