Hottie McHot

Sigh...I just got home from going to see the new Pride and Prejudice. Now, while the BBC version remains, in my opinion, the best adaptation of the book that can ever be made, this one had Matthew MacFayden. I think his direction in the scene to the left was, "Walk. Look hot." Yeah, he nailed it. The movie was really good overall. And I think we were all in agreement that every man who was there got lucky tonight...And what did us single gals do? Well, we headed over to The Cheesecake Factory for some chocolatey goodness. And wine...And, already reveling in the Mr. Darcy afterglow, we then had the good fortune to have our cake served by these gents:
Um, yeah...It was a good night...

Hooked on Ebonics

Yesterday we went on our very first field trip of the year. There's a program called ArtSmart that teachers can participate in and you get a guest artist who comes and does 3 lessons with the kids and you go on a field trip. This year, the program was Sones de Mexico. They are a Chicago-based band who put on a show of traditional Mexican songs and dance. It was good, but lloonnngg. Especially for my wiggly first graders. Anyhoo...another first grade teacher who went has a bunch of hooligans in her class so myself and the other 2 first grade teachers each took a couple of the more rowdy ones. (We have ELL and they act like angels...usually.) One of the boys I took cracks me up. He was also in first grade last year and I had him for after school tutoring. He absolutely can not NOT talk. So on the way back to school, I sat with him and asked him how he liked the show. He said, "I had fun up in there." Now, immediately my mind starts replaying the Delta Ebonics commercial. Favorite line: "You goin? We get you there. You been? We done flown up in dat." I had to turn away and look out the window while I giggled. Then I thought of Angie because I think we recited the whole commercial while walking down the street in London...Angie, if you read this--I miss you!! And sleep peacefully knowing that ebonics is alive and well in Nashville...

Special Guest Star Reader #1

As usual, Amanda kicked off the SGSR series. She came today and read A Bargain for Francis. This was one of my favorite books growing up, but Amanda had never even heard of it. Thanks for being a trooper and reading it anyways!! (I have a picture that I took with my camera phone, but for some reason when I try to post it, the picture is literally the size of a thumbnail and all around it is fuzzy screen...If anyone knows how to correct this let me know!) After Amanda read, we closed the day with a soul stirring rendition of Tony Chestnut. Don't know what that means? Come read to my class and you'll find out!!

Sadness

Last night I was in Green Hills to meet up with friends for my roommate's birthday dinner at Cheesecake Factory. I had some time to kill so I thought it would be a good time to check out the new Davis-Kidd. I went in not expecting much, I knew it wouldn't be the same as the cozy bookshop down the street had been. I was still unprepared, though, for how commercial D-K has gone. I walk into incredibily bright flourescent lighting (boo #1). The upstairs is pretty small, but not bad...Okay, this might not be horrible. Then I go downstairs. Boos #2-100 happen down here. First of all, the music and movies section is huge. That's not a bad thing if you're Borders. If you're Davis-Kidd, that's not what your focus is supposed to be on. Remember your ONE aisle of music/movies? Yeah, that was fine. An entire section is now set aside for this. And really the music people (or at least I) bought was the local or folksy stuff...I can't imagine going to D-K for the new Backstreet Boys (even just typing that I think I just threw up a little). To the right of the stairs is row after row devoted to gifts, cards, and other retail frivolities. Again, small space worked before. Now I know this store is bigger so there's room to spread out, but this expansion has made Davis-Kidd lose it's quaint, comfortable, BOOKsellers feel. Oh, and don't even get me started on the signage for the movies/music and kids' sections. Big, bold...Borders. I'm sad, Davis-Kidd. I remember coming to visit my brother in college and the old store was always one of the first stops for my family. When I lived in Green Hills, I was in just about every week. I live off Nolensville Rd. now and I still occasionally made the 25 minute drive just to browse or sit and have a glass of wine at Bronte and skim through a potential buy. So maybe I should say thanks for going commercial on me...Look at the money I'll save on gas.