Book of the Month

This is an interesting concept. I have not had a BOTM for about a year. I guess my book for this month would be Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun, which I just finished reading with my 11th graders. It kept their attention in spite of being non-fiction. Author Geoffrey Canada describes the code of the streets and his childhood in the projects, how guns have changed the scene, and the implications for policy to which his work as an adult has led him.

The reason that the idea for BOTM is back is, in case you have not been reading the comments, a piece of feedback from a photographer whose 2006 book I really enjoy. It is over a year since the post where I first mentioned it, and i have just gotten a comment from none other than Jorge Aramburu! Wowowowow! The full title of the book is Guatemala: Tejiendo las huellas/Weaving the footprints. You can buy it from the United Nations! The images are paired with bilingual poetry (Spanish and English versions of each poem).

In case you were wondering, my birthday move did not work at all. I apparently couldn't overcome 25 years of conditioning, and the 28th was still a pretty special day. But I had a great time! It was a Professional Development day, which meant that all my wonderful colleagues had lunch together (usually we have staggered lunch times), and the Sunshine Committee got a cake to celebrate all the September birthdays. :) I finally finished the thing I was knitting and wore it to school, where it got plenty of attention to make me feel good about it. :) I have to post some pictures of that ... Then Patrick and I got as fancy as we've ever been and went to the dinner party, and I loved it. The company was good, the food (and wine!) were free, and it was a real pleasure to participate in the celebration of Friedrich Katz (sponsored by Boeing!?!). I was impressed that few talked about his contributions to scholarship on Mexican history, tremendous as they are, perhaps because this was addressed more in the day's conference sessions. Everyone who spoke at the dinner talked about what a kind person he is--and how great his wife is, too--and it felt really good to be connected to people who value that above academia. And Patrick looked great in his new suit. :)

October 2 was just a Tuesday. I taught my classes, thought about Candice and Anthony, and forgot that I had tried to change my birthday until my dad sent me an email reminder. Ha! But Patrick says it was actually a success; the prospect of being able to observe it on a different day allowed me to enjoy the birthday without any expectations. What a funny thing.