Let It Go! - A totally "seriously!?" moment

Well, we've made it back to Monday, which means, if you're anything like me, the alarm clock went off way too early, the coffee wasn't strong enough, and you're relieved to be heading on towards Tuesday. 

Actually, if you're really like me, you hit snooze three times this morning, the coffee can't be stronger because you have sensitivity to caffeine, and you know that it's been scientifically proven that Tuesday is the most depressing day of the week, not Monday. Reality is what it is! 

Regardless of how your Monday unfolded, perhaps this little gem will add a little something extra to your evening. As an English and Media/Journalism teacher, I cover both the realms of plagiarism and current events, so when this recent headline popped up, it caught my eye. 

A Woman Is Suing Disney Claiming “Frozen” Is Stolen From Her Life Story

The story is made all the more hilarious by the subtitle: 

A queen with magical powers who’s friends with a snowman – we’ve all been there.

 

...which naturally makes it primo material for class because I can now cover two birds with one stone. A. Reporting the news. B. Don't plagiarize. Excellent! 

For those of you who haven't read the story, I'll do the responsible thing first and link you to this relatively unbiased story regarding the details of the woman's claim. I, however, prefer this overly sarcastic recap of the lawsuit. Among the details claimed to be plagiarized: the setting is a snow covered village in the mountains, the younger sister falls in love, and it features the story of two sisters who care about each other. To be fair to the plaintiff, I should mention that she DOES NOT claim to have magical powers or to hang out with a talking snowman. 

I teach literature for a living, so I feel relatively confident in my assessment that many stories share very similar elements and repeating, universal themes are the threads that tie generations of authors and great works together. My students are writing compare/contrast essays right now. Guess what? The stories they are comparing are very similar, and written in completely different time periods. Does this mean they were plagiarized? Of course not! Hence the compare AND contrast. In the case of this particular complaint, I'm going to say that the fact the main character has magical powers and a talking snowman are pretty big plot elements that can't be ignored. Also, there's the whole issue of the Hans Christian Andersen story, "The Snow Queen," which Frozen is admittedly similar to (likely on purpose). Perhaps the autobiography in question plagiarized Andersen first. 

If I sound like I'm up on a soapbox about this, I'm certainly not. I'm more recapping the conversation that was had in class today. I'm not really going to defend Frozen as I've punned and parodied the movie to many times to count. However, as a creative writing exercise, I did begin to wonder what Disney movie is plagiarized from my life story. I've decided it's probably the entire Toy Story series for the following reasons: 

• I had toys growing up
• I used to pretend that those toys had personalities and could talk to each other
• We had a sandbox
• There were army men in the sandbox
• I had plastic dinosaurs
• I had a Barbie and Ken 
• My toys might have come to life and talked to each other when I left the room (I can or cannot verify this) 
• I moved as a child
• I used to buckle my toys into the car with the seatbelt
• Pizza Planet looks a lot like Chuckie Cheese
• I went to college and packed my toys into boxes in the attic
• I once sold toys at a garage sale

Key differences: 

• I'm not a boy named Andy

Obviously I have a case, right!?! :) 

Happy Trails, 

   

Getting pumped for a 5k

Training for a marathon is long, and exhausting, and time consuming, and though finishing the race is a huge pay-off and the ultimate accomplishment of a runner...I'm really ready to be done running and done training by the time I get to that finish line.

But racing in and of itself is fun and exciting and part of the huge draw of running 26.2 miles in the first place. It's not a super fun thing to do by yourself on a Saturday afternoon...but add in 44,999 other runners and one million spectators, and suddenly you have an event! Of course, not everyone is going to run a marathon, but everyone should have a moment or an experience like a marathon...that is, an event to share and celebrate a common experience, in a unique environment, with a sea of humanity. It doesn't have to be running...running just happens to be common suffering, therefore it lends itself well to such an event. 

But it certainly doesn't have to be a marathon! Enter last weekend's race event, the Milwaukee Electric Run, a funny little 5k that was more of an experience than an actual race. 

I don't run a lot of 5k's because normally my training is so much more than 3 miles that such a race would be a warm up to something much bigger. But Mom motivated this one, and J Word, Mookie, Mustang, and the Platypus all agreed to go along, so Team Diana is took to the streets together to race (or at least sightsee) our way to the finish line.

