7:26 PM - New Day Rising

Yesterday I took a new teaching position in a kindergarten classroom at a North Philadelphia school. While it's not easy to leave my previous South Philly home behind, I am excited. It's important for me to teach at a school in which I am part of the neighborhood, i.e. , I have some sort of investment in the general area, but I am certain I can bring the same level of giving a damn that I did last year.

It's going to be interesting getting used to teaching 5 and 6 year olds for their first year of full time school. I did it in be-you-tee-full Roxborough for 3 back in the day, but that was sort of a cakewalk and I've since made my bones with the older kids. I'm not worried about the challenge, I'm actually sort of hungering for it. Ready to take it on and be that teacher that needs to be there. Patient, kind, smart, happy, encouraging. About 2 weeks and get to meet them. Get to know their names, their quirks, the things they like and dislike, learn how to get through to them when they are upset without upsetting them more.

I'm glad to have that distraction/challenge on September 2nd because I'll have something else on my mind that day as well.

Today I've been soaking up Screamin Jay Hawkins on my iPod, looking for a first day of school shirt (found 1 at H&M) , missing The Wackness (get it on dvd I guess) , and tracking down an iPhone that I will most likely purchase on friday.

My day yesterday: 25 people in a room, 35 positions to choose from, the lesson learned that if you don't have an educational speciality in this day and age, you get the crumbs.... So, this afternoon I'm getting my degree paperwork in order, registering for my last two semesters of class and maybe even starting a reading specialist certification to give me a leg up. Even reading up on PhD. programs, though I'm tired of academia for a while.

Once more with feeling.

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1:05 PM - Craft Night

Last night we had another great craft night at Amanda's though this time was even better because Nate joined us. We started off the night making dinner and playing MarioCart, then people just kept arriving. Nate made both a Baby Bowser and Bowser from a clay set I brought. Then he kind of got a little bashful, went up to the roof and came back downstairs to play MarioCart with Chris.

The details are important yet not the most important aspect. As a single dad (and not even as frequent a single dad I would prefer, like ALL the time , because believe me , the transition of taking care of him either for a week every few weeks or a weekend every other weekend is not at all easy, it is a constant turning over of facets of me: caretaker, professional, playmate, single-city-person, etc, etc, etc. The aspects don't lend to one word explanations) it is a tremendous asset to me to have at least two people in my life who really LOVE my son. One just wants to squeeze his head and stuff and the other pretty much wants to just let him hang out with her. This might be my mantra all summer, but they have made my summer so very happy and allowed me just to see how loveable and cute and smart that kid of mine is.

Central Park Trip. Check. Next stop, the beach on saturday... and Sonic!

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5:52 PM - Blue Pills

I just spent my midday in bed, after a long ride with 30 pounds of books on my back River to River, singing to the city as I tend to do on sunny Mondays. After my little excursion to the Central Philbrick Branch, I pulled out of one of the six books I picked up today. I did my usual pick of two graphic novels, one work of fiction, one biography, one essay , and one poetry.

Blue Pills was one of the two. I like graphic novels. My first one was actually about Captain Marvel and the Skrulls that I purchased with a Waldenbooks gift certificate (cards did  not exist back then) when I was 14. But it was Daniel Clowes that really got me hooked. However, I don't think I have been as struck and read as fast as I had today. I think I devoured it twice in about 45 minutes.

I feel like I do it a disservice by writing about it, that I just want to say either read it blindly on my recommendation (which is worth something when it comes to books at least) or just read this review.

