Girlyman Love

So, my favorite band is called Girlyman. Everyone should definitely take the time to check them out. I've seen them in concert 8 times and have never driven for less than an hour to see a concert. (I have friends who have seen them far more times, but I'm pretty proud of my 8.) I've only seen them once in the state in which I was living at the time. That's a testament to how much I love them. At any rate, their new live album is out, at least to the pre-order crowd. I got mine in the mail today and how I love it already. Some new material (that I had already heard via bootleg), but mostly it's about the funny... These guys are hilarious and have so much fun on stage. I saw them most recently a few weeks ago in Vienna, VA, at the Barns at Wolftrap. They actually moved me to tears. Lovely harmonies and lovely people.

Musical Whatnots

An article from Slate which describes the general misery of players and builders of acoustic instruments. Page two has a big funny regarding the reed obsession of players of double-reed instruments.

I need to sing again in the fall, with a real, somewhat legitimate chorus/choral group. What would really be good would be if I could get back into a women's group, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. There's one in DC that looks good, but the travel time would be too much each week, with rehearsal ending at 10-ish, I wouldn't get home until 11-ish. Not ok, with school starting when it does. But I think one in Annapolis will be ok, good enough for now.

And I miss people who live far away from me.

Favorite Places

So, a few days ago, I made reference to western Massachusetts as one of my favorite places on earth. I got to thinking about that concept and decided to make a list of my actual favorite places on earth:
- Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA (specifically the library and Abbey Chapel)
- Wallis Sands Beach, Rye, NH
- Camp Farnsworth, Thetford, VT
- my grandmother's backyard, Renton, WA

I'll add to it as I remember other places. I feel like there must be others, but I can't remember what they are. These places are quiet, verging on silent at times. Places I feel like myself.

Monday Morning Nationalism

So, here's an article about the independence of Kosovo causing a minority within Kosovo to want to have independence from Kosovo. Where does it end?

Stories Galore

Beyond cute, this is. Sounds just right.

China

From the NYT, single mothers in China: taboo, but forging ahead anyway!

Tourism in Tibet -- stopped in the wake of protests

Rainy Sunday

Some more on education, from The Christian Science Monitor: a study on the effectiveness of Teach for America teachers -- and it turns out that the program is doing well, better than traditionally trained teachers in some subject areas. What I particularly like about the article is that it makes note of the fact that the program is incredibly selective (21% acceptance rate, from top colleges and universities). Although I adored my program (at a public university in New England) and learned quite a bit, I definitely think that it was a money maker for the university -- if you could pay, they would let you in, or at least that was my perception.

"One challenge with a model like TFA is that it's hard to replicate, says Douglas Harris, an educational policy professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The study suggests more broadly, he says, that people should be open-minded about 'all sorts of possible alternative routes to [teacher] certification.'

Cognitive ability is an important predictor of worker effectiveness in complex occupations like teaching, Mr. Harris's research has found. So alternative programs could be useful, for instance, if they draw in candidates who 'learn faster and learn better,' he says."