the 3 best reads of 2011

so it's late and i'm throwing the caps lock away because tomorrow is the start of a big 2-day new year's celebration in chicago.  i always get so excited to simply escape from my normal routine, travel somewhere...anywhere...and see a concert or two.  anyway. i definitely had a lot of blog ideas regarding top whatevers of 2011, but wouldn't you know it, i'm flat-out running out of days. hence the elimination of the shift key, even though through habit, i'm bound to start capitalizing again soon.  regardless, i've been kicking this idea around in my head for the last month, and i'd definitely like to immortalize my top 3 book picks of 2011. (Note: this post is being finished in late January, I've re-enabled the use of my shift key, and even though these are picks for my top three books read in 2011, they don't necessarily have to be of books published in 2011.)

3.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I've written about this book before within the confines of this blog, so I'll keep the description to a minimal nothing. Read this book.  It's a breeze, and if you're a regular reader, you'll probably burn through this banned, young adult book in a maximum of three days. It'll take you back to your high school days, make you sympathize with your "problems" from another, simpler, time, and maybe even jerk a few tears from the ducts. Coming to a big screen near you in 2012. (Its release date in Norway is September 28, 2012, so that would make the American release date...ah, I don't know. But the movie does star Emma Watson, whom you may remember from such films as "Harry Potter 1," "Harry Potter 2," and so on.)  Anyway. Read it. You shan't regret it, and if you do, I'll totally buy you a coke.



2.  The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman.  Dude. OK, so Klosterman is by far my favorite modern author, and perhaps my favorite writer to read, ever.  I just love his takes on pop culture and reflections on human perception and semantics. I'm a semantic person, and Klosterman might very well be the mack-daddy of semantics in pop culture.  His first novel, Downtown Owl, was, putting it nicely, a worthy first effort at a novel. It had some decent characters, interesting setting, and something reminiscent of a plot. The Visible Man shatters the notion that Klosterman can't pull off fiction. Set in Texas and alluding to the Sopranos "bad guy goes to the therapist" story line, this is a psychological head-fucker that starts out as entertaining and turns into "Holy crap." Contrary to the title, it's actually about a guy with the power to be unseen. (don't worry, anti-Harry Potter fans...it's nothing like an invisibility cloak. OK, well, it is, but there's really no magic involved. It's all scientific.)  This man's observations and perceptions on people's solitary reality will seriously make you think, and this book definitely felt more in-line with Klosterman's favorite niche, human behaviors and perceptions of reality. Definitely a page-turner, and one of my favorite books of 2011 that was actually published in 2011.

Sweet beard, Fyodor.

1.  Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky. This was definitely not release in 2011, much less the 21st Century.  This was my first stab at classic Russian literature. I picked it up for a few reasons...it was a classic, and it was an absolute monster of a book. It's got the right thickness that, should I ever encounter an intruder in my house, Crime and Punishment would serve as a great weapon. I haven't read many 1,000+ page, 19th Century novels...perhaps any before this...but consider me a Dostoevsky fan. At times it's laborious, as you'd expect for a 1,000 page book...but the character development and inner monologue of the main character, Roskolnikov, kept me interested throughout the 16 days it took me to burn through this classic. Maybe all the stars aligned -- right time (dead of winter), right theme at a crucial time in my life, and just the right easy chair and flavor of tea -- to make this as enjoyable of a read that it was for me, but I truly can't wait to dip into some of his other books.

2011 Honorable Mentions:  The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, How to be Good by Nick Hornby, Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls, and Everybody Loves You When You're Dead by Neil Strauss.

Nintendo Wii, you've done it again...

As a teacher, I've discovered that I need significant periods of down time when, basically, I don't have to use my brain.  Being on a literal stage in front of a live student audience every day becomes taxing on the mind, and sometimes I just want to come home and NOT.THINK.

Luckily, Nintendo Wii has my back yet again.  This time: Archery.

I hadn't ever tried the Archery function on the Sports Resort game because I'd been way too fixated on the 3-point contest. Who would ever need more?

After a brief stint in Archery with a friend over Christmas break, I came back to Pulaski in January with the idea that I wanted to try this one out a little more. About 20 hours later, I can honestly say I've become a bit obsessed.