Currently reading : Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story By Frederik Peeters

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12:07 AM - John Fogerty’s voice

is the stimulus of most of my memories:

Young off duty cops pulling up in their Mustangs and Camaros and Chevelles along the stone alley bordering our yard. They get out with their wives or girlfriends with cases and kegs being carried toward my Dad and Mom. One of them , some uncle by occupation , scoops me up, my platinum hair flapping it's dutch boy cut. My little mom is pulling off the foil of the same steel bowl she's always had that's been filled with sweet corn from the guy down the road. They drink , shoot the shit, drink, around the picnic table. Gloves come up , they throw the softball around a bit. . The yard is big but not that big. Someone hits a real shot and it bounces across the highway. They all laugh. "Hope nobody calls the cops" one of them yells out. It's been dark for hours. All I know is I curled up with one of our German Shepherds  and someone is scooping me up again. I'm passed around and told goodbye . I'm given a quick piggy back ride and then thrown to my Dad who says in my ear, his eternal mustache brushing me. "That's a good day bud". My only nickname, which I fear came from my grandfathers beer choice.

It's years later. My Dad and I are driving down the hill in Pburg to take the Free Bridge back to Northampton Street through town and then to our home. We pull into Jimmy's . Run Through The Jungle comes on. I'm 12 and the old man (who will never be old it seems, at least to me) turns up the radio more, the woofers and tweeters he installed pumping out the opening guitar lines. We buy our dogs and get back in the truck. He's shifting between bites. tapping along on the wheel. We hit the circle and that little incline and go up , up (we pass by the street that will lead to what will one day be Mello's house) . He's in 5th  . We're stopped at the synagogue and he says "Man, listen to this ." It's the drum part of Travelin Band. He shows me what that beat looks like on the snare. I smile, showing my front teeth, My fingers drift out the open window and I ride the breeze , just looking at my town pass by me .

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8:08 PM - On Summer Leisure (a pilfered title)

After a morning running errands in this barely tolerable heat I headed straight to the cool comfort of my room to watch a crappy Redbox rented flick (Vantage Point) and drank Caucasians, ate cashews, and re-read The Affected Provincial's Almanack. It put me in such a mood. I admit to eyeing Seersucker suits on a too frequent basis lately. My only obstacle thus far to getting one has been the truth that would have to buy some sort of straw hat to fan myself with and I'm not much for headwear. I also found a really amazing slim fit suit with great lapels at H&M that I would love to own.

Admittedly I have been finding trifles to occupy my time this week (Battlestar Galactica, GTA4, The Belly of Paris, preparing glasses of lemonade with various additives) as Nate is away spending time with his cousins in Virginia. The past few weeks of summer have been filled with so much great times with Nate, I can hardly believe it. It was really what I have been waiting for all along with my son. I have at least two people in my life to thank for helping with that. Whether it is my friend Jackie with her old jewish/italian aunt quality that she brings to hanging with Nate or Amanda with her exuberance that can hold it's own with a 6 year old every day, they have both shown me how to really seize the day with Nate and just have fun. The strangest thing is is that it has lead to many many chances lately to have really great talks with Nate. I think he and I are learning to just communicate so much better. He is really turning into the little gentleman I want him to be. Of course I don't want him to lose his personality , but I love that lately he thinks about others and talks about them (friends, family) with affection and is happy to see them on his own when we visit and spend time.

So this week is being spent getting ready for next week to give it my all, think of fun and creative stuff for us to do and just waiting to see him again.

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9:54 PM - Mister Twister

I just got back from my old Valley home for what was meant to be an outing to a minor league baseball game that turned into a round of Miniature Golf (Putt U on 309 near Center Valley) and a perusal of bikes. My dad got an impossible hole in one even with the soggy course. I found a olive green diamondback that I might give to my friend Ant if he wants it or just ride it around the city for a bit and either sell it or give it away (last time, when I sold my Fuji, I knocked $20 off the price of the bike because the kid just showed a major appreciation of the frame itself, which made me all happy) . However, the biggest fun of the overnight in Bethlehem was Nate's discovery of twist ties. He contructed this little man who he dubbed Mister Twister and constructed a whole background in the car on our way back to Philly.

Mr. Twister Facts:

He is a secret agent
He has a jet pack that turns into a belt
He has the same name as Nate
His favorite food is pizza.
His favorite football team is the Redskins
His favorite tv show is the Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
His favorite soccer team is the Seals (the team Nate plays on) .

