Cook.

We bought a new rice cooker at Costco! It is amazing! It is like making food in the microwave, only no scary threat of radiation!

Last night, I made chili verde rice and chicken. I give it 6 stars for taste and 10 stars for ease of creation and 2 extra stars because it gave me leftovers for two days.

Chili Verde Rice & Chicken

1 cup long grain white rice

1&1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup roasted red peppers in strips

12oz chili verde sauce

1 cup shredded roast chicken

Cilantro and chopped red tomato with pepper for garnish

Mix all ingredients in rice cooker (except for garnish) and turn on for white rice. Cook approximately 30 minutes. Garnish and enjoy for days!

Reflect.

I first learned about the Enneagram ages ago -- when I was 19 or 20. Since then, it has been one of the most important tools for me for understanding myself, my areas of strength and challenge, and understanding how others see the world in different but equally valid ways.

A few months ago, I signed up for an EnneaThought of the day from the Enneagram Institute. It is somewhat shocking how often I get a thought that has genuinely appropriate advice for me.

Your Type One EnneaThought for January 24th—

Remember it is not beating yourself up that produces change, but self-knowledge and awareness. Today it's enough to see your self-judgments more clearly.

I had already been reflecting on this, the idea that I can trust myself to lean into good things. Sometimes I get frustrated because I can see all of the qualities that I want to have, I can envision it clearly, and I want it now, but I just don't know how to force growth. But maybe it is enough to see what I desire, and to be aware of this, and then gradually (without knowing it) live into myself.

A more abstract "doing" for the day, but one that I wanted to share.

Rest.

Today I did almost nothing. I am still fighting the cold that I survived on Thursday. I canceled plans to go to a baby shower, and also did not go to church.
Instead, I sat on the couch for most of the day, and alternately on my bed.
And I watched the end of Hannah Montana Season 4, and I took a nap, and I sort-of worked on my findings for grad school, and I rested.
That is hard for me.
Even when I am sick.
I also blew my nose like, 50 thousand times.
Where does mucus even come from?
So weird.

Participate.

Every year I wake up one sunny Saturday nearing the end of January and I think, Uh-oh! The tree!

The Christmas tree, of course.

I think we have attachment issues with our felicitous evergreens and just try to delay the inevitable parting.

Today I participated in the 37th Annual Christmas Tree Recycling Program. Thank goodness I remembered -- the program ends tomorrow.

R.I.P. Doug

Analyze.

Tonight I signed up for an account with Calorie Count, an online database that allows you to almost effortlessly track your calories for the day as well as graphically analyze your nutrient intake.

I am distressed to realize that today I ate nothing nutritious!

One neat feature about this site is that if you identify that you are lacking in say, iron, you can click on an icon for helpful information about what kinds of foods contain that. I do not know if this web site will revolutionize my health and diet, but I do believe that action starts with awareness, so who knows?

Survive.

Sinus pressure.
I went to grad school tonight and it hurt so bad that I cried.
My CFF told me to go home.
I did, and then went to sleep at 8.
But I did go, and I did survive.
So that is good.

Drink.

I went to Lilah's apartment tonight for our first visit since she became an amazing international traveler! She showed me all her pictures that she took, and explained what they all meant, and I learned about Argentinian government, customs, architecture, history and eateries.

She brought me back a beautiful leather flower clip, as well as a common Argentinian drink, called Yerbe Mate. I instantly wanted to try it (obviously) and though she repeatedly warned me about its flavor, I wanted the whole effect.

In Argentina, this is a tea that you use just the leaves, and then this special metal straw that has its own filter. People frequently pass this drink symbolically as a sign of peace, or friendship, when they are gathered together.

Tonight, I also passed it -- a few sips was enough for me. I am going to acquire a taste for it, though. I can imagine liking it in the future, kind of like I once had to learn to like wine or beer or sushi.

Receive.

Most Tuesdays nights do not involve me going much of anywhere. Especially not the night before grades and comments are due. But when I received a text from my friend Jaymie that Grant was making gumbo and did I want to partake? I wasn't sure how I could turn down gumbo, or Grant, or Jaymie.

