I spent this past Friday night in Cleveland at a place called the Beachland Ballroom. I went there with my girlfriend Laurie to see my favorite singer, Glenn Tilbrook, with his new band The Fluffers. Glenn had previously been the singer for Squeeze.
I have to first admit that I have had a crush on Glenn since I was 13 years old and I first saw him on MTV. His voice and his good looks sent me to the moon. I have seen Squeeze perhaps a half dozen times.
In January, I found out that he was touring and that meet and greet tickets were available. Unfortunately, he wasn't coming to Detroit. The closest he would be was Cleveland. My other problem was our lack of money. But, undaunted, I set about convincing my husband. When I told him that Laurie had agreed, he said sure.
We left the Detroit area around 11:30 and the total trip took us a little over three hours. Unfortunately, our hotel was a bit of a pit (the Comfort Inn in Wickliffe is not worth $90/night). Laurie took a nap while I read the Squeeze: Song by Song book that I brought for Glenn to sign.
When she woke up, it was time to get dressed and find a place to eat. I wanted to look attractive, but not slutty, so I brought way too much clothing. Eventually, I decided on the knee length black skirt, the new calf high black boots, and a tank top with a lacy front (not sheer) that showed some cleavage. I never show cleavage, so I felt very odd in this shirt. I threw on my jean jacket and away we went.
We found the Beachland and then went to dinner. Laurie has a GPS system on her phone and it has a restaurant finding feature. She read some names and we decided on Bistro 185. The food was wonderful. We ate appetizers, I had a small plate with scallops and shrimp in a cheesy alfredo sauce and she had a smoked duck breast on potato pancakes.
We timed everything perfectly and arrived on time for the meet and greet. There were only six people signed up for the meet and greet. We were taken to a back bar area and were given tour posters. Simon Hanson, the drummer, arrived first and gave hugs all around. Glenn arrived next and proved to be a very genial fellow. He graciously posed for pictures, hugging and kissing complete strangers. He signed my book. He asked what I did for a living and he said that he thought that teaching was a cool thing to do, like good for the world.
The meet and greet lasted about a half-hour and then the band went to go get ready. On stage, the band was joyous, bouncing, and tight. A real highlight came for me during the first set. On their album, Pandemonium Ensues, Johnny Depp (a big Squeeze fan) does a voice over for an instrumental piece called "Too Close To the Sun." All Johnny does is repeat those words a intervals. Needless to say, Mr. Depp is not on the road with Glenn and his band, so an audience volunteer was sought. I jumped up and raised my hand and Glenn picked me. I went around to the stairs, Glenn had remembered my name (wow!) and he told me just to watch him for my cue. Glenn played guitar to my immediate left and I spoke "too close to the sun," into the microphone whenever Glenn told me. Before leaving the stage, both he and the bassist, Lucy Shaw gave me big hugs. Where ever I went in the audience after that, people screamed my name and gave me high fives.
After the show, Glenn and the band came out to the merchandise area, where more autographs were signed. I bought the new CD and the whole band signed it. I had the chance to chat with Glenn for quite some time. I can't believe how many pictures I have where it is just the two of us chatting. He was very kind and generous with his time.
I only hope that next time, he and his band swing through Detroit.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Looking for a job
I knew that things would be tight financially when I decided to take a year off of work. I just didn't realize that I would have to get a job.
I have spent the last few mornings going to retails stores of the big box nature, filling out applications. I have been surprised by one change since my retail days (in college 20 years ago), all of these stores want a resume. I can't understand why. These are minimum wage jobs. I have a resume, displaying how wonderful a teacher I am. I can't justify skewing my CV to show the vast retail experience I accumulated before becoming a teacher.
My job search took me to the mall today. I was struck how by how youth orientated the mall really is. I didn't feel comfortable filling out an application at most of the stores in the mall, mostly because the merchandise is not meant for me. Those places don't want someone with wisps of gray hair selling size 2 pants to teenage girls.
Unfortunately, the economy is such that almost no one is hiring anyway. I got a lot of "we're just not hiring." Well, tomorrow, I hit the big box hardware stores. At least at those places, I won't be tempted to spend too much cash.
I have spent the last few mornings going to retails stores of the big box nature, filling out applications. I have been surprised by one change since my retail days (in college 20 years ago), all of these stores want a resume. I can't understand why. These are minimum wage jobs. I have a resume, displaying how wonderful a teacher I am. I can't justify skewing my CV to show the vast retail experience I accumulated before becoming a teacher.
My job search took me to the mall today. I was struck how by how youth orientated the mall really is. I didn't feel comfortable filling out an application at most of the stores in the mall, mostly because the merchandise is not meant for me. Those places don't want someone with wisps of gray hair selling size 2 pants to teenage girls.
Unfortunately, the economy is such that almost no one is hiring anyway. I got a lot of "we're just not hiring." Well, tomorrow, I hit the big box hardware stores. At least at those places, I won't be tempted to spend too much cash.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Testing PaLooza
I have come to the realization that I miss work. The chaos, the noise, the kids - all of it. Except this week.
This is the week during which all juniors in the state of Michigan take standardize tests to prove that their teachers are worthy of holding down a job. I always hate testing week. First of all, thanks to the pressure of NCLB and the parasitic charter schools, I spend the whole month of February doing intensive test prep - during class time. Because juniors will take the ACT tomorrow, I spend an inordinate amount of time drilling them on grammar rules that we have gradually reviewed all year. We also perform timed reading tasks. By the time we actually get to test week, everyone is stressed and anxious.
The two days of testing that follow the ACT (yes, there are three day of testing - for a grand total of 12 hours), students will take state one test that cover some of the same material, but at a lower skill level. This test is called Work Keys and it seems to be geared toward entry level job skills. The final test students take is a social studies test that requires two essays in three hours.
To accommodate all of this testing, my district runs half days, keeping non-testing students at home. At the end of it, everyone is spent and drained. And for what? To tell me that my immigrant students don't test as well as their suburban counterparts? To try and drive a stake in my heart and make me feel like I'm a failure? To get more kids to go to privately operated charter schools, circumventing teachers' unions?
If students from lower socio-economic neighborhoods tend to do drastically poorer on tests - doesn't it stand to reason that poverty is an underlying cause? Maybe we should address the larger issue.
This is the week during which all juniors in the state of Michigan take standardize tests to prove that their teachers are worthy of holding down a job. I always hate testing week. First of all, thanks to the pressure of NCLB and the parasitic charter schools, I spend the whole month of February doing intensive test prep - during class time. Because juniors will take the ACT tomorrow, I spend an inordinate amount of time drilling them on grammar rules that we have gradually reviewed all year. We also perform timed reading tasks. By the time we actually get to test week, everyone is stressed and anxious.
The two days of testing that follow the ACT (yes, there are three day of testing - for a grand total of 12 hours), students will take state one test that cover some of the same material, but at a lower skill level. This test is called Work Keys and it seems to be geared toward entry level job skills. The final test students take is a social studies test that requires two essays in three hours.
To accommodate all of this testing, my district runs half days, keeping non-testing students at home. At the end of it, everyone is spent and drained. And for what? To tell me that my immigrant students don't test as well as their suburban counterparts? To try and drive a stake in my heart and make me feel like I'm a failure? To get more kids to go to privately operated charter schools, circumventing teachers' unions?
If students from lower socio-economic neighborhoods tend to do drastically poorer on tests - doesn't it stand to reason that poverty is an underlying cause? Maybe we should address the larger issue.
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