John, Jeannette, and I went to downtown Anchorage today for First Fridays. For those of you who don't know, "First Friday" refers to the opening of art galleries and studios for the display of art. It is designed to raise awareness of art and to create a market for it.
We went to several galleries. We saw a lot of mediocre art and some sound work. The innovative pieces were mostly in new mediums-- like jewelry and scarves. It reminded John and I both of First Fridays in Phoenix about 10 years ago. If Anchorage follows the Phoenix trajectory, it could be a really great art community soon. :)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Training
I'm currently at the Anchorage School District Education Center for new employee orientation. It's been quite some time since I've sat all day at a training. As far as all day trainings go, it's been good. But, ugh, I'm only 2.5 hours in and already I'm drowsy.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Law
Today was a big day for John. Two of the major cases he'd worked on all summer concluded and so did his summer work for the Federal Public Defender's office.
When John began at the Defender's office, he was unsure of what to expect. I was concerned.
As a child, I wanted to be an attorney. But, I wanted the job of defending the innocent people... just them. What could it be like to defend someone you knew was guilty???
Avril Lerman has been instrumental in shaping both John's conception of defense work and my own. Early on, Avril explained that you don't defend people, you defend the law. A defender's job is to make sure that everyone followed the law and that the best possible outcome, within the law, is achieved for your client.
Avril is an incredibly warm person. You may remember her from previous posts-- She and her husband (he's a judge) had us over for dinner. She took us to the baseball game.-- She spends her days working on habeas cases. As best as I can tell, this is any due process claim... so, some wrongdoing in the arrest, interrogation, or prosecution of a client. Apparently habeas cases are nearly impossible to win, at least at the federal level. Moreover, the cases can take years to complete.
The other night at the baseball game (you can tell how closely I was watching the game) I asked her how she could work for years on cases that almost always end in defeat. Avril said you had to redefine winning. She said that winning becomes letting your client's voice be heard, doing your best, and seeing a case through.
I reflected on how disenfranchised some of my students felt, even at 7th or 8th grade. It was hard work everyday to prove to these students that I cared, that people cared. What if they didn't see that? What if they went another 10 years without knowing that people and the world really cared? All of the sudden I could understand what Avril was saying... her job wasn't to win a case that didn't deserve to be won; her job was to give people some faith in humanity. So that people who had to spend their lives in jail knew that someone, somewhere cared and did their best for them.
What I've gleaned from Avril's words and John's tales, John experienced first hand. He worked on several cases. He developed a strategy for overcoming a predisposition rebuttal to entrapment cases. He wrote several memos on various issues. Most recently he worked on 2 cases:
* The first case was on behalf of an immigrant who had illegally reentered the country. He had to come to the U.S. at age 12 fleeing abuse with his sister. He had issues with drugs and theft. But, in the past 25 years, he's had a family with his wife. He's "Mr. Mom", giving up all of his old criminal life. He and his family are relocating to Mexico... but the question was, "How much jail time did he need to serve before he was deported?" The law stated 74 months based on his previous criminal history. The U.S. Attorney (the prosecutor) was seeking 24 months. John's office was hoping for the 8 months he'd served already... and then immediate deportation. John prepared the 16 page argument for why "time served" was sufficient. The judge agreed.
* The second case was about a pain management doctor who faced 20 years in prison for distributing controlled substances as a drug dealer, not a doctor. As John saw it, the doctor wasn't a very good doctor... but, he wasn't a drug dealer either. The jury agreed. After a week at trial, the jury found the doctor not guilty on all charges.
John has found his time at the Federal Public Defender's office to be challenging, rewarding, and insightful. The other attorneys have given John lots of positive feedback and he's excited about his next challenge... though glad to have a break!
When John began at the Defender's office, he was unsure of what to expect. I was concerned.
As a child, I wanted to be an attorney. But, I wanted the job of defending the innocent people... just them. What could it be like to defend someone you knew was guilty???
Avril Lerman has been instrumental in shaping both John's conception of defense work and my own. Early on, Avril explained that you don't defend people, you defend the law. A defender's job is to make sure that everyone followed the law and that the best possible outcome, within the law, is achieved for your client.
Avril is an incredibly warm person. You may remember her from previous posts-- She and her husband (he's a judge) had us over for dinner. She took us to the baseball game.-- She spends her days working on habeas cases. As best as I can tell, this is any due process claim... so, some wrongdoing in the arrest, interrogation, or prosecution of a client. Apparently habeas cases are nearly impossible to win, at least at the federal level. Moreover, the cases can take years to complete.
The other night at the baseball game (you can tell how closely I was watching the game) I asked her how she could work for years on cases that almost always end in defeat. Avril said you had to redefine winning. She said that winning becomes letting your client's voice be heard, doing your best, and seeing a case through.
I reflected on how disenfranchised some of my students felt, even at 7th or 8th grade. It was hard work everyday to prove to these students that I cared, that people cared. What if they didn't see that? What if they went another 10 years without knowing that people and the world really cared? All of the sudden I could understand what Avril was saying... her job wasn't to win a case that didn't deserve to be won; her job was to give people some faith in humanity. So that people who had to spend their lives in jail knew that someone, somewhere cared and did their best for them.
