Currently • July 2019

“One benefit of summer was that each day we had more light to read by." - Janette Walls

READING:

• Louise Penny mysteries — After numerous recommendations, I stared reading Still Life, the first novel featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. So far, so good…

• Lots of professional development books:

  • What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers across America

  • Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

  • Learning First, Technology Second: The Educator’s Guide to Designing Authentic Lessons

  • Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators

• With all this required reading, I could use at least one more really good, can’t put it down book before school starts. What’s the best thing you’ve read this summer?

WATCHING:

• Grantchester Season 4: Spoiler alert! If you haven’t started the season yet or haven’t watched Grantchester at all (and may I ask, “Why not?!”), skip to the next section. I’ll wait…

  OK, if you’re still here, what happened between the season 3 finale and the season 4 première?! When we last left Sidney Chambers, he was deciding between a life with his true love, Amanda the divorcée, and his responsibilities as vicar. Yet this season, he immediately falls for an African American visitor and follows her back to the US! What?! I guess that’s what happens when your leading actor gets a better offer — Need I remind you of Matthew’s car accident in Downton Abbey? I thought I was finished with Grantchester once and for all until Will Davenport arrived to take over as the new vicar. There are definite similarities between Will and Sidney — both are very handsome, have cute dogs, and wrestle with their consciences; Sidney likes jazz while while likes Elvis, but they both enjoy a pint and a good game of backgammon after helping Geordie solve crimes. Thanks to PBS Passport that allowed me to binge the (all too short) season, I’m still hooked.

• Very British Problems — This show on Netflix is hilarious. The Brits are a quirky lot, but I must confess that I share some of their idiosyncrasies.

• Movies — we’ve actually rediscovered our love of the big screen and fresh buttery popcorn which is further improved by Dreamloungers and wine ;-) I’ll review the films that we’ve seen recently in my summer 2019 recap. Stay tuned!

LOVING:

• Lazy mornings with Piper — At least once a week, she and I enjoy snuggling with a book or iPad and a cup of coffee, watching the birds and chasing chipmunks — you work out which activities are hers and which are mine!

• Piper’s room — It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint, rearranged furniture, and updated accessories can do to freshen a room, and I don’t know why we waited so long to replace that carpeting.

• Our new vacuum — Full disclosure: We have a lot of vacuums. Our house has a central vac system that is more trouble than it’s worth. We also inherited two very heavy, very cumbersome Kirbys — one from my mom and one from Eric’s grandma; how either of those tiny ladies managed those behemoths, I’ll never know! For years, I haven’t been able to justify purchasing yet another vacuum, but we finally decided to buy a light-weight, bagless model that specializes in eliminating pet hair - wow! I’m simultaneously amazed, satisfied, and disgusted by the amount of fur and dust that I get up each time I use it.

• My Dyson hairdryer — It’s a splurge for sure, but what a game-changer!

WORKING ON:

• Maintaining my garden after a very raining, steamy summer. I had almost given up, but after a lot of pruning and weeding, things are starting to looking pretty good again. Eric has been restoring our deck. We’re really looking forward to finally enjoying some evenings al fresco.

• Professional Development: This summer I’m teaching two Canvas courses, and a two-day blended learning course. All of these PD sessions include the SAMR model, Triple E Framework, and Design Thinking to encourage educators to truly leverage technology to transform student learning.

FEELING: Ready for fall! Yes, I know I shouldn’t wish the summer away, but honestly, aside from having a more flexible schedule, summer may be my least favorite season. I don’t like hot weather (keep it under 80º and I’m happy), and I really despise the humidity and mosquitos. By the end of July, the summer is essentially over for me anyway. I’m back to school nearly full time, planning for la rentrée, attending and facilitating professional development. Back to school makes me long for crisp weather, cozy sweaters, and all of the wonder of autumn.

PLANNING:

• New blog content. I haven’t posted very much this summer and I miss the creative outlet.

• Trips: I can hardly wait for October! In addition to the aforementioned yearning for fall loveliness, I will also be traveling to both New York and Paris.

  • I haven’t been to NYC for almost a decade so I’m eager to discover One World and Ground Zero as well as the neighborhoods around the Google Offices in Chelsea. If you have suggestions for my trip, please share.

  • As I mentioned before (and surely will mention again). I have another trip to Paris planned in October. This time, Eric is going back (after eight years) and we are traveling with friends. It will be fun to plan an autumn in Paris itinerary.

