Sunday, March 25, 2018

March for Our Lives

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Since the 2016 election, there have been a lot of protests in DC. We don't make them all, but we try to participate in the ones that resonate most with us -- when the issue is personal or the goal is one we feel strongly about. By all measures, this is one we had to do.

Owen had been at Space Camp all week, but Nora and I were able to devote a snow day to making our signs. Fortunately, fresh from the school walkout the week before, Owen had some sign friendly slogans ready to go and quickly made his on Friday night. Allen attached the kids' signs to their scooters as we weren't sure they'd be able to walk that far, we dressed in orange (the color of the protest since it's what hunters wear so they won't be shot), packed a backpack with water and snacks, and headed over to SWS to meet with other like-minded families.

The walk to the protest was uneventful -- even fun. The temperature was a little chilly, but the sun was out and people would congratulate us and compliment our signs as we made our way downtown -- the kids leading the SWS crew on their scooters. Once we got close the the Department of Labor though, the enormity of the crowds started to hit. A few blocks further, we hit one of the checkpoints and things got a bit intense.

I'd done the first Women's March solo, so I had a sense of what the crowd would be like and so thought we'd join for a little bit and then head home when it got to be too much for the kids. But with this March, we sort of got trapped trying to enter Pennsylvania Avenue, and the crush of people was clearly starting to get to the kids. So an hour and a half into our March, we decided to head home.

We didn't go straight there, mind you. We stopped by DOL for a break and then headed to the Capitol and on our way passed lots of protestors who were just joining. It meant that we missed the speeches, and the songs and we only got to do our chants among the three of us (Allen had a funeral and missed the event), but I think the kids felt like they were part of the movement and had their views heard.

Now hopefully the country will act on them.
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(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Friday, March 23, 2018

Space Camp

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Every two years, Stuart-Hobson Middle School takes a crew of 80 or so sixth and seventh graders down to Huntsville, AL to participate in Space Camp. When the trip this year was announced, Owen was a bit reluctant and stated that since the slots were limited, he felt someone more into space should go in lieu of him. Now normally, we like to give our kids agency and respect their wishes and views. But this was Space Camp, and by God, Owen was going to go.

I think in the end he was glad we coerced him.

I'm not sure he was that excited as he got on one of two busses at 10 pm on a Sunday night in order to drive 14 hours to Alabama (I think it was closer to 15 since one of the busses got a flat tire), but once he actually made it to Camp, his enthusiasm began to grow.

Owen ended up in the Expedition Betelgeuse group. Their mission was to get astronauts Ronan and Anastasia to space in order to do a space walk. Owen's job was with mission command where he even got to lead the countdown. However, all was not well as the mission had to be delayed 8 minutes because the pilot was struggling to fix some problem. Hayden, the flight directed, made the executive decision to skip to where the clock was rather than make up for loss time which led to some confusion (and some missed cues in the script). Fortunately, Ronan and Anastasia made it back with the rest of the team, though oddly enough, the scientists returned before the ship theoretically landed. Something about the time-space continuum (or part of that confusion alluded to above).

In addition to the mission, there was plenty of time to train, get fingerprinted, eat, visit the exhibits and even shop. Owen's personal favorite activities while there were the G-Force Ride, the Space Shot, and the take-off and landing simulator (which his friend, Ronan captured, along with his thumb, in slow motion).

They left Wednesday afternoon (which turned out to be a snow day in DC) right aftergraduation and eventually made it home around five on Thursday morning. That meant, according to DCPS policy, Owen was excused and didn't have to go to school until Friday -- the last day before Spring Break.

In the end, he had a great time and amazing experience. And it's pretty impressive to make it to space and back and only miss three days of classes...
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(To see all the pictures, please click here.)



Thursday, March 22, 2018

Family Selfie

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Another in our long history of taking family cuddle selfies :-)

Sunday, March 18, 2018

17 Minutes

SWS walk out
On March 14th, students all over the country walked out of classes for 17 minutes to protest gun violence and honor the seventeen victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School shooting in Parkland, FL. Both of our kids participated.

The demonstration at SWS was fairly muted, as one would expect of an elementary school. Nora and her classmates (those that elected to participate) gathered around the adjoining field and sang songs about peace. But at Stuart-Hobson, some of Owen's classmates organized a "field trip" so that the art, theater and music classes could march to the Capitol and participate in the larger protest. The leaders sold homemade pins and donated the funds to Sandy Hook Promise. They even contacted the media and were interviewed in the Washington Post.

Owen was in first grade when Sandy Hook happened, and so the bulk of his education has involved lock-down drills (although SWS doesn't actually have locks for all their classroom doors so they mostly have "pray nothing bad happens" drills). It's really affected him, and I think marching to the Capitol with his friends and seeing all the other students arguing for action, made him feel like maybe school doesn't have to be like this.

In fact he was so moved by it, that at Meeting on Sunday, Owen stood up and spoke about the march. He told about his favorite chant, "No Hate; No Fear. Guns are not welcome here!" and how he thought we needed to restrict guns to just our military and that even the police only need something strong enough to "knock you unconscious so they can take you to prison" (he and Nora are still working out the details on that proposal).

I'll be honest, I've always felt a bit helpless with gun violence in general and school violence in particular. But it's hard to stand idly by when your 11 year old and others like him are leading the charge. So hopefully, this time we can all work together and make the world a safer, better place.

