Style according to Gore Vidal

"Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and NOT giving a damn."
Gore Vidal

Lucky life...

Life is complicated and so are humans, right? But I can't help but to think of all the wonderful things I have experienced in this life, beautiful places, interesting people, wonderful flavors, love, family and happiness... While counting my blessings I thought about one of my favorite quotes, and this one happens to be from Audrey Hepburn (Patron Saint of Fashion, thank you). I really hope you enjoy it as much as I always do.

"How should I sum up my life? I think I 've been particularly lucky. Does that have something to do with faith also? I know my mother always used to say, 'Good things aren't supposed to just fall in your lap. God is very generous, but he expects you to do your part first.' So you have to make that effort. But at the end of a bad time or a huge effort, I've always had- how shall I say it?- the prize at the end. My whole life shows that."
Audrey Hepburn

He who wants a place in the sun should expect blisters...

Aquel que quiera ocupar un lugar cerca del sol, debe esperar ampollas...

5k's are so in!

Woooooooooooooo hooooooooooooo! What a rush! Today I signed up for The Victim's Advocate 5k Walk/Race and unknowingly I completed my first 5k. Well, I had originally signed up for just the 1 mile walk/jog. I knew the 3 mile-runners and the 1 mile runners were going to split at a certain point during the race and I was paying attention to the arrows on the ground and to the helpers throughout the race but... I remember asking one of the ushers of the race for directions, I mean, after all, I only wanted to jog one mile and he (or was it a she???) pointed me to where I thought was the end of my race... yeah right! While running all I could think was "Darn, this definitely doesn't feel like a mile, it feels like the whole three miles" but I kept going at it, after all... I was doing it. Well, long story, short. I ended up jogging/walking the whole 5k (3.1 miles) and I am so proud of myself and of my fellow runners and girl friends Fe and Melody. With every heart-pumping breath and each sweaty step, I felt like the champion I know I am. I did it! We did it and we did it [as usual] in style!

Who we are...

what we wear is just one part of us. how we talk, what we talk about, what we watch, what we listen too, what we like, what we hate - basically all that extra stuff that gives us our swag...
'sui generis boutique'

My dear, sweet, Opal clutch by Mad Imports

Ciara featuring Ludacris - Ride

Earth Day's 40th Birthday!

There she is, Planet Earth.

Isn't she beautiful?

Tomorrow will be Earth Day, that day dedicated to celebrating and contemplating the beauty, health, and fragility of our dear planet. Over the years I have heard some people complaining about this day not having enough of an impact, about how Earth Day hasn't saved the planet's problems... well, it's not only about solving problems right here, right now; it's about taking little steps and educating the public so that we can make the difference [I know it sounds like a cliche].

What's so hard about taking a shorter shower, walking to places and picking up some trash? I know this alone won't save Mother Earth, but that's not the point.

Harrison on leading edge of teacher pay reform, experts say
CAROL MCGRAW
2010-01-09 10:49:56

Harrison School District 2 Superintendent Mike Miles compares his school district’s new way of paying teachers to the TV sci-fi program “Flash Forward,” where for a moment everyone sees their future with decidedly different reactions.
“We are seeing everyone’s worst fears and their best hopes,” says Miles.
Harrison last week became the first district in this region and one of a handful nationally to adopt a “pay for performance” system of compensating teachers based on how well their students do.
It turns upside down the traditional fixed-pay system based on a teacher’s education and years in the profession.
In the Harrison system, teachers will be evaluated annually on their skills and their pay will be commensurate with their performance and student achievement.
“This is a bold and exciting strategy,” says Marguerite Roza, a University of Washington professor and research associate with the Center for Reinventing Public Education.
Harrison is at the leading edge of much needed change in how teachers are perceived and compensated, she says.
President Obama and Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education have pushed for such innovation, noting that teacher evaluation and professional development is the most broken part of the profession. In the American Educator, Duncan compares the old way of doing things as “the factory model of education, where teachers are treated as interchangeable widgets who keep the educational assembly line moving.” He says, “more than 95 percent of teachers are rated good or superior even in schools that are chronically under performing. Worse yet, evaluations typically fail to take any account of a teacher’s impact on student learning.”
As enticement for change, the U.S. Department of Education has stepped up federal grants for innovative reform programs.
“The grants will help seed the climate for more change,” says Roza.
It’s an attractive carrot at a time when the dismal economy has wrecked havoc on state education budgets. In Colorado, the predicted shortfall is $370 million statewide for K-12.
The new program will cost Harrison, with 10,500 students and a $79 million budget, about $1 million a year in salary increases for 840 licensed staff members. While the district is applying for federal grants, the program is not contingent on getting them. And no program or classroom money will be used, officials say.
The district will cut $500,000 for a stipend plan for department chairpersons and $300,000 in teacher attendance incentives to pay for the program, along with adding $200,000 from the general fund, said Harrison board president Debra Hendrix, who with her four colleagues unanimously approved the plan.
Roza, and other national education experts, note that many districts nationwide are meeting the economic crisis by slashing teaching staffs and rolling back salaries. The Harrison plan, she said “is purposeful.”
In it, there are nine compensation levels with new teachers getting about $35,000 and master teachers $90,000. Those top level teachers must produce student achievement gains, community leadership, participate in lifelong learning, contribute widely to the profession and mentor colleagues.
Harrison has several things working for it as it makes the change. Districts between 10,000 and 20,000 students can get things done quicker than larger urban districts, Roza says. Likewise, “a strong trusted leader can make cutting edge change.”
Miles, a non-nonsense former Army Ranger, and the progressive school board has been widely lauded for efforts to turn around Harrison. It has put in place many innovative programs and is on the fourth year of a five year plan to raise student achievement in a district where most students are from low income families. While it lags state averages in assessments, there have been significant improvements.
Miles knows the change won’t be easy, but he is convinced it will make a difference in student achievement.
Teachers, too, are hoping for the best.
“It’s a work in progress,” says Felicia Kazmier, a teacher at Otero Elementary School. She says she embraces the pay for performance plan, especially because teachers had input. “Actually the district is not asking me to do anything I am not already doing in my classroom, except now they want to pay me for it.”
Marybeth Hamilton, an intervention specialist who heads the Harrison High School reading program, senses that the plan will “revolutionize our practice and award the integrity of teachers.” She especially likes that collaboration is built in, especially important to her area where reading and writing are promoted across the curriculum.
“Teachers still have many questions about how this will actually play out,” says Megan Sheppard, a teacher at Carmel Middle School, “We absolutely need to rethink our current accountability systems and reform how teachers are paid. But is the answer to pay teachers more or less based on how well students score on tests? The hope is, of course, that teachers will rise to the challenge and raise student achievement in ways that nurture the real needs of students.”

© Copyright 2010 Freedom Communications. All Rights Reserved.

Everyone has a story... what's yours?

Six-word memoirs is an innovative effort from SMITH magazine to get people to write their own six-word memoirs about their lives.

Everyone has a story and SMITH mag wants to hear about it. Their invitation has only one requirement... Can you tell your story in (only) six words? Write your own memoir and submit it to be considered for Smith's next six-word memoir book.

Here I go with mine for today:

NOTHING BUT BLESSINGS COMING MY WAY!