Last year around this time of the year, my buddy Kevin, discovered Two Writing Teachers, Stacey and Ruth, two elementary teachers living 840 miles apart but working together in cyberspace. Sharing writing and classroom work, they had created a March writing challenge and invited online writers to join them daily  to write and share a Slice of Life for the 31 days of March.

Kevin was on board, I didn’t think twice as I followed. Cool idea to write a new post it on my blog and link it to central blog   for other teacher/writers  to read. Of course, I would  have to reciprocate.

So my life as a writer in a  new community of online strangers began. Right after my ritual writing into the morning at my word count journal, I would click over to my main blog and write away. It was easy at first.  Lots of stories swirled in my head ready to pour out onto the page and it was great to begin adding photos.  Of course, I was on my way to Israel during the second week of the challenge and write daily from Tel Aviv. I think the Slicer community had a heightened interest in my posts because of this exotic setting.

The teachers I got to know: Pat, Jane, Lisa, Stacey, Stacie… and I began to think deeply about the art of a great comment.  It was perfect timing to join the Comment Challenge in May, hosted by Sue Waters.  I hope that will be happening again.

My writing life deepened as my writing sources dried up a bit in the last days of the challenge. I am sure as I continue my latest Photo a Day challenge something similar will happen in the last months of this year when my photo sources get thin and I get more desperate.  That’s when I will really be forced to see my world.

So I am sitting here, early on a Thursday morning smiling, remembering what life was like before last year’s first Slicing Challenge.  Now, 370 days later, I write with lots of communities: Slicers, Boilers, Memorists, Photo Lovers on Fridays and since January 1,daily, Wednesdays (WOW), Comment Challengers,once a month at the Writing Cafe and  wait, my Word Counters.

What a rich life experience to write and share and read and comment…

The only online challenge I had to bow out of was the novel challenge last November.  Just couldn’t keep up,life was just too full to be here for some many words each day.  No regrets.

But a post every day with my Slicers, I’m ready to rock!

Bonnie

Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers

A Photo A Day-am I up to the challenge?

Here’s the inspiration I found at Bud Hunt’s blog

It was about a year ago that D’Arcy Norman suggested that, if folks wanted to, we might challenge ourselves to shoot a photo a day for the year 2008 and share as many of them as possible.  I didn’t do so hot about the sharing part, but I’ve managed to work the question

“What’s today’s picture?”

What D’Arcy’s invitation, and the group’s examples and conversations, did for me was to literally fiddle with the way that I see the world.  He calls it “mindful seeing,” and explains in a post he wrote last January:

Mindful seeing is the process of turning off the filters, of seeing your surroundings unfettered and unobstructed.

When viewing the world without filtering, even the most boring and banal subjects can become wondrous and interesting. We are constantly surrounded by interesting things that we normally don’t see – textures, lighting, patterns, shapes, objects, groupings, even messages.

Photographers are often described as distancing themselves from their surroundings by “hiding behind a camera” or “viewing the world only through a viewfinder.” I see photography from the exact opposite side of the coin. By mindfully seeing the world around me, I feel as though I am seeing much more than I would otherwise. I see patterns, convergence, divergence, shadows, lighting, juxtaposition, and composition that are likely missed by others. That’s not to say that I am “better” than any other – just that by being mindful of what I am seeing, I am aware of what is around me. And when I am aware, I am better able to take an interesting photograph.

If you’re interested, the group’s still there, and getting started with 2009.

Of course there’s Photo Fridays at Flickr where we’ve been sharing together since June and going strong.

I’ve begun this challenge as of January 1, 2009.  I have sharing photos and text on my  photo blog, but every day?  So far so good. What will I discover about myself?  Can’t wait to get desperate as the days, weeks and months pass.  I want to keep returning to D’racy’s quote to rethink my passion for capturing images.

Of course, I need more challenges in my life and here we go again…

Lynn is on board with me. I am also sharing my daily photos on Flickr and with my Photo Fridays group.

Lots of online sharing, what fun!

Bonnie

Gran Torino
Running time 116 minutes
Written by Nick Schenk
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her

Here’s the .Gran Torino trailer (Chris plays the priest!)

Tonight in LA, Chris will walk the red carpet with his wife, his agent, his parents and me, riding along in his jacket pocket.

I am always BK.  He knows he can call me Bonnie, but BK feels closer to our core, the playful center of our connection.

He has been holding out for this break, supported by his wife, his family, me.

GT opens in NYC on Friday.  Can I stay away? Can I wait patiently until it arrives in my area?  I don’t think so.  If it’s here, on this coast, I need to get to a theater.  I think Tuvia will understand.

Friday night remains wide opened.

Break a leg, Drama Boy!

BK

Slice of Life Tuesday

The election is over and I am even more focused, like many other Americans on the news, anywhere I can get some.  I spend more time now listening to NPR instead of my Ipod or WFUV offerings of new music I love in my car.

