A talk, from TED

NaNoWriMo

Who's doing it?

...and then, a little gift arrives....

I've been laid off! Exactly what I wanted. Maybe I helped it a long a little bit, I was so miserable at my former job (as of yesterday!).

World, here I come.

Another update...

I've been feeling a little sad, so I thought an easy remedy (or not, who knows) would be to enter a post here.

I am still engaged, Canada Man has moved in, we are doing the paperwork then ceremony very soon. I am very happy about that. And I know, I know, I said it would be in the summer, but the recession happened, and well, just get over it. We're adults with lots of time.

Alex is still at B-school. It's been a rough three years. Would I do it all over again? I do not know.

The first year, A was bullied by his roommate. The bullying consisted of A being locked out of his room during study hours, A being told he "doesn't belong here" (at the B school, apparently, because he was not as financially well-off as the roommate), and finally the roommate ramming an oar into my son's back. That was the last straw. I photographed it and showed it to the Head Dean. My son was promptly moved away from the roommate and into his own dorm room. All the while, the school administration emphasized how "delicate" the matter was, and how they needed to communicate the matter to the roommate's parents who pay full tuition, and who generously endow the school. "Ms. Maitresse, it is a very delicate matter, and I hope you will allow us to handle the matter at our pace." Apparently, physical violence does not mitigate the "delicateness" of dealing with Wealthies. It took seven months of complaints for the school to allow my son to move away from the bully.

The second major problem was a French teacher assessing A's French abilities as being "equivalent to a First Year student." When I requested that A re-take the French placement test, and explained that he was likely tired when he took the placement test. He had taken four or five that day. B-School declined his re-taking the test. I invited the B-School French teacher (who is American) to discuss A's placement with A's previous French teacher (who is French). The B-School teacher declined. A studied Mandarin (Chinese) that year.

The following year, A applied again for French studies, and was placed in the 5th-year French studies level. Nothing had changed during the Mandarin studies year. He simply re-applied, was assigned a different language evaluator, and was placed in the French course of his choosing. This year, A is studying AP French.

Junior and Senior (this) year at B-School. Oh, where do I begin. When the Head College Counselor informed us that "homeschooling studies don't count" in the eyes of American universities? (of course, I sent the CC office the college survey info that you can find on the right here on my blog). Or when the college counselor informed us that A had to take the SAT last January, when A was a Junior and when A wasn't yet ready to take it, "because all the other students have, and [my] son will be left behind"? (I informed the college counselor that I never took the SATs myself and was admitted to the University of Miami, and that I thought A should take the SATs when he's ready. There was a lot of back-and-forth on this). Or when the college counselor completely ignored A's interests (Photography, International Studies and Sciences) and suggested that he "should attend that college on Staten Island" because compared to the other students at the B-School, his scores don't stand a chance for placement at USC, NYU or any other competitive undergraduate college. Gotta love when the college counselor really doesn't believe in your kid. (On this note, we have yet to see where A will wind up.)

American boarding schools, I have found, prefer that parents stay very very far away from their students' affairs at their institutions. Unless you have lots of cash.

My boss at the Network has also been incredibly difficult.

I long for the days when I could blog all day and sit with A and help him with his studies and do our little Bohemian activities like knitting in the East Village together. And worry less about things.

On a positive note, A spent the past summer in using his B-School science scholarship funds in northern Ethiopia, photo-documenting and videotaping physicians and patients at a cluster of malaria clinics. His photographs gained him admission as an intern to the International Center of Photography in New York this year. He's enormously pleased with this bit of personal achievement, and I am very happy for him.

Oh, A also won a playwrighting award. Stephen Sondheim's signature appears right on the award certificate. A got some cash out of it, too. Woot!

Anyway, how are all of you?

Trick or Treat

You asked for news. Here is some.

I've been so slow on the new blog, and for that I apologize.

The beau and I have been commuting between Toronto and New York...ad nauseum. We are ready to hunker down and do The Deed. After asking me about 500 times, I think he is ready. So the engagement will end and become a marriage somewhere in British Columbia in summer 2009. (It's true, HMS Indefatigable. We're doing the shindig near you.)

A is doing great at BTBSA. He is also no longer taking Chinese as he was finally recognized for his French skills and placed in an AP-level French course (Whew - darn newb teachers).

I am glad we homeschooled. I am so glad. While the quality of teaching he gets at BTBSA is probably superior to what he received as a homeschooler, everyone at BTBSA comments on A's maturity. He can rely on himself. He's autonomous. Those skills, he acquired from homeschooling and not being coddled while being homeschooled. I accepted that he had wings, and I let him fly.

I have been offered a director's office at The TV Network, director salary to come at a later date. Right now, The TV Network is looking to cut expenses and chop heads. I am grateful to have new office digs at all.

I am, however, open to the idea of living in the North Country. So we shall see.

NaNoWriMo...aaaah yes. The first Write-In in Manhattan is at Cosi. I am planning on being there, but I am going to break the rules and attempt to finish a story I already started. The way I see it, the whole point is to get the word count. To turn off the editorial function in your brain and Just Do It. To have follow-through. So that is what I am going to do.

Happy Halloween!

on hiatus!

OK - here's the update:

We don't know what A is doing this summer.

I don't know if I'm going to stick with my job, but apparently, the CEO likes me. That is good news. LaMai is not getting thrown out on the street yet.

There is a new blog, I just need to populate it with more stuff.

A comes home on Saturday.

Love the bloggy readers. See you later.

future plans

So A got very serious and sort of excited that way that he gets when he is about to pounce some news on me.

"I think I know what I want to do as a career."
Oh yeah? Tell me!
"I want to be a war photographer."
Oh. Oh wow.

Of course, I remembered that A admires Robert Capa's work, as we had been to the Robert Capa exhibit at the International Center of Photography. So this was on me, really.

In reality, I wanted to tell A, UH-UH OH NO YOU AIN'T I AM NOT GOING TO SPEND THE REST OF MY YEARS LOSING SLEEP OVER YOUR NEW CAREER, MKAY?

No. I didn't say that.

I talked to my colleague who works down the hall from me who is responsible for this photo.

"No way. He shouldn't do it. It's not what it used to be."

Okay, coming from the guy who took that photo, I took his feedback to heart. But then, I wondered, was my colleague talking about war, or war photojournalism?

I am hoping A will figure out he is a great guitar player and consider being a musician for his career.

A also interviewed for a China trip (with financial aid) -- I am hoping he gets some sort of acceptance. If he doesn't get it, he'll likely attend the summer CUNY math and science program which is free, or take another photography course and do math and science home-study.

In other news, A won the lottery for a single room at school for next year. No evil roommate surprises, thank you very much.

His play is being showcased next weekend. Can you say Max Fischer?