So lately he's been making both real and imaginary friends. This summer is going so good, I'm dreading the end of it....

Next up, a trip to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Taddonio's quitting smoking!

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4:40 AM - He ruined Wonder Woman But...

Last night, as part of the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, I went to seePolymath at Arts Bank. It's the story of Temple writing professor Samuel R. Delany. The man has a varied amount of writing, from science fiction to autobiography to being the writer of Wonder Woman in 1972 when she loses her powers and becomes some sort of government agent. Now I was holding that last part against him, but when I saw his story, being the grandson of slaves, the son of a harlem funeral director, a black gay man in the 50s and 60s I cut him some slack.

Added to that , Chip Delany also claims to have had sexual liasons with over 50,000 people in his lifetime. Try doing that math, he explained it in the film.

However, the scene that really got me was toward the very end. He is riding on a train from Buffalo back to Philly and telling a story about one of his classes at Temple. He begins to explain how no one in the class ever raises their hands to answer questions. He instructs the class that from now on everyone must raise their hand and if they don't know the answer, to just simply say so, no harm done and then pass it to another person in the room. At this point in his storytelling Chip (and how can you not call him by his first name when he is relating this important point) begins to rub his nose and tear up and say "They need to learn to answer questions. How else will they survive in this world if they don't seek answers to questions. "  He summed up my feelings as a teacher right there. He wanted to equip his students. If there is one thing that keeps me going in my job, it is the desire to see my students succeed in this world. And for that, I admire Chip Delany.

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10:49 PM - Electro Forged or I Think I’m In Love

with a dog and my new (vintage) Schwinn Cruiser.

The dog : a crazy bundle of energy that lays down whenever kids or girls or other dogs come near and wags his tail and lolls out his tongue just to let them know he wants to play play play. I want to steal Pickles. You heard me.

The bike: kind of a rust colored Chicago Schwinn (with Upside down Top Hat decal by the way). I feel like a some sort of super king riding around on it, like I want to yell "Hip Hip Hooray"

Other things I am gay for this month:

The Delsea Drive-In
Trips to Weg-a-mans
Annie Hall by the River
A 20 minute head rush by Jay Reatard
Lazying in the pool with my son
Squirt gun fights in Columbus Square.
Hearing someone describe that scene in Notes on A Scandal when Judy Dench gives a verbal  autopsy of  Cate Blanchett's family.

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7:12 AM - Frankenstein was the first in line and the Wolfman came up next.

I started re-reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time  a few days ago. Technically I looked at it again due to the fact I was bored at a Barnes and Noble in the burbs and just picked it up and opened to the first page . In my previous life as a social worker, I had 2 clients with Autism. Back then , I and just about everyone knew so little about autism, I really didn't know how to build bridges of communication with the two of them. Many of my classmates in my masters program worked in autistic support, as my mother does as well. The idea of a specific and rare way a person interacts with the world around them is kind of fascinating to me. Christopher John Francis Boone has good days when he sees 4 red cars in a row. He has Black Days when he sees 4 yellow cars in a row. Strangely , yellow doesn't make me too happy either.

I had a conversation yesterday with a friend about how people communicate. Specifically me and another friend and how I seemed to be kind of at my wits end and  maybe even getting a bit stubborn about communicating with them , or least not seeing their way as just as valuable as my way (which may include spirited discussions or emotion). Looking back on it, it seemed terribly unjust of me. Here I wanted someone to tolerate me, when I wasn't willing to tolerate them. Learn your lessons I say to myself.

So, here I sit , bleary eyed yet happy , thinking about the day ahead. The trip to the library, the rhythm of the laundromat, the taste of last nights Lemoncella slightly lingering on my lips.

It is a good day.

