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My Heroes

I've been watching a lot of Remington Steele lately, which means I've been doing a lot of self reflecting. I didn't realize it, but growing up I had two heroes; Wonder Woman, who stayed in my conscience brain and Laura Holt, who became so much a part of me I didn't even realize that aspects of me are, in fact, her.

When I was a kid I watched Wonder Woman every day after school (I must have watched it in some sort of syndication because I am not that old). And, from Lynda Carter's depiction of the Amazon Princess, I learned:

1. How you dress does not determine how you are perceived Although many today think of Wonder Woman as the sexy superhero (in writing this post I found severally Playboyesque pics of my hero), she doesn't for once let you forget that in tiny spangled spankies and high-heeled red go-go boots she can, and will, kick your heine.

2. Nice girls finish first Diana Prince, Princess Diana, Wonder Woman...always, always, always, according to creator William Marston stands for "love, peace and sexual equality". She is honest and virtuous and because of these traits always gets the bad guy and always gets the man she loves. Even if she does have to wait...for...ever...hmmm, she is also patient, another lovely quality of any 'nice girl'.

3. Girls are powerful in body and mind Even when talking to a perp, Wonder Woman's voice is smooth and without edge. As Diana Prince she isn't like bumbling Clark Kent instead she works for military intelligence and saves lives. She's been a secretary, a nurse, and a Major in the Army. Without the costume she is still self-assured and strong. In the costume she is all this and a powerful ally in the Justice League.

The Source is My Very Own Wonder Woman Pinterest Board

In Laura Holt, I learned all those traits, and more, could exist in a real person.

In watching Remington Steele with adult eyes and a nostalgic mind set, here are the things I've been noticing:

1. Less is More Stephanie Zimbalist is just friggin' beautiful. Yes, this is the first thing I noticed while watching the show again. The first time around I noticed Pierce Brosnan's beauty (yes, a 10 year old can know when a 30 year old is H-O-T), heck, the whole world noticed Mr. Brosnan's beauty. Anyway, Stephanie Zimbalist is beautiful running after bad guys, dancing in a ballroom, figuring out that a crime has been committed, in a skirt, in a dress, in heels, in espadrilles (and, she wears many variations and colors--I'm jealous), in slacks and without makeup. I love that there's so little make-up on her pretty face, that you can see her freckles. I also love that, unless she's working out, you do not see Laura Holt in sneakers...I hate sneakers and feel like a dork when wearing them...I don't know if I got that from her (my mother also wears sneakers rarely), but it's nice to see.

2. Girls with Brains Rule While it may be the girl with the curls and the eyelashes who catches the eye of the guy, it is the girl with the brains, the girl with the standards who gets him in the end. I mean Laura tells Mr. Steele how it is often. She makes sure that he knows that it's her detective agency. She connects all the dots all of the time and still, in the end, gets carried up the stairs by the man who loves her brains and her beauty.

3. Strong, Smart Girls Don't Always Have to Win It is so cool to see a character who is a strong girl who is allowed to be strong and still be feminine. Remington Steele is always there for Laura Holt...she cries on his shoulder when her house gets blown up and she learns lessons from his Type B personality...lessons like, "Friends come first", and, "Just because I'm angry at you doesn't mean I don't love you", lessons like, "Sure, We've got a crime to solve, but let's drink this wine first". There's one episode in Season 3 (I believe it's Episode 1) where Steele really does get angry with her and yells at her about how she always has to have everything her way and on her terms and he says that at some point in time he'd like her to think of him and what he wants. I love the role reversal and I love that she does, through-out the season, take a step back and reflect on her relationship with him. I love that he does too.


You've got to admit, I have some pretty awesome TV heroes.


Who are/were your TV heroes growing up?

It's Time to Go Book Shopping!

I've got about $500 to spend on books for my classroom which means I can buy YA novels, Adult Contemporary, Classics...all the genres you can think of...where do I start? What do you suggest I buy?

Six Word Saturday #28

My life in six words
My own version of "Hey Girl"

I've noticed the Feminist Ryan Gosling meme for awhile now, but somebody on Pinterest keeps on pinning them and is keeping Gosling's tender side at the forefront of my brain.  When my friend got into a car accident after leaving my house I felt horrible and sad and immediately thought of "Hey Girl"...who doesn't want to be cheered up with something thoughtful, said with sincerity? I created these using our favorite, Detective Elliot Stabler (yes, we cried when Chris Meloni left the show).

Think the "Hey Girl" phenom is interesting/weird/hot? If you've created your own "Hey Girl" show me the link, I wanna see it! It is after all Saturday, and I ain't gotta thing I wanna do!

Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. The full list and linky can be found here. And, here's where I found it.

The Campus Novel

I was looking for information about a book we're reading in class and came across this Huffpost detailing 10 Classic Campus Novels, the list is good, but classic and filled with 6 books I've heard of and only one I've read. While I think about reading the books on the Huffpost list, please check out my list of Campus Novels below.


