Category Archives: the coffeepot’s on

Flat Stanley returns – Encore

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I might carry my watering can purse to a few places – like a traveling gnome, but much cuter. Flat Stanley, however, has been traveling for many years. Here’s his visit to my workplace – an encore post later reprinted on my workplace’s national blog!

(By guest blogger Flat Stanley)

 I went to work today with Daisy.
Daisy is a teacher in a newfangled kind of school; she teaches online.

Daisy’s students (and those of the school) live all over the state of Wisconsin. There’s a map in the school offices showing where the students live. Wow! They’re really spread out.

Daisy took me around the high school side of the school. I met the Social Studies teacher, and we fooled around with Google Maps. He was looking for Westminster Abbey.

The high school language arts teacher has a cubicle full of posters encouraging reading – everything from Shakespeare to (be still my flattened heart) the Cat in the Hat.

Ah, high school science. I look forward to biology and earth science. I have a little more math to learn before starting physics. It’ll take more than just knowing how to add, or so I’ve been told.

Back in Daisy’s cubicle, she taught me to use a rubric to grade writing projects.
She looked over my first one and decided to grade the rest herself. I guess teaching writing isn’t my strength – yet.

Well, science is still one of my favorite subjects, so Daisy logged me into a Virtual Class in middle school science.

Cool. Very cool. The teacher called on students and then let them “write” on the virtual whiteboard to connect vocabulary words with their meaning. This would be a great way to learn, at least for a flat geek like me. I could keep on traveling, as long as I had Internet access.

I looked over Ms. W’s shoulder as she worked on lesson plans.

Then I moved once again to middle school language arts. They write a lot of essays. Wow!

We couldn’t stay away from Daisy’s desk for long, so I offered to help her make phone calls.
A fifth grader needed help with her math. Ooh, those multi-step problems. They rock my socks! Wait. I don’t wear socks. Never mind.

Daisy and her coworkers were great hosts. They told me if I want to teach like they do, I need a working knowledge of computers – and a talent for making coffee.

Thanks to Flat Stanley, visitor from Irving, TX, for the guest post today.

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Ridding the World of Injustice

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The quote came from an unusual source. Let’s see if you recognize it.

“Fern was up at daybreak trying to rid the world of injustice.”

That’s right, my reader friends, it was in Charlotte’s Web. I was teaching a reading lesson to a small group, and that line just stood out. Injustice was a suggested vocabulary word, so we sought out the sentences containing the word, discussed the context, and made meaning.

“…to rid the world of injustice” – what a great phrase. Save the world before breakfast! Never fear, runts of the litters! Ferns of the world will intervene!

E.B. White isn’t the only author to abhor injustice. Remember Dr. Seuss?

“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, 100 percent.” -Horton Hatches the Egg

I think I’ll make that my new catch phrase, my new slogan. Maybe I’m just a blogger, but if I get up early enough, I can do my part to rid the world of injustice.

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Signs of a Good Vacation

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THO?

THO?

We were close enough to the U.P. that a sign in Yooper language made sense. But what is the last word supposed to be? I can translate Mmm, dat coffee! but THO? I’m lost.

Starbucks in the lobby and in the breakfast cafe: what do you think was in the hotel room coffee makers? Close, and if you’re a coffee aficionado, you might know that it’s from the same company.

Seattle's Best, in regular and decaf

Seattle’s Best, in regular and decaf

I made some in the room on the second day — the day we all slept late and actually missed breakfast hours! We’d had a fun and full day, and we really, really needed the extra sleep.

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Classic Mug Shot

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When we travel, my favorite souvenir is a coffee mug. I drink from my Amtrak mug and remember the trip on the Empire Builder. I sip from my lobster mug and remember Nova Scotia. Whenever I finish a major project, I like to pull out my “ducks in a row” mug to show that I do, indeed, have all my ducks in a row.
Here’s another mug, a historic mug, that I must have.
Remember when President Obama said, “I can’t go around with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead!”? When he released the long version because his short version wasn’t good enough for the conspiracy theorists, he told reporters that he didn’t have time for this “silliness”. He had more important things to do. A few days later, he announced that Osama bin Laden had been found and killed. Ahem.
To thumb my nose at those who still don’t understand that Hawaii is one of the United States, the Democrats have come up with the perfect mug.
We’re headed toward the midterm set of elections, and I still use this mug. I noticed a few around the campaign office in 2012, and I’m absolutely sure other progressive voters are still using theirs. It reminds me to assume nothing when it comes to other people’s knowledge – or lack thereof.
Disclaimer: I am active in progressive politics, including Organizing for America, but I was not paid or sponsored in any way for this post. This mug was too good to pass up.

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Life is —

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This mug has been with us since the mid 1980s. I bought it for Chuck because he likes to turn a phrase upside down. I think I use it more often, though. I’m the coffee drinker. He is an occasional tea or hot cocoa drinker, so he’ll pull this one out of the cupboard now and then. Readers, do you have a favorite mug? I’m sharing mine. I’d love to hear about yours.

 

 

 

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Every mug, new or ancient

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Subtitle: To Have and to Hold

Here’s a classic. These are souvenirs from our trip to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Thermos from Starbucks (the first! In Seattle! At Pike Place Market!), mug from the Amtrak train that took us there. Oops, that sounded wrong; it sounds like I absconded with a mug when we reached our destination. Nope! Not at all: we bought it in the dining hall at our last breakfast on the train.

 

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