Jane and I saw Allison Krause last night at Ravinia. We had awesome seats (thanks Joanna) with Brittany and Michael, but Amanda, Paddy, and her mom joined us on the lawn for some pre-concert eats. 

Whoa! We almost didn't get our deck supplies into the back yard, but our handy home depot delivery man somehow manuevered over my tomatoes to safely place our deck materials in the garage.  

John, Kerri, Elizabeth, Erin, and Jane. Erin and John are friends from IU, and Kerri is Erin's sister from Urbana-Champagne. All were in town today because John is presenting a paper at U of Chicago. Elizabeth is so cute (and pudgy!) 

Run, girls, run! 

My buddy Scott organized field day. Yes, ladies, Scott is still single. 

Just a reminder, I do work. This is a picture with Mrs. Coleman and I serving hot dogs at our annual, Greenbay Elementary School field day. Four hundred kids served in under an hour! It was awesome. 

Congratulations, Nancy! Nancy graduated from U of Chicago, and we celebrated with her family down in Chinatown for dinner. 

Michael and Britt joined us for Ravinia. 

Jane and I went to hear Garrison Keillor at Ravinia. We sat on the lawn, ate great food (Thanks, Britt and Michael), and laughed hard at good, old-fashioned midwestern humor. 

What a mess! This is one of the intermediary steps towards our deck project. I removed ten posts from the ground by hand. (Growl here) 

This is a photo-stitched version of my school, Greenbay Elementary, in North Chicago, IL. 

We love Saul! We've been dogsitting for about three weeks now while Amanda has been on her big road trip across America. Our new best buddy will be leaving tomorrow with her mommy. We 

Looks like hell without the deck. After removing the old structure, we found a huge ant investation in the north wall which forced us to remove the foundational plywood, bug bomb, reinsulate, and put up a new wall. Plus side: I practiced my circlular saw skills before working on the deck. 

Voici ma dumpster! We re-packed this dumpster twice to make sure we would get everything in. Said Mike our neighbor, "I've seen many dumpsters over the years, and I've never seen one packed as perfectly as yours." We're type A, what can we say?! 

These are my trumpet buddies from Northshore Concert Band. From left to right, you see Renee (we went to IU together), Herb, Dave, and Barry. Go 3rd trumpets! 

Golf

Tiger Woods: On eve of Western he tees off on a number of issues - I note this story because of the last line. When asked if he had ever thought of reaching the $50 million dollar carreer winnings goal, Tiger replied, "No, God, No. You don't play for money. You play for hardware."

He's a true golf geek. Let's discuss.

Grilling

Right now, I'm manning the medium webber in the backyard, grillin' up some burgers for a little summer grub. Saul, Amanda's chocolate lab, has been hanging with us for the past three weeks and has been keen to watch me carry the platters in and out, hoping that I might drop a bit of burger for him. No luck, though. When I sit down for dinner, I'll serve him up his own meal.

Good news. I reconnected with Chris and Marti over email last night and they have a new baby girl, Lucy. Congrats, Floridians!

Matthew is coming to visit next week for work. I've already got plenty of ideas cooking for fun evenings out for us. I'm excited!

Liberals turned conservative and vice versa

How many of you know people who started in one political stripe and changed sides? I am having an internal conflict lately in political belief (and so should many of you!) My democratic party is floundering to such a great degree that I hold no hope at this point in their resurrection of a viable campaign and political agenda. The party has fragmented to such a diverse degree (diversity being the lynch-pin of the democratic agenda), that no consensus seems possible amongst people that do not value a cohesive values system.

Three people really stick out as voices of reason today: new liberalism proponent Robert Reich, values czar William Bennett, and ultranationalist Michael Savage. Each brings a unique, outsiders view to politics that I really value. Seeing as I'm reading and buying into many of the ideas that each man represents (far left to far right), I'm having a difficult time orienting myself to the current political landscape.

Currently, I feel we need to lock down our borders to illegal immigration and open the borders to highly screened immigrants. We need to end programs for illegal immigrants in schools, hospitals and public services. We need to push on a national, state, and local scale increases in educational reform and place our students back to the top of the world's most highly educated populace. We need to end the huge budget imbalances, trade deficits, and internationally held debt, and learn to buy american again. (So long as american means the best, high quality product, but perhaps not the cheapest?)

