Best of 2011

BOOKS
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Room by Emma Donoghue
Bossypants by Tina Fey
A Game Plan for Life by John Wooden
Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman
I am embarrassed that I haven't read a good book since that last one. Maybe the fact that my aunt gifted me her old Kindle(!) will change that! Eep.

MOVIES
Black Swan
Blue Valentine
The King’s Speech
Mother and Child
Only When I Dance
Kick-Ass
Mary and Max
Planet B-Boy
See What I’m Saying
Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid Love
Tangled
50/50
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Shame

MUSIC
“Grenade” by Bruno Mars
“Raise Your Glass” and “F*ckin Perfect” from P!nk’s Greatest Hits…So Far!
21 by ADELE, especially Someone Like You
“Edge of Glory” from Born This Way by Lady Gaga
The Archandroid by Janelle Monae, especially ”Cold War”
The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons
4 by Beyonce
“Tighten Up” from Brother by The Black Keys
“Dark Side” from Stronger by Kelly Clarkson
Ceremonials by Florence + the Machine

THEATRE
Psy at Arts Emerson
Porgy and Bess at A.R.T.
I need more theater in my life, dammit!

Thank you, as always for reading! My blog turns 5 in 10 days, so look for a big celebratory post then, if not before.

I have no idea what 2012 will bring, but hopefully, it's not the end of the world.

Happy New Year!

Kids are the Funniest!!

I literally just got home after my trip to LA, where I did MANY MANY fun things with my family including, but not limited to:
Celebrating Christmas AND Hanukkah,
Eating LOTS of tasty food,
Seeing Mario Lopez in person, who is shorter than he seems on TV,
Seeing The Muppets, which I almost cried twice at,
Riding two rollercoasters and a drop ride (the latter for the first time),
Drinking tasty wine and reconnecting with my cousins,
Playing imagination games with their 5-year-old son,
Squeezing their eight-month-old son,
AND
Collecting the following quotes.

CGW, age 5: When I am a dad and I have kids, I will only wash my body on Mondays.

CGW's mom: Mommy loves CGW and Mommy loves DGW and Mommy loves Annie and Mommy loves Momma!
CGW: And Mommy loves butt and Mommy loves penis.

CGW: I don't want you to be the guy for this game because one of the guy's name is Woody but the OTHER guy's name is STINKY PETE!

CGW: I love you more than Pluto.

CGW: You can take this paper home. And maybe EWE (his cousin) will come to your house and draw.

CGW: Knock knock!
Me: Who's there?
CGW: Alligator!
Me: Alligator who?
(this repeats several times)
CGW: Knock knock!
Me: Who's there?
CGW: Monkey!
Me: Monkey who?
CGW: Monkey is swinging on your hair!
(In his defense, he explained that hair is like vines. Pretty amazing, if you think about it that way.)

CGW's mom: H, can I see your boots?
CGW: Can I see your BOOBS??

Overheard at Work, vol. XXIX

So.

That was a crazy week/month/year of work.

Yes, it is true. When we all return to work in JANUARY(!), it will have been a whole year that I have been there.

My brain is fried, my body is thrashed, my sinuses are clogged, my chest is burning, and I am HOPING that I do not end up feeling sicker with my vacation mere hours away.

And, now, for the last time in 2011:

"You can't eat in here."--me, to a kid, while eating a pear. WHOOPS!

"I want some facial hair. That's all I want for Christmas."--a 15-year-old, and may all his Christmas wishes come true.

Same 15-year-old: Where can I find more tape?
Me: Upstairs in the copy room.
[minutes later, he returns with tape.]
Me: See? I told you you'd find some in there!
Him: You didn't help me at all. I had to ask Wendy!
Me: What do you mean? I said, it would be in the copy room!
Him: But you didn't tell me where!
Me: You mean, you walked into the room and didn't see tape? So you asked someone else? You expected to see, like, a pile of tape in the corner?

"Santa's creepy."--a 10-year-old during our holiday party

"WHERE'S SANTA?!?! SHOW YOURSELF!!!!"--Lateral Lisp Kid

"How come last year Santa was white and this year he's black?"--8-year-old
"Maybe there's a team of Santas!"--Me
"Maybe he got a dark tan!"--8-year-old

I am taking a wee blogging break this week, as I'm traveling to LA to be with family.

Depending on how eventful that is, you might not hear from me until the very end of the year.

Happy holidays!

Overheard at Work, vol. XXVIII

I do not understand time.

How is it possible for a week to seem endless and SUPERSHORT at the same time?

This week, I:
Had my last two rehearsals for the work event I led Thursday,
Led a work event Thursday that included the FIRST-EVER play presentation,
Had super crazy anxiety about getting the stomach virus that is floating around,
Walked around the building, herding the kids, for about 5 1/2 hours today.

I am beat.

An 11-year-old processing through his homework assignment to find the correct word to fill in the blank: Dislogical? Unlogical? Fartlogical?

A 9-year-old, commenting on how she'd be able to play a game where you improvise ways to "please the queen" if a boy was sitting in as "King": How do you make a boy happy?
I laughed and told her I HAD NO IDEA!

Another 9-year-old's offerings to said "King": I will give you Beyonce, Shakira, and belly dancers.
Oy.

Me to a 12-year-old: I need you to be in the next play!
Him: I think I already get enough publicity.

Colleague: I wish I was a soccer ball so I could hit kids in the face and not get in trouble.
I promise, she loves her job.

Overheard at Work, vol. XXVII

Dude.

Where is the month going? Two more weeks of work left and then I'm on my first vacation in months AND looking ahead to my YEAR ANNIVERSARY of starting my job.

WHAT??

11-year-old girl improvising ice cream flavors for a scene: Raspberry, strawberry, coconut, pumpkin, ..., sedimentary rock...

12-year-old: You're dumb nice.
Teen: What?
12-year-old: It means mad nice!

9-year-old girl singing (to the tune of "It's Raining Men"): Thank God it's Friday! Hallelujah, thank God it's Friday!

While playing a story-telling game prompted by images on cards, the first card revealed a woman in a car. The girl playing started the story, "A woman sat in traffic." The second card revealed movie seats and a screen that said "The End."
And, thus, the game ended.

P.S. This is my 600th post. [insert victory music here]

Overheard at Work, vol. XXVI

Well, THIS week flew by! By the time it was Wednesday, I was so thrown off that I thought it was still Tuesday. I am very happy it's the weekend, but I have a feeling the rest of this year is going to go by in a flash.

"Swongdong. It means pickled brain in Chinese."--11-year-old boy. Except I'm pretty sure that word doesn't mean anything in Chinese.

Later that afternoon, the same kid asked outloud, "Where's my bag?" and when he noticed it next to him, he said, "There you are, you little scamp!"

Me [helping a kid with his homework]: I don't know the answer.
9-year-old boy: Me neither! Oh my god! It's like we're sisters!

"My dad lives in a single-family home, but he acts very, very homeless."--a 12-year-old girl, after explaining that we didn't want to know where her father had found her beanie.