oil

It's Chanukkah. I've been planning my latke approach for a few weeks now, so the results are extra special. "Regular" potato with dill and fresh parsley; Curry sweet potato with leeks; and chipotle beet.

Fun to make.

full

I feel like such a grown-up - the best part of my day today was after work.

- Bought some great new kicks. A little off-message, but I'm still juiced to rock em.
- Sang great music with the PEBCC alumni choir in preparation for two concerts in early December.
- Caught the encore set of the Ray Ray show at the Fox (couldn't hear anything, but he looked great). No ticket required, apparently.

But most exciting, walked past our NEW TICKET WINDOW! Soon to be up and running... get ready!

roller skates

As a kid, roller skates were a means of transportation in the neighborhood. Recently, they've joined a league of their own. One of my favorite pasttimes more recently was "club games" - coming up with ways to entertain myself and my loved ones at the expense of not-so-innocent party-goers around town.

One favorite is "Roller Skates". Participants earn points by identifying the fastest rollers in the crowd and convincing her to trade (her ridiculous) shoes with you(r much more comfortable ones). It's a hard game.

I became very curious about roller skates - where to buy them, etc. - so I've been on a hunt. Here are my spoils:

littles

little people: mini-futbolistas at la escuelita next to my office
little wins: no fights at the front office coordination meeting
little snacks: small apples in the field trip focus group
little truths: musical differences between oakland and frisco, soul

it's the little things...

mixed

Most of the time, I need stuff that can help me keep my head high above the pain and heartache that fill my days. Sometimes, though, there's so much going on that even the strongest pick-me-ups can't lift me high enough and the illusion gets shaky. Today was one of those days. I will continue to be sad and terrified by how easy it is for adults to demonstrate their disrespect for young people by stripping out all of the supports that make it even halfway bearable to navigate through changing expectations and real decisions. I want to believe that I can impact that. I want to continue to shift those priorities. I want my future generations to have a foundation to continue this work for their future generations. I want to win.

Sometimes, though, I can get swept up in the fervor and turmoil and forget the values that ground me in this work. I can get panicky and careless. I can act outside of myself and forget.

I am grateful for the small number of people who can see that happening in me and know how to get through my brambles to stay close to me and remind me of what I already know in the different ways I need to hear it. More than any pick-me-up, I get so much from those who know how to hold me down.

skin

Crazy hard week last week made me make an appointment at the Korean spa in SF. When Jess, Tracey, and I tried its LA-counterpart last spring, I didn't know what to expect and my life was changed forever. The SF version is closer, and maybe a little cleaner, and I couldn't pick a better place to shed a lot of emotional and physical skin right now.

After a spontaneous nap, I had pupusas and brave conversation at a spot in West Oakland I'd never tried before and will go to again next time the bridge is broken and I have a fried cheese craving.

Watch out this week, if I see you, I might make you touch me.

stress + music = supergreat

Spent this morning at an early meeting where we presented our budget woes to the OUSD Principals - how would YOU cut $28 million from a budget of $252 million?

Spent more of the morning helping with some tedious details at a deep east middle school - and busted two girls cutting school on pajama day.

Spent the afternoon helping with some tedious details at a shrinking elementary school - found some small space to laugh.

THEN, got a surprise gift from one of my favorite colleagues - the newest Cecilia Bartoli CDs PLUS the accompanying 100-page castrato dictionary!! Opera nerd SCORE!

THEN, I didn't get stuck on the Bay Bridge. Again. Scary.

neighborhood excitement

A mysterious event happened across the street this morning. I was completely puzzled, until these two finally emerged from the apartment (red umbrella for luck and protection), off to celebrate their lives together.

Maybe I'll still find that Chinese quincenera someday...

ladies

I don't think I've laughed that much in such a short period of time. And ate and drank well too.

challah + me'shell

Friday night fun: shabbos dinner with one of my favorite families plus a mind-blowing show by one of my favorite musicians... plus homemade challah and the continuing success of The New Parish.

Killer.

success!

Tonight, we celebrated the 3rd annual Oakland Unified School District Expect Success awards. I was honored to be in the room with so many incredible people, committed to the daily success of Oakland students and families.


From our small corner of the district, Operations Support was pleased to honor Linda for her hard work and passion for what's right for kids.

Onward!!

oakland nature

Busy day (mostly in my car). It's fall.


And we have rainbows.

special time

I'm pretty transparent about my love for Isaiah. We've been special friends for about three years now and I only hope that I get to be his buddy for a long long time to come.



Tonight, over dinner, music time, and bedtime, Isaiah:

• had a Shock-G moment ("I like my oatmeal lumpy.")
• sang me a song about all of his fingers ("How are you doing today? Very well I thank you.")
• tried to convert me to bananas ("But we have very very delicious ones in our kitchen.")
• asked attentive questions ("What is a vacation? Did you fly on a Southwest plane? Did you go to nee-ew yohk city?")
• rocked out with me
• read a lot of stories about how things work ("Why does a miller use a grindstone? Why are all of those pigs sleeping in the same bed?")
• named and re-named all of his stuffed animals
• successfully convinced his 4-month old brother that spinach in a tortilla was actually an ice cream cone
• yelled things to make me laugh ("Shabbat hooray!")
• left me with a cliffhanger on how pumpkins grow
• willed me to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in Spanish (arcoiris!). Twice.

Definitely made it easy to forget the early morning anxiety and endless work day.

lake music

I woke up crazy early this morning and went for a walk around the lake. Beating the sun to the day makes me feel smart and powerful for some reason.

Besides the killer views, the soundtrack really makes the difference. Many thanks to the podcasters (etc) known as Matthew Africa and Sake One for the morning accompaniments.

mantra

I had a rough September.

Thanks to Jamilah for the help with kicking off October:

True. True.

we don't eat enough curry goat

Had dinner with my mom and cousin at Sweet Fingers in San Leandro. Really excited for the leftovers.

first day of school?

So I know my pick-me-up for the first day of school should be something about kids, now that they are all freshly scrubbed and assigned to classes, but getting to an elementary school at 7:30am to be a first day of school partner doesn't really get things started on the right foot for me. I learned that while I am highly educated and experienced, I am not good at papering and bordering bulletin boards.

Anyway, thankfully I don't have to depend on work to pick me up. Watch what happens when one of my favorite people does one of my favorite things at one of my favorite places.

cheating

I'm not sure how many times I'm allowed to use this, but it pretty much works every time.

dear chilaquiles

I know better than to use food to make myself feel better. But when you put together chips and cheese and eggs and crema and chicken and onions, it's hard to see anything else as a pick-me-up. Especially after another 12 hours of work.

chug chug chug chug chug

It's not the work that's getting me down, it's the volume and intensity that made me cry at my desk for a minute.

This helped. Click for more.