Campus Novel: A campus novel, also known as an academic novel, is a novel,. usually comic or satirical, in which the action is set within the enclosed world of a university (or similar seat of learning) and highlights the follies of academic life. Many novels have presented nostalgic evocations of college days, but the campus novel in the usual modern sense dates from the 1950s.

Although not set on a university campus it would not be the novel of friendship that it is had it not been set at a prep school in New England during WWII. I don't know is this too serious to be considered as such...???

Rauchy, clever, dark comedy about a group of New England college students who feel that sex and drugs are more important than classes. If you've read any of Ellis' other books you'll enjoy how some of the characters come into play in this one.

When I first read this book I had just completed my first year of college in a Midwestern town (no, not the Iowa school that she modeled this college after) and some of the parallels were too funny to not be shared with everyone I knew at the time. If you are from the Midwest, have been to college or just like to watch the hilarious fall of man, read this book.

For writers, for dreamers, for those who think they are too old to experience living a full and rich life...introduce yourself to Grady Tripp and his merry band of misfits. Be prepared to talk extensively about a 2000 page book that's almost finished.


Obviously, I'm not very hip on the campus novel scene, have any suggestions?

Essay Contest for Aspiring Writers of YA/middle grade fiction

Win a literary agent or acclaimed author's feedback on your unpublished manuscript for young adult or middle grade readers.  This rare opportunity is being offered to the six winners of an essay contest recently announced by the literacy charity Book Wish Foundation.  See http://bookwish.org/contest for full details.

You could win a manuscript critique from:

• Laura Langlie, literary agent for Meg Cabot

• Nancy Gallt, literary agent for Jeanne DuPrau

• Brenda Bowen, literary agent and editor of Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust

• Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe

• Francisco X. Stork, winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for The Last Summer of the Death Warriors

• Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey's Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue

All that separates you from this prize is a 500-word essay about a short story in Book Wish Foundation's new anthology, What You Wish For.  Essays are due Feb. 1, 2012 and winners will be announced around Mar. 1, 2012.  If you win, you will have six months to submit the first 50 pages of your manuscript for critique (which means you can enter the contest even if you haven't finished, or started, your manuscript).  You can even enter multiple times, with essays about more than one of the contest stories, for a chance to win up to six critiques.

If you dream of being a published author, this is an opportunity you should not miss.  To enter, follow the instructions athttp://bookwish.org/contest.

Good luck and best wishes,

Logan Kleinwaks
President, Book Wish Foundation

What You Wish For (ISBN 9780399254543, Putnam Juvenile, Sep. 15, 2011) is a collection of short stories and poems about wishes from 18 all-star writers: Meg Cabot, Jeanne DuPrau, Cornelia Funke, Nikki Giovanni, John Green, Karen Hesse, Ann M. Martin, Alexander McCall Smith, Marilyn Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joyce Carol Oates, Nate Powell, Sofia Quintero, Gary Soto, R.L. Stine, Francisco X. Stork, Cynthia Voigt, Jane Yolen.  With a Foreword by Mia Farrow.  Book Wish Foundation is donating 100% of its proceeds from the book to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to fund the development of libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad.

2011 in a Nutshell

[Source]

Top...

Blog post (mine), not in stats, but in feeling
Work Life Balance at Its Best
Going to Church
My Home Town
The Most Dangerous Word
Black History

Blog post (you all)
Do You Hope Your Child Will Be Straight?
anything by Thought Catalog
written in 2010, but I read it in 2011 Likeable Schmikable
Masking Our Powers
Embracing Your Natural Hair
although I love Barbies and Disney Princesses and pink and still believe you can be a powerful female and loves these things, anything by Peggy Orenstein

Books Read

The Books in Order:

(Of how much I like them in relation to each other)

