Love is... -Time Capsule 2009

Dear Reader,
I am writing this entry at midnight San Diego time, 3am New York time. I have not slept for 43 hours. Things have been a whirlwind of events, but surprisingly I am not that tired. Thursday morning I woke up at 8am to babysit, then grabbed dinner with Julia and Brian, cleaned Alice and dropped her off with Sebastiano, had a margarita with Liz and Brycie, and came home to pack and clean. I hate coming home from vacation to a messy apartment . I should leave the house by 4:30am, so I decided to stay up until then. I had things to do and my energy was running high, I thought, sure I can make it until 4am, no problem. Stupid me, not realizing that “making it until 4am" also meant making it through the whole next day.

Fast forward to arriving in California. My mom picked me up, it was a little overcast which was disappointing, but we grabbed some sandwiches and headed to her brand new apartment downtown. It is GORGEOUS. I seriously can’t believe my eyes. It is so classy and huge and beautiful and overlooks downtown and the bay. I’m really proud of my mom. It’s amazing how different a person’s “style” can be without the necessities of children or men. Anyway, quickly off to the hairdresser for a cut! Since the divorce, my mom has found friends all over the place. She’s got a close group of girlfriends that all live downtown and they hang out, and she has surrogate daughters all over the place. Young girls that realize how cool she is and are close with her. Meschelle was one of them, she introduced me as “my sister!” and knew everything about me. It was a party. Literally, I had to keep my wine glass from getting bang trimmings in it.
With half an hour to spare, Mom and I did a quick shopping trip and got a dress for Rachel’s wedding. You’ll see pictures later… at the wedding. Then I was dropped off at my Dad’s office for beer and wii with his work buddies. Tennis is hit or miss, but I always kick his ass at bowling and boxing. Then we all met up at my godparents house, Nancy and Ike, for some steak, and the biggest, most sentimental surprise of my life:

21 years, 2 months, and 18 days ago, I was born. 20 years ago, 8 months and 18 days ago, Nancy, with the help of my mom, collected some important “artifacts” from 1988, and my life as a baby thus far (6months old), and wrapped them up and put them in a box, sealed tight with the instructions, DO NOT OPEN UNTIL APRIL 2nd 2009. Tonight, after dinner, the first time being together with everyone since I turned 21, I was made aware of that box for the first time.

Now, I have not seen baby relics. My parents don’t have old toys or clothes or any tangible sentimental objects or recordings of what I was like as a baby, so this was truly a surprise. I grew up an only child of four parents, and the love that they all gave me poured out of the cardboard vessel and flooded the room and our eyes. Having “grown up” and graduated college and living life out in the Big Apple, it is so nice to feel like a child again, and feel the connection with your parents as parents and no longer people. For a night I was able to see them remember me as I was 21 years ago, and see how much they love me and have enjoyed watching me grow, and see them relive a past that I am the center of, yet also completely removed from memory.

Contents: (In order of opening)

• One cassette tape. “Lisha Tape: Oct ’88 Side 1”
* We had to figure out if we still had a cassette player anywhere…

• One Birth Announcement
* Printed at home by Dad on a really old computer, it has a line design of a hangglider with my baby face in the pilots seat – “Just Launched!” What dorks.
Model: Lisha Corinne Brown
Launch Window: Saturday April 2, 1988, 7:09am (PST)
Hook-In Weight: 7lbs 8oz
Span: 20.5 inches
Ground Crew: Jeff and Joy Brown

• One set of baby pajamas.
* This is where we all lost it and the crying didn’t stop anytime soon. The one piece is so so small. It is really hard to believe I was ever that tiny.


• 13 Little Lisha photograps
*YES! I had a Mohawk! Obligatory naked on a blanket shot, sleeping,yawning, etc. My parents look soooo pretty and happy. Then there’s my favorite where my dad’s foot is the length of my entire body (he’s 6’6”…big feet, but still).
I think I should submit this one to Awkward Family Photos.com
Am I the only one who thinks that my dad looks like Geoff from Ace of Cakes?


• One $50 Savings Bond


• One – “A Not Very Typical Day in the Life of Lisha Corinne Brown, October 2nd, 1988, Her 6th Month Birthday
* Mom and Nancy recorded everything I did at time intervals. On my 6th month birthday, we all went hanggliding. 1:45 Started to chase dad….driving….driving….driving…. we got a kick out of that one. As I was reading it my dad was getting excited, thinking he might have had a long flight that day. Sure enough after many hours of driving, 5:45 – found Dad in Palm Springs. WOOHOO!!! SKY GOD!!! 6:15 – stopped to eat at Wendys. Lol. 9:50 – played on the floor in the family room while Mom and dad watched the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics. Way to go 1988.

• One copy of Olympics edition Sports Illustrated

• One Copy of the San Diego Union Tribune form Oct 2nd.

• One cement cast of my foot, amaturely done by Nancy in a margarine container.


• One bottle of 1983 Cabernet Savignon. Will NOT be drinking that :-P.