As to other important bits of mindless info, facts and trivia. Here a few worthy delving into if you have five minutes for the Friday 5!

1. While teaching high school literature, I've had a number of occasions in which I've had to handle sensitive subject matter, language issues, and intense themes. It's sometimes tricky ground to navigate...but then again, it's never been quite as giggle inducing as these unintentionally horrible children's book gaffes!

2. Having just finished musical auditions, I can't tell you how relieved I am that this didn't happen! Also...none of my auditions were that bad either!

3. Yes, yes, yes, and yes. 

< ----------4. OMG! We had this game growing up...one of the first computer games we installed onto the "kid's computer" in our back office and were allowed to play! I had COMPLETELY forgotten about it, but thanks to thought catalog...memory recovered! 

5. And as long as we're talking about childhood, there's all of this!


 

Happy Trails,

5 things...22 miles...and a number of other things...

Looking at my Facebook feed, I think I must have missed some national running holiday because at least 6 different friends posted pictures from 5k's in at least 6 different locations. Of course, as a running enthusiast (ok...as a complete running dork!) I had to google and find out if national 5k day is a real thing, and it's not, but there is a national running day that happens each June. I'm fairly confident I unknowingly have been a participant the last few years!

Official and unofficial running holidays aside, my first of the Friday five this week has to be a kudos to all those friends who went out and raced this weekend. Fall running is the best; Saturday was a perfect race day, and you all rock for getting off the couch and onto the streets for a weekend jaunt. Kudos! Wish I would have raced!

As it happens, I did run quite a bit this weekend, but not in race mode...more like super training mode. Having plans to go see my family next weekend, I decided not to overlap my visit with my 22 mile training run, so Saturday became the designated day for the longest run of the training schedule. After waking up to frost on the ground and a balmy 38 degrees, I downed my bowl of cereal, donned my "super dorky" endurance running belt (and long sleeves for the first time in a while!) and headed out the door confident that it would be both a long morning, and that the massage I had schedule that afternoon would feel REAAAALLLLY good.

Both things wound up being true. Though the run was long, it wasn't actually that much longer than my 20 mile run last week had been. (I mean...ok...it was 2 miles longer...but timewise it was only about 3 minutes longer). And while I was struggling to walk post-run on Saturday afternoon, the people at Healing Touch Spa did wonders to loosen my legs back up. Also, fun fact, your neck and shoulders get tight after a long run, as holding your arms up in running position gets harder as you get fatigue. Generally speaking however, it was a pretty relaxed day as my run was stress and panic free, and I stayed well within myself and my pace while grinding through the miles.

So today I'm sore, and I limped around in my knee brace for most of the morning. However, with less than a month until I head to Chicago, I'm feeling good about having tackled and broken the 20 mile barrier.

2.

Away from running, this weekend was also the barrier between life pre-musical rehearsals and life heading into musical rehearsals. I wrote last time about the growing pains of getting on with the show at a new school. Well, the show's been cast...the scripts are hopefully in a box on the way enroute from New York,...and we can now get with it. And just because it's cute and fun, here's thing three. 

3. 

4. Wedding preview...I love these flowers!

And last but not least, a huge shout out to J Word for making my birthday this week exceptionally awesome! For someone who didn't make a big deal of birthdays growing up, he stepped up nicely into birthday planning mode. Tickets for a show over fall break...surprise manicure after school...dinner, pictures, and a hilarious operatic version of Happy Birthday at the hibachi steakhouse...movie night...good times!! 

Back to football. 

Happy Trails, 

Here we go again

Today is the one week point of the new Pine Island teaching adventure, and whew! am I glad I had some strong coffee this morning because I've been a running fool today (and not the marathon training kind!)

Last week was, to put it bluntly, a week of pure survival. The kids were great; my coworkers were excellent; I can't complain about anyone specific thing that went wrong or was particularly bad. However, there is just that general feeling of not being fully settled in that comes with starting a new job and getting used to new routines. So, the first 4 days were a bit of a trial by fire...but we all survived and there wasn't a mass exodus of students trying to drop my classes, so this is success.

Well, this week brings a new set of challenges as I continue and try to launch my 2014-2015 school year, and that's the fall musical. To be fair, I've been in almost this same position before. My first year at GET I started the fall play the second week of the school year as well. However, I also had another week of rehearsal between auditions and performances...and it wasn't a musical, which takes about 500 variables out the equation!

