Homeworking

From Warner Bros. upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: An example of a bad leader-to-be.

New verb. Do you like it? So here I am, being good and reading Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence by Goleman, Boyattzis and Annie McKee. I've already done everything else I have to do for this class for Monday. Anyway, I'm trundling along, reading the preface and learning that the book grew out of columns in the Harvard Business Journal, and learning that you should be nice to people, not yell at them, and not be negative if you want anything to get done. And then, I stumbled across this in Chapter 2:

"Such leaders have an emotional impact a bit like that of the 'dementors' in the Harry Potter series, who 'drain peace, hope, and happiness from the air around them.' " This is follwed by a superscript 7, which lead me to a reference of: 7. Dementors: J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (London, Bloomsbury, 1999) 187.

So there you go, reading YA fantasy is helping me learn not to suck peoples' souls out. Thanks, Harvard Press!

WW - Hating on the Other Half at Alta

Tracking Packages

"But now, says the Once-ler, Now that you´re here, the word of the Lorax
seems perfectly clear. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not."

So, I have ordered all of my textbooks for the semester and actually have most of them in hand. I was able to get four of them used and had to buy three new, which was frustrating, because I like to save money and trees. Trees are shady and clean the air and are very nice, except when you run into them with a car or on skis, or even sometimes just walking, like my dad did with his head the other week. But still, I think chopping them down to make books is not so good, even though I love books.

Anyway, one of the outstanding ones is a big law casebook on Environmental Law, which I'm super excited to read, because I am a dork like that. I keep getting told by my professors that everything I say or suggest "is really policy" and I'm like, you betcha it is, just wait until I get all of this into law and it RULES OUR LIVES. So, this book of case law is on its way and has guaranteed 3 day delivery. Thank you B&N.

Here's what it's done so far:

I feel sort of badly for it that it's spent a significant time of its little book life in New Jersey and is now apparently taking a tour of the state. However, I will feel even sorrier for myself if it does not come on Thursday, because I have some catchup reading to do. Not to mention redesigning Natural Resource law and giving Environmental Health law some teeth. Dear manufacturers of the world, does the phrase "cradle-t0-cradle" make your timbers shiver?

Quick overview of classes:

Leadership and Ethics, School of Public Affairs, studying adaptive leadership, professor uses lots of clips (eg. scenes from Patton, Gandhi, and Obama's inaugural - hey, is the word inaugural related to the word augury?). Starting out by studying Ernest Shackleton, Victorian dude who lost his ship to Antarctic pack ice and proceeded to get himself and all 27 of his men out alive. I keep getting distracted because I have a hunch he was kind of cute in person.

Sustainable Land Use Planning, School of Architecture and Planning, doing all projects and research around advising the City of Aurora on incorporating sustainability elements into their revision of the city's comprehensive plan. I will be focusing on, what else, concrete ways to lower emissions, increase energy efficiency, etc. ie., policy.

Natural Resource and Environmental Health Law, a class I am super excited about. We're looking at both together because they're generally treated separately but of course the environment doesn't work like that. I like this professor's style A LOT. He is cool. I want to be him. Only without the bit where he served as a combat medic in Vietnam.

Excerpts from gChat: They had sex and she was bald?

I think I'll start doing these now and then. There are so many funny exchanges. Don't worry, I will not put up the hilarious ones that involve privileged information. This one refers to last Friday's new Battlestar Galactica episode.

Jennifer: oh!

one last thing

me:yes?

Jennifer: Adama and Roslin finally had sex

at the end of the episode

me: haha

how was that?

5:07 PM Jennifer: well, they didn't show it

that would have been nasty

they just showed them in bed

and she didn't have her wig on

and they were both very happy

me: they had sex and she was bald?

Jennifer: yep

5:08 PM but it was sweet

me: ok, good to know

Jennifer: I'm glad they didn't show it happening though ;)

ok, go take a shower

5:09 PM

Armadillidiidae

Yes, that is spelled correctly, and no, I did not make it up. You will no doubt be delighted to learn, as I was, that that Armadillidae is the family name for roly polies!!! Or pill bugs! How great is that? Really great. Yeah. It's a fun world.