What I've gleaned from Avril's words and John's tales, John experienced first hand. He worked on several cases. He developed a strategy for overcoming a predisposition rebuttal to entrapment cases. He wrote several memos on various issues. Most recently he worked on 2 cases:
* The first case was on behalf of an immigrant who had illegally reentered the country. He had to come to the U.S. at age 12 fleeing abuse with his sister. He had issues with drugs and theft. But, in the past 25 years, he's had a family with his wife. He's "Mr. Mom", giving up all of his old criminal life. He and his family are relocating to Mexico... but the question was, "How much jail time did he need to serve before he was deported?" The law stated 74 months based on his previous criminal history. The U.S. Attorney (the prosecutor) was seeking 24 months. John's office was hoping for the 8 months he'd served already... and then immediate deportation. John prepared the 16 page argument for why "time served" was sufficient. The judge agreed.
* The second case was about a pain management doctor who faced 20 years in prison for distributing controlled substances as a drug dealer, not a doctor. As John saw it, the doctor wasn't a very good doctor... but, he wasn't a drug dealer either. The jury agreed. After a week at trial, the jury found the doctor not guilty on all charges.
John has found his time at the Federal Public Defender's office to be challenging, rewarding, and insightful. The other attorneys have given John lots of positive feedback and he's excited about his next challenge... though glad to have a break!
Rain, Rain...
Rain, rain you're okay... come around just for today.
That's my revisionist version of the song. It's currently sunny, but you really don't want to see this in the forecast... BOO :(
Willow Crest Online
My school's website now has my name. Woo hoo!
You can also see my principal's picture and the profiles of my teammates in second grade (Christi Henning and Jeannette Medeiros).
You can also see my principal's picture and the profiles of my teammates in second grade (Christi Henning and Jeannette Medeiros).
Open Courses at MIT
Kerry found this website and passed it along... MIT (like the MIT) publishes coursework for almost all subjects that they teach. It's called Open Courseware... you can select a course and then read the content and even take the tests. You don't have access to any of the faculty (so presumably you can't have your work graded), but you can access a lot of their coursework. It's really just for enrichment, but pretty neat :) See http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Bathroom Art
We brought several of our favorite art pieces up from Arizona and Michigan. As we began to arrange them, we were stumped when it came to the bathroom.
The bathroom needed something, but we had some challenges:
1. Because of the steam, we didn't want to put any cherished pieces in the bathroom. But, we also didn't want to purchase something new and expose it to the moisture.
2. John purchased us a retro-looking shower curtain. It's very cool, but not easily matched to other art.
So, we didn't know what to do.
That's when I came across the Book Cover Archive. (I actually think I found it when I was looking for a picture for my post about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.)
I decided to use book covers that were visually interesting and used the colors I needed. I sent them to Walgreens.com, picked them up, and put them in a set of IKEA Ribba frames. Super cheap... and, I think, super cool.
Despicable Me
Oh my gosh... I know I already wrote about Despicable Me, but these scenes in particular are just so darn cute. If you haven't seen the film yet, GO. It's adorable. If you just need a little cute-fix, then you can watch this.
Out the Window
Looking out our living room windows, I've found 2 cool things...
Out one window is a beau
tiful spider web... like the kind we think of when we're kids... SOME PIG- style. Mom found it and it's sustained itself despite the rain (which is what's spotting the window).
Out the other window are BERRIES!!! They're not yet ripe, as you can see. Several of our neighbors have wild raspberries in their yard that are just starting to ripen. I'm optimistic that ours will ripen soon as well. Woo hoo!
Out one window is a beau
tiful spider web... like the kind we think of when we're kids... SOME PIG- style. Mom found it and it's sustained itself despite the rain (which is what's spotting the window).Out the other window are BERRIES!!! They're not yet ripe, as you can see. Several of our neighbors have wild raspberries in their yard that are just starting to ripen. I'm optimistic that ours will ripen soon as well. Woo hoo!
Up Too Early
This morning I got up (early, BOO) with the critters. When I took Hayden out, I noticed a beautiful sunrise.
While this sunrise was very early, apparently you are able to see many, many sunrises and sunsets in Anchorage. Although most sunrises occur before many of us are awake, as the days get shorter, the sun rises later... so, we'll be able to see more of them.
Hooray!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Googling
Now, sometimes when you don't know who someone is, googling can be a great way to "investigate". However, it's not always very accurate. When my coworkers looked for me online, they found LindsAy Fees on Facebook. They were a little frightened by the picture. Apparently pink and bows weren't what my teammates had hoped for in an incoming colleague. Ahhh... the dangers of the internet ;)
Birthday Party, Baseball, and Shopping
Tonight I met up with Jeannette and several other coworkers to celebrate Jeannette's birthday. We went to Simon and Seafort's for cocktails.