So even though it meant putting off work that has been giving me anxiety for the past two weeks, off to Grant's I went.
And I am so glad I did.

I met Grant a long time ago -- in HIST 411 -- and since meeting him, I have always received from him; a quotation, an intriguing comment on truth or history or human existence, a book recommendation, a good conversation.

Tonight, with open hands and mouth, I received. I admire his generosity -- for making an amazing gumbo ("You are not your job or how much money you have in the bank... you are, however, your recipes), a delicious stone brewed ale, two books to help my graduate thesis, one of his conceptual paintings, and the following quotation (which makes me feel peaceful):

"Every sentence has a truth waiting at the end of it and the writer learns how to know it when he finally gets there. On one level, this truth is the swing of the sentence, the beat and the poise, but down deeper, its the integrity of the writer as he matches with the language. I've always seen myself in sentences. I begin to recognize myself word by word, as I work through a sentence. The language of my books has shaped me as a man. There's a moral force in a sentence when it comes out right. It speaks the writer's will to live. The deeper I become entangled in the process of getting a sentence right, in its syllables and rhythms, the more I learn about myself." - Don DeLillo

This is the most succinct description of why I write.
I am glad to have received this tonight.

Travel.

Visitar.

Witness.

Today I witnessed the marriage ceremony of Amy Catherine Hensarling and James Curtis Krueger, and it was beautiful from beginning till end.

We had the fortune of visiting with the bride as she got ready for the day, and put on her stockings awkwardly, and her dress, and as she laughed and talked about how little she'd eaten and how little she'd slept.

She was by far the least stressed out bride I've ever seen.

The wedding ceremony was Episcopalian and elaborate.

Afterwards, hor d'oeuvres and cake in the reception hall, and later, an equally elaborate dinner at the Terrace. All day, I felt spoiled and happy to share with Amy on this occasion. I hope it is only the beginning of face-to-face encounters and shared laughter.

Surprise.

Lina and I woke up early (early) and made our way slowly across the country to Florida. After arriving in Tampa, we drove to Lakeland and found the church where we believed Amy was rehearsing for her wedding.

When we crept into the sanctuary, the look on her face was priceless. She hugged us both for minutes, and was so excited (about everything). Then we went downstairs and ate pizza until we felt sick.

Yay for cross-country surprises and going to the wedding of a woman you've never met but love completely.

Mix.

Amy's and my friendship was built on music mixes, so tonight, on the eve's eve of her wedding, it seems only appropriate to piece together a few love songs.

We became friends a long time ago -- through a complicated story that connects to speech & debate, social deprivation due to homeschooling, Xanga, and fate. Sometime in April 2006, Amy started the idea of the "month mix": a concept of songs that you love and heard during the month, which vaguely describe the month like a journal of chords and melodies.

Every month, we would collect our songs, and mail a package with a letter or a pretty picture, and this for almost a year. Since our relationship was somewhat fueled by the love angst of our college years, I feel fulfilled to select only songs that are truly happy-ever-after, and have none of that "everything will be alright" feel which sustained our hope so many years ago.

So when Lina suggested I add this song to the mix, nothing felt more appropriate:

Persevere.

This week my students are full-swing into Presentation of Learning mode -- which means that daily, I wake up and pray that I will have enough mindfulness to be present with each one of them as they present 5-8 minute speeches regarding their learning over the first semester.

Today twenty students presented, and yesterday, twenty-two.

This is always an important time of the year for the students as they reflect on their growth and project onto their future.

It reminds me of a quotation by John Dewey from Democracy and Education when he writes:

Not only is social life identical with communication, but all communication, and hence all genuine social life, is educative. To be a recipient of a communication is to have an enlarged and changed experience. One shares in what another has thought and felt and in so far, meagerly or amply, has his own attitude modified. Nor is the one who communicates left unaffected. Try the experiment of communicating, with fullness and accuracy, some experience to another, especially if it be somewhat complicated, and you will find your own attitude toward your experience changing; otherwise you resort to expletives and ejaculations. The experience has to be formulated in order to be communicated. To formulate requires getting outside of it, seeing it as another would see it, considering what points of contact it has with the life of another so that it may be got into such form that he can appreciate its meanings. Except in dealing with commonplaces and catch phrases one has to assimilate, imaginatively, something of another's experience in order to tell him intelligently of one's own experience. All communication is like art.