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(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Ensemble!



Owen has been playing cello for over three years, but this last year he's taken it up a notch. In addition to moving up to the Young Artist Ensemble at DCYOP, playing with Stuart-Hobson's orchestra and he recently auditioned and was accepted into the Chamber Music Intensive at George Washington University's Corcoran School's Department of Music for this summer. But most recently, he was nominated and got to perform in DCPS's Honor Ensemble, I Am Empowered.

This was the second year for the concert and the first year that instruments were included.
Owen missed school on Friday (which, since he's missing most of the following week for Space Camp, was a lot) and DCYOP on Saturday morning in order to spend the days rehearsing two pieces at Duke Ellington High School for a one-time performance on Saturday night.

A note about Duke Ellington: It's a public school that was recently remodeled for $180 million. Alumni include Dave Chappelle, Samira Wiley, and Deynce Graves. The acceptance process involves the DCPS lottery, auditions, academic assessment test and a family interview. It's located in Georgetown which means the commute from Capitol Hill is a nightmare. However, it is an absolutely amazing school and is (currently) Owen's first choice for high school.

Owen preferred the first piece the ensemble played,With Great Valor, Victorious, which he felt had more emotional heft. The second piece, however, was the clear fan favorite. It was also the debut of an original work, which involved spoken word, some improvisation from the musicians, and Dr. Seuss.

Oh, The Places You'll Go! seemed like one of those performances I would hate, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the various solos, to the alternative playing techniques (one of which was Owen's suggestion, playing col legno) to the emoting of the narrator, it all really worked, and was my personal favorite song of the night (though I also loved the solo by Stuart-Hobson's own Alysia Lawson - aka Violet in Willy Wonka - in Here's Where I Stand and Nora loved the elementary kids singing, No One is Alone from the Into the Woods soundtrack).

It was really exciting seeing Owen do something he loves in a places he'd love to go to... someday.

(To see all pictures, click here.)

Friday, March 16, 2018

Sounding Her Barbaric Yalp

Grandma Z started a poetry club back when she taught middle school and has written poems for her grandchildren over the years, so it was inevitable that one of her descendants would develop the habit. While Nora has been playing with song lyrics for years (and years and years and years), poetry in its purest form only attracted her attention recently, when one of her afterschool counselors suggested they start a poetry club. Together with Barrett, Molly and Milena (and later Anais and Harper), Nora happily signed herself up and began poeting.

Her first work was a tribute to Oompa Lompas followed by an Ode to Angst, but Nora's current favorite is all about pride (and fish). See, she too is untranslatable.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2018

We had one foot on the stage

Austin 2018

A little while ago Channing posted a note saying the Grand Champeen was going to play a little reunion show on the Tuesday of SXSW, and they convinced Lil' Cap'n Travis and Prescott Curlywolf to also get back together and join them on the bill. I was feeling all wistful and sad that I'd miss the show, when it occurred to me that I might just have some unused frequent flyer miles lying around, and maybe instead of being sad I was going to miss the show, I should just go to the show! After a quick chat with Elaine, a check of my work calendar, and a few texts with Brandon, I had a free plane ticket in hand ready to go down to Austin!

I flew in on Monday night, and Brandon and I tried to catch a Superchunk show, but the line didn't look promising for anyone without SXSW badges or wristbands, and they were playing at Waterloo Records the next afternoon, so we skipped the show and headed to a bar in Brandon's neighborhood to catch up and marvel at how much Austin has changed. After some delicious breakfast tacos in the morning, and some playground time with Asa and Olive, Brandon and I did indeed catch the Superchunk in-store at Waterloo (they were great of course!), then went back to the house to meet up with Anneke before the show.

The whole evening at Hole in the Wall was brilliant. So many old friends showed up, the music rocked, and it really did feel like we were all back in our 20's. Can't wait to make it back to Austin and see everyone again, next time with the whole family!

Austin 2018

(click here for all the pictures)

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Another Auction

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Another year, another auction, another chance for some fun in the photo booth :-)

Thursday, March 08, 2018

Ruby Bridges

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All the students at Stuart Hobson made a project for the National History Day competition this year, and Owen decided to focus his project on Ruby Bridges and the desegregation of New Orleans public schools. He did a ton of research, digging up a long list of primary sources, and despite his parents freaking out that the due date was a week before we thought it would be, Owen was totally prepared and put together a really nice project. Great job Owen!

Monday, March 05, 2018

Ken & Helen

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For their winter vacation this year, Ken & Helen drove down to Florida to visit Martha and Margie, then up DC to stay Dad and us, completing the sibling tour. Dad took them around to see all the sites, we all had a lovely dinner up at Mom & Don's (that Nora helped cook!), and I got the chance to share some pens made out of corn from a meeting at work with the Corn Refiners Association. It was a fun visit, and hopefully they'll make it again before too long ;-)

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Friday, March 02, 2018

Vermeer

Vermeer Project
Nora's big project this semester was all about Vermeer. It started with a field trip to the Vermeer exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, continued with reading Chasing Vermeer, went to the next level with a visit from an Art Conservationist who taught the kids how to spot a forgery, and culminated with a play Nora and Molly wrote and preformed about Vermeer's painting Guitar Player, with an interview of the eponymous subject of the painting.

Vermeer Project

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