Jeannette, one of the other 2nd grade teachers, also studied sociology... I wanted to get her Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short stories and Margaret Atwood's Pennelopiad. I couldn't find them!! I eventually found them at a used book store called "Title Wave". Although I'd have preferred to get new books as a gift, I was excited to find this store. I mean, first, it has a pun-tastic name, but also Title Wave is a bit like Changing Hands meets Bookman's, which was fun. Weird to have so much trouble and so few choices relative to buying books.
Then, John met us, which allowed him to meet my co-workers. He picked me up and we joined Avril and Brian to go to the season closer of the Bucs minor league baseball game. The game was played in Mulchay Stadium... it was very cool... kind of a flash back in time... maybe like a scaled down version of the League of Their Own stadium. Anyway, we all had fun.
Jeannette, one of the other 2nd grade teachers, also studied sociology... I wanted to get her Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short stories and Margaret Atwood's Pennelopiad. I couldn't find them!! I eventually found them at a used book store called "Title Wave". Although I'd have preferred to get new books as a gift, I was excited to find this store. I mean, first, it has a pun-tastic name, but also Title Wave is a bit like Changing Hands meets Bookman's, which was fun. Weird to have so much trouble and so few choices relative to buying books.
Then, John met us, which allowed him to meet my co-workers. He picked me up and we joined Avril and Brian to go to the season closer of the Bucs minor league baseball game. The game was played in Mulchay Stadium... it was very cool... kind of a flash back in time... maybe like a scaled down version of the League of Their Own stadium. Anyway, we all had fun.
Monday, August 2, 2010
So I hear...
Oh yeah, I totally forgot... apparently there are 2 bald eagles who live in the trees outside my classroom. Exciting :)
Windows
UPDATE, as of 8/2, 10:35pm: I emailed the Kindergarten teacher to apologize. He said he didn't have the zone errors. Phew! I'll have to hear the story later. My guess is that our head of maintenance discovered this when he was cleaning the windows... a MUCH better scenario!!
One of the nicest things about my school is that we all have security codes that allow us to enter the building on the evening or weekend. (This might not seem like a great thing; but, it's nice to be able to stop by the school whenever.)
This past weekend, my mom and I finished up the room on Sunday. This was great because we were able to spend Saturday hanging out with John and finish on Sunday when John was working.
Hmmm... I got an email this morning though from my principal. It was very nicely worded, but told me to make sure my windows were closed if I came on the weekend.
Apparently, I didn't properly latch my classroom window when I left yesterday. Here's the scenario I could work out: Brian the Kindergarten teacher left after us and when he went to set the alarm, he saw a "zone fault". He probably worked his way through the entire school making sure all the doors were shut. But the zone fault wouldn't have gone away, since it wasn't the doors. My guess is that he either had to call the Principal or the Secretary or the security... then they'd go into every room in that wing to check the windows. When they found mine (because it was closed, just not locked properly), they would have closed it and THEN they could leave. Yikes. I apologized profusely, and my Principal said it happens occasionally. I still feel badly.
It speaks to the larger "bad luck" phenomenon that's been occurring since I arrived. I have had difficulty with the laminator FOUR TIMES... ruining film and/or my signage. So IRRITATING. I've had the toilet not flush (not like it was clogged, but that the flushing mechanism wouldn't work)... the Vice Principal had to help and it flushed immediately. (To be fair, they had to call out district maintenance... but SERIOUSLY.) I can't remember what else, but all stupid stuff that was DUHH.
I swear I was smarter in Arizona.
One of the nicest things about my school is that we all have security codes that allow us to enter the building on the evening or weekend. (This might not seem like a great thing; but, it's nice to be able to stop by the school whenever.)
This past weekend, my mom and I finished up the room on Sunday. This was great because we were able to spend Saturday hanging out with John and finish on Sunday when John was working.
Hmmm... I got an email this morning though from my principal. It was very nicely worded, but told me to make sure my windows were closed if I came on the weekend.
Apparently, I didn't properly latch my classroom window when I left yesterday. Here's the scenario I could work out: Brian the Kindergarten teacher left after us and when he went to set the alarm, he saw a "zone fault". He probably worked his way through the entire school making sure all the doors were shut. But the zone fault wouldn't have gone away, since it wasn't the doors. My guess is that he either had to call the Principal or the Secretary or the security... then they'd go into every room in that wing to check the windows. When they found mine (because it was closed, just not locked properly), they would have closed it and THEN they could leave. Yikes. I apologized profusely, and my Principal said it happens occasionally. I still feel badly.
It speaks to the larger "bad luck" phenomenon that's been occurring since I arrived. I have had difficulty with the laminator FOUR TIMES... ruining film and/or my signage. So IRRITATING. I've had the toilet not flush (not like it was clogged, but that the flushing mechanism wouldn't work)... the Vice Principal had to help and it flushed immediately. (To be fair, they had to call out district maintenance... but SERIOUSLY.) I can't remember what else, but all stupid stuff that was DUHH.
I swear I was smarter in Arizona.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Classroom
We were able to finish my classroom today. Woo-hoo! My card reader won't read Mom's card... so, it'll be a few days until the pictures are posted :)
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