We need to fix voter fraud issues to ensure we have the most accurate and fair voting system in the world. We need to promote personal responsibility in savings and long-term financial planning, while keeping key safeguard systems in place for people that meet with unexpected problems.

Despite what I've said above, my political planks are not secure, yet. I've still yet to come to internal consensus about many of these key issues. Beyond my increasingly conservative political orientation, however, I do beleive in gay marriage--anything that strengths families should be supported wholly and earnestly.

I cannot buy into George W. Bush, however. I'm not sold on the republicans. But who else is there?

Whack!

Thoop! Yep, Golf season has begun in earnest again this past weekend in Chicago. After a week of whiffs, I really started hitting the ball today with my new set of clubs (thanks, Mom!) I've been working on my stance, relaxation, and form with my short irons. After a bunch of great short iron shots, though, I had to whip out my new woods and take a wack at some balls. Wow! What fun! I hit a few balls about 200+ yds! Awesome.

Novel Update: 1200 words in 1 chapter.
Flower Update: Tulips and Daffodils in full bloom, hostas spreading, and iris growing rapidly.

Excerpt #1

But to commute via I-55 or the Kennedy or to head into the City on a weekday morning at rush hour, seemed like one of the most foolish, wasteful activities you could ever attempt. Accidents created huge gaper’s delays as drivers gaucked at the misfortunes of the slow footed cell phone business people that made a daily habit of talking a bit too much, and watching a bit too little. One car would careen into another, sending the lead car flying forward like a sling shot, only to squeal on their breaks a second time to pull to the side of the road and assess the damage. Taillights broken, trunks crushed in, spewing forth all of the condiments assembled in the Chicagoans trunk—windshield wiper fluid, scrapers, Morton rock salt, blankets, Cubs hats, Bears hand-waving thingys, last week’s Tribune covering the latest Daley scandal, the current Reader listing the current Malkovich performances at Steppenwolf, and some other large, unwieldy lawn care device—some of these things always scattered themselves behind the wreck and attracted even more gazes from the passing cars. The gaper’s delay is not a phenomenon distinct to Chicago, sure, but the City that Works has turned it into a full holiday from driving the speed limit. Radio, TV, and the Weather bug keep everyone informed of the lastest traffic delay, and even though an IPass user can drive through any lane in the toll plaza and use their nifty RFID box, most stay to the inside lane just to ensure a delay. Why start the habit of moving fast on the way to work?

Spring is coming. I noticed my garden has really come alive this past weekend. All of my easter lillies have started to appear.  

Busy, Busy Day...

So, I know it seems like I'm always saying things are busy here in Chicago, but today was a topper. I started my day late--I slept in purposefully until 7:00 am. Then I ran off to school, getting my first mailing together for all of the school teachers. I taught three sections of general music and distributed treats as part of my new incentive system (and I also wrote a couple of notes home as part of my deterent system). During my lunch hour, I set up the PA system in the lunch room to prepare to calm the lunch room. Chowed my lunch, read about Taruskin's new book (The Oxford History of Western Music), and finally, ran off to my lunch duty. On duty I tried to corral 150 kids into orderly lunchroom behavior. Then I taught four more classes of general music to bilingual kindergarteners and the such. Finally, I performed my first teacher observation as part of my practicum program to become a principal. Once the school day was over, I put together my second mailing for the music teachers in the district. At 4:15, I finished addressing and sending my fifteen letters and I rushed out of the door to teach my trumpet lesson half-way across the city. On my way home, I stopped by Sears and bought a new outdoor patio set (to be picked up later). Once home, I slammed down some food and ran off to my principal's meeting at my graduate school. We interviewed a CPS principal and met in small groups to discuss our progress in the program. Then, (while trying to keep my car from overheating), I drove up to Evanston for a dress rehearsal with the Northshore Concert Band.

Now I'm home, eating a salad and a hardboiled egg, very pleased with everything that was accomplished today, but bummed that I didn't get to see my buddy Matthew while he was in town. I would have loved to have joined him for a reuben at the Artists Cafe.

Off to bed to do it again tomorrow!