Currently listening : I've Got a Tiger by the Tail By Buck Owens and His Buckaroos Release date: 1995-05-17

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12:36 PM - Adult Gum

Last night, Nate tried some mint gum and referred to it as "Adult Gum"  because it was not pink. First he chewed it kind of slow , crinkling his eyes, thinking about it. Soon he was full swing into it and said rather matter of factly "I could chew this" .

I hope it marks the beginning of the expansion of his tastes. Like mustard on hot dogs or listening to Buck Owens (which he did last night, though he seems to prefer REM's It's the End of the World as we know it and Punk Rock Girl by the Dead Milkmen).

We are both highly anticipating wednesday's trip to the drive in and a possible trip to see the Empire State building (along with other things) next week sometime.

Kickball this evening?

I'm proposing we have a field day some saturday or sunday in August. Foursquare.  Red Rover. Wiffle Ball. Three Legged Race. Kickball. Whatever Strikes Our Fancy. Maybe down at FDR, so we can grill and drink. Any takers? Maybe South Philly versus every other neighborhood (cause we rule the school)?

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5:38 PM - Dial A Stranger

A few months ago I had read on PopCandy about a little radio show called Dial A Stranger. I signed up immediately and got my call just a few moments ago.

I don't want to tell you what its about, but if you check the site in another few days or a week or so, I should be on.

The whole experience took me by surprise, so it took me a few moments to kind of realize what it is... then I kind of just relaxed and started talking like a regular old conversation.


In other news, Nate and Amanda and I went to the pool today and lazed around and kind of froze to death, went to Tattooed Mom's for pierogies, and then sat out on Ms. Mello's roof for a bit in the early evening. A nice day during a nice summer so far.

Let's play kickball next week!

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11:05 PM - There’s No Blue Monday in Your Sunday Clothes

Before dipping our quickly bronzing skin in the pool later in the day, I took my son to see Wall-E at the Boyd Theater in Bethlehem.

Now, I've always loved Pixar. Their connection to Apple, their storylines, their animation, everything. When I thought Ratatouille was the best film they had made yet, with that moment of Anton Ego's childhood summing up all of my food memories and dreams, I was not prepared for Wall-E, which is pretty much a visual representation of my sappy romantic side.

It's all in the hands. Though Wall-E is quite obsessed with Hello Dolly and it's songs, I'm convinced that the main song of the movie doesn't even appear in the film at all. A little tune by McCartney and Lennon that meant so much to me as a kid. Wall-E is wandering alone, living his life, cleaning up the planet after everyone has left, collecting things. A rubik's cube here, a hubcap there, and he has a pretty routine bachelor's life he comes back to at the end of each day.

Then Eve arrives, all purpose and directive and business, and Wall-E just falls. He stumbles around her and tries to impress , all of his sentimentality seemingly lost in her bright blue eyes. And eventually she sees that this goof, this romantic fool who just wants to wave to people and shake their hands and play his music while foraging around the planet is really quite a guy.

And then she just wants to hold his hand and travels across the universe to make sure that happens.



I'm so happy summer is here. Nate went off the high dive today, no fear at all, just plopped right in, and kept jumping in, a memory of me manifested into another life right before my eyes.

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5:08 PM - I wann a dance in the streets of my city with all the hipsters and the old maids

...Cuz they know
what we are going through
Time's running out
For each of us to say I love you too
I'll live here my whole life and I know one thing that's true
I'm not sorry.

These first few days of vacation have been how it usually goes. That weird adjustment (barring my school district trainings in the morning this week) to having nothing to do (Nate is happily keeping my mother companythe next few days , swimming and such since she also has the summer off) .

I did have a bit of a party on Friday. No big whoop.

Night of the Living Moustaches

And I'm trying to find swim club memberships for Nate and I. There is nothing better than my memories of hanging out at the pool when I was 8 and 9. The days just melted together, turning my blond hair green .

I had a very serious discussion with Nate's mom about the summer just a few days ago. I also expressed my dilemma with wanting to see Nate more but the distance and gas being a killer. I said this: You know I am never leaving Philly. It's my home.