Watch.

In the wake of the tragic gun massacre in Tucson, AZ last weekend, I have been watching The Rachel Maddow Show and reflecting on the situation. I have deeply appreciated the way that she has addressed the situation -- never in a reductionist manner, never in a way that dehumanizes figures from either side of the political spectrum, or even paying an undue amount of attention to the details of this particular gun massacre. Last night, she said it brilliantly:

Each new American gun massacre is both singularly horrific in its own way and its insane not to to acknowledge that it is part of a very clear, very frequently repeating pattern.

She opened up last night's segment with the Cliff Note's version of twenty or so other gun massacres that have occurred in the United States within my lifetime, and it does beg a question that goes far beyond the current political climate. What's going on here?

Tonight, Rachel discussed the immediate headlines proclaiming despair over any change to US gun laws. These headlines are hard to miss. After a short conversation with my roommate on the best argument I'd heard for gun control, I passed on this delightful argument that Chris Rock supports (also featured on Rachel's show tonight).

Unfortunately, it's explicit, so if you're under 18, I never recommended you watch this.

Multi-task.

More fun with Instagram tonight! While watching the 14th (ish) season of The Bachelor with my roomie, I made this hot sauce wallpaper. I have also learned how to take pictures of pictures using my new iPhone (push the square button & the on button at the same time!).

Yes, I got an iPhone.

I used to not understand how come people with iPhones are always on their iPhones, but now I realize how many cool things you can do on them. And there's just something special about the fact that you're doing it on your phone. You get that "Like, woah" factor, and photo editing never felt more awesome.

In other news, the new season of The Bachelor is totally scandalous. Even though I was a much bigger fan of last season, I must at least give Brad credit for dismissing his drama queens on tonight's episode. Not to be overly judgmental (when watching reality TV, is there such a thing as overly judgmental?) but anyone who cries on episode #2 is probably not going to make it much further anyhow.

Celebrate.

Tonight I had the privilege of joining one of my dearest and most darling friends to celebrate the eve of her 24th birthday (her real birthday is tomorrow). I also enjoyed playing with my new iPhone and this fun photo filter app called "Instagram." It makes everything instantly pretty!

Jim & Karen cooked up a fantabulously delicious dinner, Kevin picked out a tart, the guys kicked the girls' butts at Catch Phrase, and then the teachers went home early to get ready for the perpetual Monday.

Crochet.

When I got home from being mildly productive (for a Saturday evening), my roommate Lisa was sitting on the couch in the living making things with yarns and hooks. It looked so pleasant, so I got out my supplies and set to work to make something, too.

I am working on patterns, and was inspired by a similar stitch that another friend used to make a fancy earring holder thing. This one is a little looser, but has a similar effect.

I like keeping my hands busy - it actually helps me a lot with managing my anxiety. I used to do a lot of crafts when I was little, but gave it up for some reason (probably computer related) when I became a teenager. I spent tons of time making headbands and hats and mistakes over break, and my grandma helped me purchase a bagful of yarn for Christmas, so crocheting and crafting are back in my life.

Survey.

Morning meetings can be tough, especially on Friday. Today I woke up, considered running, decided my bed was far too comfortable to leave and then tried to be forgiving of myself for forgoing something I know is "good" for me. Then I drove to school.

Our Friday morning consisted of a task: Make a survey.

At first, I was internally resistant. "Make a survey!? Pshaw! I have better things to do!" said my ego. And then some other part of my brain was like, "You know, you are in grad school, and probably should give out a survey at the mid-year." And then I got happy, and busy, and started busting out a survey about cooperation and how the kids feel about speaking up and feeling heard.