New Portfolio Site

As part of my master's practicum, I needed to develop an administrative/teaching portfolio. Rather than create something in a book, I decided to put the portfolio online so that I can add some interactive elements like video, guestbooks, online recommendations, etc. It's nowhere near complete, but check it out and tell me what you think so far: N. Pedretti Portfolio

Henderson the Rain King

I took an old reading suggestion to heart this weekend and took to reading Eric's favorite Saul Bellow novel. Henderson is a beast of a man, drunken, cross, inappropriate, maladjusted, and one hell of a wealthy man. In his quest to find himself, he sets off to Africa with his friend Charlie to try to calm the voice in his head that pleads "I want, I want, I want."

In one part of the story, Henderson recounts the library he inherited from his wealthy father. If books weren't valuable enough for their ideas, Bellow furthers the metaphor by having Henderson's father use money as book marks. As he opens books, money literally falls out of them, even old yellowed big backs--a reference I interpret to mean an older type of money. What a clever way to highlight the value of books!

I took my first master's exam this morning and five blue books later, two exam questions answered, I've confidently completed my first assessment. Hopefully, I answered the questions to the level that they required, but I know full well, there was plenty more that could have been written. So now we wait for the results.

Congrats to Irena for her acceptance into an MBA program! Matthew good to hear from you. Joe, how about that album? Chris, update your blog buddy.

Thursday evening with Mark and Saul (the chocolate lab) 

Practicum, Web, and Reading

I'm finalizing the details of my practicum this semester in educational leadership. I hope to be hosting a round-table discussion on classroom management, doing some innovate observations, shadowing principals, and other cool stuff.

Also, neat things happening on the development site for my web projects at North Chicago. I can't disclose URL's, yet, but the new site will be pretty sweet. I'll upload some screen shots soon. Lots of interaction on a relatively flat site.

I'm pretty stressed right now, too. Lots in my head. I've been reading about eastern religions lately to counter my bible reading that always occurs in January and February.

Eric is rocking out on his novel, and Zac is dreaming up an awesome field show for the fall. Good talking to you guys!

Substitute Teaching

A few times a year, I am asked to substitute teach because we run short of classroom teachers. These days are always extremely tiring, because as a music teacher, I teach in intense 30 minute sessions. As a homeroom teacher, you need to pace your instructional momentum, pacing, provisioning, and overlapping techniques for an entire day-6 hours of instruction. This is incredibly difficult and all elementary school general teachers should be applauded. I look forward to learning more about their experiences.

I'm on week 3 of Yoga instruction.

The snow piles are almost up to the windows! 

Snow covering our back fence. 

7" of snow and counting...

The years 2001-2004 were dry, snowless years, and now, we've seen the exception again. Last night, seven plus inches fell in skokie as a powerdery, feathered, glistening snow. This marks the first wave of attack from the oncoming wintry forces set to assail the midwest this weekend with bluster.

The snowfall faded this morning, winds changed, and the northeast winds have picked up, kicking the Lake Michigan snow making machine into full gear. Welcome to the time of big, fat, hungry snowflakes. Snowflakes that make you want to shovel, then go pile buttermilk pancakes, eggs, and hash browns onto your plate to make up for the work of shoveling.

But, no complaints (other than: Oh! My achin' back) for the winter wonderland. The past years haven't seemed like winter. Snow us in. Let us get anxious inside for a bit, then "spring" us loose come April, even more thankful for the change of seasons.

Long siesta...

It's been a while since I've posted to my blog. In the mean time, Consider It Blogged went off-line, Matthew purchased a new car and found himself a new job, and we've turned a new year. Wow. It's been busy for all.

Are blogs egotistical? Perhaps, but I don't prefer to look at it that way. Blogs are the literary equivalent of reality t.v, which are also so popular among people these days. The mundane parts of life have value. Not great value, but value from daily, reshaping experiences.

A famous writer (the name alludes me) once said that books offer a glimpse into worlds we can never expect to visit. And similarly, a christian proverb extols the virtues of "walking a mile in another man's shoes." Both of these authors allude to the true value of a blog: we gain insight into the life of another in order to have an outside perspective on our own that we couldn't otherwise gain through reflection. We need actually live in another's shoes to get this new sense of awareness.

Jane and Eric hanging after setting up the tree. 

Our christmas tree 2004. Thanks Eric for helping us set it up! 

These sixteen folks comprise my trumpet section with the Northshore Concert Band. I'm in the back, right. 

Stream-of-conscience hip.