We found a cassette player and we able to play the tape. It was Nancy talking about all the different experiences I’ve had and what it was like these past 6 months and what they hope for me. Then a recording of the Joan Baez song, “Forever Young.” I have never been so touched in my life. Following the song was a good 30 minutes of Nancy recording me crying hahaha, and then the radio’s top 10 of the week.
What a night. It’s truly incredible to know how much your family loves you. Irreplaceable.

Todya

on the corner of 74th and Amesterdam, I fed an eager bird that took the food, sent a chirp signal, then flew off to her babies! The nest was in a streetlight pole. I never thought I would get to see baby birdies eating in NYC.

Then I fell over my bag lady cart, spilling myself, my laundry and coinage all over the pavement... AGAIN.

NOW I am drinking and eating cake with BRIAN.


DONE!

Ghettoooooo

The Chuck E Cheese I went to at 10 am this morning with the family I nanny for was way up in Harlem. All the kids there tried to steal tokens and tickets from my two white 4&6 year olds. You had to have serious street smarts to make it there.

Lisha is...

tired of being ignored.

Putting others before herself and others not caring

Thunder and Lightning

New York City. Thunder and Lightning over the city. In a huge cloud, with the power to light up the city as bright as time square. Nature, with the power to shake and stir the apartment buildings and the people in them. Thunder to rock the bed I sleep in and the windows I look out of.

Tonight and last night have been scary with the storms. The thunder last night was so loud I could have swore lightning stuck within inches of me. Then I found out it was the same for everyone. Nature - with the power to wake up EVERYONE on the ILSE OF MANHATTAN.

BRIIIIIIAN

BRIIIIIAAAAANNNNN

and www.mlia.com and www.tfln.com

Progressive Education Fail

So today I had my very first ever Elementary teaching job interview. It was with Harlem Success Academy... in Harlem, and CJ forwarded my information. The phone interview yesterday went great! We hit it off and sounded like a good match and so they asked me to come in on Wednesday for a demo lesson with kindergartners. I had to send them my lesson and I had 45 minutes. I have never taught kindergarten before, so I raced to the nearest Barnes and Noble, bought The Alphabet Tree, and threw together a lesson.

I started off with a social contract. We agree to be in control of our bodies and our voices, etc. When I clap my hands that means stop and look up here. Right? Sounds good? Well, all the students (28 5-6year olds) agreed. I taught them the volume meter, and we practiced volume level and not "going" until I say "Action!" Sounds good right. Off to a good start. Then we began sharing our favorite letters. Good. Then we shaped them with our bodies. There was a little chaos but everything was still under control. Now that we had our favorite letters it was time to sit down to begin the story. This is where things started getting out of hand. Kids were sitting on each other, talking, pushing. I reminded them of their contract but they wouldn't be quiet. I got through the first couple of pages and then it was time to stand up and make our letters and hop from leaf to leaf. That was fine, but upon return, the same pushing, cluttering, talking. It was out of control from there. I tried to keep going but students were talking and jumping up and coming up to me and pulling the book and climbing on each other. Students were disconnect in the back, lying under the table, not wanting to be a letter. When the branches blew away and we huddled, students fell on each other and dog-piled. When we tried to spell out a word students were jumping up and down and running all over the place and not listening. Time was already over so I was just trying to get something out of it, but I should have stopped everything and re-grouped. After a round of applause and a dog-pile of joy, one student was crying. GREAT.

So she asked me to reflect and I don't really even remember what I said I was so flustered. She said that lesson would NEVER FLY in this school. How was I supposed to know that, right, but this is a Charter school and we run a very tight ship. How do you feel about structure? I said it was crucial and necessary and within schoolwide routines (which I had tried to bring in such as the clap and look... to which they just kept clapping), there was the ability for students to explore. She said she could see that I had wanted to students to explore and be free and action was a part of their philosophy, but if I wanted progressive education I should look elsewhere. She asked me if that structure was something I wanted? I said, yes, to have students focused and on task is ideal. She said that was something I needed to think about and be more prepared to talk about because we were out of time. She gave me my card and said we would need to figure out if that was something you wanted out of a school.

What. Happened. I was so blown away. Of course you want structure and discipline. I'm so confused. Granted yes the lesson was out of control and I would have done some things differently, but.... but... I understand that there needs to be structure and expectations. I can be more clear but I was trying to do that. This school is very very strict then? Is that what that means? I mean, I observed for 10 minutes and they were quiet sitting on the rug in their spots, at their desks working, "busy pens means busy minds" and they sang a song about sounds, words, sentences, paragraphs, essays, indentation, capitalization, punctuation. That's great. Why wouldn't I want that.

I wish I had more time and more guidelines. Like, what they were learning, or if I should have done a math lesson instead. I thought I would showcase my fun, get on your feet learning, which I guess is not appropriate for a Charter school. I just feel so terrible. The school was so cool and I would love to work there, I just need help! I can form to be the teacher they need with guidance!

To top it off I only got 2 hours of sleep because I was fixing up my portfolio which they didn't look at at all. I didn't even get to sit and talk with someone or collect my thoughts after the lesson. Which showed. Obviously.

FAIL.