What else. I went to Sundance. That deserves it's own entry or entries, but for now I will summarize and say that we saw The September Issue, a documentary about Vogue's Fall 2007 issue and more specifically Grace Coddington and Anna Wintour. Anna Wintour is the editor of Vogue and is the inspiration behind the title character in the novel and movie The Devil Wears Prada. Grace Coddington is the creative director of Vogue, and is incredibly gifted. The photographs above are from a couture shoot in Paris she styled for the September 2007 issue. It was a highly entertaining film and I recommend it.

Ok, I am going to go ahead and publish this now because I wrote it a few days ago and want to get it out. But more on Sundance to come!

December Playlist

Ok, so I sucked at blogging in December. Fortunately, I think everyone else sucked as well, for the same reasons I did. Lots of family, friends in from out of town, skiing, etc. I tend to live a lot in December - it's my favorite month of the year, despite the lack of light. And don't worry - one of my New Year's resolutions is to post more regularly to this blog, and also to send out a mass e-mail informing people that it actually exists. At which point, you'd all better periodically comment so I know it's worthwhile to keep writing!

Alright, here are the songs:

1. Hello Dolly "Put on Your Sunday Clothes"

Great song from a musical full of great songs. Further immortalized by Wall-E.

2. Pat Benatar "We Belong"

My favorite arrangement of this song is in a Sheraton Commercial from two years ago. But the original is good too.

3. Newton Faulkner "Gone in the Morning"

So so catchy. Fantastic lyrics like "I'm gonna master all kinds of kung fu/I'm gonna live inside a tiny zoo/ I'm gonna grow myself a giant afro - incredible."

4. Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

I decided not to do a whole playlist of Christmas songs, although, trust me, that would have been easy. This one I wanted to throw in because it's new to me and sort of jazzy. Hurray for syncopation!

5. Chuck Berry "You Never Can Tell"

Quentin Tarantino has fantastic taste in music. This song also makes me think of a Gilmore Girls episode . . .

6. The White Stripes "We're Going to Be Friends"

I have this habit of loving maybe 1-5 songs from an artist or group and kind of hating everything else. I don't think I like most of The White Stripes, but this song is amazing.

7. Taylor Swift "Fifteen"

Cat introduced me to Taylor, and now I love her. And have redeveloped my complex over not having been a child prodigy. I figure I have time to do something showy though - just look at Grandma Moses!

8. Neil Patrick Harris "My Freeze Ray"

Oh, Neil. Why are you gay? WHY??? *ahem* Any song about a crush that has the lyrics "You make me feel/what's the phrase/ like a fool/ kind of sick/ special needs/ anyway . . . " is getting it right.

9. Edward Sanders and Helena Bonham Carter "Not While I'm Around"

I saw Sweeney Todd last year around the New Year, and so in the days around New Year this year I kept singing this to myself. Mostly in the shower. I've come to realize that my brain definitely knows what time of year it is and pulls up memories from past years right on cue - weird.

10. Sara Bareilles "Love Song"

This is probably one of my favorite songs of 2008. She wrote it about her recording company (thank you my Sarah B. for that tidbit) and it totally changes the meaning of the song when you know that.

11. Amy Winehouse "You Know I'm No Good"

Oh Amy, if you had no talent this whole destructive downward spiral would not be nearly as tragic.

12. Basement Jaxx "Red Alert"

Caught Bend it Like Beckham on TV and reconfirmed that it an awesome movie. Note to self: watch Match Point ASAP.

13. Jesse McCartney " Leavin' "

Dear Jesse,
Despite your inability to buy me a drink on a date, I will still go out on one with you. Etc.
Loves,
L

14. Natasha Bedingfield "Unwrittten"

Yes yes, I know it's the The Hills song, whatever, I like it.

15. Morton Lauridsen "Les Chanson des Roses: No. 5 Dirait-on

First heard this when one of my high school choir directors had the senior choir perform the piece. The lyrics are a base on a Rilke poem. Very calming and uplifting all at once.

WW - Petroglyphs on the Colorado River

Belated, I know. One of the hands is a child's, it was very small, and one is missing the little finger.