It isn’t just because I am enjoying the coming of a fresh democratic President.   It’s also because I wonder, with horror, what will happen tomorrow, next week, next month to our economic health.  I wonder just how bad it will get before I have to really change my life style.  I keep watching TV commercials for the coming holiday season.   Seems like life as usual.  Is it?

I am wondering about how this will impact on our writing project work in professional development inservice projects.  I am sure I’m not the only one wondering and asking these same questions.

I wasn’t going to write about this.  I have a movie review I’m working on, a reflection on my experience at the National Writing Project annual meeting last week, but I can’t.  I am here, wondering as  CNN runs in the background.

I am not shopping much this season, but that’s nothing new.  As a Jew who celebrates Chanukah with just my small, immediate family, we have moved away from gifts in favor of donations  for everyone now that the “kids” are all in college and beyond.  My visits to the mall are only for eating out and my one-on-one Apple lessons.  So life continues for me as usual.  I have my candles for the Menorah and I’m hosting this year’s family holiday latke party.

But I keep focused on our future.  I hope that Barack will make a difference but there’s so much to deal with.  It was good to see him out visting the governors’ meeting with a bipartisan message of concern and support.

I am looking to 2009 with concern and hope, still.

How about you?

Bonnie

I was psyched for this new November challenge and I began at midnight on November 1, 2008. I had an old story that I wanted to delve into and I loved the first week, wondering what all the worry was about. I was clicking out 1600 words most days and I loved the motivation of word count and I stayed anchored in a moment and dug deeper than I might have under other circumstances.

I had two characters: Jessie Rosen a teacher, modeled on my life and her first manicurist, Molly Evans a senior in high school and a lover of tattoos. I alternated between chapters for each character and I was having fun. But at some point in the second week, I started slowing down. My ideas weren’t drying up but my energy needed to be channeled into other, more timely projects. The National Writing Project Conference in San Antonio was coming (I leave tomorrow) and I had presentations to work on. Life got in the way.

I tried to stay with it. I felt guilty about letting it go. But finally, I had to leave it. But just think, I have 20,000 words I didn’t have before. I could pick it up still and truck to the second half but it’s okay now, either way. I don’t feel the guilts anymore.

So off I go to San Antonio and I’m looking forward to exploring a new city, reconnecting with NWP buddies and presenting.  In fact, I will be watching the TWO WRITING TEACHERS, Stacey and Ruth present on Saturday morning at the NCTE!

Sometimes the challenges are just too challenging, don’t you think?

Bonnie

Slice of Life Tuesdays

I

Thanks for sharing this comic, Stacey.

Just one week ago I was walking around this apartment, stopping by the kitchen for something, anything to munch on, to feed my fears. We were down to last hours of a very long campaign. I began at one place hoping for Al Gore to try again, but finally  moved to Hillary, half heartedly,  and finally found my way to Obama and then I had the time to get to know him as he made his way to the nomination and finally to the last day as a candidate.

At 6:00 PM we turned on CNN and ate great Chinese food in front of the TV and I stayed rooted.  I was planning to wait for victory before I had a drink but I needed something to be calmer, and I was a bit calmer.

Slowly the polls closed gradually and I clicked from CNN to PBC, toNBC to CNBC, to CBS, to ABC and yes, even to FOX and back to CNN again and the cycle continued and the time passed slowly.  Tuvia, by 9 needed a change of scenery.  He had two options: a gathering with the Grassroots Dems for Obama or the traditional celebration on Rt. 303 with Rockland County Democrats.  Now my choice with have been the Hippie Grassrooters, but Tuvia preferred the Rockland traditionals.  I was happy to just stay home and keep clicking back and forth, so I gave in to Tuvia.

We arrived at the gathering and entered to quiet.  People were just beginning to gather.  TV’s were running in the main room with refreshments around the sides. We sat down near the front but couldn’t hear the TV’s.  So we were sitting together with no information.  We arrived too early.  Finally Tuvia agreed to leave.  Without the grassroots address, we returned home.  I slipped back into my pj’s grabbed the remote and returned to my clicking.  Now the map was fuller.  Lots of blue on the map, some red too but we were making progress. I was breathing better now.

After two arduous, depressing evenings with W., I was prepared for a longer wait but by 11:01 NBC casually, without fanfare plastered a slide across the TV screen: BARACK OBAMA, 44th President of the United States.

I danced, Tuvia grinned and together we moved into the bedroom to share the last two speeches: first McCain and then Barack in Grant Park, Chicago.

It was an evening that I want to hold with me.  The next morning I returned to a hippie shop in Nyack for a new Obama button.  I found a perfect one with a photo of Obama and  just the word HOPE and that’s what I hold close to me, HOPE, that’s all and that’s enough for now.