It's not just for Ullysses anymore:

three more days of illness, bad respiratory cold, lost my voice, too much rest, yet I'm not better.
not enough time to read Adler, Dante, Shakespeare "Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self to cruel", Cervantes, and King.
in pittsburgh with family, waiting for steve's big game tomorrow.

How would your life change if you were a FLY? Debate Kafka, now.

What's more beautiful, the english horn or viola? Talk amongst yourself.

A Metropolis Americano. Yum. 

Me, at the Metropolis Coffee shop in Chicago. 

E-mail blog

Since I can't publish my blog from school, I'm testing the email blog
option which allows you to email directly to your blog from your inbox.

Let me thus vent: It took me 1 hr to get school this morning. Traffic in
this city is poor at best. Perhaps its because it's been raining for the
last four days, perhaps its because my candidate barely lost, perhaps its
because I didn't go to the gym this morning, but I must admit, the traffic
has really peeved me today. Why do people drive so incredibly slow in
inclement weather. Slowing down a bit (say to 40 or 50 on the interstate)
is one thing, but for the majority of my commute this morning, I didn't
break 10 miles an hour. It took me nearly 40 minutes to go 10 miles. The
remaining 15 miles of my commute I clipped off in under 20 minutes,
stoplights and all.

Please, please, drivers of the world: Keep your eyes on the road, let
people in to your lane, and go as fast as you safely can drive.


Song of the day: Sanctus from Gabriel Faure's Requiem

Now What?

So, Kerry lost the election. Now what do we do? Both the Bush Administration and the Kerry campaign staff hope for us to unite and move forward for the sake of the country. I'm all for it, but there is significant division in this country and we can't just ignore it. So, we return to my original question: Now what?

What did we learn from this election loss? Did we learn how to rally the troops? Will these forces stay together and stay active or will they dissolve until the next campaign? We have serious issues in education, health care, foreign policy, and cultural issues.

Speak up, people!

Kerry Concession Speech

Reprinted from www.johnkerry.com:

Address to Supporters at Fanueil Hall

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. You just have no idea how warming and how generous that welcome is, your love is, your affection, and I'm gratified by it. I'm sorry that we got here a little bit late and a bit short.

Earlier today, I spoke to President Bush, and I offered him and Laura our congratulations on their victory. We had a good conversation and we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need – the desperate need – for unity, for finding the common ground, coming together. Today, I hope that we can begin the healing. In America it is vital that every vote count, and that every vote be counted. But the outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process.

I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail. But it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding votes for us to be able to win Ohio. And therefore, we can not win this election.

My friends, it was here that we began our campaign for the presidency. And all we had was hope and a vision for a better America. It was a privilege and a gift to spend two years traveling this country, coming to know so many of you. I wish that I could just wrap you in my arms and embrace each and every one of you individually all across this nation. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Audience member: We still got your back!

Thank you, man. And I assure you – you watch – I'll still have yours.

I will always be particularly grateful to the colleague that you just heard from who became my partner, my very close friend, an extraordinary leader, John Edwards. And I thank him for everything he did. John and I would be the first to tell you that we owe so much to our families. They're here with us today. They were with us every single step of the way. They sustained us. They went out on their own and they multiplied our campaign, all across this country.

No one did this more with grace and with courage and candor. For that, I love than my wife, Teresa. And I thank her. Thank you. And our children were there every single step of the way. It was unbelievable. Vanessa, Alex, Chris, Andre and John, from my family, and Elizabeth Edwards who is so remarkable and so strong and so smart. And Johnny and Cate who went out there on her own just like my daughters did. And also Emma Claire and Jack who were up beyond their bedtime last night, like a lot of us.

I want to thank my crewmates and my friends from 35 years ago. That great ‘band of brothers’ who crisscrossed this country on my behalf through 2004. Thank you. They had the courage to speak the truth back then, and they spoke it again this year, and for that, I will forever be grateful.

And thanks also as I look around here to friends and family of a lifetime. Some from college, friends made all across the years, and then all across the miles of this campaign. You are so special. You brought the gift of your passion for our country and the possibilities of change, and that will stay with us, and with this country forever.

Thanks to Democrats and Republicans and independents who stood with us, and everyone who voted no matter who their candidate was.

And thanks to my absolutely unbelievable, dedicated staff, led by a wonderful campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, who did an extraordinary job. There's so much written about campaigns, and there's so much that Americans never get to see. I wish they could all spend a day on a campaign and see how hard these folks work to make America better. It is its own unbelievable contribution to our democracy, and it's a gift to everybody. But especially to me. And I'm grateful to each and every one of you, and I thank your families, and I thank you for the sacrifices you've made.

