Hello July! Part I

Summer Reading

"The Arrangements," by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  

Recently, The New York Times commissioned authors to write fiction inspired by the election.  The first story, "The Arrangements," is an intimate portrait of the Trump family.  On the surface, it is about Melania Trump's effort to plan an anniversary dinner for her parents.  On a deeper level, it describes the different types of female power operating within Trump's inner-circle.   "The Arrangements" is deceptively easy to read, but the questions it poses will stay with you.

Read it here.

The New York Times

Summer Make-Up: 

Nars Velvet Matte Skin Tint and Laura Mercier Translucent Pressed Setting Powder.  

I walked into Bluemercury the first day returning to work after Winter Break thinking that a new lipstick would lift my spirits.  Not surprisingly, I ended up returning to school with a  new foundation and powder, in addition to the lipstick, tucked into my bag.  It's funny how that happens . . . Anyway,  when RM picked me up from school that day he said "wow, your skin looks great; you're glowing." I felt like I was in an informercial!  The fact that he noticed a difference in my skin was notable, considering the fact that he hadn't noticed that my hair was a weave until I told him three or four months into dating . . .well, maybe he did notice and was just being polite.  Either way, both the man and the make-up are keepers!

The Nars Velvet Matte Skin Tint (my shade is Cuzco) blurs my pores and gives me light to medium coverage, which is perfect for summer.  I also love that it has an SPF of 30 since I am not at all religious about using sunscreen.  Best of all, immediately after I started using it, the redness and irritation I was having along my cheekbones cleared up.  It claims to be mattifying, but I use the Laura Mercier Pressed Setting Powder to tone down shine throughout the day.  Be warned: the powder is white.  It works well for me, especially around midday when grease is sliding off my face and I don't want to layer on more color.  Coincidently, Mikita uses the same powder and thinks that it makes her look slightly chalky.   She uses a finishing spray to give her a dewy look.  

Summer Listening:

Serial Season 2.

Summer brain drain can happen to teachers too; there are only so many Instagram posts one can scroll through over the course of the day before feeling stupid.  Luckily, I discovered the second season of Serial, which focuses on Bowe Bergdahl, the American solider who deserted his post and was captured by the Taliban.  Bergdahl was held in captivity for nearly five years and then labeled a traitor when he was released in exchange for 5 members of the Taliban held at Guantamo Bay.   Bergdahl claimed that his plan was to walk off into the desert of Afghanistan in order to bring attention to the lack of leadership in the army, but why did he really leave his post?  Should Bergdahl even have been accepted into the army in the first place when he had previously been "separated" from The Coast Guard?  Was he a Taliban sympathizer? Was he mentally ill? Bowe's story is interesting, as is the larger discussion of the failure of the war in Afghanistan.  

Jumping Monkey Hill

Today Chloe and I went to 126th Street to get our hair braided, and I realized that I forgot my book once I sat down in the chair.  There is no way that I can last in that noisy, crowded shop without headphones and something good to read.  Luckily, I had my Kindle, so I used the time to re-read stories from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's collection, The Thing Around Your Neck.  All of the stories are engaging and thought provoking, but I was struck by the brilliance of "Jumping Monkey Hill."  As I return for my second year of teaching at Dwight, the ideas of questioning cultural (and gender related) expectations made it particularly poignant.  The subject matter and the 'story within a story' narrative structure make it ripe for teaching.

Read it here

I would pair "Jumping Monkey Run" with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Ted Talk, "The Danger of the Single Story."

I'm Grateful for the Small Things

New Fiction by Toni Morrison in The New Yorker!  Thanks Sonje!

New Fiction by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Matter.

Real Food

Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie's books are my latest passion. They are the perfect combination of  insightful social commentary and beautiful language.  I generally try to force everything that I love onto my students (with varying results - "Fences" was a hit; The Great Gatsby- not so much). My 5th and 6th grade Language Enrichment students just finished Purple Hibiscus and went from complaining that the book was "too hard," to cheering as we completed the book together.

5th Grade Final Project on Purple Hibiscus

Inspired by Adichie's short story Real Food, I had my 8th graders write their own narratives about food, family and culture.  The stories that I received were about everything from fried chicken to fufu; Thanksgiving meals to Eid celebrations.  The following story is by Brittney Nelson:

When I was younger my mom used to make a meal every Sunday for me, my aunt, my cousin, and my grandfather.  I used to love the way she cooked because she used special seasonings that she knew that I liked.  She used to make pork chops, sloppy joes, cheese burgers, and fried chicken.  That's not all she made, but those were the ones I liked especially.  We didn't sit at the dining table because we liked to all watch television in the living room together.  Those were the times when no one argued and everyone was laughing together.  She used to always get mad at me because whenever my hands were greasy, I would wipe them on my clothes or on the suede couch.  When I did that, she would give me a look- then I realized that I was in trouble. 

As my mom started to get sick, she wasn't able to cook for us so she would have one of her sisters cook for us.  I used to get mad because I liked my mother's cooking better, but there was nothing I could do about it. As my mother started to get really sick, we didn't even have home cooked meals anymore.  We ordered take-out from the nearest restaurants.  But I will never forget the meal that my mom asked my aunt to make for us before she was hospitalized.  She asked my aunt to make boiled chicken and noodles.  Before we started eating, my mother requested that all of us sit at the dining room table while we were eating.  We had a wonderful discussion; we also had many laughs as we brought up the good ol' times.  I am so glad that we all had that peaceful family time because that was the last time that we sat at the dining table with a home cooked meal.  

Now that my mom has passed, I always ask my aunt to recreate that meal.  It may not be every Sunday, but when I do eat it, it always brings back wonderful memories.  That will ALWAYS and FOREVER BE MY FAVORITE MEAL!

Brittney (second to left) and her beautiful and intelligent friends!

Read Adichie's story here:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/09/03/070903fa_fact_adichie

http://www.amazon.com/Chimamanda-Ngozi-Adichie/e/B001JS3BBC