Bonnie

Hag Semeah Culam! Holidays continue in Israel. Eight days of Sukkoth begin- a harvest holiday, commemorating the Jewish journey in desert when the Jews fled from Egypt and here I am enjoying the fruits.

I’m back in summer: shorts, sandals, T-shirts.  I am enjoying Hebrew, more than ever before, not speaking in full conversations but more comfortable opening my mouth with other than familiar English.

I am wondering what I’m missing back home.  Good to have my internet connection back.  I can’t live without it. Can you?

So I’m back with my latest camera, out on the beach, clicking away, wondering if there’s anything new to share.  Here goes:

Coming to you from Two Writing Teachers

Sunday was a gorgeous day to be alive and walking in Nyack, New York-a glorious early fall day, where sandals and shorts were still the order of the day.  Lots of people were on the streets joining us as we walked up and down Main Street and Broadway after a brunch at Strawberry Place seated at the counter.

Tuvia supports Barack as passionately as I do, but I can’t imagine that he could wear the t-shirt that I ran to buy last week at Sign of the Times on Main Street.  I was hoping to get the Obama shirt directly from the campaign.  I did make a donation for one, but it hasn’t come yet and I needed one NOW.  I’ve been wearing it often as a way to make my support as public as I can.

My t-shirt, black with white and lime green lettering: Obama, YES WE CAN., was freshly out of the dryer and hard to miss and as we walked I didn’t really remember what I had on as the first woman began waving to me, giving me a thumbs up as she walked to her car. She stopped me to share her frustrations with the racism that’s showing itself, but she was resolved to remain strong and positive and she immediately removed her Barack button from her bag and secured on her jacket lapel following my lead.

This exchange of mutual support was just the first of many.  As we parked near Strawberry Place and began to share the streets, at least a dozen others stopped us to share an Obama bump.  A black couple, young guys outside Temptations, an older man who Tuvia would have pegged as a McCain kind of guy,(WRONG!, pairs of women.  I was a walking ad for Sign of the Times as I continually offered directions to the shop every time someone wanted to own their own shirt.

It was a glorious walk, one I never experienced before. I am hoping that even though it’s Nyack, a wonderfully LIBERAL and diverse city, that this is the SIGN OF THE TIMES.

GO BARACK!

Bonnie

Coming to you from Two Writing Teachers

Saturday, preparing for my debut as a wedding photog I was nervous that I wouldn’t be good; that someone who find me out, that I wasn’t a pro.

Of course that didn’t happen but I learned lots about my camera, about changing the batteries on the hot shoe flash and how fast you have to be when you are working video and photo at the same time as I raced from the front of the church to the rear to capture the bridal couple sail down the aisle.

By the end of 6 hours I was exhausted and I had 800 photos and two full tapes.

But I am not a wedding photog. Not because I can’t do it, but because I don’t really want to spend a full Saturday working at a wedding, making sure I get all the table pics, or persuading the crowd pouring out of the church that they are essential to the full group shot, before we all move to the reception,

In theory, I did feel complimented about the invitation to document this event. Karen a TC from our writing project, based her invitation on the work I love to do, with digital storytelling but I’m not hanging out a shingle, not yet. Who knows, with the economy the way it is and with the Republicans looming so large.

On the way home I had with me, 800 photos and two full video tapes and even though it was a bitch to photograph under such low light in the church and at the reception I captured great moments . Sure I would do this for a friend as a guest, but for now, Tuvia is relieved that I not getting serious about spending my weekend eating with the DJ’s on the food break. Maybe if I were younger, it might be fun, but think I will continue to focus on my HVWP PD work and NWP challenges,the passions of my professional life.

Coming to us from Two Writing Teachers

I don’t get what’s happening in the country, if we can really  know what’s happening.  This political campaign has been a long one, an emotional one, an exciting one.  I remember where I was in the beginning, hoping early on, that Al Gore to try again, and bring the issues he is passionate about into the Oval Office.  But even though he tickled us a bit it became clearer and clearer that he had found other platforms to pursue  his cause, our cause. I moved to Hillary, not with enthusiasm.  She seemed just too old fashioned, too connected to the “machine”  and I did like Joe Biden and Bill Richardson. And then Tuvia and I in Israel, watched Barack on You Tube give his speech on Race and I remembered my first foray into politics with JFK and I remembered my excitement about the world beyond my house, my town.

And something exciting was happening and I joined on.  Now the Republicans could be thinking the same thing now.  John McCain needed some excitement.  He opted for Sarah, to fire up his base and she seems to have been the right choice.  But who is she and what will she offer us?  I’m not in the base that’s for sure.  The more I find out about her the more nervous I am.

Are Hillary supporters really moving to the Republican ticket for Sarah?  Are public school teachers supporting her?

I never got the appeal of Bush.

I’m nervous, very nervous and now I need to get active.  Sending money is just too easy.  Time to get out the vote.