And to all the volunteers, all across this country who gave so much of themselves. You know, thanks to William Field, a six-year-old who collected $680, a quarter and a dollar at a time selling bracelets during the summer to help change America. Thanks to Michael Benson from Florida who I spied in a rope line holding a container of money, and turned out he raided his piggy bank and wanted to contribute. And thanks to Alana Wexler who is 11 years old and started kids for Kerry all across our country. I think of the brigades of students and people, young and old, who took time to travel, time off from work, their own vacation time to work in states far and wide. They braved the hot days of summer and the cold days of the fall and the winter to knock on doors because they were determined to open the doors of opportunity to all Americans. They worked their hearts out, and I wish… you don't know how much they, could have brought this race home for you for them, and I say to them now, don't lose faith.

What you did made a difference, and building on itself -- building on itself, we go on to make a difference another day. I promise you, that time will come. The time will come, the election will come when your work and your ballots will change the world, and it's worth fighting for.

I want to especially say to the American people in this journey, you have given me honor and the gift of listening and learning from you. I have visited your homes. I have visited your churches. I've visited your union halls. I've heard your stories, I know your struggles, I know your hopes. They're part of me now, and I will never forget you, and I'll never stop fighting for you.

You may not understand completely in what ways, but it is true when I say to you that you have taught me and you've tested me and you've lifted me up, and you made me stronger, I did my best to express my vision and my hopes for America. We worked hard, and we fought hard, and I wish that things had turned out a little differently.

But in an American election, there are no losers, because whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning we all wake up as Americans. And that -- that is the greatest privilege and the most remarkable good fortune that can come to us on earth.

With that gift also comes obligation. We are required now to work together for the good of our country. In the days ahead, we must find common cause. We must join in common effort without remorse or recrimination, without anger or rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion.

I hope President Bush will advance those values in the coming years. I pledge to do my part to try to bridge the partisan divide. I know this is a difficult time for my supporters, but I ask them, all of you, to join me in doing that.

Now, more than ever, with our soldiers in harm's way, we must stand together and succeed in Iraq and win the war on terror. I will also do everything in my power to ensure that my party, a proud Democratic Party, stands true to our best hopes and ideals.

I believe that what we started in this campaign will not end here. And I know our fight goes on to put America back to work and make our economy a great engine of job growth. Our fight goes on to make affordable health care an accessible right for all Americans, not a privilege. Our fight goes on to protect the environment, to achieve equality, to push the frontiers of science and discovery, and to restore America's reputation in the world. I believe that all of this will happen -- and sooner than we may think -- because we're America. And America always moves forward.

I've been honored to represent the citizens of this commonwealth in the United States Senate now for 20 years. And I pledge to them that in the years ahead, I'm going to fight on for the people and for the principles that I've learned and lived with here in Massachusetts.

I'm proud of what we stood for in this campaign, and of what we accomplished. When we began, no one thought it was possible to even make this a close race. But we stood for real change, change that would make a real difference in the life of our nation, the lives of our families. And we defined that choice to America.

I'll never forget the wonderful people who came to our rallies, who stood in our rope lines, who put their hopes in our hands, who invested in each and every one of us. I saw in them the truth that America is not only great, but it is good.

So here -- so with a grateful heart -- I leave this campaign with a prayer that has even greater meaning to me now that I've come to know our vast country so much better. Thanks to all of you and what a privilege it has been. And that prayer is very simple: God bless America. Thank you.

Even.

It's 10:33 and the contest is still far too close to call. Watching the results, however, was really entertaining. Judy Baar Topinka, Republican Party Chair, swore on NBC news while discussing the results (many times, mind you!) and Tom Brokaw's already famous line about Margarita's to Vanessa Kerry will certainly be remember for quite some time. I'd have a margarita with any of them. Who wouldn't?

I grew a beard and got some funky new glasses. 

Hyundai Sonata

New: Hyundai Sonata - Jane and I finalized our car purchase this morning and we're driving a new 2004 Sonata with a few extras and most especially a moonroof. Cooll! And, it's in black so it looks like an secret service car.

Does anyone else think the headlights are Jaguar inspired?