So this is a bit of an experiment. Ok...it's a massive experiment! It's like high school theater American ninja warrior...only the fittest have a chance at surviving the gauntlet, and even then, people fall on their faces.

Tonight is the final night of auditions, however. Which means at about 7:00 I'll go home to face a run, a lot of difficult choices...and we'll see if my traditional "casting night pizza" takes place. I wouldn't want to mess with a successful formula after all!

As to the show itself, well, I have a lot of learning to do even about that. But I do know it's pretty cute. I mean, come on guys, who doesn't love the ugly duckling...set to music...? Seriously!?

On with the show...well show auditions...well...oh whatever!

Happy Trails, 

When training isn't enough.

Two weeks ago, my marathon training reached the first of, what I consider, two key stages. It was the first 20 mile run, and though double digit runs stopped scaring me a while ago, seeing that first number change from a one to a two still does something to the psyche that's hard to explain.

The week prior I had run 18 great miles in La Crosse, coming in right on pace and feeling pretty good throughout. It had been hot and muggy, already 75 degrees at 6AM with a dew point around 63. I didn't have the right pre-run or in-run nutrition. Yet, the run itself was a major success.

So heading into the next long run, I should have been in a great place to break the 20 mile barrier without much of an issue, or so I would have thought...until it actually came to facing the run. As it turns out, my first 20 mile run lasted just 9 miles. I woke up to rain, so postponed the run a few hours until the skies cleared. I waited too long and the temperature climbed in the uncomfortable range. I'd eaten the wrong food the night before, and it sat heavy in my stomach for the first 5 miles. I couldn't find a rhythm; I couldn't settle into my pace; I was sick to my stomach at mile 7 and was walking by mile 8. Dejected, I went home, showered and iced, and pondered what had gone wrong?

I recently came across a quote about marathon running that said, "You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming." In considering how many things went wrong two weeks ago, I can't help but agree that physical training alone is not enough. There was no reason that my body, which had suffered yet survived 18 miles just seven days earlier, couldn't have slogged through another 18 miles. My training hadn't slipped; I hadn't lost fitness. I was physically r sound to complete the training run I was supposed to complete.

Mentally however, something was off (and here those who know me well, or think that running a marathon sounds like crazy talk anyway, are nodding their heads profusely). To tackle such a run is to knowingly subject yourself to exhaustion, and pain, and a long period of time with your own thoughts, and sometimes those thoughts provide the greatest pep talks in the world, and other times, and other times they question your motives, and your sanity, and you will to continue.

The "wall" that's talked about in a marathon, is not a physical barrier...it's mental. The moment you hit the wall your body aches, your legs are jello, the idea of taking another step is as agonizing as the step itself. At the same time, I found that by the time I reached my "wall" my body had also gone into a kind of running autopilot mode in which shuffling along to the next step it was actually easier than slowing down to a complete walk. The "wall" is the moment in which you much convince yourself to continue mentally. It's agreeing to put up with another mile of pain and like it. It's about choosing to suffer in the name of finishing, and it's about trusting your training. Running a marathon is physically demanding, but more challenging then that is deciding to start training, keep running, and no quit when all reason and common sense says to throw in the towel.

Two weeks ago, I did not do that well, and in the six days leading up to my next 20 mile attempt, I treated my training as mental exercise as much as physical exercise. I took off my watch and focused on the quality and "feel" of the run instead of the split times. I adjusted my pace when I felt I could run faster, not when the clock told me I was failing to keep up. I logged four runs I felt good about before trying to take on 20 miles again, four runs that were stress free and comfortable and reminded the voices in my head how it felt not to panic the moment my muscles strained, or my heart rate increased, or my breathing quickened.

Yesterday, I retried the 20 mile mark, and had a much more successful outing. I changed my route from the weekend prior. Ran the same continuous 2 mile loop for 6 miles while I settled into a pace and rhythm, then reset my watch to ignore the amount of time it took to get settled in, and ran the last 14 miles in the comfortable confidence of someone locked in on their training. There was no panic. There was no doubt. And though there was pain and struggle, the voices in my head offered only reassuring bits of encouragement.