I at least hope it's a healthy obsession. It allows me to focus on something other than academics and teenagers, and presents a challenge with paying close attention to detail. How I love details.

My best score is a 117 out of 120 (in the beginner's level), which means that I nailed all bull's eyes except for 3 arrows, which still hit the "9" portion of the target. Not bad. The intermediate level adds moving targets to the equation; I'm still struggling with breaking 100, but I'll be there soon enough.

After a 4-hour stint of Archery last Saturday, I started to think, "Hey, I should really take this up. It'd definitely be fun." But, then I remembered that the Wii is a gateway to thinking you can do things that you really can't do in real life. (See:  Guitar Hero and playing guitar, 3-point contest and shooting basketballs, Bowling, and to a lesser extent, DJ Hero and DJing.)

Oh well. I still think it's awesome and the sound effects are pretty realistic. At least with the Wii, I'm not in danger of shooting my eye out.

Winding down...the best concerts of 2011

Most people close to me know that I'm frequently planning a concert trip. I've been to quite a few over the past 12 years or so. By my rough estimate, I've seen close to 300 concerts...and that's only counting festivals like Lollapalooza as one concert, as opposed to counting each of the 10 bands per day, over three days, as one concert each.

This year was a little lighter on the concert calendar for me; lack of finances, concert-going friends spread out over the country, and relocating for a new career really cut down on my live music experiences in 2011. However, these were the two memorable (and surprising) highlights of the year:

Runner-Up: The Strokes @ PJ20, Alpine Valley, September 3 & 4

The weather really zapped the crowd's energy at Pearl Jam's huge 20th anniversary party over Labor Day weekend, but pre-PJ warm-ups The Strokes may have stolen the show in my mind that weekend. Having had little exposure to The Strokes prior to this weekend, I wasn't sure what they were all about. I knew their front-man Julian Casablancas was a wild, chic rocker, and their first album, Is This It, was wildly acclaimed as an indie classic.

Their set (which was performed in an eerily similar manner both days) was energetic, well-played, and fast and furious. Casablancas proved himself to be the egotistical snot that I had read about, but his whiney, fake-British accented choruses stuck with me long after the shows. In fact, I find that to be the sign of a really good show: I go home and, up to several months later, I still need to listen to a given track because it cathartically (is that a word?) takes me back to the show. Several of their songs still do that, particularly "New York City Cops" and "Take It Or Leave It." I guess that was one benefit of not being entirely familiar with their catalog prior to seeing them live, which is often not the way I go into concerts.

Pearl Jam was the big deal of the weekend, but I think The Strokes may have stole the show in my mind.

Winner: De La Soul @ Summerfest's Potawatomi/Sprecher Stage, July 9


I had plans to go to this show with a friend who had to cancel. I struggled with the idea of skipping, or heading down solo. I'm glad I decided to trek to the lakefront on my own.

Some of my fond memories of this show hinge on the fact that I executed everything perfectly. When I go to Summerfest alone, I normally find a free street spot on the lower East Side somewhere (around Metro Market, or sometimes even in the Metro parking garage) and hoof it to the fairgrounds. This night was no different, and I jammed some of my favorite De La Soul oldies from my high school days while I hiked the few miles to Summerfest. I arrived at the stage at 10:05 p.m., five minutes after their scheduled start, to hear house music still on the PA; in typical rap group fashion, they were fashionably late.

That was the only rap cliche that De La Soul adhered to that evening, though. At 10:07, as I was settling into my stealth, elevated corner spot with a good view of the stage, the DJ started scratching and soon Plug 1 and Derwyn were telling everyone to put their hands in the air. And, no, not in a super cheesy way that can convince people to not put their hands in the air.

The beats were good -- De La never really let the show fall into a lull. Between a DJ scratching legit vinyl, a la true 80's hip-hop DJs, and De La Soul actually playing entire songs (as opposed to song snippets and medleys like other rap acts are often prone to do), the hour-long set really flew by. I had known a limited portion of De La's song selection since I only had their classic 3 Feet High And Rising, discovered through a friend from high school, but immediately acquired the rest of their discography upon returning home after the show. They did do "Ghetto Thang" from that album, and also "Ooh Ooh Ooh" from Buhloone Mindstate, which I knew because that song had been showcased on an episode of Entourage. Otherwise, after the show I discovered that they did most of their historical classics, including "Keepin' the Faith" and "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" which have since become top-plays in my iTunes library.

