So, here's how I spent my day.
First, Joan and I jetted (NB: I feel that "Joan" and "jett" should be combined as often as possible) over to Berkeley at about 7:30 a.m. for a Bay Area Writing Project seminar reenvisioning (not my word) the way we teach writing. There, I saw many old friends, including Kelly, Sim, andPatrick, to whom I promised I would link. Apparently, like many gentle readers, Patrick reads the blog and comments in his own, rather than using this nifty discussion board feature. It's an interesting genre study problem -- is a blog a diary, a discussion board, a website, or its own animal? For further insights, check out Garry Trudeau's take on the issue.
Did I ever tell you that I went to church with the man on whom Mike Doonesbury was based? Yale is a truly amazing place.
But I digress.
For dinner, we had hoped to get into one of our favorite restaurants, The Global Village Cafe
. We go there so often that they have memorized our favorite drinks and invite us to sit at special tables. Sadly, after Mike made the reservation, they called back to say they were booked solid, so we went to an inferior Mountain View restaurant that I will not advertise herein and stopped by Global Village afterwards for drinks, where I had their version of the Singapore Sling.
Did I ever tell you that I first drank a Singapore sling at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore?
But I digress. . . .
At GVC was this great folksy pianist named Vienna Teng
, whom we had seen at a folk music night at our local coffee shop. She actually knew what to do with a piano, though she sounded suspiciously like Tori Amos. Anyway, it was her CD release party, and I felt very hip, even if I did have to leave early because the Sling went straight to my head and because I had to get up at 0 dark 30 this morning.
Also, this morning, the BAWP meeting was held in a school library that was plastered with Dia de Los Muertos altars, info for the Gay-Straight Alliance, and ALA posters of celebrities encouraging kids to read. The usual people were featured, including the eminently bilingual Antonio Banderas, but my favorite by far had to be the read poster of -- you guessed it -- . Ani DiFranco
I read for the joy it brings! Cuz I am a reading girl!
Here's to you, Patrick. Way to change a school culture.
Tomorrow -- the new Harry Potter movie! Woohoo!
Posted by Meredith at November 16, 2002 11:57 PM