What have you been doing lately?

Week 30 - Inspiration: Exit

"Every exit is an entry to somewhere else.” - Tom Stoppard

#dogwoodweek30 #2019dogwood52 #dogwood52

Links I Love • July 2019

“One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Human and Nature shall not be broken.” - Leo Tolstoy

• Local Links:

  • Celebrate Bastille Day in Milwaukee (via Frenchly): “Believe it or not, Bastille Day is all the rage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the largest French-themed festival in North America takes place every summer…” — Of course, I believe it!

  • Few People Know The Center Of The World Is Actually Hiding In This Tiny Wisconsin Town (including me!)

  • The “It Books” of Summers Past — Surprisingly, I’ve read quite a few of them.

  • From Door County to a Magic Tree House - Wisconsin locations featured in ybooks

  • Marquette adopts test-optional policy starting with fall 2020 class - I’m very proud of this! The privilege to matriculate at my alma mater should not be based on a test score, but rather by your potential to “Be the Difference.”

• Vive la France!

  • A Year in Paris that Transformed the Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis — I maintain that even a week in Paris will change your life!

  • A Tour of Literary Paris — Yes, another one, but I can never combining my passions for Paris and books.

  • The 25 Most Beautiful Places in Paris (according to CN Traveler) — I have 4 more to visit!

  • 20 Timeless Photos that Prove Paris Will Never Go Out of Style

  • 11 Things You Should Do Every Time You Travel - I should take more day trips and push outside my comfort zone more.

  • Discover the Words of the Concorde Métro Station — “The very fact that the words from this vital document have been aligned onto the wall of a very busy metro station suggests that the world needs reminding about human rights.”

  • 43 Recipes That are Basically the Same as Hopping on a Plane to Paris

  • Does French Music Have a Place in the United States? — It certainly does chez moi.

  • How to Set a Chic French Table — I love this, but so often my Scandi, minimalist, all-white aesthetic wins.

  • The Williams Sonoma catalogue features all things French this month

  • Beauty Passport: Grasse - The Perfume Capital of the World — I’d love to return to the beautiful, fragrant town in the South of France.

  • Helen Mirren, Pharrell, and MoreCelebs Honor Karl Lagerfeld at Star-studded Memorial Event

  • 11 Over-40 French Women Who Only Get Cooler as They Age — A great read for une femme d’un certain âge.

Week 29 - Composition: Depth of Field

“Stand for something bigger than yourself. Add value to the Earth during your sojourn.” - Marian Wright Edelman

Depth of Field is a great way to isolate your subject. Instead, for the challenge though I want you to use DoF to make a subject appear part of something larger. #dogwoodweek29 #dogwood52 #2019dogwood52 #dof

Nares Moves at Milwaukee Art Museum

“Nares: Moves is the first retrospective on the contemporary New York-based artist James Nares (b. 1953) and reveals a significant career bringing motion into the spotlight. In addition to being the first retrospective for Nares, it is also the first to explore in depth the artist’s films as central to his artistic practice. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue celebrate the key projects of this prolific, perpetual inventor and establish Nares as an important contemporary artist.“ - mam.org

“I do make my own brushes and have done so for many years. I'm constantly refining the designs, trying new materials, re-configuring other brushes - all in my never-ending quest for the perfect brush.” - James Nares

Week 28 - Storytelling: Your Culture

“The role of culture is that it's the form through which we as a society reflect on who we are, where we've been, where we hope to be.” - Wendell Pierce

#dogwoodweek28 #2019dogwoodr52 #dogwood52 #reflection

In reflecting on this week’s prompt, this part of a poem I wrote a few years ago came to mind (You can read the full version here).

For the first year of my life, I didn't have a name: I was Jane Doe. A year later, I was adopted, chosen, given this name: Melinda Marie Larson.

• Melinda: gentle, sweet

• Marie: the French variant of Mary "Star of the Sea," A name for a girl who grew up on the water, for a woman still most content upon it. I was named for my maternal grandmother. I was named for the Blessed Mother.

• Larson: A noble surname, ethnic and geographic, “Son of Lars,” Scandinavian for Lawrence — a laurel, fragrant, ever green, a wreath to adorn the heads of heroes...I am child of noble victors, of Door County Scandinavians.

My name is the gift of my culture.