The entire crowd was bumpin', which says a lot because at Summerfest, it's typical that one walks out disgusted with the audience. Such was not the case at the Potwat stage with De La Soul; it was an ass-shakin' throwndown that avoided typical rap concert cliches. I'd see De La again in a heartbeat.

High school students are funny, Vol. 2

I got Rick-Rolled on Friday.  Not really intentionally. A wise-ass junior walked into my study hall blaring "Never Gonna Give You Up" on his iPhone, all while singing and doing a little impromptu choreographed dance.  It's pretty much been in my head since yesterday at noon.

But, that's not really what inspired this post. Getting to the bathroom can be a challenge between classes sometimes. It's a sacrifice. I can stay in my room and risk bladder explosion, or run to the bathroom during passing time and let the rapscallions alone in my room, doing who-knows-what to my computer and stereo, sticking pencils in the ceiling, and drawing inappropriate stick figures on my dry-erase board. In this case, it was a sacrifice that had to be made.

I entered the bathroom and luckily there was an open urinal, which, during passing time, is not always a luxury. (On a side-note, every time I walk into the bathroom, I half expect to witness a drug deal going down, or a poor freshman getting swirlied in the toilet. Luckily, neither of those things were happened, or have happened during this schoolyear. Yet.)  As I was just about finished relieving myself, an anonymous student walked in and claimed the first stall. (I say anonymous because my back was to him, thus prohibiting me from learning his true identity.) He made it quite clear that his appearance in the bathroom was noted by singing loudly and humming. He locked the stall, loudly unzipped his pants, dropped trou, and occupied his throne, also rather loudly.

The bathroom was rather quiet at this point, and voices tend to project anyway since things echo in the lavatories. This student then proceeded to announce, "Ya'll ready for this?" and started beat-boxing the popular tune that often serves as a spark-plug for football fans across the nation.

As a teacher, my first inclination was, "Gross. You need an audience for this?" But then, as my inner-13-year-old took over, I couldn't help but contain my laugh to a simple grin. It was funny. It really was.

Getting ahead.

How does one get ahead in life?  Every month my savings account goes DOWN in total amount. It should be going up. I know debt kills, but with a wage freeze for public sector employees, I'm literally watching my money supply shrink instead of grow. Forget Christmas presents...I'm just hoping I can pay my bills on a month-to-month basis once April rolls around. It's sad that I'm looking forward to the New Year for one major reason:  a tax return.  And for what?  To pay down bills.  Thank you very much, ass-hat douche-bag Scott ass-clown Walker.  I hope you get a fat recall for Christmas.

In general, teaching is going well on a day-by-day basis. But thinking about any more than one day into the future makes me curl up in a ball in the corner with the shakes. The amount of planning, grading, and babysitting that one does as a high-school teacher is ridiculous given the reputation that teachers have among uneducated Republicans who think educators are overpaid and "only work 9 months out of the year."  I've got no problem saying FUCK YOU to believers of this misconception.

Top 5 unrealistic things I'd like for Christmas:

5) An iPad. Seriously. It'd be nice for the classroom, at home, and everywhere in between. You might say, "Well, that's not really unrealistic."  No, it is. I may be salaried, but I still live paycheck to paycheck just like I was working for a grocery store.

4) An entire unit, planned out, complete with lectures, hand-outs, assignments, and assessments. Just one unit, for one class.

3) A day off that I wouldn't have to plan for.  I haven't taken a sick day because it's actually MORE work for me to stay home than it is to go to work sick or tired or generally unable to work that day. Class-by-class sub plans, rosters, instructions...shit, it's just easier to go in and be sick or miserable.

2)  The ability to show anything I wanted in class. Students like South Park, rap music, and swearing. But I can't say a naughty word in class.  So, YOU tell ME how I'm supposed to make this interesting for them.

1)  A class filled with students who listen. I understand they don't care, but when I prepare a hand-out, explain it to them 3 times (to the tune of groans and sight of massive eye-rolling), play a review game, and drop the most obvious hints during the test, AND they still fail miserably, it's a tad bit discouraging.