And she said: I know. That's a good thing. We may not be that far forever.

Hope? I just want my kid to be able to feel the way I do about this town. The way I felt while looking out from Amanda's rooftop last night, drinking expired wine, smoking  smushed cigarettes, agreeing with my friend that South Philly is home.

The CIty Let Me.

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8:32 PM - Learn to Disappear Gracefully

I said goodbye to my class today. We still have one more day together, tomorrow, a half day. But that will be filled with an awards assembly and "Move Up Day" in which the kids get to go to their new classroom and meet their teacher for the coming school year. I hadn't planned on talking to them until tomorrow, telling them goodbye. The teacher occupying my room next year, in his anxiousness to get everything done before the whole day we have to close up our classrooms this Friday, decided to send his students down to my classroom (it's still mine until Friday) with box after box of stuff. Might as well move while the kids are here, he said, which I couldn't argue with.

It took my students by surprise. At first they called out almost rudely to the older students "Why are you putting that in here? Who's stuff is that? " . So when it all died down , and the boxes were placed in a corner of the room. I closed my classroom door and sat on a desk and told them this:

"Hey guys, I need to talk to you about something important. It seems that there are more teachers than students for next year , so that means I have to go to a new school to continue teaching. I'll certainly miss you and our school every day, but I'm sure I'll be able to find a place, maybe more 3rd graders to teach. That's not the only thing I want to talk to you about. I want to tell you how proud I am of you every day. How wonderful my year has been. How we got to know each other. How hard you worked every day. I get compliments about each of you all of the time and I want you to remember that. Remember how we first started out, you had so many substitutes , you figured I would probably be gone after a few weeks too. Then we settled in, and you guys did a great job adjusting to me. You made every day a day I wanted to go to work, and the days I couldn't make it, I thought about you and was happy to be back. You will always be my students and be special to me. Thanks for being so great."

Then I got about a billion hugs.

I don't know where I will be next year. I'm sort of down about having to leave. But I honestly had my best teaching year yet. I took a class that had a series of substitutes for two and half straight months, a room that was a wreck when I got there and I helped bring their reading and math levels up. I took children who were called "problems" and I befriended them and helped them trust me and got them to cooperate with me every day. It was definitely a win this year. It's bittersweet.

There's still a slim slim slim chance , about 10% I could return. I am filling out a form to declare my right to return in case a position opens up over the summer. I'm putting my best foot forward. When it all boils down to it, it was great to work with a principal and a staff that gets teaching, that seems to know how to keep it peaceful and humming along, despite schools blocks away that have major problems. It was an honor. It made me proud to be a Philly teacher.

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7:02 AM - It’s Sunday Morning but No Tim Russert

Friday when I got home from work I turned on the television for a moment so I could distract myself from the heat. It was naturally tuned to MSNBC and I glanced at the crawl at the bottom of the screen and read TIM RUSSERT DEAD AT 58 FROM APPARENT HEART ATTACK.

You may have no idea or a vague idea about who Tim Russert is. But for me, most sunday mornings since the 94 election, I am either sitting and watching Meet the Press or listening CSPAN radios rebroadcast of the show in my car. I liked Tim Russert because he cared about politics for the reasons why I care about politics. Policy effects people. You can't complain about it unless you are willing to stand up and get involved. Tim Russert went after the problems of politics , he wasn't above telling a senator, vice president, anyone when he felt they were twisting the truth.

I'll miss him, my sunday's will be a little less without him.

Yesterday I went on a road trip for mustaches and Sonic. Though the heat tried to beat us down, my friend Jackie and I had a great time, even finding a pretty good thrift store next to the toy store we went to. We ate way too much at Sonic. I pretty much felt like a tater tot on the ride home. After that, I went to Art for the Cash Poor with my friend Mo and found the most amazing plates and dishes ever. Then she took me to Plough and the Stars for a nice father's day dinner. Such a great day.


Go here

Happy father's day!

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