1.  Twenty Boy Summer Sarah Ockler

2. An Abundance of Katherines John Green

3. American Gods  Neil Gaiman

4.  Stories I Only Tell My Friends  Rob Lowe

5. The Graduate  Charles Webb

6.  Love Story  Erich Segal

7. Stardust  Neil Gaiman

8. The Devil in the White City  Erik Larson

9. A Visit from the Goon Squad  Jennifer Egan

10. (S)mythology  Jeremy Tarr

11.  Horns  Joe Hill

12. Miss Perrigrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs

13. Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) Sarah Mlynowski

14. Midnight Cowboy James Leo Herlihy

15.  Cinderella Ate My Daughter  Peggy Orenstein

16.  How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf  Molly Harper

17.  Final Friends Book 3: The Graduation  Christopher Pike

18. Readicide Kelly Gallagher

19.  Mockingjay  Suzanne Collins

20.  Alice in Wonderland  Lewis Carroll

21.  Alice I Have Been  Melanie Benjamin

22.  The Lost Symbol  Dan Brown

23.  Maisie Dobbs  Jacqueline Winspear

24.  The Hunger Games  Suzanne Collins

25.   The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf  Molly Harper

26.   Catching Fire  Suzanne Collins

27.   Limitless  Alan Glynn

28.   Comfort Me with Apples  Ruth Reichl

29.   Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte

30.   Beastly  Alex Flinn

31.  Prom and Prejudice  Elizabeth Eulberg

32.  Dead is Not an Option  Marlene Perez

33.  Forgive My Fins  Tera Lynn Childs

34.  Sunday at Tiffany’s James Patterson with Gabrielle Charbonnet  

35.   Final Friends Book 1: The Party  Christopher Pike

36.   Final Friends Book 2: The Dance  Christopher Pike

37.   The Heart of the Spring  Laura L. Valenti

38. A Study in Scarlet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

39.   Little Bee  Chris Cleave

40.   The Imperfectionist  Tom Rachman

41.   The Ice Princess  Camilla Lackberg

42.   You Only Live Twice  Ian Fleming

43.   The Apothecary’s Daughter  Julie Klassen

44.   Loving Frank  Nancy Horan

45.   Ragtime  EL Doctorow

46. 22 Things a Woman Must Know If She Loves A Man Who Has Asperger's Syndrome Rudy Simone

47.   One Day  David Nichols

48.   The Story of Stuff  Annie Leonard

49.   Watermelon Man  Herman Raucher

50.   Dr. No Ian Fleming

51.   Wither  Lauren DeStefano

52. Demian  Hermann Hesse

53.   Cowboys and Aliens  Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

54.   Ishmael  Daniel Quinn

55.   Grace is for Sinners  Serena Woods

56.   The 17 Day Diet  Mike Moreno

57. A Repair Kit for Grading Ken O'Connor

58. The Help  Kathryn Stockett

59.   What Did I Do Wrong  Liz Pryor

60. Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray

Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway! You can do so here.

Essays Read
All 30, and more really...
1. "Who Do You Think You Are?" Garrison Keillor
2. "The Anger of a Child" Adrienne Rich
3. "The Angel in the House" Virginia Woolf
4. "Learning from Disney and Dickens" John Gardner
5. "Science Fiction: Imaginary Worlds and Real-Life Questions" Noel Perrin 
6. "Talking Black" Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
7. "Life Is Sacred: That's the Easy Part" Ronald Dworkin 
8. "You Have to Know What Your Values Are" Alan Alda 
9. "The Quiet Movement of American Men" Betty Friedan 
10. "Dearest Scottie" F. Scott Fitzgerald 
11. "Life Without Go Go Boots" Barbara Kingsolver
12. "Growing Pains" Michael Thomas Ford
13. America: The Multinational Society by Ishmael Reed
14. Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood by Richard Rodriguez
15. What is an American? by J. Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur
16. The Plastic Pink Flamingo by Jennifer Price
17. The Cult Ethnicity, Good and Bad by Arthur M. Schlesinger
18. Here is New York by E.B. White
19. What Does It Mean to Be an American? Patriotism, Nationalism, and American Identity After 9/11 by Qiong Li and Marilynn B. Brewer
20. What Makes Superman So Darned American? by Gary Engle
21. Scenarios on the Use of Formative Classroom Assessments by Cassandra Erkens
22. Helping Students Understand Assessment by Jan Chappuis
23. Formative and Summative Assessments Defined by Larry Ainesworth
24. Notable Quotables Louis Menand
25. Solipsism by Ander Monson
26. Why We Crave Horror Movies by Steven King
27. Lost in the Kitchen by Dave Barry
28. Home for the Holidays by Chris Radant
29. Inside and Out by Lisa Widenhofer
30. A Winter's Walk by Henry David Thoreau

Personal Events
The Kiddo turned 2 (yes, 2 years old)
U2 in July
2nd Anniversary in July
Um...er...I turned 35
I've been living a life devoted to me, not to my job...that's been pretty awesome...

Reading Challenge
Essay Reading Challenge 2011

Reading Groups
Reading the Chunksters
Lit Muse

Songs from 2011

Adele SetFire To The Rain

Britney Spears Til the World Ends

Bruno Mars It Will Rain

Christina Perri Arms
Christina Perri A Thousand Years
Colbie Caillat Brighter Than the Sun

Gavin DeGraw Not Over You

Feist How Come You Never Go There

Lady Antebellum We Owned the Night

Maroon 5 Moves Like Jagger

OneRepublic Good Life

Toby Keith Made in America

Train HeySoul Sister

Websites
ColourLovers
Facebook
GoodReads
Picnik / Pinterest
Twitter

World Events
Part I
Part II
Oh, come on like I'd know enough about what's going on around me to have my own list!