After making a survey using Google Docs and making sure there was 100% compliance, I am happy to report 2 things:

1) Every single student in my class feels like they have grown in cooperation at least a little bit.
2) Every single student in my class feels like they at least sometimes have an opportunity to say what they want to say, both in their small groups, and in the class in general.

My heart smiles. This is all I've been trying to do for years.

Imagine.

This evening in my grad seminar, Stacey gave us an opportunity to imagine with markers. This is typically my favorite way of imagining, because something magical happens when I have an art utensil in my hand. It sort of triggers a rainbow of creativity, and unicorns, and things.

Sort of.

Tonight my action research became something entirely new. Up until this exercise, I imagined my product as a graphic novel, which is neat, but kind of ambitious for completing in less than 6 months. I still want to do this - one day - because I think the best philosophy should be able to be distilled into something that is accessible. I love the idea of making education philosophy that even those "being educated" could understand. For me, The Little Prince is far more brilliant than say, The Prince.

One of my colleagues posted this whiteboard animation about education paradigms a while back, and it got circulated quickly and often on Facebook. After doing whiteboard art for years, everything started clicking into place and I imagined my product as a whiteboard animation. All the ideas worth mentioning in 10 minutes or less, and fun drawings to go alongside it. This may change, but it is a fun imagination for the day.

Eat.

Today I ate.

I am going to celebrate the food that I consumed:

Greek yogurt and trek mix granola from Trader Joe's
Lay's Limon chips
Potato burrito from El Zarape.

I probably wouldn't have eaten the burrito except that Patrick texted me, "What do you want most in the world?" and as I thought about it, I realized that the thing I wanted most in the world was for someone to give me free dinner.

I thought it was funny that if I wanted dinner more than anything in the world, why wasn't I getting myself dinner instead of reading Into the Wild?

But it's probably because I have recently been feeling very poor. I think it is in the air, because of the holidays. Even though I am pretty sure that I have money, I have been afraid to look in my bank account and see just precisely how much I spent on lavish Christmas gifting. This might not be a real explanation, but it seems to have some validity.

Fortunately, the thing Patrick wanted most in the world was to hang out with me, so he brought me free dinner. Sometimes, days do end with happily ever after (until next time).

Listen.

I have been living in the dark ages of indie music for the past year and a half since my CD player in my car stopped working in the Summer of oh-nine. I tried to make the best of it. I grew to enjoy pretty much every radio station that exists. I swung from country, to rap, to pop, to reggaeton, to classical, and this until Taylor Swift sounded on every...single...station.

O.M.G.
(I'm so in love.)

(Radio music joke.)

I scoured thrift stores for cassette tapes, and pushed my musical development further back into the sounds of Cat Stevens, Art Garfunkel, the Rolling Stones, and Hank Williams (whatever I could find). Unfortunately, something about cassette tapes (maybe I am too young to understand this) makes them malfunction when the car is either too hot or too cold. It affects Side B more consistently.

Finally, however, my brother and sister put me out of my misery and purchased a CD player plus installation and presented this glorious offering to me for Christmas.

Today, I listened to The Age of Adz, and something that had been starving inside of me smiled. I encourage you to listen again for the first time to this song that has been out for many weeks prior to this one. Pretend you are me. This is called respite from radio. It sounds amazing.

"We can do much more together" Impossible Soul - Sufjan Stevens

Start.

I have never considered myself a "blogger," although I have blogged consistently (more-or-less) for the past 10 years. What I write is more, well, abstract reflections and commentary on my human existence.

I like writing. I like existing. It makes sense to pair the two, doesn't it?

Friends have commented over the years that it is difficult to understand, and that they still don't really know what I "do."

So this is a commitment to post what I do - publicly - and often. My project is to capture something - anything, some form of evidence - of what I do on a daily basis, and to post it. Maybe it's a quotation from a book that I read, or something that I heard in ballet class. Maybe it's a photograph from a run, or a crochet pattern I tried. The parameters are intentionally broad to support my success.

Today I think it enough to start this: I Heart Verbs, wherein I celebrate the Doings of my day. This post is evidence enough.