There's only so much one can do for the mental side of the race. Running coaches and psychologists might suggest visualizations, positive mental imaging, repetition of a mantra, meditation, etc. Regardless of the methodology, there can be little doubt that it's as important of a factor to address as the physical run itself. Running the race...crossing the finish...your legs will get you there. Talking yourself into showing up at the start line...that's all in your head.

Happy Trails,

Back to school!

Well guys (and by guys here, I mean the readership in general, not just the males. When one teaches journalism/media, one must become very sensitive to gender biased language!)...

...it happened. Classes started, and the kids showed up again, and I launched a new year at a new high school, and my alarm clock got a workout for the first time in 2 1/2 months, and it was terrifying and brilliant and overwhelming and all the emotions at once.

As for first day jitters, it was a different kind of nervousness that marked the beginning of this school year. The first year or so I taught it was a general, "I don't know what I'm doing, and the kids are going to figure that out, and I'm going to make a fool of myself" kind of anxiety that brought on the back to school nightmares. Then I realized I was actually pretty good at what I do (and that I made a fool of myself everyday regardless of how hard I tried to be cool!) and back to school fears subsided into a general sense of anxiousness that was as much excited as anything. One thing I never felt quite as strongly as I did this year, however, was stress. There is a certain amount of stress that comes with uprooting your career and dropping it in a new location, learning new procedures, reacquainting yourself with standards and evaluation cycles and probationary teaching responsibilities, not recognizing a single student's face on day one, knowing that it will be at least a few weeks before you're comfortable with names, which is unfortunate because you need to hold musical auditions next week, and all the while realizing that you've dropped yourself into this new world with a stellar professional reputation (that's why you were hired after all,) and, as the superintendent mentioned in her in service address, you are expected to be exceptional...not just average.

So, when on day 1 I couldn't find a parking spot, and my first hour class caught the typo in my syllabus, and half of my freshman struggled to get set up and signed in with their tablets, and I walked in circles looking for the various places I had to turn in forms, drop off paperwork, etc. I wasn't exactly feeling like pushing 'reset' on my entire career was the best professional choice I had ever made. (Being able to go home and cry to J-Word about it confirms a great personal choice...but he doesn't come to work with me).

But life goes on...and the week goes on...we've made it to Friday and with my classes arranged nicely in user friendly seating charts to help me learn 100 names, and my freshman getting settled in to new high school routines, and my Media/Journalism class getting along nicely with discussions and my stories from my days on the editorial board at UW-La Crosse, things are looking up.

Beyond that, it's Friday, so work week aside, it's time to relax, refresh, and reset because Monday will be here soon enough!

So, let's look to this week's list.

1. The number 1 thing on the list also happens to be my number 1 reason for being excited about this upcoming weekend. Are you ready for some football? Ok, to be fair, my beloved Green Bay Packers tanked last night...and if J-Word's Vikings play well and win, I'll never hear the end of it...but I'm pumped up anyway! Football = great fun, and this year it also = lots of fantasy league play. I'm not saying I'm going to win; I'm just saying it's sure to be a good time.

2. Last night J-Word and I finalized the last of our wedding party which is both exciting and a relief because, whew, that 's a stressful process. I'd like to create a new reality TV show where a bride and groom go live in a villa with everyone they've ever met that is important to them and therefore in consideration for the wedding party. Said people would then compete in challenges proving their knowledge of and loyalty to the bride and groom, and each week someone would be sent home until the wedding party was set. From the producers of the Bachelor, Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, and Bachelor Pad, welcome to the new season of Bachelor All Wishing You Could Be in the Wedding! (That's terrible pun!) ;)

3. I hate roller coasters. In fact, amusement parks in general rarely amuse me. So when I saw this list published this week, I found I was already a little queasy without having boarded a single ride. However, if you're the kind of thrill seeker looking to overdose on thrill ride adrenaline, the latest list of physics defying amusements rides, might be right up your alley.

4. Back to football, this time with a fun infographic linking teams to the geographic region where they're most frequently liked and followed on social media outlets. No real surprises here...

5. And last but not least, thank you Buzzfeed for this play by play of what it is like when a 31 year old watches Harry Potter for the first time. I'm a big HP fan...but the captioned commentary included is just plain funny! 

Weekend...and...GO! I'm in for 20 miles tomorrow as Chicago Marathon training continues. Last week was a bit of a bust (more on that later), so I'm looking for a good recovery run! 

Don't forget football on Sunday and, oh yeah...

Happy Trails!